YONDER BREAKS

Dads are kind of dumb sometimes, right? Just look at decades of television with bumbling Homer Simpsons and selfish Tim the Toolman Taylors . They usually figure out their faults at some point and "learn a lesson," (do they?) fixing everything before the half-hour is up. Though I am a huge   Home Improvement fan, and also enjoy The Simpsons, I decided years ago that such portrayal in media was bad for dads as a whole. It kind of gives us an "out" on responsibility. "Yeah, we're all dumb, so we'll just make our paychecks and hide in the garage until...well, until it's all over I guess." Dads are much more than we are usually shown, but stereotypes are there for a reason, and sometimes even the best dad has a foolish, selfish moment. I had one of those moments recently, so I thought I'd share the tale, because it's a pitfall I see a lot of dads fall into. First iteration of our track. We recently bought some blinds that came wra...

When Katie, the girls and I moved back to Los Angeles back in 2018, I never expected to discover the strong musical community that I did. Thanks to my long-time friend and collaborator Ben Boquist , I was invited to a weekly songwriters group hosted by the talented Cortney Matz at the Hollywood co-working location, Epiphany Space . I was a little nervous to share that first night (which happened to be an open mic with a very kooky featured artist doing some sort of beachy Jim Morrison style of performing), but wanting to be bold with music upon arrival in LA, I jumped right in. The warmth and appreciation that that group presented to a stranger was wonderful. As the weeks and months went on, I became more and more involved in the group. Quickly I learned that if I didn't come with something progressive (to me, at least), then I wouldn't get much of a reaction from the group, and so I worked hard to have a new song every week. Over time, I developed a larger repertoire, and m...

Have you ever had to fix something that you didn't break? Maybe your kid broke your neighbor's window, or you're helping someone fix a car who obviously didn't take care of it, causing the problem in the first place. It's annoying, to say the least. Yesterday, I was working on a green trash can that I borrowed from my neighbor, because we were clearing out a lot of brush from our backyard and needed the extra can. We've had it for several weeks, so I wanted to return it, but when the trash man (or woman -- no prejudice here) came, he must have dragged the can when he dropped it, causing the rubber part of one of the wheels to fall off. It doesn't roll well and I didn't want to return the long lost can damaged. But for the life of me I could not get that stupid rubber wheel back on! I became increasingly irritated as flashbacks of a lifetime of working on cars with stuck bolts and water pumps not coming out right (my most recent job) came floodin...

I wrote last year that I felt that distraction was one of the great problems our generation, and society as a whole, are facing. I still hold to that, but sometimes distraction can be a good thing. Reluctant as I am to write about COVID-19, it's affecting the whole world in major ways, so I suppose there is no way around it. Initially I was in the camp of folks that felt it was blown out of proportion, just an oversensitive reaction to a really bad flu. However, seeing what is happening in Europe, including the "total collapse" of hospitals and food systems , I slowly came to take it seriously. This week I went out for groceries for the first time in about ten days. It was strange, wearing gloves and a bandana over my face as I perused the aisles, stressfully avoiding people and only touching what I had to. It's a deviation from who I am and my normal treatment of others (as well as germs), but I was advised to do it, so I'm complying, for better or worse. I ...

I've written before that this most recent move back to Los Angeles (yes, we move way too often ) has been very special to me, because it's been the most musically charged. Almost all of that has been because of Cortney Matz and the Monday night songwriters group that she hosts at Epiphany Space in Hollywood. The group has been going strong for several years now, and out of it a beautiful community has emerged. Doing something creative (particularly trying to do it for a living) can sometimes breed competition. When one finds success, it often brings about a closed-fisted response, keeping the piece of the pie he or she managed to get with no intention to share. When that unfortunately happens, how can a loving, supportive community emerge out of such a mindset? It doesn't! And such is a big problem in pursuing creative positions professionally, particularly in Los Angeles. At Epiphany Space however, this reality is so far from the truth! I've never seen such a su...