Live…
More than your neighbors.
Unleash yourself and go places.
Go now.
Giggle, no, laugh.
No…stay out past dark,
And bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.
UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL.
THIS IS IT…YOUR LIFE.
Face your fears and live your dreams.
Take it all in.
Yes, every chance you get…
come close.
And by all means, whatever you do…
Get it on film.
– Jon Blais “The Blazeman”
Thank you Jon. You are my hero.
Casserole of Disaster 
“I’d like to know if you can be alone w/ yourself and truly like the company you keep…”
If I could set one goal for myself, for my life–that would be it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of job you have, or what you make or who you know. Just that you can live with yourself. Everything else just falls into place the way it is going to, and you don’t really have any control over it.
So thanks a lot, Will. Crying. AT MY DESK.
That line was powerful to me too. You should enjoy the company you keep. I’m talking to you, SH.
I used to run all-night clubs followed by all-day clubs, followed by all-night clubs, so we could all stay out after dark, after the next dark… I haven’t done that for a long time, but I recently laughed until I thought my ribs were going to crack, and the cause of it was reading a book in which a man was inspired by a bottle of wine to philosophise about women, ” You can cook quiche til you’re shitting oven gloves and they’ll still roll their eyes at some point and say Bloody Men…” Well I thought it was funny, and that’s what counts 🙂 Do you eat quiche in the USA?Do you have oven gloves?
The quote is from, “Life isn’t all Ha Ha Hee Hee” by Meera Syal (UK author)
We do eat quiche actually! I like the spinach kind. 😉 And we have oven gloves but we call the mitts.
Have you ever heard of Team Hoyt? They seem like a story you would be into. I think their website is teamhoyt.com or you can youtube team hoyt. Anyway, it’s all pretty moving and inspirational.
Oh yeah, Dick Hoyt is another one of my favorites. Those two are amazing champions for the disabled.
Wow! Very powerful and touching! I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face LOL! This is the second thing I have read today about living life to the fullest, appreciating the little things and not taking anything for granted…. I think someone is trying to tell me something! Thank you for sharing Billy 🙂
Cas (aka Girly)
BTW… Girlydigs is gone, but, I have a new place, stop by sometime 🙂 I’ve missed ya! *hug*
Um, well I’m dropping a cushy job with sweet pay and benefits to go live in a trailor in the deep south with minimal income and no idea what the economy will hold for the future. That’s got to be an adventure right there 😛 Sure I could live very boring and comfortably with no risks or excitement. But that wouldn’t amount to very much in the end, I don’t think. Get up and go, says I!
I fell apart watching his mother… FELL. APART. She’s just sitting there thinking about her son- who I’m assuming had already passed away by the time they shot that interview – and the only thing that can make her look up and not be about to cry herself is that her husband breaks apart… God, the ache of that loss is palpable. And my son is watching TV after a day of snow-play and pretend play and library time and a play date with a friend and I’m exhausted by his 3.5 year-old contrariness and whininess but I look at that woman and know that there are days she would trade the rest of her life to be with her son again at any age for even a minute even if it’s probably the last thing he would ever want her to do… Even if it was a minute where all he did was stand and whine “NOOOOOOooooo!!!!!” at the top of his voice…
Man. You suck Billy. I can’t stop crying damn you. (teary-eyed wrathful smile)
(This post is like the anti-post to mine in a way isn’t it? Crap.)
You’ve rightfully been inspired… this man is already a legend. But did he inspire you enough to participate in the Iron Man next year? If someone like Jon Blais can do you, you have no excuse.
P.S. WTF??? Do you think my writing sucks now? Haven’t seen you around my site in ages!
Amazing!!
Very cool and very true.
Geez, you have more posts up then I can catch up with. I’ve been on a blogger break. Got a lot of stuff going on and haven’t posted in a while. Alos, a little behind on everyone else’s blogs. Good to know all is well with you.
Oh my goodness, what an inspirational clip! I am teary-eyed after watching this but it was so lovely too, thanks for posting this my friend 🙂
I like this.
Fucking incredible. That is all I can say. Fucking incredible.
Vegetable: shoot me an email so I can get you an invite to my blog.
Right, almost forgot,
scot2475@hotmail.com
6:21 well spent this morning. Thank you!
I enjoyed that. Def something to motivate you in the morning!
Anyway, I enjoy reading your blog and I think you would appreciate my sense of humor. If I link to your blog on my blog is there any way you could return the favor? I think we could both get more exposure!
Check it out: http://scottstipoftheday.blogspot.com
Wow. It’s weird how something can be simultaneously so depressing and so motivating. Very moving story – thanks for posting it.
Wow..I drop out of the blogging spotlight for a bit, and come back to that. Intense.
Hi Bill 🙂
http://blip.tv/play/AeSyb5HGIg
Skip to 4 minutes in if you don’t want to watch the whole thing. 4 mins in well it reminded me of you. Enjoy!
Thank you for: “Remembering the -blazeman…Ironman’s-Braveheart”.
No Blazedad, thank you. You have blessed us all with an amazing son that is now a legend. “This is not a dress rehearsal.” I’m honored you came here.