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Sunday, June 30, 2002 Around the World Thus begin my summer adventures--I'm in Allendale, New Jersey right now and will soon be heading to upstate New York to play music for a bunch of kids who are going all over the world to work with churches and volunteer groups. I also played in my friend Emily's wedding yesterday (! more on that later). I don't have much time to fill in on details, but on my way to NJ from the airport I was in a shuttle with a guy who plays clarinet for the New York Ballet. Neat, huh? ^ Top | 5:14 PM | | | 
Wednesday, June 26, 2002 More Midsummer Fairies 
Are you getting sick of these yet? ^ Top | 4:57 PM | | |
Monday, June 24, 2002 Another Midsummer Pic, This Time as Hippolyta 
This is me beating the crap out of Mike (aka Thesus, Duke of Athens). And I'm the Queen of the Amazons. Thank God the show's done! Well, at least until the fall anyway.... ^ Top | 11:50 PM | | |
Saturday, June 22, 2002 Thought for the Day "Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads." --Erica Jong ^ Top | 1:42 AM | | |
Thursday, June 20, 2002 Putting the Music Thing Together The CD is coming together--the tracks that made the cut are "Found" (written by myself and Karen Latus), "Keep Holding On," "Self-Destructive (If I Ran Away)," and "A Song for Dreamers." The last song is a new one that I haven't really played for anyone yet--a few people backstage (or whatever you want to call the house by the Arb that we hang out and do costume changes in) heard it last night and that's about it. "Keep Holding On" is the first song I ever wrote by myself. Once upon a time--sophomore year, I think--I had a short-lived band called Chrestus Way that played it... a few weeks ago I rewrote a good deal of the melody and I'm excited to hear it with a full band again (it was hard to go back to just me after I've heard what it sounds like with more instrumentation). Anyway, the Dawn Xiana Moon website is coming along too. Big thanks to Wyatt for teaching me how to use Dreamweaver and Photoshop last night. The project isn't going to be as painful as I first thought. 
^ Top | 10:17 AM | | |
Tuesday, June 18, 2002 Midsummer Night's Dream Fairies 
^ Top | 7:23 PM | | |
Monday, June 17, 2002 Quote of the Day "Humor. It is a difficult concept." --Saavik, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ^ Top | 4:46 PM | | |
Sunday, June 16, 2002 This is a wierd entry, but I'm tired, ok? I spent almost nine hours in the Arb today because we had two performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Yup, you heard that right, my entire Father's Day was spent performing and all I got to do was give my dad a call... but I guess that's ok. Every show thus far has sold out (last year too)--we open the "doors" (there are no real doors there, just a gate) at 6pm and are usually out of tickets by 6:30pm. Today we did two shows, and the night performance was the first time I've played Hippolyta (the school shows don't really count). There's so much downtime when I play her, because between the first scene and her next entrance there's a good hour to kill. At any rate, stage combat rocks! It makes it all worthwhile. Hmm. Violent tendencies perhaps? ^ Top | 11:57 PM | | |
Saturday, June 15, 2002 More Beginnings The recording process is beginning! Rich Blatt from Third Rail Productions (and my church, the Ann Arbor Vineyard) is going to record my demo/EP. Right now I'm planning to include four songs and press copies to sell... I also have possible gigs in September and October with Outta the Belly (props for the connections--Amy Timbers, their lead singer, also goes to my church). So now I just have to get working and find some time to figure out what I'm going to do about a real website in earnest. Things are definitely happening! ^ Top | 3:31 PM | | |
Wednesday, June 12, 2002 It Begins A Midsummer Night's Dream opens tommorrow night! We'll be doing around around 11 performances from now until the end of the June. This year I'm playing Hippolyta (with some awesome stage combat) for most of the shows and Cobweb, one of the fairies, for some. Come and see what I've been up to for the last month--the website has pictures from last year's production (which I was also in), directions, and all that jazz. ^ Top | 10:07 PM | | |
Tuesday, June 11, 2002 Dreamers I've been thinking about dreamers since this past weekend---the Seth Bernard concert really did it, I think--kids who are trying to make a difference in this world in whatever way they can. With all the ideas rolling around in my head, I ended up writing a song on Sunday night. I can't remember all of the lyrics off the top of my head, but here's the bridge (though I have a feeling I might change some of the words anyway): 'Cause we need more dreamers in this world There is power even one One Gandhi, one Mother Theresa A catalyst to change the world ^ Top | 5:47 PM | | |
Monday, June 10, 2002 The Uses of Money I was flipping through channels on TV the other day when I ran across the MTV show Cribs. If you've never heard of it (I hadn't), the basic idea of the show is to take viewers on tours of various celebrity houses--the Osbournes, for instance. These guys all have incredible homes--which is expected, seeing how much money they have--with indoor swimming pools, basketball courts, jacuzzis, the works. What struck me as I watched the show was the immense waste of it all. Does a guy who lives in a house by himself really need a huge indoor pool and five big-screen TVs? You can have a comfortable house without going to such extremes. When I was working for PIRGIM we constantly ran into people who said that they believed in environmental protection but didn't have any money to give, not even $5. I really believe that some of these people were telling the truth, not just trying to get us to go away... and these were people living in nice areas and driving expensive cars. What is it that makes us spend more than we have just so we can look like we have it all together? Can't we just live within our means and enjoy life instead of worrying about the creditors that are calling and the bills we can't afford to pay? In the larger picture of the world, we Americans, even poor college students, are in the richest percentile. But are we happy? No. We just buy more and more.... Rich Mullins is a huge inspiration to me in terms of financial stewardship and being real. He was a successful musician and instead of "living it up," he donated his money to charity: "Rich sought to love the oppressed, and moved to the Navajo Reservation to live out his beliefs. He lived in a small trailer on a limited income, even though he could have lived as a king. He gave away his money and himself, believing that Christianity is shared by example and with love." He didn't just talk about what he believed, he did. People who saw him in concert tell me he was incredibly real and honest as well. If only I could live up to that calling.... ^ Top | 6:23 PM | | |
Sunday, June 09, 2002 Music Weekend This has been a good weekend for music, both my own and watching performances. I saw Seth Bernard on Friday night for the first time. As my friend Nora says, "He's a breath of sunshine." And he is--I could definitely learn something about stage presence from him. He's so real. The next night I saw Messerly and Ewing, who played a great song called "Lethal Injection" (the first verse was a contender for the funniest ever) and Greg Mahan... I have a feeling that Crazy Wisdom (this wierd little "tea room" and store--and believe me, the store has strange stuff) is going to become a favorite place to chill on Friday and Saturday nights. Yay for free live music! As for my own stuff, I wrote a song at 2:00am on Friday night (Saturday morning?) in a burst of inspiration. Granted, the lyrics aren't really my own since they come from Psalm 46: God is our refuge and our strength An ever-present help in need Therefore we will not fear Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea There is a river whose streams Make glad the city of the Lord The holy place where the Most High dwells God is in her--she will not fall Be still and know that I am God Be still and know that I am God Come and see the works of the Lord He makes wars cease in the earth He breaks the bow and shatters the spear He burns the shields with fire Be still and know that I am God Be still and know that I am God God is our refuge and our strength An ever-present help in need Therefore we will not fear Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea ^ Top | 8:46 PM | | |
Friday, June 07, 2002 Graduation My brother graduated from high school last night. It was so strange going back to my old school to watch him graduate--an inordinate number of people, both faculty, staff, and students--made speeches about entering "real life," following your dreams, leaving the "best years of your life," and making goals... which is all well and good, but "real life" doesn't happen when you leave high school. You're not in the "real world" until you get a "real" job or get married--college is its own little world. My senior year, I had a case of senioritis like none other--I skipped most of the "senior" events because I didn't like high school and was in a hurry to get to college. Those definitely weren't the best years of my life. My years here at U-M, on the other hand.... It's funny to think that this year's graduates will be next year's scared freshmen. But they'll grow, and they'll mature in ways they can't even guess right now. Following your dreams is hard. It's the kind of advice that's easily given in speeches, but in reality it's difficult to make those dreams come true. Goals are good, but what happens when you fall short, as will inevitably occur? This isn't to say that people shouldn't make goals, because I do think they're good and they help me stay motivated, but too often catch phrases are thrown around this time of year to inspire people. And what do I remember from the speeches at my graduation? Our valedictorian made a speech using so many big words that by the end what he said didn't make sense, and I don't think he understood what he was trying to say either, which I've always found pretty amusing. The moment in the night that most impressed me was hearing an original song that one of the seniors wrote and performed with one of her friends. I couldn't have done that at that age... and it was good to boot. It makes me wonder what I'm trying to do here--if kids three years behind me can sing better than me and write songs, then why do I keep entertaining dreams of performing? I don't really want to end this on an unhappy note, so I guess I'll end by saying that it was really nice to spend time with my family. It's definitely been a while. And I'm proud of my brother--he's going to rock the world! ^ Top | 3:34 PM | | |
Wednesday, June 05, 2002 I Love My Job Work today mostly consisted of talking about Star Wars (since I'm the resident Star Wars geek I answered some questions Mark and Emily had about Episode II, like "Who's the Jedi who ordered the clones?" and "What's up with Jango Fett?") and traveling. They somehow loved the movie (yeah, you all know how I feel about it already), but we still had fun bashing the horrible acting, especially in the scene where Anakin confesses that he killed a group of Sand People, including the women and children. Then there was the scene where Padme looks dead or close to it and suddenly jumps up as soon as help comes near.... Who needs doctors anyway? As for the traveling, Mark and Emily are trying to make it to Europe for the Tour de France, which they've followed for at least the last couple of years--apparently if Lance wins again he'll have the new record, four. I love UMS! ^ Top | 5:30 PM | | |
Quote of the Day "Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation." --source unknown ^ Top | 4:50 PM | | |
Tuesday, June 04, 2002 Ah, the Music Business An interesting article from ABC News about radio stations and the recording industry: Pay to Play. One additional comment, though--although it's the record companies that are forking over the money to get their artists played, they recoup their costs from the artists themselves, so it's really the artists who pay. ^ Top | 7:57 PM | | |
Monday, June 03, 2002 Indie vs. Major Labels In the news... Rollingstone.com recently removed the entire indie/unsigned artist section of their website, which was apparently a great resource to reach a large audience. The originally anti-establishment magazine has given in to the fight between the major labels and the growing number of indie musicians who are a threat to their conglamorates... instead of trying to put all of the indie artists out of business (and you know, they probably aren't making that much anyway), the recording industry should realize that they have rethink their business practices to match the current climate. It's no longer nessesary to go through a major label to get studio-quality recordings, and they're worried. As though they think all the public wants is Britney Spears-type fluff.... ^ Top | 10:48 PM | | |
Sunday, June 02, 2002 A Must-Read An article I'd definitely recommend reading: Safer Without Religion?. It discusses the argument that the world would be a kinder, nicer place without religion. Take a look. ^ Top | 11:51 PM | | |
Saturday, June 01, 2002 More Stuff to Check Out You have to see this to believe it: the Baen Free Library has online books from many science fiction/fantasy authors for free! And this includes Mercedes Lackey, one author I would personally recommend. One of the most interesting parts about the site is the welcome, which was written to explain the site and their logic behind offering free books (definitely worth a look if you're interested in the online piracy debate). I'm actually really excited about this since I haven't been reading books like I usually do lately. Another must-see site is Booklend. These guys will lend you any book listed on their site for free and even pay the return postage, for as long as you want! "'Isn't that expensive?' Sure, but we can afford it. Think of it as a hobby." Nice. ^ Top | 2:58 PM | | |
Music to Check Out I seem to always discover new musicians that no one has ever heard of... this week's amazing discovery is Magdalen Hsu-Li. I just bought her latest cd, Fire, which is definitely inspiring me to work on my piano songs, and it's definitely nice to know that there are other Asian-Americans writing folk/acoustic music. I used to think there weren't any, but I've recently found Annie Lin and Dene Marie Jomei (haven't listened to their music, mind you, but it's nice to know they're out there). Props to people who are doing the unexpected--not just APAs in the music scene but anyone anywhere who's breaking out of the box. ^ Top | 2:31 PM | | |
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