Trampolining

Scene on trampoline: Dad, highly cautious, aware of risk, bouncing while attempting to encourage/manage fun of: physically disabled 13-year-old, highly cautious, somewhat wobbly, tentatively having fun whilst hyper-aware of: jumping-bean-like 3-year-old careening wildly beneath & among knees of the first two. Yes, pigpile ensues, some tears, full recovery.

The Numbers Don't Make Sense

The numbers don't make sense. That's one reason life seems so frightening in a media-drenched world. We see a clip on Youtube reflecting one crazy incident and because none of us can really understand the concept of "one in 250 million" we naturally think that this disturbing stuff is happening all the time everywhere. Fear and anxiety are viral. Evolution has gifted us with a vigilant nature always on the jumpy lookout for sabre-tooth tigers. Thus the ease with which the media corporations keep us jumping.

Please continue working on ways to make peace and love more viral. :)

Lately

I've been posting a lot on Facebook and Twitter lately (for 6 months) because my website is in the middle of a redesign. Well, if it's a middle, it's a long middle. The new website is a kind of blog design but I had a "big idea" for how to make it an interesting and simple site, and of course this big idea has caused the process to go long. I'm hoping it serves me and everyone else well!

But meanwhile, I keep thinking, "Oh, I'll get back onto my blog when my new website is finally up." Thus the long delay between recent posts.

I call this "standing in my own way," and I do it once in a while. I experienced it profoundly a few years ago when my "Free Life" album was done and ready to be released and then got delayed over and over by the business machinations which moved my label from one parent company (Universal) to another (Warner Bros) to another (Sony.) During that time, I stopped writing new songs for myself to sing for about a year and a half, somehow thinking that the about-to-be-released "Free Life" needed to come out before I resumed my songwriting. It was as though "Free Life" was in front of me in line at the airport and kept needing to send its bags and clothes through the metal detector, and I waited politely rather than realizing I could just walk past.

Anyway, despite my non-blogging, I have dropped that bad habit for now in my songwriting, and am in a great flow of ideas and melodies for my second solo jam. Many tracks are recorded. I'm using a crazy-making method of playing all the instruments myself, and having all the band discussions and arguments alone. I'll put some of the songs up when they're ready, I'd like to share them in advance of the record's eventual release. And by the way, the new website looks good and when the design issues are 90% fixed, we'll put it up.

The recent Semisonic shows in Minneapolis and Denver were really inspiring and fun. I hope we get together again soon.