you don't know me

so i adore ben folds (he is in my top 5 of all-time favorite artists) and i think regina spektor is one of the best singer-songwriters currently making music... and the song they did together, "you don't know me" is awesome. anyways, i finally watched the video for it, and it is funny crap. youtube that badboy right here.

today i have band practice for a couple hours, then i am going to my uncle's church with the oakdale fam. i am excited! he is sharing a sermon that he has been working on for quite awhile; how God's message of love has been spread through secular music in the last few decades. it should be interesting!

now i am off to do the stanky leg. word.

two songs

There are two songs I have been listening to on repeat the last two days - "Save Yourself" by Sensefield, and "Samson" by Regina Spektor. Both have interesting things to say about love and sex. I highly recommend listening to both of them, if you have not before.


It's fascinating to me how Tim (pastor at Denair Friends Church, where I play Sunday mornings) and Jeremiah (college pastor at cgcc/Crossroads Church where I play Sunday nights) end up speaking on issues that complement each other. The last few weeks, Jeremiah has been talking about establishing an identity in Christ that is truly your own; tearing down the identity that has been constructed through parents and other influences, and determining your own personal faith and belief. That was a good series, and then Tim has followed it up the last two weeks with a series on becoming a true disciple of Christ. It has been a good one-two punch! You all should be jealous. I get to listen to two very transparent and real guys share the Word nearly every weekend.


Anyways, check out the cgcc band on myspace for EP updates; the music should be up within a week, with streaming and a link to actually download everything. In the meantime, be sad that Derrick is going to Canada. According to E.O., you shouldn't visit your girlfriend on Mother's Day unless you already have a child with her. Thank you for your ever-illuminating wisdom, Eric.

current music things

So tonight I received our second mix of our EP... So far, it's good. Very good. I am excited to share it with people!! When I listen to it, I actually feel like a guitarist.
As a band (and more specifically, Andrew and I), we have set our sights on taking older songs and songs that we have become tired of playing, and giving them new life. This makes it not only fun for us to play, but it is great to have songs that people are already accustomed to singing and connecting with. Some of the songs that we have already reworked include Open The Eyes of My Heart, Famous One, In the Secret, Pour Out My Heart, and It Is Well With My Soul. Not all of them have extreme changes (though some do), but now we get to rock out some more! We are currently working on All Who Are Thirsty, Shout To The Lord, and I Could Sing of Your Love Forever.
Sunday nights set was pretty great... In The Secret, Light the Fire Again, Already There, Hungry, and Overwhelmed. I ended up not even singing more than half the time... I just rocked out in the back; especially during Overwhelmed. Holy crap that song hits my heart every time we play it!
What song does that to you?

things i want to do

things i want to do soon:
go hiking.
see my parents and kristin/andrew.
visit ej in slo.
spend some quality time with drew.
participate in bay to breakers.

things i want to do sometime this year:
go down south and see matt, mikkele, and kristen.
record more music.
find a new job.

things i want to do someday:
pay off my debt.
work at a job i truly enjoy.
fall in love.
live somewhere else.

a mirror is so much harder to hold

i really respect the group of musicians i am playing with right now at cgcc. last sunday we practiced before church, and it was intense. there were 8 of us playing (out of the normal 9) and of those 8, 5 had recently returned from an emotionally and physically draining retreat. however, when we began to practice, none of that mattered. there was only 1-4 other people in the room, but all of us played our butts off. we ended with "How Great Is Our God" and it was soooo good... i don't even remember how it sounded, but i know that we allowed God to do his thing, and it was spectacular. we ended that song a cappella, and it absolutely killed me. with a practice like that, we were quite ready to let God do His work during the actual church service too, and He did. the music was good, and Jeremiah's talk was intense. so go team!

a plain morning

it really frustrates me when i have friends or family that are going through tough times, or are even just having a bad day. i hate that i am too far away to do anything, and that i am limited to being a voice on the end of a phone call or even just a text. i promise, despite my insistence that i am cold and heartless, i do care.

bullet points

- EJ's dad had a scan a couple weeks ago, and he is cancer-free!!!
- tomorrow we record cello, and maybe start on some vocals. that's all we have left to record!
- i went to a conference last friday with jeremiah, steve, and tim. it was good times, and i got quite a bit out of it.
- i hate when girls wear purity rings. it confuses me, because i can't tell if they are married or not, then i just give up.
- chocolate chip muffins are awesome.
- i am excited to see matt and mikkele again, at least in july if not sooner.
- someone trashed the friend's church saturday night/sunday morning. those people suck.
- i hate human pride and selfishness, especially in a church setting!
- it's almost time to hike.