What I've done with my time - a history of me part one.

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind... let it be something good." - Unknown author.

Sometimes when I'm not feeling my best it is good to think about all the things I have done. Most often I'm beating myself up for not getting more done. For not living up to the quote at the top of this post. One thing I am not good at is stopping to smell the roses. As soon as one thing is finished I'm thinking about the next problem or project, chastising myself for not working harder or faster. But somewhere there is balance. I have not wasted as much time as I think I have. Allow me to flex my ego a bit and run down a list of achievements, activities and projects worth mentioning. These all fall into the "I chose to do these" and not in the "I had to do these" category. In roughly chronological order. To the best of my recollection. Some of these memories are 20 years old.

A brief look at high school, dipping a little back to middle school (which is all I can stand):

• Started playing guitar, age 13
• A few half-started bands and projects with friends
• First public performance, freshman year. Terrified. Joined some friends on Metallica's One and I think maybe Man In The Box by Alice in Chains. I can't remember.
• Two years in jazz band, mostly guitar, some bass
• One year marching and concert band - percussion
• Did the usual Solo & Ensemble competitions. 
• Member of the Greater Milwaukee Youth Jazz ensemble - one year
• Performed and wrote with a band. Started as Perpetual Motion, later became 3 Blind Mice
• Recorded about a CDs worth of music with 3 Blind Mice (two tapes, back in the day)
• Started the project that became Fishboy, recorded first album summer after junoir year
• Joined Big Brown Newport on bass. Played around Madison

A detour into details:
Perpetual Motion - Me, guitar and vocals; Mike Troemel, drums; Joe Grandeffo, bass and vocals. Some older guy who turned out to be a douche on guitar and lead vocals for one summer. About 89-91 (my date recollections here are pretty sketchy)
Three Blind Mice - Me, guitar and vocals; Mike Troemel, drums; Bob Duclos, bass and vocals. Also a rotating cast of lead singers including Jamie Ryan, Tim Delay, Paul Hutchison and even my dad. Some guy named Chris on rhythm guitar for a while. About 91-93
Fishboy - Me, guitar, bass, vocals; Jamie Ryan - drums, bass, guitar, vocals. This was a studio project that wrote songs spanning styles from Maiden to Pearl Jam to freeform improv. We did one album the summer before college (an epic a la 2112) and did three more the following summer. One was an all improv trio with Jeremy Kreideman on trombone, bass and vocals. One was a sequel to the epic, and the third was more stand alone tunes. About 93-95
Big Brown Newport - Me, bass; Jamie Ryan, drums and vocals; Tim DeLay, guitar and vocals; Andy Beavers, guitar and vocals. About 94-96 I think.

/end part one