Yearly Archives: 2019
WHY PUBLIC SCHOOLS SHOULD MATTER TO ALL OF US
April 3, 2019
It’s early morning dark. We get our badges from the check-in station. We load into the 50-year-old building under the sodium light of one streetlamp. Bars over windows and metal detectors. The hallway smells like urine. You need a key to use the restroom, and someone will wait outside until you are done. Some of the toilets are filled with … Read More
THE SONGS WILL SAVE YOU
March 27, 2019
“You want to be a writer- don’t know how or when? Find a quiet place and a humble pen” – Paul Simon “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”- Steven King Bruce Springsteen in the brilliant The Defiant Ones: “It was indulgent, but sometimes YOU NEED TO BE INDULGED.” … Read More
BORROWED, BEGGED, AND STOLEN WISDOM, PART 14
March 20, 2019
(Things I have borrowed, begged, and stolen from books, movies, conversations, etc.) Even the kindest man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. —H. L. Mencken It’s not what they call you—it’s what you answer to. Ignorance screams and wisdom whispers. —My brilliant neighbor Craig Morris It is … Read More
BORROWED, BEGGED, AND STOLEN WISDOM, PART 13
March 6, 2019
(Things I have borrowed, begged, and stolen from books, movies, conversations, etc.) One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. —Unknown It is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed. —Vida Dutton Scudder Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their … Read More
GUMMY BEARS AND ABSINTHE: ALL-TIME BEST TOUR RIDERS
February 27, 2019
The magical tour rider—getting to a place in your career where you can ask for what you want when you get to a club/theater/arena, and also getting to a place in your career where you can annoy and alienate a city’s promotors and road crew and hurt your career by being a pretentious jerk. Still, what fun to see the … Read More
SHAKING THE FOUNDATION, PART TWO: CREATIVE TAROT CARDS
February 20, 2019
Last week I wrote about shaking things up a bit—doing whatever we can as artists to shake the foundation and come upon some new territory. As promised, here is a list of things—notes, sayings, and reminders—that hang throughout my studio. There are scribbles on big butcher paper over the windows, some on Post-it notes, some on the legal pads that I … Read More
SHAKING THE FOUNDATION PART ONE
February 6, 2019
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. —Unknown It is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed. —Vida Dutton Scudder When I’m holding on too tight, when I’m too meticulous, analytical, judgmental—lacking confidence or (insert neurosis here)—then the act of writing a song, playing a show, or … Read More
BORROWED, BEGGED, AND STOLEN WISDOM, PART 12
January 16, 2019
(Things I have borrowed, begged, and stolen from books, movies, conversations with friends) Create or Die. —Wade Hampton God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. —Emerson Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. —MLK The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately. —George “GK” Koufalis (thanks to The … Read More
LITTLE VICTORIES/FAILING AT A RUN WITH THE MAYOR
January 9, 2019
We overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a lifetime. —Unknown Focus on what you can control, and you can get a lot done. —Unknown Ever want to smack the person who says, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”? I often think, yeah, that’s great, but the only reason it’s called … Read More
COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY
January 2, 2019
Never compare your inside to someone else’s outside. —Hugh McCleod Last week I listed some quotes from favorite authors, movies, snatches of conversations, etc. The one that you fine folks latched onto more than any other was this old Theodore Roosevelt line, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Joy. Such a little word, but it’s kinda the whole thing, isn’t … Read More