James Richard Lane blog

The beginning: Kim and I decided to move to Denver, Colorado to explore nature, venture new opportunities, learn, drink, eat, live life, and finish our educations. The city of Denver has become one of the biggest cities of growth since the legalization of weed. I heard a recent statistic of over 1000 people move to Denver every month. That being said finding a 1 bedroom apartment under $1000 was one of the most difficult searches I have ever done, but we made it happen. We planned out an exciting road trip to visit 4 new states I have never been, which would bring me ultimately closer to meeting my goal of visiting all 50 states by the age of 30. We also had to pack up all of Kim's furniture and belongings in a truck taking her items across country. As for me I don't own much, all I brought was 3 book bags full of clothes, my guitar/amp, and my bicycle. We realized this trip would be filled with camping, living on gas station food diets, and seeing parts of America we have n...

HI-Baltimore I have officially relinquished my duties at Hosteling International Baltimore. I started at the Baltimore hostel in summer 2013. My friend Mike and I visited the hostel to learn how to volunteer with HI. The GM at the time told us to stop by and help out whenever we wanted. We visited a couple of times hanging out with the guest, updating the event board, and helped with cooking and cleaning. Mike, Thom, and I eventually moved out to Los Angeles where we were getting high, swimming in our apartment's pool, and enjoying the West coast life. Thom and I eventually grew tired of it and both moved away. Thom went back to Baltimore, as I went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I lived with a woman named Joy for a month, but got homesick and missed my hometown. I didn't have much money left, but with the money I did have I bought a bus ticket back to Baltimore and arrived Thanksgiving Day. I was really broke and needed a job fast! I emailed the volunteer coordinator informing ...

New Denominations Are Here! March 1st at 12 am, I was drunk out of my mind, dancing the night away. It was The BNote Second Series launch party at Gallery 788. We had dj's, free food, free drinks, new local currency denominations, local artwork hung up, and an open tab next store at De Kleine Duivel. This was a very proud moment for me considering I wasn't sure if The BNote would have ever made it past the first series. After lots of devotion and determination it happened. I put my heart into making the local currency relevant again. Since my time back in Baltimore, I recruited several new businesses to accept, distributed supplies to older businesses, I wrote an article in The Charles Villager about it, was interviewed and put on the front cover of The Daily Record, and helped get The BNote on LED Baltimore. We had a superb turnout with lots of gracious supporters. Goodbye HI, Hello CS Concluding my time at the Baltimore hostel, July 1st being my last day. I have decided...

Denver My girlfriend Kim got accepted into a master's program in Denver and Tampa. We wanted to visit Denver to get a feel for the program and the city. This would be my first time back in Denver since 2012 when I worked and lived in Denver for a month campaigning for the presidential elections. Kim and I bought our tickets last minute and got an AirBnB hours before we arrived. We flew from BWI with a short layover in Dallas, Texas turned into a 6 hour layover. After the long and unexpected wait we finally got on our plane and made it to Denver. We walked outside the airport to be surrounded by mountains and a beautiful scenic view. We took an hour bus ride from the airport to down town Denver. We made it our AirBnb in River North Art District to be greeted by our hosts and our room for the next five nights. Immediately we were enthused to explore the neighborhood. We walked around to discover murals of west coast art, hip bars cafes, and an abundant amount of breweries just in...

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...