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27 October 2007

Confessions of a New York City virgin

I'm really psyched to see that the good folks at Traveling12Feet.com have used an excerpt from "New York City" in a pretty cool narrated photo montage that can be viewed here (quicktime) or here (flash). The song plays for the last minute or so. Sweet.

26 October 2007

I don't want you to wonder why

It was about 3 AM last night, in the midst of what seemed like my 50th consecutive demoralizing Halo 3 defeat (at the hands of someone named dic gozenya, natch) that my mind started desperately searching for something nice to think about -- some ointment or salve to dull the sting of the drubbing. My usual late-night go-to's (global warming, peak oil, perpetual war, the inevitable end of the world as we know it)* weren't helping much.

But on a microcosmic level, if you can look past my Halo deficiencies, my life is actually pretty awesome lately.

I have a new job that I not only like, but flirt with loving. I got my ass kicked almost every day in the halls when I was in middle school. In high school, all I wanted in the world was to play soccer (even junior varsity...please?), but I got cut 4 years in a row. Growing up, there weren't many things that I could turn to for a confidence boost, but one thing I always knew I could own was a standardized test. And now, almost by complete dumb luck, I'm fortunate enough to be making a living exploiting that very aptitude. I don't expect many people to be smiling and nodding along at this point, but if professional sports were never meant to be for me, I'm still lucky enough to be doing something I enjoy and getting paid for it.

And then there's the girl. Things are good. I shudder to think of the sheer volume of words I've wasted in this space on spite, vitriol, malice, and shame with respect to girls I've known more than casually. I lack similar drive to expatiate upon the good times publicly. But things are good.

Which I guess brings me to why I sat down to write this post in the first place. A commenter on this post asked me about my inspiration for the songs on this site. The answer is that most of this stuff is entirely autobiographical. And I guess I'm glad that I wrote these songs when I did, because I'm fairly sure I couldn't write them now. I'm just not sad that way anymore. In fact, the only song I've really written in the past year (shit, it's been that long) has been a cutesy sort of "I've got a crush on you" song (for private use).

I think what's been keeping the guitar out of my hands of late (aside from purely docket-related contraints) is that the things I think about these days that I think are worth writing songs about are beyond my reach as a songwriter. It's one thing to write a song that ends up being a bit trite when it's about a failed relationship, but it's a much more shameful enterprise to write songs about politics and impending doom if you're not up to snuff. Some of the worst songs I've ever heard have been well-intentioned examples of this, and I'm reluctant (nay, loath) to add to that din.

This is in no way a promise never to write another song, or even a promise never to attempt some social/political/moral commentary in a lyric. Just a statement of reluctance to actively suck, and an attempt to justify the regrettable dearth of fresh content on the site of late.

* I lose a lot of sleep.

19 October 2007

lots to do

I woke up today and this site was down. Not even fully down though, just...not up. Just a plain white page, and Firefox dutifully notifying me that it's quite "Done." What a pain.

Saw Unkle (formerly U.N.K.L.E.) last night at Webster Hall. I hadn't expected to be able to go, because I was working on Staten Island until about 10:30, but one breakneck drive and one serendipitous parking spot later, I was walking in just as the band was starting. Breathless and overly hyphenated review (and mp3) here. Cool show.

I only have one day off a week these days, and I keep finding myself paralyzed by all the things I've thought about needing to get done all week. Today is my day off. I slept until 11:30, then I moped around the house until...well...until now. I guess this is more of that. Shit.

I'm gonna go do something.

16 October 2007

oh hi.

File under: The Kindness of Strangers. Someone at Blogger thinks this blog is "of note," it would appear. If you're here as a result, welcome! I hope that you enjoy your stay, and that your life is irrevocably altered for the better as a direct result of the roughly 35 seconds you spend here (on average...thanks, FeedBurner!).

In all seriousness though, welcome. Since you're here, I figure it's my duty to point you towards what I have reason to believe is the reason this site was singled out. A quick survey of my recent posts reveals neither notable frequency nor notable quality. I don't fancy myself a terrible writer, but I'm not convinced I'm an especially good one, either. The entire reason I ever got my shit together and made this site was to have a place to put some music that I made, and since you're here anyway, it's only fitting that I invite you to download it. It's free. I'd love to know what you think.

One other thing I should mention during these fifteen minutes of Internet relevance. When something that gets a lot of traffic links to one's blog, one is forced to make difficult decisions concerning comment spam. I've never had a problem with it in the past, but today that's begun to change. I am not going to outright block comments until they've been approved because I don't have much time these days and relevant comments shouldn't have to wait to be posted. So I ask you, valued reader, to be selective about the links you click on in the comment section (duh). If the site starts to get overrun by porn links and traffic piggybackers, I might have to just do some draconian moderation, but I really don't want to.

In actual news that I would have written about here anyway, I've been conducting a slow MySpace-message interview with Mike Miller (from Endless Mike and the Beagle Club). Let it be sufficient for now to say that his way with words extends beyond his songwriting. Eventually I'll post it at amiestreet.com and (in part) at wealsoran.com, both of which I've been regrettably negligent in posting to since the new job. Keep an eye out for it. It's going to be good.