A brother is a cool thing to have. Especially when you get to pick on him when he’s little, then compliment him when he’s older ;-)
Mine is turning 26 today, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHDIN!
Here’s a few things I’ve learned from my little brother:
1.)
I started playing the guitar in 8th grade, he started playing in 5th grade….
I took private lessons, and got my instructor to teach me songs instead of music theory (which as an 8th grader is totally lame).
Well whaddya know….APPPAARRAANNNTLY learning the foundations of music early on help you learn to play much better.
Within the next few years my musical ability was playing 10 songs on the guitar….whereas my brother could now freely play ANY style of music quickly because he had the foundations down.
This inspired me to start taking lessons and learn actual music theory and basics when I was 26. After 10+ years of “knowing how” to play the guitar…..I finally learned chords and scales.
Till this day he remains an order of magnitude better than me at guitar, and picks up other instruments with remarkable speed.
Me & Ashdin practicing on some big-ass rented amplifiers to play at a friends wedding:
2.)
I’m always impressed by his questioning of morals.
He went vegetarian for a while in college, on the basis that if we could farm food, why eat animals.
This isn’t necessarily the view of our meat-eating family, but he stuck to his guns and rolled with it until his mind changed.
During this time my mom would cook different food for him (usually healthier food), and slowly this impact started spreading to the rest of us.
I remember him talking to a family friend about his decision, and she was giving back counter-arguments about eating animals. He asked her this one question:
“How would you feel if we ate Trudy?” (their family dog).
She got super upset at the question and repulsed by the idea. While I don’t think that ever changed her mind, hearing her reaction made me laugh….and I’ll never forget how much that single question rocked her mentality.
3.)
He could possibly be God.
At 25 years old on this trip to India he looked SHOCKINGLY LIKE Zarathustra!! (he’s like the Zoroastrian version of Jesus).
I remember us having a hilarious conversation about our religion with some older family, and Ashdin said (paraphrased from memory):
“So 5,000 years ago this guy goes into the desert, says he saw God, and now we worship him. But if I went into the desert, and came back saying I saw God, people would think I’m crazy.”
BAHAHAHA!! It’s true.
If you look at that picture above, Ashdin could’ve easily dressed in some robes, occasionally said some wise shit, and been the guy we worship 5,000 years later.
Anyhow, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHDIN!!
Wish my brother a happy birthday in the comments, and I’ll select 5 people to send a NevBox!