A shoutout to a vocalist who is an absolute nutcase

I was thinking recently about Family songs that have really great vocal performances. Like where the vocal just carries away the song. I came up with things like, "Only A Heartcry Away," "The Light Of Your Love," "Make My Heart Your Home," "Simple Man,"...
And then there's the obvious ones like "When You Possess Me."
But I just realized the other day that "Dance Some More" is just nuts. What kind of weirdo would attempt vocals like that? You're nuts.

Where the keitai has been

A bored Dad hoping I don't post his picture on my blog.

Florence savoring the experience of her first shaka shaka chicken.

People standing around.

A surprised Dad hoping that I don't post his picture on my blog.

Hideous traffic on the way home from Shizuoka.

Among other things

It would appear as though the Kando Bando Soundo Sando is available for download.
Have a nice day, friends!

Priceless Advice

Are you feeling down because no one has commented on your blog recently? Do you wish you had more dramas in your life? Do you feel that people don't take you seriously as an emotional, spirited person? Do you like imagining yourself as a passionate creature of impulse and intrigue?
This is the answer: A mysterious, provocative blog post!

Example 1: Post a blurry picture (from Google images, if desperate enough) of something that looks like it could be people or things...anything really, with a caption that reads "I don't need you anymore."
Example 2: Post a short poem with no rhyme or rhythm (very important; no one reads poems when the lines are all the same length), not necessarily a good poem, it just has to sound like you talking to yourself in the mirror. Insert "power phrases" like: "I won't let you do that to me anymore," "I love you too much for that," and "You know who you are." Don't worry if your poem doesn't cut the mustard, another fuzzy photo should do the trick.
Example 3: The very short blog post method. The shorter the better. The one word blog post says "I'm all out of words, yes, it's THAT bad". Any word will do. Go on, try the first one that comes to your head. Or you can steal one of these amazing ideas: "afflicted," "finished," "just," "massive." Don't beat yourself up over it if your ideal provocative statement rapidly becomes more than one word; many intend to wow the world with a one-word post but end up spilling entire paragraphs. Brevity is an art, friends, and as with all arts, takes time to perfect. There's always tomorrow. (And there's always another blurry photo waiting to be used.)

The magical things that make the mysterious, provocative blog-posts so effective:

• You can drum up drama for your compulsive, lonely self.
• You can make people wonder whether you've 1. fallen in love, 2. lost a loved-one, 3. grown a brain--and they will be quite nice to you whilst they are trying to figure out what on earth you're talking about.
• You can make all manner of people comment on your blog. You can lure the rumors out of their hiding places, because people will inevitably post "I'm so sorry, I know how it feels," "don't worry, Bill wasn't right for you anyway," etc.
• You can feel better about your blog because it will be INTERESTING. Heck, even you are intrigued when you look at the things you've written. In a few years, you'll read back on those posts that you drummed up from nothing and you will think that you actually had an intriguing, singular life.

You're welcome.

Mmhmm

Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk,
But by the wine poured forth.
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And who suffers most--
Has most to give.

What a strange thought

You know that guy in the home that seems to have so many holes in his discipleship--no one can get along with him, everyone is constantly frustrated with him because he will never get his act together, he seems to have missed a zillion semesters of "Shepherding 1" all throughout his life; the guy who may have a couple of talents or a couple of nice spots, largely overlooked by the fact that he's just such a frustration to live with. You know that guy?
Will that be me one day? What do I have to save me from that? How do I know that I will not get so shot full of holes in my lifetime--that I am not at this very moment cultivating my own set of annoying habits, skipping Shepherding a class at a time?
Hang on to me hard, Jesus.

Dan the Manly Man

My handsome little brother man-boy looking rugged and ready for love.

Greatness in a nutshell

It's a new morning, a new morning, yeeeeeeah. Woah woah wo
(Probably not the best song to try to type out. Next time I promise to choose one that consists of actual words.)
It has become quite a chore to actually answer the question "how are you?" properly (since I have always considered that to be an actual question). Because it's funny, when I was like 12 I could just consult my feelings and be like "I'm great! Happy! Full of joy and promise and frolicsome feelings!" or "Wow. Now that you mention it, I'm actually quite sad."
But I've come to realize that I will very rarely be entirely happy or entirely sad. There is always happiness to be found in sadness, and an increasing awareness of sadness when one is looking for sadness. There is no way to REALLY figure out REALLY how you are REALLY feeling (redundant but effective use of the word REALLY).

But I tend to usually decide that I'm great, and I'm doing well. Mostly a culmination of the following things that I know to be true:
>> Progress, not perfection, is the goal.
>> If I can SAY I'm doing great, it means I'm still alive and doing okay.
>> God is doing great, and that's all that really matters.
>> The deeper the sadness, the more it teaches me, and the nearer the impending happiness.
>> I never know when just saying "I'm great" will help me to realize that, hey, I really am GREAT! PTL! Hallelujah!

You will also have a WONDERFUL day, amen?

the shiznit

You've got to check out...everything else too. Oh translated music is the cats pajamas.

Happy Things!

The one where Florence waxes love-ish again

I was talking with Masa a little while ago and I said something super cynical and evil like "happy songs about love are either lies or anmesia." (You saw nothing! Do not repeat!)
But I got into thinking about it and I realized that, firstly, I was being cynical and evil (whether that is typical of me is debatable, I suppose), and secondly...
Whereas it may be true for a certain sort of people, it is not true for me, and it is not true of the Lord's love. The Lord does not tell us to be false and forgetful, he tells us to be honest and remember.
When we remember everything in all honesty, love becomes something new every time we recollect or relive it. We remember that things were sometimes our fault, that sometimes people really did try their best, and that even though we may not have been loved exactly the way we wanted to be loved, we were loved a lot, more than we deserved, and probably with all that they had to give.
And with every day of remembrance love becomes a thing more worth remembering. Life becomes happiness sometimes manifested sadly, purity sometimes colored with human mistakes, and love sometimes misinterpreted, misrepresented, and misunderstood, but no less sincere, no less strong, no less true.