Who do I still think I am??

This one's about gone.

MOB-RELATED ACTIVITY:

'Sup y'all? It's an all-around unfun day, as last days of anything typically are...but there's some added weight to the package this evening. I'll spare you all the mushy sportstalk crap for a few paragraphs right now, and I promise I won't get too emotional.

The end of February typically tends to sneak up on me way too fast...probably because it's the shortest month of the year or something. Besides the crappy weather though, I kinda don't wanna let this month go. Between the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 's Blog Mob and "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , it's been one of the most fun months I've had putting together blog entries (that weren't for official 30DBC months) in quite awhile. I knew I'd enjoy both activities, but I didn't realize just how much...tomorrow I'll go back to what feels almost like my normal habitat, but with a little bit more experience and a better sense of purpose when I'm typing away.

And give it up for everyone in the Blog Mob one last time...too many to name but I'm gonna try it anyway: A*Monaing*Faith , Elle - on hiatus , pinkbarbie, Sparky , Prosperous Snow celebrating , ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy , Lyn's a Witchy Woman , blainecindy, ElaineElaine , Wordsmitty ✍️ , and Emily . I think we did our bOSS (with an uncapital B) Brother Nature proud by keeping things goin' all month long. It's been great runnin' with you guys whenever we've had the chance to cross paths, and hopefully I'll see some of you again in March.

Andre The Blog Monkey should be on his way back to Canada...safe travels, safe return.

BCF PROMPT: "What is the most fun thing you have done this week?"

It hasn't been all that fun of a week. I mean, I've had worse (and so have others), but this one's been pretty lousy. At least today I didn't go anywhere that held the potential to screw me, so that's good. And outside of bustin' out these words, I've been trying to keep a low profile. Like I said up above, the month itself was pretty fun, so I'll stick with that as my stock answer and hope that March is even better (which, really, if I can make it past the first week I should hopefully be in pretty good shape).

I don't have much more to add, unfortunately. I guess it's just been that kind of week.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

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Wow...for the last time, the Soundtrackers' logo will grace this parcel of internet property. I'm sure some of you know this, and most of you don't, but I'm kinda picky about WDC things I associate with. It's not often that I'll see something and immediately go "Count me in!!", but for me this was an instant no-brainer. And it's been rewarding because not only have I gotten to talk about some of my favorite music, but I've been able to learn about others and share in some good experiences as well. This has been nothing short of tremendous.

I'll wrap up this month with what I'd consider to be my "concert closer", if you will. Back in the day, I loved going to karaoke with friends...and one bar in particular would have karaoke seven nights a week. We became friends with the DJ's and bartenders, and on any given night you'd almost assuredly run into at least a couple members of our extended group there.

Occasionally, I'd go there for the sole purpose of saying hi, staying for a drink or two, maybe grab the mic for a song, and leave. And some nights, we'd end up closin' the joint (or keepin' it open long after everyone else left). There would be times where it'd be no big deal for me to drop a $20 in the tip jar, give the DJ a list of five songs, sing 'til your eardrums bled, and head home shamelessly. I am certainly not the most talented singer, but who cares? It's all about havin' fun.

Anyway, this song..."Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis (album: [What's The Story] Morning Glory? {link:http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Story-Morning-Glory/dp/B001MV49HG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393636858&sr=8-1&keywords=oasis+what%27s+the+story+morning+glory}; lyrics: http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/13120/) for me was the bar-closer, or at least the night-ender. When it came time to break this song out of my repertoire, my pipes were sufficiently lubricated and it was the best way of saying goodbye regardless of the night's circumstances. Sometimes it's easy to remember better the things that go wrong or unfavorably, and I'm just as guilty of that as anyone, but it's also important to be able to see through that and think about the good times as well. Even when everything falls apart, at some point (even if it's years and years later) you can reminisce about those moments and realize that maybe they needed to happen in order for you to get to where you are today. While it might be a necessary part in accepting and growing as a person for any given amount of time, it's not totally healthy to carry around certain feelings forever.

Now I'm just rambling. Farewell Soundtrackers...tip your DJ's and waitresses, and drive safe.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

If you haven't seen this yet WDC Soundtrackers, and you want to continue on blogging in a similar vein, I suggest you check out "Blog Harbor from The Talent Pond"  hosted by Jeff over at "Blog Harbor from The Talent Pond" . Personally, I don't think I've watched enough movies or tv to sustain a month's worth of entries, but this should be every bit as enjoyable as "The Soundtrack of Your Life"  was if you enjoy cinematic adventures as much as I love music.

Coincidently, I kinda planned last night what song I would choose for today...and then I came across this link from Britain's NME: http://www.nme.com/photos/liam-gallaghers-75-most-hilarious-one-liners/149335/1/... (Spoiler Alert: It's not even close to 75). And that led to... http://www.nme.com/photos/noel-gallaghers-50-funniest-quotes/161736/1/1 (also not even close). My favorite? Noel Gallagher on his brother, Liam: “He’s rude, arrogant, intimidating and lazy. He’s the angriest man you’ll ever meet. He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”

In Your Dirtiest Pants tagged me in a post this afternoon which I thought was pretty interesting, so I'm gonna share my response/Facebook post here as well. As she said, "these lists are too short"...so very true. This isn't my definitive list, and I think if you asked me this 365 days a year you'd get 365 different lists. It's also not in any particular order...literally it's the first 12 albums I could think of that had a significant impact on me.

Finally got my orthopedic appointment rescheduled, which will make next week interesting with a total of three appointments all over the freakin' place. And I got the results back from my blood work from last week...anyone else find it annoying when doctors (or nurses) are all like "Everything looks great! But..." and then they hit you with something that's not great? It's like some kind of psychological mind game they're trained to play; like it's a clinical they take in nursing school. "This patient is about to hear from your face that he's got a very serious, very grave medical condition. I want you to break the news to him as if he's seven years old and is about to go to an amusement park." I swear, that's how they operate (poor word choice) do things here. It sounds like I passed my blood tests with flying colors, and by "flying colors" I mean "add unhealthy bad lipid numbers to the growing list of things that are wrong with me, and why don't I tack on another prescription to my pharmaceutical cocktail as well". Awesome. First it's "well, it's probably arthritis" and "you need to cut back on the sodium", then it's "there's too many things wrong with you for us to try and help you today", and today I get the "your bad cholesterol is bad" talk. At least they called me to tell me that, and didn't try to actually send me a letter addressed to "Fatty" with a "Say No To Food" postmark.

Finally, we're at the really hard part of this entry. Longtime readers will know that I regard the NHL's trade deadline as one of my most favorite days of the year. I mark it on my calendar, I usually take the day off and clear my schedule, and I set up my own little "war room" where I can follow every single snippet of action, every rumor, and take in every piece of information I can find. I'm like a kid on Christmas morning when it's "Deadline Day". I knew this year would be bittersweet, because my Sabres suck and two of their (arguably) best players will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, meaning they can sign anywhere and the Sabres would get nothing for them. Unfortunately, that made them tradable assets before the March 5th deadline...and that's what happened. It's hard to draft and develop franchise players in any sport, and it's definitely a little heartbreaking when they leave, but it's part of the ugly business side of a kids' game. I think the only thing that surprises me the most (besides the haul the Sabres got) was that this deal happened so early (relative to the actual deadline day). It's also concrete, tangible proof that your favorite hockey team is also the worst team in the league and just managed (in the short term at least) to get even worse...but I guess ya gotta start somewhere if you're gonna rebuild and do it right. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=444922 So good luck, Millsie and Otter...you've served the blue and gold well, and you've done us fans proud. Plus, it's finally lookin' like I'll get a small return on the investment I made several years ago, when I bought a St. Louis Blues jersey right after Wayne Gretzky was traded there.

Put it in the books y'all...another month down in 2014. Thanks for playin'. We've already gotten the "Welcome to the 30DBC" email (with the first prompt) for March, and there's still plenty of time to join as either a competitor or a judge...just hit up the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  forum for all the info you'll need. With that, I'm takin' the rest of February off. Peace, I heard you say, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!