I was watching Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads Festival” DVD last night which features guitar legends trading licks for an entire day in Chicago in the summer of 2007. One of the performers was John Mayer and he more than held his own in the company of his heroes. Seeing him on stage earning nods of approval from BB King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton made me think of a conversation I had with him 6 years ago.

It was January of 2002 and Sixthman was assisting Lyrics for Life in collecting auction items for their first event. This charity was formed by Ken Block of Sister Hazel and its mission is to ask artists to handwrite lyrics on anything from a pair of blue jeans to a guitar and to send it to Lyrics for Life to be mounted and auctioned. The proceeds go to benefit cancer research and the enrichment of people’s lives who are surviving cancer. There was an emerging artist whom I had met a couple of times named John Mayer who had just appeared in Rolling Stone as an “Artist to Watch” and who lived in Atlanta. I reached out to him to see if he would help us and, a couple days later, he called to let me know he had picked up a new electric guitar and had written the lyrics of “Back to You” from his debut album on the guitar back in a silver sharpie. He asked if I could meet him in the parking lot of a Home Depot the following Saturday morning so he could give it to me. It was refreshing to see that John had spent his own money and had taken the time to react so quickly to help us. As I pulled into the parking lot that afternoon, I saw John standing in front of a beat-up white van holding a black electric guitar.

I got out of the car and we talked for a few minutes. I congratulated him on his recent success and I asked him how it felt. I will always remember what he said because it was a response unlike anything I had ever heard from an emerging artist. I have asked this same question in the past to bands that had just been signed to labels and were playing in my club back in college. I usually got something like, “It’s about time we got noticed and we are excited about not having to play in shit-holes like this bar anymore.”

John’s response was “I am being given the benefit of the doubt by all these people whom I have never even met and it’s a great opportunity. Now I have to get out there and earn their respect by playing.”

I guess he rose to the occasion.

BOOK OF THE WEEK – The Go Giver….Quick read about a young man who is shown the way of the world of business by a wise man via a series of daily lunches over the course of one week. This book offers great lessons about giving more than you take and not keeping score.

Please forgive me….I am not your typical blogger. This is actually my first blog ever!

The year was 1997, and I was suddenly in a place in my life where I needed a new challenge. I was unhappy with my job and realized I wanted more out of life than working in a restaurant. I had been in the restaurant industry for eight years and decided it was not my calling. Unfortunately, I had decided to continue working after graduating high school rather than attend college and my options were limited.

While making the decision to leave my job, I also decided to move to another state. I moved to Marietta, Georgia in hope of finding a new and exciting job. I searched for a couple of weeks for this exciting new position and came up with nothing other than an offer from a day care center. This was not the ideal job I had hoped to obtain. I passed on the opportunity and continued with my search.

I was at my mother’s house one day faxing my resume when I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and there stood a middle-aged man dressed in a business suit. The man was there to inquire about the new fence my mother had around her pool and back yard (the fence company used my mother as a referral). After my mother allowed the man to look at the fence, she mentioned that I had just moved to the area and was looking for a new job. The man thanked my mother for allowing him to look at the fence and went on his way. I continued to fax my resume and search through the employment section of the newspaper. Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. I went to open the door and to my surprise the same man was standing there once again. The man asked what type of work I was interested in and if he could have a copy of my resume (thinking at this point that he is weird). We began to talk about the company that he worked for and the fact that he was looking for an assistant. He remembered that my mother had told him just a few minutes earlier that I was looking for work, and he wanted to see if I would be interested in coming to his company for an interview.

Three days later this man and three others interviewed me for a marketing coordinator position. I had no idea what a marketing coordinator was supposed to do, but I knew it sounded more glamorous than anything else I had come across. I received a call back for a second interview and a few days later I was offered the job. I had little to no computer skills and knew close to nothing about office work. The nice man that asked for my resume just a few days earlier turned out to be a Vice President for the company. He offered to have me trained and increase my salary as I progressed. He now considers me to be his “success story”. Not sure that I would call myself a success, but I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity as it helped pave the road for my career.

I worked for the company for a little over a year and then a change in my personal life lead me to Florida. While the man that guided me over the last year was sad to see me go, he offered to help with my search for a new job. He told the owner of the company that I was moving to Florida and asked if he knew of anyone looking for a marketing assistant. Once again I seemed to have just a little luck. The owner was on the Board of Directors for an Orlando based company and was happy to forward my resume. I flew down for an interview and the marketing department had just lost their coordinator. Lucky for me I did well in the interview and was offered the job a couple weeks later. I started as a marketing coordinator and after two years was promoted to marketing manager. After being with the company for ten years and increasing my marketing skills, I found myself back to where I was in 1997…in need of a new challenge!

In the last few years with that company, I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to a person “living his dream” and actually making money while doing so. I’ll admit I was skeptical when I first heard about this company that produced music themed cruises. I had never heard great stories about cruising and pictured the music as an act on “The Love Boat” (the only cruise ship I knew at the time). I soon realized this was a really cool concept and it seemed like great fun. Why not? On behalf of the company I was working for at the time, I agreed to a sponsorship for The Rock Boat. Needless to say, this was the start of a great friendship and partnership that has continued to grow as the events have grown.

The year is now 2008, and I seem to have just a dime size amount of luck left when it comes to my career. Thank you Andy for believing in me and allowing me to jump on board this great adventure and become a part of the awesome Sixthman Team!

Nikkole

It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.

- Wendell Berry

So I wrote about my dog Minnie in a previous blog, and I can’t play favorites, so it is now cat time.  I have three cats, who I love to death, but one of the three holds a special place in my heart.  His name is Milo, and he is what I lovingly refer to as, the Keith Richards of the cat world.   Milo came to me almost eight years ago, when I was living in Miami.  Someone decided to leave him and three of his siblings in a five gallon bucket filled partially with paint, in front of a pet store.  One look at the little runt, who was the size of a rat, and my heart melted.  He was going to be mine.

He looked so pathetic, that my roommate Stephanie said, “what is it?”  I told her, a kitten.  She said in all sincerity, “no really, what is it?”

I think that if Milo was a human, he would look like Keith Richards, someone who definitely looks a little worse for wear.  Someone who keeps on going, when everyone else thinks they should have been dead long ago.  

Milo has always been a sickly cat, his veterinarian told me seven years ago that he would not live another six months.  He is skinny and scrawny, and is missing teeth.He can’t meow, and only makes a squawking sound, his breath smells like death.  The other two cats, won’t play with him, they seem to sense there is something not right with him.  He doesn’t seem to know or care that he is different, or not a pretty as the other cats.  He lives a happy life, and I love him.

-Jill B

You know, I guess it started that October day back in 1978. I can still remember so clearly rushing home after 5th grade from St. Pius Elementary. My plaid skirt flying, I was full on running by the time I hit the driveway, to catch The Game. It was a one game playoff between the Red Sox and the Yankees. Of course, it ended badly for the Sox, but nonetheless, I was hooked. The drama! The passion! There is no turning back, once you fully realize your innate calling as a super dedicated Boston sports fan. It comes with the territory, literally, of Massachusetts.

From there I moved on to the Celtics, where, with my father, I watched virtually every game of every season from 7th grade until the year I left for college. Sure, there are the funny stories. Like the day my grandmother kicked us out of her house during a raucous playoff game or the time my Dad broke the cable box after a tough loss. But the best thing of all is the gift of quality time that I spent with my Dad—all while I was a teenager no less! We are still close to this day as a result. It is our bond that will never break.
Admittedly I lost my way back in the 90’s, losing interest in Beantown sports as the distance in the rearview lengthened. But after a prolonged bout of homesickness, it kind of dawned on me. This is my connection, my natural path to my family, my roots and the very essence of my being. We all need that, the grounded, safe feeling of familiarity. By 2001, I was back in action, fully revved just in time to hit the floor kneeling, euphoric tears running down my face, exulting “The Patriots won the Super Bowl!” over and over as my confused friend just looked down at me wondering how someone could get this hysterical over a sporting event.

So I explained to her, in Massachusetts, amidst crowded towns and crappy weather and even crappier roadways, sports is the unifying force that ignites us all. It is a fierce loyalty toward a singular goal. Success. Do you live in a great sports town? Let’s hear it!

–Carla

I decided to pick up some classes at Georgia State last fall and have slowly been plugging away with a few courses every semester.  It seems that now when the pressure is off I feel that what I’m learning might actually be of some use to me and studying for exams is becoming a little easier now that the tuition bill is in my name.

Night and early morning classes seem to be the full time working students schedule, and it being a summer as well, most of my classmates this semester are a bit older than during fall and spring. ”If I had to describe my perfect day it would be….” Yesterday in my English Composition class this was written on the dry erase board when we walked in.   Subtle but noticeable sighs were shared as everyone assumed what was to be our first assignment of the evening.  The intro line sounded like an essay topic from 5th grade and I was a bit surprised our professor would bring this into a college level course.  Ah.

But teachers of course always do have something up their sleeves. Sensing our confusion she immediately ignored the board and continued with something else.  We spent the next few hours focusing on our research paper that would be due at the end of the semester, per the schools curriculum.  We took some time to go over annotated bibliographies and where to put the indents, and how to site a source.  All the time in the back of my head I’m anticipating the assignment looming on the board.  I mull over what exactly would make a day perfect for me, who would it include, where would I go, what would I do? Does she want this to be realistic? How many paragraphs do I need to write?  How can I make a thesis statement out of this? Is this going to be another essay?

It’s not even on the syllabus.  Which I have found to be the over ruling law to any course here at GSU.  If it’s not on the syllabus, it’s not legit. Towards the end of the evening I assumed that there wasn’t enough time for us to fit in our extra activity on the board and was prepared to add it to my list of home assignments.   With five minutes left, finally a hand in the back shot up and inquired why we haven’t been given instruction on the additional assignment.  Prepared for the question,  our prof smirked and let us know that we had most likely already completed it.  There are few chances in our busy lives with work, school, family and life in general, she explained, that we get the time to let our minds wander into  ”what if”.  With out direction she had given us a few hours to stir up an ideal day.

She then told us to strip our concerns of deadlines, word counts and grammar and take what we have thought up home with us and into our work and other classes. Teaching from a curriculum can get as boring for those teaching as it is for the class.  And if she could help us add a bit of creativity into our daily thinking, she’d gladly confuse us for an hour or two. It may seem cheesy and an attempt to let us “search our souls”.  But while walking back to the parking garage I didn’t hear rumblings or sighs of annoyance about the subliminal assignment; I heard – “mine would be a sunny day at the beach with a margarita” “a shopping trip to NYC” “a babysitter”.  Doesn’t it feel good to think like a 5th grader? – one able to drink, shop and need a babysitter.

-Melissa

Being part of a company that is all about bringing people with things in common together, I remain on my quest to find someone who has been to 4 high schools in one year like I did in 1988.

When I was 12, my mom married a man named Mike Dimond and we lived in Nashville, TN. He was a pioneer in the hotel industry and built a reputation for re- energizing hotels and resorts with new ideas and excellent guest service. After we completed 8th grade, Mike accepted a job in Tampa, FL at Saddlebrook Resort and we were happy to move to try a new place. Little did I know that when that Uhaul truck pulled up in the summer of 1985 to move us to Florida, that it I would see Uhaul many more times over the next few years.

At the end of my freshmen year, Mike accepted a job at the Boca Raton Hotel so we moved to Boca Raton, FL, though this time not as willing participants. We thought the world was over but after a few months managed to settle in, make new friends and get excited. Well for those of you who saw the movie Groundhog Day, my life was the prequel.

As sophomore year ended, my mom and Mike began taking trips to Las Vegas and I was worried about them developing a bad gambling habit and even more concerned that there might be a job offer on the horizon. I remember thinking to myself that there was no way we could move 3 years in a row and, until I saw some Fedex packages arriving at our house from Caesars Palace, was not alarmed.

We left for Las Vegas in early August and they had to drag my brother and I to the airport. Imagine having to start over every year of high school. We enrolled in Bishop Gorman High School as juniors (Andre Agassi was a student there at the time). We lived in a penthouse suite in Caesars Palace and walked through the casino every morning with our books, wearing our school uniforms and tried not to distract the gamblers, drinkers and smokers. Nothing like arriving at school already smelling like smoke. It would always be a few months of eating room service every night while living in the hotel before finding a house (which did get old believe it or not).

After a few weeks, I called my dad who was living in Nashville (and had his entire life) and asked if I could move back home with him to finish high school there. At least I could reconnect with my grade school friends. He invited me to come back, so I drove my Jeep Commanche pickup truck 36 hours straight, by myself, from Las Vegas to Nashville on Interstate 40. My twin brother, Asher, stayed behind betting that Vegas would be the last stop.

When I arrived in Nashville my dad asked me to go to Hilsboro Public School (I had never been to public school in my life) as he wasn’t crazy about paying tuition for the private school where my friends went. I agreed to try it and after 9 days, I convinced him to let me join my friends at Father Ryan High School. Finally, the world was right and I had managed to recover from all the change. What could go wrong now?

It was January 1988 and my dad sat me down to tell me he was being transferred to San Francisco. I don’t remember how I responded but I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant. I had no one to stay with in Nashville, and I didn’t want to move back to Las Vegas, so one of my friends and his family in Boca Raton offered to let me move-in and live with them to finish high school. How I talked my parents into that, I will never know.

In February of 1988, I re-enrolled at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, (my 4th high school for that year). Wait, it gets better.

That summer, Mike got a job offer he could not refuse at the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort in Colorado Springs. My brother and I talked he and my mom into getting a condo in Boca Raton so that my brother and I could both finish senior year at the same place. My mom spent 2 weeks a month in Colorado and 2 weeks a month in Boca Raton so my brother and I made the best use of our freedom. I often liken that experience to the difference between the first cruise we ever did which was a group of 400 people on a ship with 1200 other normal cruisers and the ones we do now where we charter a ship. To me its the difference between having a party where your parents are in town vs. a party where your parents are not even in the same state. Believe it or not, we both managed to graduate without getting arrested.

I share this story with you today because Mike recently suffered a heart attack and is in a deep coma. Although my mom and Mike divorced in 1990, he and I remain close and even reconnected 6 years ago to create Weekend of Jazz with Earl Klugh at the Broadmoor Resort. As I began working with him in 2002, it became crystal clear that the years watching him innovate and deliver world class service have impacted me greatly. He never graduated from college yet he achieved so much in his industry and earned the respect of all his peers before he retired last year.

Next year, I have 5 Twenty Year Reunions to attend if I can make the schedule work. I remember high school fondly despite all the changes. At the time, it was the most painful thing I could have imagined. Now I can see it as part of my journey that has led me here today and I would not trade it for anything. It has prepared me to face adversity and charge head on with a calm optimism. I have Mike Dimond to thank for that.

-Andy

One of the childlike qualities I still have at the age of 24 is an obsession with jigsaw puzzles. I find working on large puzzles to be a relaxing and enjoyable evening activity, especially with a glass of wine in hand. I just recently completed an 1800 piece puzzle that was a picture of nine polar bears with bow ties standing in three rows. Honestly it was the hardest puzzle I have ever put together because the coloring was so similar. It took my roommate and me a month to finish it and we worked on it almost every weeknight.

Hi, my name is Jana and I am a dork. My next puzzle challenge is a 2000 piece puzzle that Jill gave me for my birthday. Let me tell you it is going to be very difficult. This puzzle is a picture of New York City to commentate our recent trip to the big apple to look at the Norwegian Dawn. I still don’t know how we found $2.50 Amestal Lights in NYC but that is another story for another blog.

Puzzles have become such a constant activity in my life that not only do I collect puzzles like most girls own shoes, I started buying puzzle accessories. I recently purchased a puzzle roll-up map. This may have been one of the most exciting purchases I have made it a long time. Poor Jill had to hear me ranting on and on about it for weeks.

For those of you who want to know more about this wonderful puzzle lover invention go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_puzzle_accessories#Roll-up_Mat . The great thing about the puzzle roll up mat is you can move the puzzle and not ruin it. The kitchen table can now be used for other wild activities like eating dinner or hosting Yahtzee tournaments.

Recently, I came to the conclusion that part of the reason I enjoy my job so much because so much of it is similar to putting together a puzzle. Each of our five events is like making a big puzzle with many little pieces that have to come together to create the big picture. Each department has their certain responsibilities and all of us have to work together to make all the pieces fit. Thanks to Sixthman for giving me the largest puzzle to help put together.

Jana

So I am the resident office musician. I’m in a band. I do a little studio work from time to time singing jingles (if anybody’s from Austin, I’m the Gatti’s Pizza jingle girl), and I demo out songs for local writers.

If you hang out with musician’s a lot (and especially if you are one) there are lots of qualifiers that can get you into the club or quickly make you an outsider. And I thought, with our audience of music lovers and musicians out there in the Sixthman community, who would actually be able to hang?

So here goes, Sixthman peeps. Ten examples of the “get to know you” trivia we musicians might throw your way before you can join this little society and the musical debates we REALLY find important…..and don’t think for a minute that ANY of them have to actually do with chord structures, or illegal downloads, or if indie really is the way to go…we have much BIGGER things on our minds:

(To see my answers head to the comments. Yes I am sad enough to comment on my own blog)

10. The Beatles or Elvis? State your case.

9. Dylan – genius or egomaniac?

8. Do you know every verse to “American Pie” by heart?

7. Is your favorite Ryan Adams song “Summer of 69”?

6. Who are your dirty secret bands? The ones you would never tell anyone that you love?

5. Who would win in a fist fight – Cash or Sinatra?

4. Is Townes Van Zandt your favorite member of Lynyrd Skynyrd?

3. Who’s your favorite Beatle? (If you say Paul, don’t even think about showing up)

2. Quote at least 5 lines from Spinal Tap from memory. If the only one that “counts” isn’t in there I’m gonna know you just went to the internet and looked them up. That is so cheating.

1. Is that a capo in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

-Jill Mac

I’ve always had a problem with getting bored easily, so I added yet another extra curricular to my already hectic schedule. Yes, between a full time job, a full time roller derby career, and a full time boyfriend, I found time to learn a new craft- improv comedy. Little known fact abut me: I have a degree in theatre! I used to belong to a company, Twin Head Theatre, and we did some daring, crazy performances- like the ten hour long play (yes, it was really ten hours long!), or the time I gave birth to a box of Twinkies and then squished them all over my body. Sounds kind of gross, but at least I didn’t have to learn ten hours of dialogue!

Lately, I’ve been taking classes at Dad’s Garage, home of a world-class improv troupe. There is a misconception that improv is all about over the top comedy, showboating, and a competition to see who can come up with the zaniest scenario. Wrong! It’s a hard craft to learn, with the basis in several people telling a story together using one group mind. Just to give you an idea what we do on a regular basis, get a partner, and tell a story to teach other one word at a time. For example, you start by saying, “ Once.” Now have your friend say the next word. Now you say the third word, and so on, until you have told a story. Sounds easy eh?

If you’re having fun with this, check out this link for some basic terms, rules, and more games!

-Barbara

My friend Ken Block always says his family put the “Fun” in dys”Fun”ction. I just returned from a week with family at the beach and I struggled with the fact that we had these amazing views of sunrises and sunsets as our backdrop yet the room was always filled with a light blanket of tension. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have watched this dynamic play out closely and I might have come to some conclusions.

We are not in touch with each other regularly, therefore not aware of what’s going on in our respective daily lives. We have very little in common as we are all in different life stages. One of us is texting all day, one is playing guitar hero, one is drinking a little much, one is walking the beach looking for sea shells, one is reading and the other is glued to the beach. It becomes too easy to judge people for their silly use of time as opposed to pushing thru to connect and maybe even join them in the activity.

On day 3 of the 7 day vacation, it was beginning to simmer. We were scattered out on the beach in our own zone instead of playing a game or gathered around talking and sunning. There was a shovel nearby (don’t jump to conclusions) so I grabbed it and started digging a hole in the sand. After about 15 minutes, I had a small crowd watching to see what I was building. I had no visions of a sandcastle, I just wanted to break the rhythm and see what happened. Within an hour, we had another shovel and half the family taking turns digging. We spent 3 days making tunnels and exploring the properties of sand hoping we would find some treasure. It was great.

We were never able to avoid the tension at dinner but the days sure got a lot more fun. Anyone have any advice for how to tame the family dinner table?