Pick of the Week: The Night VI

I knew about this for several weeks but was saving it, and then as usual my computer broke, and weeks turned into months.  (I’m using my mom’s laptop now). But let me tell you I’m obsessed with this song. You know the replay button on youtube? Yeah.

The Night VI hail from London, Birmingham, Bogota, Northampton, and Paris (according to their facebook page) and were founded in 2010. All six members sing, and from what I’ve heard so far, this group has a very gentle, effortless sound. Look, watch the video and meet your new favorite band.

Pick of the Week: Little Hurricane

Little Hurricane is a two-piece rock band, formed in 2010, out of San Diego, California.

this song. it’s just so cool.

Pick of the Week: Geographer

Geographer is another indie rock trio, this time from San Francisco.  They lend a lovely synth-pop twist to this beautiful Arthur Russel cover.

 

Shout out to my newest friend Tyler for last week’s pick as well as this one.  This blog’s about to get a whole lot indier due to him.

Pick of the Week: Two Door Cinema Club

Irish indie rock trio released their new EP “Changing of the Seasons” this week.

The second track Crystal is a departure from the band’s typical upbeat sound and is probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard.  My only complaint is that it’s only 3:23.

overhaul

Hey loyal followers!

All 4 of you.

I was looking at my blog today and I realized that the last time I posted anything was the middle of July.  It has been over two months since I posted.

Part of this is because I just got into Tumblr.  It’s really cool.  But I’ve spent a lot more time culling than creating.  This might not be the best thing.

So, there is no way I am closing this blog.  But look out for an overhaul.  I’m going to streamline it.  Fewer categories, and more distinct.  Series that I will keep up (like my music posts on Fridays- they’re coming back!)

I don’t know how long this will take but I’m very excited, and I hope you are too, for this blog to become a grown-up blog for a writer and not a notepad for a kid.

Cheers!

welcome to paris

I’m not sure why I didn’t put these on the blog a few weeks ago, but here are two pieces I wrote within the first couple days of staying in Paris. Enjoy?

//

6/18/13 9:01 pm (ET)

it’s 3 am in Paris but of course I’m still wide awake, and it just rained but I think it’s stopping, and they don’t have screens in their windows even though we’re on the sixth floor, but they don’t seem to have moths either, and the air is surprisingly clean but I can tell someone’s been smoking in the courtyard recently.

//

I’m in a new country-

the language, the customs, the money?

je ne lui comprends pas

but the people look the same and

I can’t read the street signs but

I can smile at strangers and

I’m definitely lost but

ça me plait.

C’est chouette.

//

(I suggest google translate for the french phrases)

RECLAIMED

wrote this the other day in response to HitRecord’s call for submissions on “trash is still somewhere.”

//

I’m not trash, and he’s not trash, but he treated me like trash,

so I threw him away.

Like I threw away that sweater

with the hole in the sleeve

and I forgot about it.

But it sat in the thrift store for three months because no one

wanted it.

The green shoes next to it were sold.

The luggage in the corner was sold.

The entire jewelry counter was slowly sold and replenished.

And I was cold.

So I went back to the sweater without hope,

not thinking it would stick around,

and I paid for what I had thrown away.

No one else had loved it, but I had once, and I did still.

But I was cold.

So I called him up.

//

-with love and kisses-

why I write

So, I just wanted to post this extended quote from Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus.  It became an instant favorite as soon as I finished it, and is probably the best contemporary work I’ve read.  Besides my simple joy in reading it, The Night Circus has been instrumental in shaping my goals and vision as a writer. So I wanted to share this with you.

“You tell stories?” the man asks, the piquing of his interest almost palpable.

“Stories, tales, bardic chronicles,” Widget says.  “Whatever you care to call them…. It’s not that important, and this isn’t why I’m here-”

“It is important,” the man in the grey suit interrupts.  “Someone needs to tell those tales.  When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narratives.  There’s magic in that.  It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict.  From the mundane to the profound.  You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose.  That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words.  That is your role, your gift.  Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy.  Do not forget that.”  He takes another sip of his wine.  “There are many kinds of magic, after all.”

Storytelling is magic. And that’s what I want to do.

write honest

I don’t want to pretend like I actually have any advice for writers. As if I’m some kind of writer. Or wise person. (yeah right).

But I wanted to tell you about something I’ve been thinking about: honesty.

My friend Aaron mentioned it to me a while back. I had shown him a song I was working on, and he said, “It’s good, but I’m not sure you’re being honest.”  And what I saw when I looked again, was that my first verse was really contrived. It was trying too hard to tell a story I knew nothing about. The chorus was good. When I wrote a second verse, it was really good. But the song doesn’t work because I never changed the first verse, and it just wasn’t good enough.

They tell you to write what you know.  Austin Kleon says to throw that out the window and write what you like, what you want to read.  That’s a great idea. I can’t tell you how much I love that idea. But let’s refocus on the first idea- writing what you know.  Let’s redefine that. Let’s just say, Write Honest.

You can write whatever you want. Lyrics, poetry, entire trilogies.  If you grew up in a small town, you’re not confined to only write about that town, or the people you know or yourself.  You should write about Paris. Or Guatemala.  Thieves and Princes and unsung Heroes.  Or whatever the hell you want. Don’t limit your content- instead, be careful in the way that you write. Be honest.

Be more like these mountains. Mountains are honest.

A lot of this has to do with developing your own personal style.  Everyone has a voice and you have to find yours.  What does honest writing mean to me?  It means that I can read it and believe it. It can be the wildest of fictions but I need your characters- not their setting, clothes, or occupations; the characters– to be real.  I want them to act like people act.  Or animals, if that’s what they are.  Everyone knows people. You know people. What drives us? Hunger, loss, pain, joy, bitterness, jealousy, passion… that ineffable love for another fallible human.

The best things I’ve written have been incredibly personal, and often blunt.  I have to dig into what I know, because sometimes I get distracted by what I think, and I have to open up to whatever pain or joy I’m feeling and find out why it’s there and just exactly what it does to me.  And then I write a song.  Don’t try too hard. Don’t try to be a poet. I sometimes think we are all poets somewhere inside.  If you’re honest, the words will come and they’ll fit together and they’ll open up to you, and you’ll see a different side to each letter and syllable and the whole language will sound different, better.

Here’s what you have to do. You have to be honest. You have to write what you know, not with your eyes, but with your soul.

restroom etiquette

I’ve often had to clean public restrooms as part of my job. My summer camp and lifeguarding jobs first come to mind; that task was almost never pleasant. There were always messes, always problems, but those bathrooms were old enough and had enough kids in them, that it was understandable. I recently started working in a place that requires a restroom check every half hour, and these bathrooms are less than six months old, and kids almost never go in there. And you know what I’ve learned?

That a serious lesson in restroom etiquette is required.

RULE 1

Use the stall correctly.  Close and lock the door, don’t throw anything on the floor, take ONE seat liner, etc. And for goodness sake, if you somehow make a mess, wipe it up.

RULE 2

Make sure the toilet flushes behind you. Just stand there and make sure.

RULE 3

This one is hard, and I understand if it’s not always possible, but TRY not to splash water all over the counter.

RULE 4

Take paper towels one at a time. Use as many as you need, but don’t take thirty, use six, and leave the rest as waste. Please.

RULE 5

Speaking of water and paper towels, you’d better wash your hands.

RULE 6

Speaking of paper towels, make sure your trash- all of it, from stall to door- goes in the proper receptacle. In. Not near. In.

I’m not trying to be rude to anyone, but these things are common courtesy. Most people should have learned things like this at an early age, but I guess they didn’t. Please, think about other people. Think about the other guests using the bathroom and think about the people who clean it up after you.  None of these guidelines are asking too much.  They are simple ways to make sure that we all can have a pleasant restroom experience instead of one that makes us want to vomit.