Been awhile awhile

Haven't posted on here in an age, and I'm currently enjoying being up later than I should be and surfing yonder Internet. Must be in that late night "creative juices" phase or something, which means if I bother to read this again during the day I'll regret having said any of this, which doesn't make it any less true. It's like Jekyll and Hyde or something. Also proud to report that I haven't imbibed any booze tonight (making me sound like a total alcky, but as Tiff said, sometimes it's nice to just hang out and not drink). Somehow drinking has become the national pastime for pretty much everyone I know my age, and don't get me wrong, I likes me some beer, but generally you'll get into a lot less trouble of various kinds without it. Guess that's why my prof at Briercrest made me memorize a verse that said something along those lines: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit". Yeah, well, I've been "filled" with the "spirit", and too much of that can drive you crazier than if you had had too much wine, so I'll try to keep a healthy balance.

Yeah, so it seems this is going to be a stream-of-consciousness kind of post, and I'm cool with that. Let's see, what's been going on lately?

Well, Texas was rad. Met some really great people, had a lot of fun, smoked a lot of free cigarettes (which is currently proving to be the downfall of my resolve to quit), drank a lot of free booze, and saw a lot of free shows.

Going to Vegas in April, which is currently the matter of the hour, as I've got to get on that whole "booking flights and rooms" thing, which I'll do tomorrow. Looking forward to that. I've been playing online poker a little bit to brush up for when I go, and so far so good as I've placed in the top three in tournaments with a fair amount of regularity. Came out on top twice, as a matter of fact. A bunch of us are having a friendly cash game on Sunday afternoon as well, which is going to be sweet.

Have my first solo show coming up on Friday, which I'm quite looking forward to. I was thinking tonight that I should probably remember the date for future reference, seeing as it's kind of what I've been working up to since I started playing. I was trying to remember when exactly it was that I started playing/writing songs, and I figured, for the sake of making round numbers, that I was probably around 15 or so, so that means it's taken me 10 years to actually play a show of my own music by myself. Could be worse. Chris Martin was 25 when Parachutes came out (I'm pretty sure, anyway), so if you look at it that way, it bodes well for me. I've been practicing my set for the last couple of days, and I somehow managed to pull 11 originals out of my hat, with several to spare. It's amazing what you find sitting around when you're put to it. Anywho, we'll see where this goes, but thus far I'm very glad to be playing/recording/writing again. It feels like it's been a long, long time. I'm hoping to start on my next recording tomorrow, and I'm thinking I'll do a song tentatively called "For a Rainy Day", which I'll get Char to sing harmony on. Actually, I'm going to have her come up during that one for the set on Friday and do the very same thing. Sounds really good.

What else? Well, in music, I'm really looking forward to getting the new Foxglove Hunt record I just ordered from VBM. I have a feeling I'm going to be putting it on my Top 10 of 2008 list. I actually included the 2 song demo I got last year on my Top 10 of 2007, and judging from the little clips you can listen to on iTunes, I think the rest of the album will be just as good as those 2 songs.

I also want to get the new Counting Crows album when it comes out, and wouldn't mind checking out the new REM as well, which is supposed to be their return to "good music", considering the albums they've release since the drummer left have all been kind of lacking. Oh yeah, and the new Kylie Minogue, but the problem with her is that it really makes me want to dance, which isn't as much fun if I'm all by myself in my apartment. If and when I get married, there's going to be one kick-ass dance party afterwards. Think I'll change out of my kilt for it, though.

Speaking of getting married, I hung out with the girl of my dreams the other night, although unfortunately she was very literally the girl of my dreams, seeing as I met her in a dream. If she actually does exist and I do meet her, she's pretty cool (and apparently we're not related, according to what she told me, so that's a big relief). She was kind of a cross between the chick from Juno and one of the sisters in Eisley. Gives me something to shoot for, if nothing else.

I'm listening to the Travis album I got in Portland or San Francisco right now. It's decent, but "The Boy With No Name" topped my Top 10 from last year. If you haven't heard it just buy it. It's worth it.

Yeah, I've definitely stayed up too late and should probably hit it pretty quick. I've been trying to maintain something of a more normal sleep schedule since getting back from Texas, but it's kind of difficult being that as hard as I might try, I can't help but be a night person. Someday that'll work in my favor, in that I'll have my own place (God willing) and be able to make noise early into the morning and hopefully write some of the most brilliant music of my career. Speaking of which, part of the reason I'm still up is that I was checking out Ableton Live and these crazy controllers that Daft Punk used for their performance with Kanye West at the Grammys. I should really put out a techno/dance album at some point, seeing as I've dabbled in that sort of thing a tiny bit in the past and it really just writes itself, especially with all the crazy crap they have these days, such as the aforementioned software/hardware. At the same time I find that stuff really daunting, and just yearn to have somebody record me so I don't have to worry about anything except performing the songs. Who knows. Maybe I'll end up managing a McDonald's someday. Ok, forget I said that. I keep reminding myself of that "Don't worry about what you're going to eat or wear" verse these days. The wheels could have, and for all intents and purposes, should have fallen off the music bus at this point, so I think there's still a point to me pursuing it. I found another great verse the other day that really inspired me, which I think I will quote here:

"So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you" 1 Peter 5:6-7.

If nothing else is evident from this post, I think it's obvious that I definitely don't have things figured out, but I feel positive that they're getting a lot better/clearer than they were, and I couldn't really ask for anything else. I guess (knock wood) things can only get so bad before they start getting better, and I really hope that I'm entering that stage and leaving the latter behind. Inevitably there will be hard times no matter what, but I do feel better equipped to handle them when they do come around again, and thank God for that. I've got a long way to go, but I think I've got more life to live, so the journey continues...