David Vienna's Blog, page 71

bestnatesmithever:not-inappropriate:Who did this ...

bestnatesmithever:

not-inappropriate:

Who did this 😂😂😂

This is brilliant.

I designed this T-shirt and I love it so much I want to spoon with it.[If you want one, too, you can...

I designed this T-shirt and I love it so much I want to spoon with it.

[If you want one, too, you can get it at my RedBubble shop.]

My Friend Vlad

Vlad changed my life in so many ways, but the most important way was that he saved it. He saved my life.

I met him in 7th grade English. Having just moved to town, he was the new kid, but unlike the cliché timid “new kid” character, Vlad had no fear—socially or otherwise. He was a big personality and made friends fast.

I was the opposite: Quiet, timid, terrified of even being called on by the teacher. During junior high, Vlad and I became acquaintances, but not friends, not yet. Then, in 9th grade I was sent to private school where I was picked on a lot, which just exacerbated my sense of isolation and depression.

My friend and neighbor Mike told me he’d been hanging out with Vlad and dragged me along one day to hang out with him and the motley crew of skaters from around town. Vlad and I hit it off and, by the middle of 9th grade, if I wasn’t at school, I was with Vlad.

We did everything together, which usually meant hanging out at various places or traveling to those places (him via skateboard, me via 10-speed). And that motley crew of skaters welcomed me into their circle of friends.

Vlad liked having fun, no matter what, and he spent the night at my house a lot because he and his mother did not get along much. We commiserated and joked late into the night, we caused trouble, we went on late-night road trips to Virginia Beach, we sneaked into the Woodbridge reservoir to swim, explored abandoned mills. For a joint science report, we wrote a punk song about William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, creator of the Kelvin scale… We quite simply had a blast nearly every time we were together.

And most importantly, when I felt like I didn’t fit in, he encouraged me to embrace my inner weirdo. Vlad didn’t fit any mold and, by example, he showed me how that was a strength, not a fault.

When I finally returned to public school my junior year, I was nervous about making friends, about fitting in. Vlad helped with both. You see, he knew everybody. Cliques be damned, everybody liked Vlad—jocks, band geeks, preppies, cheerleaders, metal-heads, wallflowers.

I’d never seen anything like it. It was incredible. And so, I did what Vlad did: I acted like I belonged. Because whether I believed it or not, I did.

With Vlad leading by example, I went from a mousey introverted nerd in 9th grade to a vocal extroverted nerd my senior year. I won a superlative in the yearbook, joined drama and acted in a bunch of plays, and even ended up performing with Vlad and some other people in a (not-so politically correct) sketch in front of the entire school during the homecoming game, earning cheers from the entire student body.

(We also had the single most disastrous double-date in high school history. It started with Vlad scaling a fence in his suit and sprinting down a dock to chase after a dinner boat that had already left the dock because we were late. It only got worse from there.)

I moved to Richmond, Virginia, for college and about a year later Vlad moved there, too. (An incredibly talented musician, he used to pick up new instruments and teach himself how to play whenever he got bored.) We started a band that I fronted, an act I acknowledged I couldn’t have done without Vlad encouraging me to be myself, to be bold all those years.

We continued to hang out pretty much every day. If I wasn’t at class and he wasn’t at work, we were tooling around Richmond or at the practice space.

I dropped out for a while and Vlad got me a job at a big box store, where he worked in the photo lab. I saw him carrying around an ASL book one day and asked him if he was learning sign language. He said, yeah, because one of his coworkers was deaf. Nobody told him to learn it, he just wanted to, so he could talk with the guy. That’s the kind of person Vlad was.

Years later, I moved to Seattle. And shortly after Vlad moved there, too. We went to shows together, formed yet another band, and, yes, got into more trouble. Once, after I’d moved away, he called me out of the blue and invited me to Las Vegas. He flew to my town and from there we drove through the hills and desert like one of our old road trips, met up with his friends, and had a drunken week of debauchery.

He was the best man at both of my weddings. And though, we ended up living 1,200 miles apart (he stayed in Seattle, while I eventually made a home in Los Angeles), we stayed in touch. The time between our phone calls grew, but it never felt like we had to catch up when we talked. We just picked right back up where we left off.

He was a constant in my life, my best friend, the guy who saved my life and helped me become who I am.

In recent years, his health started to wain. A few days ago, I found out he passed away suddenly last week.

The thing that’s hard to explain is everybody loved Vlad. He was just the type of person that made your day better just by being there because he was always interested in you, he always supported you. And he didn’t do it instead of caring for himself, he could do both.

He was an incredibly special person in that way. And the fact that someone that wonderful chose to spend so much time with me made me feel wonderful and special, too.

Vlad made me feel worthy of friendship, of love, of respect. I try every day to instill that in my boys. And I’ve told them countless stories about him—about his kindness, his compassion, his love of life, his absolute bonkers weirdness.

To put it plainly, I am a better man for having Vlad in my life.

Now, I have to be that man without him in it.

And I will because he would want it that way. And because of him, I do, too.

Define daddy complex

Don’t tell me what to do.

bestnatesmithever:lcphotowerx:bestnatesmithever:I wa...

bestnatesmithever:

lcphotowerx:

bestnatesmithever:

I want an extreme makeover where I end up looking like a modern day version of Buster Keaton.

You already look good, why would you want to break what’s not broken? I’m declaring us Tumblr’s newest bromance

Aw thanks buddy. I just want to up my style a bit and live out my fantasy of being a silent film comedian.

Then, first step: Shut up.

bestnatesmithever:hopefulmisanthrope:l3iii:So I’m gue...

bestnatesmithever:

hopefulmisanthrope:

l3iii:

So I’m guessing we’re all growing old with each other on tumblr.

Old friends senior blog sanctuary

Started using Tumblr when I was 28 and was considered “old” back then. Now I’m 41.

Hey, you kids! Get off my 01101100 01100001 01110111 01101110

The Untitled GenX Podcast | Linktree

The Untitled GenX Podcast | Linktree:

HEY, NERDS! I’m on the latest episode of The Untitled GenX Podcast. Listen to me and host Lori Garcia bloviate about Nirvana’s epic Nevermind album, as well as my attempt to become the next Kurt Cobain. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts so you, too, can smell like teen spirit.

Feeling topsy-turvy.

Feeling topsy-turvy.

You are amazing

Yeah, I know.

charliecapen:vague post but pls send semi-legal stimulant...

charliecapen:

vague post but pls send semi-legal stimulants & relaxants. and, if you haven’t already, go follow both @gish & @towwn for secretttttt things about to transpire. ✨📚🌱📝🌳✍️✨

Charlie does cool stuff. Listen to Charlie.