New Blog

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New Blog

I started a new blog. This one is done. Goodbye Blogger.

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Effect & Cause

When I was a kid, if someone asked me why I did or didn't do something I would say "because I'm a __________(religion / belief system)". Now, I'd say "because I believe _________ (belief about the matter)". I think our common consideration for others actions are the child version - "They do this because they're a Sikh", or "They don't do that because they're Mormons". When, really, maybe they are a Sikh because doing this thing is important to them. Maybe they're a Mormon because it lines up with their value system. Maybe they're a Jew because they truly believe the Torah is holy. Maybe they don't just believe it's holy because they're a Jew.

Pickin up what I'm putting down?


[afterthought: when I say "belief" I don't mean a sentimental desire for the matter to be truth, but an intellectual and/or spiritual conviction.]

momentum

Summer 2008: Wrote "Let Us Reconcile"
Fall 2008: Recorded the album
Winter 2009: West Coast Tour
Spring 2009: West Coast Tour
Summer 2009: Wrote and Recorded "Freeze & Thaw"
Fall 2009: West Coast Tour
Winter 2010: West Coast Tour
Spring 2010: West Coast Tour (starting next week!)

it's been the best 20 months of my life.

Records

I've been building my record collection - because it's irresistibly cheap. Here are my latest buys:

Stan Getz Quartet feat. Astrud Gilberto - Live @ Cafe Au Go Go
Blues Project - Live @ Town Hall
Aaron Copland, Bernstein conducting - Billy the Kid, Rondo, Appalachian Suite, + more
Blood, Sweat & Tears - self-titled, BS&T 4
John B Sebastian - self-titled
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken? (feat. every 1stgen country artist)


... yea, I think those are the recent ones. Totaling $14, i believe. 7 records. score!


These are the vinyls I'm keeping my eyes open for:

Blood, Sweat & Tears - BS&T 3, New Blood, No Sweat, Mirror Image
The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies, Are The Village Green Preservation Society, Face to Face, Something Else, Lola vs Powerman and the Money-go-round pt 1, Arthur
The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic, Daydream, Hums, Everything Playing
Anything Simon & Garfunkel
Procol Harum - self-titled, Shine On Brightly, A Salty Dog
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
Something by Donovan
Elton John - Madman Across The Water
Yes- Close to the Edge, Tales of Topographical Oceans

I look for these when I go to record stores. If you find a store that has a fair amount of these artists (but for cheap, sorry, Bop Street), give me a shout! I wanna go.

liszt.

work hard.
sleep well - not too long, not too short.
eat balanced meals.
read a book a week.
read as few recent novels as you can.
dress simply.
keep your home clean.
take long baths. use the time to read if you'd like.
spend your recreation time well. don't waste it on stressful entertainment.
don't watch blockbuster movies unless the story isn't recycled.
exercise self-control.
have thick pajamas, and thin pajamas.
drink caffeine-free tea if you want to relax at night.
work in your yard when the sun's out.
learn history, theology and philosophy, so your worldview isn't a product of the times.
increase your vocabulary. with new words come new ideas.
listen to jazz. don't like it? start with dave brubeck.
listen to classical.
drink water more than anything else.
don't download music illegally unless it's a try-before-you-buy or you already own the vinyl.
look at maps.
go on walks or ride your bike.
pray for your friends.
brush your teeth.
use deodorant.
don't facebook or tweet too much. take a break.
live off of less than you earn.
give.
learn an instrument.
make mix cds for friends.
read poetry. not the fluffy stuff.
think. think. think.
be aware of your behavior.
hang out with somebody new.
go to towns you haven't been to before and explore them.
walk to the tops of mountains. big ones.
go to the ballet. and musicals.
don't play games too much. but also, play games with people.
have deep conversations.
have light conversations.
repent.
wash your sheets.
don't blog too much.
don't text too much.
seek wisdom.
cook.
rearrange your room every so often.
if you're single, enjoy it for all it's worth.
if you're taken, make sure it's something good.

what you wear, what you eat, what you listen to, what you know, how you decorate your home, how you vacation, what you do or don't do doesn't make you any more special than anyone else. don't try to give yourself value by these silly, trivial things. Seek YHWH. Know YHWH. Walk with YHWH.

Learn the teachings of Jesus and follow them.

Scars

When I was a kid I wondered at scars. I imagined that they all had significant stories. My dad has great scars on his legs that he got when he was a young boy. He had polio, and they did surgery, switching muscles out. His scars have good stories.

Then I got my first scar. I was opening a can of beans, didn't take the top off entirely and I nicked my knuckle. Out came a chunk; a scar developed. No good story.

Then, a few months ago, I was taking cookies out of the oven and burned my arm less then a centimeter above where the glove ended. Now I bear the scar, pink, and sometimes white. And it's just gonna hang out there for decades with no story.

Our hearts get scarred. Often the scars have great stories. We can say we're wounded from great tragedy.

Sometimes nothing very significant caused them, but we'll let the scars stay for decades.

Brilliance

I'm reading my third Jacques Doukhan book, Secrets of Revelation: The Apocalypse Through Hebrew Eyes. I recently read Ecclesiastes: All is Vanity, and last year, Secrets of Daniel: A Jewish Prince in Exile.

His writing and insight is so excellent, I may buy his 1978 dissertation The Genesis Creation Story. But we'll see. Dissertations can be hairy reading.

I'm blown away by the richness of Revelation, Ecclesiastes, and Daniel.

Don't have much more to say than that. Just studying, learning, thinking.

Confessing. Repenting.

Blog Name

I have been asked to make an accounting of my changing blog names.

I liked this series of words in my current blog title. After finding them, I arranged them in the most pleasing order. Just say it out loud; it sounds great, doesn't it?

Prior to this, my blog was titled "Even in The Quietest Moments", which it had been called in the past. It's a Supertramp album title, and I just love the name.

Prior to that, it was called "MNMNTKLPRSN", which is the anglicized equivalent of the Hebrew words "mene mene tekel parsin", which is what is the "writing on the wall" in the story from where we get the idion. In the book of Daniel, Daniel uses the brilliance of Hebrew etymology to unpack a whole paragraph of meaning: "You have been weighed and measured and have been found wanting. Your kingdom will be divided between the Medes and Persians....." Something like that. From three words. Genius.

Don't recall the other names of the blog.

The Grammys

Best New Artist of the Year:
1970: Crosby, Stills, & Nash
2010: Zac Brown Band (?)


Album of the Year:
1970: Blood, Sweat & Tears
2010: Taylor Swift


Best Folk Artist:
1970: Joni Mitchell
2010: Steve Earle (?)

Song of the Week: "Hard Times, Come Again No More"

This is my 2nd song of the week.

It was written in the mid-1800s. During the Civil War it was popular in both confederate and union camps. This is Mavis Staples' version. This recording is her first take.

The video's cool, but close your eyes if it makes you miss the song.

You should really listen to it now.

Song of the Week: "Power of the Gospel"

This song has been looping in my head this past week. This video cuts off the instrumental intro and the first line: "It will make a weak man mighty. It will make a mighty man fall."

The studio version of this song has a beautiful string (quartet) arrangement. Never really been into Ben Harper, but this song and "Picture of Jesus" together make me want to get into him.

Song of the Week: "These Stones Will Shout"

By the Raconteurs. Pretty solid.

Life's been fast-paced. There's always something to do, and there's always more rest to be had. Our next tour starts in a mere 3 weeks.

No. Yes. More. Less.

In a format I stole from Candice, which she stole from Rick and Christine - whom I don't know - I shall attempt a resolution of sorts.

In '10, I'm saying NO to:

• Going to the ER or Urgent Care Center for anything related to my stomach.
• Being emotionally affected by bad / inconsiderate drivers.
• Debt. I want to get out of it this year.
  

In '10, I'm saying YES to:

• Daily Bible Study: See, a light reading of the Bible hasn't been doing much for me for a while (unless it's Psalms, Jesus' sermons and parables, Proverbs, or OT stories - Ruth, Esther, Kings, etc). I need to actually dig deep, understand the implications of the original languages, appreciate the remarkable Hebrew language, poetry, structure. Chew on heavy matters. Especially want to study the Prophets and the Wisdom literature. So, it's been Ecclesiastes so far this year. Studying chapter 8 right now.
  
• US citizenship. It's due time.
• Holding my tongue.
• Pyramid schemes. Just kidding.
  

In '10, I'm saying MORE to:

• Practicing the bass and the piano on my own. Learning classical pieces on both. First one? Bach's Prelude for his first Cello Suite on the electric bass.
• Reading. I need to finish books. In April I started recording what books I completed. I haven't completed very many, though I've read a considerable portion of many books. So, I need to complete them.
• Hiking. '09 was a failure in this regard.
• Records. Vinyl, that is; not Guinness World.
• Patience.
• Traveling. ...ok, I already do that a lot.
• Learning.
  

In '10, I'm saying LESS to:

• Online Social Networking. I don't want to waste my time with it. Only use it to actually connect with people.
• Promethazine.
• Grumbling.
  

What's up, Doc?

This week has been too fast. I feel like I haven't stopped. The only thing keep me sane is my study of Ecclesiastes every morning.

I'm averaging 11 hours of work a week - scattered over four shifts. "This, too, is chasing the wind".

If I could get 8 more hours of work a week - even five more hours - my life would be drastically different.

And on a separate note, heard some of the worst news one could ever hear today: My granddad never had cancer. He was wrongly diagnosed, and it was the chemotherapy that killed him. I have nothing to say.

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I Have Measured Out My Life In Coffee Spoons

This evening I made a stringent schedule for my day tomorrow. I plan to do that every evening this week before I rest.

I'm good at managing my duties and accomplishing my tasks, but sometimes some things take longer than expected and other necessary things get cut out - such as personal practicing, composition, brainstorming, personal tasks. If I'm strict about time spent on other labors, I can be sure not to miss out on these things.

We all know social networking can absorb more time than we intend. So, tomorrow I'm spending five minutes on Facebook - from 5:30 to 5:35, smack dab in between work and recreation.

We'll see how this system works.

Etymology

The other day I was reading about the Venerable Bede and learned that "bede" was an old english word for "prayer". I guessed that the word "bead" came from that, and the rosary association, and....

I was right! From Etymonline:

"BEAD: late 14c., bede "prayer bead," from O.E. gebed "prayer," from P.Gmc. *beðan (cf. M.Du. bede, O.H.G. beta, Ger. bitte, Goth. bida "prayer, request"), from PIE *gwhedh- "to ask, pray." Shift in meaning came via beads threaded on a string to count prayers, and in phrases like to bid one's beads, to count one's beads. Ger. cognate Bitte is the usual word for conversational request "please." Also related to bid (O.E. biddan) and Goth. bidjan "to ask, pray.""

It feels good to start guessing your etymology correctly.

Off to bed.