return to things

lately i feel like i've returned to a lot of things that at one time brought be great pleasure (possible side effects also include clarity, energy, sanity, more apt assessment of the world around you, stillness, purpose and sometimes... buckets of happy).

After more or less two months on the road with little to no time in one given place, my head got a little....how you say...out of alignment? I've been on the road for longer periods of time, but this is was a unique version of this experience.

By no accident, i'm sure, i am the sole inhabiter of my house right now. (Something I love and hope to make a habit someday). One roommate moved out, one gone for the summer and one on vacation, it's just me and Scout. I can't help but think of the old adage that you cannot see your face in running water; only still water. I feel as if i may have unknowingly been the poster-child for such wisdom lately.

I love being alone and love the quiet, but love (perhaps as intensely) people and things. These are often at odds, but most certainly need each other....as i need them.... both greatly. One without the other, and things are not as they should be.

I'm not setting out to articulate everything that's happening right now, because that's what generally makes blogging feel daunting to me, but rather sharing how grateful i am for simple things right now. simple pleasures. simple work that brings pleasure.

I also have a confession. I (like many cynics my age) resist things that are "the new cool thing". I'm sure somehow i secretly think this makes me cooler....it does not. I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says, "Who cares what Oprah reads?" with an astute looking lamb reading a book with a monocle. I think you get the picture. I recently downloaded "Eat. Pray. Love." for my mom because...you guessed it...her book club was reading it. As with these cool new books, (and Oprah's endorsement), I know about a million people who are reading it. I'm not sure what broke through my jedi force field between me and this book, but yesterday morning, I awoke early, prayed for energy and a revitalized spirit (more or less), and headed to the Y. After a surprisingly great workout, I was energized and ready to face the day. (*this does not always happen) I got home and realized it was barely 9:30am. I used to LOVE getting up early and getting things done. There's that great feeling of looking at the clock at 9:30 and realizing you've already checked five things off your list and half the people you know aren't even up yet. I think i just always feel so behind, that I feel like i'm actually evening the playing field for a moment.

I stopped in Whole Foods for a Strawberry Kombucha, some mahi mahi, some asparagus, and some of these amazing crackers I've been stealing from Katie for weeks. Very content (and excited about being home alone), I took full advantage of my AirTunes and decided to listen to "Eat. Pray. Love." while i was cooking....very loudly...on every speaker in the house...because i can.

I decided to experiment a little with lunch (which having no concept of time... i thought was dinner) and ended up with lime & ginger Mahi-Mahi and orange-zested asparagus. It was kind of amazing. It began raining, so I opened the door to my patio, turned up the book, sat outside just under the awning, and ate. I ate in that savory sort of way where you're being fed in a few different ways at once and you know it.





I sat down to work and decided to close my email program, turn off iChat, and just listen as i worked. I worked undaunted and inspired for 5 or 6 hours before even looking up. I finished the designs, emailed them off and then knew it was time for a bike ride. I used to LOVE riding. I mean, i still do love all of these things, of course, i've just forgotten what they feel like. I threw the bike in the car, mourned the demise of my old bike rack for a minute, then headed to Shelby Bottoms. The rain had cooled everything off, and it was a pretty perfect ride. It was memorial day at 6:30pm and had just stormed, so there was almost no one in sight. It felt a bit like a Nike commercial. I decided to push myself on the front end and fight urges to turn back, as i knew it would get dark and there's nothing like chasing darkness when you're riding in the woods. It's always been a good motivator. All in all, i ended up riding about 8 miles and being exceedingly delighted about the day.

Here's to the return of things.




"The other problem with all this swinging through the vines of thought is that you're never where you are. You are always digging at the past or poking at the future, but rarely do you rest in this moment." - (from "Eat. Pray. Love")

speaking in bubbles

Thought this was interesting...

Video called "Speaking in Bubbles" about Ji Lee, a street artist in NY who founded Bubble Project. He tags stickers shaped like speech bubbles and places them over public advertisements, and he invites passersby to fill in the blanks with their own thoughts. After working in advertising for 4 years, Ji Lee shares his thoughts and unique approach to public spaces and street art. When describing his work, he states, [I don't like the term illegal; I prefer the term unauthorized.]"

Watch the video HERE.

Wiki-rado

Wikipedia just told me Colorado's state motto is "Nil sine Numine" - Nothing Without Providence. hmm. who knew?

Well, I just got back from a two week-ish run with Katie in her home state of Colorado. It was my first time to "The Centennial State" as Katie pointed out to the crowds each night. I must say, i had very high expectations as it was tied for the #1 position on "Things Jordan still wants to see in the U.S. but hasn't yet." and Colorado did not disappoint.

Coloradans (yes that's the official term for its residents) were just plain lovely and also very concerned/curious about my reaction to the altitude. (it was fine...until i went biking). Overall, i must say this may have been my favorite tour thus far. The shows were great..well attended, the company hard to beat and the music is absurdly great...such a blast to play.

We had Claire on cello, Katie played acoustic, sang and rocked the porchboard we are forever borrowing from PBA and I played the wildcat electric, accordion and ukulele.

I was watching The Colbert Report today as I was editing some photos and saw the Roots playing the theme song. a) they're a trio and sounded rockin'...and that's pretty awesome. b) Captain Kirk Douglas (guitarist for The Roots) was playing my guitar!! Same model, same finish. i feel 8 rock points cooler.









Oh. and here's episode 1 of our little video blog... enjoy. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-DWG0eBc_E

-jbh

how long

Wow. I haven't written anything on the old blog in a while. Never too late, i guess......

Well, i'm finally home after a run of shows with Katie Herzig in the Northeast. It was our first run with this arrangement, and turned out to be copious amounts of fun. Without the band, we were pulling double / triple duty with Katie on acoustic, porchboard, vox and me on electic, accordion, ukelele and vox....most definately maxing out our alloted carry ons and checked baggage on the plane. By the second show we really started getting into the groove of this new set up and i'll have to say, i'm kind of digging it.

DAY 1 - NYC

We flew into New York on Wednesday, staying with Katie's sister Jenny and her roomate Kristen (who both happened to be opera singers). For some reason, around midnight, we decided to utilize their talents in one of the songs (much to the shigrin of their neighbors, i'm sure). Here's what happened....



..yeah. pretty amazing. still makes me giggle.

Went to a cute little restaraunt in Inwood called "Guadalupe" (Mexican gourmet) with Katie, Jenny and Paul. Had some delicious Quesadilla de Seta y Queso which did not dissapoint

Woke up early the next morning and drove to do a radio interview / performance and WFUV. Everyone there was exceedingly kind and made the early morning an enjoyable one. The host was
Claudia Marshall and was a hoot. We had a great time and the sound engineer, Joe, ended up coming to the show with a friend later that night...which is always super fun.






The show Thursday night was at The Living Room and we had a great crowd and met some really awesome people. Being our first go at it, we were a little shakey musically, but the crowd was so warm and receptive, it made us feel ok about the bumps along the way.



to be continued

Kiss with busted lips

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to FTP someone's house on halloween instead of the traditional TP. seems like it would be a cleaner way to stick it to "Old Man Johnston". just a thought.

Yesterday was a busy day and I definately feel like I didn't get my sabbath rest. hopefully I'll get one in tomorrow. Got the mix for Judd & Maggie's new record and I"m really liking it. It's such a fun record. I'm glad to see people making music like this...It doesn't seem to be happening as much as it should these days.

We uploaded Cheyenne's album art today. We finished it just 4 days after he came to me with the project. I still can' believe we finished it on time. Here are a few images of the cover and exteriior panel.






It's an overly-busy week. Trying to hang on. Too crazy to make birthday plans yet, but i'll keep you posted.

Love Is A Mixtape

Well, I just recently finished a book by Rob Sheffield called, "Love is A Mixtape: Life and Loss One Song at a Time". I read it so quickly that I didn't even have time to switch the "currently reading" badge on here. My friend Bob had read it a month or so ago and it sounded great. In the mood for something different, I checked it out from the library and totally loved it. Here's a little blurb about it...

A celebratory eulogy for life in "the decade of Nirvana," rock critic Sheffield's captivating memoir uses 22 "mix tapes" to describe his being "tangled up" in the "noisy, juicy, sparkly life" of his wife, Renee, from the time they met in 1989 to her sudden death from a pulmonary embolism in 1997. Each chapter begins with song titles from the couple's myriad mixes—"Tapes for making out, tapes for dancing, tapes for falling asleep"—and uses them to describe a beautiful love story: "a real cool hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl" meeting in graduate school a "hermit wolfboy, scared of life, hiding in my room with my records," and how they built a tender relationship on the music they loved, from the Meat Puppets to Hank Williams. Their bond as soul mates makes his reaction to her death deeply moving: "I had no voice to talk with because she was my whole language." But Sheffield's wonderful, often hilarious and lovingly detailed stories about their early romance and their later domestic life show how they created their own personal "mix tape" of life in the same way a music mix tape "steals moments from all over the musical cosmos and splices them into a whole new groove."



It was my first memoir, so we're setting the bar pretty high here. I went to the library again yesterday to find a replacement, but just ended up getting some cookbooks, a few design books and picking up the "Bass Basics" kit on reserve. :) I couldn't really tell what I was in the mood for next, so, I picked up C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strength" and requested "Perfect From Now On". We'll see what sticks.

Left CCEN a bit early last night to make it to Jason Feller's CD Release party. It was a good show and good to see him doing his thing. I'm glad people are going to hear that record. After the show, stopped by Eric's new house and had a little late dinner. Ryan, Dawn, Eric, and Lele were all there for the dance party when we discovered that the lights were on a touch-sensitive switch. And Scott was there after just returning from Moldova, so we celebrated by commandeering Eric's keyboard and drum kit for some much overdue rocking.

Off to the post, the Y and hopefully the grocery to get some things to try out the new cookbooks!

done.

Went to church last night. Played guitar and got to finally try out Butterfly's Gretsch Jr. I've had for a while. It's just so gorgeous.

Many times after church I get this feeling like it's time to hang out. Go eat with someone, watch a movie, order a pizza...generally anything involving people. Last night, I got to the end of my mental list of people to call to hang out and realized tonight may have to derrivate from the normal Sunday evening. Then, I remembered my book patiently awaiting my return home. So, I grabbed a snack from the pantry, got into my pjs, grabbed my book and hopped in bed.... at 9:00pm. It was amazing. I saw the light at the end of the reading tunnel. I saw I only had about 60 pages left in "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" and I decided to finish it. around 11:00pm, it finally happened. Man, I LOVE that feeling. The feeling was amplified a bit b/c a) it was a lengthy book and b) it had been on my "to read" list for many moons, i just hadn't gotten around to it. So exciting. Now, comes the always dangerous choice of the next book. It's like a relationship...choose poorly and you might be stuck there for a little while. choose wisely, and oh the adventures you have in store, young reader. ...i just chuckled out loud a bit just then. Ok. off to look for a job....and a book.

3 is the magic number

Charles Thomas Rhodes Webb.... (calling him Rhodes)
Stats: Born July 4, 2007 2:26am
8 1/2 lb
19 1/2 in
Generally considered by the rampant "baby posses" to be "the coolest"

going back to nashville, thinking 'bout the whole thing...

Well, we had our final show of the tour last night and I took Steve to the airport this morning before I....ahem...went into the office. So, our chapter together has officially come to an end. It was such a fun run of shows and I'll really miss how those songs came together with that arrangement of sounds. My favorite things about being home thus far is

a) my hamper. (not the actual hamper so much as the fact that i can put dirty clothes in a hamper and not repack them in a strategic way every day.)

b) friends.

to be continued

Greetings from..um... i'm not sure where (VOL. 1)

Well, this really is one of our only long drives on this tour, so I thought I’d use part of it to write a ridiculously long blog with too much information about what we’ve been up to on the road. ...ok. maybe i'll break it up into two posts

We’re on the home stretch of the tour and I’ve been so busy with the video bloggery that this space has been a bit neglected. Sowy.

It’s been a good tour. Much to be done, but high fun as well. It’s such a funny combination of people that it works brilliantly. It’s like when see an ice cream flavor with chiles in it. Sounds crazy, but it’s delicious. (said in jim gaffigan voice). It didn’t take us too long to hit our stride and it’s been such a fun time. I’m trying to think back of all that’s happened and it’s kind of overwhelming. We’d had some time in every city, so it’ been crazy… feeling like we’ve actually had all these experiences then a few hours later you’re in a completely different town with a completely different feel. Sounds pretty typical I guess, it just feels more potent this go-round. Here’s a fun little run down of the highlights:

5/17 - Birmingham, AL: we shared the bill with Emily DeLoach and MPJ. The Bottletree was a cool venue with great food and a super cool airstream for artists to hang out in (see video blog episode #2) ☺, but they took an absurd amount out of the door. Oh well. It was great to be in bham. We stayed with Jessica & Jeff Heine and it was so great to spend a little time with them. Also got to see emily’s fam which is always fun. I have such great memories of that town and have been lucky enough that I seem to only be having more great memories there. We wrapped up our visit with a trip to the Botanical Gardens then hit the road with a stop in Atlanta. (my first visit to anthropologie. Finally used my gift card the Normans were kind enough to give me for playing in their wedding a year ago and got sweet new burnt orange pants and a cool sailory looking blue jacket)

5/18,19 – Greenville, SC - got to meet a lot of the guys at Portland and hang out with Brannon. Picked up the etchings they did for Steve and they look very cool. Had a pint at an irish bar before the show and Kevin’s Costner’s band was playing next door. We tried to go see them, but had just missed their set. Ours was a kind of a crazy show in the beginning, but it was a fun night.

5/20 – Charlotte, NC – We mad a pit stop in King’s Mountain, NC and did a bit of hiking. They had just burned a lot of the brush and forrest part so it too closely resembled Middle Earth, but they had one of those great “movies” that state parks have on the battle of…so and so at yada yada Hill in which Steve and Judd fell asleep after we had a good laugh at a few of the “historians’” expenses. we made good time and got to Charlotte with a little time to kill. George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelik were playing directly across the street from us and we got to see him and his band a bit as they were hanging out before the show. We all love the Evening Muse and Joe (the owner) was great as always.

5/21 – we did an on-air at WWWW. I had actually done on on-air years ago with Emily there and as soon as I walked in the woman said, “you were here before with another band, right?” I was impressed. some people have amazing memories. It was a great on-air, and they were just as kind as I remember.

5/22 – Charlottesville, VA – super cool looking venue with books lining the walls, but a really small crowd. It’s not a good sign when you get to a venue and they say, “yeah. We’re probably going to go under. No one in this town comes to shows.” It was a fun night anyway and we really got to interact with the people at the show who were so kind and responsive. People asked questions and were so appreciative.

5/23 – Red Bank, NJ – (BobFest) – BobFest is an annual show that Pat Guadagno puts on every year in Red Bank on Bob’s birthday in a really great theater. Steve was asked to play again this year and it was so fun to watch. I mean, I’ll watch a good band play Bob Dylan songs for 3 hours any day of the week. Judd & Maggie’s friend Brother Andrew drove up and it was great to meet him. Steve and I went out after the show to grab a drink with all the guys from the show and they were a hoot. There’s definitely a jersey feel to them all and they were a blast to party with. We stayed with Steve’s dad, Nick, in Ocean and he was a riot. Imagine “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Yeah.. So great. ☺ We woke up the next day and drove just a few minutes to Long Branch and walked along the ocean, had some delicious Greek food and some gelato to top it off before we headed out.


.... to be continued

video killed the blogio star.

greetings from lovely NYC. I'm currently looking out the window of a new friend's AMAZING Brownstone in Brooklyn. Seriously. This place is ubelievable.

Well, the tour has been good thus far. Some stress, but a great deal of fun. The combination of people is crazy, but seems to work perfectly. I"ll be updating more tomorrow in greater detail, but to get you started, here are the first of the video blogs we made on the road (it's really just one broken up into 3 parts). enjoy. warning: we're weird. (you can also search "Delopoulos" or "Judd & Maggie" if these videos give you grief.

i've been duped.

two nights ago, i made a late night trip to Kroger for some essentials: Dog food, organic milk and some TP. Now, in terms of my toilet paper, i don't have a strong allegiance, and typically get what's on sale. I saw that Quilted Northern was on sale this day. My mind hearkened back to their commercials depicting charming cartoon grandmother-types quilting each square by hand. This sounded delightful to me in the Kroger isle at 1am. So, I fell for it. I got the Quilted Northern home only to find it was neither soft, nor charming. Let me tell you, friends...nothing about it felt quilted...unless people quilt burlap sacks to make toilet paper. Don't be fooled, kids. And, Quilted Northern, I'm on to your Tom Foolery.

On the Mindless Menace of Violence

I just finished watching "Bobby". At the conclusion of the film, after Senetor Kennedy is shot, they play his entire speech, "On the Mindless Menace of Violence". It really makes me long for leaders, followers, and people everywhere to have greater visions like this again.



This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

Hello, Mr.Allen

I watched my first Woody Allen movie today. I started with "Manhattan", which I now hear is one of his best. I have to say, I really really like it. I mean, it has Diane Keaton in it, so that's always a good place to start with me.

the getting away

It’s near midnight I believe. As we have no reception out here, (and through the years I have fallen prey to only using my cellphone to tell the time) I’m generally unaware of the hour for a few days. My church’s “getaway” is this weekend and we’re at Camp NaCoMe located near the middle of nowhere. Note: If you’re wondering what NaCoMe means in the respective Native American languate it may be taken from, I regretfully inform you that it is actually just a combination of the three cities that triangulate around the camp: Nashville, Columbia, and Memphis. I know. Dissapointing.)

It takes a lot to get me to things like this nowadays. Namely because I can choose not to, and usually do. When we’re children, we’re generally made to do things that we don’t want to. We may had rather stay up until midnight and eat twinkies, but our parents knew we’d be tired an malnourished…so we didn’t. We don’t have that now, but sometimes I think we need it.

Anyway, the weekend is designed to actually spend time and get to know the people you are in this church community with, talk about what the church is and what it’s doing. There’s a lot of Q & A, and a lot of play time to really just spend time with people. I was a camp couselor for years, but I never really outgrew a general hesitation towards things like this. I feel silly going around and everyone saying their names. As we actually did this this first night here, Cari leaned over and articulated exactly what I was thinking, “this is why I don’t come to stuff like this.” But, I should.

More and more we can live on our own terms and participate or engage when we’d like or is convenient, but generally find a myriad of excuses not to do what we don’t’ want to do. I could have gone to this last year. I was in town. And it’s not a matter of being busy. I’m busy this week. It’s just that I didn’t want to go. There are unknowns (this is a huge one), plus you have to DO things with other people…just generally out of most comfort zones I have.

But, often even if my intentions are askew (which they always prove to be), their continually redeemed. When I go because I think I should or that it’s the “right” thing to do, God trumps my legalism and reveals himself to be who he really is. Kevin said something tonight that, as per usual, articulates it much more directly than I ever could, “We are called to submit ourselves to something greater than what we want at that moment.” Someone earlier in the service had said, “if you feel comfortable, share something that you have to be thankful for” (or something to that extent. Kevin’s response (after clarifying he meant no offense) was that it doesn’t really matter if you feel comfortable. That’s not the goal. If anything, it’s often a hindrance or a sign that I’m not really letting the gospel transform my heart. Without realizing it, I set my course to one chasing after personal satisfaction, independence, stability, happiness, rather than run towards the maker of all these things. I have an idea of what would be good for my life. May God continually dismantle the houses I build for myself and may he, instead, fulfill his promise of lavishing on us more blessings than we con conceive.

the important tax report...

Jordan's Tax Report:
Taxes blow.




In other news, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers are crazy good. Mike Campbell. Mmmm.

back to taxes.


(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I'll tax your feet.

i love you, compy

so, i got a mac book yesterday. well, it arrived yesterday. i have to say, i'm oh so totally excited about it. i'm working hella-faster than i ever thought was possible, but secretly dreamed someday i could. my two thoughts on this afternoon are:

1. do i really need a remote for my computer? i mean, i'm sitting there using it, aren't i?
2. how freakin cool do i feel that i have a remote for my computer??

life on this day

another too late night of working. Surely there's a break coming up soon. after starting the work day at 6:30, 1am feels a little later than it used to. I actually had the thought tonight, "I'm getting too old for this". I'm not sure if it was the exhaustion or if that's true, but it feels like a little of both on this night. It's been a roller coaster month, week, day. the highs were glorious and lofty and the lows were at sedimentary levels.

One such lofty day was tracking on Steve's new record. We needed to get a little group together for some good ole group bgv's and it just turned out to be the perfect combination of people for some reason. Judd & Maggie, me, Ryan Greenawalt and an alternating wing men/women/persons of Jeremy Casella and Mandy Mann. The stuff they had for us to sing was just great and we really went crazy with it. very theatrical, but in the best of ways. we all just walked away (obviously STILL) talking about how much fun it was and how excited we all were about people making good records again... making the record that is in them, whether it's 3min and 30 seconds with a target market or not. ..and probably not. That's just where the good stuff is, i think. Make the record you're meant to make...whatever it is that's in you, drag it out and work on it. It makes me think of that story Jonatha Brooke once told in an interview about the 4 min outro with that amazing piano solo on "Inconsolable". The powers that be told her it had to go if she ever wanted them to get behind a single. she thought about it, and eventually thought to herself, "like i'm ever going to have an f-ing single." She just remembered who she was and what she was doing and kept the solo. It is incidentally maybe my favorite Jonatha Brooke song and would be less so without that outro. I'm just sayin.

On the way back from picking up our newly screened screens (mmmm), Patty Griffin's song, "Christina" (that she wrote about Christina O'nasis) came on. I went to change it, then I heard my favorite line of the song, which happens to be the first one. That doesn't happen very often, it seems. Anyway... here's a song for the evening...


If you had the real thing how would you tell
Liars can say it all just as well
Every single word you've heard in vain
Baubles of gold, stars in your hair
Reflections that told that they were not there
And the diamonds on your cheeks have turned to flames
And up in the air they would write your name there
But love would fall to pieces in the rain
Who would know better than you
A hundred love letters and none of them true

Christina, Christina

It's a wondrous world of ridiculous things
With nothing so rare as the love that it brings
In the silence of a smile that understands
A piece of the action, pieces of gold
Everyone's paid well and does what they're told
For the simple daughter of a simple man
And up in the air they would write your name there
Their love will fall to pieces in the rain
Who would know better than you
A hundred love letters and none of them true

No, you can't hide from the turning of the tide.

After a long day of working, then working on the garage a lot, I went to my friend Julia Patton's wedding. Running on fumes, I barely made it on time. I walked in just as they were seating the grandmothers. classy. It was a very traditional, formal and beautiful wedding at Scaritt Bennet. (or as anyone who has had to shoot a wedding in this gorgeous, but very dark chapel calls it...Scary Bennet.) Alice came in just a bit after me, and we held down the back-ish row with the other tardy guests. There was a moment of pause just as the wedding party had finished their procession. The doors closed...and we waited. Just when you begin to wonder, the doors flew open and a bagpiper began sounding the procession. I was so overwhelmed with the moment. He was heralding the bride's arrival...his playing was impossible to ignore; engulfing even. But it wasn't the point. Just then, Julia walked in, looking beautiful and teary.

As one who has shot approximately 47 more weddings than I ever thought I would, I've thought a lot about the matter. But, as with music, it changes when it's your work. After being around only musicians playing or talking about only music for an extended period of time, sometimes talking to someone about growing squash (or something equally as "normal") is refreshing. All this to say, I often think it odd when I'm shooting (or more often assisting) someone's wedding whom I have never met, how I'm regaurding thier wedding day. I may wake up a little late, throw on some compfy clothes that are often just dressy enough to not feel socially inappropriate. Shoot the wedding, be polite, hopefully eat some good food (because by this point you're starving), and call it a night. In the right months, you could be doing this a every weekend, often multiple times in a weekend if business is good. At almost every wedding, at some point I stop and think, "this is one of the most important days in this person's life", and wonder if I shouldn't revere that more.

Tonight I was not with out reverence. After the many many weddings that I've been to/in that Kevin Twit has pastored, I know a great deal of Kevin's wedding sermon. You would think I would have put some of that wisdom to use by now. But as Martin Luther knew before I...I needed to hear it again...because I live as though I've forgotten it.

After the reception, I went to my friend and former bandmate, Jason Harris' going away party. Jason's moving to Bloomington, IN to "see about a girl". Some of my favorite memories in this life thus far have included Jason and I'm going to miss him, but here's hoping for many more of those memories yet to come. I feel like I'm making a toast or something. ;)

Well, I'm getting sleepy. Consider this my Shabbat . (Subnote: Marva Dawn changed the way I think about the Sabbath. I don't always keep it with the dilligence I should, but now I love Sunday, and look forward to it like Christmas. Even more so when I'm so busy. You can feel the purpose of the day in all it's richness. sigh. I can't wait.)

I shall leave you with some pictures Rachel took of The Analogue Trust's first two completed shirt orders. (oh. yeah. LT and I started a print company for screenprinting tshirts and posters for those musician type friends in town. we call it 'The Analogue Trust') Good times. More to come.

Caught between the longing for love and the struggle for the legal tender.

Well, I've officially entered a new season....having nothing to do with the snow currently falling outside my window. Starting around December, things on the work front began to hit a slow spell. After turning down a 9 to 5 job right before Christmas, I mentally overcompensated and went into crazy mode wanting to connect with projects i believed in (or at least avoid the ones i feel generally led to rally against no matter how tempting their salary and/or insurance looks). Well, I guess I'm making up for lost time now. The last 3 or 4 nights have yielded time for about 4 hours of sleep per night.

At some point in my childhood, I remember a teacher commenting on my always being busy, and telling me that her students that were most busy stayed the most on top of their school work. That somehow when these students knew they had no other way to get everything done than to always stay on task and focused, they actually got their tasks accomplished. On the other hand, students who had a great deal of time on their hands, generally procrastinated because they knew they'd have time to do it later. This often resulted in them procrastinating their way through all their their free time until the project's due date was upon them and they were screwed. you know... classic ant & grasshopper tale. This is the story of my life. I'm the anthopper.

I'm starting to remember the downside of that. Yeah, the ant had food and whatnot, but probably no friends, no patience and a diminished appreciation for the best things in life. At least that's my hunch based on the experiment currently in progress.

After much debate, i finally decided to a take a break last night and watch Grey's Anatomy with Butterfly, Heidi, LT, Dawson & Bob. Butterfly's song "Bitter Song" was featured in the episode and it was so fun to watch with everyone there. I even found some red fabric and made a red carpet leading to the door. It's a great song and I'm glad many peoples heard it....even though they should be able to hear the whole freakin record by now. aaaanyway.

It's 5am and LT and I are just now finishing the new shirts for MPJ. I'm not even sure what I'm typing anymore. But I know this... I love "The Pretender" by Jackson Browne. I could listen to it at all times. It's a song that borders on perfection.

night, kids.


"The Pretender" - j. browne

Im going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway
Im going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day
And when the evening rolls around
Ill go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
Ill get up and do it again
Amen
Say it again
Amen

I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
Ive been aware of the time going by
They say in the end its the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
Youll get up and do it again
Amen

Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring
And the junk man pounds his fender
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there

Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight

Im going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And well fill in the missing colors
In each others paint-by-number dreams
And then well put out dark glasses on
And well make love until our strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
Well get up and do it again
Get it up again

Im going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Thought true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender