Sunrise must follow Sunset

"And even the Sundance Kid would find it hard to shoot his way out of this hole I'm in."
~Sam Roberts, Sundance

The reason I started this blog in the first place was to talk about things that were bugging me and try to sort things out on ink that I could not sort out in my head. Since I look at my life right now and feel as though everything is very twisted and foggy, now seems to be a good time to start writing again. One of the things that has really bothered me as of late was the subject of friends. Broad topic I know, but bear with me.

If you've ever been on my livejournal friends page, the top of it is inscribed with the phrase, "Friends shift with the sands of time." When I initially chose that for the title, I did not really know how its words rang true. Now sitting here in a park, two weeks into spring, surrounded by 5 inches of snow from a freak snowstorm, I've come to realize that things happen with friendships much like this snowstorm. One day you are fine with one another, then something happens and suddenly you are out in the field, cold and alone, with that friend no where to be found. A sudden "snowstorm" comes though and blows your friendship to smithereens.

It's odd really how quick things can change. Recently, I've had issues with a few friends, partially my fault at times but partially theirs as well. Both I considered really great friends (some may even use "best" here), they knew me, what I stood for, and even in some respects, what I aspire to become. In retrospect, I may have thought of them as great friends, but I think I was good at best, maybe even just a friend. You see, we would talk on the phone, text, hang out, the normal stuff right? Fast forward to now. You see, now, one will give me a hello on AIM every now and again, we'll do a bit of catching up and then just sit there. We did not used to do that, we could talk for hours about nothing at all, but that was also talking, as in vocally, which we never really do any more.

I'm sure dear reader, that you are sitting there saying "well people do get busy". I know that, you obviously know that, it is just a plain fact of life. Which is fine. But going from a friends scale of good friend to just above a paving stone, I think you will agree that that is not the normal drop because "we get busy". Like I said it could have been because I just put too much stock in our friendship to begin with, which is my mistake. Another reason for the sudden drop of friendship could be due to something I said/did. For instance, In one friendship I speak of, I can pinpoint a single day where things slid downhill. I will take credit for my mistakes, but I will not take responsibility for the total downfall of the friendship. I tried to make amends, which it looked like I did on a couple of occasions. I used to beat myself up thinking there was something else I could do. Something I could do to preserve this friendship but I no longer wonder because I realized I did my part. At some point, you have to realize that the friendship is truly gone, and just let it fade.

But, this story is not all depression and decay of ties. It is also a story of births and new beginnings, for as I see friends walking out of my life. I also see new friends walking in. Will I ever get back what I once had with my those old friends? Probably not. But will I most likely find something just as good because I harbor the mistakes and lessons from my past? Absolutely. Life rarely takes away what you cannot replace. While I will miss very much the two people I speak of (one I've known for many years), I also know that I have many friends and will make many more. So you see:

Sunrise Must Follow Sunset.

S.T.


[The soundtrack to this entry is as follows | Sam Roberts - Sundance | Trapt - Black Rose | Kevin Rudolf - Welcome to the World]

Tonight We Are All Red And White, Not Blue.

" This is the year (Montreal) makes the next step. (Detroit) keeps getting better with age. (The Red Wings) don't look like anybody will stop them... again. "
~Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the dawn of a new season is now. Tonight, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Montreal, and twenty-seven other teams begin their chase for the holy grail of the National Hockey League, Lord Stanley's Cup. While thirty teams are trying to get it, only one already has it. The Detroit Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. And as such, "Hockeytown" (as Detroit is so called) is buzzing over their beloved team. Along with the special raising of the banner ceremony prior to tonight's game, Detroit will also have the presence of Def Leppard as they kick of the '08-'09 NHL season with Face-Off Rocks at the Fox Theatre near the Red Wings home, Joe Louis Arena. People all around the city are donning their Red Wings Merch. As the game slowly approached, eight hours, then four, then two, there became a buzz in the air. Sitting on facebook, there was one status, then another, and then like a bag of popcorn, everyone having a status with some form of cheering for the Wings.
Parties forming, Bars having specials to bring people in, people everywhere getting together.

It's funny how in the midst of everything going on, something as trivial as a sport can rally people together and create unity. Just a day earlier, facebook was populated with politically charged status in support of Obama or McCain. Many were support messages, while some were vulgar and perverse attacks against their political opponent of choice. If it wasn't politics creating a schism, it was the economy. Its plummeting...quickly, and many people are suffering. Some are saying bail out, other want to know how that could possibly help. The undertones of a foreign war of questionable intent seems into conversation every now and again. But none of this matters. With the skates on the ice and Def Leppard rocking across the street I can safely say that we are not Democrats, or Republicans. Peacemakers or Warmongers. For tonight,

We Are Hockeytown.

S.T.