question...

Ok, so I have a question- If you were dropped off in an arctic environment with nothing but a fire and a finite amount of wood to burn , with the knowledge that there was absolutely no way to get out of this scenario alive, would you choose to A. Make the fire last as long as possible, keeping it very small and producing just barely enough heat for survival, stretching out the last bit of your life however uncomfortable it may be; OR B. Have a blazing fire which produced enough heat to make you very comfortable for a shorter amount of time. WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

Come out you heavy demons

And play fair in the sunshine

Our heavy chests that bear the burdens

Our heavy hands that scrape them left to right

Shuffling the weight, one ventricle to the other

Until our heart beats sound like thunder

And the screeching does not cease

Or pause to wait for ears that might be changed by it.

Someday we all say, someday.

I never knew a better song than highway bellows

Airplane blues,

Train yard mumbles.

All these things of going, but of stopping too.

Moonlight litters the bark like Chantilly lace filtered

Through luscious, heavy-swinging springtime skirts

Swooshing lazily to and fro, scraping left to right

Until it is day again.

I am back and forth and long to be still

And wonder if it is the same for everything.

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. -William Shakespeare

It's nice outside, I got off at a decent hour, so I'm taking Delilah out for our first river adventure of the year! If only she could carry my guitar... :)

So, I bartended a corporate mixer last night and it was HILARIOUS. It was an open bar which for some reason or another makes people feel like they should drink as much as possible, as quickly as possible before someone changes their mind about it. Apparently it was pretty tame though compared to some of the stories I heard about last years party, which involved many smashed glasses and a broken table. HAHA! That's what happens when you coop people up in those tiny cubicles all day I guess.
Quotable moment from last night:
"Excuse me, I see that they're tasting the wine over there, but I don't want to taste it I just want to drink it. Where do I go to do that?" hehe :)

Also, I got offered to play a show with Michael Chapman, who is a pretty famous folk artist from the UK! Very excited about this because I really don't get a chance to play acoustic shows as much as I'd like to and this one is probably going to have a particularly good turn out!

So VCU is now in the final four I've heard! I'm not entirely sure what this means, but its making people riot in the streets which is entertaining to watch from my window. Rob's at work so I have a few hours to finish a song I've been working on! I think I will go on another acoustic tour this summer, and I want to have lots of fresh material. This Friday I'll be in Harrisonburg playing the Mac Rock Festival with Windhand and then we are off for a 10 day tour starting on the 12th of April! Also, I am sure that I am the last singer songwriter on earth to discover that Bob Dylan rules.

to the jewel of the lotus

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

© 1995 by Oriah House, From "Dreams Of Desire

The Buddha's Words on Kindness (Metta Sutra)

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in saftey,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Tayata
Om Bekandze Bekandze
Maha Bekandze
Radza Samudgate Soha

which translates to:

May the many sentient beings
who are sick,
quickly be freed from sickness.
And may all the sicknesses of beings
Never arise again.