Possibilities

San Diego was great, what a beautiful city, and as technical/business conferences go (the reason I headed west), this one (Burton Group) was about as good as it gets. I’ve been back a week, and hoped the refresh would have led to a song by now, but I’ve been a busy catching up both at home and work, and have barely scratched through a few old songs and fondled a few new ideas. With my family readying to make the annual trek to FL to spend time with grandparents and break up their summer, I’m hopeful that while they are gone the muse will spring out of the closet and sit in my lap for a while.

I’ve got a pretty good list of things to do around the house while it’s empty, time to make a reasonable one to match for the writing/music side of things. First, I plan to make contact, and potentially a short road trip to meet with a musician/producer about getting an EP done by end of the year. I plan to spend some time out on the deck early mornings and evenings with notebook and beverage of the hour just brainstorming through some ideas, as well as cutting some guitar/vocal tracks for rewrites of established material. Lastly, I’ve made initial contact with a writer in Nashville who’s asked to co-write, and possibly help me market material, so I’ll be seriously and fervently working this angle. I’ll stop here, because if these goals materialize, the rest of the summer will be a real success.

Since the 4th of July didn’t necessarily pan out as we’d hoped, the baseball game we planned to go to was a wash, and while we saw bunches of fireworks in and around the neighborhood, things were on the quiet side due to the fairly unexpected, yet much needed, rain. Now it’s the 5th of July, and I’ll get up and watch the ladies final at Wimbledon in a few hours, tear through some errands and before long it’ll be Monday and back to work.

So, my immediate goal is to look hard at the possibilities for the next couple of weeks. To immerse myself in music every chance I get, to read, play, run, workout and clean up my diet, write and practice, be good at what I’m working at and expect the best from my efforts. To take chances and forget about the vanity in industrial strength opinions. If there’s one thing I can be it’s emotional. Question is, can I get these bad boys off my sleeve and into the next songs I write, and when/if heard, will these emotions stir or be filtered?

New month, new quarter, new season, endless possibilities [+]

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Don’t Want to Miss Christmas

I want to make all my friends and loved ones happy, spread cheer and buy gifts, tis the season… put the star on top of that blue spruce pine and hang oversized fluffy red stockings on the mantle. Let’s trim the porch with multi-colored lights, set  santa and his reindeer on the front lawn, and plant gumdrops in the icing of our gingerbread house. I don’t want to miss Christmas.

What about a gift for a child who’s mom and dad are out of work and hurting, a few extra dollars for the frazzled waitress at the diner, or bringing some fresh baked pumpkin bread to a lonely neighbor? It’s time to reflect on the good and bad from this past year, the gains and losses, the bearing of crosses, the beauty of a star shining brightly in a cold winter sky, and the hope made available to all by the virgin born child… you don’t want to miss Christmas.

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