[he said i love you and i'm proud of you both]

i had this moment tonight, where i was backreading the geeky funny blog of a local band i love, where i was just completely bowled over by how lucky i am to live where i live, and to have a job that pays the bills and doesn't suck my whole soul out and allows me to see as much live music as i do, and to have a passion that consumes me.


i live in this place that isn't a city like a lot of people think of cities, but we have this music scene where all these amazing people are making this totally transcendent music, music of all noisy happy folky indie bluegrass country rap metal punk rock varieties. we have all these smart funny interesting talented people, and when they're not making music they go out and they drink shitty beer and they sing neil young covers with their friends' bands and they wear ugly shirts and they kiss their wives, and they post stupid shit to their blogs and they take pictures of their cats and their bandmates making faces and they put them on flickr, and their days jobs are cooler than mine but they are just people like i am, and the things they do, the music they play in our venues and the music they try to make in studios, all of that inspires me to make the best photos that i can make with my camera and my slightly off-center tilted framing and my ironic fondness for pbr and the way i smell when i come home from a great night at the pour house (like beer and cigarettes and like i got hugged by sweaty musicians).

it inspires me to be as kick-ass of a human being as they are.

it was this moment of complete power, of total happiness, where i felt like i could do anything. climb mountains. get out of debt. shoot an eight piece band lit only by a single red light at the 506. fall in love.

[you alone were meant for me]

i am desperately ready for spring to happen, which, while it happens earlier in the nc than it does in many other places, is still at least six weeks off. spring means the following things: national tour schedules ramping back up at local venues; college baseball in the tar heels' beautiful new renovated stadium that is not in cary and therefore five minutes away in bad traffic, not forty five; things that are green. last week at least the cold was tempered by brilliant sunshine and blue skies, but today is grey and sad looking. it makes me want to sleep.


the following things are good about this upcoming week: several excellent shows; the fact that it is the first week of 2009 that will not start with a carolina basketball loss; president-elect barack obama becomes president barack obama. also, i have tomorrow off, which is bad in terms of paycheck but good in terms of going out to take photos, if it's warmed up at all.

sam cooke and i are just going to try and get through this gloomy sunday, first.