8,000

Oh, a couple of days ago we passed the 8,000 mark - thanks, everybody.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it was a mac user.



Thanks for reading, for commenting, and for caring. I love you guys.

My Wish

Yeah, it should be for world peace. Or an end to hunger. Or even another U2 tour this summer (didn't anyone tell them I was leaving?!?) or love.

But I think that, if I only had one wish, I would get rid of nose hair. But not just mine: yours, too. Not that I've noticed yours - quite the contrary - but I think that maybe this is one of those things that's not doing any of us any good, and I'd like to be the guy who takes care of that.

And before someone (not naming names) spouts off about how it's important and our body needs a filter and blah, blah, blah, let me just say that THAT'S why we have technology... to take care of stuff like that without us having to have hair growing in our noses.

Happy weekend, all. After the departure of the MNB's last bass player in a quest for a better work/life/band balance, we have a new guy, and he's playing a solo guitar/vocal gig Saturday night at the Seven Arms in Geneva (in Paquis). I'm going to go cheer him on, and probably
sit in on a tune or two on percussion, and have a great cigar. So if you're in the neighbourhood, give me a shout and we'll meet up. It'll be fun, I promise.

Just For You

I'm a bit of an analytical kind of guy. And I have a kind of fascination with honesty.

I try, as much as I can, to be honest with myself, about myself. And I've done some pretty serious self-exploration over the last couple of years. I've figured some stuff out.

But it's always interesting to know how other people view me, too. I think sometimes people can see things in me that I can't see (or don't recognize) in myself. And sometimes, I think that they miss the reality of who I am because something about me - or about them - gets in the way of seeing the truth.

In any case, I've come to grips with two things:

1. Not everyone has the same penchant that I do for "I want to know!" (relative to just about everything that doesn't involve numbers or heavy machinery)
   
2. Asking "hey, what do you really think about me?" can put people in kind of an uncomfortable spot. Especially if they're not nearly as fond of me as I think and also value honesty

So, as a rule, I don't go around asking. But I am always intrigued when I get a clue or two.

Now, we all recommend stuff to people because we like it. But I'll probably tell everybody that they should listen to whatever my album du jour is, whether it's their style or not. Granted, I may be a special case in that regard ("it's not the music that's a problem; it's your taste"), but I think most of us would do that. So if someone tells me, "hey, I loved this book, you should read it", I may read it, but I'll often interpret it as a comment about that person, or where they're at at the moment.

It's different though, when they say it like this: "I saw a movie that you need to see - I think it's just the kind of movie you would like".

All of a sudden, I have a pretty fascinating window into what they think about me. It happened to me twice in the last week or so, both times from colleagues who wouldn't really have any way to know much about my taste in movies.

But they know me.

Thankfully, neither one of the shows contains the words "bimbos", "outer-space", or "chainsaw". So far, so good.

The first, which I've just started to watch is "Into The Wild". The second is "There Will Be Blood" (which, as far as I could tell when he described it, is slightly more sophisticated than its "chainsaw" cousins).

Since I haven't watched them, I can't really comment yet on what it is my colleagues are trying to say about my personality when they suggested them. But I'm kind of curious to see.

Do you do this? I can't be the only one... come on, it's safe to open up here. We're all friends, and your mother will never need to know. Mine will, but she won't tell...

It Could Be Worse, They Could Be Chaps

Okay, over the last few days I've seen three people in leather pants in Geneva, and one more outside... three women and one man.

And none of them were together.

So it's not like there was a "let's all wear out leather pants" party or something (I think we've all been there). These were adult people who decided, independently, that it would be a good idea for them to put these on and go out where people could see them.

I know there are some of you who are quite fashion-conscious. So check me on this, please:

Approproate times for a woman to wear leather pants:

1. When attending a casting for a Mötley Crüe video
2. When taking on some official function in a rodeo
3. When advertising, "hi, my name is ______ and I'm interested in picking up men my son's age"

Appropriate times for a man to wear leather pants:

1. Oktoberfest? Not sure....

So, I don't know if they're coming back. Maybe Poison was touring and I just didn't hear about it. Maybe they're German.

In any case, I'm afraid. And you should be, too.

David

I took some shots of my brother at Christmas. You can see some more here.

New Look

What do you think? I don't know if anyone else had this happen, but the link to get back to the main page from any one of the posts or archives seemed to have disappeared in the old template. So, I switched it. Function, never fashion.

I don't mind it, but I'm open to ideas. Let me know if you hate it and I'll see what else they have...

The Difference

...between wanting a haircut and needing a haircut is usually, for me, a pretty big one. And it pretty much always comes with "wanting" first. I got a cut before the wedding... I wanted to look sharp since I'd be pretty visible, but it ended up being, uh, pretty short. I don't blame the girl... I don't think there was much she could have done. But I really have to find a way to disassociate "haircut" with "look better" and "nice way to spend my lunch time" in my mind.

Rats.


Here's the evidence (as seen by Allan's camera)... end of the night, as you can probably guess, but short hair or not, it was a great time.

Me, John (groom), and Allan (co-speech-giver)

The Wedding (Again)

Well, yesterday was another wedding for a wonderful close friend. It was a busy day, but it was great. Busy because:

I was in the bridal party
I was playing drums and singing for the 8 or so songs they had during the ceremony
I was giving the toast to the groom (tag-team with another groomsman)
I was the emcee for the reception
I sat in on drums with the groom and the band for a few tunes at the dance

Great because I love the people who got married, and it was beautiful to see them taking this step, to hear them promising their love and faithfulness to each other. And it was good because I loved being able to participate in their day and give them something that maybe wasn't better than what someone else could have given them, but was, at least, unique, and could only have been from me, in how I played and supported and spoke.

And since I don't think that there was anyone there who regularly reads (or at least comments) here, I'm going to take a minute to just say that I nailed it. It was a good feeling.

Music is pretty much not a problem - I love to play, love to perform, so that's all good.

The toast was a bit tricky... the friend I was giving it with was quite nervous, and our styles are pretty different - I like to figure out the main points I want to hit and then just get up and talk. He likes to have everything written out, to be able to read it. But we got it figured... decided on a theme (a user's guide about the groom, for the bride), figured out which stories to tell and who would do what, got his part written out and mine outlined, and it went over really well. Funny in parts (okay, for most of it), but also really honest and sincere and appreciative from both of us. I think that best compliment that I received after (except for a hug and "I love you, man" from the groom) was this: "you really showed a side of him that most people here wouldn't know, and though speeches like that sometimes feel forced and a little put on, it was just so sincere and natural - I could tell it came from your heart. I think you really presented him well to the bride's family".

That made me happy.

The other part of my talking was a bit of an adventure. To MC a wedding with a lot of structure is not so hard... you just make sure things are moving along from one event to the next, more or less as close to on-time as you can manage. But this was not a highly structured affair.

I also realized as we were driving from the church to the reception hall that I had meant to think of some stories to tell, some jokes or something... and had completely forgotten. Oh well.

So I winged it. And I'm glad I did... it meant I could be casual, relaxed (I had one person after comment that it felt like I was just talking to one person... and after struggling for YEARS to get past my "now I'm giving a presentation" voice, that was a huge compliment for me) and funny on my own. And it went really well - I think it helped to give the rest of the evening a casual, relaxed, and confident foundation to kind of float along on. It was cool.

So, turns out this post is mostly just bragging so far... not my usual fare, and if you're a newcomer to The Yellow Couch, please don't be scared away without reading a bit more. I'm not usually quite like this. But I'm really happy with how it went, and wanted to share it with you.


It was a pretty significant day for me for another reason.

I don't dance (except at concerts, where I move pretty much non-stop from start to finish).

Or, at least, I didn't.


As the dance started, I kind of slumped into my seat. Usually, I start figuring out how I can get home and into bed at this point. But I had to be there till the end, tonight. I was ready for a long, long night.

I was sitting next to one of the bridesmaids, a friend from a long time ago who had come back to Geneva for the wedding. I said something to her about always dreading this part of the wedding. She was surprised. So was my co-speech-giver's girlfriend, on the other side of me. "You're musical," she said (which, actually, pretty much everyone does at this point in the conversation), "you must be able to dance". I tried to explain that having good rhythm is not the same as being a good dancer, but she would have none of it. They both decided that I was incapable of not being able to dance. Meanwhile the band started into the second tune, a 60's rocker. My bridal party counterpart looked at me and said, "hey, you know, it's a fast one, and there are a lot of people out there - no one is even going to notice you if it doesn't work". I decided she was right.

"Okay," I said, "do you want to dance?"

She did, so out we went, and you know what? It was fun. I liked it, and I kept dancing until I realized that it was going to be the first time I would ever have to get a suit dry-cleaned within the first week that I had owned it. But it was worth it. Turns out I can dance - not stunningly well, but well enough. So I danced with her, with other friends, with women I didn't know, with a whole bunch of people, with no one in particular. I danced with the bride, and even with the groom. It was pretty good.

Yeah, good wedding. And it left me thinking the same thing as the groom as we stepped off the dance floor for a drink and a bit of time to talk. We sat down and he looked at me, and said in his usual, direct way "Well, that's good. Done. Now, D... when is yours?".

Fun At Work

We did some values brainstorming yesterday at work - thinking about what's important for our company to move forward, and how we're actually doing in the things that we claim are our values now.

I loved it.

First of all, I am all over any kind of strategic, high-level, conceptual discussion like this... something that centers around the "why". I'm not sure how valued our input will be, but I love to give it.

But it was fun to make it work, too. Our regional manager introduced the workshop, which had a series of exercises and discussions designed to elicit the feedback from the group members. Then she said she'd leave it to us to organize ourselves and get it done. I was pretty curious to see what would happen... you get enough consultants in a room and things are bound to get interesting.

Now I'm not a guy who pushes my way into a leadership role, but I'm pretty happy to take it when it seems right. And this was a perfect fit for me... to keep the discussions on track, to clarify the points for people who had some trouble with the language (very few of my colleagues are native English-speakers, but the workshop and exercises were all in English), to manage the time, and to challenge the participants to get the best responses we could. Well, it wasn't long until I found myself taking it on... and I had a great time. It was cool, too, to have my colleagues thanking me after for making it work, for helping them to do something to the best of their abilities. I love that.

It's days like that that make me want to keep going back to work. I mean, there's also the fact that they keep putting money into my bank account on the 25th of the month. But days like this really help.

Cool.

Slippery (Creative) Slope

When I was in high school, I used to draw a lot.

Then I got drums. I found with drums, I could really create something more intuitively, more instantly, more naturally. It was great. While it may have taken me days to get a drawing that really captured what I wanted it to, I could do it in real time with music.

I still play the drums, but sometimes, I prefer to take pictures. And as I was editing a shot this morning (after working on a song I'm producing last night) I realized that, with a picture, I may have 10 seconds to see something (or someone), pull out my camera, frame, and shoot. I have another 5 seconds to upload it on my PC. If all goes according to plan, I take about a minute to edit it once it's online.

I've been working on this same song for a long time. It's not bad, it's just... reluctant.

And it's made me wonder... when I long to create (and I haven't ignored your question, Caro, it's part of what started me thinking about all of this), how much of it is about the process, and how much about the end result? In many ways I'm a journey-not-destination kind of guy, but in terms of creating, I think that it's what you do that matters... not how hard you try, not what you were going for... as art, either it works or it doesn't. But I wonder if I'm willing to give up what could be greater because something else is easier.

That kind of seems like it would be a shame. I mean, I would rather make one absolutely beautiful song than a thousand mediocre pictures. I know that it's not an either-or choice like that, but still...

Anyone with me on this? I know (based on the number of you who use macs) that I have a pretty high percentage of creative-types reading here. What do you think?

Happy Valentine's Day

And that's about all I have to say about that.

Create

I am in a deeply creative mood today... tried to go out to take some pictures at lunch, and couldn't find good light anywhere. Aaargh!

Tonight I will edit some pictures, I will play my bass, I will sing... it's going to be good. I can't wait to get some of this out, to do something wonderful with it. It's funny though, how it comes and goes... I hope that someday I can develop some discipline, not to bring down the peaks, but to try and limit the impact of the valleys.

Oh, and I may have found the hardest thing in the world. It's having a little girl in bed, in tears, saying, "Daddy, come back... Daddy, need a hug" and not going in every time. It kills me, and even though I know she needs to learn to sleep well, every fiber in my being wants to hug her and comfort her and give her that sense of being treasured, protected, and loved, more than anything in the world.

iPod - My First Impressions

So there are some things that have started to stand out to me after a few weeks now with my iPod (6G, 160 gb classic):

Blind, one-handed operation is easier than I thought it would be. I didn't really know how the clickwheel worked, and it's nice to see that I don't have to take it out of my pocket to change songs or volume. Good.

Apple is pretty screwed-up with their updates. The responsiveness of the controls (especially for the cover flow feature) was bad with the initial firmware, good with the first update I did, and is already worse again with the latest update. Do they not test this stuff before they publish it?

Solitaire is a problem. I used to never leave home without a book. Now I sometimes do. I'm not sure I like that.

The sound is pretty decent - I'm using Apple Lossless codec, so it should be CD quality (or very near), and it does sound good with my recording headphones. It doesn't blow me away, though... maybe I'll do a side-by-side to compare the iPod with my PC as the source through my digital mixer.


Now, I realise that this post is a little, uh, short on creativity. And I'm sorry, but I'm really tired. I'm about to go to bed, but wanted to give you at least something new to look at. Oh, and maybe I'll put a picture in for my profile again. It's been a while...

Flashback

I was remembering my high-school English classes today. They were insane, and rather than explain why, I'm going to illustrate with a snippet of dialog:

Mr L: "Who can tell me what a noun is?"
Me (always a keener and, moving from another school, not yet acclimatized to the new environment): "The name of a person, place, or thing"
Mr L: "No, who can tell me what it is?"
Jim: "Something you call something?"
Mr L: "No..."
Sheri: "An action?"
Mr L: "No. Who knows?"
Blair: "A word that..."
Mr L: "STOP!"
Everyone [exchanging blank looks]
Mr L: "What did you say? Say it again"
Blair: "A word that tells you..."
Mr L: "NO! Before that"
Blair [confused]: "A word that..."
Mr L: "That's it!"
Everyone [still blank]. In the back row, Caroline starts to cry.
Mr L [triumphantly]: "It's a WORD!"

Yeah, this was grade 10. It's a wonder I still know how to read.

This Stinks

There's something in my apartment that doesn't smell right. And I can't find it.

That's kind of disconcerting.

I hope it's not me.




I better keep looking.

The PIctures

Okay, my Amsterdam pics are up. We're in the middle of daddy-daughter day here, so I can't write more now. But you can start with the pictures, here.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Amsterdam

Just got back from a weekend in Amsterdam with some great friends.

It was really cold.

I ate a lot of fries with mayonnaise.

I met a poet.

I took 600 pictures.

I didn't smell much more pot than in Geneva.

I lost at cards.

I didn't sleep much.

So, I'll write more later.