PAUL HESTER R.I.P.

I found out today that Paul Hester, the drummer for Crowded House has died. Saddened and shocked, I am. As I write there is an amazing sun shower going on outside. Strange life. Strange days.

Friggin' Flu!

I've been sick since last Tuesday with the flu. Laid up in the bedroom with a fever-clouded brain with nothing to do but watch bad TV and think, and overthink. This coming from a guy who thinks entirely too much to begin with. I'm over it now as far as being up and about but I still feel like crap. Ugh. What a way to start the week.

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter everybody! May the Spirit of the risen Christ empower us all to live our best lives now, where we are, with what we have. May we have the strength to show kindness to the least of our brothers from this day forward.

Love is bigger than justice. Mercy beats legalism!

Judge not!

CHARLESTON RUMINATIONS

3/10/05

Betsy and I are in Charleston. I’m sitting on a bench outside of a little shop on King street, scribbling. King Street is one of the major shopping streets and is full of quaint antique shops and small boutiques. Of course there are the corporate nightmares as well.

We just ducked down a little alley with some stores at the back. What a pleasant city this is. I could live here. I have always thought that. Betsy’s having a look in a little shop called Decorator’s Alley. I am sitting in their courtyard/hallway looking at a leaf of grass through a lattice, watching it blow in the wind, and listening to the AC fan run with it’s shrill hum next door. I am glad for this moment. It will live in my heart forever.

Charleston Bound

Betsy and I are off to Charleston for a couple of days on an early anniversary trip, as we will be too busy when our anniversary hits April 4. Eighteen years already? No way! We went there on our honeymoon thinking that we'd be back in Hollywood forever and that it would be cool to see this historic city before we left. As it turns out, we've been living in Myrtle Beach for the last 13 years and get to go down there quite regularly. I love roaming around there, digging the old graves (sic) and history, and looking at all the antique shops on King street. Also there's great dining down there, and we will do our share. Perhaps I'll remember to take a few pictures and post them here later....Later!

Life is Odd

The more I know the less I think I've really learned after all. It's the age old story. Rarely is anything what it seems to be. My male cat, Buddy, is relaxing on the floor by me as I write these words. I wonder what he's thinking about. Ahh. Simplicity itself. You know where you stand with a pet. Nothing is obtuse with an animal. An animal is always real. I could learn from that. I could learn a lot. Life has a way of completely blowing me away occasionally. The way we think has the greatest impact on the outcomes of our one and only lives. It is imperative to think as clearly as possible and to see the you that you want to be in your mind's eye with clarity and concentration at leat a couple of times a day. What you think you become. Barring acts of God or circumstances beyond our control, our lives are the sum total of the choices we have made. If we don't live our lives on purpose we are living someone elses purpose and reading from a worn out script. A cold and empty facade. A shadow.

Hit A Snag

I've hit a snag the last couple of days. I've been working on a tune called "Cuttin' Me Loose". It doesn't seem to be either sitting right or fleshing out decently so far, no matter what I try. I've decided to shelve it for the time being. I recall this is actually one I had doubts about even when doing the drum tracks. Maybe I'm just too darn close to this project and I need to step back a bit. Who knows. Oh well...NEXT !!! I don't want to waste inordinate amounts of time on one song, when I have quite a few more prospects at this point. I'll keep you posted. You know that's true!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

I did massive work on Famous Last Words today. I put a nice electric part on that includes a little solo. It works nicely. I added tambourine and what I thought would be guide vocals and harmonies. The more I hear them the more I think they might be keepers. The song is really rocking now, and it’s close to being done. I do have room for some keys. I’d like Rog (my brother) to play on this and a couple more songs so we’ll have to see. Momentum is really gaining steam now and I’m ready to do some more quality work tomorrow on another tune. I’ll let the music decide where to start. I imagine it’ll be either guitar or bass work tomorrow. Let’s get these songs fleshed out. It’s amazing how the songs take on lives of their own at an indiscernible moment in time. The magic moment when it all comes to fruition.