cryptic

This was going to be a cryptic post about self-examination and the ramifications of not paying attention to that, nor acting upon it.

Instead I will say this:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - that's me

"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (adam), how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" - that's also me

"But our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ..." - this is where I belong

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" - this is what happened so that I can have a life after this one.

I must find that life again, and realize that this isn't all there is. Serving, Loving, and knowing why I believe what I believe are all necessary.

I'm lost in so many other thoughts right now

hmm

I could be very unpopular. Really I could. Thank goodness for the wise words of Steve Dillon

BAND WAGON!

And wow have I fallen off of it.

first "5 things" of the new year

1. Justin Benge - the guy at "A" school who I thought was the most bitter, sarcastic, obnoxious people, has become a very good friend who is looking out for me. Incredible musician, and a no-nonsense sailor.

2. Being 1st call (locally that is) for the Jacksonville Symphony when it comes to sub players. And I actually have #3 to thank for that.

3. Tony Wise - 2nd trombone of the Jacksonville symphony and my teacher. He's an AMAZING bone player, and killin teacher, especially considering how young he is. #2 and #4 are thanks to this guy.

4. Being 1st call for Gainesville Chamber Orchestra also! Wahoo!

5. All of my friends who have been able to come see me this year - Brian, Ed, Aimee, JJ, Dave and Scott.

6. Gateway Church - cause without their series on the blessed life - I don't know that I ever would've fully understood the blessing of Tithing and Giving.

5 things for halloween week

FYI - this post has nothing to do with halloween at all, but I WILL be carving a pumpkin and roasting pumpkin seeds with my bride tomorrow!

1. I don't know what exactly to say that I'm thankful for but - I just played with the Jacksonville Symphony - and it is the best orchestra I have ever played with. It was exhilarating!! Sure we weren't playing huge staples of the literature (it was a halloween concert complete with Harry Potter and Hall of the Mountain King) but it was AWESOME. To get technical - it was amazing to be a part of an orchestra where I didn't have to wonder if the strings were going to be able to play the music, the woodwinds would be in tune, the principal trumpet would actually lead the brass section, and whether or not the horns would actually be able to hit the high notes (much less in tune). It was truly humbling and enlightening experience. So....I'm thankful for it.

2. Passion - without it, #1 wouldn't have been possible. Musicians do a unique thing, and when there is passion behind it, it's just that much better.

3. Dave - my friend dave myslinski came down - he's a suit who works for ALEC as the director of their educational task force. We were school mates together at rutgers and he had a conference down here, and just decided to make it a week-long vacation to visit me and keep me company while Ashley is in Dallas. He's a fun pal and we went gun shopping. He's also my go to guy for when I don't understand what's going on in politics, or I need to know the dirt on a particular candidate.

4. US Navy - as far as I know (and I may have already been thankful for this via blog), I make more than probably 80% of my colleagues in the professional trombonist realm (and probably more than most of my colleagues my age).

5. The sermon that I heard on tithing - 10% of the first fruits. God says test Him - so we are doing it. My car sold after this decision and our first action regarding it - allowing me to fix the tinting on the mustang, and do other maintenance things needed and pay off another credit card.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow....

no matter how big or small.

long time - no 5 things

I know that I'm WAY over due. like possibly a month. My apologies so here to make up for it...I'll do 6 things!

1. I may have already been bloggoly thankful for him - but Brian Neal - THIS time for keeping me accountable to keep up with this so that I can continue to look for contentment instead of something that darkens life. And for playing halo whenever I want to :-)

2. For beautiful music. My audition circuit buddy Sarah Paradis who is the new trombone teacher at Bemidji State University in Minnesota wrote a blog about why she does what she does, pointing out several instances that give her inspiration, motivation and reinforces the passion for what we do. I decided to open my ears to find something that would do the same thing to remind myself of my love for playing music. Go figure...it starts with a quartet arrangement of a showtune :-) One Hand, One Heart - from West Side Story

3. Dave Ramsey - for the inspiration to get rid of debt and showing the evidence of the benefits of it. And for telling morons that they're morons when they need to be told that.

4. Hope - nothing better to lift your spirits than that. In the smallest things. And in the biggest things. You can always have it if you choose.

5. Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Kenji reminded me of this the other day by laughing about the fact that he's never stressed out because he doesn't think about tomorrow (except which uniform to show up in). It's a beautiful concept. Thanks Jesus! :-)

6. Per Diem for out of town trips - which means I'm ordering the steak!

5 things

1. Twitter - cause i don't feel the need to accept everyone as my friend...and i can be more honest there. and then go and get a good laugh by re-reading old tweets.

2. New Jersey - never did I think that I would be thankful for my time there. But lets be honest - I made great friends there, played great music with even greater musicians there, I got a terminal degree there (well...almost). And I got fat on AWESOME food :-)

3. CFL - aka Command Fitness Leader (not Canadian Football League...sorry Ed). The chief who is charge of this is very down to earth, knowledgable, and is probably 1% body fat, IF that. I can ask him anything about food, diet, exercise and he is always willing to help.

4. Chris Sanchez - My tough, cuban-italian, sometimes vulgar, foul-mouthed friend who has a friggin' heart of gold. Just don't tell anyone.

5. RTC - cause now I have a reference point to look back at when I think things aren't going well...and I can say that I've definitely had it worse.

this weeks 5 things i'm thankful for

1. Dillon Music - The whole team at Dillon music is AWESOME. Some very good friends and musicians there help to keep me up with the latest and greatest gear, and advice on all sorts of things related to music. My time there was invaluable and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

2. Anthony Wise - New Lesson teacher. Young, hip, killer player, and it's looking like he's going to be good for me as far as tromboning goes.

3. Iphone - Call me shallow if you want, the iphone is a phenomenal tool that helps me keep in touch with friends, schedule work, remind me of things I would most certainly forget otherwise, and it keeps me entertained with things like Coindozer and I do not apologize for that.

3b. Facetime - AWESOME way to keep in touch with friends/family and see their bright and shining faces!

4. I'm thankful for my desire to workout more and get rid of some of this tummy tum tum.

5. I'm thankful to have an aggressive horn player as part of my quintet. They are usually not. Or if not that, it's always something.

So many things I want to type now!! But I must go. It's time to learn.

5 things

In a recent study (that my mom ran across) - some researchers found that those who wrote down 5 things they were thankful for each week during a 12 week survey, were more successful at achieving their goals that they had set at the beginning of the study, and were also healthier during the course of it. So here goes:

1. I'm thankful for my wife. She takes care of me, organizes my mess that I manage to create for us, and does all this while staying fit, and working on her own fashion line.

2. I'm thankful for the Navy band. I have a job where I play trombone, and that's about it. I have better benefits than any civillian performing job out there, and my salary is greater than most of them also.

3. I'm thankful for realizing that finance was not the field I wanted to go into, and heading back into music. I think i'm much happier because of it.

4. I'm thankful for the finance job I DID have when we first got married, cause it gave me a good wake up call to get my finances in order.

5. I'm thankful for XBOX live. Laugh all you want, this helps keep me connected and enjoy a past time with a few of my very best friends.

Till next time!

I found where cuts should be made....

Salary of retired US Presidents .............$180,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate ........................$174,0​00 FOR LIFE
Salary of Speaker of the House ............$223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders ......$193,400 FOR LIFE
Average Salary of a teacher ..................$40,065
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN $38,000
I think we found where the cuts should be made!

Now you may say - that's not comparing apples to apples, that's not a soldiers/sailors retirement. Yeah - it'll never be that much until they reach flag officer level...and that takes more than 4 years. try at least 5 times as long.

And also - their job is no more serious or important to our national safety/advancement/integrity. It's BULL.

And they will not point the finger at themselves first. They point it at military retirement. At medicaid. At welfare. At hard-working, high-earning Americans.

dave

Partying with dave this weekend. We make it a semi-tradition to have a cigar every now and then when he's around. So I will be doing that. Don't worry people - i'm not a big time smoker. In fact...i'll probably be looking for something like a vanilla flavored cigar. I'm a man. wanna fight about it?

Got assigned to Brass Quintet for the navy band here (which I may have mentioned in the last post) I'm REALLY excited. I feel back at home, and also a need to practice now. So that should make the monotony easier! I am loving this job. LOVING it.

Also - iPhone 4 + facetime = FANTASMIC.

Post bootcamp

It's been a long time since the last blog. SO much has changed. First of all i'm in the Navy now. Good ol MUSN (Musician Seaman) Garcia is my official title and I literally play "full time" for a living. Let us look back....

Bootcamp was miserable. My friend Jim Watkins can attest to this - Watkins was my protege at Rutgers, but went into the navy to play bone 1 month before I did. He said the day we saw each other in the galley was the worst he'd ever seen me. I will not disagree with him. I was absolutely disheveled emotionally and physically. My head was shaved (full heads of hair help hide fat faces apparently), my clothes were too big, and I looked like a scared 18 year-old. Which wasn't that far off...just a decade. Long story short - I DID get "beat" (a navy term for intense working out in full camos and boots....pain.) for the stupid antics of dumb teenagers just like I was afraid I would. I hated life for about 4 weeks straight. I know...it sounds dramatic. I'm dramatic. Whatever. The only thing 2 things that I look forward to, was getting in my rack at night...and the letters from Ashley, family and friends. But I made it through. Passed the PT tests, lost 22 lbs overall, and graduated. It sucked.

I almost got set back in training because of a misunderstanding AFTER I had graduated bootcamp (but that's another story) - but I didn't, and on december 1st, I flew to Norfolk, Virginia and reported to the Musician A-school at Little Creek Joint Expeditionary Base in Virginia Beach. Ash moved down from jersey the following week and we got an awesome 3 bdr/1 bath house right up the road from the base.

A-school was interesting. It was easy. Time consuming - and sometimes stupid. But easy and beneficial to my military knowledge and to my chops. I got just enough phone signal in the practice rooms to stream netflix, so I would watch "Scrubs" while I was doing long tones or whatever monotonous exercises I could think of that were good for the chops, but boring to the mind. Made some GOOD friends that I miss very much already. And learned alot from my teacher - Ssgt. Ebo (USMC). He's a KILLIN Jazz player that is rivaled by few as far as I'm concerned. I also got to witness the "hurry up and wait" that people talk about the military being about. I can do that. That's what smartphones are for. I got the 4th highest overall score in the past decade from the school - which I do attribute to my good friend Diane informing that I should take the academic portion seriously (thanks Diane!) and because of that I'll be getting an advanced promotion to E4 in mid-August.

I received emailed word that I would get stationed in Jacksonville, which was our first choice for duty station. Imagine my surprise when I received orders stating I was going to Rhode Island. Well, this was apparently a surprise to the masterchief who writes our orders...and he informed me that that was a mistake and I was definitely going to Jacksonville. And that is where I write to you from now.

We have a condo on the river, with a porch that overlooks the complex's pool. I'm 5 minutes from base, driving against traffic. I was assigned as the trombonist for the brass quintet. My wife is happy, my dogs are happy. I paid off my car and we are aggressively paying off debt, which in turn makes my bank account happy. We are close to finding a church home. And I was home by 12:30 today. God is good. Look how far He's brought me.

4 days

Remember that time I started to blog about doing P90X? Hahahahahahahahahahahahmmm....

I just spent about an hour reading my friend Tim Wylie's blog - he's a buddy that I met when we moved to Searcy and I started going to the Westside Church of Christ. I was in his brother's wedding, we used to go over and jam at his house. He always had girlfriends and guitars. We actually lived together one summer too, it was a party. If you knew him - he hasn't changed (other than maturity and brain size...oh family size too), or at least that what it seems like after reading his blog for an hour, catching up on a year of his life.

In 4 days, I'll be chillin at home, and my Navy Recruiter will roll up to my house in a government car, and pick me up. I'll go to MEPS in Brooklyn, where they will give me hotel briefing. I was informed this basically is them telling us not to do it with anyone while at the hotel, and not to leave. The following morning I'll go back to MEPS (Military Enlistment Processing Station?) at the buttcrack of dawn, and pee in a cup as well as get measured again. Then they'll give me a plane ticket and I'll go to an oath ceremony. There I'll swear in - and say goodbye for 2 months to the sweetest, most beautiful woman I know. This is by far, the hardest thing about the military, and I literally thank God it's only for 2 months. Oh, i'll also say goodbye to best friend/roommate Ed (which will stink too...but not as much, love you Ed). I know God will take care of her, and us - but that certainly doesn't completely alleviate the human emotions.

Basic Training - 8 weeks of doing EXACTLY what I'm told to do. No more. No less. I've been in touch with my friend Jim Watkins' mom recently - he's a rutgers grad who joined the navy after I did, to do the same thing (play trombone), but somehow managed to get to leave sooner. She is saying he's had a lot of downtime for the first few weeks of basic. Now, Jim is an alumni of the Cadets of Bergen County of DCI fame. So his version of a summer and mine are quite different, and his version of a "walk in the park" is also, I'm certain, quite different than mine. I'm expecting it to be bad. I can do the pushups I need to, I can do the situps I need to...but the running. I'm sure I'll get better at it. Especially with someone forcing me to do it.

Everyone who has been there is telling me to go for some sort of leadership position while I'm there among my division. Not a bad idea because I think it goes towards promotion. The quicker I can get to E-4 - the quicker I can get to my test for E-6 (see previous post).

In Wylie style - i'll talk about something else. I polished all my nice mouthpieces at the shop yesterday and got a DB-90 Metronome. The most awesomest ever. Everyone at dillon's has been nice and kind and sorry to see me go, and I do appreciate it. Makes me feel good.

I will miss my two babies. Even though bubble still poops randomly and sometimes without any warning at all. I think Kiko likes his eyes rubbed - probably because they stick out so far from his head.

Write me letters while I'm at basic. I'll need it to keep the sanity I have from being destroyed by uninformed and immature 18-year-olds. :-)

5 year goal

1. Become the best trombonist among the US Navy Fleet Bands

2. Become debt free

3. Be ready to take the E-6 Test by the end of my first enlistment

4. Finish my Doctorate

5. Be a legitimate improviser

Title

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God"

I should get back to that - that title is SWEET.

run

1.5 miles in exactly 12:53. Good enough for a "Good - Low" pass on the US Navy scale.

I'm not stopping there though. i'll bet I can at least get down to 210.

practice time

Practice time! Sat in and watched the book for Damn Yankees out in Northport the other night. Then played the following night. Gaps in fundamental abilities. Not good.

But fixable.

Tired of Waiting

I'll admit - this post is being written in a semi-copycat manner thanks to a recent blog by my friend Alice-Anne. She and her husband are in transition time in life, as am I. Or rather I will be. Her outlook on the whole thing is encouraging and so right as far as the treatment of the unknown. She knows now where she will be going, though she didn't always. And knows how they will make ends meet, though they hadn't figured it out still up until very recently. She also knows that her future is in the hands of the Creator, which basically means - She's set.

The title of the post is actually pretty amusing the more I think about it. I've known about my entry date into the US Navy for about 3 months now, and I'm excited and so ready to get to it. I'm tired of the state of limbo i'm in, and yet I press on knowing I have a good thing waiting for me at the end of this 5 month "rainbow". And I really am tired of waiting - BUT the irony lies in the fact that so many people who I talk to say how the military (particularly basic training) is a bunch of "hurry up and wait." I can attest to that - MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) seemed to be the epitome of this. Hurry and get to the next physical test....now wait until we call you...then hurry up to the next...etc.

The only sucky thing that I can see about joining the Navy is the fact that I actually am getting used to New Jersey. I kind of like it here, Ashley and I have a blessed life here, with a few very good friends. Some think the fact that I have to go and join the military I might get sent off to war. To that I say this - if the country becomes so desperate for soldiers that they are sending bandsmen? Chances are that I already would have volunteered to protect and fight. Or they may start up the draft again. Who knows.

The way I look at it is this: I will have a job that will pay me to play daily, practice, stay in shape, and be part of something with a great long-standing tradition. Not to mention the perks like housing allowance, Loan Repayment, and did I mention they are paying me to play?

Bring it on.

(in a couple months that is...i guess I can wait till then)

overlooked

Finally have found a place we can dig into (as far as church is concerned) that isn't a struggle to get to everyweek because of distance and ambiance (for lack of a better word). During the sermon ran across a verse which basically stated to be kind to everyone.

This is INCREDIBLY hard. and yet incredibly simple.

and I've become increasingly sucky at it. Guess I should work on that.

day "3"

HOY. Plyometrics kicked my tail. It literally took me 3 days for my legs to recover - I suppose this is due to the fact that i've been working my upper body lately, but haven't done anything but run for my lower body which is muccccch different than jump training.

Ate some things I wish I hadn't over the week, but back on track now. Its amazing how after eating right for awhile, that one night of fish tacos and a brownie sunday can send your body into revolt.

day 3 was shoulders and arms. Glamour workout he called it! I feel like i didn't actually get the hang of all the moves and though I can feel the work today, i think next time i can definitely go harder.

On a side note - Jim Pugh wants me to take a lesson with him over Skype. :-)

P90X - day 2

Yesterday was probably the hardest i've ever worked my self in the last 3 years. It felt good, and there is a twinge of not wanting to do it again buttttttttttt I will.

Ed did last night's workout with me - today he may or may not do it we'll see, but eitherway, it's nice to have a video because it distracts my mind from wandering and keeps me focused on the task at hand. I'm gonna go do it now.

In a completely vain statement - the sweat was running along the "Y" shape of the top of my chest and bottom of my neck and I looked ripped. And I think that gets me excited about the fact that I could get ripped up again, even though I know I'm not right now. hahahaha! BRING IT!!