Do you ever get your hopes up for something? And you make some choices based on those hopes? And then when the time comes that your hopes either come through or not, and then you start having that bad feeling like maybe you’re really and idiot…
I’ve got that bad feeling. Maybe I’m an idiot.
This movie looks and sounds really interesting to me. I wonder why the producers of this movie didn’t try to get it pre-screened by preachers and bible colleges before its release…hmmm…
The other issue is that I’m always annoyed when movies open in “select” theatres in NY and LA before anywhere else.
Holly and I have had petey the weiner dog for nearly 10 years now. About 4-5 years ago, he started vomiting all the time. We took him to the vet and kept taking him. After about 4 months, and petey almost dieing, we finally determined that he has a very bad case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in his small intestines. Add to that, that it’s triggered by his allergies to just about anything and everything he might eat. We have to buy this super-special food where the molecules are of food are broken down so much that his body can’t tell that it’s something that he should be allergic to. Add to that the fact that petey is pretty much obsessive-compulsive about licking; the carpet, the floor, the couch, it doesn’t matter. Most of the time he’s licking, which means ingesting who knows what, which means his insides get messed up, which means he pukes. With great regularity. I hate it.
Our carpet is ruined and I feel like I smell puke all the time. Just when I think, “He can’t be having a happy life. He pukes all the time. Should we think about putting him to sleep?” He has a good day, with no puke. And even on the days when he does puke, he’s really happy and friendly and likable dog. He definately doesn’t seemed bother by the puking as much as I am.
So, it’s a constant state of frustration. Then, today, he got out of the back yard. I was gone for like an hour and a half when I left him in the backyard. I had no idea where to find him. I was stressed. Holly was stressed. As much as part of me was thinking, “Hey, I might not have to worry about any more puke!” The other part of me was so worried and so scared that something might happen to him. What if he got hit by a car? What if somebody thought he was cute and picked him up and took him home? What happens when he pukes all over their stuff? What are they going to do to/with him? If they took him in the first place, do you think they’d bring him back?
I girl from down the street brought him home. He was sitting on their porch whining. I guess I’ll clean up puke tonight.
A friend of mine just bought an electric guitar from me that I didn’t need. I’ve been trying to decide whether I’m going to use that money to buy a bass or a mandolin.
I’d rather buy a mandolin, but I’m finding that there have been a number of occasions where a decent bass would be useful to me. I think I’ve also decided on a mandolin because I’ve found one in the price range that I need it to be, and it’s pretty good.
I’ve been working on my harmonica playing lately. I don’t know why, but my lips/face get tired from trying to hold my lips right to play specific notes. I’m getting better at picking out melodies, but when I try to play while playing guitar, it’s still a whole new ball-game.
At the Patty Griffin concert, her keyboard player played accordian a lot throughout the concert. And he never touched the Left-hand buttons ONCE! So, now all I think is that I need to just get myself a little bit better accordian and work on my “squeeze technique”.
Then, someday, I might try actually excelling at one of these instruments…
I haven’t gone to bed yet, so it’s still Sunday. It feels like it’s been a long day for me at church. I’ll also be honest in that I get really sick of church; even when there are people honestly trying to make it something significant. I just have the hardest time shaking the feeling that it doesn’t seem to do much. Is that just me?
I went to see Patty Griffin saturday night. It was moving and inspiring. It was a large group of people that knew nothing about each other and may not have had anything in common other than the fact that Patty spoke us and moved us and she really didn’t talk very much at all.
I was at Christian Concert a few weeks ago that was a much bigger production. Way More sound, more lights, bigger/crazier crowd. The band was made up of very accomplished musicians that played very well. They played lots of songs that everybody knew the words for, and if you didn’t know the words, they even had them shining up on a screen so you could sing along. It really made me sick to my stomach.
I’m a big fan of Patty, but I don’t tend to learn lyrics like I used to, so I didn’t sing along very much. It was like most concerts in that it was kind of difficult to even understand all the words, but it moved me. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times and I know that holly was moved to tears at least once.
I do believe in the things that would be considered required belief in order to call oneself a question. At leat, I believe in the things that I think are required. How can I be so far removed from the people at that concert? How could they not be in love with Patty Griffin like I am?
How come I see more of God in a Patty Griffin concert than in a specifically Christian concert? And why is it so disheartening to me that I see so little of God in the concert that everybody else sees God so easily?
Chipotle: Gourmet Burritos and Tacos
I like this place a lot. The first time I ate at one was in Manhattan, KS where ther hardee’s used to be at the edge of Aggieville. I’ve now eaten at locations in Phoenix and Wichita. I’m just mad that there aren’t any in the whole state of Arkansas or Oklahoma. I wrote them an email to tell them how disappointed I am.
Anyway, the web-site is pretty enteretaining.
Not much to say today.
Played a house concert last night with the trio for an end-of-school party for teachers from a couple of schools. We had lots of fun and the food was awesome. Not a bad way to spend an evening.
Starting a new recording project for singer/songwriter. I think I may be working on songs a lot today. Good for me, but I don’t know yet how much “help” this guy will want or accept.
He’s here. gotta go.
Paste Magazine :: Feature :: The Sublime Comedy of Patty Griffin
I’m excited! Last night, as I was getting ready to leave my friend, Amber, she tells me that she’s going to be gone saturday night to go see Patty Griffin who is playing in Tulsa. I LOVE PATTY GRIFFIN!
So, needless to say, I ran home and got online and now Holly and I are going too.
I’ve bought two CDs in the last couple of weeks which is not really normal. I don’t really buy that many CDs, especially compared to what I used to. But I just bought Patty’s new CD, impossible dream, and I also bought Sam Phillip’s new CD, a boot and a shoe.
I found out that Sam was touring this summer and was disappointed to find out that the closest she was going to get to me would be Chicago. Give me a break. H and I were talking about trying to go, but I think I’m just too much of a cheap-skate to put the time and money into making that happen.
Tulsa is only an hour and a half away, though. Yay!!!!
I’m meeting a friend for lunch and then we’re supposed to come back here to hang out and do some stuff in the studio.
This friendship is pretty new and the only words I can find to describe it would be that it has been a great blessing to me. I’m writing this with a lot of self-conciousness because of the idea that he might end up reading this at some point. But, that’s the truth.
If you think about it, most of the friendships we have come about by the happenstance of proximity. Most of the people that are your friends at least started out because you found yourself in a situation where you were in the presence of the other person with some regularity. Maybe you had a class together or worked together or happened to hang out at the same place with the same people. This may change, and you find yourselves not crossing paths as much and you have to make an effort to spend time together, but by that time, you already have a relationship and there’s impetus to appoint time to be together.
This is not the case with my friend, E. Not only did we not frequent any of the same places, we’d never even met. We knew some of the same people, but he lives like 40 minutes away from me and not at all in a direction that I go with any regularity. He’s also 20 some years older than me and has kids in high school, so he’s got lots of responsibilities and time commitments that I know nothing about. So it’s far from a given that our paths would have even eventually crossed.
I made the initial contact because he’s an accomplished, respected musician/songwriter and I was hoping to get some juicy quotes to add to my promotional materials. (We nobodies have to work every angle we can in attempt to gain some credibility.)
Anyway, after I got him a copy of gypsy heart, eventually he called me back and I had the best time talking to him on the phone about music, songwriting, and all kinds of things. Then we planned a time to just get together and hang. Then he’d call me again and we hung out again, then he’d call me again and we’d get together again.
The coolest part of all of this, is that he knew that I wouldn’t have pursued this relationship for fear of being a bother to him. 1) I’m kind of that way with guys and I always have been. 2)He’s older than me, in a much different place in life, why would he want to hang out with a stupid kid? 3) He’s a successful, respected, (famous?) songwriter/musician and I’m still just trying to keep my head above water. What could I possibly have or know that might be of any interest to him?
The thing is: he reached out to me and made it very clear that he was enjoying our time visiting as much as I was. He’s been very intentional in telling me how much he’s enjoyed our time together. And when we get together, we don’t even really do anything except just hang out.
He’s taken interest in me and even bigger, in my music. As an independent artist, I’ve gotten used to surviving on very little outside support and encouragement. (Let me backup and say that I am way more fortunate than some. I have a wife and family that have always supported me and a handful of “true believers” who help keep our heads above water with their financial support. I’ve always said that their belief in me to make said contributions keeps me going way more than the $. However, when it comes to day-to-day interactions with everyday people, not many get what my life is about and the truth is that very few even try.)
But, here is a guy that has been there that I respect and admire who is asking me what’s up with my music? What’s my plan? What’s my focus? And he’s been there to be able to understand my feeble answers. It’s humbling to recognize how much I’ve thrived on his interest.
Anyway, like I said: The only word I can use that seems to fit, is that E has blessed me with his interest and his friendship and I’m grateful to him.
He still hasn’t given me a quote, though. Maybe tomorrow. 🙂
First follow the link:
Woody Guthrie Folk Festival ~ July 14-18, 2004
That guy listed twice in that list of honorable mentions would be me. Nice to hear they liked it. It’d be more nice to win something…
Always the honorable mentioned songwriter, never the winning songwriter…
shacknotes.com 