I'm Not

Another idea that is very rough, only partially explored but it's all I've got at the moment. Kind of self explanatory. It's about taking a job you never really wanted, making good money and having some good things come of it but being unhappy in how that has affected what you are allowed to do and say as well as the fear of losing what you have, or what you think you have, in order to reclaim something of what you were while retaining all of the good things in your life. Scary idea.

I'm Not

Looking back into the past I see that

I’m not living the life I imagined I would

I’m not the person I thought I’d be

Is that what happens when you don’t have a plan

When you’ve lost the drive you thought you had

In retrospect perhaps it never really was there

I daydreamed of a life of simplicity

Where I didn’t wear the uniform of society

No dress shirt and tie to strangle me

No position of authority to hold me down

No responsibility for the work of others

Now I’m not doing the things I think about

I’ve lost the sense of humor I once held

The wit and the spark of laughter held back

Limited by the rules of engagement

It’s not where I envisioned ending up

Can I ever make it back to that person

Wile retaining something of who I've become

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

First World Problems

Another rough draft of something I came up with this week. Not sure I've nailed it down but the idea is in there somewhere. I call it First World Problems even though the only things listed are really found in Third World countries, at least for now that is. It's kind of a reverse thing.

First World Problems

I didn’t wake up today dreading

The fear of what could come

No dogs hung from a street light

No menacing messages attached

no electricity to light my way

because the plant blew up again

Nobody in my neighborhood

Disappeared into a van

Never to be seen alive again

My first world problems don’t include

The fact that my house is four poles

Covered by plastic walls and a tin roof

No running water, no heat, no air conditioning

Nature gives all that is available

I wasn’t abandoned by my family

Or made to work instead of school

Scraping by to have enough to eat

Grateful for the crumbs that fall to me

My first world problems don't include these

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Where's My Spring Break?

This is shaping up to be one of those days, weeks, years for me. Spring Break has started and all of the kids are out of school for one week. That’s right, they get to enjoy a week of no school. Even if they don’t get to do as much as they want they still don’t have the stress of getting up early and slogging their way through school for a whole week. That’s a good thing. Since it is such a good thing then I have one question. Why don’t adults get this benefit?

Think about it. Who needs the time off more? Kids who got time off in the fall AND about three whole months in the summer or adults who get time off when they can get it approved from their boss? That’s provided of course that they can afford to take time off and actually do something relaxing. What’s the point in taking time off from work only to have your wife decide that since you’re home then you’re available to get all of those chores done that she’s been saving for you? That is not a vacation, believe me I know. Often it’s equal to if not an increase in your stress level.

This phenomenon of adults getting time off actually does occur in some countries. Many European countries not only give you the paid time off but they also have paid holidays. Some even basically shut down so that everyone can take time off from work. One of my previous employers gave us Federal holidays off with pay and if it was your holiday to work you also got a paid day off during the week. I loved that about them. My present employer offers no such thing. Instead sick days, vacation days and holidays are all lumped together and you accrue a certain amount each pay period. The amount you accrue actually is very close between those two companies.

Of course it was even better when I was in the Army. You accrued thirty leave or vacation days a year. All Federal holidays you were off and if they holiday fell on a Thursday or Tuesday the weekday after or before became what is known as a training holiday. Unless of course you had a duty assignment you had to pull. Think of it, every Thanksgiving you had a four day weekend that didn’t affect your vacation time. Theoretically you weren’t supposed to go very far from your duty station so you wouldn’t have any problems reporting back to your next scheduled day of work. That theory of course didn’t stop anyone from doing so. It was a great way to save up vacation time and then cash it in when you get out of the service (like I did).

Unfortunately most of us adults in the U.S. get left out in the cold when it comes to getting break time from work. The mentality here is to work, work, work and then work some more so that you can save up to go on vacation. Unfortunately most people never actually get to take that vacation. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve taken a real vacation while I’ve been with my present employer. I’m sure I could find a bunch of studies that would show how important it is for workers to take time off and get rid of their stress by taking a break but I’m too busy to do that right now. I’ll just look forward to the vacation I will (hopefully) be taking this summer. Three weeks off and you won’t be able to reach me by phone. Sounds like heaven to me.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Death From Above

A strange thing happened yesterday while I was driving my family to my best friends house. We had gone to a mall so that I could look at some shoes and were on our way to a birthday party for Tom's daughter. Not just any birthday mind you, it was her sweet sixteen birthday. As I was rushing East on Highway 44 in Tulsa to make it on time (we didn't) a bird came flying in at an odd angle and dive bombed us, smacking into the left side of the grill. I saw it happening and tried to avoid it but when you're in the left hand lane going at least sixty miles an hour there isn't much you can do.

We took the extremely loud hit from this kamikaze bird and kept driving hoping that no serious damage had been done. To our car I mean because there is no way a bird could survive a hit at that speed. It was also impossible to pull over and look for the bird either, the traffic was way too heavy to even think about it. What's sad is if the bird had been about two miles further up the road it never would have happened. That was where traffic ground to a halt and then slowly moved forward for several miles. Why? Because there had been a minor accident but both cars were pulled off of the road and a police car was sitting next to them so every car felt the need to slow down to five miles an hour in order to see what had happened. Rubbernecking at it's best.

Still that's not as bad as what happened to me once in Maryland. My roommates and I were on our way home from work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. and suddenly traffic slowed to a standstill all because a car had broken down and was pushed off to the side of the road. There wasn't even anybody in the car or around it. Pretty sad if you ask me. I don't know why people want so badly to know what has happened even when it's clear that absolutely nothing has happened.

Anyway, we got to the party and our car was okay. It went well and I was able to discuss a few things with a few people, get some information about some things I need to do (more on that intentionally vague topic later) and then Tom's band showed up so that they could practice. This time though Shane brought out a singer to jam with them. A female singer. Now don't get me wrong, there isn't anything wrong with female singers, I just wasn't so sure how their music would sound with a female singer. It's very loud and can be quite aggressive. After hearing them jam on a Led Zep song I can attest that this female singer can sing very well. Just as they were trying to improvise on a new Clutch song I had to leave to go to work (just got back) so perhaps I'll get another chance to hear her doing Alloy songs. If only they had been able to record something.

Ah well, that's how life goes. One minute you're speeding down the road and the next you're colliding with a maniacal bird that has bad radar. Then you're off to a birthday party followed by some heavy metalish music. What can you do? Just keep your head down and try to move forward. Persevere. Advance. Keep trying. That's all I got tonight, I'm tired and ready for bed. It's time for my brain to shut down (too late). Until next time.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 26: From All Over

Episode 26 is ready featuring a lot of cool music from Argentina, Peru, and the U.S. mainly. I also talk about the connection between the bands Death and Rough Francis and the documentary "A Band Called Death" which I have yet to see but it sounds fascinating. Scott Mosier (one half of Smodcast) produced the film. On to the music:

NOFX - Ronnie & Mags
Argies - Senales Difusas
Will Hoge - America
Something Fierce - Empty Screens
Olaya Sound System - El Monte
Van Stee - Color In The Paper Planes
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Nirvana - Breed
Rough Francis - Waiting
Death - Freaking Out




Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

New Lyrics - The Direction That We're Going

Another first pass at some new lyrics that I started a few days ago and just got back to today. The first two verses and the first two lines of the third verse are pretty much the way I came up with them last week other than shifting the order of a few of them. The rest came out today. I kept going until I felt I had said all there was to say on the subject. There may be more coming later though. Just a feeling.

I have to wonder at the direction we’re going

About the choices we have to make

Zero tolerance for kids playing children’s games

Soon enough you’ll send them to fight your wars

What kind of twisted message are we sending

Do you wonder why they’re so confused

The lessons being pressed upon them

In the name of holy social appearances

This is no longer the land of freedom

It’s become the land of everyone offended

Why do you want to put your adult fears

On those that just want to be young

So quick to look and place your blame

Never thinking of the consequences

What kind of people will grow from this

Do you think this will really affect change

I grew up in the land of the free

It’s become the land of free to do as you’re told

The land of not responsible for your own actions

Place the blame and play a political game

Attack the branches yet never the root

The problem keeps on growing sprouting anew

You can’t see because of the blindfold you wear

Hiding from the sight of common sense

A five year old schoolchild isn’t a terrorist

A six year old doesn’t always mean what they say

They come from a place of total honesty

No ill will intent in the language they use

Get rid of the one size fits all policy handed down

Stop reading the press release and take a stand

Use your brain stop relying on what someone else says

Use your brain, use your brain, use your brain

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

All Episodes Of Ten For Tuesday Are Now Archived

The day has finally come! Today I moved the latest episode of the Ten For Tuesday podcast over to the Internet Archive so from this point forward when I upload a new episode on Podomatic it should also be uploaded on the Internet Archive shortly thereafter. It took a little while but I finally got it done. Next on the agenda is to backup the notmovingpictures podcast and eventually I'll get around to putting up episodes of my old radio show, The Ska Beat. At some point I also need to do a database for the music that I've played

Interestingly enough the episodes on Podomatic seem to be downloaded a lot more on the Archive. Not all mind you but overall. The most has been 44 which I know isn't much by most peoples standards but I'm not most people. The simple fact that 44 people have seen fit to download something that I put together blows me away. Hopefully this will help build an audience that likes some of the music that I like myself. If notmovingpictures builds there as well I'll be over the moon. There are more creative things coming down the road from me some of which may surprise you but I don't want to speak of them until they are actually done.

Look for some new lyrics to come, I've got one that is partially done that came to me the other day and I haven't had a chance to get back to it. It concerns the ridiculous pattern of recent times of young children being suspended from school because they want to play children's games. You'll see what I mean. Until then...........................

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.