James Richard Lane blog

A Noble Cause This month started off with me getting a phone call from my aunt (a cancer and heart transplant survivor) to tell me a homeless cat she's been feeding is very ill and needed treatment immediately. Knowing that my aunt is poor from her monthly medical bills. She took the initiative to put herself in more debt by getting treatment for the cat. She saved the cat from it's potential life threatening illness and decided to keep the 1 year old kitten. This action came as no surprise to me as she has a history of adopting those that need help. I was adopted by her and she's a true hero to me and those that need support. Eat More Fruit Things The flyer is inspiration for one of my new years resolutions to eat more fruit, I hosted/played yet another fantastic hostel show. This months line up consisted of Kyndal Gehlbach, Pennington, Pelvis Presley, and Sean Michael Wilson Band. The music was much more folk driven than previous shows, which I fondly enjoy be...

Facing adversity and turning it into opportunity. I have faced lots of disappointment this month. This comes as a surprise being last month treated me so well... I've had professional job interviews deny me by responding "I was a close runner up". I also have been denied financial aid again. After submitting appeals on why I deserve to have the support I need to finish my degree. I keep getting panic attacks and lots of anxiety followed with it. I can't seem to get ahead so it seems; however I was wrong. This is all opportunity to succeed in something else. I just need to cut ties with things that have been holding me back for too long and finally fully venture out. I believe that even if you don't have something supporting you like a job or school that can be the best because it can lead to other opportunities and that's exactly what I plan to do. There are plenty of other opportunities out there waiting for me. I have high hopes in my future for 2016. Th...

2016 has started and it has been filled with media, travel, and turtlenecks. The Year Of The Turtlenecks. New Years Eve was an exceptional way to end the year for me. The only words I can fathom to describe the absurdity of this night would be turtlenecks, farming, O'doul's. That basically was the key essentials to make that night what it was. It started off with Kim and I planning where we were going to spend the last night of 2015 together. My close compadre James was in town visiting from Vermont. He invited us to his older cousin Dan's farm, which was way out in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by horses, emus, and a pig named Garth Brooks. We were all sitting by the bonfire drinking and chatting away the hours. The countdown started and we were standing in the field waiting for the fireworks. It all went down with a big celebration Dan, James, Kim, and I walked in the house. Dan's nextstore neighbor (the landlard) came over informing us we somehow...

2015 Overview This year has been one huge learning lesson, with a great deal of adventures. I curated a list of goals I wanted to accomplish by the end of the 2015, all of those goals have been conquered. It was a rough year with lots of ups and downs and big decisions to be made. Although, everyday wasn't the best I tried to make the best out of it. I did enjoy a lot of extensive traveling and sight seeing, as well as being able to participate more in the media and entertainment industry. I was fortunate to go to a lot of great shows I wanted to see, and was able to play a lot of great show with my band and my solo act. 2015 was the year of learning and strategizing for me. The highlights of 2015: 1. Busing to Seattle/Portland from Baltimore 2. Driving to Chicago 4th of July week/end 3. Completing the half marathon of the Baltimore Running Festival 4. Seeing We Are Scientists in Philly 5. Hosting/performing awesome Baltimore Hostel shows and having City Paper/BMoreArt s...

Run Baltimore This year I sent myself an email, within the first few days of 2015. The email listed goals I wanted to accomplish. One of the goals being I wanted to complete The Baltimore Running Festival. That is exactly what I did. I was unsure at first, and felt very lazy early on in the year when it came to running. I than started to run the Jones Falls daily for 3 mile runs. I was than given advice to download the app Strava. This helped me keep track of my runs. I started running 5-10 miles a few times a week. On 9/23/15, I finally pushed myself to run 13.1 miles. It took me 2 hours, and 17 minutes but I did it. I couldn't of been anymore proud to finally have completed my own half marathon. The same night I found out my Grandfather passed away from cancer. It was a shattering moment. After a week of sorrow, I decided to sign up for the half marathon. The price was $120 to enter, my work (Hosteling International Baltimore) contributed more than half to my entry fee. It was...

A bittersweet Chicago Story In 2015, I have had a layover in Chicago via bus, via plane, and have driven to Chicago and stayed there for 4th of July weekend. I have had no intentions to go back this year, however I was convinced.... Buying the tickets A friend named Mike needed to go to Chicago to fly out to get to LA for very cheap tickets. He asked me to go intriguing me the price of $70 round trip. I agreed. He asked me to get us a free stay at HI-Chicago. I requested but could only get myself the free stay. He would of had to pay $30 a night. He refused. I cancelled my reservation, and declined to going to Chicago anymore. He said he would figure this out... This is a person I have been to (New York, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Denver, Toronto, LA, etc.) with. I decided to just go along with it. He found a Couch Surfer named Anthony (Chi is his actual real name). I agreed, I bought my $70 round trip tickets with Spirit. After I bought them was given an offer for a $50 re...