Need Gas in NJ on a Saturday Night, try again!

Ok so last week I went to the Chiller Theatre convention in Parsippany NJ to see some friends and meet some new people. I've been going to this show since 1999 and its always in NJ, a state that I absolutely loathe. I loathe NJ not because of the people but mostly due to how the state is laid out for transportation. You can't make left turns, there are 7 lanes on the NJ Turnpike and if you're in the wrong lane you could end up in NYC before you know it, or worse, Bayone.

I had to leave the show Saturday night due to working on Sunday. I say my goodbyes at 10pm and head out. I know I need gas but my lucky GPS tells me there is a plethora of stations near by. I pick the closest one and head towards it. I pull into the station, boom, the lights go out! Shit! I yelled, oh well must have hit the one thats closing up now. I pick the next one about another mile down the road. I pull into that one, closed! I'm starting to think a conspiracy is afoot and the state wants me to stay. So I hit the next one, closed; the next one, closed. Son of a bitch I exclaim. At this point i'm 7 miles south of the convention and nowhere near the interstate. So I get on the Interstate and head south, figure the closer I am to I-78 the better my chances are. I pick another station right off the exit < mile from the exit. I get off the exit, its fucking closed again!

At this point I'm fuming, everything is closed, there is absolutely nothing around that is open and its only 10:30. I stop at a Friendly's and ask the nice young ladies that are working that every gas station is closed and I need gas, now! One of the young ladies actually gets in her car to drive down the street to see if its open. She comes back and says its closed. They decided to send me about 8 more miles down the road to a station they know is open. They wish me luck and I'm on my way.

Thank god, a gas station that is finally open. I have to think at this point I was pretty much on E and couldn't make it any further. I find out from my GPS that i'm 20 miles south of the convention but also 4 miles East of where I originally drove from. Thank you NJ for making it even more difficult to get gas on a Saturday night. To the people of NJ, i'm sorry your state is the way it is, I really think you should either stage a coup and push to be able to pump your own gas as well as make these stations stay open longer!

Bits of Flesh...More than a name.

There's a more then just the obvious reason I named this blog "Bits of Flesh." Yes, I love zombie movies, but also, this blog was created because I'm putting parts of me out there to the inter webs to share with everyone.

A good friend said to me recently, "Matt, we are all "just a guy." When you have something to say that people want to hear, it doesn't matter who you are. Take advantage of it!" We were discussing my showing up on the Japanese poster for Survival of the Dead and that "I'm just a guy and who would want to hear about me and what I've done." Norman is a very wise man and I've followed his advice for the past 11 years and it has helped me become who I am.

So the main point of this particular blog is to open up a little more about myself and how the past year has shaped me and how I've taken advantage of it.

I'm sitting on my deck on a beautiful spring day. The coffee is fresh and warm, the sun is shining, my neighbor is building a shed and I'm jamming to some country on my iTunes. At this point last year I would have been sitting inside and being miserable at what my life had become. I was ready to change everything and everyone in my life, point blank, I didn't want to be where I was and wanted to be somewhere else. Last year was miserable and I was ready to change every single thing about my life and myself. In the past 2 days I've done more work and laughed more then I had probably in 2 months last year at this time.

Spring time is a time for renewal and this year I took advantage of it more then I ever had in my life. I'm happy, and doing something about it. Instead of just doing nothing but talking about doing stuff I'm being active and finally doing the stuff I've put off doing since 2008. I feel more accomplished and satisfied with what I've done in the last 6-7 months then I ever thought I could.

Norman has been on my butt about my "just a guy" thing. But I still think I am just a guy and who would want to hear what I have to say. I have found in the last year that I have a ton of friends who would want to hear what I have to say, good, bad or indifferent. I love them for that. They include the Drunken Tentacle crew, Skip and the Qwee, Lisa and Paul and without everyone I have mentioned, I wouldn't have made it through last year. Thank you all, I love you all very much. For everyone else that I didn't mention above trust me, there are many, your words of advice and stern talks have made an impact, I thank you more then you could ever imagine, I love you too.

Not all of these blogs will be this intimate, I have a problem with putting some of my feelings out there in fear of them perceived as hokey or too cliche or whatever. I have to get past that and just go for it. Believe it or not I'm a very private person about my feelings and thoughts on stuff and I'm sure some of you are surprised by that but vocalizing some of my feelings comes hard for me.

So I close with the feeling of success and being more comfortable with using this as a vehicle for more intimate revealings about me.

PS: Norman, thank you!