Weird

I turned down a fishing trip on a blue ribbon trout river tonight. I was planning on going but when I sat down and thought about it, I just wasn't that excited about it. I would rather stay home and be with my family than get up at 5am and catch fish. I wonder if this is what growing up feels like. Whatever it is, it feels weird.

Breaking Home Ties

I saw this painting for the first time a couple months ago in a news story. The original was found behind a fake wall in the home of a man who had died. It is called "Breaking Home Ties" by Norman Rockwell.
There are a few things that struck me about this painting when I first saw it. First, the detail in the painting is amazing. The contrast in the old, weathered face and hands of the father and the youthful excitement in the face of the boy headed off to college. The man seems like the type who has lived by the sweat of brow for a long time. He strikes me as the kind of man who will see his son off with a handshake instead of a hug. Notice that the boy is looking for the train and the old man is looking back toward home.
Looking at this picture today I noticed something I hadn't before; The old man is holding his hat in his hand but he is also holding the boy's hat. His last attempt to hold on to his son. Maybe he knows that he won't see him again for a long time. maybe he knows that his son will not follow in his footsteps.
I have at least 12 years until this scene becomes a reality for me but it hits home.

What do you see?

Girl With a Pearl Earring

I watched a movie last night called "Girl With a Pearl Earring". The story is about a girl who becomes a servant in the house of a Dutch painter in the mid 1600s. the movie, I felt, gave some insight into artists and how the creative process is fostered. If not for that fact, I probably could not have endured more than 20 minutes of it.

The interesting thing to me was that the story revolves around an actual painting. The painting inspired a novel and the novel was made into a movie. I thought that was the coolest thing. I would love to be able to see art inspire art more often. To write a song about a painting or a picture or paint a picture inspired by a short story. To see creativity cross-pollinate. That would be cool.

Unagi: More Than A State Of Mind.

I just got finished with a creative meeting regarding Christmas. It was fun and sort of a continuation of a meeting I was in yesterday. With zero notice, I was involved in a getaway meeting to discuss the teaching calendar for 2009. We left at noon and went to lunch at a secret place which ended up being a cool sushi restaurant. I'll be honest; I'm not a sushi fan. But it wasn't that bad and didn't taste as fishy as it has in the past. Bad pun, sorry. We grabbed some coffee and headed to our meeting location in downtown Renton. We spent the next 4 or 5 hours brainstorming. Thoughts and creative ideas were flying like hymnals at a revival...um...never mind. Hunger began to creep in again but we were able to shove it away like it was Andy Dick trying to get into a club before he was famous. When we finally did break for dinner, we ate at a little deli across the street. Then we came back and did a quick review, packed up and headed back to the church.

It is always fun to be around other creative people and feed off each other. To see an idea start like a mountain stream, small and indefinite, and as it is added to, it gains depth, definition, color and speed and becomes a river.

It hit me last night as I was brushing my teeth: What an awesome responsibility it is to be involved in shaping and leading this church. It is truly humbling.

No, It's not named after the bad actor.

I got to break in the Keyano (see below) this morning as I was playing the keys for the Sunday morning main services. It worked pretty well. The only thing was that the stool was a little tall and my mic was rocking back and forth when I would tap my foot to the beat. It was way less cluttered than having the piano and keyboard on stage and it made transitioning between sounds quick and painless. All in all it simplifies things and it looks way more rock and roll than the grand. Now I have to sort through the thousands of sounds on the new software!

The Keyano

So the new project is finished. It is an old Baldwin console piano with the guts torn out and a 49 key midi controller mounted inside. There is a wireless keyboard and small touch pad controlling the Mac tower running Logic 8 and Mainstage. Oh and don't forget the Digi 002 interface/output. Here is is in all it's glory!

Plug

If you are in the mood for some good poetry, check out my friend Cerissa's blog. cerissacerissa.wordpress.com or click the link in my "Blogs I Read" section. Good stuff.