If you know me, then you know I gained some weight. I am really being super kind to myself to say that. I really should say that I got fat as a pig, weighing in at over three hundred, and fifty pounds.

I did not have a problem calling myself fat when I weighed three hundred, and fifty pounds, and I am still fat at two hundred, and forty one pounds. Yes I said two hundred, and forty one pounds, and that means I have lot over one hundred, and eleven pounds. That is a lot of weight.

It has taken quite a while to loose this much weight. I did not gain it over night, and I did not loose it over night. People who have not seen me in a while really notice. I hear things like OMG, You have lost some weight!, and “Have you been on a diet?”

There are two questions people ask me over, and over. The first question is “Do you feel a lot different?” Well yes I do fell a lot different. I say that, but I feel different in ways that skinny people don't think about. An example is I had to ask for an extender for my seat belt on a flight some time ago. Now that is kind of a wake up moment, and embarrassing to say the least. I was too fat to buckle the seat belt on the plane. It is things like that where I feel the big difference, and I could name quite a few more examples.

Mayor Williams Proclaims March 1st Gary Leland Day in Arlington, Texas

I was caught off guard when I read the email. The email from Mayor Williams stated that his office, and the City Council thought I deserved to have a day named after me in my hometown of Arlington, Texas.

At first I thought it was a joke put together by my wife Kathy, but after taking a second look at the email I realized it was legit.

How could this happen? How would the City Council, and Mayor Williams know anything about me?

When I was younger, and I mean much younger I really use to love going to concerts.

I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina which is not know as a music city, but it did have its share of concerts in the 70's

I attended my first concert when I was in the 9th grade so I guess that was around 1969. We went to see a concert by a singer named Alice Cooper.

I was not familiar with Alice Cooper, but assumed she would be worth the $2 it cost to buy a ticket. One great thing about concerts in the 70's was the price. If a concert cost more than $3 it was way too expensive.

When I arrived at the concert I was in for a big surprise. Alice Cooper was not a girl. Alice was a male hard core rocker, and his concert was really great. I mean it was fantastic. I had never seen anything like it.

That concert started my trend of seeing as many concerts as possible. Over the next 10 years I went to just about every concert I had the opportunity to attend.

I made the following list for a Facebook Post some time ago, but thought I would share it here.

Yes, I was hanging out with Tom Cruise.

During my one, and only appearance in a major motion picture. I was in the movie Born On The Fourth Of July with Tom Cruise.

Being in a major motion picture was a great experience. For a full week I was hanging out with Tom Cruise, and having a blast. While doing this I really learned a lot about Movie Magic while there. It makes for a great story that I am going to share with you. A story of how some opportunities are made, not given.

It all started one day while driving to work in Dallas. I was listening to the radio, and a story came on about a movie being filmed at the Dallas Convention Center. Since I was a salesman and could schedule up my own day I went straight downtown to the conventions center to see what was going on.