waking up

Newest Phonofield Song

Feb 28
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you’re worn and older
deep wounds, they remain
have you gone insane?

she’s alone and you see her
bitter tears could fill a well
you are overwhelmed

say farewell, you’re a goner
your head’s been in the clouds
she’s clearly slept around

i won’t rest till it’s over
no need for reason nor rhyme
to love a broken soul is fine by me

she’s alone, do you see her
all cold, and afraid
how can you refrain?

though i’m worn and older
and my wounds, they remain
because of her i’ll stay

with love, pure trust, gold rings, i must
though all things will rust, i’ll go to the dust

***

Don’t have a title yet… still thinking.

Posted in Creative

Music Transcription

Feb 23
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Music has always been a big part of my life. It’s something that gives me a lot of joy, so anytime I get to work with anything related to music, I get some satisfaction.

I realized that I teach around 25 hours a week. Even though I spend a few more hours in travel and in communication with students about scheduling and running various errands common to the self-employed like sending out invoices and visiting the bank, I still consider myself blessed with extra time to meet up with people, run a band, see my parents/brother in SF, and be an active participant in my Haven family. And occasionally… I will be bored out of my skull, so I find myself surfing the net for hours or making YouTube videos. When I am feeling more inspired, I will use that time to write music.

In one of my random fits of “power-browsing” through Craigslist, I found that some people offer music transcription services. I immediately though to myself… “I can do that. And I can do it on the side… Well, writing stuff in western notation and guitar tablature is pretty cumbersome, and I don’t really know how to make professional-looking results, but why not. I’ll post an ad.” I posted this last night after midnight, thinking it would be fun to do something else related to music apart from teaching.

And wouldn’t you know it… someone responded today! They want me to transcribe half of a Johnny Marr-esque song, and another song for drums and bass. SWEET.

And on a related note… I detest tab and western music notation. It just doesn’t make sense to me why you would put so much effort into creating a visual representation of the music when NEITHER really convey the beauty or form inherent in the music, much less the nuances. I have come up with my own writing methods, but I doubt it will be accepted by the majority anytime soon. Maybe I should develop it and write a book someday?

Posted in Life, Spirituality, Church, Ramblings, Noteworthy

The Internet Is Making Me Stupid?

Feb 20
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So my friend Cyrus posted an article that basically describes a dysfunction that I feel like I have had for the latter part of my life. I’m talking about the fact that I can rarely ever commit to finishing any of the books that I buy, much less even stick it through when it comes to long books like War and Peace (I gave up after the first 20 pages), and the incessant jumping from article to article online where the first one’s information seems either irrelevant or simply boring, clicking on dozens of hyperlinks before realizing I had one simple task when I opened my web browser that I didn’t even accomplish.

This seems to me like it is a serious problem… Like our society, as we increase our dependence on technology, we lose our ability to wait. People have already mentioned in many places how this is not helping those of us afflicted with ADHD (formerly ADD). I imagine the next generation of people will become severely imbalanced… favoring massive amounts of knowledge over disciplined study.

I am bombarded with stuff as I browse through the hundreds of headlines in my Google Reader subscriptions, feeling a tinge of guilt until I get through it all at the end of each day. New music from release sites… there’s simply too much. I want to make music, not listen to it until my ears bleed.

It’s so strange, but I feel like what I click on, what I see and hear through the internet is not really me, what I am looking for, or even what is important… it’s just a reflection of my nervous energy, my anxiety about what kind of person I wish to be, what subject I want to know more about, or what issue I want to care about as opposed to my true passion and purpose.

I didn’t even finish the article. It was too long.

Anybody feel me?

Posted in Life, Spirituality, Church, Ramblings, Questions

Haven Retreat 2009: Freedom

Feb 18
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Mike Perkinson gave the message in three parts. It’s all on MP3 over at Haven’s website. Probably some of the most earth-shattering stuff you’ll ever hear if you’ve been in church a while.

Click if you dare.

Posted in Life, Spirituality, Church, Ramblings, Noteworthy

Another One for Me

Feb 09
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On the ground, staring up into the sky
You wonder why there’s only rolling black in sight
So you look back down at your colorful fingernails
Fashioned into sails that bring you over oceans wide
To never-places, pretty faces, wide spaces painted
That have begun to fade, so are you jaded? Will you see what you’ve created
That these spaces bear relation to your crooked imagination?
Will you snap back to the fact that you’re stuck
That you’re paralyzed and everything’s fucked?
Beyond luck, you can’t deny there must be a better way to try to fly
There must be a better way to try to fly
There must be a better way to try to fly
Though I’m young and stupid I will not lie
I will not lie

Posted in Creative

I Love the Internet – Barack-Style

Feb 07
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I decided I want a new section on my lovely blog… a section for the glorious, at times witty, sarcastic, and often idiotic humor the internet offers.

I give you the audio clips of Barack reading from his book, Dreams From My Father, completely out of context.

“Sure, you can have my number, baby!”

Posted in I Love the Internet