Here’s a little excerpt from an interview I did with Georgetown College’s WRVG about being an artist. You can read the whole interview here.
“It’s a band about heartbreak–but on a larger scale–we’re leaning into our collectively breaking heart.”
[video]
[video]
Grief will come to you.
Grip and cling all you want,
It makes no difference.
Catastrophe? It’s just waiting to happen.
Loss? You can be certain of it.
Flow and swirl of the world.
Carried along as if by a dark current.
All you can do is keep swimming;
All you can do is keep singing.
by Gregory Orr
Ms. Edith Windsor, seeking a little fairness as gay marriage finds its fabulous way before the Supreme Court of the United States today.
“There is that great proverb—that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter…Once I realized that, I had to be a writer… It’s not one person’s job. But it is something we have to do, so that the story of the hunt will also reflect the agony, the travail—the bravery, even, of the lions.” —
(Source: jacobwren, via jeezitzben)
“Under what circumstances, if any, may ‘the government’—i.e., the military or the C.I.A., with the consent, tacit or express, of the President—order the killing without trial of a citizen not on American soil? What about the killing, also without trial, of a specific person who is specifically believed to be a dangerous terrorist but has the misfortune of not being a citizen of the United States? Or a person of whatever nationality whose habits and associations conform to a circumstantial ‘signature’ suggesting that he is, or probably is, a dangerous terrorist? How certain must those who dispatch the drones be that their ‘target’ is who they think he is? What safeguards, what checks, what procedures, short of a full legal process, but greater than the mere say-so of the drone dispatchers, are required or appropriate? Given the brutal methods of ‘modern’ war, whether ‘conventional’ (invading armies, aerial bombing and strafing, ‘force-protection’ thoroughness, ‘shock-and-awe’) or ‘asymmetrical’ (suicide bombings, terror attacks, ‘improvised explosive devices’), all of which tend to kill and maim civilians in greater numbers and at higher ratios, don’t drone attacks represent a somewhat less inhumane alternative—’the worst form of war, except for all the others,’ as Will Saletan put it recently? Because drones carry no physical risk to the attacker, don’t they create a temptation to use them simply because they can be used?”
Oh, Philip K. Dick. (Oh, David Dark.)
“Dear, Lord. Pray for us.” — Emily Moseley, pausing before we ate dinner, hands held, on her most Catholic birthday, yet.
“If you’re gonna fake it, it’s gotta be real.” — Andrew English
“I’m a gist-er.” — Jamie Karolich, on her inability to recall specific details in certain contexts.
This blog is one of my absolute favorite things right now. My friend, Chris Jacobs, has a new series called, “I’ll Sleep On It.” It’s odd, unnecessary, funny and, I think, brilliant.
“I feel like my music is a spinster. I need lovers. Lots and lots of lovers.” — Sarah Masen
Hey, all. One o’ my Lexington bands will be live on the Internet tonite at 7pm EST on Red Barn Radio if you wanna tune in. It’s a fun, bluegrassy little outfit with three songwriters (one of ‘em is me) and three singers (one of ‘em is me). Some of my faves in town are in this band: Warren Byrom, Tree Jackson, Scott Wilmoth, and Robby Cosenza. Lots of songs and a little bit of talking. You can listen here. I’ll be playing songs you outta-towners haven’t heard yet. If you’re in Lexington, the show’s at ArtsPlace, and we’d love to have you in the audience.
“What kind of deity would create such complex and fancy worm food?” — Ernest Becker in The Denial of Death, succinctly elucidating one of the (many) problems we have with the idea of God and the reality of ourselves. (Will everybody read this, please, so I can talk with you about it?)