The DJ Rollie D Story

We're just now finally kinda sorta getting around to Spring here in the Western Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota Area, after several late-season snow storms and temperatures remaining below average for quite a while.  There was also the flood in the Red River Valley, and the after effects that the flood brings each and every year.  However, this was the first major flood that I experienced in Fargo-Moorhead since I moved here in 2016.  I remember seeing the first news reports and then the State of Emergency and wondering what really laid ahead and how bad the flooding would get.  The answer to that is that it never got too bad in the communities of Fargo and Moorhead, but upon leaving the Metro, you really started to see the affects, with small Northern Minnesota towns such as Oslo blocked off and marooned for weeks on end with no way out, and I have to say that the residents of towns closed off by flooding are amazing people for dealing remarkably well with the weather-related tra

Last Fall, I decided to pick up a wax warmer for the heck of it, and picked up some scents that truly reminded me of home, one of them being Fall Leaves.  Yes, we do have Fall Leaves here in Fargo-Moorhead, but you don't really get the authentic outdoor scent that you get back where I'm from in Northeastern Minnesota.  I came home and plugged it in and turned it on for the first time, and it was wonderful.  It was so nice to be able to smell the scents that reminded me of back home while watching television, playing the drums, or even working on homework (I did all three of these in my bed room at that time), and the calming effect was definitely there. Per  this article  from Happy Wax, there are many reasons you could choose to melt wax in a wax warmer over burning candles.  For example, it's cheaper.  At Walmart, I am able to pick up a package of wax melts for anywhere from $0.93 to $3 depending on the brand.  At that price, you can truly choose any scent that sta

It was October of 1999, and the world was getting ready to either turn a new millennium and century, or freaking out thinking that Y2K was going to shut down all of our computers and drop planes from the sky.  I wasn't really thinking about either of those, as I was a carefree two-year old who had no idea of how cruel and unpredictable the world was just yet. But one thing was for sure, and that was that I had a little sister just entering the world.  Though I was originally supposed to stay with the cabin neighbors when Lydia was born, I ended up coming down with my parents, and being at St. Mary's in Duluth when it all happened.  Somewhere around my childhood home (not handy for this post sorry), one of us has a picture of all four of us together with my mother holding Lydia as she came into the world and me just sitting there all happy and smiling, my father standing off to the side with a calculating look as my sister was just getting acclimated to the world.  &q

It's getting close to Prom season here in the Midwest, and soon guys and gals will be getting glammed up to go out to some restaurant or ski chalet.  Hearts will be broken, the punch may or may not be spiked, and the decorations will look amazing. For me, I've personally DJed more proms than I have attended.  Being front and center for multiple dances like that gives you an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't when it comes to music.  Back when I was still DJing proms, the crowd hits seemed to be anything from the newest rappers to the Top 40 hits of the time, which came from artists like Taylor Swift (Shake It Off), Mike Posner (I Took A Pill In Ibiza), DJ Coolsnake and Lil Jon (Turn Down For What), and even Maroon 5 (Animals or Sugar).  Listing off all these songs that were hot three to four years ago makes me feel old in comparison to my actual age.  The attendees would always run to the dance floor when any of these songs were played. There were a

A while back, I had to stop and ask myself if I was the toxic person ruining my own friendships.  In some ways I think I am toxic if we're being completely honest based on my own personal experience with those who have toxic attitudes.  Just to give a few examples, I find myself to be seeking attention more than I should, letting things get stuck inside my head for longer than they need to be (especially my past experiences with people I no longer speak to), and I am almost always looking at the empty side of the glass.  To me, all three of these behaviors speak to the toxicity of me as an individual.  None of these things are ending easily with the mental health problems I unfortunately continue to endure, but I feel that I must do my best to try and hide them as often as I possibly can.  I must be a person who is always happy and smiling and looking at the positive side of the glass.  It seems really easy to do this doesn't it?  Those of you reading this who suffer from dep

I get three consecutive days off most weeks unless my schedule changes slightly to allow for a four day stretch or just a two day to accommodate the extra days off.  When my days off roll around, I always have the perfect envisioning of how they will go.  Ideally, I'll have time for my favorite activities, enough time to watch a few episodes of my favorite shows on Netflix and Hulu, maybe cook something, publish a new blog post or two, and of course the weekly episode of Untitled.  Most weeks on Wednesday, I will also make time to watch Riverdale as it airs on The CW if I am home at the time and will eat at home instead of going somewhere before Untitled. My days off come, and I am ready for these plans.  But then I have to do other things, these things being.... Homework Extra sleep to accommodate missed sleep during my work days Housework Trips to the laundromat Grocery shopping Unexpected errands Doctor's appointments and meetings Before you know it, it&