Making our own way: five questions with people you should know.

In life, we essentially have 1 major decision to make: 

Go with the flow, or make our own way. 

Anything we do beyond this is based on that  one decision. 

Through the life of this blog, I am going to feature some people that I find interesting or that inspire me. 

All will be people who make their own way.

The first person I'm going to feature is my long time friend/brother, Tony Benzick

Tony is a writer, father, artist, and all around romantic.

I've never met someone so in love with the words

of his grandparents and those who came before them. 

Tony is a true Kentuckian, and his writing reflects his love for the language and lifestyle

of his own.

Q. What's the first thing you think about when you wake up?

A. The dreams i was having.

Q. Who's your favorite Kentuckian?

A. Jesse Stuart.

Q. Why do you write?

A. I like to create things and then watch how they exist on their own and in the minds of others.  There is bunches of creativity in everyone, by keeping it inside and hidden you are doing wrong.  Writing is my good deed of building up the collection of existence.

Q.  Steve MQueen or John Wayne?

A. Steve McQueen.

Q. Why?

A. Because of Harvey Mushmann and coffee enemas.

" A talk with grandad" - Tony Benzick

Them boys used to race to get over that county line

Playing ignorant to the fact that a state wide call has been put in

This was just their day to day 

You see

You can’t tell a Kentucky man

        A country man

Nothing

The world has changed many times since I first started mine

And you don’t need to keep up

Cause like it or not 

You’re brought along

Dragged along

You can’t stay behind and you can’t outrun it

You see you aint born American

You’re made that way

You’re made into all of it 

Even those parts you don’t want

I remember you as a boy

Sticking your finger through the screen instead of going out the door

Boy you did that before you were made American 

And I think after all the places you done gone

You know we suffer different 

We suffer all too American 

My uncle

With your name

Died loggin in Oregon 

After he went awol

And my daddy made me show military police where he was hiding

I didn’t know he was a logger til I heard he was dead

I hated my daddy from then

I was eight

I never ran for the county line but I always felt like that’s what I have been doing 

I was made American 

And at some point you came outta that screen door 

Sometimes your stomach will feel raw so you’ll need to stop drinkin for two or three days

And you’ll feel indecent often

But here is where you are

So be here in a way you’ll appreciate in the end