HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

"These are warm, serene, bright autumn afternoons."
Henry David Thoreau

It's a beautiful fall day in Chicago and not rainy as I remember so many of my Halloween trick-or-treating experiences being. It never stopped us though. I looked so forward to the annual showing of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" which meant trick-or-treating was just around the corner. : )  Actually, I still love that show but now I own it on Blu Ray and we watch it every Halloween night.

The History Channel had a special on about Halloween traditions and how they started. Turns out that there was a period in history that Halloween was celebrated as a Christian holiday to honor the dead. Did you know that there was a man named Jack that would run around town with a carved gourd and a lantern and that's how jack-o-lanterns began? He was a strange and creepy man I guess. Ya think?

I was trying to remember why I was watching that show and it just occurred to me....."Twister" was on and I just couldn't take it anymore. Why did we all like that movie back then? The tornados were cool but then you had to wait for them through the other parts. Well this time I guess I bailed. : )  So back to Halloween......

Have you noticed that more people are getting into decorating their homes for Halloween?  It's getting to be almost like Christmas in the Chicago area.  Last night we went to see a house that Dan had told me about near his place and it was so great!  You needed to get out of the car to see all of the detail.  So we did.
While we were standing on the sidewalk and admiring everything, the homeowners brother came up to us and it turns out that he too does similar things to his home (in a neighboring town) and he has even won an award for scariest house in the contest Glen Ellyn does.  He told us all about everything and how it was all done.  All about how much work his brother does every year to make everything.  He has an artist background and started decorating his parent's home when he lived there.  Now the two brothers share their love for this every year.  He went to get his brother to meet us and sure enough they talked about everything like it was the best thing they had ever done.  They don't just go out and buy decorations.  They design them and get things off the internet that they then customize for their yards.  Some of the high points were...

a free floating ghost in the front window (full size)

3 pumpkins that sing the theme song from The Haunted Mansion at the Disney Parks and they do it in an animated fashion like the busts in the graveyard on the ride.

a graveyard complete with a smoke machine that would go on whenever it would lightning and thunder (a system that they had devised to make both happen) and it wasn't just one light, it was a few in different locations.

a Linda Blair small head for their door knocker (she's from the movie the exorcist if you don't recognize the name)
The exorcist was the movie (back in the day) that had everyone heaving in their popcorn tubs due to fear and the gross stuff.

a window above their garage had an ever changing spooky scene going on with lights and film

at the entryway to their house they had a little area with a roof so they were able to put spider webs with loads of spiders (no not the rings) all over them of different sizes.  Carved pumpkins that could be at Martha Stewart's house on the step but then in a tall window next to the door about 3 feet wide there was a scene that looked like a normal entryway with a little table and lamp etc.  The mirror above all this would change and have 2 head busts of people that looked like they were straight out of the Haunted Mansion.  They were actual busts and had been ordered from the same artist that did some famous horror movies (sorry, I can't remember what they were).

And so much more!
But the thing that struck me was how cool it was that these two brothers shared this together with their families every year and were so proud of each other.  One of their little sons came out and was so proud too. You could see that this was a shared father son activity but really...this was a "dad" thing and the kids got the benefits too. We could all use a lot more of that don't you think?  Fun just for the sake of fun!  We all have enough responsibilities and we need to find the fun again.

So for today.....go out and do something silly and fun! Carve a pumpkin or maybe even go for a walk tonight when the trick-or-treating has begun and watch the kids in their costumes.  Listen to their giggles.
Or...go buy a bag of candy and yes, eat some.  It's ok....it's Halloween!
Go have some fun!

YOU WERE MEANT FOR AMAZING THINGS...

Welcome to entry #1 for my new blog! For those of you who don't know
me yet, let me begin by telling you my name and a little about myself.
My name is Kimberly (Matthews) O'Neal but I go by Kim.
Some of you know me as the manager and merch person for a great band
called "Sleeping At Last."
I have been blessed to travel with the band as their tour manager and
have maybe even met some of you at shows across the country. I LOVE MY
JOB!!
I would like to begin by saying that this job is something that I
never ever imagined would be a part of my life. Many people have
assumed that I must be a musician as well since my sons are. Nope!
Believe me....if I showed you....you would see what I'm talking about
immediately. : ) I am blessed to be surrounded by beautiful music
made by others. So how did "Sleeping At Last" start and how did I get
this great job?

Here's how it all began......

My sons started to express an interest in music when they were in
their early teen years. This didn't stand out any more than
skateboarding, rollerblade hockey, basketball, drawing, ice hockey or
any of the other countless
interests that they had over the years. My sons are Ryan O'Neal and
Chad O'Neal. Dan Perdue joined the band late in high school and
became my honorary son. This is why I refer to us as the Sleeping At
Last family.

The music began when Ryan decided (at about 12 years old) that maybe
getting a guitar would be cool.
To be honest, I pushed this idea off for about 6 months because I was
sure it was just another whim. But then, Christmas was upon us and
Christmas lists were being thought about and there it was
again.....Ryan wanted either a guitar or a skateboard. So I, being a
wise woman (not) gave him a choice but told him he could not have
both. I should also mention that they both cost about the same. The
skateboard was a custom version. I naturally assumed that he would
pick the skateboard. I'm sure you're wondering why I would be leaning
away from the guitar. It wasn't the noise. It was the thought of the
guitar sitting unused on his bedroom floor and then imagining him
standing on it and pretending it was the skateboard he didn't get.
For those of you who don't know Ryan very well.....he loves to create
things. Starting when he was a little toddler, he was always drawing
or making things out of stuff he had. I have some of the cutest
things that he made for me over the years. Along with the memories of
these things.....Ryan has a few scars from his work. You would be
surprised how sharp a table knife can be when used to carve a small
basketball hoop out of a an old mini race car tire. : )
So....it would not be a surprise to see a guitar used as a mock
skateboard. When I look back, he was always creative with music. I
just didn't put it together. I can remember seeing him (at 3 years
old) sitting on the floor after hearing a song and he would get his
little toy piano out and sit there playing it over and over until he
could play it just right. So, I should have known. Well, he chose a
guitar for Christmas that year as you might have guessed. The
skateboards came later.

The year that he asked for the guitar was a busy one. Where do I go
to buy a guitar I wondered? I don't think
Guitar Center (the place that would become my second home over the
next several years) was open just yet. So I went to a little music
store, asked what would be a good choice for him and brought the new
guitar and an amp home. I hid it pretty well, or so I thought. A
year or so later, he came clean and told me that he had not only
searched for it, but found it and would play it whenever I was out
until Christmas came that year .
I never knew but, I will say that I wondered how he knew how to play
it right away.

From that point on, Ryan loved music and not long after that....a
band was formed. There were several through the years until "Sleeping
At Last" was born.

During this time period, Chad had seen the movie "That Thing You
Do" (remember that?) and his interest in drumming was born. He was
always drumming on something before this, so it was no surprise that
he would love drumming. I got lots of comments about my being insane
from well meaning friends and family wondering if I realized how loud
the drums would be. Have to admit, I did worry about why I wasn't
worried.

So, where do we get a drum set (before I knew that the proper name was
kit)? These can be quite expensive and again, I though it would
probably become the dusty thing that got hammered on whenever they had
friends over. Chad has also always had a strong sense of
perserverence so I should have known that he would work at it until he
got it and he did! A friend of my husbands is a professional drummer
and therefore has lots of drum kits. He offered to let Chad borrow
one with the idea that if he liked it, we could buy it from him. Up
until then, Chad had been using a big yellow plastic garbage can that
we used for storing dog food in. So this was a welcome change. We
agreed and he threw in a few lessons. Chad loved it and before long
he was playing in the band with Ryan.

They started to play shows (sometime I'll tell you about the first
one) and pretty soon they were in need of some help with booking etc.
I started helping a bit since I'm a little more knowledgeable about
business. Then came Billy Corgan and Interscope Records and my career
was born. I still have to pinch myself sometimes. I feel very
blessed to be able to do this.

So why a blog....
I have had many conversations while at the merch table with many
hurting people and people that had questions about the band or
questions about how they can follow their dreams as well and I
thought that maybe this was a way to possibly reach more people than I
can one on one. I have been honored by people telling me their hurts
(of all types and sizes) and the high point of the day for me is if I
can help someone feel better or more hopeful than they did when they
first walked up. The reason that this matters to me is because I too
am one of the hurting people. I know what it's like to be so hurt and
to need an answer or a kind word but not be able to get it. My goal
is to hopefully make that difference for someone else. My life has
been a roller coaster of ups and downs and I'm hoping to offer help.

It is said that when we are stuck in a bad situation or we need to
move toward something better.....it is easier to take the steps if we
are reaching for something else that is a sure thing and good. I
agree! But what if there isn't something that is a sure thing or
something good and happy to reach for yet? Then we need to reach for
the new and good with faith.

That is what this blog is about.......it's about leaving the sad,
hurt, bad, unfair, etc to reach for the good and happy new life we are
meant to have (whatever that means to each of us individually).
That is why I am calling it "YOU WERE MEANT FOR AMAZING THINGS"
because we are!!!!!
Thankfully I have a connection to the song writer who has graciously
allowed me to use his lyrics for my blog.
Thanks Ryan! : )

I plan to address personal as well as band topics. I get lots of
questions about band management etc so this will be a part of this
blog as well. Whatever amazing things you were meant for.

I would love to hear from you with any questions or hurts that you
would like to share with me. I plan to answer questions that are
emailed to me both privately and if the writer approves (without names
of course) through this blog as well.
You can email me at:
capturingwishes (at symbol) aol (dot com)

There will be stories, thoughts, exercises, questions answered, rants
(yes, rants.....how honest can change be if we don't acknowledge the
problems) and observations.
You may agree with some things and not with others. I don't claim to
be perfect and I'm on this path too so....please join me. My hope is
that this blog will bring hope, humor when needed, help and fun.

Warning: I also intend for it to be real and honest. Yes, that means
not perfect. It's a very vulnerable spot to be in when you share
yourself openly. But, I'm willing if it can help. If you know me-
you know that I'm the same person in private that I am in public. In
other words....this is me.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know it's long. Not sure if
my future posts will be long or short... we'll see...........

Love,
Kim