Tossing Tires

"You need not believe in what is or what isn't, you need only believe in what might be." - T.O. Hob

"To who we are, what we've done, and the great things I'm sure you're all going to do." - Hob's "A Toast to Friends"

"Damn man, my name got more play than Jesus." - Palomba, on the second strangest part of the weekend (the first involving a sombrero and pom-poms)

"My Palombo itches." - The Third Most Disturbing Thing I Heard All Weekend (the first again involving a sombrero and pom-poms, and the second involving the phrase "I'll be the caboose")

We're doing it again. I don't know how. I don't know why. The voices talk about them and then they appear. They're calling the shots again...but I'm still in charge.

It's funny how you can dodge the mystic shit for so long, and it comes back in spades the minute you start feeling good about something. Start thinking there's a chance. Start seeing the future for what it can be, and not what it is right now...a dream.

The hardest part of other people making up their minds is that there's no guarantee I can do anything to change them. I can change most decisions I make, can change my own mind. I know that. But I can't force other people to change their minds (ok, I probably could...but I choose not to). People make promises, but I can't make them keep them. I can only keep mine. And I swear to God I always will.

I have loved many people in my life, and I will always be there for them, whether they know it or not. They need only say the word.

But now it's time to love myself (and not in the dirty grow hair on the palms and go blind way, but in the taking another crack at this whole life thing way). Somebody saved my life once, and a whole lot of other people have done their part to make it worth living. All things considered I've got it pretty good. I've been down before, maybe never for this long or in this way, but I've certainly been down lower than this. I've always bounced back, and while the comebacks may not last as long as the slumps, they're always there. And that's enough.

So here's to old friends, and new friends, and friends I've yet to meet.

Here's to yesterday and what today means for tomorrow.

Here's to inspiration.

"Think everybody's talking about you, And conspiring to bring you down. You're thinking that nobody loves you, Ever wonder why I'm still around?" - Good Riddance, One for the Braves

"Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a deuce, Another runner in the night."-Manfred Mann, Blinded by the Light

"When everyone's lost, the battle is won. With all these things that I have done." - The Killers, All These Things That I've Done

"If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger,You know in the end, I'll always be there.But when you're in doubt, and when you're in danger,Take a look all around, and I'll be there." -When In Rome, The Promise