drewplaysdrums's Xanga

i blog here more often.

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:14:46 GMT

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www.drewplaysdrums.com

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tagged.

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:33:17 GMT

I was tagged by kate (google: seekatedate) to write ten funny things about myself. here goes.

I love Star Trek. I do. I don’t have the time to keep up with it as much as i used to. My favorites are the movies, especially when the two generations (TOS, TNG) collaborated… wow. I cried at Spock’s death, and Kirk’s.
Speaking of which, i tear up more often than i maybe should in movies and television. for being as cynical as i am, you wouldn’t think i would get misty-eyed watching the office or the sopranos… or In Bruges. Something in me connects so strongly with the storyline in so many things. I think it is a gift. lol.
I have a love/hate relationship with diet drinks. I enjoy the flavor more than the regular soda versions… but i can usually hear my brain cells screaming and writhing in agony.
I get annoyed whenever people answer “Everything” when asked their favorite music. Not because they are too lazy to really self-inspect enough to notice what they like more than other things (which i feel happens alot), but more because it shuts the question down. When I (or anyone) asks someone that question, it is usually because they are trying to get to know the person more, to find a common ground, to see if they like any of the same bands… to actually TALK about specific music… and answering “Everything” is a slap in the face. Por Ejemple:
Bob: What’s your favorite music? What music do you like most?
Doug: Everything, really.
Bob: … oh. ok.
(awkward silence as Bob wonders whether he should go for favorite movies, or have another bite of tofu.)

See, no communication. No connection. Plus, you don’t REALLY like everything. No, seriously. You don’t. I do try to show grace. I am not awesome enough to feel justified ripping into people for saying. I know they mean well. I often just slough it off and try to rephrase the question in a way that eliminates general answers…
I have a molemark in my right ear that looks like a spider bite.
I feel Dave Matthews Band strikes well the delicate and beautiful paradoxic balance between soul-searching, serious, emotive, acoustic driven pop-rock and infectious, jazzy, soulful, funky groove music. Hence their intense “if you don’t like it, you probably don’t get it” vibe.
I don’t listen to “worship” music unless I am actually in the act of worship or playing drums for worship. It keeps the music sacred to me. Hearing it all the time would desensitize it for me, or “desecrate” it for me.
I often special order food at restaurants. Like, substitute something, or hold something, what-have-you. I feel that if I am paying a big mark-up on the food itself because someone is preparing it for me, i should at least be able to get it how i’d like it prepared, even if they greatly simplified their food options listed on the menu.
Also at restaurants, I often introduce myself to the server. That is all. it’s courteous.
I really like Paul Reiser. His books are awesome. And so is Mad About You.
Bonus. My Tumblr is Amazing: http://drewplaysdrums.tumblr.com

whats with the grumpy face, drew?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:17:23 GMT

i can't find my phone.
surge is being all switched around.
i'm swamped at my job.
i realize that my vision for what surge can be is so, so different than what it is being intended and used for, and it kills me. i know that it will still bear fruit either way, but i find it difficult to leave it alone.
i have absolutely no time to do anything i need to do for surge or the church website and i am digging the hole deeper by stopping to write here.
due to my own overcommittal, i won't have the proper time to devote to my band and it's functions.
also due to overcommittal (and my own slothfulness), i haven't worked out this week.
job description ambiguity creating unmet expectations and dissappointment.

so yeah that's why i'm not all happy go lucky. its life.

john mayer wrote a devotional?

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:06:23 GMT

The following is from johnmayer.com/blog:

THE GOONIES SWITCHEROO

Go back into the annals of beloved ’80s films, and you’d be hard pressed to find a movie closer to the hearts of thirty-somethings than The Goonies. I’ll spare you the synopsis, as you most likely already know it, but if you don’t, no need to worry - you’ve seen 20 other movies like it in its time. The template: nerdy but affable underdog(s) suffer unrelenting ridicule by jocks in varsity letter jackets but ultimately have their comeuppance, usually stealing a smoking hot girlfriend or two in the process.

In the case of The Goonies, a band of awkward, socially outcast kids set off to find a buried treasure, narrowly averting almost certain death and outrunning, among others, a popular high school jock named Troy. Troy is one of the classic cinematic archetypes of the 1980s; the jock. He’s good looking, rocks a period-relative badass Mustang convertible, and he’s a total prick. All we can do from the moment Troy enters the frame is to wait with baited breath to see Troy lose and the Goonies win.

And in that end, back in 1985 when the underdogs had their day, (and their bag of jewels), and the final credits rolled and we called our parents for a ride home, we realized something fantastic: It’s true, we weren’t Troy. But for the first time, thanks to The Goonies, we no longer wanted to be Troy. It was okay to be us, thank you very much.

Cut to present day.

What happened to the better part of a generation that once walked out of their local theater rooting for the Mikeys and Chunks and Datas of the world? They’ve turned into Troys. Troys who can’t accept the differences in others and condemn the things they don’t understand. Finger-pointing, shit-talking Troys.

Ask yourself: with whom do you identify more these days, Troy or the Goonies? And if you’re reading this and you happen to be an Internet shit-talker, could it be because you think I’m Troy? Because honest to God, I’ve always fancied myself a Goonie; the underdog who toppled over the narrow-minded naysayers and walked away with a treasure.

So maybe this whole thing is one big misunderstanding and it turns out we don’t need to go down as a generation remembered as having spent the ’00s wearing our asses like hats after all. Maybe it will turn out that we needed a little time to figure out that in the end we’re all just a bunch of Goonies.

_____________________________

Thank you John. Thank you.

can i break the spell of the typical?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:17:49 GMT

this is jumbled because i should be sleeping.

surge is happening again. it felt good to start planning it. it should be good.

i don’t like that a few scant days after claming “live better” as my mantra, i discover walmart beat me to the punch. bastards. lol. jk. but yeah it does kinda stink.

A New Kind Of Christian is a really good book. Not just by it’s thesis (although it’s great), but also that reading it has rejuvenated my desire to embrace, engage, grow, expand my faith.

I truly believe that to live the Kingdom of God as Christ intended is just a fantastic way to live, not just for my benefit, but for the benefit of those around me, and the world in general.

I most assuredly want to be a professional drummer as my career. I am more aware of steps i have to take to get there.

ending with a couple of lists and a quote:

SONGS THAT ARE SACRED TO ME AT THIS POINT
Say by John Mayer
Typical by Mute Math
Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol
Second Best by Pedro the Lion
Viva La Vida by Coldplay
Lover, You Should’ve Come Over by Jeff Buckley
Who Did You Think I Was? by John Mayer Trio
The Winner Is by Devotchka
Love Is Waiting by Brooke Fraser

Recent Natural Highs
Playing Drums Well, especially blues or jazz
Iron Man
The Celtics Winning
Moments that I notice that a desire for righteousness/wisdom flowed naturally from me.
When I type something really fast and don’t make any mistakes.
Working out in the morning… feeling like I won the battle to start the day right.
getting to show The Sopranos to another soul (Lawton is awesome)
being one pound lighter after one week of working out… I can handle that pace… talk to me in a year.
Realizing one of my most delightful core values of who I am: embracing the sacred in the secular. (thanks for putting it so eloquently for me)

that’s it for now.

“Now if we could just get Drew to find the sacred in the sacred!” - Mike Patz

catching up.

Mon, 26 May 2008 04:46:08 GMT

more of my notes from when i was at chapter camp.

...OK, so I ate, and prayed some. and i feel a little better. Coldplay helps. Everything's Not Lost. Life is so, so much bigger than who I end up copulating and spending most of my time with. It's so hard to realize that sometimes, being on this side of the fence...

Also, i'm about 50 pages out from being done with sacred pathways. So far I am tied with Traditionalist and Ascetic. with Sensate coming in third. Weird, because i have never gone down those roads too far, but I am thinking I should try and see.

so i finished sacred pathways. my breakdown looks something like this:
1. traditionalist/ascetic
2. intellectual/sensate
3. contemplative
The rest are all like, not high... So, yeah that's me. I have been busy most of the afternoon with... WORK. that's right. I know, technically it's my fault. I should have communicated that more clearly. Alas, my fatal mistake. This place is supposed to have wi fi in several places at the camp, but it only works like half the time. Consequently, I am seen as being unresponsive and uncommunicative. That's no good. To my own good conscience's sake, I am currently waiting on calls back from two different people for work stuff. So that makes me feel better.

I started reading A New Kind of Christian. Too early to tell how i feel about it so far. Kelly is currently speaking right now. i am at the back of the stage behind the curtain... searching in vain for the free wifi the camp is supposed to have in this building...

the rest was journaled by hand... i will type up excerpts...

also bookmark http://drewplaysdrums.tumblr.com

I post little notes and funtivities over there pretty often.

ok, goodnight.

rob dougan is wise.

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:10:16 GMT

You're all I want You're all I need You're all I've got All I see It won't be long 'Till suddenly You'll find he's gone And you'll turn around and see There's only me For whom there's silence in your heart There's only me Waiting patient to the last You wait and see One day your love will surely start You'll turn around You'll find when everyone departs There's only me You walk in the room You take you seat You don't turn around You don't see me One day he'll go You'll find one day he'll disappear You'll turn around And find that not a soul is here There's only me

She thinks that I was born yesterday She thinks that I go out with the tide and fade at the end of the day She thinks my hairs aren't numbered And when pricked I don't cry in pain Just cause I smile like a child born yesterday And she thinks that I was born in another age She thinks that I get up with the sun and dream my life away And she thinks that I'm going nowhere Cause I stay in one place And cause I smile like a child born yesterday She thinks that I was born yesterday She thinks that I came into this world (born without a name) And thinks cause I'm saying nothing that I've got nothing to say Just cause I smile like a child born yesterday

moving on...

the camp has been good.... a few notes so far....

Well, I arrived safely. That's a good thing. It is now Sunday Morning, May 4th.
The drive was good. We saw Forbidden Kingdom. My back is killing me. I will try to find an egg crate thing in town. Today looks to be the busiest day. Setup, initial practice. play tonight. I am debating trying to go into town between now and 2pm worship practice. I might make it.

Well, I'm not sure how weird this is going to be... because I m alternating the journal between handwritten and typed. Oh well. I can always transcribe it later. I just woke up on monday morning. I missed dinner last night. I actually was only twenty minutes late, but i couldn't find an empty spot to sit among anyone i knew. I just didn't eat. I suppose i could have found one empty spot somewhere, but it would have been with a table full of people i don't know and believe it or not, I'm not often down for that. I chose to not eat at all over having all those awkward introductory conversations. I'm not THAT extroverted. I have noticed though, honestly, that I become more introverted at chapter camp. I think it is a good practice for me. At any rate, I'm pretty hungry. It was also my fault that i slept through breakfast. That was worth it too. Last night was a lot of fun. The playing was good. I didn't feel a ton, but i did feel as if i worshiped. That was nice.

Even though I haven't gotten to that chapter yet, I feel stirred toward the practice of solitude and silence, even meditation. I am not sure if i am drawn to it in the sense of legitimately connecting with God through it, or just because of it's general emotional and mental benefits. I do feel closer to God then though. It's probably a sum of both I guess. That's not a bad thing i don't think. Oh, and i heard that Taylor (one of the staff workers) is really into Kierkegaard. I am looking forward to picking his brain and chatting about existentialism, among other of SK's ideas.. like the absurdity of faith and it's necessity, etc.

I hope to finish Sacred Pathways today. So far I am 2 out of the 3 I have read... Maybe I am thinking too much into it. Sensate and Traditionalist. I'm glad I am reading them thought, because it is helping define them in ways i hadn't thought. I would not have pegged myself a sensate, before i read the book. And I am less of a naturalist than I thought I was, although it is not absent in me. My sense of naturalism comes out more in a sensate way.

Jesus, please help.

[more to come... leave some legitimate love... or you could just email me with it, that'd be cooler.]

look how they shine for you.

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:00:25 GMT

writing writing writing....

life is interesting.

i cannot hear well right now. i have not been able to since.... maybe february or something... it's getting old.

reading about Kierkegaard... wishing i could have talked to him... i love his view of faith as absurd, but good.

if there was proof of christianity, where would the faith be in that?

Also, really busy these last days before GA.

I am SO in need of this trip. in so many ways.

Everyone should go see Expelled.
Everyone.

If you are offended by it's contents, you are almost assuredly terribly narrow minded. It's not about Creationism vs. Evolutionsim at all.

It's about Academic Freedom. Freedom of Thought and Discourse.

so much more on my mind than i have time to write...
hopefully will have time to write in GA when i'm not busy reading, sleeping, or drumming... *sigh*

man i'm looking forward to it.

PS. Also looking forward to the Garden where I guess they grow the olives.

nineteen years later

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:45:41 GMT

I finished reading the Harry Potter books.

I don't regret it a bit. What an amazing story, so complete and well-ended. Wow.

PS I'd love to go. for real. This medicine isn't aiding that goal at all.

Ampersand.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:18:15 GMT

ampersand jams.