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April 28, 2008
I Hate Running
I try so hard to tell myself and everyone else that I actually like running. But the truth is I almost never actually want to do it. Funny this is, I've never regretted running once I'm back. No discipline seems pleasant at the time.
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 07:22 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2008
Still Wonderful
It's been almost a year since Kristi and I got married. When you first get married, there's this weird feeling when you walk through the door of your house. You say to yourself "wow... i'm, like, married". You feel like an adult. You feel SO in love, and so secure. You feel good because you're starting a family, and you're doing it the right way. All of these things combine, and create this... feeling. I still have that feeling. I think i'm realizing that it's not just the feeling had when first married. I think it's a new kind of love.
Good things in life don't just happen. You must work for them. You must cause them to happen. There's so much crap in our society about "love at first sight" and "they lived happily ever after", and none of it is true. Nothing worth having comes easily. But the joy found in the good things in life is so sweet. Worth it ten times over.
"Investing" should be a term used outside of the financial world. Because the same principles that cause a person to make wise financial investments ring just as true on the emotional side of things. On the "rest of life" side of things. You really do reap what you sow.
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2008
The long and winding road
I was talking with a good friend today about the plight of the singer songwriter. Over the past few years I tried pretty hard to "make it" as a singer songwriter. I'm still not sure what "it" is, but everyone is running as fast as possible towards it, so I joined in. What my friend and I were talking about today was the vast amount of singer songwriters who've "made it", and then promptly slipped into the abyss. People like Ryan Cabrera, Amos Lee, even Jason Mraz. When I was hitting it hard, these guys were gods. But who knows what they're doing now? The point is this: it's a young man's game. And there's one thing that young men lack: wisdom. Is it unwise across the board to pursue a career as a singer songwriter? Not at all. But it is unwise not to examine your motivations for pursuing said career. If you're doing it for ANY other reason than an indescribable love for music, you're going to end up quite disappointed. It is also unwise to ignore the future. L.A. couldn't care less about the future. It's all about right now. What's hip, who's hot, and blah blah blah. And buying into all that crap is the opposite of wisdom. I think the greats love music more than they can express. I think Billy Joel wakes up in the middle of the night with melodies in his head. I think their talent is like a freight train, and it just pours out of them. I think that's what it takes. I don't think he gives a damn about who ate at The Ivy last night. That's what it takes. You have to love music more than anything, or in many cases, anyone. And you know what I quickly figured out? I don't. I love my wife more than music. I love our kids (even though they aren't here yet) more than music. I want a stable life.
Ok there, I got it out.
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 03:53 PM | Comments (1)
April 15, 2008
Work
Work is an interesting thing. It's hard. There's no way around it. Even if you LOVE what you do, and think about it constantly, there are still times when it's hard. But if you don't do it, the results are disastrous. Moreover, the coolest things ever created were the results of LOTS of work. So cool are these things, that the cost of working for them is worth it ten times over. Things like a healthy family, great art, a healthy body (you know, like mine), and just about every other good thing. This truth is what motivates me to work. And guys like this:
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2008
A true dilemma
I know I ought to expect this, but I'm really tired of the media and the way they talk about business. Did you know that the u.s. is not actually in a recession? Have you heard anyone in the media even loosely define recession? I just watched a video on reuters.com (no way i'm linking you to that crap) about starbucks. You'd think the company was going out of business! Starbucks is an amazing company, who's founder recently returned as ceo and made some changes. All he really did was say "guys, we're growing at a rate we can't sustain. Let's keep it real and get back to basics". So they closed some stores and rolled out a new roast of coffee bean. That's pretty much all that happened. They grossed $10 billion in 2007.
I know that the media has one job: to scare you into staying tuned. Sometimes it's comical. Lately it's been maddening. Listening to the media, you would think that we're in a recession. But we aren't. Listening to the media, you would think that the "subprime mortgage meltdown" has completely destroyed our housing sector. But it hasn't. I guess the reason the media's ridiculousness has not been laughable lately is because they could be promoting a self fulfilling prophecy. They could scare everyone to the point of buying bottled water and canned beans, and huddling up in their basement. If we do have a recession, it could easily be because of the ridiculous media we have.
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 05:54 AM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2008
Ah, now I remember
Sometimes I hear music so good it's scary. For those of you who've never spent any time on strippedmusic.com, you're in for a treat. It's a trove.
Friends, I give you Alicia Keys.
Girl can just saaang. And her band, oh my lord. As your watching this video, notice the male backup singer. Inside my heart, that's who I am. I remember the first time that came out of me at a gig. The music was good I just had to yell "OH COME ON NOW!!!". Everyone looked at me like "aren't you from Yorba Linda?" As soon as the music stopped, however, I was like "you guys want to go to starbucks?".
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 06:54 AM | Comments (0)