Old Friends and Being an Artist
September 3, 2004I met up with my old friend Shawn last night. We have not really hung out for a long time. Almost 8 years ago our lives started down very different paths. I found out I was going to be a father and a few short months later, he landed a major record label deal and his music career took off. Last night we talked about our two very different lives, family, work and the art of making music as a vocation.
The older I get the more I realize, that life is a struggle at any level, in any vocation and any tax bracket. I am blessed for the life I have and the fact that I can earn a consistent living though, it seems I curse my day job on a regular basis because it's very existence sets in stark relief the fact that I am not a working musician and probably never will be again.
Money is the great equalizer. Everybody has to answer to the bottom line. When I look too hard at it all through this microscope, I spiral down into places I don't like to go. More and more I try to look at my life as one long opportunity to see as much as I can, to love as much as I can and to connect to the source as often as possible.
The little movie below is representative of how many of my mornings are spent. I write when I'm commuting to work. This morning I just decided to capture the idea with my camera before I lost the mood, though I must confess it's painful to watch and listen to myself. I hope to evolve this into a kindof Bruce Cockburn spoken word piece. I like the concept and the word play a lot, though it can use some tightening up in places.
Faster Than the Speed of Documentation
Catching Up: How Many Plates Can I Spin?
Review of Eddie's Attic Show on March 30th
Dylan Turns Six and Eddie's is Still the Place to Be
Charles Brings his Guitar and Plays Mine
Beyond Pat-Boone-Debbie-Boone: Gerry Hanson Rocks
Eatting, Writing, Living Large
A Trip to Wayne Henderson's Shop
Funny Blogs and Conversation Ticks
Infinite Possibilities at Checkout
Recording the New Screen Door Album
Dylan Makes Five and Becomes a Knight
Easter Bunny, Bacteria and Other Random Thoughts
Turning the Odometer on my Universe
Dark Side of the Moon in Decatur
Zen and the Art of Guitar Playing