sixwordstories | (no subject)

It's both sad and poetic.

Good. May end up being a song lyric.

A musician?

A little bit yeah.

That's cool. I play guitar some, but not well enough to do it in public.

[Sam smirked.] Guitar and piano. I bet you're better than you think.

I don't know. There's that worst critic thing but... [He grins and shakes his head.] What kind of music do you play?

Yeah, see? You're better than you're letting on. The label calls it progressive rock, I guess.

Progressive rock. I guess that's nothing like classic rock. Progressive and classic sound the opposite of each other.

Well, in my opinion, Pink Floyd? Both classic and progressive, I mean for their time, you know?

You know, I guess you're right. Rock has always been progressive in the now and classic in hindsight.

[He laughed.] I made my self sound like one of those hipster music know it all's didn't I?

Hey, maybe you do know it all. Music is a passion which makes it easy to be passionate about. I get it.

Name's Mark. Mark Sampson.

I'm a little bit of a know it all. Just a touch. Usually I keep it to myself.

Sam Roth. [He offered his hand.]

[Mark takes that hand in a firm handshake and offers him a pleasant smile.]

It's nice to meet you, Sam. So do you play professionally? Like somewhere people can watch?

Right now we're recording in the studio. Played a few concerts. I think after recording is done we'll be on the road.

That's probably both a good time and hard, being on the road, away from family and friends.

I love it. It's very surreal though, to actually live your dream.

Oh yeah, I bet. Not many people can say they're doing that. It's really pretty amazing when it does happen for someone. My brother Peter is the same way.

What does Peter do?

He plays for the NFL. It's like he was made to do it too. I don't know what he'll do whenever he finally has to retire. Maybe he'll go on to be a sports commentator or something.

Wow, impressive. Who does he play for?

The Cowboys. Which, as a Giants fan, I had issues with to begin with. But he's been with them for five years now and I never miss a game he's playing so... Dallas has grown on me. I'll admit it.

Gotta be honest, I don't think I've ever watched a football game in my life. [He thought about it for a second, football season was when it was cold...] No--never, that's a big black spot on my man card isn't it?

[Mark laughs, a rich, amused laugh.] Well it isn't for everyone. I love watching football though. I kind of win at the Monday morning quarterbacking thing. It's something my dad and I used to do together so... it just kind of stuck. I'll try not to trick you into watching a game at some point though.

Quarterbacking thing? [He chuckled.] I'd watch a game, so long as you don't mind my asking questions every two minutes.

Oh I wouldn't mind. I'll talk football all day any day if I'm being prompted to do so.

Do you watch any sports?

[Sam shook his head.] None. I'm....well....a bit of a nerd and book worm. I've never watched much television. Listening to music while I read or write is more my thing.

It's a good thing... your thing. [He smirks and shakes his head. There might be a blush there, more embarrassed of the words coming out of his mouth than anything else.]

I mean, it sounds nice. There's not really anything else I watch religiously. Almost always make time for football though. And when I don't, DVR's are good.

[Sam rubbed the back of his neck under his thick hair.] Yeah. It's a good thing.

Football and a little guitar playing, there's got to be more than that yeah?

Always more than that. [Mark nods, hesitates, then comes to the realization that that might have been an actual question that he needs to respond to rather than respond to with a flat joke that's only amusing in his own mind rather than to others.]

Oh uhm... yeah. I have my own psych practice and run a non-profit organization out of a youth center I put together in Brooklyn. It's called Open Doors. We build houses for people who need them. It's pretty rewarding work. Oh and in my free time, I rebuild classic cars. Like, buy the bones, repair and rebuild, then sell them off. It's a cool hobby. And now I'm talking too much. But I keep myself busy enough.

You're a psychologist? [Sam looks both surprised and impressed.] You have free time with all that? [He laughed, his cheeks flushing as he did.] No, no...you aren't. Maybe I could volunteer and help build a house? I haven't seen much of New York, we're usually in LA.

Yeah, I got my doctorate from NYU. I had to take a break from my practice for about a year and a half. That's when I got Open Doors started up. Just now taking on patients again and... it's going pretty good. I was worried that it wouldn't. But it is.

[His face lights up with how much he loves that Sam offered. He loves volunteering and is thrilled when others do too.] That would be great. We're setting up a trip to the East coast to help people who suffered damage during the most recent tropical storm there. It should happen at some point this month.

That is impressive...but seriously, you don't look old enough to be a doctor.

[Sam grins.] I'm not a carpenter by any means but I learn fast and I'd love to help.

[Mark laughs and shakes his head.] Oh, wow. Thanks. I'm thirty-five. So, old. But not too old. I'm actually good with being thirty-five. Now when I reach forty, well... we'll see when I get there.

You're ancient! [Sam laughed.] How do you get around without a walker, hm?

[He's grinning now.] That's right, give the old man a hard time. Some of the kids at the Center call me old man all the time. I guess it's become a thing.

[He shrugs a bit.] I don't mind it. So how old are you? Twenty-something?

Spend a lot of time with them? The kids that is.

[Sam bites his lip to try and stifle the shy smile.] Twenty two. I'm a baby. Or so I've been told.

Twenty-two. [Mark dramatically winces and then smiles again.] It's a nice age. I was twenty-two once... obviously.

Yeah, I try to get there every other day or so... sometimes every day. I let them beat me at basketball and try to teach them to play guitar. And we've been using the walls there to teach them to paint using blue tape for when we go out to work on houses. It's pretty funny actually, they paint, then I let them graffiti the walls however they want, then we paint over it again. It's an endless cycle, which potentially keeps them off the streets.

What was that face!?

You know, I'm pretty good with a guitar. If you ever want to...I'd be happy to teach them. Or try.

Do you have time to brush your teeth?

It was an oh crap you're twenty-two face. But mostly it was me being... me.

The kids would love that. Learning from a professional? Yeah, anytime. Really. You're in the Brooklyn area, please, come on by. They would seriously be beside themselves.

Something wrong with twenty two? [He said with a laugh.]

I'll make time for it. After all I should give back after being given so much.

[Mark makes a show of thinking about it for a moment before leaning in, nodding curtly, and answering.] Not a thing wrong with twenty-two.

Good. [He laughed when Mark finally came to his decision.]