You Can't Break the Ties That Bind
Thursday, March 25, 2004
I don't know if she pops in here any more, but Katie J, I have two things to say to you.
1. I saw Elyse today at Red Robin. I was happy. Wished you were there.
2. "Mormons in Boise is like cats on your face." Never were there truer words spoken.
And one more thing... Jen is coming to see me! But not before she sees you first! Argh!
What a good day. I'm $100 richer, I now own two more issues of
One more thing for Katie... I miss you!
And another thing - I now own a White Stripes bootleg. And it didn't cost me a thing, except for five minutes of my time while the disc burned.
Johnny, do you like to play baseball?
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Sorry for not upating recently. I'm back at home, and I also have a new Livejournal. But you ain't getting the address, because it's private. But what I can give you is part of a new musical project I've started, one that involves writing at leas a song a day. Here's one from a couple of days ago.
Cold blue glassy eyes, an altered state of mind
Barely-there conversation across the phone line
Strangers when we meet again, did you expect it, too?
It’s the last thing I need after what I’ve been through
Flamenco on the radio, fresh tears in my eyes
I hate myself for loving you
When I can’t even speak to you face-to-face
I’m so lost without you
I’m the worst kind, I’m rotten to the core
Weary of the chase
A two-month torment, an argument, love was clean and pure
Several eyes were watching us, so I wasn’t really sure
Given sounds, I’ve given time, I’ve given my heart away
Maybe we shouldn’t talk right now, if it’s all you have to say
This kind of love’s a heroin, and I’m the connoisseur
I hate myself for loving you
When I can’t even speak to you face-to-face
I’m so lost without you
I’m the worst kind, I’m rotten to the core
Weary of the chase
I’m helpless – did I show too much that I care?
I’m faultless – but there’s so much I did out there
I’ve wondered – I should probably save my time
I’ve broken down – your picture still brings teary lines
Scary drive, the axle’s broke, and my eyes can barely see
You better stay down there, babe, there’s nothing you can do for me
On a corner store in Mexico, there go my hopes again
I don’t think I could take it – I wasted my time here again
Why do I even bother, when there’s other choices here for free
I hate myself for loving you
When I can’t even speak to you face-to-face
I’m so lost without you
I’m the worst kind, I’m rotten to the core
Weary of the chase
I’m harmless – but I always break the things I love
I’m settled – complacent like a bomber flying above
It’s painless – no, really, I’m sure that I’ll survive
But I miss you – I’ll be glad when you finally arrive
I hate myself for loving you
When I can’t even speak to you face-to-face
I’m so lost without you
I’m the worst kind, I’m rotten to the core
Weary, weary of the chase
I’m weary
I’m so weary...
"The Worst Kind"
S. Cronen, 3/22/04
I'll update more in-depth later. Jai Baba, folks.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
More Bowie news. I just received a recent set list that kind of shows you what he's been playing lately. Read 'em and weep.
01 Rebel Rebel
02 Hang On To Yourself
03 New Killer Star
04 Fame
05 Cactus
06 All The Young Dudes
07 China Girl
08 Reality
09 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
10 The Man Who Sold The World
11 Hallo Spaceboy
12 Sunday
13 Heathen (The Rays)
14 Under Pressure
15 Slip Away
16 Looking For Water
17 Quicksand
18 The Loneliest Guy
19 Be My Wife
20 Sound And Vision
21 Breaking Glass
22 Fashion
23 Ashes To Ashes
24 White Light, White Heat
25 I'm Afraid of Americans
26 "Heroes"
(Encore)
27 Let's Dance
28 Five Years
29 Suffragette City
30 Ziggy Stardust
AAAAHHHH!!!!! Quicksand!!!! I love that friggin' song! And Five Years? Hell yes!
Monday, March 15, 2004
Choose a band/or artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: David Bowie
Are you female or male: Watch That Man
Describe yourself: Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud
How do some people feel about you: Starman
How do you feel about yourself: Cracked Actor
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: Queen Bitch
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: Lady Grinning Soul
Describe where you want to be: Station to Station
Describe what you want to be: The Jean Genie
Describe how you live: Rock N Roll With Me
Describe how you love: Let Me Sleep Beside You
Share a few words of wisdom: The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell
Saturday, March 13, 2004
I have come to a few conclusions regarding the artist called David Bowie.
1. He is much, much more than a mere man-god. He is on-par with The Beatles, as far as I'm concerned.
2. I will be seeing him next month in Portland.
3. "Heroes" is one of his best songs ever. I didn't think much of it for the longest time, ansd then I listened to it the other night for the first time in forvere. And it almost made me cry. It's such an incredibly moving song, lyrically and musically.
4. Scary Monsters is one of his best albums. I didn't think much of this one, either. Yeah, it has Ashes to Ashes and Fashion, and Pete Townshend plays on Because You're Young, but I didn't think it was all that great. I listened to it today in its entirety, and I can safely say I was wrong about it. Teenage Wildlife might be the song of the moment.
5. I need to purchase the following albums, post-haste: The Man Who Sold the World, Low, "Heroes," Tin Machine, The Buddha of Suburbia, and Diamond Dogs.
6. I will be seeing him in April. Did I mention that?
7. Station to Station is probably my favorite Bowie song, and most likely my favorite album. The album has Word On a Wing, Golden Years, and Stay, while the song itself is certainly one of the most chilling, ferocious, and mind-fucking songs I've ever heard. "It's not the side-effects of the cocaine/I'm thinking that it must be love/It's too late to be grateful/It's too late to be late again/It's too late to be hateful..."
8. I like his Anthony Newley voice, personally.
9. I will be seeing him in April.
One more night, one more day, one more week.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
In my CD booklet right now...
Lifehouse Demos, discs 1 and 2 - Pete Townshend
Who's Next - The Who
Songbook of the Blues: Songs From the Heart of America - Various
Greendale - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Rainbow Concert - Eric Clapton and the Palpitations
Rough Mix - Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane
Music From Big Pink - The Band
Tommy (Deluxe Edition, discs 1 and 2) - The Who
Rolled Gold, discs 1 and 2 - The Rolling Stones
Jai Baba, discs 1 and 2 - Various
Friends Will Arrive, Friends Wil Disappear, discs 1, 2, and 3 - Bob Dylan
Ladies and the Canyon - Joni Mitchell
Undercover - The Rolling Stones
The Very Best of Cream - Cream
Failure's No Success At All - Bob Dylan
Who Came First - Pete Townshend
Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones
Greatest Hits - Bjork
A nice mixture of the spiritual and the rocking.
What a week it's been, and what a week it's gonna be. I feel about ready to keel over. My soul is sick. I know this sounds weird, but it's just the way I feel. I feel like my soul, my spirit, is ill. I've been trying all sorts of thing to heal it - listening to spiritual music and/or cathartic music, meditating, writing... you name it. I've had little success so far. Maybe a trip home in a couple of weeks will set me straight. Once this show is over (we open tomorrow), I'll probably feel a whole lot better. I just really want some time to rest, and I haven't had that option lately because there are so many things I have to do. I've never had this manyt hings on my plate at once before, not to my recollection. Worst of all, I've been taking out this stress and sickness on the people I care about, and that makes me even crazier.
I started thinking about a long-lost friend of mine the other day, probably because this person featured in a dream I had... for the first time in a long time. I wish I could go back and find all these people that I left behind and just get to know them all over again.
On the plus side of all this, I keep getting Dylan bootlegs from my boss's co-worker. Which is nice. And although I've never heard a version of "Layla" as good as the Derek and the Dominoes original, the live take from Clapton's Rainbow Theatre concert is certainly close. The added presence of Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, and Steve Winwood helps, but the power is just there.
I'm still thinking about where I want to live next year. I wish I could live in the house that Graham, Ben, Luke, Adam, and Luciano are getting. I also wouldn't mind living with any of the guys that I'm living with now. I know it's going to be weird not living in the quad any more. I've been here for so long, in my little corner, that it almost scares me to leave it behind. Well, I guess I could ask Bryce if he wants to get a place in Vandervelden. I don't know...
Eh, time to write yet another paper. And then go to yet another class. And then finish said paper if it's not done already. Then go to yet another class. Then enjoy dinner for fifteen minutes before I go to invited dress rehearsal for four hours. Sweet zombie Jesus on a pogo stick.
"Do you wanna see me crawl across the floor?
Do you wanna see me beg you to take me back?
I'd gladly do it 'cause I don't wanna fade away
Give me one more day, please
I don't wanna fade away..."
Monday, March 01, 2004
Yesterday I climbed a mountain. Literally. Our first major Pi Kappa Rho Integration activity was scaling Saddle Mountain, the highest point in Northwestern Oregon. Some people couldn't make it for understandable reasons (work, etc.), and others were just big wimps who couldn't handle waking up at 8 AM. So five of us went - Bryce, Adam, Mike, Jon, and myself. This was my first hiking trip ever. And I think it's made a new man of me. This was such an invigorating and amazing trip. I Can't even begint o describe the experience to you - ascending to 3000 or so feet and watching the light rain change into driving snow... leading the way with Adam, leaving our compatriots in the dust... the incredible views of untainted Mother Nature, and the eerie fog that set in over these views the higher we got... and then coming to the very top of the mountain and seeing a lone crow struggling to fly in the whipping winds. It was just... awesome. I'm certainly feeling it today (I could barely get out of bed, my legs were so sore), but it put me in a great mood all of yesterday. Also contributing to that great mood were several other things:
-I spent most of yesterday listening to the two-disc Jai Baba set, which heightened the spiritual aura that had already enveloped me.
-As of today, Lelsey and I have been together for a whole month, showing no signs of slowing down.
-It's a beautiful day today and, despite the bad mood I started out in today, it's slowly getting better. I feel like listening to Exile On Main Street.
-In addition to the Jai Baba stuff, I've been listening to the deluxe edition of Tommy relentlessly. Again, it puts me in a very spiritual mood. And it's nice to finally have "Dogs, Pt. 2" on CD.
-I wrote music to "My Foolish Mind" the other day. My guitar has a busted string, so I tuned Champ's up (or down, rather, to a step below standard) and laid a tune down out of a groove that was part-Townshend, part-Joni Mitchell, part-"If I Could Have Her Tonight." I played it for Lesley first, not that it had a whole lot to do with her lyrically. I think my confidence was bolstered by the fact that she was a bit drunk at the time, so I didn't care what she thought of it.
February is finally over. It seemed so long, probably because so much happened. I mean, there were at least four birthdays (my own, Luciano, Bryce, and Graham), a relationship blossomed, I rehearsed relentlessly, came close to a nervous breakdown for a while, and to top it all off, I scaled a friggin' mountain! March, here I come!
It would be nice if my family contacted me at some point. Ahem... And by the way, Leah, the band you're thinking of is called Accept. I'm ashamed of you for not remembering that. Udo Dirkschneider forver. Give me a call, you nutter. (Leah, that is.)
