Some things happened

1. I did an interview on we also ran with Jaymay, who is marvelous, fantastic, wonderful, and extremely gifted. It's the interview I was teasing in this post...it just took a little longer for us to get on the same page what with her playing shows all over the UK and me having way too many questions.
2. I bought a new car. It's a Toyota Yaris. It weighs about the same as a lawn mower. I just filled it up for the first time since I drove it off the lot. Initial calculations indicate that I'm getting 37.7 miles per gallon. Nice. Buying a new car is totally weird.
3. I've been doing some writing for Amie Street, which is cool. I'm finding a ton of great music because of it (The Seedy Seeds, The Absent Arch, False Heroics) and it's really forcing me to sit down and write every single night -- even moreso than I already have been with we also ran. It's good for me. Of course, They're More Afraid of You Than You Are of Them is available on Amie Street for a pittance, if you feel guilty just getting it for free here (which you shouldn't).
   

I really thought when I set out writing this I'd have more than 3 things. 3 hardly warrants a numbered list. Profuse apologies.

swedish blood irish heart

1. wait, are you asking what i want or what i'll get?
2. i have a small spent a small fortune on musical equipment but my favorite guitar is still the first one i ever bought.
   
3. some of my favorite clothes were my favorite clothes in high school.
4. i hope you had a nice holiday weekend.
5. mine was pretty awesome. i went to maryland.
6. i found out i've got some swedish blood in me. i guess my great great grandfather was swedish and an athiest and a communist and he used to send propaganda to the rest of the family all the time.
   
7. and i saw a baseball game. a guy took his shoes off there.

8. my hands shake a lot because i drink a lot of coffee a lot.
9. also, these days i get really nervous smiling for pictures because i've had a couple major duds lately.
10. there's nothing worse than ruining a picture in which the other person looks awesome.
11. because then they might just cut you out of it.
    
12. and there's also nothing worse than that.
13. this is an ordered list which is hardly ordered and not really much of a list.
14. in case you're going crazy wondering, my dishwasher didn't actually break anything.
    
15. i'm going to give away all my songs for free. once they're finally done.
16. and once i have a place to host them.
    
17. and once i'm really really sure they're done.
    
18. because bob lefsetz told me to.
19. that guy is a curmudgeon.
    
20. when i got back into nyc from maryland i finally plugged in my camera. so here's the only picture i tried to take of jaymay that night. i didn't want to use a flash, so it's basically useless. but i think some people actually pay photographers to take shitty photos like this on purpose.
    

don't breathe. that's impossible.

some people have it and some people don't and lately i'm becoming more and more convinced that there's really nothing more to it than that.

i went to see jaymay last night (since i can't say enough good things about her i'll keep it short). but she introduced one song as one of the first songs she wrote on the piano she learned to play on and it was really quite beautiful.

the first songs i've written, for the most part, are not so great. which is why you'll never hear them.

now maybe she meant that it was just one of the first songs she wrote that she thought was good, or maybe she's just got more talent in her little finger than i do in all mine. i lean towards the latter.

not that it matters really. she's amazing and she'll go places and people will talk about her.

as for me, all i've really ever wanted was to have a few people clap for me in a bar for something other than being intermittently good at darts. i'm gonna do that sometime soon.

the title of this post is just something my friend chris said to me today after he gave me some good advice that i'm sure we both know i won't take. if you read it like "breathing is impossible" (which is what i did at first) then maybe you can walk around all day feeling like you're a miracle or something.

i miss providence

it's been a good month for providence bands. a few weeks ago zox announced that they've signed with sideonedummy, and now today monty announced their new deal with stolen transmission. kinda makes me miss that town. in new york bands get signed all the time and it's no big deal. what's happened in providence recently is huge, and it couldn't have happened to two bands who deserve it more.

ok, i'm done gushing.

all day today i planned to go see jaymay on the lower east side. i even dressed cooler than usual (i know, i didn't think it was possible either). but then i got stuck a little late at work and then a little bit in traffic and she was going on early and by the time i got home i would've missed half her set so now i'm sitting here in my pajamas.

my little brother's been sending me demos lately of some songs he's been writing and they sound pretty good. i don't want to get ahead of myself (or his self) but if he can get his shit together and move to new york a band of brothers might form; the likes of which has never been seen. sure, there have been lots of great bands featuring siblings before. i'm just saying we'd be better than all of them. you calling me a liar? (fun fact: my great uncle's stepson was in band of brothers. i have no idea what i would call him. step-2nd-cousin-once-removed? whatever. he's a nice guy. not that i've spoken to him in years.)

sea green see blue

this will be a plug. only i don't know if it counts as a plug since this girl doesn't have a clue who i am. this will be a promotion. no, an endorsement. recommendation? all these words suck. i am going to tell you about a girl who sings songs and who i've slowly been becoming obsessed with. in a musical sense, i mean. i'm sure she's very lovely company too, but i wouldn't know. i don't talk to girls.

right. here's the point. listen to her. and i mean really listen. hard. her name is jaymay and she's from brooklyn and the songwriting is out of this world. (her official site is here but it's under construction i guess.) she's not so huge yet and plays nyc a lot, if you're vigilant you can probably see her for free somewhere and really, you must. because she'll go somewhere and people will be talking about her (unlike someone i know (me)) and then you'll have missed the boat.

she just put up a few new songs on her myspace page and actually a recording that was done the first night i saw her: "you are the only one i love" from the living room. that was the same night i saw josh pyke play an awesome set and then nora jones got up with a little jazz band later on and did a few impromptu songs for about 20 people in the room. you guys should hang out at the living room. fucking cool shit happens there.

i've been cycling through these songs for about 20 40 mins so i figured i'd just get on here and tell you about it.

also...thanks to everyone who's said something kind to me about my dog and to everyone who bit their tongue at the temptation to tell me i was being melodramatic. she was a good dog and we'll all miss her very much.