For The Sleepless

Have you ever had that one song in all of the music you know or own and it is one that can move your spirit no matter what you are going through in life? I'm excited to share that one song with you, reader. This song, I discovered back in high school. I had always wanted to play it live because it is a prayer that really speaks the truth about my life and whatever may be going on. I never really found the opportunity to play this song, due to the fact that it has a certain mood and length to it. I actually did find that one time do finally perform it. My 5th year of college, I was going to play my final talent show at MLC. I was quite the regular performer for talent shows at MLC and I always looked forward to it each year. My, girlfriend Kristin, and I were going to perform this song. I played guitar and found the courage to sing, and Kristin helped me out with vocals. We were more than ready to sing this prayer to everyone at that talent show. Not to toot my own horn, but usually...

Tonight's band is especially dear to me. For once, I can say that I pretty much know all the band members but one. I went to school with three of them in California, one in elementary (Lee Neujahr) and the other two (Eric and Phil Neujahr), in high school. In high school, Phil, Eric, and Greg Lyon used to have a band called Down by 3 or DB3. They would play in the multi-purpose room (essentially a trailer). They would play songs by NOFX, Third Eye Blind, MXPX, and other punk bands at the time. These guys knew how to rock, they ended recording a cd, that I surprisingly still have and listen to every couple years. What was so awesome was seeing Phil, Eric, and Lee pursue their musical ambitions. I remember hanging out with these guys, never knowing, how big they would become. In high school and college, Lee and I would perform in bands together. Eric, Alan Cross, and I would play a bit in our traveling choir, and, well, I never got to play with Phil, I don't think. It was actua...

Reader, it was inevitable that it was going to happen. It really was just a matter of time. I lost a grip on my happiness for the day. My day started out with 5 hours of sleep leading up to a home visit at 8 in the morning. It was a decent visit, but after 5 hours of sleep, I didn't feel like sitting there for the hour and twenty minutes that I did. From this point on, it was pretty much every little thing snowballed my happiness into a tree, crippling it's hopes on making it through the day. Unfortunately (and all it took), what really put me over was losing a game of Scrabble 254 to 367. I usually don't lose Scrabble that horribly, but this middle aged man and my row of vowels really pissed me off. How silly is that? How do I gather my dignity now with only 2 hours left of the day? I could sleep, but even though I am exhausted beyond belief, I know it'll take me a while due to the thoughts I have in my head. The next best thing is this: Writing down the imaginary plac...

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is ...

Do you ever have one of those days where you look outside and you can't help but get over the fact that the world is absolutely beautiful? I definitely had that kind of day. After waking up, I decided to take Kirra over to the school yard to go play. What this entails is me throwing a huge tennis ball and then chasing her around until she drops it. I may be lucky to get 3 throws in. After running around in the 70 degree weather, I strapped her up in our front yard so Kristin and I could get some cleaning done. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was outside. The sun was shining amidst a beautiful blue sky with fluffy clouds speckled here and there. I knew Kirra wouldn't mind being outside because the area was shaded and there was a cool breeze blowing, which means she wouldn't be digging holes. After cleaning up a little, Kristin and I decided that I would need to go into town to get some groceries. For those that may not know, "town" is about 35-40 minutes ...

Before reading, click here and get the song started:  Hidden Track after Bro Hymn by Pennywise When I think of passion, I think of a person pouring their heart and soul into whatever job/piece of work that they are currently undertaking. You (as my basketball coach would say) leave it all out there. Every part of you is consumed and you make sure to make it your best so others can see your dedication to your craft. I like to rile people up so that their passion ignites and they are left feeling that the world is theirs. Maybe I should look into being a motivational speaker. haha. In all seriousness, I talked about death in my last post and how our lives are so precious and that we should live them to the fullest. The song you are listening to comes after a song called Bro Hymn. This song is about the passing of a friend/brother. It's a punk song that celebrates the life and death of this individual. If you wait long enough, you get this song. It's as if the seriousness of t...

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards . " Soren Kierkegaard When you read this quote, you can't help but realize how true this statement is. In my short 26 years on earth, I can look back at some instances I faced and see how God directed my ways. It's the rest of my life that I cannot understand as to what will happen. What I do know is that whatever I face, God will always be there. In the mean time, though, there are two quotes we need to look at to polish up this thought of death.  "Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment."   Dag Hammarskjöld and "God shall wipe all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. " Revelation 21:4 We know that death is inevitable (unless Judgement Day comes), and there is nothing we can do about it. The reason why I picked these l...

In my opinion, I think it is every (male) artist's agenda, whether hidden or not, to get the girl through their craft. A good example of this would be poetry, which, in turn, if you add instruments, you get music. This craft of trying to woo the girl through music has definitely been hit or miss through the ages. When you get fed up with it, you end up with some of the Shakespearean Sonnets that don't speak very well of women, but when you do put the right type of imagery, metaphors, or similes, you can really attract that certain someone. How do you think Hanson, NSync, Backstreet Boys, Jonas Brothers, and Justin Bieber did it. It couldn't be that teens are hormonally enraged and can't think clearly....so it must be the music. HA! Let's be serious now. You think of All 4 One with their song, "I Swear" or Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" and how even the listeners use the songs to get that certain someone. Let's face it, there is a love song ...

"Depression is something that makes you lose your sight. " - Michael Schenker Tonight I am going to focus on something I don't really like to bring up, or for that fact, tell many people. What better way to get this all out at once, than to do it on the internet. We all go through our rough patches in life, the difference between Christians and Nonbelievers is the hope that gets them out of that rough patch. I, unfortunately, lost sight of that hope for a little bit.  The background story, before I tell you about how I dealt with depression, goes back to the end of my junior year.Thinking back, I get these short bursts of clips that started it all. The first, due to disapproval, I had to break up with my, at the time, girlfriend; I had found out that my best friend was moving to another college (one of the few times I actually cried); my road trip back home had to be cancelled because my car broke down and needed a new transmission; knowing what awaited at MLC my se...

While attending College in Minnesota, I usually traveled back and forth by car from my home in California. This was the ultimate road trip for me. I usually did 2-3 legs of the trip. The first started in Temecula and ended in either in Denver or Grand Junction.The second leg was from Colorado to Nebraska, then the next day would be Nebraska to Minnesota. My favorite part of the trip was always Colorado. I remember whenever I would see the Rocky mountains the sun would be setting and they would light up purple; or driving through the mountainous pass, seeing the trains go by, watching the rivers traverse the terrain, and of course, the snow. There really was nothing more majestic than this drive. Well, maybe, but it's tough to beat. One night I was driving from Minnesota to California, not alone though. I had my girlfriend at the time, she was going to meet my parents for the first time. While driving through the mountains, it was usually sunset or night time. I remember taking in...

Tonight, I am going to be taking a different approach. Most of us can agree that breaking up the monotony of life helps keep things in perspective and I am all about that tonight. Tonight we are going to travel, reader. In order to do this, you are going to have to get this song going in a new tab by left clicking the link and opening in the new tab. You will have to play this song while reading to get the imagery. Also, if the music runs out, you can either keep reading without it or you can hit play again. (Primitive, I know). Tonight's music comes to you from a band called Balmorhea. The song is called, "The Winter".  The Winter by Balmorhea Some of you may know that winter can be both annoying and beautiful. For those that live in warmer states, snow is never taken for granted. I remember living in Texas, trying to scrape enough snow to make a 2 foot snowman. The other states that receive regular seasons look forward to seeing the snow fall, but it gets old to them ...

Non-confrontational is a hyphenated word that best describes me. I don't like to pick fights, I like to take the wait and see approach. Lately I've had a lot of people expressing their opinions of doubt or blindly questioning what I've been doing because of something someone said or because it isn't how things used to be done. I've been rolling with the punches, but even a well trained boxer gets hit every once and a while. As a true Watson, I usually store the anger deep inside of me. I let the person talk for however long and then I just say, "okay" and walk away. I store it, and eventually, it builds within me. I think of how I should've responded, I come up with a conversation between me and that person where I confront them in a tactful, professional way, and then I get angry at myself for not speaking up. A friend recently told me that sometimes you have to speak up for yourself and what you believe because it has more of an impact than if you we...

Life, for most people, is about playing the odds. Take a college kid, for example, he may say, "What are the odds of me passing if I just show up for half of the classes?" Another example is anyone taking a trip to Vegas. They are trying to beat the odds of the casinos for that big payoff. My favorite is when a group of friends look at a member of the opposite sex and say, "What are the odds of me dating/marrying that person?" In every relationship, we face odds. You may have heard me say before, "What are the odds I'd end up marrying a Midwest girl?" Apparently, when you live 9 months out of the year in the Midwest, it's a pretty good chance that you will do that. haha. Most of the time, when we start a relationship with someone, others around us are already looking forward to the break up day. Some may put together a pool of when that relationship will end, others will instigate it by showing one person in the relationship how the other is no...