Last night I had a dream about Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, it was really cool. That is one of my very favorite books, you should read it so we can talk about it!

I've been in Arkansas for almost 3 weeks, I don't want to leave. I am going back to Seattle tomorrow and I gotta spend my first Christmas away from my family. "Life's hard so I gotta be hard too!"

Really anxious to finish this dang recording. It's gonna be really good I think. I've started writing a few new songs, not too sure about them but I never am. I hate writing lyrics so much, its stresses me out.

From Brighton Beach To Santa Monica

The Clientele are one of the best bands out right now. Their last two albums ("Strange Geometry" and "God Save The Clientele")have been nothing short of perfect. I say this as a weary old man, quite crabby and impressed by very little these days.

They have a new one coming out next month and they are streaming the whole thing right now at the link below. Give it a listen, I'm excited. The third track, "Harvest Time", is vintage Clientele: Alasdair MacLean's haunting English drone cooing over lush, reverbed out single coil guitar and an airy snare-ride rhythm section. Reminds me a bit of a song I wrote called "summertime", but that is neither here nor there.


http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=628#

Beachwood Park

This is for Alec, a man after my own heart.

The Fall is starting, it hurts me. The world is dying you know. People that I really like are coming back to Seattle. The Mopes are recording on Saturday and have a bunch of new songs. We're really good. I don't mind saying it, I think its pretty true. We're playing sunday in Beltown, I forget where.

I'm just about to a place in my life where I can be myself with every single person I know. Some people I might hold things back from, but rarely do I find myself wearing a mask for someone else. (It hasn't always been like this you know, I used to be a lot of different people. Most of them weren't me anyway, which is good because they weren't people I'd like to know.) I think this is due more to the great people I have in my life than anything else. Leaving my life in California is also a big part of it.

I will try to write in this more.

What man has made of man

“Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” (Proverbs 14:13, ESV)

I have been having so much fun and feeling so sad over the course of single days, its kind of hard to ride sometimes. I want something that seems so close but so impossible all at once. The verse up above is in my mind all the time right now.

Springtime is a good time to be melancholic, because the rest of the world is constantly trying to snap you out of it. It doesn't really work, or maybe it does but it doesn't last very long... In any case its nice to know that nature cares.

Springtime is a good time for poems. I have been thinking of lots lately. Wordsworth is really nice in the spring I think. Flowers just have to take pleasure in every breath, I really believe it.


Lines Written In Early Spring by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?


The verse that has been very healing for me tonight is: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5, ESV)
I'm gonna go try to do that now.

A poem, unfinished as ever

I want to connect these better, but this is a skeleton. Note to self, keep at it.

The overpass, it shudders,
as all the cars go by.
In the bosom of Abraham,
our kids too tired to cry.
King Sleep, you know he conquers
everyone and all.
Take rest where you can find it.
Cozy up to concrete wall

The road exhales in the distance
as cars drive along
to destinations I don't know.
On nights like these
it's a welcome noise,
and i crack my window just a little
to break up the silence

Tonight, Tonight

I can't sleep tonight, feelin' kinda blue, kinda lonesome. I figured it might be nice to write, it helps sometimes. I can't be too specific though, people might actually read this thing.

This last month and a half have been a really nice time in my life. The Lenten season of fasting really did me good, getting rid of all kinds of excesses in my life and centering my focus on The Lord has been so great. Easter felt kinda magical, lots of anticipation leading to such a great payoff, a day with family and friends, old and new. I've met a number of people in this time frame that have quickly become favorites. These are people who, and I can say this with confidence, just get it. It's a simple thing to say but so complicated in the real world, and when you find it it's something that you shouldn't take for granted. So I've been trying real hard not to do that, and to get these people into my life. I want God and people to be a priority over everything else, I've been trying this out and having a lot of fun in the process.

There is a real sweetness to my walk with The Lord right now. I try to talk about God without using Christian buzzwords, I just hate that kind of thing. I'm having a really hard time with that right now for some reason, but I won't stop fighting to say these things in my own voice and not Stephen Curtis Chapman's.

I keep getting the sense that the world is exactly how it should be, no small sensation I assure you. The closer I get to Jesus the more I want to keep getting closer, its like a snowball of holiness and love. I have jokingly called this a "neo-fundamentalism" phase I am going through to a few friends that are interested in me. I am actually worried about being "worldly" for the first time in forever. I don't want to cuss or watch R rated movies at the moment, that's just not my scene. I'm a stranger here, its good to remember it. I've had a number of friends and acquaintances fall away from the faith recently and it weighs really heavy on me. Their situations are showing me that I've been just a hair away from where they are for a long time now, dancing on this line, toying with the idea of throwing it all away just to stop all the questions from driving me crazy, or to just feel good even if it's only for a little while. That's not who I am though, that's not the life I've chosen. I don't ever want to lose what I've built between me and God. I want Jesus to look me in the eye someday and say "Well done my good and faithful servant". You know whats dumb? I feel kind of emberessed typing that up, like it's cheesy or something and that it would make my friends laugh. That's gotta be telling in some way, though I'm not sure how exactly. I guess it just illustrates how my values have become what the world dictates, this is so upsidedown! I'm reading James right now, it is the perfect book for this season, thank God!

I'm growing a whole lot now, it's awesome and long overdue in some areas, but gosh it hurts sometimes. I have to be brave. I let myself see the way things could be in a very negative way most of the time, its a really cheap defense mechanism to keep myself from being disapointed. It takes a lot of strength to look life right in the face and expect the very best from it, and right now I am worried that I'm not strong enough to do that. I know it's what I need to do though, because if I can't even imagine life being better then how in the world am I supposed to make it happen, you know?

In really vague terms, this fear is keeping me up tonight. I am afraid to imagine myself being happy because I have been let down in this situation so many times. I'm even more afraid to be vulnerable and take the steps I need to take. I really need some help, and I really believe in prayer, so if you are the praying kind could you pray for me?

Mary Love

This is an Easter story about my little cousin Mary Love. She is so spacey and cute. Told via facebook chat.

12:30amJames

i have a mary loves tory

12:30amPatrick

perhaps

pray tell

12:31amJames

well we saw her biting grapes in half and looking inside, one by one

and asked her what she was doing

"looking for jesus"

she said.

"he rose from the grape"

no joke.

12:32amPatrick

hahahahahahahahahahaahahaha

im loling

Melody day, where have you gone?

Last night I talked to Moorea for a while and it was nice. I'm very sorry that she's so hurt and sad, nice people always seem to get screwed over. I told her of some recent confusing and dramatic things in my life, it was nice just to say them out loud. She is a good friend and person, I know that there is a lot of happiness for her even if things are not easy right now.

Now on to MUSIC!!!!

Late pass I know, but I am just now getting into the band Caribou. Andorra is really a great album, as much as I hate on the "psyche" phenomenon going on these days I can't deny when something is this good. I am gonna be spinning this one a whole lot in the next year. For some reason it really makes me want to be back home in california, playing Final Fantasy video games in my room. I used to do that a lot, even in the hot and gorgeous summer. Ah man, I'll never have that room again, it was tiny and hot but it was mine, you know?




School:
Finals week, after Wednesday I should be finished!!!

Voyage To Atlantis

Today is slow jam day, get into it.






Listen to the high note at the 2:18 Mark in "Reasons"!

You just haven't earned it yet, baby

Everything is due!!! Finals are around the corner, I'm losing it. This has been a tough quarter. So glad that spring is almost here!

I have a problem with blowing off school for quality people time. I'm about to do it again right now. I guess its only a problem if I have a problem with it. I only have 1 quarter left and I am not a good student. I am good at a lot of other things though, like friendship, and I take things like that a lot more serious than book learnin'

I had a partial Mopes practice yesterday (just Dev, Steve, and me). Very productive and satisfying. I almost have an albums worth of songs written and half written, they are getting better and better. I am so excited about the band but also a tad overwhelmed. I think my vision for it might be too huge, I am willing to go all out with it but I don't think I can expect everyone else to do that as well, a balance must be struck. Civilizations are built on compromise I suppose. Some serious managerial skills need to be forged, I need to be more tenacious.

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing after college. I don't ever have a good answer. I have this fuzzy idea that I will be working and touring, traveling with friends in between. I think I could do that forever. Not sure how that will work but I have pretty good luck.

Everything sucks

I couldn't sleep yet again tonight, I feel terrible.

Spring is so close, I hate winter.

School is the worst.

She dares all things

My favorite new band at the moment is Panda Riot, what a terrific name.



I really hope i can make music like this. They are taking the My Bloody Valentine aesthetic and running with it in a way that doesn't come off in a cheap or derivative way.

No Regrets, great night with my best friend

Another sleepless night by myself, weeee!

The Beatles are the love of my life. They wrote the greatest pop songs of all time, invented the music video, invented the concept album, pioneered multiple groundbreaking recording techniques, all in the span of 6 years. They make me want to stop playing music. At the same time, they make me want to devote my life to playing music. I've been up all night listening to their various solo projects.
Top Song by each beatle (post beatle days)

George -Wah Wah : it doesn't get more trascendent than this. It's like he caught joy in a cage and held a tape recorder up to it for 4 minutes and this is what came through.

Georgie Georgie! My favorite Beatle :D



Paul - Band On The Run : Each part of the song would be a good song in itself, amazing how he strings them all together. In a word, this song is epic (what an overused word by the way). This gets stuck in my head a lot.



John - Cold Turkey : On any normal day I would say "imagine", lordy what a melody line, but this is the track i've been listening to all night. The lyrics are about his withdrawl from heroin, perfect fodder for rock n' roll. I feel like this song is an example of solo John at his best; driving bassline, bluesy rock riffs, catchy chorus.


Ringo - err... : Look Ringo, you are adorable, easily the most lovable Beatle. However, I have yet to hear a truely great song that you actually wrote after the Fab 4 years. Instead of listing one of your mediocre tracks that I rarely think of, I will... well I just won't. I plan to name a child of mine Ringo, preferably the youngest, that has to cheer you up just a little, right? Hope that is a good enough conselation, we love you!

stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

I can't seem to make myself do schoolwork. I think I need to take a long break from all media, all I do is sit at my computer and waste time. Insomnia is back in full effect. I've been really reclusive as of late, I need to get out more.

I've been messing with my Tascam 4 track recorder, that's really fun. Wish my roomate would leave more, its hard to record with him around all the time. I have a billion half finished songs right now, I need to piece them together and get more final products before that show. I oscillate wildly from wild enthusiasm to deep self doubt when it comes my creative output, not sure why that is.

My top shoegaze band of the moment is resplandor, they're from peru, really great.

http://www.coachella.com/event/lineup

Coachella lineup announced, first year that I would consider going.

Morrissey and Paul McCartney on Friday.

Brian Jonestown Massacre (I wonder what the eff that lineup will be), MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and The Cure on Sunday

sighs smell of farewell

I have started to post an update 3 or 4 times in the last few months, they just never seem interesting enough to finish. I suppose I will update about my life as of late, that might be nice.

I'm really glad for this 3 day weekend, I was able to sleep a lot and go on an adventure. On Sunday I went with the rest of the bookhouse boys to explore North Bend, where the greatest show of all time was filmed (Twin Peaks). It was the strangest weather, the sun was out in full force and there wasn't a cloud in sight, such a good way to see the city. We saw the road where the opening shot of Mt. Sai was filmed, Snoqualmie falls where Laura Palmer's body was found dead, wrapped in plastic. We saw the Roadhouse, and through a fine piece of trespassing we saw the Sherrif's station, as well as the Mill. We ate at the double R diner, twice! I sold out on the veg unwittingly, their sawmill gravy had bits of bacon in it, totally worth it though, no regrets. Vegitarianism can go on vacation every once in a while, no big.

I've been playing music a lot more than usual. I love A Leaf, it's such a fun band. We played Neumo's last week and I think it went really well. We have a show at the high dive coming up, I doubt it will compare favorably to our recent shows but you never know. It's fun to play those songs, even if nobody else can hear.

I've been writing my own songs since this summer, I like a few of them now. That's a hard thing for me to do, to like things of mine. I just wrote a song, it's called "Squirrel" and it makes me feel pleased with myself. I am in the process of recording them to my 4 track, it's a learning experience, good thing i have 3 new tapes. I want to have a band for these songs, the people I've been playing with don't seem too motivated though. I need enthusiasm! Confound it all, we might just see a shake up in The Mopes lineup yet... Oh yes, we are playing that February show with Morea and Taylor and others, stoked for that.

I hate the winter time. Nothing new there. I require a more mediteranian climate than Seattle affords, this will be a consideration for the summer and beyond. I had an invitation to go to Hawaii with a new friend or two this spring break, sounds pretty good right about now.

I've been listening to lot's of Pale Saints and My Bloody Valentine. I don't like current music aside from a band or two (animal collective, deerhoof, more?). It's all so non linear and 'uncontrived' that it ends up feeling all too contrived to me, "dizzying and illogical", like being released from an air hatch into outer space. The world needs good pop songs. The world needs simplicity. Well I do at least, I don't mean to lose my head and speak for humanity.