Kony 2012- Continued

Whoa. Kony 2012 has opened up a can of worms. I was swept up. Then swept down. But now, having watched the video almost 48 hours ago and read numerous blogs and informational sites on the topic (including Invisible Children’s response to the backlash), I can firmly say that I support the movement. But I also need to take it upon myself to be much more pro-active about becoming educated about the injustices being perpetrated around the world.

Here is a great website that is furthering the Joseph Kony discussion. It’s our responsibility to sift through the information and base our decisions on reliable sources of information, which is a difficult task in today’s “over-information age” (thanks, Young the Giant).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story?fb=native 

Kony 2012

My good friend Kris shared a video about Kony 2012 on Facebook, and it changed the course of my night. I was going to listen to the new Andrew Bird on Spotify, play some guitar, watch Sportscenter, and go to sleep.

Now, I've watched the video and can't help but think that I'm about to become a part of something that will change the course of human history.

There's the tease. Now, please, watch the video... Hopefully, it will change the course of your day, night, life...





Kony 2012

... can't be a bad thing, right?

I can already tell this is gonna be a good one...

Good is an entirely subjective term. For example, when I say "good" I mean that I'll probably be ping ponging around from subject to subject to the predicate, you let me go-oo-oh-oo-oh, you're leaving Connecticut first flight tomo-oo-row-oo-oh...

The Impossibles were a good band. Were? Are they still a band? I have no idea.

I ran on a treadmill today. Which was boring, but fun, but functional, but I got to listen to the first Miniature Tigers album in its entirety, which can't be a bad thing, right?

I did a load of Chase's laundry.

Are blogs just supposed to be a way to lay out the minutes of the day? Methinks that's a big fat "NO!"

The play from my last post is Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. I should purchase it and read it soon.

I finished writing a song tonight? Question mark because I'm sure I'll revisit it tomorrow and make some tweaks, which can't be a bad thing, right?

Teams really are as good as their weakest player. Which says a lot about any championship team. Minimizing mistakes. Maximizing strengths. Yes, it's okay that it's simple. Simple is better than complicated sometimes.

I write a lot of songs about Chase, which can't be a bad thing, right?

Throwback bands are good. I don't hate on them for being born in the wrong decade or for standing on the shoulders of giants. Sure, it would be nice to push the limits of music and try something new, but I'm all for rehashing as long as you're good and you can make my head nod and my arms air drum and my foot tap.

Is it a bad thing to be liked?

Sometimes when you want something so badly, it gets in the way, and you'll be better off taking a step back, letting it breathe, being patient, because things take time...

Is it a bad thing to be accessible?

(delete) (delete) (delete)

Band of Skulls must really like Jack White...

Man, when did it become 23:10???

Go to sleep, Glynn, which means lie in bed looking at Facebook and watching Sportscenter and eating Samoas or Caramel Delites or whatever the eff they're called now... which can't be a bad thing, right?

Pushing Boundaries

Is what I'm doing, playing, writing, singing... is any of it pushing the boundaries enough?

I took a directing class while I was a third year at UCI. There were several memorable moments throughout the quarter, but one that sticks out most of all is a discussion regarding an excerpt from a play that I've since forgotten. A classmate had been assigned this scene to direct... and there was a line in the script that called for the main character to gaze into some sort of device that contained the universe or some sort of prism with beauty beyond articulation. I really wish I could remember which play/ scene/ character/ plot device was being discussed. Anyways, my classmate had chosen to make the device more believable and not so outlandishly beautiful/ unbelievable. And our professor, the wise sage Keith Fowler, asked, "Why would you want to do that? If given the choice between making something ordinary or making something beyond belief, why would you settle for ordinary?" And that stuck with me... if only subconsciously up until this blog post.

Am I settling for the ordinary? Am I doing work that's just "good enough"? Or am I pushing myself to reach the point where my work/ music/ performance is beautiful beyond articulation...? Or at least memorable so as to force the audience to pick a side of the fence...

It's 22:52. Go work on forcing people to have an opinion about you, Glynn. Go push some boundaries...

John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Last night, I spent about 15 minutes reading the Wikipedia article on this serial killer. Depressing, astonishing, unbelievable, car crash you can't turn away from. Was he evil? Disturbed? Confused? Evil? Crazy? Created? Remorseful? Aware of anything he'd done? Lonely? Just a man...?

Sufjan Stevens is a genius. The juxtaposition of the horror of the subject matter and the beauty of the music... so good.

Below is a YouTube video of my cover of Sufjan's song about John Wayne Gacy, Jr. It's haunting, and from the moment I heard the studio version of Sufjan's song, I fell in love with it.

Enjoy...

*sidenote

Winter is winding down.

*sidenote: I live in California, so saying that "winter is winding down" is purely chronological and has nothing to do with the actual season. It's 77 degrees outside and sunny and beautiful and why would anyone want to live anywhere else in the world? Oh... people live in a bubble out here, which can make it difficult to find something "real"? Hmmm... I didn't know you were so pretentiously judgmental, Glynn.

Winter is winding down. We'll be losing an hour in 8 days.

*sidenote: Sure. We lose an hour in the morning, but you gain that hour in the evening because the sun will still be out when you leave work, so if you want to, say, go for a run or walk to the store or cruise to the beach for an hour, you can because there will be glorious daylight until 7:00pm. So quite yer complaining.

Winter is winding down. We'll be losing an hour in 8 days. I can't wait to start a whole bunch of projects.

*sidenote: By "whole bunch" I mean three. 1) Record my acoustic stuff. A split EP with the wonderfully talented Lexy Baeza. A solo album. Literally, cannot wait. 2) Run. 1st 5K of 2012 is in 5 weeks. And running also means I'll shed some poundage, which is always good for the old heart. 3) Blog more regularly. I need to write more. Not just songs or emails to angry customers but creative bursts of intellectually stimulating (or not) prose.

Winter is winding down. We'll be losing an hour in 8 days. I can't wait to start a whole bunch of projects. And now it's time to go play guitar...

*sidenote: Thanks for reading this...

Go Do

Seriously... slowly... moving... is this day...

But soon I'll be at a Ducks game, amongst the (semi-)masses, enjoying Bro Hymn (which means we've scored), stomach full of Bruxie (awesome waffle sandwiches), and possibly cheesecake (but only if it's not too expensive)...

Hopefully, some guitar tonight, too. Played last night (review of old stuff, some new stuff, mostly getting ready to record, filtering, picking out songs, second-guessing [which I hate, it's so counterproductive, why must it occur?], perfecting, making mistakes, learning, getting better), but I should always play more... NEED to play more.

Running tomorrow morning. First time since November. 30 minutes at a nice easy pace. 5 weeks away from the first official race of the season, which will be a 5K down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I still want to hit up a triathlon by the end of the year. I just need to start swimming more.

I miss regularly blogging. I guess I have no one to blame but myself.

All it takes is a decision... a firmly made decision. Be a better husband. Be a better dad. Play more guitar. Blog more. Clean. Cook. Run. Be healthy. A firmly made decision. And slipping is okay, as long as you right yourself and keep moving forward. Slipping is okay. We're all human. We all make mistakes. We all lose sight of our goals. But our goals are always there. A firmly made decision.