A fine layer of ash now sits on everything like snow. Lumps of gray against the black in the remaining light jut out against the otherwise empty landscape. The light has gotten dimmer since the beginning. I can't quite tell where the light comes from. Somehow there is always enough to see a dozen feet or so ahead....and then black. From time to time the gray lumps turn out to still be alive. Not quite asleep yet. Sometimes the cold has taken them and they lie there: empty. They often look as if they tried to pull the ash over themselves, like a blanket, to find some measure of warmth. When I find them like this, they are usually with others. Others who forgot or never remembered in the first place where they needed to go. All of them huddled up in this place. Going nowhere together. From time to time I see one or two who have not given in to the cold. Walking or limping about as best they can.....most say they are headed upwards...towards the sunlight. I have not decided to help anyone remember yet.....I feel like I have made it this far not because I remember....that's easy. I know. I understand. I dont always know what it is I understand....but I know this nonetheless: The sun is not the answer. It is the sea.

I once stood on the edge of a daydream...waiting for my wings. Now I stand at the edge of the darkness: choosing to be free.

I wont be in this shifting darkness much longer. I can almost smell the salt on the air. Feel the water in my lungs. I'm coming.

-- I am afraid of the light --

We set out from home early in the year.
Where inland frost still lay on the remaining leaves and forming buds of the foothills.
Low among the boles we walked the path set forth by the bodies above us.
Slick-oil mud from the years melting gripping onto our feet like the hands of death.
Our road was a slow road.

We have learned in our travels.
Sometimes you have steady yourself.
Using your hands works best.
At the time of our departure we didn’t even see the shoreline we were rippling towards,
Ever increasing in speed.
Down the hills into the low country.
Brush and sage.

Heat.
Heat makes me tired.
Makes me forget, makes me not feel alive.

Slickskin dizzies whirl me about stumbling sometimes.
It’s hard to find our way when we are always scanning the ground in front of our feet.
Assuring ourselves that the path remains.
Light and dusty and alone we walked and walked and walked.

The smell of salt was not yet detectable on the air.
We were still a we and not an everything.
Still walking a path with no one to tread on us.

Your fingers form fjords
Seeking sunstained seas
and seakissed skies abound
around your little fjords

dont wonder
as you slip into the heavens



everything is as it should be

"He was wearing a Canadian tuxedo. He shook my hand, the smell of juniper peeking out from behind shrinking teeth. My brain took a dive and my stomach rose to meet it as I realized that this was my future. Front and center in a redneck Rick Astley video. I've got to get out of this town."

---

So I think I have decided to start posting some of my writing blurbs and whatnot here. Hopefully just the good stuff though. Anyway, this one is new, but I will probably post some old stuff in a few minutes.

Dayman

I spent an hour or two last night recording a cover version of 'Dayman' from the Its Always Sunny Musical 'The Nightman Cometh'. It can be heard on the Colorfield Bridge myspace.

Music and food....

Well, it has been a while and a lot has happened. Sort of. I just got back (a few days ago) from Santa Cruz, CA. I flew up there to mix the Glider album that has been sitting in limbo for months and months. I flew up Thursday night and got in around 11:30pm. Upon arrival we tracked vocals to one of the two tracks that was incomplete. The next three days were spent mixing for 13 hours a day. We lost 6 or 7 hours due to computer problems on Saturday which put us behind schedule. All in all though, things are sounding great. I have high hopes that we can get the album sent off to be mastered in the next few weeks. I have also more or less finished the Colorfield Bridge and Narrator Is Lying discs. They are just awaiting art design and release.

In other news: I start Culinary school this Sunday! I'm so excited! :) I've been cooking a lot lately anyways and I look forward to learning more about the subject. Two nights ago I tried a new (to me) way of cooking pasta: you cook it in water and red wine (1:2). It gives the noodles a red color and infuses them with a great flavor. I then heated up some oil and tossed in garlic and crushed red pepper and cooked the spaghetti (after draining) in the pan with a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, until the liquid was gone. It was then tossed with Olive Oil and Italian Parsley (chopped). It turned out pretty good. I think next time I am going to use much more garlic and add in some shallots and red bell pepper. It had a great buttery consistency but lacked some flavor depth. I think the addition of the shallots and red pepper will help bring out some of the flavors and will pair well with the wine. I will likely start writing updates about school and my cooking adventures (as well as continue my boring updates about music).

General Update: Vacation and Music

I spent last week in San Francisco. I had a good time. I initially choose San Francisco as my vacation spot because I have so many friends in the area. All of them (with the exception of Jenna, who I stayed with) were out of town while I was there. I spent a week alone riding trains, buses, and walking about the city. I had a great time. I mostly just wandered with my headphones on. Miles Davis and Nick Drake being the two most played artists on the iPod during the trip. I visited two museums there and saw some great art. including a few pieces by one of my favorite artists: Richard Diebenkorn. The De Young Museum also had an Andy Goldsworthy installation that was neat.

I spent a good amount of money at Amoeba Records (I got records by Bill Evans, Low/Dirty Three, Wayne Shorter, American Football, Robert Fripp and Andy Summers, Weather Report, Boards of Canada, and Peter Gabriel). Jenna took me to an awesome French-Vietnamese restaurant that was mindblowingly good. I am sad it is there and not here. I ordered a ginger lemon grass chicken with brown rice, and Jenna convinced me to get a soup that she likes...it was the best soup I've ever had, sweet spicy goodness. Vegetarian, with tamarind in it. Delicious. Jenna was a great hostess and I was happy to get to hang out with her more, as we had only hung out in person a few times previously.

Once I got back I managed to get to work on music again pretty quickly. I have 3-5 tracks in varying stages of completion. Christopher should be coming over to drum on a few of them in the near future. They range in style. I'm really starting to get excited about this album I've been working on. It feels like an album full of intros and outros but with very few full songs, lol. I like that. Just pieces of moods and sketches of ideas. Honestly, its the best I'm able to do right now, and that is just fine. Talked to Janessa today and with any luck she will be coming over sometime in the next week to finally finish up some Narrator Is Lying tracks. At this point I still expect to release that as well as the Colorfield Bridge album by the Fall/Winter this year. This has not been the best or most entertaining update ever, I'll try harder next time.