So This is Where Everyone Hangs Out

Recently met up with a few friends on a side of town I’m never on. This place was called Music City Tippler (I know, what?), and it turned out to be really cool. It’s only been open for a week or two. In the building itself, what stood out to me the most was the attention to detail. The bathroom had brick flooring. There was a lit chandelier made of old, clear soda bottles. Old paintings and murals hung from the ceiling. It was classy. Not to mention it’s the bottom floor of the condominium where Taylor Swift sometimes lives. So that should paint a picture for you.

There were guys with big mustaches and small tank tops. Girls that looked Asian but weren’t.

Parked out front was a classic, cherry Oldsmobile. And not more than 100 feet from that was a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.  The whole night was somewhat surreal and I mean that in the most positive way possible. I plan on going back there because, well, I left thinking… “So this is where everyone hangs out!”

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That Moment When You Realize You’re Old

I thought to myself, “Man, my car has nice bass!” Then I realized it was the car next to me.

I Heart Dave Ramsey

When I’m in the car with the radio on around lunch time, I make a concerted effort to listen as Dave Ramsey (102.5 in Nashville) dishes out advice on how to live with money. It started years ago for me, because, well, first of all, I’m financially conservative (In college, I called it being cheap. In my 20s, I called it being frugal. Now I’m acting like an adult by calling it financially conservative). For the longest time, I felt guilty when it came to spending money. I didn’t like to do it. It wasn’t because I didn’t have it. It wasn’t because I had gigantic student loans, I guess I was sort of a hoarder. But wanting to save money felt wrong. So when I first heard Dave advising on being wise with money, not spending more than you have, and “living like no one else so that one day you can live like no one else,” it was so completely refreshing. It’s as if I finally had someone in my corner saying it’s OK to be thrifty. A weight was lifted off my shoulders and now I’m actually more proud of my conservative behavior. And surprisingly, I spend more, too. It’s awesome (and sometimes odd) what the feeling of freedom will do for a person.

Today, though, he said something that struck my pride; Always value relationships more than money. That’s something I can do better because many times I sacrifice an experience with a friend for the sake of saving money. That’s not a good way to be. I don’t like that about myself, so I’ll be working on it. But anyway, it’s nice to hear a wise financial guy like Dave Ramsey recommending ways of living within your means and knowing that I’m already there, and then some.

Yo Homes, Smell Ya Later

She had no idea what was about to happen. Unfortunately, I had an idea. And boy, it’s an outside affair because it smelled like something out of a bad Judd Apatow movie. It was crude and I’d like to forget it.

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From Cyndi Lauper to Florida Georgia Line

cyndilauperI’m proud of my taste in music. As a child, thanks to my parents and a record player, I developed a love for the Beach Boys. Later, I developed my first crush and it wasn’t just for her wild style… Cyndi Lauper. In middle school, I began to appreciate adult contemporary music like Bryan Adams and that song “The King of Wishful Thinking” by New Found Glory. And of course there was Vanilla Ice. High school was all about the rap music. Maybe because I lived in Miami or because it was popular everywhere, I don’t know, but I loved Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, Coolio, Uncle Al, Easy E, Wreckx-n-Effect, 95 South, 69 Boyz, and a few others.


In college, I discovered a liking for U2, Caedmon’s Call, all the while calling DC Talk my favorite band of all time. As a young adult living in Nashville, I gained a passion for the singer/songwriter artists out there like Amos Lee and Brett Dennen.

Country music started as a roller coaster. I’d love it for a while, and hate it for a while. But still, I can like everything from Sammy Kershaw’s “Vidalia” to Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.”

The artists that are rising to the top of my all time favorites list now are Muse, Jack White, Green Day, Zac Brown Band, and OneRepublic. Thanks for reading!