Andy Motyka's Blog

Apple Store Service...Rock on!!! \m/ \m/

2012-01-21T19:57:00.001-05:00

Hello again everybody! Here's more or less a follow-up blog entry to Friday night's blog post. I mentioned in that blog post that I needed to visit the Apple Store in King of Prussia today to troubleshoot the MacBook Pro not booting up. When I woke up this morning, I saw snow outside, and I was like oh crap, thinking that I wouldn't be able to go up to King of Prussia from Downingtown. But the roads weren't that bad, just had to watch local roads near my house. I actually went up there with my dad, because we decided that we wanted to bond as father and son. Not a Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker father/son scenario where one is bad and one is good, but a regular happy and fun father and son bonding. We went to the Apple Store a few hours ago, and it was found, after performing a few initial troubleshooting steps, that the hard drive would need to be replaced...meanwhile all of my files that I worked on using my Mac were on the damaged hard drive...the Apple Store suggested a company that does data recovery and only charges if they can recover the files...I am not worried, however, because all of the files that were on the damaged hard drive are available someway. All that I need to do is a little digging, but all of the files are somewhere...so that is a relief, but at the same time, a bit of a challenge. I am one of these people who enjoys a challenging scenario, because it keeps my mind refreshed, and isn't the same boring scenario all the time. The Apple Store representative told me that they would replace the hard drive this evening, and would have the computer ready for me to pick up in the store by the end of this evening. I checked my e-mail around 5:30 PM this evening, and the e-mail said that the repair was completed...if I would have waited an hour or two, I could have picked up the laptop while I was up there, and start digging for the files. It's not a big deal though, because I will have a bit of digging to do anyway when I am not busy. I am driving my brother back to college tomorrow, and then I am rockin US-202 north into King of Prussia to pick up my MacBook Pro. I feel relieved because the issue was pinpointed, and now there is no second-guessing as to what the issue is, and no need to sit in the waiting queue on Apple Care's tech support phone line for 15 minutes or more.

Now onto a weather portion of this entry...it is cold out right now, and there is snow on most of the local/neighborhood roads...definitely drive with caution...accidents can especially happen when the roads are slippery/wet/icy...and remember, "Bridges are slippery when wet". I heard on KYW 1060 on my way to King of Prussia today that tomorrow's high temperature is supposed to be in the 40s, so hopefully this snow will be gone...snow is cool if you're a little kid, but once you turn 18, snow is an annoying hassle that is more or less an unpleasant condition.

Now onto a positive portion of my news that I found out this past Friday. I have been working from 7:30 to 4 each day, but now I found out that I will be starting a 6 to 2:30 shift starting Monday. I love working early...I feel like a big shot who doesn't hit any traffic on the roads anymore...and who, during the summertime, can blast my excellent music that I cherish...okay cool; I just mentioned the word music...I have this intangible commitment within myself in which I have to somehow relate to music every day in my life, or in a blog post, so there you go, I mentioned about "excellent music that I cherish" in this blog entry haha.

Well, it's time to eat pizza soon...ordering Papa John's tonight...definitely good stuff, especially the green pepper...it's a fun challenge to eat the green pepper from Papa John's.

Also sometime today or tomorrow I plan on ordering Nickelback tickets. As I mentioned in my blog post from yesterday, they are playing with Bush, Seether, and My Darkest Days, all bands that I have given a listen and enjoy with a passion.

Everybody enjoy your Saturday evening! I am keeping it chill tonight...perhaps watch a movie in front of the fireplace and keep it relaxing...if I only had a person to massage and give a back rub...that's always nice when that's around :)

Rock on!!! \m/ \m/

Control Your Anger...Friends Are Meant To Get Your Back...

2012-01-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

Anger...one of the human emotions...causes madness and craziness, and not in a positive way either.

When I came home from work today, I pulled open my MacBook Pro and logged into Facebook as I briefly check when I get home each day. Then I started playing music in my iTunes. I started to play the song Not Again by Staind, and then all of a sudden, my laptop froze. I had no choice but to perform a hard power off (done by holding the power button in until the machine powers off). So I powered off the machine, and when I booted up the machine, the Mac OS X operating system would not load. I was really disgruntled by this because of all of the files that I have on my machine. Fortunately all of the files on the MacBook Pro are retrievable in one way or another, but seriously? I thought Mac computers were supposed to be better than PC's and virus-free...I specifically bought a Mac because of all the trouble I have had in the past with a regular PC computer, and now my MacBook Pro does this? Now I have to travel up to King of Prussia tomorrow to the Apple Store for them to take a look and troubleshoot. Just what I want to do...deal with Apple tech support...it irritates me a bit the fact that I have to go up there not to know already that my problem will be resolved the way that I intend it be resolved...I tried calling the Apple Tech Support phone number today, and I could not get through because the wait time was 15 minutes and I was busy...Anyways, thankfully cloud computing exists and I am able to post this blog entry. I am going to start saving all of my documents on Google from now on and through Dropbox. Dropbox and Google Documents are two useful tools to use if you need to store office documents on a secure server. Never again will you have to worry about losing files...unless in some rare occasion Google has a mass issue that is unrecoverable, but that is completely unlikely, as Google is in the top IT companies nowadays...

Now unto the title of this blog entry..."Control Your Anger"...for all Star Wars nerds, Jedi Knight trainees (Star Wars terminology is a Padawan) are taught that the Dark Side involves being impatient and wanting to take a fast and easy path. The good way is to be patient and control one's anger. In the past, especially in the years 2010 and 2011, I have let little things anger me and stress me out. For example, after I broke up with two girls, both in an 8-month time period, I let myself get stressed and a little down on myself. Eventually I got over it, and I realize that being single isn't too bad, although it is sure a lot of fun to be in a long-term relationship, although that involves a lot of commitment. But at the age of 23, who isn't mature enough to be able to handle a mature relationship between a guy and a girl in addition to being able to hold a full-time job? Finding the right person for the right relationship involves good side "Jedi Knight" teachings. In other words, being patient and waiting for the right one, rather than rushing things like the Dark Side and the Sith and either ending a short-lived relationship yourself or being dumped by the other. Neither of those scenarios are fun, and will never last when situations are rushed. The first one was rushed by my ex. The second one was rushed by me. I have seen both sides of the end of a relationship. Now unto the future and to good vibes and to good people and to rock concerts (rock concerts are mentioned in a half a million of my other blog posts lol)...

I am trying to look at tomorrow, when I go to King of Prussia, as a positive thing. Here is scenario #1: If I go there, and they tell me that the data cannot be restored, then I'll be like fine. I can still import my music somehow again. I've gotten all of my music legally and can easily import them into my iTunes. Here is scenario #2: If I go there, and they tell me that the data can be restored, then I'll be like "heck yes!!!" I'll be giving my rock star hand gesture that the late rock star legend Ronnie James Dio used to do \m/ \m/.

I just saw some of the Australian Tennis Open tonight, and Sharapova won her match...good for her! She's a decent-looking tennis player with great tennis skills, so I support her all the way...she gives a great effort in her game, and it fully shows...props to you Maria!

Now to mention a little music, because what would a blog post by me be without any mention of music? I have to do my greatest passion a favor and at least mention a little something about it haha...Nickelback tickets went on pre-sale today, but I did not buy tickets during the pre-sale. I am going to go to that concert with my dad. All I need to do right now, however, is buy tickets. And Nickelback is a good band, despite what people think. Nickelback has songs that relate to what and how people feel about serious and more vital parts of their lives. For example, the song Photograph depicts positive memories. The video of my high school graduation has that song in it. That song was only about a year old around the time I graduated high school. I graduated high school in June 2006, so that song has been around for about 7 years now...I don't know where the heck time flies, but it sure is amazing how much of the music I listen to has been around for a decent amount of time now...yea but back to the mention of my buying Nickelback tickets...this Nickelback tour also features the bands Bush, Seether, and My Darkest Days. My Darkest Days is a fairly new band that sounds decent. I gave them a listen on YouTube a few days ago, and they sound decent to me. I am a huge fan of Seether. I saw Seether twice during the summer of 2011, and they put on a rockin' show. Both of the times that I saw them, they opened their set with their song Gasoline, and ended the song both times with Remedy. When I saw them the first time, which was at MMRBQ 2011, they performed a cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, which sounded very grungy and neat...I was never expecting to hear a Nirvana cover at my first "real" rock concert. Seether rocks the stage real hard, and I would love to see them again. Bush is one of my old-school 90s rock favorites. My favorite song by them is Machinehead. I used to play Machinehead when I hosted a radio show at West Chester University Radio, WCUR 91.7 FM The Curve. The radio show I did was good times, but I am glad that I am finished with the station and with college, because I outgrew a lot of the dramatic games that went on during college, and I wanted to grow up. I now work a professional job in a professional office, and the people I work with I can completely relate to, including people in different departments outside of IT. I feel as if everybody accepts me for who I am there, and likes me as an individual, and does not intend to use me for a single purpose, and then forget about me. We've all been walked on, but once a person enters the real world, such as in a corporate business world, then the child games are over, and the most a person will attain from life will be extracted. Amen to great people and to great success with business and to a great happiness...nobody should get stressed, but when they do, they should take a deep breath and realize that the right group of people will be there in the times of prosperity and in the times of stressful situations...I love all my friends and the people that mean the most to me...thank you... :)

A Word to Drivers...Back Off My Bumper...

2012-01-16T18:40:00.000-05:00

What do I think of tailgating? Hmmmmmmm.....what do I think? Um yeah...I am referring to tailgating while driving...

Have you ever had that situation in which the time is early in the morning and you are trying to enjoy a nice ride to work with the Preston and Steve show playing on the radio, and all of a sudden, behind your car, are either high-beam lights or another car right on your rear bumper? Isn't that quite irritating?

If it weren't for how dangerous roads are anymore, I would step out of the car and tell the person to back off my car. Back when I was 16, immediately after I earned my learner's permit, I was driving slightly under the speed limit on a local road, and all of a sudden, an impatient driver starts flashes the high-beams incessantly and beeping the horn. What a way to learn how to drive!!! It's pretty pathetic when you have drivers who keep it chill being "harassed" by tailgaters. I like to call it harassment, or stalking, because stalking is a way of incessant closeness that is undesirable.

Tailgating while driving just adds one more unnecessary factor into the art of driving an automobile. A tailgater has to be eyed on at all times...why so? Because for example, what if you are approaching a green light that all of a sudden turns yellow, and a quick moment later, turns red? Do you really want to slam the brakes to not risk getting a ticket, ruining your brakes, and worst of all, a tailgater not seeing you stop quickly enough, and then ramming into your car, and even more seriously, injuring you and any passengers you may have? This is only one situation where tailgating is unacceptable. In fact, tailgating is always unacceptable! One of the most important lessons that was taught in drivers' ed when I took it in high school in the 2004-2005 school year was the practice of defensive driving. A personal habit I use while driving my car is to always be on the lookout for animals, most specifically deer that can pop out on the road at any time, and can total a car if hit on full impact. Even if you are being a defensive driver, and you have enough time to slow down to avoid hitting a deer, what if there was a driver who was tailgating behind your car? Tailgating, especially in this case, increases the chances of their hitting you, and even worse, injuring you and any passengers in the car.

Does anybody wonder why they hear about so many traffic accidents, more drastically fatal accidents, in the news? I have no doubt that most, if not all of the reasons are because of tailgating. The only case of a traffic accident that I can think of that does not involve tailgating is a one-car accident, which is likely because of texting while driving or driving under the influence. Texting while driving gives me another idea for a future blog post. I'll be brief right now about that and say that nobody should text while driving, even while stopped at a stoplight.

My point is obvious...avoid tailgating while driving! It eases the nerves of others and doesn't make you feel like you're getting nailed in the rear end (I couldn't tell you that feeling, but it sounds painful and wrong, and it should have brought the point across)!

Rock on! \m/ \m/

Welcome 2012! \m/ \m/

2012-01-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I have not written a blog entry since a week or two after Hurricane Irene hit the Mid-Atlantic region in August 2011. The time is long overdue to write another entry. It seems as if I begin writing at the beginning of every year, and then the trend frequency in which I write dies off. I am making it a goal to write a blog entry as much as I can when I have the available time to do so. I do work hard on my entries, meaning that I use ample time to compose each entry.

How was 2011 for me? Not bad, but it could have been better. I learned about priorities in 2011, and what is important rather than what is not important. I felt as if I learned a lot about myself in 2011, and the fact that I realize that I have great friends who care about who I am and who don't expect me to be something I am not. I am happy that a new year has begun, nonetheless. And no...the world is not going to end in December 2012! That's just another method to cause dramatic hype. I feel the same way about encrypted messages in music. I'm one of these people that does not pay attention to messages that apparently are heard when playing Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin backwards. Stairway to Heaven is an awesome song, and should not be toyed with. Are people that bored with great music that they have to play with the structure of a song? And back to the so-called "Apocalypse 2012"...the world was supposed to end so many times, including twice in 2011. It's best if people don't believe rumors or attention-getting ways and mechanisms. Therefore, the world is not ending in 2012, despite what people may believe. Now, let's talk about the good parts of 2011, and not this stupid end of the world garbage...

What was my favorite aspect of 2011? ROCK CONCERTS!!! Before 2011, the only music artist that I have seen live was Jimmy Buffett...3 times...the first two times when I was still in elementary school, and the third time at Citizens Bank Park in August 2005. I never managed to attend MMRBQ in 2010, but man, I wish I would have. I went to MMRBQ 2011 at the Susquehanna Bank Center on Sunday May 22, 2011, the day that I turned 23 years old. The concert featured 3 Doors Down as the headliner, with the supporting bands being Seether, Papa Roach, Apocalyptica, Alter Bridge, Finger Eleven, Sick Puppies, and Rev Theory. I thought that the entire show was great. Rev Theory was a fairly new band to me. I still rock out to songs such as Light It Up and Far From Over. Sick Puppies wasn't bad. The bassist is a decent musician. She fell over during the concert, but she did not let that affect her bass-playing skills. Finger Eleven played a decent set, although they were only provided a short amount of time to play. I still enjoy the song they do called Good Times, which is the song that they opened with. Alter Bridge is really good too, even though they were the loudest band there! Mark Tremonti is one of my favorite guitarists, and he seems pretty level-headed too! Apocalyptica was interesting, especially with the fact they use cellos to play heavy music and Metallica covers. Papa Roach put on the strongest show. They had a complete amount of energy throughout the entire set! Seether was awesome too. Their cover of Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana was decent! The headliner 3 Doors Down wasn't bad, but I thought the set was a little too mellow, although the songs were good. They may have been a decent 2nd or 3rd band with Papa Roach as the headliner instead, but still it wasn't a bad show to start the summer. I didn't go to any rock shows after MMRBQ until August 26, when I attended Uproar Festival at the same location.

Uproar 2011 was decent. The rock festival featured Avenged Sevenfold as the headliner, with the supporting bands being Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape the Fate, Sevendust, Black Tide, Art of Dying, and Hell or Highwater. Hell or Highwater isn't a bad band. I bought their first album on iTunes, and if you want a decent band that is working hard to make it big, definitely buy their first album. Hell or Highwater's lead vocalist is the drummer/second vocalist of Atreyu (Brandon Saller). Hail Mary is my favorite song from their first album. Art of Dying is decent! I also bought their first album after seeing them at Uproar. Good band! Recently, WMMR has been playing quite frequently their song Get Thru This. They are a good band to check out! I missed Black Tide's set because the temperature that day was very high, and I needed to find some shade so that I would stay hydrated. Sevendust wasn't bad, but they did not play their old material. My favorite Sevendust album is Home, which has songs like Waffle and Licking Cream. Escape the Fate did a decent set to start off the main portion of the show. A good song to check out by them is Issues. Bullet For My Valentine didn't have a bad set. Their best song in my opinion is Tears Don't Fall. This concert was the second time that I saw Seether. Although I enjoy Seether's music, they didn't have as big of a set this time. Their set at MMRBQ was better, simply because they were given more time to play. Three Days Grace was good too, and they sounded good live as I was there in my opinion. Next came the headliner, Avenged Sevenfold. They did the strongest show that day in my opinion. Their stage show featured fire and explosions, and was really energetic. They kept the crowd's complete attention the entire time. After that concert, my favorite song by them became Buried Alive. Buried Alive is another Stairway to Heaven. The song structure is vastly similar. If you like Stairway to Heaven, then definitely check out Buried Alive. It's also interesting to see the same music traits in both songs.

As I mentioned before, Hurricane Irene hit the area the next day. Luckily, I didn't lose power, unlike most of the region, who did lose power. Speaking of losing power, we had a weird snowstorm that hit the area the weekend before Halloween. The entire weekend consisted of power being lost. I get very frustrated when power is lost, much like most people. Sometimes things that I cannot control such as losing power get the best of me. It is a New Year's resolution for me to not get stressed out about things I cannot control. I am also making it a goal to be more sociable and ask more girls that I like out. My problem at times is where I don't initiate completely well. Once I start talking to women, the flow completely streams with smoothness. The problem is just finding something to talk about. From my past experience, women hate when guys state the obvious about them. Despite what some sources say, guys don't have to be complete roughies to get women's attention. The trick is just being oneself, and then whomever is meant to appreciate you for who you are rather than who you aren't will accept you and not push for you to change. Back to the concerts bit...there was another concert that I attended in November, which was full of high quality music...

In November, I went to the Share the Welt tour at the Electric Factory in Philly, which featured Five Finger Death Punch as the headliner, and supporting bands All That Remains and Hatebreed. All of those bands were stellar, simply because they didn't feed us garbage. They sounded very similar live as to the record, which means that they are musically adaptable. Recording in the studio is different than performing live. Performing live, one does not have equipment that can alter and boost the sound. All That Remains, Hatebreed, and Five Finger Death Punch did not need studio recording equipment just to sound great when I saw them that night.

The Share the Welt tour concert was the last concert I have attended as of right now. So far, for 2012, I have tickets to see Creed in April at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby and tickets to see Rise Against at the beginning of February at the Susquehanna Bank Center. The bands that are opening for Rise Against are A Day To Remember and the Menzingers. Although concerts are going to be a great part of this year, there are other important aspects of my life that matter to me, especially this year!

I have my right friends now too for 2012. I'm going to be visiting one of my friends from college in February, who lives in the Baltimore/Washington area. I also have a beach trip lined up for the summer, probably Long Beach Island. I also plan on attending MMRBQ 2012, Uproar 2012, Mayhem 2012, and Ozzfest 2012 (if Ozzfest is not cancelled this year). 2012 is going to rock, and so is 2013 simply because 2012 is not the last year in existence...

Here is a message: cheers to a great year and to great fortune and to great relationships among most compatible people!!! \m/ \m/

I Love Dave Grohl...\m/ \m/

2011-09-12T19:13:00.001-04:00

Right now, it is the first time I'm giving the band Them Crooked Vultures a sincere listen...I seriously feel as if I am listening to Cream. Therefore, I am going to provide a list of similarities between the two bands:

Both bands:

Are a trio
Have a bluesy and heavy rock sound
Have at least one member who is British
Know how to rock \m/ \m/
Have 12-bar blues influences in at least one song from each

If there are any more you can think of, let me know... :)

Rock Star Andy

2011-08-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

Everybody has something that defines him or her. For some people, it is painting. For others, it is theatre. Some people are talented at baseball or tennis. Others find happiness in journalism. Some find it in professional teaching. Some find it in chemical engineering, meteorology, biology, or history. Others find it in Computer Science. The point is that everybody is different, and there is an individual "quirk", or individual difference in each and every person. What is mine? Well, you are about to find out? I'll give you a hint: \m/ \m/.

The first rock song I had a love for was You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. I first heard the song at the Phillies, and I fell in love with it. That's what prompted me to start listening to bands from different rock subgenres. The only band that I listened to while growing up was Jimmy Buffett, with a song or two here or there from other artists. I have seen Jimmy Buffett live in concert 3 times, the first time being the summer after either 3rd or 4th grade, and then the weekend before I started my high school senior year in August 2005. But after I saw Jimmy Buffett the third time, I started enjoying "rock" music, because I wanted something that I could relate to. During my senior year in high school, I spent much time listening to bands such as AC/DC, Van Halen, Creed, a little bit of Rage Against the Machine (not much though), Linkin Park, and Michael Jackson. I am serious about Creed too. I don't understand why people diss on Creed so much. They have one of the most underrated guitarists (Mark Tremonti), who is currently my favorite rock guitarist. Mark Tremonti is also the lead guitarist of Alter Bridge, and I first saw Tremonti play with Alter Bridge at MMRBQ on May 22, and I will say that he is an incredible guitarist. When Tremonti and Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge lead singer/rhythm guitarist) did the guitar duel solos at MMRBQ, it was one of the best guitar duels I've ever heard. And those Alter Bridge guys are cool too, definitely not hotheads. They keep their cool because they are classy and can rock a good crowd with some real 21st century music.

After I graduated from high school in 2006, I started college, and my freshman year consisted of an immense phase with 80s glam/hair metal. I was obsessed with Motley Crue (I know about the umlaut but I'm saving time without using the insert symbol feature), Poison, Twisted Sister, Warrant, Whitesnake, White Lion, Def Leppard, and Skid Row. Although I was obsessed with 80s metal during my freshman year in college, freshman year was when I started to give older and mainstream metal acts a listen as well. These acts included Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Ozzy solo, Metallica, and Megadeth. Freshman year I occasionally listened to bands such as Black Label Society and Korn, but I was primarily into 80s metal during freshman year. I finished my freshman year successfully, and then I started my sophomore year.

Sophomore year was when Third Eye Blind played at my school, but I didn't see them as I had not given them any listen prior to that. If I would have been into them as I am now back then, I would have rocked that show so hard. Third Eye Blind's a classic 90s act. Sophomore year was when I started doing the Ronnie James Dio heavy metal corna hand signal. In other words, the "rock on" hand gesture. I let some kid who was being dumb and jealous of me get to me during the summer after my sophomore year, which took from my confidence and had me stop doing the rock on hand gesture for a good few months to almost a year. That summer was when I started listening to extreme metal such as melodic black metal and melodic death metal to find something that would take my mind off that idiot kid. Some of the bands I listened to with a passion that summer were extreme metal acts such as Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, In Flames, Children of Bodom, etc...

Junior year then started. The fall semester of my junior year was the roughest semester I had in college academics-wise. I never failed a class in college, but I did earn 3 C's in my whole college academia, and the rest of the grades throughout college were B's and A's. I did graduate with Magna Cum Laude honors, so that rough semester had no effect in the end. Now I feel that the reason that I had a rough fall semester during junior year was because I started taking accutane for my skin. For a prolonged period of time until I finished my junior year, I suffered from bad acne. I took accutane for a year, and accutane is known for causing severe mood swings, irritability, and negative side effects of that sort. One time while I was on that medicine, I was angry about that kid I mentioned who was jealous of me, so I posted a Facebook note about how people should be nice, and the tone of the note was so angry that people asked me if I was cool. I almost lost a friend because of that, but luckily I told him the truth, and he understood. This kid took the note the wrong way and thought I was directing it at him, and I told him the truth that it wasn't him, and we were cool from then on.

My spring semester of junior year was better though. I took a philosophy class, which allowed me to at least give an effort with trying to believe in a higher power. For a good while before that, I wasn't sure what to believe in. I'll be honest, I'm still working on religion however. Recently, I am attending a local Catholic young adult ministry, and I enjoy the people there. I am not necessarily a practicing Catholic, but they are a good group, and a good influence for me.

Senior year was when I started becoming very interested in post grunge music of the 90s/2000s. I became very interested in the band Fuel, and one time during my senior year, I listened to the entire Sunburn album the whole way through in my on-campus apartment, and that is when I officially said that I enjoy Fuel, and more so the song Sunburn from the album of the same name. I also had my first girlfriend my last semester in college. Biggest mistake dating who I dated. I learned from that the fact that I prefer being single for now, but am open to somebody good-looking and who is a female carbon copy of me. I realized that it takes time to meet the right match. I am willing to take that time. I am interested in a long-term relationship right now, but I am in no rush. At the very least, I now know what constitutes a boyfriend/girlfriend situation. And I also learned the proper way to break up with a girl, after doing it in a jerky way after dating my first girl for a month. At least I did it the wrong way with the wrong girl, and not somebody who would be worth just remaining friends with, or eventually working out something again with.

Senior year was when I brought back the rock on hand gestures. I love rocking out, and am all about the rock. So that was good news when I started doing the rock hand hand gesture that Ronnie James Dio did before he died.

I got my first full-time job in August 2010, and I have been working a year there now. I am known for providing my \m/ rock star personality there while getting the job done. I am interested in complete rock out material now. Today, I realized that I am completely into rock music, and anything that rocks. I even have visions of doing vocals for a cover band at any event, events that have live music, including bar scenes. Here are some of the songs that I love headbanging/hard rockin out to/moshing to/etc...:

No Murder by Ill Nino
Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine
Now I Lay Thee Down by Machine Head
Slave Labor by Fear Factory
Cyberwaste by Fear Factory
Laid to Rest by Lamb of God
Walk by Pantera
Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana
What's In You by Black Label Society
Lonely Train by Black Stone Cherry
Help Is On The Way by Rise Against
Savior by Rise Against
Ready to Fall by Rise Against
Prayer Of The Refugee by Rise Against
The Good Left Undone by Rise Against
Story Of My Life by Social Distortion
Into The Night by Santana featuring Chad Kroeger of Nickelback
Waking the Demon by Bullet For My Valentine
My Own Summer (Shove It) by Deftones
Dig by Mudvayne
Internal Primates Forever by Mudvayne
Under My Skin by Mudvayne
Unchained by Van Halen
Josie by Blink 182
Pathetic by Blink 182
Anthem by Blink 182
Basket Case by Green Day
Isolation by Alter Bridge
Sick & Tired by Default
Deny by Default
Enemy by Eve 6
Santa Monica by Everclear
Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters
The Last Time Again by Lit
My Own Worst Enemy by Lit
Do Or Die by Papa Roach
Kick In The Teeth by Papa Roach
Let You Down by Our Lady Peace
Naveed by Our Lady Peace
Gasoline by Seether
69 Tea by Seether
Needles by Seether
Waffle by Sevendust
Licking Cream by Sevendust
Madman by Silverchair
Poem by Taproot
Awake and Alive by Skillet
Riot by Three Days Grace
Headstrong by Trapt
Still Frame by Trapt
Massacre by Escape the Fate

That is a sample of my rock out syndrome! I will rock you totally! Rock on and rock on for life yo! \m/ \m/

Monday July 25

2011-07-25T18:56:00.002-04:00

Well people, today is the Monday of the last full week in July. The weather is raining cats and dogs outside, and I am dying for the sun to come out. But we do indeed need the rain here in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region because everybody's lawns are drying up with a bad severity. So far today, I caught up with some old friends, and it was a pleasure to hear from some old faces that I haven't heard from in a while.

Tomorrow evening, I will be in West Chester for a planning meeting for an organization that I can give respect to, although currently, I am not the most religious person. They are a nice group of people, and I see a lot in them. I also have to practice vocals for a possible guest vocals bit on Saturday up at a bar in the Poconos. One of my best friends is in a cover band, and they play all the good stuff (in my opinion), songs that range from My Own Worst Enemy by Lit to Squeeze Box by The Who. Another one of the songs that they perform is my current number one favorite song, Santa Monica by Everclear. Santa Monica has been a personal favorite of mine since junior/senior year in college, when a friend of mine had the song posted on his YouTube account, and I first heard the song. This is a random fact, but some people have said that I faintly resemble the lead singer of Everclear, Art Alexakis. Everclear's a 90s band that I completely dig, and that I consider in my top 5 favorite bands. They rock, and they aren't full blown into commercial business like so many modern day bands/artists are. They have other nifty hits such as Everything to Everyone, Father of Mine, A.M. Radio, Wonderful, Volvo Driving Soccer Mom, Heroin Girl, When It All Goes Wrong Again, and Rock Star. But I may possibly be guest vocalist (not definite but possibly) on one of their songs. I asked for Santa Monica by Everclear, so I gotta memorize the lyrics so I can bring across a top-notch delivery that keeps the bar poppin'. I'm actually in the Chester County Library (Exton) right now, so I have to bounce shortly. I have to progress through my Monday evening. Thank god the majority of Monday is terminated. I would like to navigate through this week as quick as possible so that I can have another weekend to enjoy. I love the weekends, but the only problem is that the weekends happen too quickly. That's why Monday's are the days where everybody is like, "Oh man! It's Monday!" The first day after the end of a hopefully fun and eventful weekend.

See you in the next entry. Rock on as usual! \m/ \m/

Beginning of the Week of July 24, 2011

2011-07-24T18:22:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody! I am attempting to get back into my blog posts that I was doing earlier in the year. I enjoy writing and I want to continue writing my blog posts.

So far, this summer has been going well. On May 7, I went to West Chester University's graduation to see my friend and a bunch of other people graduate. Congrats to them! They will all succeed. I graduated in May 2010 from West Chester University, and I scored a job with my current company in August 2010 after I worked for Target during the summer of 2010 as a Photo Lab Technician.

Later during the month of May, on the 22nd of that month, I attended MMRBQ with my dad, brother, and one of my best friends. We saw the following bands perform: Rev Theory, Sick Puppies, Finger Eleven, Alter Bridge, Apocalyptica, Papa Roach, Seether, and 3 Doors Down.

Rev Theory had a good show. When I walked to my seat and began to stand up for the beginning of the entire day of music, Rev Theory walked out, and then they started playing. I was like, "This is gonna rock!" They started their 6-song set with the first song from their most recent album. The song title was Dead In A Grave. I began moshing. That was when I knew I will start going to rock concerts with people.

Sick Puppies took the stage next. At first, I thought they were average. But then I realized they weren't too bad. The bassist of Sick Puppies is a really decent bassist. At one point during their short set, she fell, but then kept on playing. That goes to show you that signed musicians are professionals.

Next upon the stage was Finger Eleven. Finger Eleven was good, but most of the songs they played were from their most recent album. I am more of a fan of Finger Eleven's older material (self-titled and earlier). They only played a few songs from their self-titled, and nothing from my favorite album, which is the album before their self-titled that contains the songs First Time and Drag You Down. Finger Eleven started their set with their song Good Times, and that song rocks.

The next band that took the stage was the band that I wore their t-shirt to the concert for, Alter Bridge. Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy know how to play guitars. Their dueling guitar solos toward the end of their set was exemplifying. The only problem was that they were the loudest band there...so loud that I needed to cover my ear for a few seconds here or there. Nothing wrong with loud, but one does need to hear at least what the band is playing with clarity. Alter Bridge still rocks though and they remain one of my current favorite bands. I even own an Alter Bridge t-shirt.

After Alter Bridge completed their set, that marked the halfway point with the number of bands that have performed compared to the number of bands that still were waiting to perform. About a half hour or so later, the second half of the concert began with Apocalyptica. Apocalyptica was okay. They are definitely different, especially since they play with cellos with the exception of the drummer who simply plays the drums.

After Apocalyptica completed their set, Papa Roach took the stage once the stage was set up. Papa Roach was the most energetic band of all the bands that performed. I thought that they put on a superb show. Jacoby Shaddix, the lead singer, has the most energy out of anybody!

Two more bands were waiting to perform, Seether, and afterwards 3 Doors Down. When Seether started their first song, I was like, "This rocks!" They started their set off with their song Gasoline. They have a dirty and grungy sound. During their set, there were television sets on the stage that were all distorted and trippy in-between songs. And Seether did a perfect cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box. Nirvana and Seether sound very similar.

Once Seether ended their set with their song Remedy, the stage was being set up for the MMRBQ headliner, 3 Doors Down. 3 Doors Down took the stage and they rocked. I wasn't familiar with the first song that they started, but the second song they played was from my favorite album of theirs. The album is titled The Better Life and the song was Duck and Run. 3 Doors Down was more mellow than the other bands, but they still put on a good show. At the end of their set, when they did an encore, they started the encore with Kryptonite, and then the last song When I'm Gone. I knew that they would play Kryptonite during their encore, because Kryptonite was their first major success hit.

I did not have much more happening in the month of May. June arrived. I went to Denver, Colorado for work in June, which was fun. It is definitely nice to explore different locations, especially ones that have never been explored ever.

In July, I visited one of my best friends in Baltimore, MD. We went to Six Flags America the one day, and then the Air and Space Museum in Washington the next day. I never realized planets were as cool as they actually are.

Now we are approaching the last week of July, and then August will be here. There is still a lot that I have to look forward to.

Here's what entails this week: I am going to call some old friends tomorrow (Monday) when I have time. On Tuesday, I am attending a planning meeting for a church organization in West Chester. I am not necessarily religious, but there are some cool people at the organization, the select ones I see a lot in. I may attend the event that the same organization has on Wednesday as well, just haven't decided on that one yet. Next weekend, I am seeing my friend's cover band perform in the Poconos. The band name is Substitute. Become a fan of them on Facebook if you want to listen to a good cover band. An interesting thing they do is the song medleys that contain different portions of different songs. Check them out for a fun band to listen to.

On August 26, I am attending RockstarUproar Festival in Camden, NJ with my dad. The bands that are performing are: Orange Blossom Special, Hell Or High Water, Art of Dying, Black Tide, Sevendust, Escape the Fate, Bullet For My Valentine, Seether, Three Days Grace, and Avenged Sevenfold.

I don't know anything about Orange Blossom Special. I just listened to them on YouTube, and they definitely know how to rock. I don't know any of the music that Hell Or High Water performs. I do know that they are an offshoot of the band Atreyu. I am not familiar with the bands Art Of Dying or Black Tide as well, although I believe that they are two more post grunges bands that I will probably enjoy. I know a bit of Sevendust. Sevendust's second album titled Home is my favorite. I love the songs Waffle and Licking Cream. I have two Escape the Fate albums, and they sound cool to me. They have a screamo metal feel. Right now, my favorite song by them is titled Massacre. I am quite familiar with the band Bullet For My Valentine. I truly enjoy their album Scream Aim Fire. On one of the bonus versions of their album Scream Aim Fire, they do a rendition of No Easy Way Out from the Rocky IV film. Their version is interesting. I know Seether extremely well. As I mentioned earlier in the blogpost, I saw Seether at MMRBQ this past May 22. They rock. I truly enjoy their cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, and I am hoping that they perform it again when they are back in Camden, NJ on August 26. I am very familiar with the band Three Days Grace. They are from Canada, and they are known for hits such as Animal I Have Become, Riot, Pain, and Break. My friend from work who I was hired with back when I started with my current company started singing lyrics from Riot to me one day, and I was like, "That's Three Days Grace!" He's like, "Yea man! Some of this rock music is hilarious!" I looked up past set lists for Three Days Grace concerts, and some of the cover songs that they have performed include Eminem's Lose Yourself and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Free Fallin. One of Apocalyptica's songs, titled I Don't Care features the lead singer of Three Days Grace Adam Gontier as the vocalist in the song. Back at MMRBQ, Adam Gontier was not there when Apocalyptica closed out their set with I Don't Care. The guest vocalist with Apocalyptica that day sang it. But as I was looking at the set lists for Three Days Grace, I noticed that Apocalyptica's I Don't Care was one of the songs on the set list. It will be cool to hear Adam Gontier and Three Days Grace perform Apocalyptica's I Don't Care with Adam, the original singer on the studio version of the song. And last, but not least, the headliner band of RockstarUproar festival is Avenged Sevenfold. I am hoping they put on a good show. I like them and a lot of their songs. My favorites from Avenged Sevenfold include Beast and the Harlot, Bat Country, Critical Acclaim, Afterlife, Almost Easy, Scream, Nightmare, Unholy Confessions, and their cover of Pantera's Walk. Pantera does the best version of Walk, but I feel that Avenged Sevenfold's cover of Walk is okay too.

The next few months are going to rock, and I will be going on an airplane again, just like I did this past June, for a work-related event. I will be traveling to Nashville, TN, and am looking forward to traveling again.

I will see what I can do about writing more blog entries throughout the week. My blog address is http://motykaandrew.blogspot.com. If you have any suggestions for me, please submit a comment using the blog comment feature.

Enjoy the week people! Rock on! \m/ \m/

March 22/23

2011-02-23T00:12:00.001-05:00

Well. We are down to 7 days before March 1 is here. And we just had a minor snowstorm Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Hopefully that is the last type of snow for this winter. I am already thinking about my plans for the summer. I would like to go to WMMR's annual MMRBQ, held at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. This year, the bands that are performing are:

3 Doors Down
Seether
Papa Roach
Alter Bridge
Apocalyptica
Finger Eleven
Sick Puppies
Rev Theory

I know a decent amount about 3 Doors Down. I am a big fan of their debut release The Better Life. The entire album is all-around decent.

I know a decent amount about Seether as well. One of the facts about them that is interesting is the fact that they are from South Africa. I don't know many popular bands that are from South Africa other than Seether. My favorite song by them is the song that Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz at one point used for his at-bat music. The song is Remedy. They also do those songs Fake It and Broken. They have at least two versions of Broken, one just by Seether and the other that features Seether and Amy Lee from Evanescence.

I know a decent amount Papa Roach as well. I love their first album Infest. It has the song Last Resort. My favorite song from their album lovehatetragedy is She Loves Me Not. Another good song they do that I like is Forever, and Forever is from their album titled The Paramour Sessions.

Alter Bridge is in my top 5 favorite bands right now. They consist of 3 of the members of Creed and lead singer Myles Kennedy, who was in The Mayfield Four and is the lead vocalist of Slash's solo project. I have all three Alter Bridge albums. All of their material is top notch quality. I like most, if not all of the songs by Alter Bridge, including the songs that have not been singles. They are a hard rock band right from the heart.

I know a limited amount of information about Apocalyptica. What I know about them is the fact that they have done several cover albums of bands such as Metallica. Apocalyptica is what is sometimes referred to as Cello Metal. They use cellos to create a metal-like sound. In some of their more recent albums, they have added guest vocalists, drums and percussion. Some of the guest vocalists have included Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil and Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stone Sour.

I know a fair amount about the band Finger Eleven. Most people know Finger Eleven for their radio-played song Paralyzer. To me, Finger Eleven is more than just Paralyzer. My favorite Finger Eleven album is The Greyest Of Blue Skies. That album has a heavy sound to me. My favorite Finger Eleven song is the lead track off of The Greyest Of Blue Skies, which is titled First Time.

I don't know much about the band Sick Puppies, other than the fact that they do the song Odd One. I enjoyed the song Odd One for a decent amount of time. It is still good, but the music I listen to is so varied, that I like one song one day, and then I stop listening to that same song for a while, and then I return back to the song.

I have heard of the band Rev Theory, but I cannot correlate any song to them. If I were to YouTube a song by Rev Theory, I probably would recognize the song and the band. I have a feeling that if I YouTubed them, it would be the same situation as it was for me when I rediscovered the band Tantric's first album. I never knew that Tantric's song Astounded was Tantric back when it was played on the radio. When I was a senior at West Chester, I started listening to Tantric, even though their first album was released early in the 2000s. I heard the songs Breakdown and Astounded, and I was like, "I remember those songs. They were good." The same case would probably occur if I were to try and rediscover a band like Rev Theory, with sources such as YouTube.

I am ready for the end of this week now. I am attending a bowling event this Friday evening, which I am looking forward to, as I always enjoy socializing and creating bonds between me and others. Saturday is busy for me too. I will be going to the Poconos' to see one of my best friends' band play in a bar there. That should be fun as it will be a nice opportunity for socializing and introducing myself to people. When I went to bars when I was a senior at West Chester, what I loved most about the bars was the fact that one could relax and socialize with people, and not worry about everyday work there. The bars do indeed have a point. It will be nice to be able to go to a bar again. I have not been at a bar since I was at Chickie's and Pete's in November. It's always great to go out and socialize with people. Bars and socializing are one of the best ways to socialize with people and create relationships and possible girlfriends and things of that sort.

Well I am about to bounce. I need to get my rest. At least the first part of the week is done now. Here's how I view days:

Monday and Tuesday

They are the completely busy and warm up days.

Wednesday

The meat, or middle of the week. Wednesday is the day when you are in momentum to a decent extent. Wednesdays are usually busy, but they do not cause a remarkable amount of stress.

Thursday

Relative Friday. I believe I have already discussed this in a previous blog entry.

Friday

The best day of the week. The day that is before the start of the weekend.

Saturday

A day of rest or socializing.

Sunday

More of a rest day than Saturday. Sunday is a rest day before Monday rolls around again.

Until the next entry, cheers!

Countdown To March 1 (12 Days)

2011-02-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

Hello again. I haven't done an entry in a while, and I am feeling one today, especially because the weather we have today in the Philly region is A+ perfect. My Mac dashboard says that the weather is currently 66 degrees. This is the type of weather that I crave.

I had a day off from work today because I am working on the weekend, so I decided to take a trip into West Chester, the town in which I went to college from the Fall 2006 semester until I graduated in the May 2010 semester. I got a haircut at my friend's barber shop, Champions Barber Shop. If you are in need of a high quality haircut and want a friendly atmosphere, head right into West Chester, and you can find Champions Barber Shop on Chestnut Street, one block down from the YMCA. Champions is near the intersection of Chestnut Street and Church Street. I guarantee you will quickly become a regular customer of Champions Barber Shop once you try it at least once.

But back to my blog before I continue on an endless rant, I was in West Chester today, and I walked to West Chester University campus after the barber shop. The campus was alive today. If there is one thing that I miss about West Chester, now that I'm graduated, it is the endless number of females around. I'm single right now, so to me, I felt very comfortable, and also because of the fact that I am not married and don't have to worry about what a wife thinks about my finding other women interesting. Speaking of ladies, I will continue this entry about my opinion of relationships and what not.

My First Relationship: February 25, 2010 - April 5, 2010
Let's go back to the beginning of February in 2010, when my ex-girlfriend befriended me in downtown West Chester, asking to hang out all the time and what not. I never had a girlfriend before that, so I was like sure, not knowing that I truthfully could do way better than what I was dealing with at the time. Two weeks into getting to know her, she rushes into something more serious and asks me to be her boyfriend. So I said yes. My relationship status on Facebook I changed to In a Relationship with so and so (I do my best to not mention names on my blog, out of respect for anybody, even for people I have broken ties with such as my ex. One never knows who may know that person and that sort of thing). Things seemed to be going well for a month or so, until around April 3, I received a Facebook chat message (Yes. You read correctly. A chat message rather than a phone call or an in-person meet) from my ex, which said how I am a failure and that sort of thing. I noticed that she had been implicitly mentioning me in her Facebook statuses, mocking things like the fact that I was trying to be happy despite how things were going. I could not sleep at all on the night of April 3, and April 4 was a wacky day for me, as I was trying to focus on my work and could not because of the things she said to me. That night, God sent a friend of mine to me. I received a Facebook chat from a friend of mine who had some experience with the dating thing. He was down-to-earth with me, and he simply said that I'm wasting my time with my ex. He advised me to rethink what to do regarding the relationship. So I thought things over as I was resting in my bed around midnight, and finally, around 2 AM on April 5, the light bulb blinked in my head. I decided that it was time to finally break up the relationship. I did not want to make contact with her in person or by a phone call because she had already made a bad impression on me based on the things she had said about me, and to me. So I decided that because she was telling me on Facebook what was supposedly messed up with me 1-2 days before, that I would end the relationship on Facebook. I know that sounds low, but I typically would not do that. I just didn't feel comfortable letting her know in person or by a phone call. I sent a message saying how I felt and how I didn't appreciate the things that she said to me, and that they were completely false, and that we're done. I was able to sleep the entire night after that. So that ended my first relationship ever with a girl. Now I've moved on from that. I've had several friends who were girls after that until now, but no official relationships. I'm currently single, and not annoyed either that I'm single to some extent. Of course it is nice to be in a relationship, because if one is bored, that person has someone to have fun with. At the same time, however, the drama that entailed my first relationship is drama I completely prefer to avoid, and is what turns me off completely.

A good lesson to understand is that no relationship should be rushed. People need to take their time in getting to know someone before taking a relationship to the next level. I don't feel that there is a set time frame to get to know someone, but the best option is to do what feels natural. My friend from work always emphasizes about being natural. Being natural will make every person their own individual self, and natural is what causes attraction to a specific person.

I am currently listening to music on my Mac, and relaxing for the rest of my day off. It is supposed to get colder this weekend, and I actually don't mind it being cold this weekend because I have to work anyway, and my job is worked indoors.

There are 12 days until March 1. Until then, cheers, and cheers to nice weather! :)

Countdown To March 1 (February 6)

2011-02-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hello again! Today is Super Bowl Sunday. I'm not a big fan of football, but if I had to choose a team, I would say the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though I would prefer neither team to be in the Super Bowl. My natural feeling says to dislike Green Bay over Pittsburgh. Black Eyed Peas are performing during half-time, and that show should be decent. I want to see them perform some of their older stuff, songs such as Let's Get It Started. Nothing against their newer stuff, as there are people who like their newer material, but my personal Black Eyed Peas preference is their older material.

There are 23 days until March 1. Even though the weather may still be chilly on March 1, knowing that the day is March 1 makes me feel good, because it is a landmark date toward the beginning of spring.

Before I transferred to the public school that I graduated high school from, I went to Bishop Shanahan High School for two years. I played baseball at Shanahan during my freshman year. The reason I'm mentioning this is because I faintly remember March 1 being the first day of the baseball season during my freshman year. I have a unique memory. I remember things that happened that nobody else can remember if I were to ask them.

I can remember some things to as far back as when I was two years old. I lived in a town right off of Interstate 83 near the Mason Dixon Line on the Pennsylvania/Maryland border from the time I was two years old until I was five years old. My parents would take me to the Baltimore Zoo, which was approximately 45 minutes from where I lived. I remember being a backseat driver to my mom. I would constantly remind her as to which exit to take off of I-83 South so that we wouldn't miss the exit. This brings up another point I want to mention.

My backseat driver tendencies was more or less a beginning to my science-oriented background. I moved from Central Pennsylvania to Chester County in June 1994, and I started 1st grade in my elementary school that I went to. I finished 1st grade, and then I began 2nd grade. Second grade was the year that I first mentioned about "what I wanted to be when I grew up". I was very interested as a second grader into interstate infrastructure. I found interesting that when one traveled Westbound on the Interstate 76 Schuylkill Expressway coming from downtown Philly, and eventually reached the Interstate 476 interchange, that the exit for Interstate 476 South was on the left side of the road. Like I didn't find anything else cooler. I still find highway infrastructure interesting. That is one of the reasons I enjoy taking road trips.

Speaking of road trips, I want to go on a road trip this summer. I first thought about this today to take my mind away from the cold weather. Thinking about a distant beach such as Virginia Beach doesn't sound too bad to me right now. If I were to go there this summer, it would be the first time I would be able to travel across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which is currently designated as US-13. These Countdown to March 1 blog entries in addition to thinking about the beach steers my mind away from this cold winter and the wet snow that remains outside right now from the last major snowstorm.

It looks like we may get some snow Tuesday morning. I hope it is nothing major. At this point, I feel as if whatever happens is what will happen with the snow. I can say, however, that once the milder weather rolls around, I will be satisfied. Summer is a type of freedom to me. One can wear loose clothing and can have fun with the weather, as well as enjoy the outdoors, unlike the winter, where one needs to bundle up and stay warm.

Again, there are 23 days until March 1. Until the next blog entry, cheers!

Countdown To March 1 (February 4)

2011-02-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

Hello again. It looks like I missed an entry or two in the past several days. I've been extremely busy with everything, and this is the next entry. I want to get every entry possible, but sometimes time does just not permit. I will not fret over it, but rather complete another entry here. So it begins:

Whenever a plane approaches an airport to make final before landing, it gradually decreases altitude. That is how the weather is as spring approaches, specifically the temperatures. The weather gradually warms up as spring, or in my blog's case, March 1, approaches. This weekend, I think the temperatures will be slightly warmer than they have been. As of today, there are 25 days until March 1. I can't wait for the warm weather. And I just watched on CBS3 Eyewitness News something about the Phillies packing for Clearwater, hence Spring Training. I am so ready for this warm weather, it is not even funny.

I don't have much to say for this entry, except that the warmer weather is approaching. It makes me feel good. The spring is a time where I can go outside and enjoy the nice weather. I can go out and have baseball catches with friends of mine. I can also take drives in my Pontiac Grand Prix with the windows down and music blasting, especially the old music. I really enjoy 90s music, especially alternative rock/grunge/post grunge. Here is a list of some of the bands, especially 90s alternative/grunge/post grunge that I enjoy:

Alice in Chains
Beck
Better Than Ezra
Blur
Bush
Candlebox
Collective Soul
Creed
Dave Matthews Band
Everclear
Fastball
Fuel
Godsmack
Green Day
Incubus
Korn
Live
Neil Young
Nirvana
Our Lady Peace
Pearl Jam
The Presidents of the United States of America
Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Reel Big Fish
Seven Mary Three
Silverchair
Soundgarden
Stone Temple Pilots
Sublime
Third Eye Blind
Toad the Wet Sprocket
311

That is a decent sample of some of the music I will crank the volume up to in my car stereo when I am driving.

Everybody has their own love or interest. For some people, it takes a long time to find what is truly endeared the most. For me, it is music in addition to some other things. Music is probably my most endeared thing aside from friends and family. My closing question for this blog entry is very insightful and profound.

What is it that is truly you? What is your main interest? What is it that you truly love to do the most?

Until the next entry, cheers and happy weekend!

Countdown to March 1 (Entry #3)

2011-02-01T01:17:00.000-05:00

Here is entry #3 in the countdown to March 1. I didn’t get to the entry for January 31 actually on the 31st on January, so I will attempt to write two entries for February 1, entries 3 and 4. But the countdown to March 1, as of today, February 1, is 28 days.

Well, chances are that I am working from home today (February 1), depending upon the weather. We are supposed to get another winter storm. Hopefully this storm will be one of the last winter storms of the season. I am looking forward to a lot of things as this week progresses. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I may go to the Flyers this Saturday with a friend of mine. This Thursday, I may meet up with another friend, a friend that I last saw the night before the first night that I worked from home for my job. The last time I saw this friend, we ate out to Applebee’s on Route 3 in West Chester near Five Points Road. Also, I have plans to hang out with another friend of mine this Saturday, plans to possibly go to a farmer’s market in Booth’s Corner. The farmer’s markets usually have nice vinyl albums to buy. Speaking of vinyl, I am going to discuss a bit about vinyl and music that I love.

Some people thought, or at least I thought a few years ago, that vinyl died out. I found out during my sophomore year at West Chester that vinyl was still being made. I found that out through the college’s radio station that I was a DJ and webmaster for while I was a student. Sophomore year is the first time I decided to start buying my own CDs. I saw that my Dad and friends of mine had their own CD collections, so why not start my own CD collection. I would purchase $5 CDs every Wednesday in West Chester's Sykes Student Union when the CD vendor would come in and offer a traveling CD store. I got albums such as Sinner by Drowning Pool and Stranger Than Fiction by Bad Religion. There were times, and there still are times, where I received/receive Amazon.com gift money. Usually, with the Amazon.com gift money, I find myself purchasing mainly CDs and DVDs. With my most recently received Amazon.com gift money, I purchased both films in the Harold and Kumar series, Road Trip, and Spiderman 3. The music I bought during this round of Amazon.com gift money was CDs such as All The Pain Money Can Buy by Fastball and a greatest hits compilation for the band Filter. I also bought the first two albums by the southern rock/hard rock band Black Stone Cherry. The first time I bought music CDs on Amazon.com, I purchased CDs from glam metal (hair metal) bands. Two of the CDs included Cherry Pie by Warrant and Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister. Two summers before this past summer, I purchased a greatest hits compilation of Winger and a greatest hits compilation of Dokken. Dokken and Winger were two glam metal bands from the 1980s. Glam metal is the more "professional" term for hair metal.

I also tend to buy CDs from stores such as Best Buy and Target. Some CDs that I have bought in actual live retail stores include Dude Ranch by Blink 182, a greatest hits compilation of Everclear, a greatest hits compilation of Reel Big Fish, a Saving Abel album (Saving Abel is a post grunge band), Blackbird by Alter Bridge, the Gracious Few's self-titled release, etc. Sometimes, I buy CDs from independent record stores such as the Mad Platter Record store, which is located near the intersection of Gay and Church Street in West Chester, PA. Two examples of CDs I have bought from Mad Platter are a Biohazard CD and The State by Nickelback. The State is one of Nickelback's earlier albums. Originally, before I started listening more seriously to Nickelback, I thought that Silver Side Up was Nickelback's first album. It turns out there is material before Silver Side Up. My favorite song from The State is Leader of Men.

Well, I better get some sleep soon. Who knows what this snowstorm will bring? Chances are that I will be working from home tomorrow, and possibly Wednesday. I now have a portable keyboard, portable mouse, and all that interesting gear needed for an IT Support position.

I am currently listening to One Headlight, by the Wallflowers. Although the song has a depressing message with the lyrics, I feel that when I wake up this morning, I will feel a "I want to dominate the world" feeling with songs such as Headup by Deftones or I Want To Conquer the World by Bad Religion.

Until my next blog entry, which I am striving to post either before or after work tomorrow (February 1), cheers and good night!

Countdown To March 1 (Entry #2)

2011-01-30T14:18:00.001-05:00

Here is entry #2 in the countdown to March 1. The countdown today is 30 days. In other words, we have 4 weeks and 2 days until March 1.

There is a chance that we will get some type of wintry mix in the Philly region this week. I don’t want to lead anybody on with an inaccurate forecast, but I have an inner gut feeling that this storm will not affect commutes from 12 PM and later on Tuesday very negatively. Yes, drivers will still need to use serious caution, but it should not be the case where we are all plowed into our homes and can’t get out anywhere. It may affect people who have to work shifts starting anywhere from 6 AM to 11 AM, nonetheless.

Next weekend, I am trying to go to a Flyers game with one of my current best friends that I made in college. I became friends with him through a radio show he did on Thursday nights for West Chester University radio 91.7 FM the Curve for a decent amount of time while I was a student there. He and I share similar music tastes and we both appreciate Philly sports. I will need to buy tickets in the next few days. The last time I was at a Flyers game was in the 1996-1997 season, and it was one of those Indian guides outings. I was 8 years old in the middle of 3rd grade. The Flyers were still playing at the spectrum I think. I will be honest and say that I am unfamiliar with the names of Flyers’ players. That doesn’t mean I can’t educate myself though in less than a week’s time.

Let’s make this another decent week, and until the next countdown until March 1 blog post, cheers!

Countdown To March 1 (Entry #1)

2011-01-29T17:01:00.001-05:00

I have decided to do a blog countdown until March 1, 2011 happens. Why March 1, one may ask? I reached out to my former meteorology professor from the college I went to on LinkedIn, asking him when he thinks the weather will become warm. I was told not in the next few weeks, but that the weather will gradually warm up as the month of February progresses. Hence, my best guess as to when warmer weather would officially be here, or almost here, is March 1. In my college meteorology class, I won a contest the semester I took the class in which temperatures would need to be guessed. Each Monday during that semester, a temperature forecast would be sent to the professor. The number of degrees off you were from the actual forecast for that day, that would be the number of error degrees counted against you for that week in the contest. For example, if the forecast for March 1, 2011 actually would be 68 degrees (I’m dreaming there but maybe that will happen), and I would guess to the professor 67 degrees, then the number of error degrees would be 1 degree for that day/week. This contest occurred for most of the semester, other than the first week or two. In other words, the contest occurred most weeks once a week for 13 to 14 weeks. I ended up in first place for the contest at the end of the semester, with a score of 9 degree error for the 13 to 14 weeks that the contest ran. My name is mentioned every semester at the first class of each semester for that class, and time will tell when my record will be broken. Another thing I want to mention to young college students, who go to my college of West Chester University, take meteorology if you get the opportunity. The course may be named Our Atmosphere (ESS 170). Take it, as it is a fun and insightful class, especially if you enjoy any type of science.

From today, the number of days until March 1 is 31 days. Each entry, I will work to talk about some topic that is on my mind.

Today, what I will briefly mention is in regards to a post that WMMR 93.3 FM posted the other day on their Facebook page. It was a post that polled WMMR's Facebook fans regarding what bands they would like to see perform at WMMRBQ at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ this year. I have never been to MMRBQ, and I would like to see myself there this year. Last year, several of my favorites performed, yet I wasn't able to go. I think I had to work at Target that day, back in the summer when I worked photo lab at my local Target. WMMRBQ gets all my favorites each year usually, and it is something I would like to see myself going to for the first time this year.

In regards to WMMR's post regarding what bands people would like to see there this year, with a maximum allowance of 7 bands to list, I listed the following bands as a Facebook comment response: Tool, 311, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Black Stone Cherry, Bad Religion, and Korn. From what WMMR mentioned on the post, it looked like they were more or less hinting at Tool being there above every other band. I love Tool. I would love to see them there. I have friends and co-workers who have seen Tool multiple times. They are a band I would love to see live. As sophisticated and intelligent Tool is, they are a band that truly allows me to expand my intelligence. Songs like Lateralus and Schism allow me to think deeply, yet relax. It’s like yoga. Yoga allows one to exercise, but relax at the same time. Tool is mental yoga.

Right now it is the weekend, and tonight I am going to watch Saturday Night Live, which tonight, features Jesse Eisenberg as the host. Jesse Eisenberg from The Social Network. That will be a fun episode to watch.

I'll talk to everybody later. I have to continue multitasking, including watching MLB Network on television, listening to music within my iTunes collection, communicating via text messaging/live phone calls with my friends, and taking breaks in-between to find some food. I offered to buy my parents pizza tonight. Let's see if they take me up on the offer. I always enjoy being hospitable.

Until the next entry, cheers!