From my birth until his wedding day, my brother and I shared a bedroom. However, we did not have a door to the room until I was ten or twelve years old. He would lock the door and proceed to beat me up, so our dad removed it from the hinges. To be fair, my [...]
18- IS THAT A SUPRA?!
This will sound sarcastic but I do appreciate strangers stopping me in a parking lot to tell stories of when they drove a car like mine. These moments are exceptional when restoring a 23-year-old vehicle. Most people do not relate to such a process, especially since buying a newer car can be cheaper and better [...]
17- First Project Car
At some point my life took a turn, so we’re switching gears. I became a car guy. There wasn’t a particular moment when everything changed, but it clearly happened because my Play Station 2 still works. I recently turned it on to play whatever was in it, and Need For Speed: Underground 2 began to [...]
16- 10 YEARS LATER
“Professors I respect have told me to choose between pursuing a career as an artist, musician, or author. I admit their unanimous advice is practical, but I … With a word, I close this book to begin another: Gesamtkunstwerk.” I wrote these words as a college student. They were believed throughout my twenties and even [...]
15- FAILED MUSIC CAREER
A Dying Dream. This song was recorded and titled when I was a teenager. https://soundcloud.com/thepetersam/a-dying-dream?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing During my twenties, I compared myself to Jon Foreman. Approaching the age of twenty-four, I wanted to write a song that rivaled his, Twenty-Four. Once I became twenty-five, the hypothetical potential was gone. I could no longer amuse myself with [...]
14- FAILED ART CAREER
I didn’t grow up wanting to be an artist, but art was always something to do and I haven’t permanently left the pursuit. I’ve mentioned before that both of my parents had abusive upbringings. My father’s response was to be distant, paranoid of emotionally scarring his children. My mother began collecting and reading every parenting [...]
13- ERASING AN OIL PAINTING
Eight months after my father’s death, during the week of his birthday, I produced my most criticized painting. To be fair, I refrained from confessing my emotional condition to peers and instructor to allow an honest critique. My work hung on the wall among six other paintings by classmates. When the discussion arrived at mine, [...]
12- A BOX OF POPCORN
Christmas is about Jesus and not presents, but I keep remembering that my opa (grandpa) gave me a 10-pack of popcorn one year for Christmas. I would not complain if he was a poor man doing what he could for a grandchild, but he stole my father’s inheritance and traveled the world with the money. [...]
11- PEDAGOGY + EDUCATION
This particular list was shared by one of my college professors. The grievance is that there are holes in education. These holes are proof of propaganda. This selective absence of information is a prejudice that enhances one group while maligning all others. Education standards have been manipulated by nefarious people and practices that must be [...]
10- A QUESTION WAS ASKED AND I RESPONDED
Throughout drafts of writing this, my thoughts have strayed from the topic at hand. As a millennial man attracted to the teachings of Mark Driscoll and Jordan Peterson, what was/is the appeal and connection to them? Our contemporary culture is reacting to previous circumstances. This should be an obvious observation, but we (as a common [...]
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