Be Loveable

I've never thought I was much of a Dick Gregory fan, maybe because I have an aversion to the word activist, or maybe because I have an aversion to proponents of extreme eating habits, but he was on Chicago Tonight last night and he seemed alright. Certainly his focus was to be admired.

The one zinger he dropped, for those congregated here to bask in collective knowledge about the nature of love, was that after 10 kids and 45 years of marriage, he had learned that it wasn't enought to love, but that the key was being loveable.

Whoo-whee. That kind of flips the script deoesn't it? That's worth the price of admission right there.

Why is it I always find I have something to learn from things/people I have an aversion to? I guess if they didn't mean anything to me I wouldn't even notice them.

Striving for loveability-ly yours..

The most important thing for an artist to have is a place to go. An artist without a place to go is like a taxi with no gas.

White Gold Sound System

I've got my link up to White Gold Sound System. This biz should keep me in gear while I drop the album. It's my birthday tomorrow. 39, baby. A guy in the paper said if you're 40 and trying to be the next rock star give it up an apologize to everyone you know. I guess it's me against him from here on out. Pop culture doesn't have anywhere to grow but up. And there's always room to change the game. Lots of people get confused by believing in what already is. Sociologists call it reification. But in a culture that moves as fast as ours, what is is already dead and rotting. More artists with fewer ideas. And better chops. Technique as soul. But there are some things (most things?) you can't practice.

I've tacked on an extra $15K of debt starting my biz (total around $55K), so I guess you could say I'm all in with full faith now. It's a great exercise--if you can stay light when you're fully leveraged, then you can stay light. Playing a few open mics too.

What else? Bring love 24/7. Love that you like, love that you love, and love that you fucking hate. I don't know why completely (yet), but I've tried everything else. And it seems to work. The trick being to get into it--all of it. Anyone can be happy with a fresh line of coke, on their birthday with their pocket full of cash, but what else? What else?

Or, as the BeeGees said: "How deep is your love? (Is your love, how deep is your love./I really want to know./Cause we're living in a world of fools./Breaking us down./WHen they all should let us be./Etc.)

That's it from the home front.

Line of the Day

"The only thing worse than a disgruntled postal worker is a disgruntled postal customer!"

--The postal worker who took my package this morning, commenting on a woman who stormed out yelling about her lawyer. He asked what he missed and I told him: "Someone was about to get WWF up in here." Which he appreciated. Which brought me out of the mood I was trying not to be in.

All up in it.

The great thing about being tired is that sooner or later you drop the nonsense. If you're going to get done what you want, and even more importantly, feel the way you want, you've just gotta keep dropping shit.

Don't process, don't figure, just drop.

It's a great way to find exactly where you end and other people start.

I'm just working on giving myself the thing I'm craving from others--emotional support. If I can do that, I figure my chances of getting it (in spades) rises about 100 times. But for whatever reason, first it seems I'm going to go without. That's in the "How come people who don't need something always get it dept?"

It's my birthday tomorrow. Please send all gifts to The Service Board in Seattle (or just buy my book). I've got a credit card machine now if that affects your decision-making process.

Lots of love..

What If

What if your favorite band could lose like your favorite sports team?

What if art wasn't rehearsed? Had been practiced for and sweated over, but was easy and immediate--for those who had the guts to step to it.

A cross between a Coldplay show, American Idol, the NBA finals, and a reality show.

With failure a very real possibility.

Question of the Day

How rich do I have to get before I get taco carts in my neighborhood?

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White Gold Sound System
Vintage and Pro Audio Rentals

Did I mention that I have $1 in my pocket, $10 in the bank and close to $50K in debt?

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WhiteG.com

Punching Through

Late wasteland.

Starting to see the rewards of not giving a fuck--because I care so much. If you're not paying my rent (and no one is btw, mom started charging Jan 1), then you don't get a vote. I don't give a fuck. It can get twice as hard and I won't care.

Whatever it takes. All day every day. Punch through. From here on out.

Why anyone would care enough to give me a hard time about what I eat, I don't know. Why anyone would care about what I choose to do for money, I don't know, but I don't have the time or energy to care.

The glorious thing about being tired is that you can't carry anything with you. I'm literally unble to lift weights at the gym that I lifted last week and the week before, but I also don't care. As soon as it's done it's done. Nothing else. Breathe through.

I'm reading the Kite Runner (thanks Jawaid) right now. It's right--anything you don't face in the moment, you'll revisit--or carry around forever. Bring it on.

I'm starting a vintage and studio equipment rental service. It's called White Gold Sound System and registered under White Gold. So when it comes time to switch the credit card machine over to books (c'mon Booklist--grow balls, baby!), I'll be ready to roll. And the record after that.

It feels strange to say but that's all there is for me. It's gonna be lots of fun when it pops but until then, until the whole world bends to my will : ), it could feel like work. Doesn't matter to me, but it might.

Tired, happy, hungry, sad, I'm the same person. Going the same way, interested in exactly the same thing.

And whatever I need to learn to get me there can't come fast enough.

Bring it on.

Ps: And when I play China I'm singing all my songs--see how glorious paying for your art is going to be.

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WhiteG.com