Life As I Know It..and other thoughts

So here it is… Christmas again.  It just offically became Christmas a few hours ago and I’m glad it’s here. Christmas Eve proved to be one very very interesting day.  So interesting, in fact, that it was worth blogging about. 

First of all, I spent the first half of the day cleaning our apartment to suprise the wife.  We are delaying Christmas gifts for a bit so I thought it would be something.  She had to work until around 5 so I got it all done.  I have to say, I can clean pretty well when I want to.

After this, I went to church at Mars Hill Church.   A GREAT Service.   If you want, you should download Mark Driscoll’s service off of Itunes.  He knows what he’s talking about.  It was great worship with Christmas music and a great message of how Jesus has impacted the world throughout history.  Very historically accurate and knowledgable.  I finally got in the Christmas spirit.  It took longer this year without family and close friends. 

After the service, I actually had to go to yet another Christmas service.  2 people we know had invited us and it was this huge event at the Benaroya Hall which is Seattle’s symphony hall.  Now for our friends’ sake, they didn’t know what we were getting into.  They thought it was a regular church service.

Apparently, this church is offically part of the United Church of Religous Science which was started by Dr. Ernest Holmes. By definition, it is a correlation of science, philosophy, and the universal truths found in all major religions. I didn’t realize this until they started the music which had  edited Jesus out of all of the Christmas songs.  I was furious for about 2 minutes and then deeply saddened.  From what I’ve read, this church believes that we are all One and have access to the “Christ Consciousness, the Buddha Consciousness, and our Divine Nature.  It is something about cosmology and our place in the Universe.   Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like their is any substance: no salvation, no grace, nothing to truly believe in.  In my mind, this equals no hope.  It appeared to be one of the most narcissistic religions I’ve ever seen.  It’s all about me and being happy and living a good life.  Don’t get me wrong, all of these are great qualities!  But they are empty.  My friend described the service as smoke and mirrors and that’s very accurate.  They spoke of the “Spirit” a lot but there was no mention of  Jesus and all of the songs had His name and the word Savior edited out.

The reason I was sad because I realized that I was sitting in a room with THOUSANDS of people and every single one of them was being misled.  They thought they were happy and doing the right thing but I felt dirty just for being there.  I can’t really imagine a life without grace.  Without it, I think that there would be no point in living.  I know that this church is popular because it tells people what they want to hear.  I heard nothing of sin or forgiveness.. just as long as you were doing what felt right to YOU, then everything was cool.  I wanted to line everyone of these smiling people up and smack them across the face and ask them if they really knew what they believed in. 

Needless to say, it was a very interesting day.  I don’t regret going to the service at all.  It gave me a lot to think about and consider and it made me realize again just how important Jesus is to me.  Yes, we should all try to live happy lives and love one another.  There is just so much else that needs to be said and figured out.  I’m so thankful that I never got caught up in that and that my parents taught me Truth from a young age. 

Thank you Jesus for your Grace and Mercy.  I just hope I can do my part to reach people and keep them from a belief that has no foundation on solid ground. 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!

To whatever makes me love You more. 

To whatever makes me trust You more.

While there’s still light to run towards.

So it’s been snowing here.. quite strange for Seattle.  I had to park my car about a mile down the hill because the truck wouldn’t make it up the giant grade to our house.  Good times.  I know this is the first posting in forever and I’m doing it to appease Chris.  Does anyone want to give me some money? That would be cool.  Oh yeah, listen to Inhale Exhale. They are a very very good band. They make me happy. And for now, that’s that. I want to come visit the Eastern US very soon. Oh well.. one of these days.

 Throwing snowballs at dogs is a lot of fun.

So I went to a show tonight..  I saw Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, and Starflyer 59.  I may review them later but that is not what I’m doing tonight.  Needless to say, it was an incredible show.

The point of this blog is one little statement that Rose made.  Her music always reaches my sould and brings a peace that I don’t feel from music as much as I used to. 

What she said went something like this: “Never second-guess where you are right now because you are right where you are supposed to be.”

I know it seems so simple and easy but I realize that I second-guess myself on a daily basis lately.  I am never ever ever satisfied with where I’m at.  I need more money, I need a better job, What is my purpose?  I really don’t understand why I feel like I have to know exactly what is going to happen in my life.  And I really wish patience was a stronger virtue with me.  I think society just makes me feel like if I don’t do something now, it will never happen.  I’ve been told all of my life that at this point, I should have a steady job, a house with a yard and 2.5 children.  Right now, those things don’t even really appeal to me. 

Basically, I need to trust God.  I need to stop trying to control my life and just throw in the towel and wave the white flag.  I have to realize that I will never know exactly what will happen.  I also need to thrive in the mystery which is life itself.  I’m wasting a beautiful time by worrying about money and “making it.”  I just have to trust that I will not work in restaurants for the rest of my life, and one day, God will bless me with something I love to do. 

Ok, sorry for the rambling.  It’s amazing how one little statement can make your mind go crazy.  Goodnight.

So yes, I haven’t posted a blog in awhile.  I’m not really sure why except that I feel like the events in my life probably aren’t as important as I sometimes think they are.  So let’s see… what important things are happening now..

1. April and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the 15th.  We had a blast and went to see Sufjan Stevens that night.  For those who don’t know him or haven’t seen him, please check him out.  It was by far the best show I’ve ever seen.  I would write a review but it would bore you because I have nothing but good things to say. 

2.  I’m interviewing tomorrow for a 2nd job.   I’m looking to be a banquet captain at a hotel so I can make a little extra cash to pay off some debt and travel back to the southeast to see family and friends. And to get a tattoo.  I’ve decide that it has to happen soon.  I just want Dave Quiggle to do it.  Is that too much to ask? 

3. I’m going to be interning at Tooth and Nail Records.  This is kind of surreal because I’ve been listening to bands on their label for many many years.. probably since I was about 14  years old.  Sometime Sunday and MxPx were the first bands I listened to on the label.  It should be fun and I’m going to be working with some really cool guys who will be great friends.  We’ll also be going to church together because I finally got Sundays off. 

4. Tonight, I’m going to do a corn maze.  It’s supposed to be a Halloween thing where people jump out of you and things like that.  It should be fun.  Beers beforehand?  Probably so.

 5. I’ve decided I kind of want to be a booking agent.  I’m not really sure how to start doing that except to just find a band that needs it and start small and grow.  I should talk to my friend Mary. Maybe she can help.  I just think it would be fun to really help out bands and get their names out there.  I’ve got this itch to finally do something worthwhile with my life.. I just don’t know where to begin.

6. Mew puts on an amazing show.  I know they are coming through Nashville.. so go see them.  Please don’t miss out.  Trust me.  They are from Denmark and don’t make it over here very often and they have been one of my favorite bands this past year.  Please take my word for it.

7.  Lists are stupid.

8. Damien Jurado and MeWithoutYou both just put out amazing albums.  Very very good music from both artists. 

9. I love the weather now.  Overcast and cool.  This is what I came to Seattle for. 

10.  Ten seems like a good number to end on.  For those who do the praying thing, pray that April and I could both find jobs that we are happy with.  I’m tired of being financially uncomfortable and unhappy with work. 

I am so very angry right now.  Thursday night is one of two nights that I care about what is on tv.  I really look forward to My Name Is Earl and The Office on Thursday.  I recorded them on my “trusty” DVR through Comcast and looked forward to seeing it when I got home from work.  Unfortunately, the cable completely cut out during Earl and I missed part of that.  I was mad enough then so I decided to watch The Office.  For some reason, it completely cut out 15 minutes from the middle of the episode.  ARRRRGH.  I think Comcast will be receiving a nasty phone call tomorrow. Our DVR has been doing this a lot lately and it’s not worth the money if we don’t get the full recordings. 

On another note, I went to see Jason Collett last night.  He is a great musician and everyone should check him out. Unfortunately, I am not going to write a review because I was distracted by friends and missed most of the first act.  So yes, thank you for listening to my rant about the cable company. It’s funny.  2 years ago I wouldn’t have known what DVR was.  Stupid technology.

So first of all, I officially hate Apple.  I spent 2 hours and 45 minutes on the phone with tech support today because when I sent my IPOD in to get fixed, they did nothing.  I got it back erased but not fixed.  Calling to get it shipped out again is the biggest ordeal in the world.  Geez.. what we will do for our IPODs. 

Also, it’s that time again. I got together with my friend Aaron tonight and we started working on music.  It wasn’t much writing tonight but more to just get focus and an idea of where we’re going musically.  I’m going to have to start writing lyrics again but at least I have motivation. 

I think my first song will be about how everyone is caught up in our own lives when there are millions of people around us who are also in their own worlds.  I was thinking about this today and it makes you feel kind of insignificant.  I know we are all important but it just unfathomable to me to think of all of the different problems, happiness, emotions, etc.  that everyone else is feeling.  I don’t know how the writing will go but I’ll let everyone read it when I get done. 

Next step:  Come up with a band name.  Also, I’m going to 2 shows this week so maybe a couple of reviews are in the works.

Today’s Find:  Special Olympics Thought of the Day

Today’s Find:  Special Olympics Thought of the Day

“People don’t dance no more, they just stand their like this: They cross their arms and stare you down and drink and moan and diss.”- The Rapture “Whoah! Alright-Yeah… Uh Huh.”

 The quote above doesn’t describe the show I went to but I thought that all of my Nashville friends would appreciate it. If you haven’t yet, please check out The Rapture. They are oh so much fun.

My friend Kate and I went to see a great show on Tuesday night.  It was at The Showbox in Seattle. It was the first time I have been to this venue and I am highly impressed.  First up was Jonezetta.  I had seen them play once before in Nashville at The End. Once again, I was blown away at their energy and good, fun rock’n'roll.  I have a feeling that if they get on the right tour, they will become the next big thing.  Their large bass player reminded me of Chris and it made me want to start a rock band with my friends again. Their album comes out in 2 weeks and I will be buying it as soon as it hits the shelves.  The music was tight and the crowd was loving it.  Tooth and Nail has hit gold once again with this one.  Please please go listen and dance.  I know I did and will continue to.

 Next up was Shiny Toy Guns. This was the only band of the night that I had never heard before.  Apparently, the majority of the crowd were there for them as well.  While they brought a pretty good amount of energy to the stage, I just wasn’t digging their music.  It was fairly predictable and they obviously really really like The Cure.  Just to make it clear, it is not a bad thing to like The Cure.  I just feel that this band needs to bring it some originality to the punk meets 80’s sound that is so big right now.  Overall, a good set that the crowd loved. It just isn’t really my thing.. a little too predictable.

Mute Math was next.  I was stoked to see them live after some stories I’ve heard.  All I can say is wow. They started with an instrumental with some amazing percussion. I loved the fact that they used a second bass drum for the majority of the songs they played.  If I had to describe their sound, I would put them somewhere between U2, Coldplay, Stabbing Westward, and Aireline (Most of the people reading this will get that last reference). They are incredibly diverse with great songwriting and arrangements. Unfortunately, it was so loud that I couldn’t hear the lyrical content but I’ll be checking that out on my own in the near future.  I would put their drummer in a room with Phil Collins anyday.  He did use a click track but he was by far one of the best drummers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.  Please if this band comes to your town or anywhere nearby, go see them. 

So that was a pretty sloppy review but I am sick of writing.  I don’t know if it was controversial enough to get any bad reactions. We’ll see what happens.  In summary, listen to Jonezetta, Mute Math, and The Rapture.  You’ll be glad you did.