A little about me.
I thought that with this post I'd try to give you wonderful return visitors a little back ground on me. I don't intend this to define me but rather to give you a little info about who sean is and what he does...
As you may know I live in Sacramento Ca in the US. Our city is the Capitol of our state and is a great place to live. It's culturally diverse. We have a solid art community as well as a thriving music scene. One of the best things about our city is that we are so centrally located. We are less than an hour from the Pacific Ocean including places like San Francisco and other coastal destinations. And in the other direction we are about an hour from Lake Tahoe and some great snow sports. It's a nice place to live and honestly as much as I'd like to travel and one day will I think I will always return here.
Ok...'bout me. I'm 35 years old and will be turning 36 in October. I was born in Pittsburg PA in 1970 and was subsequently adopted at the age of 8 months by a woman and her husband in Indiana. The woman who adopted me is who I call my mother as she is the only mother I've known and as she raised me and provided me with the love and nurturing I needed I feel no reason to slap an additional title on her like (adoptive). No matter what difficulties we had as I grew up (all parents and children have their issues) from the moment she first held me to this moment, even though she passed last November, she is my mother.
Anywhoo...moving on. My mother divorced and remarried while we lived in Indiana and when I was 5 we all packed up and moved out to California because of her second husband's work. I should mention that I was eventually adopted by her second husband and he became my Father. He also had 2 children from a previous marrige, one older than myself and one about 1 year younger. He and my mother would also eventually have a son so I have 3 brothers. We'll Call them P, D, and T from oldest to youngest. When we got to Ca P lived with us for a while and then went to live with his brother D and their mother and her new husband (whole lot of marrying going on in the seventies).
I'm going to skip ahead quite a bit because I want to go over my adolescent years at another time because I think my issues with weight are rooted there and I just want to give you a little info now and explore that later when I've organized my thoughts a little better.
Ok...what to tell...? Well, as it is now I live with my youngest brother T in the home our mother left us last year when she passed. We were also the lucky recipients of her seven cats. Now here's my deal with cats...I honestly love them. I'n not one of those guys who's too much of a man to like cats...I think they're great but I am allergic to them although I do believe that I've built up a tollerance to them since living in the house and haven't had any really bad allergy attacks (Knocks wood) but then there's the hair... oh and one of them has no bladder control so that's a constant battle. But, the hair. I just can't deal with it. I feel really bad too because I feel like I'm neglecting my brother by not hanging out with him in the living room when we're home. You know...watching a movie or just having a good conversation. It's like the moment I get home I go straight to my room and close the door. My room and the bathroom are the only 2 cat free zones in the house and I flit between those two rooms like a...I don'r know...name something that flits.
T, if you're reading this...I'm sorry dude. I know I've gotta make more effort to get out of my room and hang out. I love ya man! But it's the hair! It gets everywhere....ugh! but enough about that...
My 2 other brothers, P and D live in New York and Los Angeles. P, my older brother just graduated Law School. Lets have a round of applause for that! GO P! and My brother D is a teacher and Union rep in LA! My brother T works in a leadership capacity for a local enviornmental non-proffit and I work for a advice and appointment call center for a national Medical Care Provider. Oh yeah...I think I hate my job. I used to love it but if I could find anything at this point that would bring in some money and pay for health care i would jump ship. Anyone know about making a lot of money on ebay??? I'm serious at this point. I feel like I could be far more productive if I can getthis weight off and I can find some work that will allow me to maximize my free time so that I can focus on things that I really want to do.
And what are those things sean?
Well I'll tell you. First i'd love to travel. I've really never been anywhere and a lot of that has to do with my weight. I'm not whining. I just have a hard time fitting on airplaines...can you imagine? And if the flight is longer than 6 hours forget about it because i'm damn sure can't fit into most airplaine bathrooms... It kind of restricts me a little.
Next, a couple of friends and I started a Non-profit music education program a couple of years ago that could use some serious hands on time and I feel that I have no time to devote to it any more. The purpose of the program is to provide at risk youth with musical instruments (primarily guitars) and then bring in teachers to teach them. At the end of the class the original Idea was to give the children the guitars at no cost to them or their parents. The first year we saw aprox 50 students. I was able to negotiate low prices for guitars with a couple of local music stores and we hooked up with the local branch of a national non-profit (Concerts4Charity.org) who became our fiscal sponsor which allowed us to collect tax deductible donations and grants. The director of the non-profit, Clay, who is now a good friend of mine has worked with us every step of the way. He wrote grants for us. Organized and threw fundraisers for us, mostly consisting of putting on shows where local bands would play and all proceeds would go to the charity. The whole thing is perfect because of my and his close connection with the local music community.
If you'd like to learn more about our program and Concerts4Charity.org please go here C4C and click on the button marked Programs and choose "FireChild". That's our program!
My main point being that I would love to dedicate a lot of my time to this program so it can grow in to the powerful educational force i think it can be.
Let's see.. I have a great group of friends. Several of them are musicians and amazing ones at that. I think in our small group at least 6 of them have been nominated for Sacramento music awards this year and a few of them are looking for their 3rd win in a row which would cement their place in the Sac Music hall of fame. Thems braggin rights right their my friend! lol
To answer a couple of folks who asked...I am single. I really don't even put myself out there any more. It's mostly me. I've just found that it's a lot eaiser to be social and honestly to allow myself to be as open as I can be without opening myself up to that kind of dissapointment. Someone once remarked that it's funny that I seem comfortable speaking to anyone yet I never seem to be dating anyone. The only reply I could think of was. It's easy to talk with anyone if you're not trying to get in their pants. I know that may be vulgar but seriously. My social skills aren't really in question as far as I'm concerned it's mainly my objective that determines my fate. If that makes any sense. But, who knows, give me a little more confidence and a positive body image and I might be dangerous. It may sound weird but I'm kind of grateful for the humility that comes from being this over weight for so long. You really get to see people for who they are rather than for what they can do for you. I'm sure that that's something that will stick once I lose the weight and decide that it's time to re-examine that part of my social life.
Well dang that's a lot of stuff I just wrote. And, please don't worry. I know I glossed over several large life changing events such as the death of my mother and my feelings regarding her. I promise that I'll go into that another time. I just didn't think that I could do it justice at this time.
As you may know I live in Sacramento Ca in the US. Our city is the Capitol of our state and is a great place to live. It's culturally diverse. We have a solid art community as well as a thriving music scene. One of the best things about our city is that we are so centrally located. We are less than an hour from the Pacific Ocean including places like San Francisco and other coastal destinations. And in the other direction we are about an hour from Lake Tahoe and some great snow sports. It's a nice place to live and honestly as much as I'd like to travel and one day will I think I will always return here.
Ok...'bout me. I'm 35 years old and will be turning 36 in October. I was born in Pittsburg PA in 1970 and was subsequently adopted at the age of 8 months by a woman and her husband in Indiana. The woman who adopted me is who I call my mother as she is the only mother I've known and as she raised me and provided me with the love and nurturing I needed I feel no reason to slap an additional title on her like (adoptive). No matter what difficulties we had as I grew up (all parents and children have their issues) from the moment she first held me to this moment, even though she passed last November, she is my mother.
Anywhoo...moving on. My mother divorced and remarried while we lived in Indiana and when I was 5 we all packed up and moved out to California because of her second husband's work. I should mention that I was eventually adopted by her second husband and he became my Father. He also had 2 children from a previous marrige, one older than myself and one about 1 year younger. He and my mother would also eventually have a son so I have 3 brothers. We'll Call them P, D, and T from oldest to youngest. When we got to Ca P lived with us for a while and then went to live with his brother D and their mother and her new husband (whole lot of marrying going on in the seventies).
I'm going to skip ahead quite a bit because I want to go over my adolescent years at another time because I think my issues with weight are rooted there and I just want to give you a little info now and explore that later when I've organized my thoughts a little better.
Ok...what to tell...? Well, as it is now I live with my youngest brother T in the home our mother left us last year when she passed. We were also the lucky recipients of her seven cats. Now here's my deal with cats...I honestly love them. I'n not one of those guys who's too much of a man to like cats...I think they're great but I am allergic to them although I do believe that I've built up a tollerance to them since living in the house and haven't had any really bad allergy attacks (Knocks wood) but then there's the hair... oh and one of them has no bladder control so that's a constant battle. But, the hair. I just can't deal with it. I feel really bad too because I feel like I'm neglecting my brother by not hanging out with him in the living room when we're home. You know...watching a movie or just having a good conversation. It's like the moment I get home I go straight to my room and close the door. My room and the bathroom are the only 2 cat free zones in the house and I flit between those two rooms like a...I don'r know...name something that flits.
T, if you're reading this...I'm sorry dude. I know I've gotta make more effort to get out of my room and hang out. I love ya man! But it's the hair! It gets everywhere....ugh! but enough about that...
My 2 other brothers, P and D live in New York and Los Angeles. P, my older brother just graduated Law School. Lets have a round of applause for that! GO P! and My brother D is a teacher and Union rep in LA! My brother T works in a leadership capacity for a local enviornmental non-proffit and I work for a advice and appointment call center for a national Medical Care Provider. Oh yeah...I think I hate my job. I used to love it but if I could find anything at this point that would bring in some money and pay for health care i would jump ship. Anyone know about making a lot of money on ebay??? I'm serious at this point. I feel like I could be far more productive if I can getthis weight off and I can find some work that will allow me to maximize my free time so that I can focus on things that I really want to do.
And what are those things sean?
Well I'll tell you. First i'd love to travel. I've really never been anywhere and a lot of that has to do with my weight. I'm not whining. I just have a hard time fitting on airplaines...can you imagine? And if the flight is longer than 6 hours forget about it because i'm damn sure can't fit into most airplaine bathrooms... It kind of restricts me a little.
Next, a couple of friends and I started a Non-profit music education program a couple of years ago that could use some serious hands on time and I feel that I have no time to devote to it any more. The purpose of the program is to provide at risk youth with musical instruments (primarily guitars) and then bring in teachers to teach them. At the end of the class the original Idea was to give the children the guitars at no cost to them or their parents. The first year we saw aprox 50 students. I was able to negotiate low prices for guitars with a couple of local music stores and we hooked up with the local branch of a national non-profit (Concerts4Charity.org) who became our fiscal sponsor which allowed us to collect tax deductible donations and grants. The director of the non-profit, Clay, who is now a good friend of mine has worked with us every step of the way. He wrote grants for us. Organized and threw fundraisers for us, mostly consisting of putting on shows where local bands would play and all proceeds would go to the charity. The whole thing is perfect because of my and his close connection with the local music community.
If you'd like to learn more about our program and Concerts4Charity.org please go here C4C and click on the button marked Programs and choose "FireChild". That's our program!
My main point being that I would love to dedicate a lot of my time to this program so it can grow in to the powerful educational force i think it can be.
Let's see.. I have a great group of friends. Several of them are musicians and amazing ones at that. I think in our small group at least 6 of them have been nominated for Sacramento music awards this year and a few of them are looking for their 3rd win in a row which would cement their place in the Sac Music hall of fame. Thems braggin rights right their my friend! lol
To answer a couple of folks who asked...I am single. I really don't even put myself out there any more. It's mostly me. I've just found that it's a lot eaiser to be social and honestly to allow myself to be as open as I can be without opening myself up to that kind of dissapointment. Someone once remarked that it's funny that I seem comfortable speaking to anyone yet I never seem to be dating anyone. The only reply I could think of was. It's easy to talk with anyone if you're not trying to get in their pants. I know that may be vulgar but seriously. My social skills aren't really in question as far as I'm concerned it's mainly my objective that determines my fate. If that makes any sense. But, who knows, give me a little more confidence and a positive body image and I might be dangerous. It may sound weird but I'm kind of grateful for the humility that comes from being this over weight for so long. You really get to see people for who they are rather than for what they can do for you. I'm sure that that's something that will stick once I lose the weight and decide that it's time to re-examine that part of my social life.
Well dang that's a lot of stuff I just wrote. And, please don't worry. I know I glossed over several large life changing events such as the death of my mother and my feelings regarding her. I promise that I'll go into that another time. I just didn't think that I could do it justice at this time.
posted by Sean Perkey at Friday, July 07, 2006
8 Comments:
CAn't wait to get to the early years where all this stuff began, as you were saying.
Hey, speaking of getting into pants, did Bob and Devin ever tell you about the time that we met those really hot girls at Fanny Ann's in Old Sac? It was awesome. They were gorgeous and they came back to the bar specifically to hang out with us. The bar was empty except for Devin, Bob and myself. The two girls went to the bathroom and I was like, "Dude, let's get out of here." They were like "What? Why?"
I'm all, "Dude, these girls are mega hot and I'm sure they've never been ditched before. Let's just go and give them some humility." Same kind of humility I'm sure you're speaking of, my friend. As much as I sound like a dick here, it was so fun for all three of us. So fun!
What? What's this? Billy Guifoyle actually running in the opposite direction from a hot girl? Let alone 2? I know it was for an object lesson my friend but think about what you'r saying to me.... Poor bob and devin must have been so conflicted... lol!
you're crazy buddy but i love ya!
the amount of charity work you do is amazing. you really must be a hell of a guy in real life, as much as you are on the internet (which somehow seems to rarely be the case with net folk, with whom fakery rules).
oh, and cats are awesome.
Aww thanks man. The charity work is kind of slow right now because most of it is done through after school programs and since school is out there's not much to do but get on with some fundraising. The diabetes thing is kind of on auto pilot right now but I'll be kicking that up in a little while. As far as my internet time. I've had a rough patch of insomnia lately which would account for the amount of time I spend here. Like tonight for instance. I can't sleep again and it's 5:43pm...
I have a feeling that once I can get back to a normal night's sleep I'll have to cut a lot of my net time out.
And, then the rest is just being lucky to be around the right people at the right time. Like Clay. I literally met him at a music business discussion group I attended. I gave him some Info about the program I wanted to start and asked him to call me if he had any tips for us...he called me a week later, we had lunch and he offered to take our project under his non-profit and help us develop it. the rest is history... The only thing I really did was stop feeling sorry for myself and force myself out of my appartment and into a social life (of sorts)
Hi, Sean - just wanted to say I'm rootin' for ya. You are real and that's rare and it's needed in this world so thank you.
Some momentous posts here. A lot to take in Sean and really good work.
I am looking forward to finding out more about you, even though I knew from the start you were a cool person...I like hearing about your stuff. I love the idea of your music program, incredible. I want to do an art one like it. I will be emailing you questions when I get back to Chicago.
As for the cats. You know waht...there is a way around it. First...can you buy a fairly good shopvac? Vacuum everythign up. Get things off the floor so you can doa major vaccuum. At that point the cats will be really freaked out...so wait a day for step tow.
Wash the cats. I know I know...do you know anybody handy with animals? Who can help you? Go to a vet and get some okay cat shampoo. Wash the cats. Do it once a month for six months.
Your immune system will build up resistance and not be allergic to cats anymore.
Oh shit...I wish I could come out there for a month. Cook for you I have amazing recipes and meal ideas for weight loss and energy. I would do an overhaul of your palce and take care of the cats I used to work in an animla hospital.
Okay...we need tos elll that painting I am working of you. Half will go to diabetes cause and half to get me to and from Sacramento...and to buy groceries. We need to sell that portrait of uyou, once its done for 4,000 dollars minimum.
I could also do a documentary interview with you(I want to with all my blog friends...we could start with YOU!)
I haven't finished your portrait yet...but you can see progress right here...
http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2006/07/seans-portrait-continued.html
I realize that giving workout advice to someone is usually useless, as each person has their own workout that works for them.
But there I was, 15 years old, with quite a bit of weight on me. I disliked sports, was extremely self concious, so it was pretty hard to get me to do anything intensive. My best friend bought something called "Dance Dance Revolution", which if you dont know is a video game played on 'dance pads' placed on the floor with large arrows for you to step on (up, down, left, and right). You load the video game into your system (they have it for playstation, playstation 2, and xbox), and you step to the arrows displayed on the screen in tandem with music.
It was an ideal workout for me because it was inside the comfort of my own house, it had some catchy music...and the best part...was how the game was structured.
At the beginning I wasnt just limited by my physical ability, but by my mental one as well. mental meaning how fast I could comprehend complex patters to step to. Because it took time to mentally learn how to do all these complex fast arrow moves, I physically trained my body at the lower levels so that when my mind could finally comprehend those higher level songs, I had the stamina to do it! At all difficulty levels the game was a workout for me and because of that, the game never got boring. The workout never got boring. From light mode when I was overweight which has very easy technical steps (well, easy now), standard mode, when I had gained stamina and ability and heavy mode which is what I play now. I lost 40 (from 185 to 145) pounds in a few months with the help of a diet as well. Not to mention I gained massive leg muscle.
I realize that your weight could pose a problem for dance pad durablilty. After all, your jumping on it multiple times in a song! But I got this pad called the cobalt flux from www.cobaltflux.com that is able to support 600 pounds+ (people have run it over with an SUV, only to plug it in and sucesfully ace a song). I've been using it for two years now, and its still working as if its brand new when cheap 'soft pads' break down on me in mere weeks. Guarenteed for 6 months too, so if it fails you you can return it for a replacement.
I'm sure cobalt flux, and the DDR community in general would love to have another success story of a person losing weight due to DDR!
Now the cobalt flux is a pretty expensive thing (on top of the gaming system and game too), but DDR should be at an arcade near you! Just plug in a dollar or to, put it to beginner mode, and give it a try before investing a few hundred dollars into something that was, for me, one heck of a great decision.
Rest assured i'll be following your story, and I hope dearly for your success. Once you achieve your goal I, a 17 year old, will donate 100 dollars to diabetes research! Go for it!
colleengirl: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm just lucky to have all these wonderful people take an interest in my journey and I figure I owe it to you all to be as sincere as i can be.
Candy: wow! I looked at the painting and that's really coming along! I can't wait to see the final product. You have some talent there, thank you! As far as washing the cats...I might have to give that a try but I just know that I'm gonna get all clawed up and it's not funny to see a fat man get beat up by a 10 pound cat...well maybe it is funny...ok it's funny... lol
Oh hey a person al chef and cat washer! I don't think even Oprah has it that good! Lol..here's crossing my fingers that the painting sells high! ;)
Also feel free to email me about your art program idea. I'm interested in hearing about it. And if you have questions for an interview let me know and we'll talk...
Ok...safe travel back and thanks again for all your encouragement!
Selina: Hey what an offer. I may just take you up on that. A year from now I should be close to my goal and I may want to do a bit of traveling. I've always wanted to go to Canada. I've only been there once when my mother took me rafting as a child...I amost died on the river as the story goes. wow that was a downer...
but keep in touch and I may take you up on that offer thanks!
Benjamin Perea: First I want to thank you for such a well thought out and helpfull post. I have a few friends who love DDR and I do have an x-box and Play station in the home so It wouldn't be that expensive to get it up and running. I think I will want to lose a little more weight so that my knees don't take a beating while I work out but I will seriously keep your suggestion in mind. I imagine that the benefits are far ranging like you mentioned. mental, physical, balance and social (if others are involved)
Seriously informative post friend thank you and I'm looking forward to meeting my goal and collecting that donation! Thanks Benjamin! I hope you stick around and continue to contribute! Also congrats on your own battle with weight. I wish I had done it when I was your age. You're already ahead of the game learning what you've learned about your own health at an early age!
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