May Flowers (Poetry entry)

May Flowers...

Once encased in the cold frozen ground were two seedlings that were broken and bruised.

By chance they were seeded next to each other and the warmth of the May sun allowed the two seedlings to see the beauty in each other.

Out of the ground they sprouted into two beautiful beings, while they didn't always touch, they grew towards each other.

The common bond they share is one of love and understanding for these two flowers grew especially close in a sea of other flowers.

Even though the winds of life blew them in different directions at times; they were always together. The roots were strong, for they grew together in the soil of love & compassion. The bond they found in each other provided the strength and hope for the future that both so desperately needed.

Mark Schmidt

08/21/2015

New age social party crashers

The new age social party crashers.

Let's talk about party food, baby

Let's talk about you and me

Let's talk about all the good things that...I..made to eat

And all the bad annoying trendy food hipster things that you may be

Let's talk about regular beer

Let's talk about straight cookout food

Let's talk about common courtsey

Let's talk about shut the fk up and eat what is provided to you

yeah..Let’s talk about party food, BABY!

Okay, in today’s blog entry I want to discuss the growing trend of what I refer to as “The new age social party crashers” If you have attended a cookout, picnic, BBQ, Special gathering, Birthday party or Corporate event you have no doubt encountered one of the following individuals bellow. I refer to them as “Diet fad” & “Beer snob”

Ahhhhh yes, we all immediately know what I’m talking about. NOW, this in no way shape or form refers to any individual who has to live by a special diet due to a legit allergy, medical condition or other treatment / weight loss plan. Oh no, this annoyance is with the self proclaimed foodie/craft beer individual who finds it necessary to come to an event as a guest but yet feel the need to make special food requests when they have no reason other then they decided to try a specialized diet to “enhance” their life….

If you wish to improve your health, by all means bravo! I will support you...but do not come to an event and make special requests when you aren’t paying for a damn thing. Can you imagine Jesus frustration if the “Feeding of the Multitude” was to occur today?? Bethsaida would be full of people saying that they could not eat the fish because of pcb’s nor the bread because they have broken their dependence to gluten. Or better yet they can only eat the foods customized by their food coach.

Beer snobs are another annoyance to me. Now, I have had some delicious IPAs. I respect the craftsmanship and work that goes into making your own brew. No disrespect to those crafters but again if you come to a social gathering and you are offended by the thought of simple “redneck” beer such as coors, budweiser or pbr being available then please bring your own smart ass. That also doesn’t give you a pass to boast about how your IPA is superior.

Honestly, I don’t care that your 6 pack is a special edition brew that is only made during the third lunar phase in the hills of Pennsylvania while it rains on a slate roof with the actual Punxsutawney phil hanging upside down with an m80 shoved in his ass causing perspiration to drop into the hops to give it that slight full bodied panic and earthy undertow complimenting the beastly nature for the sophisticated palate…….wow, that is fascinating buddy..my jam from Journey’s Raised on Radio is about to come on next on my playlist and my cheeseburger with  cheese from a singles wrapper is burning so laters.

My ultimate point is that when I was a kid and even a teen if you were a guest someplace even if you didn’t really care for the food you shut up and picked at it or simply waited until you left and ate after. Now, everyone has allergies, special diets, religious restrictions to the point that throwing a get together with food is as difficult as landing a jet on aircraft carier with 0 experience.

Perhaps going forward we should throw parties with holographic food? I mean why not?? no one gains any weight, the food never spoils. You certainly never run out and ole uncle morty can’t double dip in the chip dip. social food gathering are supposed to be about basic fun and enjoying the company. I suggest if you have a specialized diet then please bring a dish to share with everyone. Instead of saying a spread does not meet a trendy hipster standard, you should be thankful in today’s world we still as humans have social gatherings. I suppose within the next 5 years all parties will be via facetime and online meetings seeing how we become less personal and more connected through technology. Which is hilarious as I am giving my opinion about social gatherings…..ONLINE.

Mark E. Schmidt.

August 19, 2015

Summer Job of 1998

SUMMER JOB Of 1998

August 11, 2015

                                                   

"The tans will fade, but the memories will last forever" -unknown

The  ring tone of calypso rang loud and ever persistent on my night stand. I reached for my phone and looking at the iphone screen I realized that I had been sleeping through the sound and would surely be late for work.

“dammit” I muttered as I threw over the covers sitting up rubbing my eyes I made the quick and fateful run for the shower to make epic time. In autopilot mode I was never quite thinking but doing whatever necessary to beat the clock. I dressed faster than Katy Perry during a wardrobe change in between songs at a concert. I grabbed my badge, keys and did a once over in the mirror to check my hair….thats right, I can still check my eyebrows if that's all I have. (No visible greys or dead ends) I was good to go.

For 2pm in the afternoon, the August air was still heavy with humidity. The flowing breeze across the creek provided a temporary relief of the oppressive humidity; all while also providing the sweet smell of cape jasper which was pleasant as I entered the hot oven of my car. I decided to take a shortcut over a side street to cut out a few minutes. Buzz 105.7 was on and playing Make it hot by Nicole Wray. I haven’t heard this song in years I said to myself.

Like any good Summer day combined with needing to be somewhere yesterday I ended up with the inevitable..yep, you guessed it. Road construction and the ever hated flagger with his radio and oversized cooled that is used as a foot rest. I felt pity for him on this hot day, I would not want that job. Still, I was pissed, now I’m even more behind. Yet, it’s no ones issue but mine.

Attempting to be clever, I took one more detour and drove past one of the Elementary schools in Ballston Spa. As I drove I saw something that made me pull over. I witnessed a group of 4-5 Teenagers working at the school doing groundskeeping. I couldn’t help but smile. It was exactly 17 years ago that I was one of those teenagers.

Summer of 1998, Myself, Anthony Angrisani, Dave Smassanow & Justin Spittal were all classmates and close friends entering our Senior year of High School. We all decided as a group of friends to work together for the Ballston Spa School District doing groundskeeping and moving supplies to the brand new High School that we were to be the first class to graduate from.

I can still hear the radios in the background playing the top songs of that summer of can’t get enough from smash mouth, closing time by semisonic and the new hit single don’t want to miss a thing by Aerosmith. That is the summer as 17 year olds that we spent our nights watching Celebrity Death match, the Sopranos and bringing our Girlfriends to the drive ins/movies to see something about Mary and the mouth dropping Saving Private Ryan (which resulted in not much make out time, nor relations post movie)

This was the Summer I was also playing many shows to help support the CD release of Wrath’s “Twisted & Tormented”. All the while I continued to care for My Mom who was in the midst of battling cancer.

Those were simple and fun times filled with junky first cars, first loves, unforgettable memories and laughs that all 17 year olds should have. We worked hard, but not too hard for our money at the school. We met individuals that showed us that bitterness and grudges are no way to live. The four of us talked often about once our Senior year was done where we would end up. Our dreams were as big as our imagination. We felt that we could accomplish all but yet had the fear of knowing that the time soon approached for College and leaving the nest.

The perspective for all of us besides partying and facing the future in those days was as distant and as far reaching as the objectification of any dreaming 17 year old. There all four of us stood unknowingly on the dock on west egg reaching for that Green light of Tom Buchanan’s deck across the bay. All we knew was that if we just got into the top colleges, got the degrees then we would land the Top paying Job and have that dream girl fall in love and marry us. Then, if we got the big custom houses, fancy SUV’s, coached the little league teams and just could have it all, then all in our lives would be complete.

I am the only one of the four who still lives in the area. All of us still talk on a regular basis and see each other when possible. We all have families, responsibilities and dreams that made it and did not quite make it. But the bottom line stands that it was that bond, that friendship, laughs, jokes at others expense during those summer days that gave the four of us the foundation for what would be an unbreakable bond going into our senior year.

I rolled up my window and drove away with just enough time to make it to work. While driving, I  realized that the teenagers I saw blowing off their summer work were probably born the very same year that me and my friends were working those same grounds. Love, Laughter and Friendship is more valuable than any summer paycheck..unless it came to Taco bell, 0.99 cent a gallon gas and cheap smokes from Mobil off of brookline road. Then that was a different story.

Thank you,

Mark Schmidt.

The ties that bind and stand the test of time.

                      

The ties that bind and stand the test of time. 

"no cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with a single thread" -Robert burton

November 1997, I recall upon those days with clear and joyful memories. I had hair! I was playing drums in a successful local and regional band. I was dating my first true love Jade. I was 17 and a Junior in High School. This had shaped up to be one of the most memorable autumn's to date.

Of course in November 1997, my family and I month that me and my family I received the crushing news that the ongoing respiratory illness my Mother had been contending with was something much sinister.

"I have cancer" she said in tearful eyes to me and my Brother as my Father stood next to her. She explained it was lung cancer, that she would see a specialist to determine the next option. Sitting there I can still remember myself saying it must be a mistake, but we knew given her illness the last few months that this was very real and serious. The age of innocence for my teenage years had gone. From that day onward, i knew that life, had changed forever.

I spent my Jr & Sr year of high school living my days as a normal high school student. I was busy with school work, playing drums in the band Wrath while recording and traveling for shows. I maintained a relationship with Jade, all the while I adjusted my schedule at school to help accommodate my Moms chemo, surgeries and many inpatient hospital stays.

During this time my Mom began making Afghan blankets (or throws). She passed the time by knitting and trying keeping a strong outlook. It seemed almost daily that I would bring my mom to a fabric shop where she would spend a minimum of an hour just looking and deciding on spools of fabric or yarn. I admit that I had my moments i would get sooo bored. (This was 1998, no smartphones)  she was thankful for those frequent trips, I felt that creativity was helping her as much as I sometimes felt inconvenienced driving her day after day.

The afternoons of my senior year were spent on homework, playstation, band rehearsals and my relationship with Jade. I would sit and watch my Mom in her wheelchair work her crochet hooks on throw after throw. Her body was changing and she was becoming more sick. Her cancer was spreading and her hands became weaker by the day. Still, her dedication was strong even as weak and tired as she was physically, she carried on day after day.

She stayed strong to see my Brother get Married and me graduate High School. But on September 29th 1999, My Mother lost her battle with cancer. I understood why she did so many afghans now. Her last one was for me, it was my favorite color Green. She was so weak at the end of her days she simply couldn't finish it. Thankfully a family friend took on the remaining last piece and finished it for me on her behalf.

 

The throws are special as my Mother had made them not just to pass the time, but as heirlooms to pass down. With careful planning and persistence my Mom took simple string and intertwined it into something warm, beautiful and that will be passed down.

Those afghans as well mine are the definition of family and love. Taking material, bringing it together it becomes strong, like family! She was preserving and passing down our family. She must have known this was the end. In true hero fashion, she spent her final two years alive thinking of others and family, even as the cancer ravaged her body she smiled everyday and made every second count. Even in the intensive care unit.

Every day is a gift, every breath is special and we all have a place in this world. What will you do with your string and crochet hooks?

Our last family photo ever taken on June 19th, 1999 in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Mark E. Schmidt

August 07, 2015

August morning thought

                  August morning thought.

                                         August 05, 2015

Hello Readers,
This morning I had to escape the noise filled living room of two children arguing and the background noise of Teen Titans Go. I sat outside, felt like I needed to write and I just closed my eyes and began to let it flow. I have a tremendous amount of people in my life at the moment where they are facing personal issues and problems and have rather bleak outlooks. This is a piece for them.

About the author...

                                       About the Author.....

These are always awkward to do. Unless you are a narcissist then this is probably the most enjoyable part of writing and interacting with readers is to go on and on about yourself.

As previously mentioned, My name is Mark Schmidt. I am 35 years old and I reside in Upstate NY just south of the foothills of the Adirondacks. I grew up in the area and surprisingly writing is only a hobby for me. My main passion in life is music. I am a Drummer and have been playing for 23 years. I have been in many different types of bands and genres. Although, my heart is always with Metal and heavy music.

Education wise, I went through the typical jazz of high school. I attended Hudson Valley Community College where I received my Associates in Liberal Arts with a focus on Psychology & English.

I then attended Sage college of Albany where I studied in Literature and Pre-Law.
I am a giant kid at heart. I love to bring my two young children to different places. I am an avid video gamer (I have clear skin, I do not live in a basement and I have a full time job),

I believe in tapping into the creativity and inspiration of each individual by helping them see their self worth. Laughter is always the best medicine and there is no denying the joys of love. Have any questions? please email me Guilddrumuk@gmail.com

Thank you...
Mark E. Schmidt

Welcome..

August 03, 2015

Welcome, come in, sit down and take your shoes off..but if you have smelly disgusting feet I would please ask that you be considerate of other people in the room especially in your are in a starbucks. I would hate to think that combination of my writing, the eagerness of you to read my writing and the horrible smell that is your feet have just ruined the poor customers tazo tea or grande cafe latte with 2% milk, no whip and set at 180% so perfectly drinkable by hipsters upon arrival.

Now that we have that covered (interesting choice of words I'd say). Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mark Schmidt. I am a 35 year old and I live in Upstate NY. My passions are Music, Writing, loving & laughing and trying to do my best here while I have my time here.

I have two children by the ages of 8&6 They are by far the biggest form of love for me and my inspiration.

Letters from Orchard Valley:

Is a blog created by me for the purpose of reflection, discussions on current events as well as tributes and reviews of things I find funny and interesting. I hope this blog will give you the reader a smile and a chance to escape your world for awhile.

If you have any specific questions, suggestion or complaints for me, Please email me @ GuilddrumUK@gmail.com

Enjoy,

Mark Schmidt.