Graham Sedam Writes

I feel like I had a pretty good 2018. I set goals. I experimented with them. I accomplished much. Now that it’s the beginning of 2019, I feel as though I have a clean slate. I have the opportunity to build, maintain, and reframe what’s important to me and where I see the gaps in my ambitions are. Of course, every day is an uphill battle. I am not wealthy nor without the need to work a “day job.” I have a wife and kids, and they have their own needs and desires, which often conflict with my own. Every day requires effort. That’s not to say that some days don’t happen to work out and go smoothly. For the most part, there is no natural smoothness. It takes energy, effort, and a clear understanding of objectives and priorities. Even though I feel I have a clean slate, I still want to carry over goals or aspects of goals to 2019. I’ll surely re-evaluate as I go, but I need a direction to start in. I learned plenty from last year, some of which I go into in the wrap-up post for my 2018

I’ve been thinking about this post off and on throughout the year, and considering how late in the year it is, I figured that I should get to writing one if it was going to happen at all. Of course, I'm talking about an official revisit to my 2018 goals, the ones I discussed at the beginning of the year in the post, “ Got Resolve? 2018 Goals Dissected .” I’m glad that I waited to write up a draft. Looking at the notes I made throughout the year is great, and some may sneak their way into this post, but many of them feel incomplete. Now that I've gone almost a full year working to achieve these goals, I feel like I have a much better handle on what I've gained, what they taught me, and how I can build upon that next year. Did I achieve my goals? Yes—absolutely. Although, there needs to be an asterisk added to that “yes” for the aid of a footnote. I was doing really well tackling my goals as of June, and I had gotten into a great routine to foster that momentum. However,

This year, this month actually, I'm turning forty. I'll try to spare you the clichés and trappings of a post about turning forty, but chances are I'll fail at that. Why? Because there's something universal to stereotypes and clichés. There's a truth to them that we may not want to admit. There's a reason they exist. Turning forty and our feelings about it are no exception. I could also go on at great lengths talking about a lot of different things related to my life up until turning forty and where I’m at in life now and where I see myself going. Instead, I felt it best to highlight a few different things that I’ve thought about most in regards to this decade milestone. How has age influenced my decisions and my outlook the most? I don't believe that I went through or am going through a midlife crisis. To some extent, I feel like I've already gone through plenty of internal life crises. In the least, we all have micro life crises along the way, so

I'll admit that when I first started reading J. Thomas Richard's noir-style novel, The Black River Players , my brain was a little resistant. That notion sounds worse than it was, but that seems to be the best way for me to describe it. With a little more explanation, maybe you'll understand. It's a great book, so don't stop reading here, and please, buy a copy and support a talented writer who is self-published. What you must first understand is that I was coming out of reading an entirely different book in every sense of the word “entirely.” The book I had finished reading, Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe , is a text based upon gathered information that is then laid out and explained in a comprehensive way. I enjoyed that book for the knowledge that I gained, and I wrote a post about my experience with it . That book contributed to an even greater understanding I now have of the human race’s historical background. The text in Jus

For what now seems like a long time ago, I had the opportunity to receive a digital copy of Draze Force’s new EP, III , along with its accompanying cover art. Nick Morris, Draze Force's sole mastermind, graciously sent it to me back in May before its June 8th release. I've been mulling over a write-up on the blog ever since, taking stabs at a post along the way. It hasn't been until recently that I was able to start tightening things up to publish this post. As I wrote, Nick humored me by answering some questions. I could make the attempt of breaking down each song descriptively and relaying that to you readers here, but this is not that type of post. I feel that music is a far too personal experience; it’s an art to be heard, not read. What I do here is merely a supplement to what YOUR ears tell YOU. If I had to give you a simple description, how would I describe the music of Draze Force? The first word that pops into my mind is electronic. Realizing that descripti

Because, I'm not. I'll admit that, from a distance, it looks like I am. But, I am not. With the launch of my 2018 goals this year, there have been intended-though-not-intentional repercussions. Confusing? Let me explain. I wanted to make changes, and I knew those changes were going to cause other changes. However, I never knew what those changes would be. One minute, I give myself a goal to "exercise 5 minutes a day," the next minute, I'm running a 5k on the treadmill. Well, not literally the next minute. One thing leads to another, as they say. I initially started walking briskly on the treadmill immediately after using my Total Gym in the morning. I enjoy watching videos I've put in my “watch later” list on YouTube while I'm on the treadmill. They're generally educational or motivational, but it's a mis-mosh of whatever I've saved for later. This helps the time go by more quickly and efficiently, and it can be easy to forget how long I