escalators

so you know the little strips of soft bristles that line edge of escalators? i'm never sure weather to be thrilled or completely disgusted when my flip flop clad feet brush up against them coming out of the subway. part of me wants to be tickled all the way up. the other parts wants to jerk my foot away and dry heave. but then, our subway system is remarkably clean...

thanksgiving

today I am thankful for family. and heritage. and the faith i see in the wrinkles around eyes that have seen much by the light of our Savior. for a grandmother whose smile and laugh are youthful as ever, though her mind has not been so sharp lately, and a grandfather whose patience and steadfastness are a model nearing the perfection that could have only been produced by counting trials as joys. for an uncle whom i'd had not seen in far too long and whom with i can finally share the joys of music since our Lord has freed him from schizophrenia! for a mom and dad whose endless prayers and support uplift me daily even though their son thinks he's gonna be a rock star. for the hands and arms and hearts that form a misshapen and rather homely circle as we bow to thank our Provider for the meal before us

In a disguise?

On saturday my roommate and I went out to people watch during the protest to the passing of proposition 8.  When things had settled down we went over to the donut shop. We were standing outside the shop eating when a few more people passed us. One guy said, "what's up?" so i gave him the nod and said, "hey."  they walked on a few paces before he came back hesitantly and said to me, "I thought you were a celebrity. I had to look a little closer.  You're beard didn't match your hair, so I had to make sure it wasn't fake."  Apparently i look so ridiculous on  a daily basis that no one would actually mean to look like me.  It must be disguise.  I can't decide if that is a complement or not.

homework...

more like awesome work! 

I had my first day of classes today and school is going to be a blast. For homework i've been touching up on pattern 2 and 4, in the CAGED system, of the blues scale and learning some rhythm figures/chord changes for tomorrow's Rhythm Section workshop. Here's what a general week of Rock'n'Roll school will look like:

Monday:

12pm  - Reading II (my lowest point in placement tests...gonna take a little work)

1pm - Single String Improvisation II  (not sure why it's called single string)

2pm Rhythm Guitar II

5pm Slide guitar

Tuesday:

12pm - Harmony and Theory III

1pm - Ear Training III

2-4pm - Rhythm Section Workshop (taking what we did in SSI and Rhythm Guitar yesterday and putting it together with a bass player and drummer)

4pm - Private lesson

Wednesday:

just like monday expect my elective will be Jimi Hendrix Rhythm guitar

Thurday:

like tuesday, but without the RSW and plus Rock Lead Guitar

There is another class called Live Playing Workshop where you sign up for a time slot playing a style of your choosing (Modern Rock, Blues, Fusion, Jazz, Country, Metal, etc) with a band made up of other students from the bass, keys, percussion, vocal programs and get critiqued by professors. Your supposed to do about 1 a week.

So there is no more of the dreaded homework...just awesome work. And starting class at noon is so rock'n'roll.

And...Praise the Lord!...i finally have an apartment.  The building looks pretty sketchy (just like i like it), but the place itself is pretty nice (small, but nice), and i'm sharing it with this guy named Brandon whom i barely know, but he went to the Comtemporary Music Center too, so we're basically family. It's right on Hollywood Blvd about 2 miles from school. We finish moving in tomorrow. Now about that job...

some good news

For some reason I couldn't get the lyrics to copy in here right, but here for your enjoyment is a song by the band Frightened Rabbit called The Modern Leper. I can't get enough right now.

Sometimes the Boss sings my life

There's a man on the corner singin' my life
And he's playing guitar with a rusty old knife
Each song that he sings rhymes with the true
And reminds us of something beyond the Blues

-Peter Case "Beyond the Blues"


On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time
Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I'm gonna take charge

(Chorus)
The dogs on Main Street howl
`cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this whole town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start

(Chorus)

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

(Chorus)
I believe in a promised land...

-Bruce Springsteen "The Promise Land"


This is my life right now. I pray I'll have the faith to stand my ground.
Who Sings your life?

a mustache brotherhood 2

I hadn't intended for this originally, but it turns out the mustache brotherhood might me a series! I love mustaches. and brotherhoods.

Yesterday I started what I'm calling the 24 days of awesome. Awesome because i'm done worrying about getting out of my house, i don't have a job, my folks have a lake cabin, there are friends in Spokane that I rarely get to hang with but now I do, I like road trips, there are friends in other towns that I'll get to visit. Anyway, back to the mustaches...Sarah and Jo talked me into staying for one more day and the 24 days of awesome started with Goldy's!..correction: it started with me waiting at Goldy's for and hour before either of them got there. I saw a brother. I realized it was the guy from the record exchange with the really grandiose mustache, the kind that you wax up the ends of. wow. so much bolder than I.

me: "hey was that your mustache that got called out at the Wilco show?"
Guy from the record exchange with the gradiose mustach: "I don't know. Maybe it was yours."
me: "i told my friends [at the show], it could only be the guy from the record exchange."
GFTREWTRGM: "It was nice to be recognized by Mr. Tweedy."
me: "no doubt. no doubt." [laughter]
GFTREWTRGM: "what's you name?"
me: "Marc." [a shake]
GFTREWTRGM: "i'm Bryan" (i assume the 'y' in Bryan. not really sure why.)

We talked on about music and other shows we'd seen at the winery. By the end of our wait, Bryan's lady friend asked me to join their table, but i told them i had friends coming. Inside, I passed them on the way to the restroom. He called me by name and we joked a bit.
instant brothers.

a mustache brotherhood

I have a mustache. it's just a subtle one, nicely trimmed, with a soul patch, you know, to get that artsy flavor.




Last week during a routine lunch stop at the Great Harvest Bread Co. something that i'm sure has existed since the beginning of time (or maybe since the sixth day of creation) became known to me. I was standing in line waiting to order a sandwich and there was a guy slicing off bread samples for those waiting in line. I heard him saying, "Sir, can a slice you a piece of (fill in the bread of the day)?." But when he got to me it was, "What can I get you Bro? I called you bro becuase I noticed your mustache and [pointing at his upper lip] i'm trying to get one of those going too. Is it that simple?

Mustache [pointing at me] ?
Mustache [pointing at you]?
Brothers?

Then today...
When i went to send off my scholarship application today (which was way too expensive, cuz I waited till the last minute) something fantastic happened! As I was leaving the parking lot another guy with a mustache was entering. We both had our windows down. We smiled. We nodded. We knew. Brothers.