Ya, so I hate grunge. Sue me.

While I technically came of age in the 80's, I was still young when the big hair bands were made extinct in the early 90's by the 'Seattle Sound', otherwise known as grunge.  Honestly, I hated that shit.  I didn't feel the whole teen angst vibe and still cannot understand how the flag bearer of the movement felt he was so troubled that he had to end it all while his band Nirvana was on top of the world.  

My disdain for Seattle music lasted many years as different bands came out of the area, most of them just another group of guys with unsettled anger issues.  This all changed in the 2000's as a new breed came out.  Bands like the Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses have put the otherwise awesome city back into my good music graces.  'The Great Salt Lake' is an older tune by Band of Horses but one that never gets old. 

Best new song that you haven't heard

 

 

I was turned onto Toad the Wet Sprocket by my wife, who gained her affection from her siblings.  The first time I head the album 'Dulcinea' I was hooked.  Glenn Phillips has a great voice and the ability to write songs that stick in your head for both the feel and the lyrics.

As most 90's bands, they broke up and disappeared for a decade.  Sales were never that strong and the record labels are always looking for the next big thing.

True fans didn't forget them, and the internet gave them a way to hound the band for new material.  Toad used crowd funding to raise enough money to produce and release a new record.  Starting with a goal of $50,000,  the band saw their fans respond in force and over a quarter of a million dollars came in a relative blink of an eye.  'New Constellation' was the result.

While you will not hear it on the radio, the offerings have their merits.  'The Moment' is a song with deep lyrics that are not hard to understand.  Regret is a destructive force that results in nothing but wasted time.

Lets try this again...

Hello, my name is Jeff Zacher and this is my second attempt at a blog.  My first was a miserable failure that lasted all of a week back in 2011.  Let's hope I can push this one further down the line. 

Why am I back?  Well, besides the fact I like to write, I realized that my initial blog was not written about things that truly interest me.  My passions in life include family, personal finance, music, travel, and good beer.  I will try to weave these things together in a cohesive way and hopefully use some of the knowledge I gained from being a journalism major for an eyelash of time in college.  By trade I am actually a network engineer, but you will not see anything related to that on this blog.

I obsessively read everything personal finance, and find as I get older that I disagree with many things that financial "experts" preach online.  Many times this is because personal experience has taught me otherwise.  Life has that funny way of giving you the lesson after the test.  In the areas of finance, I have failed a few tests, but feel that those experiences have made me better off in the long run.  Hopefully I can help you with a little study guide material.

Traveling to popular (and sometimes unpopular) destinations is one of my favorite activities in life.  I like to search out what makes a town what it is and then find a way to experience it within that framework- call it my "when in Rome" mantra.  Rarely do I travel to the same area twice as my list of places I want to visit is way too long. 

I find I have little to no use for physical possessions other than what I need to get through life- clothes, a vehicle and a roof over my head seem to be enough.  I have luckily never been afflicted with the need to keep up with the Jones'.   The few personal effects I have otherwise can regularly be found on Craigslist ready to become someone else's junk.  I generally spend on experiences because in the end memories are all that you take with you.

Other than that, my blog will go off on a variety of tangents and I have no idea where it will lead.  If you want a cohesive theme this is not the place.  Excuse me if I divert into a rant, it's just my nature and cannot be avoided at times. 

I will make no attempt to promote this blog, and if in the end it is only me that sees these posts I will feel none the lesser for checking something off my bucket list.