A Moments Notice

Jonny Lang:
Funny that he was Kid Jonny Lang back when I was in high school. This album is really good and bad at the same time. Apparently his proximity to Paisley Park counts as this album sounds like something Prince may have produced if not written — from the modern day Sly and the Family Stone feel down to the Jesus songs midway through the album. Tricky bastards! Even still, I might buy the album and burn a listening copy without them included.

Andrew Bird:
I have been listening to a lot of Andrew Bird on recommendation of friends, old and new. His style is pretty folky and his voice has some elements of Rufus Wainright (sp?).

The Ashtray Hearts:
... is the band we saw this weekend at the 311 club in Minneaps. They are a good local alt-country band with a vocal style that sits somewhere in the realm of Counting Crows' and Matchbox 20's debut albums. But don't let that comparison stop you from checking them out. They would be a good smoky-bar band and I could imagine many a soul finding their music a fitting soundtrack to heartbreak and 8 shots of whiskey.

The "Picture" is Ike's Graduation picture. He was top in his class (of 2) and is well on his way to rolling over without my help.

The Place is the Fine Line where Emily took me to see Bob Schneider. The show was really good. He performed a solo acoustic show and like many bands these days recorded the show for purchase (only $15). The funny thing about Bob is that he has a pretty stong following here in the cities which sells his shows out each time he comes through. But really, no one knows who he is. Funny thing is, I thought that Emily and I knew a lot of his obscure tunes, but we were nothing compared to the crowd there that night. They were singing along with all sorts of newer tracks that I had written off before then as well as some that will never be on any studio recordings. So, yeah, I bought the live recording for study material for next time. His latest studio recording is pretty crap, but when he performs the better songs live, he convinces the audience of his original intent, before the overthought sessions in a recording booth.

I just finished reading the reading, "Factotum" by Charles Bukowski and must say that I was not all that into it. It is supposedly about Bukowski's moving from city-to-city and job-to-job drinking and molesting women, though it is written from the perspective of a character named Henry Chinaski. A sort of disclaimer-autobiography in which the author can always write off a part of his history if he wants. Given that this is so raw an account, I guess I can't accuse him of such, but the whole thing only served to remind me of shitty jobs I'd had and made me remember how shitty they were. All-in-all, not my kind of book.
... but this is coming from someone who enjoys fantasy, so...

this brings me to the Shire in Bend, Oregon, also linked above. I understand the desire to bring that sort of aesthetic to life but damn does it seem like a Tolkein Disneyland. The houses are all pretty ugly American versions of pastoral English cottages and is still smack dab in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. It simply makes me relate that much more strongly to Ruskin's views on truth in design. Anyway...

Finally, Ray Lamontagne is coming on tour here in November. We are going to get tickets with a pre-order as soon as we can, so if anyone is interested, let us know and we will try to get tickets for you as well.

And a late entry which I won't make a link for (it may poison the site):
The RNC is goiong to be in Saint Paul in 2008! Some might be angry, but I am going to be happy. What better a protest than a home-town protest! And it is going to bring a slight economic boost. All around a good thing.

Vanna go see Vasen?

So the Thursday thing is going to have to wait. I just remembered that Vasen is playing the Cedar Cultural Center for the Nordic Roots Festival tomorrow and it is a must that I go out there after class.

I have been wanting to check them out for a while now and since they are only here once a year or so...

Regardless, the Thursday Night Gatherings will commence next week if people are interested...

and by all means, gather without me this week. I just don't plan on coordinating it.

But in case anyone is interested, the show is $18 and if you like Irish-sounding Scandinavian folk music, you will be pleased to see the show. And after, maybe we can hit Town Hall, Grumpy's, Nomads, or the Triple Rock after the show.

Call or e-mail me if you are interested.

Take care.

Thursday Night Outings to Be Reborn

I remember the days where things were easy and all I had to do to hang out with friends was to give them a call. We would meet up at this or that place (usually Stillwater or Woodbury Perkins) and we would talk nonsense until the sun had risen.

But time did its thing and everyone had to go out and get jobs and lives and wives and move around and there is, as much as I might not want to admit it, a void left in not spending time with so many of the rag-tag bunch of piece-of-crap friends I have. They know I speak in jest.

So I want to revive our old tradition of Thursday night gatherings.

My idea is that we switch it up each week - intending to not go to the same place twice in a row - whteher it be a bar, club, or someone's house. It can be for drinks or food or whatever. But the key is to keep it varied.

Anyone one is welcome if you wish to come and I will post the location and a map (unless it is to someone's house - we will need to know who you are first.)

This week, I will be calling around to see what people want to do and post it here tomorrow.

Until then...

Church?! What?! Part 2

On to part II.

Everyone with whom I have had conversations that have moved beyond pop culture and politics knows that spirituality is very important to me. I could sit for hours talking about mystery and connectedness and faith and tradition. Though I appreciated the kindness and goodness of spirit I saw from the Baha'is of my dad's faith, I never connected with the Judeo-Christo-Islamic lineage, so how could I accept their next teacher as my own? But Unitarian universalism (UU) philosophies encompass and expand upon my experience. That is why I went, and will go again.

The ways of practicing Unitarian Universalism may vary slightly in each place of worship based on the congregations, but overall they seem to be a organization for uncomfortable agnostics. They speak of the "holy one" or "everlasting spirit" but seem to lend no man nor woman authority to dictate what "the everlasting spirit" wants, needs, or does, except that they collectively believe that there should be a message of love and inclusion.

As a side note, they more than accept people living together unmarried, they support GLBT people

The church we have visited is two blocks away from our place. They still have ministers and hymns and traditionally Christian church-y things, but these are intermixed with quotes from a collection of Islamic, Hindu, Christian, Humanist, Buddhist texts as well as poetry that expresses wonder at the Mystery.

Anyway, so far we have gone twice and though I am still a little unsure about the whole thing, we felt more comfortable, welcome, and intrigued than the first time. At first it seemed a bit more focused on a Christian-feeling worship, where the second service was much more worldly. An Indian singer sang the interlude pieces, and the hymns (still very church-y) spoke the views of many spiritual Traditions* and the sermon was by Houston Smith, a scholar of world religions. It was regarding the Nepalese mandala personifying the 7 stages that humans go through all of the time and that knowing that it is a circle, we know that in time we will move out of one of the more negative(?) stages into a better one if we just have patience.

This type of thing is the greatest part of why the message of UU resonates with me. It connects psychology and spirit and this, I currently believe, is the purpose of spiritual tradition. Joseph Campbell has influenced me heavily.

I must say that it does feel weird and saying that I am going to church on Sunday is a little hard to get used to. My association with church is for the most part tainted by me grandparents' Pentecostal church in the southern tip of Illinois. But it is just something that I have to get over.

And in case anyone else is interested in going with us anytime to see what it's about... let us know or just surprise us. Though there are pews, organs and hymn books, the sermons have actually been interesting (the first regarding immigration and the second given by Houston Smith) and more like a lecture, talk or conversation than anything else.

Anyway, I welcome anyone else to come and catch brunch with us in our hood afterward. Or just the brunch... we understand.

*I think that word, "Traditions," is a fitting way to describe my new way of looking at the old religions. The word doesn't have the negative associations that my experiences have attached to the world Religion. I was speaking with someone the other day regarding religion and we were unsure whether, if one could balance the good things which have come from religion vs. those ill, the good would outweigh the bad and I kind of doubt it. By labeling them traditions, I am more accepting of hearing them out and it removes them from any paradigm of god-sent-messages into human interpretations of the great mystery and therefore more easily dismissed as human error and not divine.
So why go to church with that mentality? Because I think that tradition, rituals, and rites are important in life. It is important to match these things with personal experience of the Other and find out where one fits for these rituals to make sense and to have value. I think when these traditions fit, they provide a spring from which one can draw inspiration and reconnect with others who share the same feelings. And the milestones and rites of passage help one anchor themselves in space and time. Fill in some of the gaps in a way he/she can accept so that other important things can be focused upon.

Happy Birthday Joe!

It is once again Joe's birthday.

Wish him well. He deserves it.

3 years of torment, deceit, and pain...

were not at all what we have experienced.




Today, marks the third year since Emily and I were married. I have already told the story about how we met at some point and that we briefly dated in high school, and I think I already mmentioned that when moving back from Georgia I fully intended to coerce... I mean, woo her with my worldly charms and lack of a trenchcoat.

I have also explained a few of the many reasons why I love her and think she is the most important person in the world to me. And though I would like to communicate it more effectively, I don't think there are any words that can really say what I feel.

I can say that I truly love her more every day and am constanly pleasnatly surprised at things I learn about her... and me... and us...
and how I have been able to become a better man for her in my life.
and how encouraging she is.

And for those of you who still haven't found someone yet, just know that you will.
Know that it isn't about when you least expect it or most expect it.
It isn't about trying to hard or too little.
It isn't that "If you buy it they will come." (that one is for Joe)
It is about being friends first - finding that you like the person before realizing that you love the person and that is not as common as you might believe.


Emily is my best friend.

Always will be.

Church?! What?! Part 1

So things are still rough in patches when it comes to Meg's passing and little things still trigger deep feelings that will always be there for our little monkey. In this case, the new Ray Lamontagne album has a song that fits almost word-for-feeling how Emily and I have felt after Meg died, despite the song apparently being about a break-up. Well, here it is:

For a while I sat there staring at her photograph
For a while I cried and tried not to make a scene
There was a time when we were young
I used to make her laugh
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

Lately I can't seem to find myself no sleep at all
Lately I just lie awake and hear and dream
Of the time when she was mine
Felt like I had it all
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

Yesterday is gone
Yesterday is dead
Get it through your head and walk away
Yesterday is gone
Ain't no use hanging on to her memory
It only causes you pain

For a while I sat there staring at her photograph
For a while I cried and tried not to make a scene
There was a time when we were young
I used to make her laugh
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

So, as one might guess, it stirred up all of the thoughts about life, the universe, and everything and instead of accepting 43 as the answer, Emily, alone in the house looked for what Gibran's "The Prophet" would say that might sort some of this all out. For some reason, I had chosen that day to take it with me to work to read and Emily ended up picking "The Wisdom of Buddha" up from the shelf. Within she found words on the belief that animals have an afterlife and it spoke to her enough for her to talk to me about checking out Buddhism. When I got home we talked more about Buddhist philosophy and after chatting about beliefs in general decided to try the beliefnet survey again. Both of us scored really high on "Unitarian Universalist" so we thought, "Why not?" and headed out to church on Sunday for the first time I have of my own accord and Emily had since a young girl.

It was interesting... more to come...

Beware - Long post full of self important ramblings

As of late, my life has been... hmm... pleasantly plump, maybe?

So much going on, so little free time, and though some of that free time found me a bit stressed out and cranky, this fall is quickly becoming a new spring for me personally and for Emily and I. A friend told me of a dream he had about Emily being pregnant and now that I think about it, I will take it, not literally, but as a metaphor of our ability to create a new life for ourselves as things wrap up and begin anew.


The landscaping project has the qualities of all good things — frightening and exciting — exhilerating and debilitating. The rate at which I am learning the things that I need to know is growing exponentially, just as I felt it would and it reinforces my thoughts on the poor state of education...
but, once again, I will save that discussion for later.
I found a couple of local companies that seem really good. The people with whom I have worked have seemed genuinely genuine and I owe them a great boon for the knowledge and resources they have supplied. If everything goes well with the delivery of goods and such, I will be sure to tell them of my affections.

Other projects are in the works as well.
I guess I have been a bit quiet about it for fear of jinxing the whole project, but I am going to work with someone on creating some music again. The guy with whom I am collaborating has a very similar sense of artistic style and intent, so I had thought we could do some good work together. He has held up his end — recording music for two guitars, but up until the last few days I have had trouble writing lyrics that I am happy with. Now, however, after getting over the initial forced attempt, I am finally ready to heed the muse.

I am also getting ready for NaNoWriMo.
I was going to participate a few years ago, but had few ideas worth writing 50,000 words about. This year, though, I think I will be able to develop an outline, archetypical character sketches, and, by way of the process, at least something I can give Emily to edit into a story I might like to share. We shall just have to see. The overriding plot is essentially going to be the influences on someone as they get older and develop a sense of self: the living and the dead; those respected and those despised; friends and strangers; and the mythology of mystery and the comfort in things unknown. You know... that stuff.

And I have to credit deLint for the inspiration.
His vision and desire to create metaphor that fits into modern sensibilities and experience is a huge task and his characters are invaluable guides. *Note that one of the links is an interview with he and other authors trying to bridge the gap between folk tale and urban life.

Ray Lamontage has also been a great source of inspiration.
His new album is amazing (to me, at least) and what he says about his life and experiences in the interview I posted a link to before is right on to me. But here is one of his songs, "Be Here Now:"

Don't let your mind get weary and confused
Your will be still, don't try
Don't let your heart get heavy child
Inside you there's a strength that lies

Don't let your soul get lonely child
It's only time, it will go by
Don't look for love in faces, places
It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

Don't lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don't put your trust in walls
'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

Like so many important messages, for me, its power is in its simplicity.
Speaking of Ray Lamontagne and his interview, he spoke of his disappointment in meeting his biggest influence for getting into music in the first place, Stephen Stills. In the end, he decided that it's probably best to let your heroes remain unmet to preserve what they represent to you.

That idea should have kept me from reading "Self-Reliance" by one of my own heroes, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Ray Lamontagne is right and this lesson I thought that I had already learned by this point, but there are some really shitty things that Emerson has to say about charity and giving and the validity of his opinions have plummeted in my eyes. But once again, the lesson is that no one has all of the answers — that things progress for the attempt to build on what has come before, whether that be in technology, evolution, religion, or philosophy. Furthermore, I fully accept that even though I feel some of the things that I say still fit within "my worldview" (as Ignatius J. Reilly would call it), I have talked some seriously underthought BS over the years that not even I would agree with nowadays. Who is to say that R-dub wouldn't say the same about himself? Even if not, he has expressed some beautiful and profound perspectives and I will not discount his shimmer to spite his rust. The random quotes stay!

And let me speak on worldviews... Emily and I went to church on Sunday!
I can't rightly say, "It's not what you think," because you may have thought it right. Down the street from where we live is the Unity Church for Unitarian Universal(ism?). We have passed it numberous times on walks with the dog or down to the Ice Cream shop and I have appreciated the architecture and landscaping (they have a rain garden!). Once I walked past when they held an open house and noticed a cloister garden within and thought that maybe someday I will sneak out of bed one Sunday morning and dip down to see what they are talking about. After all, I scored a 100% in common on my beliefnet.com survey (as well as the liberal Quakers if you are keeping track) when I took it four years ago and again last week before we decided to go. Well, let me tell the story in a blog entry of its own.

Until then, enjoy the new links:

Gomez and Matt Pond PA are coming to town, so enjoy a new release of Gomez' old release via NPR.

This week I found time to visit my old Highland hood, spending time at Half-Price Books and TeaSource. TeaSource is great if you had ever had an inkling of thought given to liking tea. They have a sickly huge selection and the place smells wonderful as you walk in the door. And like they advertise, it really is one of "Life's Affordable Luxuries." A woman in line behind me recommended a tisane called "Evening in Missoula" and said that she had driven all the way across town after being served that particular blend the night previous in some fancy restaurant. I took her advice and tried it, which reaffirmed my love for "tea" and the depth of sensory fulfillment one can get from a cup...
OK, so I may be a touch overdramatic, but it really is damn good.

Just prior to Sept 11th this year, I somehow found myself at the Wikipedia entry linked above. Look at it, look at the songs, and realize how strangely we react to a situation on a cultural level. I remember working at the futon store around the corner from a comic shop when it happened and shortly after, I bought a compilation that a bunch of comic book artists made depicting superheroes reactions to the events. Though the idea may sound cheesy to some, it is pretty powerful, really. When I flip through it, I remember the feelings which we should have held on to after it happened. So strange that we have ended up where we are, lessons still unlearned.

Well, take care of yourself and each other until next we meet.

Steve Irwin (1962 - 2006)

I guess the Crocodile Hunter is dead. I feel for his family and I hope they can find a place of understanding.

But, man, does it seem like it was his time to go. A stingray peirced his heart...
and considering what he did for a living, I can't imagine him going out any other way.

So, though his playing with creatures may have been a little disruptive, he did seem to care about them and many kids learned a lot about the natural world becasue of Steve's existence...
and he loved his dog...
and for these things, I hold you in esteem, Mr Irwin, you strange, funny dingo of a man.

I genuinely hope you felt you lived a good life and hope you have found what you were looking for after.

As the rain pours, I rest.

Another long week of overtime ends just in time for school to begin. And after working a Saturday and having a late night last night at a stange club called Valentinos, I get to stay home, nurse an ailing wife, and finally have a good chunk of time to write - the cost being that we are no longer going camping today, due to rain.

I am happy to say that my brother, Erik, (the in-Iowa one, not the in-China one) and his wife just became parents to another little one. Another boy, carrying on what seems to be a trend in my family. My grandparents' children on my pop's side are all male. And in all but one case, all of their kids are either all boys or all girls. Greg can confirm this, but of our generation I know one of my cousins has all daughters, though I am not sure about the others. One of my brothers has a daughter and the other, again, now has all boys. And considering Emily and I have talked about not having any more than one kid of our own (we may adopt another - we have time to figure all of that out) we could not help but to uphold the trend, you know, being that we aren't Catholic.

Anyway, so now I am four times, an uncle...

Time is so incomprehensible.






This Lisa Germano lady is haunting me. I heard her name a few weeks ago somewhere and thought I would check her stuff out. Then I was reading a Charles deLint short story collection published in '95 this week and her name was mentioned. I thought it was stange, but it reminded me to check out her stuff. Then as I checked KCRW later this week to see who they had recorded in-studio... there she is. Listen to the recording. She is awesome... but in a different way than simply that her music is interesting and different. The interview/performance is somewhat... hmm... not amateurish... but not like most. She shows her quirks and idiosyncrasies freely - at one point talking about how her cat wrote one of the songs (one of the better ones, actually) without any hint of sarcasm. The music is odd(?) but from the lyrics that I heard and her apparent personality, I can easily see why deLint referenced her work. But regardless of how in tune I am with the music, I think I'd enjoy hanging out with her and her cat. I may have the chance - she is playing the Turf in October. Funny fact: she used to play with John "Cougar" Mellencamp's band.

The Get Up Johns are also proving to be haunting me in the form of a nagging at the back of my head. I keep thinking about the show and decided to check in on what they are doing. I found that they played in the NPR studios (linked) and after listening have changed my mind and might actually buy the album... we'll see. I am really impressed with their level of sophistication and professionalism from the quality of almost every aspect of their performance (the only downside being that at the Folk festival Josh seemed to be a tad arrogant), to the quality of their music production, to their extremely accessible website. All of it makes them seem to know how to succeed and well.

Has anyone else noticed this Folk and Gospel movement is really, really blowing up here in Minnesota. There are a ton of bands, especially in Duluth coming out with rootsy Americana music and may just put a little God in a couple of people... in a good way. One of the guys from this group is a pastor at a St. Paul Baptist church. Now don't go thinking I am going to find Jesus. I have already pretty much given up on that search. But if you are looking, rumor has it that he is a white guy with blue eyes and a beard, and tends to hang out with hookers, thieves, and backstabbers. (In all seriousness, the latter part about the company he kept is something I joke about, but find the most compelling about the story).


I decided to start posting the books I am reading in case anyone is looking for something to read.

Right now I am most of the way through "The Ivory and the Horn" by Charles deLint (1995). It is another collection of stories based in his North American fusion city of Newford and carries on a a few characters stories begun in "Dreams Underfoot" as well as a few new ones. It is clear that he felt a little more comfortable in his writing and is OK with being a good deal more graphic in his descriptions and language, which is good. Though the stories have fantastical elements and obvious moral lessons, they are not children's tales and would lose their punch Iif written as such.

I am also reading "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Follow the link above to read about it and get some excerpts. The concepts and theories are fascinating to me and, so far, seem to reinforce and add to some of my beliefs about trends, marketing, and business strategy. I am pretty sure that in one form or another, I will have a business someday and any preparation I have will be good. I found this book linked at the Okay Player records (home of the Roots, Erika Badu, india.arie, Jill Scott, Common, Leela James, etc.) site as the Book of the Month a while back. It isn't a crazy assumption, then, that the book is the inspiration for the Roots' album title.



Speaking of which, I am finalizing my design for my first real solo landscaping job and should be putting it into place in the coming weeks. I have a good budget and I think I will be able to do something really nice with it, including irrigation, retaining wall, and plants of all sizes and forms. After a lackluster summer which seemed so full of promise (I will get into that later) I really needed to find my pilot-star and this is it. I will post pictures of before/after later.

Well, I hope all is well with all of everyone.