Archives
Thursday, September 23, 2004
09.22.04
“headin’ for the apple once again”
I’m on the good old 9 a.m. Jet Blue out of Long Beach to JFK, headin’ home. thought for sure I’d be posting more this past week and half however, things got a little nutty and my time somehow seemed to have gotten away from me. hell, I even stayed a couple extra days to get a few more things accomplished. unfortunately, I think that’s where I made a mistake. I seemed to have contracted a little bug gettin’ blown around by the lovely Santa Annas. woke up the other morning with a tonsil the size of a golf ball, chills, cold sweat and a fever to boot. went to the drug store to pick up the usual remedies like vitamin C, Advil, some homeopathic flu medicine and a big old bottle of water. thought that might do the trick. called off my appointments, got a solid night’s sleep bundled up in sweats and a hood, hoping to sweat the rest of the fever out. no luck. woke up to find the golf ball had become a racquet ball and was actually visible from the outside. yeah. my neck was swelling. couldn’t swallow, my breathing was becoming labored, I needed more than Advil. Quincy talked me into going to the ER to get checked out and at least get a prescription for some real meds. fortunately/unfortunately, he wasn’t there to talk me into getting a penicillin shot, rather, I opted for the pills instead. long story short, I’m feeling much better, swelling’s gone down and Motrin is your friend.
truth is, I had it comin’. too many late nights of boozin’ and singing ‘til the sun comes up doesn’t do a great deal of good to one’s immune system. no regrets though. had a hell of a time this time around. it actually started in a whirl. Joe and I pretty much hit the ground running, heading straight to rehearsal for our 9/11 show with Josh Kelley, Bird and the boys from Joe’s band. that went well into the late evening. from there we went up to Josh’s for what was supposed to be a run-through of the show but rather turned into a nice little hang of grilled food, ping-pong and impromptu jams. damn, there’s so much frickin’ talent in this family. everybody was so stoked and excited at what this show was destined to become that we all ended up at la Poubelle for some closing time shenanigans to celebrate. I believe it was there that I left my voice, somewhere between “New York State of Mind” and Stevie’s “Make Sure Your Sure”. I had to do it. I knew the rest of the week was gonna be a bitch, but I had to do it. the show at Lingerie was indeed as successful as it possibly could’ve been. sure we could have pulled a few more people and raised a bit more for the Red Cross but considering we had over 4 hours of music to be performed by roughly 20 or so musicians in front of 7 cameras for yet another independent dvd project that all went off without a hitch, I’d say we we’re successful. somehow, I managed to stick to my guns and get home for a decent night’s sleep before getting on down to San Diego for my show on Sunday. my boy Julio and his wife Laura came out from Phoenix for the Saturday show and figured since they were in California already that they mind as well head on down with us. “us” of course being me, Mike, Chase, and Brian Wright, the Buzzfly fellas. they agreed to play the show with me and see what kind of temptation Tiajuana might provide us thereafter. the show was great. Brian played a rather inspired set of his hillbilly ramblings, Buzzfly threw down a really nice set of songs, spanning the past decade of their catalogue. I got up and did what I could with what I had after four nights of nonstop singing and rehearsing and carrying on. wasn’t terrible. after all of the significance placed on the show the night before, it was nice to sort of kick back and play some songs I don’t normally get to. I say that but that’s usually what goes on down there in San Diego. always a warm reception of solid attention and listening. (love you guys for that, thank you.) needless to say, after the show, my boy Darrin (also in from Phoenix), Mike and I, let our collective spirit of adventure get the best of us. we decided that we HAD to go into Mexico, if only to buy ourselves a cheap bottle of quality tequila. so we drove to the border, parked and literally walked right into Tiajuana. we got a cab, thwarted our cab driver’s attempts to take us to the local strip club (“Liquor Store? oh, I tote you sid Luxor!!”), went right to the nearest liquor store and bought a $40 bottle of Cazadores tequila. in the states, that same bottle is easily $60 to $80. this was worth the trip. on the way back to the border again, our driver swung us by his highly recommended gentleman’s club, again to no avail. we were extremely tired men on a rather ridiculous mission and the sooner we got back across that border, the sooner we could throw our flight suits on and consider the damn thing “accomplished”. obviously we made it back through customs, to the car and back to our hotel unscathed. once we got there though, we were so damn tired we couldn’t even bring ourselves to crack open the prized bottle and take even a celebratory sip. it would have to wait for another time.
I tried to get caught up on some rest Monday and Tuesday and to some degree I think I managed to do just that. spent some time pool side getting some much needed sun. I even went to the gym one of those days. got to meet up with Justin on Wednesday before my show at Room 5. I hadn’t gotten a chance to catch up with him (at length) since New Year’s day of 2003! it’s always nice to tap back into a familiar friendship after so much time passes like that. looks like this acting thing is really working in his favor. gotta say I’m really proud of the choices that kid’s been making. and actually, that was one of the main reasons I decided to stick around. me and him were gonna try to squeeze in some writing time while we were both in town. of course I wasn’t gonna run the risk of gettin’ him sick so said time was never squeezed. kinda bummin’ ‘bout that, I’ll be honest.
Room 5 was pretty cool as well. had Tim Jones get up and do a few, Chase and Mike, same thing. again though, having to get up and fly to Modesto in the morning, I played it wise and made it home in time for a good night’s sleep. a few solid hours anyway. got to Modesto (via a 3 hour lay over in San Fran) and went right to the venue for sound check with Josh and Joe. unfortunately my voice was feeling the full wrath of the week leading up this rather important show and I could not have been in worse shape to perform with those guys that night. of course, as any passionate performer knows, adrenaline works in mysterious ways. after a few Hot Toddies, a little steam shower backstage and a barrage of positive reinforcements from my comrades, I was able to pull through and provide some kind of supplement to the sold-out three-part-harmony based show being sponsored and heavily promoted by the local AAA radio station. damn. of all nights. once the show was over and the crowd and everyone from the station seemed to be pleased, we simply got to drinking and forgot all about the moments of insecurities that plagued us before show time. well, at least that’s what I was toasting to. Modesto proved to be quite a festive little town. poor Josh had a gig the next night in D.C. and had to fly out at like 5 in the morning. Joe and me got to sleep in and take our time gettin’ out of there before flyin’ back to Burbank. at the airport, Joe grabbed a cab and Vero whisked me off to a screening of the dvd footage we shot at Mamma Juana’s last time I was in town. stuff looks great, if I do say so my damn self. really. (I look forward to the project being completed and seeing what y’all think of it.) swung by good old Barney’s Beanery after to raise a toast to future successes but left shortly thereafter, again, my fatigue getting the best of me.
went to an afternoon bar-b-que at Tanya’s and kicked it with the OME crew, Vero and Brittney. Tanya had gotten a moon bounce for the her daughter’s birthday party that day and before the guy came to haul it away a few of the grown ups got in and laughed their heads off knockin’ in to each other. you forget how fun being a kid was and should always be. I also forgot how much I love playin’ spades. ever play spades? damn. back in the day, on the mouse club, we used to play spades in the dressing room all the time. it was usually me and Dale vs. JC and Rhona and man would we get to talkin’ shit. anyway, Dale and I reunited at Tanya’s and took on Quincy and Lisa. considering Lisa’s a beginner, we should have done a bit better than we did. still we went on to kick ass and had a good time with rubbin’ it in.
so Firstman and my old friend Danny Masterson started promoting this club on Sunday nights called, “The Kid’s Cotton Club… Harlem in Hollywood”. ties are mandatory for the gentlemen and the ladies, well they just have to look fly. it’s basically like a private party where the main attraction is a collective of musicians that play a nonstop string of jazz standards and classics with a late night guest vocalist closing set. I got up and sang the old Otis Redding jam, “Hard To Handle”, Josh Kelley sang “Superstition”, and Joe did “Benny and the Jets”. apparently, Juliet Lewis was supposed to be on hand and do a saucy rendition of “Stormy Weather” and the band had learned a couple of Justin’s tunes just in case he rolled with me that night. no such luck on either of those performances. maybe next week.
plane’s about to land and that pretty much wraps up my week-and-a-half in Cali. I’ll be back in NYC for awhile and that usually means my posts’ll be a bit more routine. thanks for being patient.
happy fall everyone. time for inspiration.
“headin’ for the apple once again”
I’m on the good old 9 a.m. Jet Blue out of Long Beach to JFK, headin’ home. thought for sure I’d be posting more this past week and half however, things got a little nutty and my time somehow seemed to have gotten away from me. hell, I even stayed a couple extra days to get a few more things accomplished. unfortunately, I think that’s where I made a mistake. I seemed to have contracted a little bug gettin’ blown around by the lovely Santa Annas. woke up the other morning with a tonsil the size of a golf ball, chills, cold sweat and a fever to boot. went to the drug store to pick up the usual remedies like vitamin C, Advil, some homeopathic flu medicine and a big old bottle of water. thought that might do the trick. called off my appointments, got a solid night’s sleep bundled up in sweats and a hood, hoping to sweat the rest of the fever out. no luck. woke up to find the golf ball had become a racquet ball and was actually visible from the outside. yeah. my neck was swelling. couldn’t swallow, my breathing was becoming labored, I needed more than Advil. Quincy talked me into going to the ER to get checked out and at least get a prescription for some real meds. fortunately/unfortunately, he wasn’t there to talk me into getting a penicillin shot, rather, I opted for the pills instead. long story short, I’m feeling much better, swelling’s gone down and Motrin is your friend.
truth is, I had it comin’. too many late nights of boozin’ and singing ‘til the sun comes up doesn’t do a great deal of good to one’s immune system. no regrets though. had a hell of a time this time around. it actually started in a whirl. Joe and I pretty much hit the ground running, heading straight to rehearsal for our 9/11 show with Josh Kelley, Bird and the boys from Joe’s band. that went well into the late evening. from there we went up to Josh’s for what was supposed to be a run-through of the show but rather turned into a nice little hang of grilled food, ping-pong and impromptu jams. damn, there’s so much frickin’ talent in this family. everybody was so stoked and excited at what this show was destined to become that we all ended up at la Poubelle for some closing time shenanigans to celebrate. I believe it was there that I left my voice, somewhere between “New York State of Mind” and Stevie’s “Make Sure Your Sure”. I had to do it. I knew the rest of the week was gonna be a bitch, but I had to do it. the show at Lingerie was indeed as successful as it possibly could’ve been. sure we could have pulled a few more people and raised a bit more for the Red Cross but considering we had over 4 hours of music to be performed by roughly 20 or so musicians in front of 7 cameras for yet another independent dvd project that all went off without a hitch, I’d say we we’re successful. somehow, I managed to stick to my guns and get home for a decent night’s sleep before getting on down to San Diego for my show on Sunday. my boy Julio and his wife Laura came out from Phoenix for the Saturday show and figured since they were in California already that they mind as well head on down with us. “us” of course being me, Mike, Chase, and Brian Wright, the Buzzfly fellas. they agreed to play the show with me and see what kind of temptation Tiajuana might provide us thereafter. the show was great. Brian played a rather inspired set of his hillbilly ramblings, Buzzfly threw down a really nice set of songs, spanning the past decade of their catalogue. I got up and did what I could with what I had after four nights of nonstop singing and rehearsing and carrying on. wasn’t terrible. after all of the significance placed on the show the night before, it was nice to sort of kick back and play some songs I don’t normally get to. I say that but that’s usually what goes on down there in San Diego. always a warm reception of solid attention and listening. (love you guys for that, thank you.) needless to say, after the show, my boy Darrin (also in from Phoenix), Mike and I, let our collective spirit of adventure get the best of us. we decided that we HAD to go into Mexico, if only to buy ourselves a cheap bottle of quality tequila. so we drove to the border, parked and literally walked right into Tiajuana. we got a cab, thwarted our cab driver’s attempts to take us to the local strip club (“Liquor Store? oh, I tote you sid Luxor!!”), went right to the nearest liquor store and bought a $40 bottle of Cazadores tequila. in the states, that same bottle is easily $60 to $80. this was worth the trip. on the way back to the border again, our driver swung us by his highly recommended gentleman’s club, again to no avail. we were extremely tired men on a rather ridiculous mission and the sooner we got back across that border, the sooner we could throw our flight suits on and consider the damn thing “accomplished”. obviously we made it back through customs, to the car and back to our hotel unscathed. once we got there though, we were so damn tired we couldn’t even bring ourselves to crack open the prized bottle and take even a celebratory sip. it would have to wait for another time.
I tried to get caught up on some rest Monday and Tuesday and to some degree I think I managed to do just that. spent some time pool side getting some much needed sun. I even went to the gym one of those days. got to meet up with Justin on Wednesday before my show at Room 5. I hadn’t gotten a chance to catch up with him (at length) since New Year’s day of 2003! it’s always nice to tap back into a familiar friendship after so much time passes like that. looks like this acting thing is really working in his favor. gotta say I’m really proud of the choices that kid’s been making. and actually, that was one of the main reasons I decided to stick around. me and him were gonna try to squeeze in some writing time while we were both in town. of course I wasn’t gonna run the risk of gettin’ him sick so said time was never squeezed. kinda bummin’ ‘bout that, I’ll be honest.
Room 5 was pretty cool as well. had Tim Jones get up and do a few, Chase and Mike, same thing. again though, having to get up and fly to Modesto in the morning, I played it wise and made it home in time for a good night’s sleep. a few solid hours anyway. got to Modesto (via a 3 hour lay over in San Fran) and went right to the venue for sound check with Josh and Joe. unfortunately my voice was feeling the full wrath of the week leading up this rather important show and I could not have been in worse shape to perform with those guys that night. of course, as any passionate performer knows, adrenaline works in mysterious ways. after a few Hot Toddies, a little steam shower backstage and a barrage of positive reinforcements from my comrades, I was able to pull through and provide some kind of supplement to the sold-out three-part-harmony based show being sponsored and heavily promoted by the local AAA radio station. damn. of all nights. once the show was over and the crowd and everyone from the station seemed to be pleased, we simply got to drinking and forgot all about the moments of insecurities that plagued us before show time. well, at least that’s what I was toasting to. Modesto proved to be quite a festive little town. poor Josh had a gig the next night in D.C. and had to fly out at like 5 in the morning. Joe and me got to sleep in and take our time gettin’ out of there before flyin’ back to Burbank. at the airport, Joe grabbed a cab and Vero whisked me off to a screening of the dvd footage we shot at Mamma Juana’s last time I was in town. stuff looks great, if I do say so my damn self. really. (I look forward to the project being completed and seeing what y’all think of it.) swung by good old Barney’s Beanery after to raise a toast to future successes but left shortly thereafter, again, my fatigue getting the best of me.
went to an afternoon bar-b-que at Tanya’s and kicked it with the OME crew, Vero and Brittney. Tanya had gotten a moon bounce for the her daughter’s birthday party that day and before the guy came to haul it away a few of the grown ups got in and laughed their heads off knockin’ in to each other. you forget how fun being a kid was and should always be. I also forgot how much I love playin’ spades. ever play spades? damn. back in the day, on the mouse club, we used to play spades in the dressing room all the time. it was usually me and Dale vs. JC and Rhona and man would we get to talkin’ shit. anyway, Dale and I reunited at Tanya’s and took on Quincy and Lisa. considering Lisa’s a beginner, we should have done a bit better than we did. still we went on to kick ass and had a good time with rubbin’ it in.
so Firstman and my old friend Danny Masterson started promoting this club on Sunday nights called, “The Kid’s Cotton Club… Harlem in Hollywood”. ties are mandatory for the gentlemen and the ladies, well they just have to look fly. it’s basically like a private party where the main attraction is a collective of musicians that play a nonstop string of jazz standards and classics with a late night guest vocalist closing set. I got up and sang the old Otis Redding jam, “Hard To Handle”, Josh Kelley sang “Superstition”, and Joe did “Benny and the Jets”. apparently, Juliet Lewis was supposed to be on hand and do a saucy rendition of “Stormy Weather” and the band had learned a couple of Justin’s tunes just in case he rolled with me that night. no such luck on either of those performances. maybe next week.
plane’s about to land and that pretty much wraps up my week-and-a-half in Cali. I’ll be back in NYC for awhile and that usually means my posts’ll be a bit more routine. thanks for being patient.
happy fall everyone. time for inspiration.
09.10.04
Firstman and I decided to fork over some extra cash and stake our claim up in first class on this here flight from Charlotte, NC to LA. we just finished watching the third installment of the Harry Potter trilogy. not bad. got bored though. Joe actually fell asleep. I turned his in-flight channel selector to the one that gives you the Spanish version in your headphones. who knows? he could be having these horrible dreams right now about Harry and the hot little girl he goes to wizard school with coming to blows with demons and dementors, all in Spanish. I thought it was funny at the time.
we played a theater in New Hampshire last night. went pretty well considering I didn’t get there until he had already played about an hour. I had trouble getting out of Newark, missed my connection in D.C. and didn’t get in to Manchester until 7:30. thankfully, Joe took an intermission, after which I played a good half hour, he came back out, we played a few together, he closed with one of his and then we came out and played Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” together and said “good night” thereafter. Bethlehem, NH is a small town, to say the least. however, we were able to find the local waterin’ hole in time to have a few more before closing time. our hotel was a bit like the one Jack Nicholson took over in “The Shining”. so much so that when we rushed out of there in a hurry this morning, there was nobody at the front desk to let me back into my room to get my cell phone. we had to get back to the Manchester airport in time to catch our flight so there really wasn’t much time to wait around for someone to show up and help me out. so we left. without my phone. fortunately, Joe’s mom called this afternoon and said she had retained the phone and was going to fedex it to me tomorrow. no big deal. after having dumped my cell phone in the lake when I was in Michigan and having to go without for close to two weeks, I mean, what’s one night. what the hell did we ever do before cell phones?
here’s one for you. flippin’ through the channels of my in-flight audio entertainment and I come across a station that actually has JC’s “Build My World” in it’s rotation. I just finished listening to “She Will Be Loved” by none other that the kick-ass Maroon 5, am now being subjected to “Let’s Get It Started” by the Peas, counting down the seconds to the first time I’ll have ever been on an airplane listening to a song that I wrote via some other source than a cd player or computer hard drive. here it is.....
crazy.
Firstman and I decided to fork over some extra cash and stake our claim up in first class on this here flight from Charlotte, NC to LA. we just finished watching the third installment of the Harry Potter trilogy. not bad. got bored though. Joe actually fell asleep. I turned his in-flight channel selector to the one that gives you the Spanish version in your headphones. who knows? he could be having these horrible dreams right now about Harry and the hot little girl he goes to wizard school with coming to blows with demons and dementors, all in Spanish. I thought it was funny at the time.
we played a theater in New Hampshire last night. went pretty well considering I didn’t get there until he had already played about an hour. I had trouble getting out of Newark, missed my connection in D.C. and didn’t get in to Manchester until 7:30. thankfully, Joe took an intermission, after which I played a good half hour, he came back out, we played a few together, he closed with one of his and then we came out and played Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” together and said “good night” thereafter. Bethlehem, NH is a small town, to say the least. however, we were able to find the local waterin’ hole in time to have a few more before closing time. our hotel was a bit like the one Jack Nicholson took over in “The Shining”. so much so that when we rushed out of there in a hurry this morning, there was nobody at the front desk to let me back into my room to get my cell phone. we had to get back to the Manchester airport in time to catch our flight so there really wasn’t much time to wait around for someone to show up and help me out. so we left. without my phone. fortunately, Joe’s mom called this afternoon and said she had retained the phone and was going to fedex it to me tomorrow. no big deal. after having dumped my cell phone in the lake when I was in Michigan and having to go without for close to two weeks, I mean, what’s one night. what the hell did we ever do before cell phones?
here’s one for you. flippin’ through the channels of my in-flight audio entertainment and I come across a station that actually has JC’s “Build My World” in it’s rotation. I just finished listening to “She Will Be Loved” by none other that the kick-ass Maroon 5, am now being subjected to “Let’s Get It Started” by the Peas, counting down the seconds to the first time I’ll have ever been on an airplane listening to a song that I wrote via some other source than a cd player or computer hard drive. here it is.....
crazy.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
09.08.04.5:00 p.m. est
looks like we got a bit of Frances' rain. I can't imagine what it must be like down in Florida. hopefully the sun comes out soon down there and the people trying to get their lives back together are able to. I wish them all well.
I'm taking off to New Hampshire tomorrow to play a show with Firstman and then leaving the next day to prepare for another one on the 11th. this will be my second consecutive year playing on September 11th. last year I was here in New York. that was kind of crazy. I remember the city being pretty awake and alive that night. it was like everybody was out, celebrating something that seemed to have gone unmentioned, though we all knew exactly why it was an exceptionally great night to be a part of the New York City life. this year I'll be on the West coast in our country's other biggest city. we decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund of Greater Los Angeles because the date of the occasion seems to inevitably bring one to think about those who suffer loss and although 9-11 conjures up rather specific thoughts about the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania (and by no means do I intend to make light of those images), it doesn't take much to imagine what such an attack might mean for residents in LA. I mean, flip through the paper and see what kind of tragic occurrences, all around the world, bring their victims straight to the mercy of those willing to give and be charitable. I lived in LA long enough to know the repercussions of wild fires in residential neighborhoods. I was there in '94 when the Northridge quake forced thousands to take refuge at local shelters, myself included. I saw el Nino wreck havoc all up and down the Southern California coast. in addition to the often politically imposed sense of fear and anticipation we all have, looking over our shoulders for the next terrorist attack, any one of these natural disasters could mean an equal amount of loss suffered by those in it's path. our representative at the Red Cross said that the 9-11 fund was closed within months of it's inception. so much money came flowing in from around the world, not only because of the sympathy the attacks inspired but as well, the global press coverage it received. basically, the more coverage a disaster receives, the more donations are given. right now, the disaster relief fund is much lower than the Red Cross tends to keep it. the money that we generate on Saturday will go directly towards relief of future disasters in the Greater Los Angeles area. we hope to raise a healthy donation. if any of you were thinking of making it out but weren't crazy about comin' off of the $20 for the ticket, well, maybe you might feel a bit more charitable after having read this. I don't know.
loss sucks.
help is important.
it's gonna be a hell of a show.
it's win win.
looks like we got a bit of Frances' rain. I can't imagine what it must be like down in Florida. hopefully the sun comes out soon down there and the people trying to get their lives back together are able to. I wish them all well.
I'm taking off to New Hampshire tomorrow to play a show with Firstman and then leaving the next day to prepare for another one on the 11th. this will be my second consecutive year playing on September 11th. last year I was here in New York. that was kind of crazy. I remember the city being pretty awake and alive that night. it was like everybody was out, celebrating something that seemed to have gone unmentioned, though we all knew exactly why it was an exceptionally great night to be a part of the New York City life. this year I'll be on the West coast in our country's other biggest city. we decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund of Greater Los Angeles because the date of the occasion seems to inevitably bring one to think about those who suffer loss and although 9-11 conjures up rather specific thoughts about the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania (and by no means do I intend to make light of those images), it doesn't take much to imagine what such an attack might mean for residents in LA. I mean, flip through the paper and see what kind of tragic occurrences, all around the world, bring their victims straight to the mercy of those willing to give and be charitable. I lived in LA long enough to know the repercussions of wild fires in residential neighborhoods. I was there in '94 when the Northridge quake forced thousands to take refuge at local shelters, myself included. I saw el Nino wreck havoc all up and down the Southern California coast. in addition to the often politically imposed sense of fear and anticipation we all have, looking over our shoulders for the next terrorist attack, any one of these natural disasters could mean an equal amount of loss suffered by those in it's path. our representative at the Red Cross said that the 9-11 fund was closed within months of it's inception. so much money came flowing in from around the world, not only because of the sympathy the attacks inspired but as well, the global press coverage it received. basically, the more coverage a disaster receives, the more donations are given. right now, the disaster relief fund is much lower than the Red Cross tends to keep it. the money that we generate on Saturday will go directly towards relief of future disasters in the Greater Los Angeles area. we hope to raise a healthy donation. if any of you were thinking of making it out but weren't crazy about comin' off of the $20 for the ticket, well, maybe you might feel a bit more charitable after having read this. I don't know.
loss sucks.
help is important.
it's gonna be a hell of a show.
it's win win.
Friday, September 03, 2004
09.03.04
ya know, you get to the point where you have such an overwhelming grasp on an issue of debate that you can no longer offer an honest, dispassionate, nonpartisan argument or even bring a half-assed sense of pride to the matter. you’re simply over saturated with information. I no longer have a need to impose my political views on the disinterested, let alone the unsuspecting. I no longer feel that by articulating my sense of morality, via some particular side of the nation’s current political discourse, I am in fact benefitting anyone or helping anyone see things the way I might actually wish them to. I know what I believe. I know why I believe it. end of story. I will cast my vote when it’s time. I will encourage others to do the same. I will engage in a spirited debate, should the opportunity arise. I will continue to write songs and deliver my material from a place of true love and understanding, tolerance and wisdom. I will forgive the hatred that has been cast my way from those that see things differently. as well, I will ask to be excused of the hatred I have exuded in the name of my opposition. hate sucks. nothing has made that more apparent than being here in New york the past couple of days. shoot. Gaby and I were at dinner last night and although our political positions are almost identical, we found ourselves all worked up, vehemently upset with the way this campaign season is unraveling. ( and yes, both sides are guilty.) regardless, it got to the point where we had to, consciously, steer our conversation to another topic. then today I read a most fascinating quote from, who other than Bjork. she made some rather interesting comment about how, after 9-11, the war in Iraq and the current presidential race, we’ve all become so consumed with politics that we’re no longer paying attention to “planets orbiting in circles, flowers blooming, people making cutlery or whatever.” yeah, she’s a one-sided, non-sequator conversation, but she’s got a point. regardless of whether or not it’s politics, a cause is a cause and all causes need defending from time to time. but just like in South Park (the Movie, where the boys' mothers get so carried away protecting their children that they’re no longer there to listen to them), it doesn’t take long before you get so caught up in something that you begin to neglect the simple, and often most important facets of life. I am now making an honest effort to not make this mistake any longer.
at least until the debates in October.
ya know, you get to the point where you have such an overwhelming grasp on an issue of debate that you can no longer offer an honest, dispassionate, nonpartisan argument or even bring a half-assed sense of pride to the matter. you’re simply over saturated with information. I no longer have a need to impose my political views on the disinterested, let alone the unsuspecting. I no longer feel that by articulating my sense of morality, via some particular side of the nation’s current political discourse, I am in fact benefitting anyone or helping anyone see things the way I might actually wish them to. I know what I believe. I know why I believe it. end of story. I will cast my vote when it’s time. I will encourage others to do the same. I will engage in a spirited debate, should the opportunity arise. I will continue to write songs and deliver my material from a place of true love and understanding, tolerance and wisdom. I will forgive the hatred that has been cast my way from those that see things differently. as well, I will ask to be excused of the hatred I have exuded in the name of my opposition. hate sucks. nothing has made that more apparent than being here in New york the past couple of days. shoot. Gaby and I were at dinner last night and although our political positions are almost identical, we found ourselves all worked up, vehemently upset with the way this campaign season is unraveling. ( and yes, both sides are guilty.) regardless, it got to the point where we had to, consciously, steer our conversation to another topic. then today I read a most fascinating quote from, who other than Bjork. she made some rather interesting comment about how, after 9-11, the war in Iraq and the current presidential race, we’ve all become so consumed with politics that we’re no longer paying attention to “planets orbiting in circles, flowers blooming, people making cutlery or whatever.” yeah, she’s a one-sided, non-sequator conversation, but she’s got a point. regardless of whether or not it’s politics, a cause is a cause and all causes need defending from time to time. but just like in South Park (the Movie, where the boys' mothers get so carried away protecting their children that they’re no longer there to listen to them), it doesn’t take long before you get so caught up in something that you begin to neglect the simple, and often most important facets of life. I am now making an honest effort to not make this mistake any longer.
at least until the debates in October.
