Too Late

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Procrastination is like masturbation.  At first it feels good, but in the end you're only screwing yourself.”

-Unknown

There is a reason why the Gun’s Quote is coming out late this week. It’s partially because I thought it would be fun to play on this week’s theme. The other and larger part is because last weeks’ Gun’s Quote got out on Wednesday so I needed to put a little space between the two.

I feel like I have gotten a lot better about procrastination. Yet, this past summer I hit a brick wall, and I get to pay for it now.

We’ll start with how I was without a car last week. Again. This time, it was clearly and undeniably my fault. You see, I knew my transmission was going out. (Reference Gun’s Quote: “Desire”) I had made the decision to repair it as buying a car right now is equivalent to buying stocks while they are high instead of low. Did I fix the car? Sure I did… but only after the transmission went out in the middle of the highway and I had to call a tow-truck to haul my sorry butt to the transmission shop. Naturally, because I didn’t make an appointment, they couldn’t get me in right away. One week later, I picked up my car on a Friday night. I owe Erik, Laura and Kris many thanks for pitying me enough to taxi me around town.

Perhaps the more painful thing that I managed to mess up, however, was tickets to the symphony. I love the symphony. I have always gone as often as I could and have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve always felt it was one of the best-kept secrets in Kansas City. Well, that secret was let out after the opening of the Kauffman Center. (Reference Gun’s Quote: “A Day with Dad”) While I had the opportunity to buy season tickets this past summer for less than $300, (For 14 concerts) I turned it down because I didn’t think I could make every one and I didn’t think I wanted to see them all.

Oops.

The first symphony they played this year featured one of my favorite songs of all time, the Pines of Rome. (YouTube Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYz7PfHrDWk) I missed it. Why? Because it was sold out. So is Yo-Yo Ma. So is Beethoven’s 9^th. Nobody slept to get tickets for the German Requiem except me it seems. All of a sudden I’m not the only guy in the city who wants to go see a symphony. It would appear, however, that I will not get to see many of them at all. (Those that are left have fairly high ticket values going right now… two or three individual symphonies now cost what 14 would have this summer.)

Procrastination was one of those things that you could do as a kid and get away with it. Teachers would let you turn in assignments late, or you could get an extension. Mom and Dad would usually let you get away with doing your chores later. There were no huge consequences, it seems, for not getting things done on time.

To be honest, there still aren’t. Now, so many good things in life simply pass you by. I’m not hurt nor suffer any consequences because I’m not going to the symphony this year, but rather I know that a real opportunity was lost and real beauty will be seen by others, but not me. The car still got fixed and my friends will be my friends and will forgive me. Yet, I had to ask them to go out of their way for longer than what I should have. I have inconvenienced them even if they claim otherwise.

We all know better than to procrastinate, but it seems I have re-learned the lesson the hard way. I do hope my pain will serve as a reminder that this path is not the preferred one. Life’s too short to miss out on all the wonderful things that cross your path. Jump at them if you get the chance. Don’t wait. It isn’t worth it.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

A Day with Dad

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Be especially good to those who are good to you.”

-LLIC 2004

Even the parking garage was beautiful.

On Saturday, Dad and I got in to our suits and drove up to the parking garage for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in the Crossroads district of Kansas City, MO. There, we jumped out of the car and walked into the building, and were in absolute awe over the $400-million+ facility that was constructed all from donations and trusts of civic leaders, businessmen and corporations who dreamt of a world-class facility in the heart of Kansas City.

The magnificent structure was built by one of the world’s most imminent architects, Moshe Safdie. Acoustics were done by the world-renowned acoustician, Yasuhisa Toyota with Nagata Acoustics. The lights, the windows, the whole facility was built minding the finest detail and highest quality components. It was an exquisite facility.

Of course, we were there to hear the symphony. It was the grand opening of the Kansas City Symphony’s new home in the state-of-the-art Helzberg Hall. It was also Dad’s Birthday, and I decided that he and I were going to go watch something that we would not see again in our lifetimes; the opening of a cultural and artistic icon. How do you open a world-class performing arts facility? You invite Itzhak Perlman to play the violin there.

While Dad loved the symphony, I think his biggest trip was meeting George Brett. Of course such a high-profile event garnered the attention of so many local celebrities. He and George got their picture together, and it is now proudly posted on Dad’s Facebook page.

The weekend was magical. I wish I could have taken Mom, too, but the budget was definitely strained just to get two tickets.

In any case, I’m very glad I was able to give Dad a memorable weekend. My parents have been very good to me and have afforded me opportunities that most people can only dream of. These opportunities helped me grow into the person that I have become. I want to be good to them because they have been so good to me.

I hope that if there are people in your life that are good to you that you are able to be good to them, too.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

“No.”

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“No.”

-The Officers of the Cameron High School Student Council

2001-2002 School Year

I haven’t shared this story with many. I suppose the reason why is because I didn’t want it to be misinterpreted. I didn’t want people to think of me as arrogant. I didn’t want people to think that I was apathetic or didn’t care. I assure you, neither is the case here. However, on this day, I feel like this story which I have mainly kept to myself all of these years needs to be told. Its timing seems appropriate.

Ten years ago, and just a few days after September 11^th, I and the other officers of the Cameron High School Student Council were called into the Art Room by our advisors, Mrs. Brizendine and Mrs. Fish. It was about a week after the tragic attack in New York, and the administration had a request for us. They wanted us to change the theme that we had selected for Homecoming that year.

“We just think it would be more appropriate for you to use the theme of ‘Heroes’ where we celebrate our police, firemen and the military.” Mrs. Brizendine said.

The original theme that the Student Council had selected was the one I had brought to their attention at the very beginning of the year and got the other Executive Officers to buy-off on during our summer planning session. That year our football field was 100 years old. It was started as a football field by the Missouri Wesleyan College. When the College went defunct in the 1950s, the field was deeded to the school district, where the Friday Night Lights took place ever since. The first football game in town was played on that field in 1901.

Now, fast-forward to today for a minute. You see, sometime between 2001 and 2011 the terrorists won. The terrorists won when 7-year-old boys have their penises groped by TSA agents to make sure they aren’t carrying any heat aboard an airplane. The terrorists won when an 85-year-old woman is cavity-searched to make sure she isn’t storing a bomb up there. The terrorists won when I had to throw my toothpaste away just to get aboard a plane to go back to my beloved Michigan for a weekend.

They also won when they convinced our government to start an entirely separate cabinet office just to guard against them. They won when we steadfastly refuse to use our energy more efficiently and continue to fund them through our liberal use of oil, despite all of the public knowledge linking the late Bin Laden and many of his cronies to the oil industry.

10 years and trillions of dollars later, we still fear an attack, a bombing and a threat on a day when we should all pause and remember those whose lives were lost in one of the most horrific scenes of modern time.

I don’t know a lot, but I do know something about fear. When I fear, I am defeated. When I feared on the football field, that same one that turned 100, I was sacked, tackled, threw interceptions, and had my feet collapse underneath me. When I feared in school, I flunked tests, grew anxious, ran out of time on assignments and stuttered during speeches and presentations. When I feared during work, I made mistakes, lost time and had to face an unsatisfied boss. When I fear, I am miserable, unhappy and worthless to the world.

That is exactly the goal of terrorism. Terrorists don’t want to really kill anybody. They want everybody to fear them and in so doing control entire nations and economies. So they have.

So how do you combat a feeling?

“No,” I said. Mrs. Brizendine almost looked shocked. In discussing with the other officers in the meeting we made a bold decision. We were not going to allow our senior year to be defined by a tragedy. We were not going to allow nameless faces who knew nothing about us to define our school that year. We were not going to come back to our class reunions year after year after year to talk about how our Homecoming was about a terrorist attack. We did not want our yearbook, the culmination of our school’s history that year, to tell any other tale other than our own celebration of our history and legacy. So we have.

Because with all due respect to those people who chose September the 11^th to do some form of service work, you should want to do that everyday. You should honor our military, police and firemen every time you see one. Kindheartedness, service and love should not be reserved for times of horror. They should be daily staples in our lives. We should not give those who seek to harm us the dignity of only one day where we all come together as Americans. No, we should do that everyday. Then, and only then, will we ever hope to overcome the fear that they have so successfully entrenched into our lives.

When we as StuCo officers came together and told our administration, “No,” we really told the terrorists, “No.” Refusing to allow my senior year to be defined by September 11^th is, to this day, the most important and proudest decision I have ever made in my entire life.

We, as a country, shouldn’t be defined by it, either.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!

Desire

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Have what you like, but like what you have.”

-The Gun

The above quote, if its words are in a different order and are placed with other words between them, can be attributed to several people and are found on several websites. However, the two sentences above don’t seem to be replicated verbatim anywhere on the internet. Interesting. I certainly don’t think I was the one who made the above phrase up, but beings that the internet cannot verify that anybody else can claim it, I guess my own little motto that I carry around with me on a daily basis is, in fact, my own. (If somebody knows that I am in error, please tell me!)

This past week, my car, Blizzard Bullet, decided that it’s transmission had a few too many miles on it and thus bucked and jerked and made a little dash board light come on to tell me that it was quitting. The transmission guy verified it… I was staring a $2,000 repair in the face.

I decided it was time to go shopping for a new (and by that I mean different) car. So, I cancelled my annual trip to go camping (I couldn’t drive down there #1, and #2 I would just worry about it the entire time I was down there anyway) and went car shopping instead. After all, with it being Labor Day, there were bound to be sales, right?

The Hyundai Azera was nice, but it needed work. Fairly certain that I was going to have to buy a water pump and a timing belt, and the tires were bald. The Honda Accord was actually hideous. First of all, why is beige such a popular color? Blah… but anyways, it was obvious that the interior took a beating and the exterior wasn’t much better. It needed a paint job. What does a Honda that is three years newer than my Mazda (but in worse shape) and with 2,000 more miles cost? $10,000. Ha!

The Acura could be best described in the same words that my late grandfather, Jerry, would constantly say: “It’s like you put this car on and take this car off.” It felt more like a cocoon than a car. Just the five minute ride in that thing made my back hurt. Sheesh.

Of the five cars I drove this weekend, the one I liked the most was… mine.

I think there’s something to be said for liking what you have. I think there’s something to be said for being happy with what you have. I think there’s something to be said for desiring what you have. You see, in a world where we are constantly being pulled to buy this and that, grab the latest and greatest thing or follow the newest fashion trend, the idea that I can turn my car on and know that for the money nobody else can offer me anything that can make me happier is… bliss.

So, instead of sinking the $10,000 to inherit somebody else’s problem, I will sink $2,000 to re-inherit my own. After all, I know something about the guy who’s driven it for the last seven years, and I have a decent idea about its accident history. (Ahem.) The rest of the $8,000? Well, I did end up with the aquarium I wanted this weekend. (No, it didn’t cost $8,000.)

Know what else? I like the aquarium, too.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!