stress

I don't handle stress well. I'd like to say I do, and envision myself the pinnacle of stoicism like my father. There's a man for you. 21 years in the army, 3 tours of vietnam, wounded once, then year-long 'temporary' assignments - one on the island of Shemya, the third to last island in the Aleutian chain with massive radio dishes listening to the soviet union; and another on a peninsula in turkey overlooking the caspian sea, massive radio dishes listening to the soviet union.

All that and he has yelled at me a total of 2 times in my life. He didn't need to yell. He had that look, the speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick mannerism, which kept me in line quite effectively through my raging male adolescent hormones coupled with my mothers temper.

I've been in my job about 18 months. During my first review, my boss noted "he does not suffer fools lightly".

indeed.

As our economy tanks, and my wife and I are saddled with an exceptionally poor financial decision in the form of a three family rental property in Manch-Vegas, my stress level has shown little potential for abatement.

So how does one who does not deal well with stress or suffer fools lightly deal with stress?

Sex? No magic there. I've been married for 13 blissful years, Let's just say you single guys really aren't missing much in that department.

There's always substance 'therapy'. A reasonable short-term regimen, but continued use leaves you less well prepared to deal with the situations creating the stress, the situations compound, and you get stuck in a downwardly spiraling morass of stress-inducers.

Exercise. While not giving the immediate gratification of sex, or detachment from reality of drugs and alcohol, does have the benefit of low-pass-filtering the ebbs and flows of bio rhythms and lifes speedbumps.

So, I've been running alot. I've been a licensed bike racer for 20 years, but over the last few I'm finding the peripheral situations associated with racing create as much stress as the activity alleviates. running - not so. It's the getting outside that does it. I could start my typical winter training program and lock myself in the basement for 8 hours/week. I'd be stronger and more fit come the end of march, but still really pissed off. Instead, I'm running about 5 hours/week outside.

I'm looking forward to the warmer weather when I can start commuting by bike to work - one of the best stress relievers to date (for me). Gets the yayas out.


till then, Maybe I'll try to strike some sort of formula with sex, alcohol, and running....not necessarily in that order.

more music

yup,
molly hatchet

my life set to music

My friend Solobreak put some stuff related to music on his blog, and it inspired me to to some reminiscing of my own.

First show - jethro tull boston garden 1979

favorite show - rick derringer fitchburg theater 1980

best performance - bob seger boston garden '81 (recorded on the 'nine tonight' album)

rowdiest show - ZZtop cape cod coliseum '81 - loverboy opened (whose bright fucking idea was that?) and got bood off stage, staties were finally brought in after the show was over and no one was leaving the parking lot, fights all day and night.

loudest show - pat travers band fitchburg theater '81

worst show - ozzie solo, two years running, centrum '84+'85. gawd he sucked.

most repeats - zztop 3 shows, j geils band 3 shows

biggest let down - rush, centrum '82 sounded to much like the album.

biggest pleasant surprise - Nazareth, orpheum, '82

Best guitar work - rick derringer, fitchburg theater, '79 and Rik Emmet (triumph) centrum '84(?)

best drum work - neil peart of rush, centrum '82

best take-control-of-the-audience-and squeeze-their-brains show - nine inch nails, centrum, '97

best we're-just-up-here-fucking-off show - joe perry project, palladium, worcestor, '83(?)

last show - The Offspring centrum, '02


Other bands I've seen live -

Kansas
black sabbath (sans ozzie thank the gods)
blue oyster cult
foghat
blondie
david johansen
loverboy
ted nugent
damn yankees
james taylor
new england (remember them?)
van halen (david lee roth and sammy hagar)
sammy hagar solo
david lee roth solo
depeche mode
cypress hill
the the
stevie ray vaughn
robert cray
the english beat
david crosby solo
don henley solo

This doesn't count all the local groups I've seen in the past 25 years at clubs and theaters. I know I've missed a few, maybe I'll list them in my next post.....six months from now