Look out people..I’m feelin’ kind of pensive.

Four of my best friends in the world came for a visit this past weekend.  We did what you always do with those kind of friends that are more like family.  Meaning we showed off our families (an 8 year-old, a seven year-old, a 1 year-old and little 6 month old Rachel), ate like kings, drank copious amounts of beer (once the kids were safely tucked in at night) and stayed up entirely too late remembering good times and other dear friends.  Lots of laughs, lots of sentiment and the worst hangovers ever, compounded by 4 children who get up at 6 am no matter what time you went to bed the night before.

We manage these reunions once a year, usually during the spring/summer, or around Christmas.  With our expanding families it gets harder and harder to pull off, but we all miss each other too much and have gone through too much together not to make it happen.

Thing is…this year, after the empty beer bottles were rolled to the curb for recycling and we finally managed to get Rachel down for her first real nap all weekend, I started thinking a lot about those college and post-college days.  About the goals we had then and where we are now…and somehow I couldn’t help but think….are my best days behind me?

I feel like the same old Jill, but where I am is so different from where I thought I would be.  And don’t get me wrong, I still feel incredibly blessed, but never would I have guessed the twists and turns that life would bring to me.  I mean, at one point in my life my highest goal was to be on Broadway – and while I never quite made it there – I did manage to eek out a living in NYC on nothing but the merits of my voice, including some Off-Broadway.  But just the other day I was watching Chess: In Concert on “Great Performances” and thinking, “It feels like 100 years ago since I used to sing this stuff.”  I also never wanted kids and now there is this little person that I could never see my life without.

Maybe it’s just that lately I feel so grown up – I have a real job, I’m a homeowner, a wife, a mom. But does anyone else ever have that fear?  Like maybe the world might never feel as wide open to you again as it did in those college days?  Will I never have the opportunity to travel the world now?  Does being an “official” adult mean there is nothing left to discover? I know that can’t possibly be true and I’d love a little advice on getting past the feeling.   I’d love to know what you guys do to help you remember that life is always an adventure and that the best is yet to come…

I am a believer that many great moments in life involve a balanced “Attack of the Senses”. Feel, Sight, Taste, Smell & Sound

Sure, it’s easy to create this environment on one of our cruises with your arm on the shoulder of your best friend while looking up at the stars & sipping your favorite drink, with the scent of the ocean air and your favorite song performed just twenty feet away from you.

But who can do it in the everyday world?

As a big fan of the restaurant “Houstons”, I keep trying to figure out why I prefer to eat there over many other places.  The food is not the best, nor is it the cheapest or most expensive.  My mom and I had lunch there on Saturday and it hit me.  They “Attack the Senses”

FEEL – They use a great combination of brick and wood to create a sturdy foundation.
SIGHT – The lighting is perfect with an overall dark feel but with pin lights over each table.  In most of them you actually can see the grill when you walk in with burgers, steaks, fish and ribs being prepared.
TASTE – The food is definitely good but not the best.
SMELL – If you don’t walk right past the grill and enjoy the scent coming from it, you are usually still within it’s reach.
SOUND – The music is always just the right volume but between the sizzle of the grill and the low rumble of conversation, it is the perfect background noise to prevent the awkward silences from being so noticeable.

Know any other establishments that “Attack the Senses” like this?

It’s summer time, and for sixthman a period of a few months when we can all manage to take some time off to visit family, get away, or just get stuff done.

In planning for my vacation this year, I’m having a hard time deciding what to do – and when to do it. Which is making it very hard for me to plan with anyone else in mind.

So, I started thinking about going somewhere – to some beach – or some mountain house, by myself. The only other time I have done something like that was right after college, I went backpacking through Europe alone. I was 22, and completely ready to conquer the world. Now, it’s different. But I can’t quite put my finger on why.

Here are some of the thoughts I’ve had… and questions I keep coming back to, and i’m hoping you guys can help me make a decision!

*I’m nervous about being with me and only me for a period of time. I live alone, so its not like I can’t spend time alone. But spending time AWAY from everyone else, for days in a row… can I do that?

*I don’t know what I’ll do all day and night to keep myself from getting bored. I do love to read and bike, and hike, and cook, but will I find myself feeling bored after days of doing everything alone?

*If I have time off, and am traveling somewhere, shouldn’t I go visit my family, or a friend somewhere instead? Why would I waste valuable vacation time – being alone?

*If I go to the mountains, will I be scared? If I go to the beach, will I be embarrassed as people see my alone?

*If I do enjoy the time alone, and come back refreshed, what does that mean about myself?

So, as you can tell, I’m really torn about which direction to go. But I know I need to go somewhere, sometime, soon. Have you ever vacationed alone? Or thought about it? I would love to hear from all of you out there…

I need some advice!

When I heard the Yankees were coming to play the Braves I was stoked. I couldn’t wait to get tickets and a new Jeter jersey. I grew up in New York loving the Yankees, watching the games with my family and really not liking the Red Sox (sorry Steve and Carla…not!). Well the first game of the series was this Tuesday night at Turner Field. The game started and I started as a dedicated Yankee’s fan.

Come 3rd inning I COULD NOT help myself from silently cheering when Brian McCann hit an RBI double. My silence broke when the Braves next batter Garrett Anderson doubled to deep right which brought in two more runs and the Braves went on to win 4-0. We won! Wait, what? Had my loyalty shifted from my dear Yankees? What happened to me?? I felt a little guilty. I should have seen this coming.

I follow the Braves more than the Yankee’s now, I go to their home games and have secretly adopted McCann as my favorite player ever. But what caused me to lose my dedication towards my childhood team? No, it isn’t their “over paid” salaries or their “monopoly” on the league or whatever other reason Yankee haters will give me, I believe they are a great American team and they’ll always be in my top 2. But I’m now open to admit that I am a Braves fan. Phew. I’m certain to get some backlash for this from my Yankee friends and family and that’s ok with me.

I can owe this switch of fan hood to the one thing – that undeniable feeling of belonging to something great. The Braves are now my home team and over the past 5 years of me being an Atlantan, they have earned my allegiance. They’re a stand up baseball club and are what you’d hope every MLB team could be. Watching the game from the Top of the Chop with your city neighbors, all cheering for the same thing and giving “We’ll get’em next time” high fives after a sore loss is what being a sports fan, or any type of fan, is all about. Surrounding yourself with a great community with a common interest is incredibly infectious, and I happily caught the Braves bug.

It isn’t that I lost my love for the Yankees, it’s that I strengthened my adoration for the Braves. I’ll still root for the Pinstripes against any other team and would be proud to wear their jersey. But I have to root root root for my new home team and give the Tomahawk chop to anyone taking their field.

This same scenario happened to me about six months ago in a taste war between coke and pepsi. I grew up on Pepsi, hated Coke, moved to the South and now can’t stand Pepsi. I don’t feel this shift in preference is bailing on or being a traitor to your roots I just think it’s inevitable to not be affected by your surroundings. Whether it be a sports team, a food or drink, a type of music or a band, if you’re exposed to something long enough and this something is pretty great, you’re bound to accept it’s greatness and welcome it into your life. Tell me I’m not jumping on the Southern band wagon and someone else has experienced a shift in their loyalty due to a shift in their environment?

-Melissa

PS. I still hate grits and the Red Sox-  there’s a little New York left in me.

Sixthman is gearing up for new events and special projects to announce, but unfortunately we can’t discuss them quite yet.  To make up for the lack of news, we’re bringing you an exclusive interview with Brandi Carlile from Cayamo 2009, followed by her incredible performance of “Turpentine” while on the ship.  This is a must listen!

Sixthman Podcast #24 [ 11:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Okay, so I was at the airport the other day, waiting in a huge line at Starbucks. It was early morning and people needed their coffee. To pass the time, I started listening to people’s orders. As the “triple venti no whip skim latte” and the “single tall half and half soy” phrases started whizzing around my head, I had a thought. “Wow, Starbucks has invented its own language!” This was quickly followed up with a second thought. “Are they giving the consumer too much?”

That’s right, you heard me. Has Starbucks created a platform, an outlet for the consumer to be conditioned into thinking they can get whatever they want, however they want it? Is there such a thing as having too many choices? Does this ultimately foster an environment of actually not being able to make a decision?

I’m sure there are many other examples like Starbucks, and while the choice bonanza is great for the consumer, where does it leave those of us on the other side? Has it created an uneven playing field of false expectations? Has it built an arena where the majority of people want it exactly as they want it, regardless of the product’s ability to do so? How many people walk away dissatisfied, now that they are used to “the Starbucks Factor”?

Just something to ponder…over my soy mocha frappuccino no whip…

–Carla

Growing up I played every freaking sport imaginable: soccer and football in the Fall; basketball in the Winter; golf, tennis, and baseball in the Spring and Summer.  When I got to high school, it was cross country for a year, basketball for two, tennis for two, and golf for four.  Throughout college I played intramural softball, basketball, dodgeball, flag football, and more stupid dorm room competitions than you can imagine.

Now that I’m out of college and working, I don’t have as many opportunities to be competitive any more.  This means I need to find other outlets to satiate my competitive desire to challenge somebody for superiority.  I’m so far removed from legitimate competitive sports that I’m at the point where I’ll compete with anybody for anything, for any reason, at any time of the day.

Bags, Corntoss, Corn-Hole

Last year I went to visit my brother out in California and a guy in his apartment complex had a cornhole game set up in the front yard.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with this game, know that it is terribly addictive.  After five minutes I was hooked: here is a game full of camaraderie and competition where you can showcase your skills at throwing a bag full of dried corn at a piece of plywood 27 feet away.

About two months ago, I ordered a set on Ebay and now our weekends are forever changed.  I leave the boards and bags in my car at all times now just in case we’re ever in a place where we want to play.  We even brought the set out to Augusta with us for the Sixthman Sessions II, where Tyrone Wells and I managed to best Andy and Mike in an epic battle that spanned seven games and several hours.  Our Saturdays and Sundays now consist of six hours of playing this wonderful game down by the pool.  We’ve met half the neighbors because they’ve all wanted to play.  We’re now the life of the party wherever we go; maybe the best investment I’ve ever made.

Kickball

Last summer I decided to join the Vanderbilt Alumni Kickball team, expecting to have a little bit of fun and maybe meet some new people.  Instead, I ended up with scarred knees (from attempting too many diving catches), a busted arm from sliding into 2nd, and one day an entire front-side covered in mud for diving headfirst into home to score the winning run.  Some might say I took kickball too seriously; others, not serious enough.  Who am I to decide such things.

The Ring Game

This past year on Cayamo, we had the chance to visit the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, an island in the British Virgin Islands.  There is a small brass ring, hanging on a string that’s attached to a palm tree.  There’s also a small hook screwed into the tree, and the objective is to swing the ring so that it catches itself on the hook.

After watching a guy for a few tries, I spent the next 45 minutes swinging a brass ring at a hook on a tree and loving every minute of it.  My dad watched me for a minute then said, “I don’t know what’s worse: that I’m trying to figure out how to set this up at our house, or trying to think of a fun way to gamble on it.”  Hmmmm, I guess it’s genetic.

Office Basketball

There is a really fun Nerf hoop at the very end of the operations department here at Sixthman .  If you stand in the hallway, you have about 70 feet between you and the hoop.  In the past month, I’m 1 for 4,345, a shooting percentage of .023%.  I feel like Phillip Seymour Hoffman in “Along Came Polly.” RAINDANCE!

Moonbounce Time Trials

Two weekends ago, my friend Matt had a fundraiser party in Birmingham to benefit United Cerebral Palsy.  There was a live band, tricycle race, silent auction, and a moon bounce for the kids…which we noticed had a natural path from entrance to exit: through the bouncy posts, under the tunnel, in between the pillars, up the mountain, and then down the slide and back to the entrance.  Of course, this immediately became a competition.

After the first few unimpressive times were posted by other party goers, I decided it was time to go ALL OUT and win this thing.  A perfect entrance and tunnel crawl put me in the early lead; I could hear the roar from the crowd as they realized they were truly witnessing something special.  After scaling the ‘mountain’ and diving head first down the slide, I managed to crawl out the exit with a winning time of 12.23 seconds, a performance that would make any parent proud.  What did I win, you ask?  Pride and a great sense of accomplishment, which is greater than any trophy you might say (or you might not. Stop raining on my moonbounce time-trial parade, jerk).

Oh, and I also managed to win terrible burns up and down my arms from the plastic surface in the moon bounce.  I still maintain it was a good decision to go headfirst down the slide.

Am I alone in my ability to turn anything into a friendly competition? Whether it’s competing with myself on a golf course or in the gym, or with my buddies on a myriad of stupid games to pass the time, I am all about throwing some competition in there to spice things up.  Hell, I even learned a new game from the Gaelic Storm guys at the Braves Game last week that somehow left me 20 dollars lighter in the wallet.  Oh well, all in good fun.

Do you have any stupid competitions with your co-workers in the office?  Make up ridiculous games on the weekend with your buddies?  Any suggestions on more things to add to my repertoire?

-Steve

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me this link about branding.  We talk about branding often and it always seems tough to come to agreement on what it really means.  After watching this presentation, two things sunk in for me.

1) Your brand is how people feel about you.

2) We are not able to tell people how they should feel.

That is great for companies but it must apply to individuals as well.  So what is your brand?

How do people feel about you when you walk in a room, call on the phone or send them an e-mail?

Are you “late guy”, “remembers my birthday”, “the complainer”, “mr. reliable”, “separate checks at a drive thru buddy”, “designated driver”, “borrow it and never return it”, “the under tipper”, “a good listener”, “miss blemish radar”, “an includer”,  “no cash dude”, “ray of sunshine”, “gossip” etc.?

I thought about what kind of brand I would associate with some people in my life and it was not terribly difficult to narrow it down to a word or two.

I hope my brand will be “brings people together”.  What do you want your brand to be?

Do you ever buy stuff on a whim because you just HAVE to have it?  How about even after you buy it, you only use it a couple of times a year, but you justify needing it?  For me, it’s gear.  Climbing gear (which I use a lot), camping gear, backpacking gear (don’t use that often), hiking gear, biking gear, snowboarding gear, etc…  The list could go on.  I like gear!  

I like gear so much that I’ll stop in to REI on my way home from work just to see if there is anything on sale in the sale bins.  A lot of times you can find the small stuff for cheap.  This one time, I got an REI laptop case for $5.  How cool is that?  (I know what your thinking, only a gear-oholic would say something like that).  It’s true.  It’s kind of a problem actually.  

How many of you have heard of Steep & Cheap?  It’s a website that must get gear in bulk because they can sell it super cheap.  I’m talking at least 50% off.  It might be last year’s model, or an ugly color, but who cares about that?  Not only is this stuff on sale, but the sale changes every couple of minutes.  This site seriously could be the end of my bank account.  I have to consciously think about not going to it.  Should you have to consciously think about that kind of stuff?  Jeeze-Louise, It’s hard.  

My next downfall will be a store in atlanta called Gear Revival.  This is like a thrift store, but only for outdoors gear.  You can bring in your old gear and trade it in, you can just shop-til-you-drop, or you can just not walk in there.  I’m telling you, if you do, you will walk out having purchased something.  It’s so inexpensive!  

What’s the next step?  If there were meetings, I’d probably think about going.  Until then, REI – Steep&Cheap – Gear Revival, here I come! 

What do you just HAVE to have?  :)

“Hunch helps you make decisions and gets smarter the more you use it.”

This could be the greatest thing ever. Or the worst. Its a website you can go to when trying to make a decision, about just about anything! I’ve just been turned on to this, so its only helped me make a few decisions, but I can see it becoming a problem.

My mom put it best last night, when she said, “I never thought I would live long enough to have the computer make my decisions for me.” It’s a little scary when you think about it that way. Sitting behind this machine for 8+ hours each day makes it very easy to do little or no thinking at all. Where should we eat tonight? Chowhound.com. Where should I go on my next vacation? Tripadvisor.com. What should I wear today? Luckymag.com. You get the picture. Then there is everything else you ever wondered about in the whole wide world: Google.com. Are we not giving our brains the exercise they need?

I’ve got a hunch that the answer is no.  I feel like we rely on the web to give us the answers to way too many things. “Am I in Love” is one of the available quizzes on Hunch.com. Really? You need your computer to tell you that?

I’m thinking of staging a no-Google, no-Answer-any-mundane-question-I-have-wesbite day…to see how I fare.  I’ve got a hunch its not going to be easy.

-Ashley