When I was young, I felt everything together, understood and boxed into neat compartments. I thought that life could be a straight line if I acted as logically as I felt I was. Now that Im older and past my roaring twenties, I realize that life always throws you curveballs, often when you least expect them.

I was born on Miami Beach amidst an intense hurricane season, a gas shortage and a hostage crisis, and the beginning of the boom to South Florida. My memories of my birthplace are through the eyes of a child the bustling, suburban city compressed into bike trips to the pizza parlor to play Galaga, or orange slices after a soccer game.

The jaunty pop tune is airy and upbeat, with shiny acoustic guitars and quick rhythms, Morrissey sarcastically lamenting another dreaded sunny day/ so Ill meet you at the cemetery gates. The warm weather depresses the maudlin singer, which drives him to meet a friend at the Manchester cemetery to talk about literature and muse about the past.

Kudzu Wish was a bad name for a rock band. It conjured up images of mullet-wearing Southern rock dudes. A stupid name that confused potential fans of our indie-rock ilk. Cud-what? would be an oftenheard reply through the barrage of questions and confused looks.

Triad-based Filthybird are soulful and restrained rock with powerful, sweeping melodies. They are at their best on their newest album opener, Gravity, where vocalist and keyboardist Renee Mendoza explores her wonderful range with soul and layers of melody.

Lauren Kearns has an impressive resume that spans beyond her current home at Elon University, where she is an associate professor and head of the Dance Department, as well as artistic director of the Kearns Dance Project.

Mountain biking has become a recent activity in my life. At the behest and encouragement of a good friend, I started exploring the trails in northwest Greensboro. I have explored Bur-Mil Park, which has a number of exciting trails that meander between neighborhoods and Lake Brandt.

An at early age, independence and fresh rock music gave me a disaffected and broody teen a sense of identity and belonging. Music was the prism for the world, giving me a vision to see infinite possibilities of what I could do with my life.

Three years ago I got rid of cable. It was just too expensive, and I never watched a ton of television. Throughout my twenties, I missed quite a bit of programming. Most of the time I didn't mind. I was thankfully encouraged to pick up the AMC show "Mad Men," which premiered in 2007.

The most interesting part of the trip was taking a boat ride to Shackleford Banks. The water taxi left from Beaufort Inlet, and dropped us off on a nine-mile national seashore – the equivalent of a beach national park. Such a trip was an entirely new experience for me.