Organized Mayhem

New Directions

kostaz@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:33:49 GMT

I'm looking to start learning upright bass. Does anyone know any good music teachers in the Boston area, how to play upright bass, where to find a cheap good used one or any other information. I've been doing a lot of research on it myself, but if anyone knows anything it'd be appreciated.
I want to start a psychobilly/punk/folk/jazz band type thing. Time for a new direction in music.

kostaz@gmail.com — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:24:33 GMT

What to do when you go into work at an internship, are shuffled to a desk that the provided login does not work at, and you have to use a general one which doesn't allow you to actually do any real work. Also all the potential people who could fix this are either out to lunch, in meetings, recovering from surgery or in the Bahamas. Hurray for incompetence!

Music!

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:49:45 GMT

Tonight at the Webster Underground in Hartford, CT my band Tap Out is playing. Show starts at 7, drop me a comment if you want a ticket and happen to be free tonight.

kostaz@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:32:28 GMT

People = Nuts
Nuts = Tasty
Tasty = Lasagna

Therefore:
People = Lasagna?

Discuss.

Give this man a medal

kostaz@gmail.com — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:00:47 GMT

Of all the odd times to want to write in this. It's 3 am I'm at a friends house in CT, and I just feel the need to start writing again. I've neglected all forms of recreational writing for months now. Haven't written any stories or posts. I believe it's time to rectify that. Doesn't mean I'll be writing here much, but I just need a new outlet for creative expression. I suppose most of that has gone into writing songs. Though I've discovered I'm pretty good at writing music, my lyrics are very uninspired and insipid. To truly write good song lyrics is a talent I'm not sure I have. I've been working on it, and have a lot of stuff that sort of works, but I'm far to embarrassed to post any of it here. I keep those locked away in a file that no one can see.

I've been in an crazy place lately. I go from happy to angry and random inbetweens. But I haven't felt perfect contentment and peace in nearly a year. I can pinpoint the last time I was completely and utterly at peace, and that was probably sometime early last summer when I went with some friends on a trip to Diana's Pool. The pure peace and quietness of it, the full moon, spinning poi, and listening to guitar while watching the water was a perfect moment. I want to live for perfect moments. I've felt them before and I'm sure there have been more over the course of this last year. There are many moments that feel perfect. The rush of being on a stage and looking out of a crowd of people. Being swept up in music and just playing out, regardless of the crowds reaction. The peace of a summer night, sitting out under the stars and just staring into space. The laugh shared with a person in which you click just right. Dancing at a show until you can't feel your body, and the music picks you up and sweeps you away. Running for miles and miles, not knowing where you're going or where you will end up, just you and the rhythm of your heart thumping in your chest. The list goes on and on, and these are the things that make me feel alive. Just the feel of adrenaline pumping through your body, driving you to greater heights and achievements.

I can't say I've felt a lot of this lately though, I've changed in some ways, some for the better, some for the worst. Trying to recapture these feelings is a hard thing, though every now and then it just seems to be there. I feel bogged down by life, yet at the same time, I'm living it the best I can.

The ramblings of a tired and crazy kid at 3 in the morning should always be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. I know these things to be true to me, yet I seem to forget them with the daily grind of life, and have to sometimes step back and actually concentrate on what makes me feel alive. I'll read these words in the morning, or a week from now or a month, and things will be different. From moment to moment I never feel the same way. But I want to experience every one of those moments and not dull my sensations with mindless entertainment and meaningless chores. But that is life, a constant balance of reality and fantasy. At least it is for me. What is the point of the post, I have no clue, but it just feels like it had to be written.

I really need to change that picture, it's many years out of date.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

kostaz@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:57:46 GMT

I saw Me First and the Gimme Gimmes at the Axis this past Tuesday. For anyone who doesn't know they are a punk super band comprised from all the biggest punk bands of California. And they only play covers, of pretty much anything you can imagine. It was a ton of fun to see them playing covers of popular songs from pretty much every decade since the 1950's. The only difference is they were real fast and punked out. The most amusing set of covers were ones such as Somewhere over the Rainbow and Tomorrow. Overall it was as punk as a show can be with music chosen. And I got to smash around in a mosh pit for the first time in a while. All I have to say is punks, show-tunes, and cowboys are one of the most hilarious and incorrect mixes ever.

This is all I have to say about the elections

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:35:42 GMT

Birthday

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:32:13 GMT

It's my birthday on Saturday. I'm 24, a rather useless age, but still fun I'm sure. I will be in CT, in the Storrs area, if anyone is up for something drop me a comment, the more the merrier.

Woah journal

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 23:34:56 GMT

Well the big move is nearly upon me. On Sunday I will be moving the majority of my stuff up to Cambridge. My address will be 399 Broadway Apt 43, Cambridge Ma. I'm still looking for a job, which has been absolutely horrific, but hopefully it will become easier once I am actually up there. I've been spending the last couple days at work doing the most mindless data entry project ever, but at least it's given me time to spend on the computer and actually get some job searching done.

Last Friday was my brother Alex's 21st birthday and it was a great time. I played with him at a bar in Preston and we got a really good reaction from the crowd. And after that he got extremely drunk and was eventually driven home by my saint of a mother, who came along to make sure he would have a safe way home. I heard later on he ended up in a compost heap next to the highway, but that is a completely different story.

Monday night I went to sea shanties down in Essex which were fun as usual. got to see some people I haven't seen in a while such as Jae, Hannah, Becky and Dan. It was amusing that Steph and I were both the sober ones there and watching the drunken antics of the rest was a good time as always.

Well enough of this rambling, I'm off to do some more work. And if anyone is bored this weekend, my band has a short set over in the town of Oakdale, (not to be confused with the venue the Oakdale which would be amazing) at the Crossroads at 9:30.

kostaz@gmail.com — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:20:45 GMT

Anyone who is in the area of Preston, CT should come check out my band the Tammany Ring tonight at the Brookside Cafe. 142 Route 2A Preston, CT. It's near Mohegan Sun. It is also my brother's 21st Birthday and he is the lead singer in the band, so we will be celebrating all night.

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 23:33:39 GMT

Starting in the beginning of August I will be living with the lovely John Tibbets in Cambridge, MA, between Harvard and Central Square. All of you who live up in the area may now rejoice.

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:54:13 GMT

I have successfully managed to while away an eight hour closing shift at the bookstore, and now to go cavort outside, maybe do some somersaults and poi. Or would that be pie? Mmmm, poi and pie, a winning combination.

Doh

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:15:32 GMT

Bow before my great skills of non-directional imperceptivness. Last night I got lost in Boston for 45 minutes, all because I took the Pike East from Cambridge instead of West. I thought it would be a simple matter of getting off the next exit, but managed to find two blocked entrances, and go though 3 wrong tolls. I have always had good direction sense when I'm lost, but this was a new level of incompetence. I hope this isn't some sort of omen for my further adventures in Boston when I get up there in about a month.

Moving!

kostaz@gmail.com — Fri, 05 May 2006 19:36:12 GMT

If anyone is looking for roomates up in the Boston area, I am moving up there in the next couple months. Drop me a line if you're looking, or know anyone who is. Thanks.

Car Accident...

kostaz@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:02:43 GMT

Well, I have just been discharged from the hospital after being in an accident in which my car flipped. I escaped with only a 7 stitches split lip, a badly sprained jaw, badly bruised arm and numerous other small cuts and bruises. The man in the other car walked away unscathed. His car was crumpled in the front. Mine was totaled and they needed to use the jaws of life to get me out. And after all this. it was my fault. I had been turning left into a gas station, and somehow did not see his car at all, he hit my passenger side and flipped my car. The fire fighters needed to cut me out of my car with the jaws of life. Thank god I was wearing a seatbelt and had airbags that worked.
I guess what happened was, I was turning left into a gas station, and somehow I did not see the other driver one bit. I somehow missed the fact that a car was coming, I never even saw it, all I know is next I was hanging from my belt. I was more pissed than scared. They wouldn't let me get out of the car, but I guess that's for the best, I could have been hurt worse. I got to the hospital I was cat-scanned and sewn up, and I just hurt alot. I hope insurance takes care of all of this, but now I am poor and carless. It's going to be some rough weeks ahead. Heh I should start the Kosta relief fund. I hope the guy doesn't sue me....
The other thing that is killing me is my lip looks bad, and I can't play trumpet for probably about 2 weeks. So when I do heal I'm going to have to start over again as far as building up my lip, I am not looking forward to that. On the plus side I am optimistic that the wound to my lip will change my lip in some crazy way that will allow me to become the most amazing trumpet player ever. I can always hope.
Overall I'm ok, doped up on percosets, and stitched and iced. I hope things go well cause this was quite a blow. Hope I can keep up my schedule and recover from this mess. Good night.

kostaz@gmail.com — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 22:09:31 GMT

This weekend was a very long one. I started on Friday by playing a 3 hour set on St. Patrick's day with my band Tap Out. We then won the Uconn Battle of the Bands on Saturday, by winning the crowd with our amazing music, and intense charm, talk about bad 80's movie cliches. And finally on Sunday we had our regular practice, followed by heading up to Boston to see the Dropkick Murphy's, which was amazing just as it is every year. By the time I got home I needed a vacation from my weekend. And on Tuesday my other band the Tammany Ring had it's practice in anticipation for our first show on April 1st.

More and more it feels like I am spending all my free time playing music, either on trumpet or bass guitar. It's bizare that I am so close to finally heading off the grad school, yet at the same time I have more music going on in my life than I have ever before. I'm enjoying book editing and I do plenty of writing on my own. I just want to write and play music, but neither of these things are quite enough to make a living off of. It's the old question of money. Do I go to grad school, get paid to get a degree and be ok, or do I scrape by and keep playing music and writing, or most likely the third option do all of it, not sleep for a few years and go insane. I've always been the one to do it all. So I feel these next few years will fall into the category of crazy. I can't wait.

kostaz@gmail.com — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:28:30 GMT

I have one extra ticket for the Dropkick Murphys at the Avalon in Boston on Sunday March 19th for a show starting at 6ish. I am going with a bunch of other people but there is one more ticket up for grabs. The ticket costs 32 dollars. If anyone is interested let me know. It'll be a good time.

kostaz@gmail.com — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:13:10 GMT

Apparently I had a conversation with someone about the plot of the show Lost, having never seen it, and didn't even know it. I said a few things jokingly about spooky fog and evil caves, and they responded with something that I responded to about weird creatures. Then they asked me a question that I can't remember about the show, and I realized I had somehow been discussing the show having never seen it. My response being, "I have no idea what I've just been talking about, I've never seen Lost, and know nothing about it." They seemed a little disgruntled, and I had to assure them I was not mocking them, just clueless. Sometimes I just open my mouth and it actually makes sense, even when I'm not trying.

kostaz@gmail.com — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 08:04:57 GMT

Show tonight was awesome. We played for three hours. I cannot feel my lips, fingers, or any other pertinent appendages, but it was amazing. Can't wait for the next show.

kostaz@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:40:02 GMT

Last Saturday I went snowboarding for the first time this season. Needless to say I remembered the bare basics. I had gotten estrellazorra lessons and a lift ticket for her birthday, and she was quite excited to go. I also went with Tavis and Dima, who had planned the trip. Tavis and I were slightly experienced, in that we could go down a blue trail and not die, but probably crash quite a bit. Steph had one lesson under her belt, and didn't even know how to turn. Dima boarded double black diamonds. So Dima decided it would be a good idea to take us up what he called an "easy" blue trail. As we're all on the lift up, Dima decides to explain how to get off the ramp at the top, which is quite a bit harder than most. We get to the top, all manage to magically not kill each other, and get off in a somewhat orderly fashion. Dima took off down the trail, telling us to meet him around the bend. Tavis and I wobbled our way down. Tavis made it to Dima and I stopped halfway, as I noticed Steph was sliding off the trail, since she DID NOT KNOW HOW TO TURN. I decided to wait where I was for Steph to make it down. What I did not realize in being in that bend, I was right at the intersection of another, much faster trail. All I remember is Tavis yelling up the hill, "Lookout!". I looked up the hill, and much to my chagrin I saw a skier barreling down the mountain right at me. I frantically began to inch out of the way, since I didn't have enough time to get up and board away. And a second later the skier had clipped the edge of my board, and was launched into the air. He flew at least 20 feet, skies and poles flying everywhere and narrowly missed hitting the tree line. On the one hand I was very glad he had not hit me head on, on the other hand, I thought I had just killed someone. Fortunately he was more or less unharmed, got up and skied away. In the mean time, Steph had taken off her board and stomped her way down to us. She threw the board on the snow, and of course it took off down the mountain. So Dima took off after it, and eventually caught it half way down. He planted the board in the snow and took off as we walked down to retrieve it. To salvage this disastrous run, I rode the board down like a sled after retrieving it, and we then went on to spend time on the green trails, and had a wonderful time. The End.

Lessons I have learned are to never ever listen to a Russian, as they are a tricksy and evil people. The second lesson I learned was not to send a person with only one lesson down a trail with the words, just learn as you go. Thirdly, after a hard day of boarding you will be a little sore. The next day as you roll out of bed and you will curse the gods for inventing a sport that renders you incapable of moving without pain everywhere. But it was an awesome day and the pain has now faded. It was completely worth it, and I can't wait to go again!

kostaz@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 05:55:18 GMT

It's also Steph's 22nd birthday this Saturday, so wish her a happy birthday if you come by the show!

Show

kostaz@gmail.com — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:22:53 GMT

My band, Tap Out will be playing at the Plan B cafe in Montville this Saturday. We play mostly ska music, with a bit of rock mixed in. The show starts at 8pm. There are a few other bands playing, and I don't know what time we're playing, I think we may be the 3rd band, but not sure. I can't promise that the other bands will be good, but we sure are. The bar we're playing at is pretty empty normally, so hope to see some people filling it up!

The Plan B cafe is located right near Mohegan Sun casino on route 163, right off of route 32.

kostaz@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 06:03:53 GMT

The show was so fricking awesome, we won the crowd over, beat out every other band, and played out hearts out. I have never been happier to play music. Every show we play we consistently win the crowd no matter who they are. I feel amazing, and I booked a show for my other band. I never thought I would put my musical talents to any use, but I am playing in two bands and getting shows. It's freaking amazing. If only I could actually make a real living off this, I would be content. Ah well, times are good, and I'm going to ride this wave for as long as I can. I hope everyone can come and check one of my bands out sometime soon, we play almost every weekend. Goodnight all!

kostaz@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:01:11 GMT

I'm going to be playing with my band tonight at the Brookside a bar in Preston, CT , over near the casinos. If anyone is in the area, or wants to make the drive out, we'll be playing somewhere between 9 and 10 for bout 45 minutes. We're called Tapout, hope to see some of you there.

kostaz@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 16:29:15 GMT

Life keeps rolling, and I forget to write in this thing. I've been way too much but also nothing at all at the same time. Playing in a band and having shows regularly has consumed a big part of my life. Never thought I was going to pick up my trumpet again and enjoy it. But here I am spending at least a half hour a day practicing, and happy with it. Hopefully I will stick it out and keep up the routine.

Still need to go snowboarding this season, but finding the time is hard.

I got a set of real poi for Christmas, and am waiting eagerly for the day that I feel confident enough to light them on fire and only mildly burn myself, instead of having to go to the burn ward.

Some of my graduate applications are out, while other are still languishing across my floor, the papers getting stepped on, while I waste my time on the computer.

As far as work goes I need to do something about getting better steady work than a bookstore. Still doing the proofreading and editing thing which is nice, but not reliable. But until all the applications are out for grad school I can't look for a new, better paying job. Doing what I have no idea, I just need more money so I can do everything I want to.

I am procrastinating from finishing this horrid diet book I have to code and set up in tables. It's a pain in my ass, and I can barely focus on one thing today, I just keep jumping from one thing to another.

I'm in limbo again, doing a ton of stuff, and prepping for even more, but just coasting along, dreading the point when everything is done and gone. I feel useless when I have no deadlines to meet, like a book to turn in, or applications, so I procrastinate and waste time which could be put to better use learning and doing things I want to do. I'm getting better at managing my time and doing stuff, but I still wonder what I will spend all my time on when these deadlines are no longer hanging over my head?

Grar, anyway enough rambling, this seems to be the story of my life, I do so much, yet accomplish nothing, I start so many thing, and then master none of them. I have let my writing drop off, I was doing so well with it, and it just stopped a few months ago. Haven't worked on my book or short stories in months. Will pick those up soon.

I want to throw the computer out the window, I waste too much time with this monstrosity, it kills my drive to do everything else. Ok getting away from this thing now, well not getting away, back to work, and then running away from it.