i’ve got an ad campaign to design today… and a print shop issue to deal with too. hmm… but i really want to tell you how great eternal sunshine of the spotless mind was last night.

soon… soon.

by the way… i have no clue why i thought of this today, but…bebo got hitched about four months ago. hopefully, he will now come up with some better snappy on-stage banter in between songs and stop complaining about not being able to get a date. i look at it as a positive thing.

meetings, meetings, meetings…

today is random, short tid-bits of unrelated info day. you didn’t know?

the second EPIPHANY LOUNGE™ (that’s the little artist gathering thingy that nick is putting on monthly.) was last night. MCD was, of course, my pick. he had much to say this morning about how it was frustrating/fun. his take, rightly so, was that artists in general have a fairly off perspective on truth. in one breath, most artistic people will talk about how truth is open to interpretation and how there are no absolutes, and then in the next breath say “that piece of art is horrible.” does no one see how illogical that thought process is?

pluralism… i hate it. i told MCD it’s the same mentality of the folks who support abortion and support PETA… and don’t think their thought process is at odds with itself. nonetheless, a good time was had by all. i think nick will be able to keep making the EPIPHANY LOUNGE™ better with each seating. by the way, in case you care, i did the invititations for nick this time.

i slept for an hour saturday night. then i slept from 2:00PM until 8:00PM on sunday afternoon. it’s official, my body hates me.

i met craig humberd, the area director for young life last night, strangely enough, at papa john’s while we were waiting for our repsective pizza orders to be ready. he had on a windy gap t-shirt, so i just struck up some convo about windy gap and found out who he was. very cool. we exchanged business cards. i think we both felt like pose-ur adults… “here’s my card… dude.” …in the middle of the papa john’s parking lot.

much hang out time with jake and suz last night. i heart my friends. we talked for FIVE HOURS. i didn’t realize it until i left their house… at 3:00AM. (again, my body hates me and eventually will exact its revenge)

i got new flip flops on friday afternoon. you have no idea how glorious they are. the gig at clemson that night with MCD and will gibbs was great. ghetto sound system, but fun nonetheless. will busted out awesome, off-the-cuff renditions of purple rain and george michael’s freedom, as well as all his amazing original stuff. i want to listen to him play right now… sad. MCD was of course king-of-covers and played some great picks. he’s so funny to watch when he doesn’t have a band. completely different confidence level. we are the performing antithesis of each other. he needs the band to feel comfortable… i can’t seem to get comfortable playing music with anyone. whatever the case, fun times were had by all. many thanks to the groupies for showing support. our band-aids rock.

why do all these aussie folks turn out to be great reads? jenn at sunburned usually makes me smile… but lately i’ve been getting a side of laugh with my smiling. anyone who writes stuff like “if a person doesn’t respond to your emails over a period of several months, is that a hint?” or “i don’t have anything to say to you right now…it’s not you. it’s me.” or “tonight we had nine children and four adults over for dinner. this is not an unusual occurrence.” or ends her paragraphs with statements like the always classic “also. your mama.”… well, folks, she’s alright with me.

new movies that fall into the category of ” i want to see it but it will most likely not play at my local theater b/c it doesn’t have somebody who’s hollywood-hott in it.” coffee & cigarettes looks interesting, if for no other reason than listening to conversation between iggy pop and tom waits.

iggy pop: i worked with this drummer the other day, i think you ought to check him out.

tom waits: what are you trying to tell me? the drumming on my record sucks? what are you saying?

i heart tom waits. but that’s not all… you also get the added bonus of bill murray (who you gonna call?), steven wright, and steve buscemi… good actors, good dialouge… goodness takes motion picture form.

a documentary on rodney bigenheimer, the main guy behind rock radio giant KROQ, called the mayor of sunset strip looks good.

paul bettany is officially the man, and that makes me look forward to seeing the reckoning. then again, i’m pretty much a sucker for any movie that decently deals with the subject of forgiveness/redemption/etc. it’s got willem dafoe in it, so this one might have a decent shot at showing up at my local theater. yaaay me. also, gina mckee is in it… she was bella (the one in the wheelchair) in notting hill, which i thought was a great part, so i’m interested to see her in something else.

movie review hour… over and out.

honestly, this is the greatest thing i have seen today.

well, i spent some of OUTRAGEOUS THURSDAY™ shooting. our downtown area is so great for photographia. i find something new everytime i go walking around… especially in the little alleys and such. i also did some work at the office (day off, schmay off), had some lunch with wilson, and wrote two songs… both of which i’ll probably play tonight. i really need to stop doing that, but i can’t help it. i’ll try to post lyrics when i finally decide what they actually need to say. oh… and we had papa john’s pizza and coca cola classic for dinner last night… the papa always treats me right… and it rules me. (and then indigestion ruled me… but it was a fair trade… and i think we should make trade fair… or something. i don’t know… i heard that somewhere.)

tonight? for those about to rock… we salute you.

new interview here with shepard fairey. i like him lots.

highlight? “People make this very black-and-white delineation. But I say, ‘How would you feel about it if it were a little more ambiguous? If all companies had marketing materials that didn’t insult the consumer? That were somewhat creative and intelligent and almost like an art piece with a product behind it?’” The self-branded rebels might not like it, he says, but “it sounds pretty utopian to me.”

on march 1 i wrote “i want a laptop” and 24 days later i find out my tax return is $1600… which is how much the laptop i want costs. coincidentally. “you do not have because you do not ask” keeps running through my head for some odd reason.

elbow deep in design work today. but that’s a fantastic thing, because i love it… i love it good. i’m working on a new set of desktop wallpapers for the work site, which should be up by next week. i might even manage some ‘tops for here too. would you like that? you hate your computer’s desktop right now, don’t you? admit it… you have an ugly computer. no need to feel insecure about it. we can fix it.

i’m very excited about painting the town red (why red?) on friday with this gig in clemson. playing is fun, but to be honest i’m just looking forward to hanging out with MCD and will gibbs. hilarity will ensue. fun times… on the horizon.

oh, yeah… did i mention i’m getting $1600 back on my tax return? somebody’s getting another mac to put at his house, and i’m not giving you any chances to guess who. it is a beautiful day here… and all the world is right. (that is, unless you’re this guy. ouch. and by “ouch” i mean “oh my dang.”)

and since i know you’ve always thought “you know, the exorcist is a fine film, but i often wonder what it would be like condensed to 30 seconds and reenacted by bunnies”… the power of Christ compels you to click here.

friday night… the will gibbs will be rocking the mid-tempo acoustic folk rock with MCD and i at clemson. details to follow soonly. promise.

i’m full of it today… links, that is.

the 209.250.27.28. no, i don’t know what it is either, but it made me laugh and that’s good enough for me. link shamelessly pilferred from joshua davis of praystation fame.

and who didn’t wake up this morning and think, “i wish i knew what it was like to be one man. 1,240 miles. alone in the arctic?” that’s right, you know you did… and ben saunders is doing all the leg work for you. drop him a message here. so very cool. (heh… so very unintentionally punny)

along the same lines, the wired nomad project is still one of the more interesting web projects i’ve ever seen. they’re supposedly starting off april with the ability for other users to keep track of their travels and post entries online using the same system. my interests? off the charts.

random… but why not? this is what the desktop looks like these days.

good times with jake and suz and company last night. we watched a bit of the new diana krall live DVD… and let’s just say it’s pretty much perfect. and followed that with a little school of rock, which for some reason i had neglected to see up until that point. funny flick. good times. much convo long into the morning (not about rock.) it’s great to have friends.

in the midst of a few new books right now. minimalismo, which is a nice (mainly) photo book of well-designed furniture/buildings/interiors in the (you guessed it) minimalism-style. fantastic ideas for everything future… yes, i admit it, i love interior design… and i love women… at the same time. strange, i know. but i’m an enigma, people… you can’t pin me down. also, taking your talent to the web, which is a good zeldman guide for print designers making the transition to the web.

(that would be me in case you were confused.)

on the back-burner is 21st century office, which is all about modern office space. i need some ideas when i move into my new office this week, and this looks like the place to get them.

switching gears, do you know people who can send you the shortest emails in the world and still make you laugh? or write something like two fragments (not even real sentences) and still communicate what they needed to? i’m (obviously) not one of those people… i probably could be, but i like to talk… so sue me. (is that a crime?) examples, with names removed as to protect the privacy of all the ridiculously minorly famous people i know:

“i like you. you say nice things” the response to a long-winded novella about art and faith and impacting the culture around you. hysterical.

“have you been doing much web work? show me?” show me is now apparently a question. and is hysterical when phrased as one.

“i really know nothing about photography. i’m completely faking it.” semi-famous photographer who is getting lots and lots of work recently. verdict? hysterical.

“hey bro… GREAT hanging. your spirit is thick and awesome. keep that up.” what? and by “what?” i mean… “whatde?” not only was i completely unaware of my spirit’s thickness OR awesomeness… i’m also at a loss as to how i keep up these adjectives. sigh… but i will try. thickly… and awesomely. (it’s a word… back off.)

ok, people:

you have got to be freaking kidding me part 1.

you have got to be freaking kidding me part 2.

it’s strange… sometimes i feel like i’m fighting a battle between music and art. i don’t know if any of you can relate. both have always been a part of my life… i started drawing before i started talking (or walking, actually) and even though i didn’t start playing guitar or songwriting until college, our family was always surrounded by music… either my ‘rents singing in church or my sister and her total-metal-kid™ phase or me and my [insert strange music genre here]. i can’t imagine life without either of them… but i almost constantly feel like i have to choose. i’m not sure why. one of the men who has mentored me and taught me so much, ben pasley, told me 4 or 5 years ago not to get to attached to music (and encouraged me to explore art more… which i of course stubbornly refused to do for a few more years) and made it very clear that he could see me going through seasons of embracing different artistic disciplines as a way to express myself. i trust ben… but i still wrestle with the way that plays out in my life.

my personality drives me up the wall sometimes. i want to try everything… but i never finish very many of those things. (let’s list the things i want to do right now that i’m not doing: hiking more, starting to paint again, rock climbing again, learning to kayak with jason, doing more freelance design work, discipling some college guys who are artists, building furniture for my new house, helping my sister paint her living room… the list goes on… and on.) i just wonder why i feel like it can only be one or the other… like i’m at some sort of crossroads… choose to be a designer… or a songwriter… or a loser. now, i know that i don’t have to choose… but that doesn’t mean i don’t feel like i have to choose. (of course, if i buy into the fact that my feelings follow my thoughts, which i think i do, then that blows my theories out of the water.) this is going to sound really pretentious, and i don’t mean to, but if i just absolutely sucked at music, it wouldn’t be a hard decision… hopefully, i would know i was a wretched, tonedeaf songwriter who brought pain and misery to everyone with semi-functional hearing, i’d quietly step off stage, and i’d never play in public again. but i’m not bad… some nights? i even feel like i’m pretty good. but i also know i don’t want to do that full-time. i’m not kidding anybody, i’m a home-body. i only like to travel when i want to travel… having to travel takes all the fun and mystery out of it for me. and i don’t want to spend the next 10 years trying to convince everyone to look at me and listen to me.

MCD once told me i was something like 100 times better a designer than a musician… which i needed to hear. it puts things in perspective. art comes… so… easy… to me. it’s second nature. music comes easier to me now than it used to… but seriously… i’d write for 3 or 4 (or 7) hours a day in college. anything you do that often is going to start getting easier.

i suppose i’m just trying to figure out why i feel like i can’t do everything. why can’t i continue learning to be a better designer and be a songwriter who plays the occasional show? there is no reason why i can’t… but i still feel like i can’t. i want to hit something right now. like myself. right in the mouth.

really, really hard.

you should go here and scroll over the furniture section… click on lamp. now, get me 10 or 11 of those lamps, people. hop to. so very cool. (click on the little plus for the full experience)

i got nothing but a huge to-do list of design work today.

and now, continuing the best and/or funniest and/or weirdest and/or my-god-your-’rents-were-evil names in anderson, sc… letters “H” through “L”.

Bert Harms, Rosemary Heart, Nova Heaton, Fred Hering, Henry H. Hipps, True Hix (I kid you not), Bettyjo Hooie, O. Howes, Floyd Hozey, A. Huff, John Human, Na Na Hunter, Lawrence Hurlbut, O.E. Hurte, Frank Justice, R.O. Kay, Dreama Kees, A.C. King (aka brown?), Richard Work King, Oscar Knight ( ! ), M.L. Knuckles, Stella Kwaak, Brooklyn Leopard, James S. Lick, M. Llamas, Donald S. Looney, and Darrell Lovinggood.

who needs hobbies… or a life… when you have the phone book?

welcome to RELAXING THURSDAY™. yes, yes, i know… that’s two RELAXING THURSDAYS™ in a row, but MCD is out of town and i am too tired to do anything remotely outrageous today. i’m at the office, packing up some things… i’m moving into another (bigger) office on monday, which will be nice. after all, we have to make room for the PC that i’ll have soon… i hope my apple doesn’t get jealous, but something like 90% of you insane people still use microsoft explorer and so i’m forced to design websites to accomodate your error in judgement… thus, a PC. grr. (if you could only see how much prettier this site is in apple’s safari browser.)

the open mic i played last night was great. the host musician, rene russell was quite good, super friendly, and massively complimentary of my stuff… that’s always nice. she has a weird/sweet right-hand picking style. (i’m one to talk, right? king of weird playing) i’m playing in columbia tonight at jammin java and rene was insistant i stop by her gig in columbia and play some with her after i get through. friendly, unpretentious musicians make me happy.

the highlight of the evening was meeting will gibbs, though. he was AWESOME. and by “awesome” i mean freak guitar player, killer voice, good songs… i would have bought twelve of his CDs… if he had any. we bonded pretty quickly, he’s just a great guy. i want to play shows with him… like right now. i can forsee hanging out with will and his wife danielle soon…. and often. so thankful for meeting them. i mean, we shared a hug before we parted… for guys, that’s just the ultimate, “dude… dude… so good to meet you.” yes, sir.

which brings me to another thing… after basking in the glow of the whole “black and white and grey” saga (men, women, friends, etc.) i’m starting to realize that at this point in my life i naturally gravitate towards young married couples for hang out time. it didn’t really hit me until the drive home last night (in between cranking some joss stone… the cover of some kind of wonderful… on repeat… i hate the rest of the album, but that song kicks my butt) but it makes perfect sense. 1.) i want to be married, so learning about what marriage really looks like in the lives of my friends makes perfect sense. 2.) not to generalize, but married people have already had a swift kick in the pants when it comes to being less selfish and more forgiving, as well as growing up… traits i’d love to get a better hold on. and 3.) that’s the way to still get the female point of view… without the drama of single women and their thoughts (again, i’m not cracking on any of my friends… i love you guys… it’s just frustrating sometimes.) now, of course, i’m not going to stop hanging out with someone because they’re not married… that’s extreme and i have learned to hate extremes… but i think it provides a nice balance… which is something i’ve been looking for. then again, i don’t know anything and i’m full of untested theories which may or may not survive when exposed to life.

for now… i will enjoy what i do know, which is that publix deli subs are awesome, and i am going to get one for lunch.

ladies and gentlemen…

i am now the proud owner of www.yourcreativitydollarsatwork.com

[ applause ]

this site should actually be a functioning site in say, a year… when i get around to it… if i get around to it…

did you see lost in translation and think, “that never really happens.” wrong, governor.