You Were Brave.

Now Broken Ghost // You Were Brave.

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I posted this song a few days ago on my tumblr and it's also on myspace.

To give a little further explanation, I wrote this song a few years back after one of my friends had a miscarriage. I remember thinking about death for awhile after it happened and this is what came out.

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A little over a year ago I recorded four songs for my roommate's recording project. As life happens, he graduated, moved, left the country, came back, got married and life continued.
He and his wife are now moving out of the country. They're back in town to say hello and then goodbye so we had the chance to get lunch today. I'm sitting here transferring the songs onto my computer to finish some of the production up.
Looking back, those late nights of arranging my songs and changing them from bare bones to full band were among some of my favorite moments. It was a reassurance that music is what I want my life to be about regardless of fame or fortune. I seemed to have forgotten that as of late.

Thank you to everyone involved & to Stephen for giving me that opportunity & being a dear friend.

I hope you all enjoy this song as much as I do.

I'm Gonna Let You Down.

Fall is here. I can feel the leaves starting to curl up as we speak. We aren't the only things to shudder in the cool breeze. Brightly colored scarves and caps are itching and beginning to wake up - ready to be pulled out of boxes and drawers. This is the season I live for. The season where I feel alive - as I watch the world die.

I recently read a friend's post wherein they wrote of being jealous of those like me because he hates the cold. For me it is a creative spark that comes alive. I sit in my cold room and read or write. It just feels how I imagine I was meant to live. I love the cold.

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Friendship is a fickle thing - or at least it can be. It's been a topic of discussion as of late between many and myself. it's something that we all strive for in some manner. It's a beautiful thing to be understood or at least feel that you aren't completely alone. And I cherish all of my friends for their strengths and faults.

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We've all had friends come and go. Maybe you moved away or lost them in a breakup. Or perhaps you simply drifted apart and what used to tie you together unraveled. I've lost them in all of these - each with their own sting.

But hurt is something that we get over. It may not be tomorrow but it occurs. You start to forget what it was ever like and when you do remember, you aren't even sure it really happened. Maybe you just saw it on television or in a dream.

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I used to get disappointed pretty easily but as I've grown up and spent more time walking around I've come to realize that we're all mess-ups. Everyone puts their foot in their mouth, cuts off a school bus and fails tests. So I don't expect everyone to be perfect. There are so many little things that can end friendships that aren't worth it. And I've overlooked quite a few because the person matters more. And after all, I know that I'm gonna let you down so I'll give what I'll ask for.

Everyone's a Wild Card.

This summer has brought a lot of change to my life and I've been pretty busy - too busy to sit down and look at it all. Actually, that's not true. I've sat down many times but it's hard to think when your head is empty or saying the same things it's said all along.

I remember what love is but I haven't forgotten loss.

I forgot what trust and faith were which makes them difficult to have all of the time.

People have come and gone from my life. Some of the coming has resulted in the going.

Rings are exchanged and babies are born.

I see the need to grow up as responsibilities are piling on my shoulders. It's time to put childish things behind me and stop wasting time. I've mastered wasting time.

I am alive, even though I'm not sure what for. But isn't that part of the point? To figure out this journey and find happiness?

I'm finally feeling at ease with myself. Actually, that's not true.

And this, like so many things in my life, is incomplete.

Too Bad The Scene is Dead.

The days are switching here in Murfreesboro, TN. Friday just clocked in. I'm up late reading for summer classes that I'm taking and entirely too far behind in. While this is going on, my parents are settling in forty minutes away. They're here for a few days but of course I'm bogged down with marketing projects and business plans for these classes.

One of the classes I'm taking is about starting a recording studio, which I kind of fell into after the classes I intended on taking was cancelled. The other class is all about indie labels and how they work. I've found it fascinating as I've been big on indies for awhile. I had the professor who is teaching it a couple semesters back for a marketing class and was happy to see his name as the instructor. He continually talked about this book titled Our Noise that is about Merge Records - started by members of Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC and featuring artists such as She & Him, Arcade Fire, Spoon, M. Ward, Telekinesis, Conor Oberst, Neutral Milk Hotel and countless others.

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I sat on the porch with Spencer talking of post-graduate plans. I really don't have any. I mean, I have dreams - what I want to do - with is synonymous with what I won't do. At least in my head. I suppose that stems from a lack of confidence in myself after seeing a continual pattern of failing to come thru.

But I've always liked the idea of owning or at least working for a small label or record store or studio. Just something that was really happening and passionate about what we were doing. And all the while, I hope to be putting out music of my own. Maybe not for the masses like I dreamt of in my early years, but for people who find it and enjoy as much as I do.

I just have too many distractions around that keep me from doing what I want to.

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As I read this book, which I'll be tested on tomorrow and am only halfway thru, I read names of stores and venues - Local 506, Cat's Cradle, Armadillo Grill, School Kid Records...To think that I've walked the streets where all of this happened. All the history - all the inspiration was there and I had no idea. And to think that I actually saw Mac from Superchunk with his other band, Portastatic when they opened for Spoon & The Clientele - or maybe it was Rilo Kiley & The Brunettes - at Cat's Cradle. I remember making fun of them with sara. What a privilege.

Faces flood my mind from a life gone. It's really fascinating how much my life has changed in the last two years. And I'm amazed at how much I miss North Carolina and the world that exists there. I think it's the only place that's ever truly felt like home, even if I'm not welcome.

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I suppose this post is mostly out of an urge to write and empty my brain for a second.

There is absolutely too much music out there that I need to hear. It's frustrating beyond belief. As Spencer said, we should always be learning and ingesting as much as possible - be it film, music, writing - anything that we have created. I'm beginning to see.

Anyway, I better get back to reading.

When The Tide Rises Somebody Sinks And Is Gone In The Blink of An Eye.

I've always been drawn to film. Of course as a source of entertainment but also as a thought provoking and beautiful artform. I can't sit thru a Tyler Perry movie or some drivel made for a cheap laugh. I'd much rather watch something that will stimulate me and force me to answer or at least look at questions that everyone should answer about themselves and the world around them.

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I've been watching Six Feet Under. It's a now canceled television show about a family and the funeral home they run. I guess, I've always been fascinated by death. Not in some gothic way that leads me to wear black but as this unavoidable end of all things. I have my own ideas of what comes with death and how it all works but that's just it - everybody has their own ideas. Maybe you believe in heaven and hell or reincarnation or nothing. But I think that however you view death should ultimately direct how you live your life.

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One of my friends was in this playwriting class and he asked another friend and me to perform it for his class as his final. I've never really been one for acting and performing that art form but he convinced me that I'd do fine and we read thru it a few times and I felt better. So we walked into the classroom and sat down and waited for our turn. The point of this isn't to tell how well or badly we did but actually to discuss the play performed after ours. The scene was between two characters, one a very cold and impersonal figure played by a beautiful girl and the other, an average person played by some guy. I just remember that he wore all black and had his hair slicked back like some stereotypical theater kid. Again, this isn't important. But you should know that she was beautiful.

Anyway, the exchange between them slowly unraveled to expose the whole point of this play to be a motivational kick. The man had just died and had found himself in a "performance review" of his life. As she explained how he had done nothing to better the world around him or even himself and that this ultimately meant his failure at life, he begged for another chance, defending his actions like a man about to face the gallows.

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A lot of people are afraid of death. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't at least a little. I don't quite get how some people ask "why" in times of death. Whether you believe in a god or not, we are biological beings made of atoms and genetics that we won't ever fully understand. Once we accept that - the frailty of ourselves and the inevitable brokenness that comes - we are truly free to live.

Life is full of uncertainties but we can't allow ourselves to hold us back out of fear of rejection or failure. I don't want to be making excuses at my performance review about how I never jumped because I was afraid to fall. I wanna smile thru broken teeth, blood in my eye, crooked bones, covered in scars and able to honestly say I gave it a hell of a spin.

Is It Your Way Or The Highway?

Going to a university does a lot to a person. Lines drawn and promises made in ages past are crossed and broken. It's all about exposure. As new people enter your life with different backgrounds than you and your home bunch, you see sides to things that used to cause gasps, hushed whispers and raised hands over mouths. But now those things don't seem as bad.

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Next Monday marks the end of my 24th year. As every year, I look back to see what I've done and like every year I question what worth I have. What meaning does my existence hold? I know that I'm not living to my full potential and I can accept that. But it stings a little, to see people who have done something with their life - who used their early years to make something happen. I have a very hindering lack of drive. I wasn't pushed into anything as a child. I wasn't taught to do my best. I do what I have to get by. And that's no way to live. I lead a C average life.

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I joke that I started life late, taking time off after high school. Most of the people I graduated high school with have graduated or started families. But here I am, still in school and completely unaware or ready to be out of this phase of life. But honestly, it is unsettling. Perhaps I assume that they are happy or have their heads on straight. But I'm starting to believe that nobody ever truly gets their head on straight.

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I am grateful for this life even if I have a funny way of showing it. But I'm afraid that I'm wasting it. And I'm afraid that in 24 years I'll be ungrateful.

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Did you know that Michael Jordan was playing for the Bulls by my age?

The Art of Making A Good Sequel.

I went for a run today. It's the first one in a long time. Probably since my time at home during Christmas. It may have been longer than that. I find choosing the right music to be the key. I had something in mind, I believe it was Miles Kurosky's album but I ended up going for mewithoutYou as it was what I had listened to last and the song "Every Thought A Thought of You" just felt right.

When I go running I usually go down to the end of Ewing to where the water tower stood up until about two weeks ago. Then I turn left and come back down Bell Street until I meet Crestland. Then I walk up to my house. If I do that twice it's about two miles. Today I only did it once.

My favorite part was when I was chased by a little pepper colored dog. He yapped and I laughed.

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As I sat on my porch, hoping to God that I didn't throw up or pass out, I noticed a cigarette burning in the wet leaves. In the time it took for me to run my course, it took Austin to smoke. I've been thinking more and more that I shouldn't smoke cigarettes anymore. I wouldn't say I'm a smoker by any means as one pack lasts me longer than a month. It's just the occasional one at night as we talk on the porch or after a few drinks. It's a good break from having my nose in a book or after I've been thinking too hard about a song. I used to really like the taste. Maybe that's why I started out with the candy ones. I have two left that have been there for over a month. If I wait long enough, I know that Spencer will steal them. I have come to think that cigarettes aren't nearly as bad as we've all been told. I mean, yeah. They're horrible little sticks of shit but a little poison never killed anyone. And isn't it nice to cause a little destruction once in awhile?

It's a nice fall day but it's nowhere near fall. It just feels like it. It's actually a good day to sit on my porch with a book & a cigarette. But I would hate to sound like a hypocrite.

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It's also a good day to sit in my slightly chilly room and play guitar. I've been working on a handful of songs for a while now. The content is different than my older ones. Well, that's not true. They're all about relationships. I guess they're just different ones. Every chorus isn't just some sad sack wailing about a woman who broke his heart. But some of them are. They're about being lied to and being tired of watching a friend drink their self to death.

But it's that second verse that always gets me. That's where I'm stuck with most of them. Or finding some way to spice them up and make them longer than two minutes.

I've actually thrown the idea around to quit writing songs. It used to be an outlet but now it feels more like a responsibility. I don't know if my heart is in it anymore. That's what happened to my photography. But I don't know what I would take up. I love to write but I feel that it's gotten in my head that it has to be a certain way. I dunno. It's not for me anymore. I miss that. But I don't think I'll ever really stop. Inspiration will come, the wall will crumble and I'll finish something.

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I think that's why sophomore albums seem to slump. Who really has all that much to say? I could take the thirty or so songs I've written and pick out ten that are really good and make an album and be done with it. Go be an investment banker or something.

I'm trying to teach myself some music theory to help out with that. It's gone well so far. I mean, really, who wants to be an investment banker?

I Decided To Never Ride Again.

I've been very selfish lately. I take all of the time I have and throw it out the window. Usually, I'd be the first to defend taking a moment for yourself but it has gotten a little out of hand. I feel bad about that. I believe that it is time for me to do some growing up. I've used the last year and a half to do whatever I wanted. I tried to make it about something bigger but the truth is, I took my freedom - after I accepted it - held it close to my chest, abusing it.

I've been lonely, lonelier than I have ever been. I remember being very upset to leave my girlfriend for Thanksgiving when I was a freshman in high school. I laid awake all night thinking of her and wishing to be with her. I've been lonelier than that though. That memory just always sticks out to me.

I've made an art of numbing myself. I used to write a lot more. Songs, thoughts, blog entries. I've put my brain on autopilot and just gone thru the motions. But really, I've been using my brain a lot. I've read a little more than usual and tried to be more aware of my surroundings. I just don't ever sit down to release some of that knowledge that fills me up. It's draining to hold it in. Everyone needs some kind of release. I guess I've done that in other ways.

Spring break started yesterday evening for me. I have some goals. Tasks to accomplish over the next week. To finish The Sun Also Rises. Finish writing some songs that I've been working on for too long now and, Lord willing, record at least some part of them.

But I suppose that I became selfish for selfless reasons. I was in a much different place when I wrote the first entry in my journal (dated January 22, 2007), although I cannot recall the situation that caused me to write it. Regardless, it has stuck with me and is as follows:

"I can't keep my plants alive. How can I keep a relationship alive?"

Maybe some people aren't meant to be with another - not for lack of want but because they simply don't have a knack for it. At least I know how to start a fire.

Ironically, that plant is still alive...barely.

The Megaphone Factor.

Originally written 2/4/10 at 12:33pm. (On that day, it wasn't deemed complete but it works alright now. Even though it is a little late.)

I don't usually get too topical on here but I feel that this holds merit.

Last semester a preacher from a group called Pinpoint Evangelism came to my university, Middle Tennessee State, and stood out among the common path and gave his message. His message was one of judgement and God's anger toward us. I missed his initial visit but a lot of media surrounded it as a student assaulted him or something like that. If you care to learn more then google any combination of: 'crazy preacher' 'mtsu' and 'assault.'

But I write this because someone from that group is on campus today. I'm not sure if it's the same guy but it very well could be and probably is. I've heard a lot of his coming by way of Christian organizations on campus getting together to organize a plan to help spread the Truth of God's love.

So I finished my Abnormal Psychology test and walked outside to see a large crowd and decided to head that way. After all, I could use a cup of coffee and saw students laughing and mocking as other students and college pastors walked around saying things like, "Please read the Bible" and handing out leaflets with verses of scripture that speak of God and Jesus' love.

It is sad that many of those students have a perception of Christ that is like what this man says. That He hates His creation and especially gays and liberals. I question what good will come of it and if this group believes that they are doing good by scaring people to the Lord. I wonder if that will happen even once today. And is that even worth it if by doing so you anger a multitude of others and tarnish the name of the one you speak for?

Nothing Seems As Bright.

Today I chose to spend my day by waking up at noon, completely unaware of what was happening in the world at that moment. As if I could foresee that those moments would be better spent in my own head than in whatever true events filled reality. And I believe that that arrogance is quite prevalent in our world today - rightfully so since there's nothing better than seeing what your own brain is capable of. And isn't it nice that we are then granted the privilege of that capability? To then use our brains to paint how we believe those true events occurred?Hmm. It is nice. So then, based on my very own perception of the world and how it operates, I determine precisely how my town looked when the first of billions and billions of snowflakes fell to cover the ground. And how your face would look if you woke to this very scene but for that to happen you'd have to be here with me. Because ultimately, isn't that the intention in every thought?
Anyway, back to the original thought:
Today I chose to spend my day by waking up at noon and discover that it had snowed while I was asleep. Actually, to see it on facebook before seeing it with my own eyes. I have a window by my bed. Shouldn't I start each day by popping up like a gopher from his hole to see outside? Before I look at my stuff and the stuff of my people, shouldn't I look outside to see yours? It is much better. Much more beautiful and real. Sure, ours is real but it's a different way. It's numbers; 1s and 0s. You know all, so how could ours even compare to yours? To think that we could reach a potential higher than you. How arrogant.
So again, because I chose to do that, somehow I agreed to follow whatever path that decision would lay before me. For me it was a conscious one to relax today - afterall, when a university shuts down early due to weather you really are given permission to stop. So I took a breather and sat to listen to Iron & Wine. And as my brain turned it spewed this thought all because I chose to sleep in. To think that we have that ability to chose what we do with our day. If I wish to spend an entire day reading a book or watching an entire television series season or hanging around with people, well then I can.
That path included: being nerdy, sitting on my bed and routinely popping up like a gopher from his hole and listening to music while eating fruit as snow fell down outside. I'm okay with that because I enjoy it, even though sometimes I get down about it.
The song "Naked As We Came" started and I had already listened to "Sodom South Georgia" and how I felt then painted a scene of my pursuit for love. Not that I'm looking from the high mast of a ship for land but that in a way I am. I think in the way that everyone does a little. And I've had land so I know what it's like to be looking and see thru all of the fog and jagged rocks to see pure, safe land to put your feet on. And I don't see much land like that around. I think I'm seeing more jagged rocks thru fog than there actually is. But that's because I've seen that land turn jagged; I've felt that sting. But it still looks good and the sun still shines brightly upon it. Nothing seems as bright. "Passing Afternoon" embodies this feeling. It is exactly how I think of this.
So when I say that this is the love that I seek it isn't that I haven't found it once. I'm in part two right now. It fell apart but it was there. And having had it, it's much more difficult to settle when it isn't there. I want someone who I can be lost with, to be amazed by in every moment. But I've had that. And I still think of it very much, perhaps because that was my last big love and I've somehow built it into something more than what it was but I think because it was very big. A lot still ties to that; songs, film and thoughts. I haven't forgotten yet and I still remember. I still don't understand. But I've learned to bury what I don't understand. I never was any good at digging holes.
So then, based on my very own perception of the world and how it operates determines precisely how my town looked when the first of billions and billions of snowflakes fell to cover the ground. And how your face would look if you woke to this very scene but for that to happen you'd have to be here with me. Because ultimately, isn't that the intention in every thought?

Coming Down To Meet You.

So it all feels the same now. I guess that feeling I had a couple weeks ago was just the alcohol. I'm real washed out right now. I felt good about things. I went to Passion and I remembered a little about what God looked like and I learned a little more. I'm past that moment of gladness and back to selfishness. Time doesn't change a thing, it's all up to me and well maybe I just ain't ready. It's a sad place to be. I see that greener grass but I'm still eating the brown.

I've been lonely a bit. I've had some fun with friends that I've missed but it's not really the same. I miss the people who understand me. There's one that I really miss but we can't really talk anymore. Yeah, I miss her a lot but I don't think that's my fault. I think that's just how it goes sometime and it's a real shame but it's not my fault. And I've been wondering if I'll find that again cos it's been awhile and I'd have to say it's rare. Oh well, maybe it's for the best.

I shaved my head the other day and messed up and so now I got a big piece missing on the side and I've been wearing a hat everyday til that piece grows back. It's pretty funny but I look like schmuck. That's how I feel. Like I got a bad hair cut riding on my head and I do. Eventually the internal mess becomes external. Oh well, it's cold so I got an excuse for the hat. I'm just tired of feeling like a ten year old.

I haven't written for awhile and I got a lot in my head right now. And a lot of it doesn't matter but a lot of it is why I'm so down. I got a lot that ain't happening right now and a lot that is is kinda unfortunate. But that's okay cos it'll go away eventually and the sun does rise. That's what Chuck Noland said anyway. I just ain't felt the sun in sometime. That's not true, I just can't remember the warmth.

Sing A Song of Love & Truth.

Breath deeply, creatures of the land for a new year is upon us and it is the time for living!

I don't know about all of you, but I honestly feel a difference than two days ago. Maybe it was screaming at midnight with friends and midnight and all of the laughter and joy that surrounded that house or maybe it was the alcohol. Well, maybe it was both. But regardless, this morning I awoke with a feeling of renewal; of rebirth.

I feel like I'm on my feet again. But really, I think the true matter of the fact is that I finally see that I've been on my feet for awhile - except for me telling myself that I wasn't. Whatever I was mourning is no more. There's no reason to mourn the past because the past is passed and what can you do to that? Absolutely nothing.

It's time to live, my boy! To walk into the street without the hand of your mother and to no longer wait for cars a mile off. But rather to step out with a skip and run til the air in my lungs is emptied and refuses to refill.

I feel like the Whitman brothers in The Darjeeling Limited when they run to catch their train, throwing the luggage they've dragged all over India all over. Because you can't let things weigh you down and keep you from jumping onto trains, for once they leave, they're gone.

I hope for this year to be one filled with joy and happiness and excitement. I'll strive to enjoy what's around me at all times; laugh when I'm hurt and cry when I'm happy because living this life is more than breathing and eating. It's so much more than that.

We'll soon remember if you do

When all things were tall

and our friends were small

and the world was new

- "Silent Sunlight," Cat Stevens