How to:

Be a good neighbor;

 Driving home through my neighborhood I pass a 12 year old jogging up the hill by himself, he waved. I'll miss that in Chicago. 

Be a waitress;

   I wonder sometimes what people are thinking when I'm taking their order, bringing them water/coffee all day. I don't just wonder what they're thinking, I wonder what they've done that day, if it's been a good day, if they're going to see some one they love that day, if they are anxious about something they have to do after they leave this place. So I wish for one day that I could read the minds of my customers at work. I could get past the inevitable thoughts of "Damn this girls slow" or "Is this what I ordered?" or "Is that a piece of food on her face or a zit?" because I'm so interested in the story behind them. I remember driving home from a bass lesson with my Mom when I was younger and saying to her while driving through Shaker Heights "All these house's have a different story in them" "Yes they do sweetie, isn't that cool?"

Move to Chicago;

   I have a couple boxes packed, I plan on my preliminary trip to be next week. A day and a half to interview, look for a dresser and pick up a bed.

Show a boy that you like him;

   Send him something you had way too much fun making. He'll apparently not know what to do with himself, or what to do to thank you, just tell him that as long as he basks in your amazing card making skills, that's thanks enough.

Be a good friend;

Don't laugh too loudly when they're on the phone with some one who will probably get them in trouble....

Send text msgs like this in response to "I don't want to get up and go to work today"

"When we rise from sleep, let us rise for the joy of the true work we will be about this day, and considerately cheer each other on".

I've kept it in my phone for the past month :)

Write a song;

   Can I tell you just how terrified I am of writing music? Music is this one thing that comes terribly naturally to me and I can't bring myself to produce a song that I enjoy listening to. 

I was listening to Vampire weekend in the car today (a CD Nigel Burned for me that I gleefully stumbled upon, along with atlas sound, while looking through stuff yesterday) and...well...there aren't many songs on that album, so I ended up listening to the thing repeatedly. After about the 5th or 6th time through I started to think "These guys aren't that tight....this is really annoying to me all of the sudden...why the fuck is that?" Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of lo fi music, much to Jon's Chagrin, but every little sloppy note started to crawl under my skin. I kept listening to try and figure out why I enjoy this music, and how maybe I could sloppily, easily make something similar, but picking apart something so simple defeats the purpose of coming up with such a fun and free song, right?

 Maybe what annoyed me about the sloppiness of the song is that as a musician I've always strived for tightness. As a bass player I'm the time and meter that every ones listening to with out realizing it...the Drums being the more obvious toe tapping instigator. So to achieve that sound that is basically the subconsciousness of the band I need to listen and be tight with everyone else, Classically, Jazzically....Rock and Rollically....And I get angry when a Band like Vampire Weekend can make fun catchy music that isn't even that TIGHT while I sit here anxious to even open Ableton live! (That's music software) The curse of the classically trained musician I guess...I need to get the fuck over myself.

I've been thinking a lot recently about the anatomy of a song. What makes songs like The Walkmens "The Rat"or Battles "Atlas" so powerful to me? Why does it FEEL so obvious to me that what goes into a good piece of music and a good piece of theater is structurally the same thing....yet it is terribly difficult to DESCRIBE. 

Be a good Director

The play was a success. The Cast had discussions with the Audience in small group form after each performance, and it seems that it did a lot of good. I think I did my part in decreasing the Bullying in Mayfield Middle school. And I enjoyed watching the kids in the audience jam out to LCD soundsystem and Cadence weapon, as they were the interludes for the production. The kids are great, we're facebook friends now, and I finally told them where I waitress ;)

Have fun Babysitting

Waltz with the one year old boy to "Once Upon a dream" In the opening credits of Sleeping Beauty. Spider man swing the 3 year old boy, and fairy fly the 2 year old girl into bed. I promise you'll have fun.