I’m sitting here at work working (kind of) and listening to music. I’m listening to internet radio and its playing a variety of music that is similar to songs I told it I like. For most of this morning it was playing a bunch of energetic songs with a lot of funk, the type that get your head bobbing and make parts of your body move on beat involuntarily. I was definitely in the groove. When slow songs came up I would skip them. Until. Lilac Wine by Nina Simone came on and suddenly my whole vibe changed. That song just made me OK with slow music. And then I realized – you have to give credit to anything that has the power to change you. Our moods and likes are constantly changing because we’re human and that’s what humans do, but how many things or people have the power to MAKE you do an instant 180?

Have you ever been dead set on staying out of a relationship and then met someone who made you suddenly decide that the couple thing is the thing to do? Ever felt completely anti-social and against human contact only to end up talking/chilling with a person who makes you want to re-emerge and become part of the world? Have you ever made up your mind about a concept and then heard someone break it down in a way that makes you reverse your position?

A friend of mine says you should always stop and take notice of natural occurrences of the color purple because they’re relatively rare. I say the same for anything that forces you to change. Stop, take notice and give respect where respect is due. Sometimes it takes a lot of power to bring about the smallest change.

The other day I was having a conversation about poetry and I said that poetry should make use of rhythmic and literary devices, otherwise, it’s just prose. Ever since I said that, its been running through my thoughts. The more time I’ve spent considering it, the more it bothers me. It seems like however you try to define good art, there is always an exception. I’m trying a new revision: Poetry should still be something beautiful, appealing (or whatever) if the meaning of the words were put aside. If you listen to the cadences and the rhythm, you should still get something from it. I’m not saying poetry should be meaningless. that just makes for bad poetry, but I think you can look at it like people. A person can be beautiful on the inside and a person can be beautiful on the outside. Good poetry is both. The packaging is aesthetically pleasing and can communicate emotion on its own. The inside, the meaning, is also beautiful, making you think, learn and feel.

This opinion is subject to change.

I’m gonna start spelling compound words phone net tick Lee with other words when I write to confuse my readers.

I was browsing on Myspace last night when I came across this profile ->LINK<-

She calls herself Watts 1965. It’s not that often that I come across a new artist that grabs my attention like she did. I came home tonight and found myself back on her myspace page bumping the tracks she has up. Watts 1965 has a very unique style and words that mean something. I highly recommend that you check her out. As soon as I find out where to get a hold of some more of her music, I will post a link.

It really does. There is not much twilight when you’re surrounded by tall buildings. If you don’t find an open space to enjoy it, you will not get to experience that beautiful amber sunlight that shines on us for a short period of time twice a day. Do not expect to walk in it, because a few steps in the wrong direction and you will find yourself in the shade. The city can be oppressive at times. Some of the best parts of the day are barely present because tall buildings block them from view. These buildings dwarf men – they make you realize that you’re a small part of a large world. That is something we should all recognize, but there is something almost unwholesome about it when the objects doing the dwarfing are big ugly slabs of metal stuffed concrete. There is plenty of beauty in our creations. I won’t deny that we’ve achieved wonders with our architecture, but buildings can be like people. Sometimes you only look skin deep, and they are beautiful. Then you look at what they are doing, and they become ugly. Our buildings are separating us from the, from the sun. Concrete is separating us from the soil, from grass and trees. Lately I even feel separated from the air and breeze. I step out of a climate controlled office onto a sterile but dirty street and I am alternately accosted by exhaust and cigarette smoke. Where is my breath of fresh air? ‘Waiting to exhale’ should have been a movie about industrialization.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love being in the city. There is always something going on in the city. People are creative by nature, so when you’re surrounded by people, you’re surrounded by creativity. If I was an only child, I would blame this feeling on that, but I’m not so I can’t. I want the best of both worlds. I want to keep the energy and creativity that I’m surrounded with, but I also want more raw materials. I want to be able to look out of one window and see the achievements of man and look out the other and see the beauty of untouched nature. I even want a third window where I can see gardens and fountains and manicured lawns – nature tamed.

Do people who have spent their entire lives in the city get the same feeling or is this just the suburban coming out of me? Maybe I just need to spend a day in the woods somewhere.

Here are two new verses. Is the whole ‘matrix’ thing overused in music today? Oh well.

Verse 1
I’m just a simple man
That lonely spot in the universe
I pretend that I’m complex
When I hide behind my words

But when speech falls silent
And I’m forced to face the quiet
I am forced to face my past
Even if I don’t like it

And I’m forced to taste the facts
There is nothing left to hide them
Where’s the spice of life
That makes living taste right

I made my own bed
And I don’t sleep at night
I lie awake craving ignorance
Wishing to be a simpleton

But the road is never easy
There’s always been obstacles
I’ve passed so many
So I know that they’re surmountable

And perhaps I need to
Just put aside my fears
To use my eyes and my ears
To survive and steer clear

Because my life is so dear
I don’t dare waste this time
Trying to hide
Behind diversions and lies

I’m just a simple man
Ah, but that’s pure deception
Humans are complex beings
With simplistic obsessions

Verse 2
You see it’s easy to play dumb
But dumb to play stupid
Stupid to remain clueless
And the clueless remain useless

But it’s hard to admit ignorance
Ignorance leaves room for lessons
And through lessons we get wisdom
Wisdom’s essential to good living

I find myself vacillating
On the edge of the matrix
So scared to death
Of gaining information

I can’t find a cause for joy
When the bare truth is exposed
But its so hard not to see it
Dressed in the emperors new clothes

Can you blame me for escapism?
For wanting to give in to fatalism
Sometimes I hate vision
Cuz I see too much for my eyes

Too much for my mind to process
And I obsess over the problems
And suddenly life is misery
And living becomes horrid

Why should I be encouraged
To try to gain knowledge
When every step forward
Makes the ground less solid

But now I know I can’t hide
Because every time I’ve tried
I ended up face to face with reality
Held in place by my lies