Doc’s testing my blues. Currently I’m sitting in the lobby w/ an IV while this radioactive junk runs wild inside me. Then in about 30 minutes they’re gonna take many, many pics before putting me on a treadmill.

I get to leave for awhile but then I have to come back this afternoon for another round. House never makes his patients do this, but oh well.

This unconscionably loud Lipitor-sponsored clock on the wall to my left is an overbearing commercial reminder that I am staring into the schism between my life and otherwise for the first time. If the worst-case scenario occurs then I’ve left a life unfinished and will be dependent on the kindness of others to edit it up. If it’s the other possibilities become the outcone then I’ll have wished I would have stared into the schism some time ago. I thought I knew how to separate the sh** from the sh**. Apparently, as with most aspects of my life, I didn’t take the thought deep enough.

As Sam Cooke used to sing, “the clock on the wall says it’s time to go.”

Time to open the schism and take a look inside

(not bad for left-handed text-tying on an iPhone)

There are few segments of audio retail more bastardized than Christian contemporary music. It’s like contemporary audio retail, but simpler, strung out and five years late. Blues from fishbowl memories.

And I mean, “strung out,” in the worst of ways.

And, at least, to me.

But take for example, Picture of Jesus, by Ben Harper

This is a song done by a man who’s done more drugs that most who’ll read this, probably more depressed than I’ve ever been and probably broke a few of the commandments since I started this post. But if you want to reach the depths of deepest, stillest waters, take a listen to the song:

In order to get something to grow, you have to get your hands into the mud. Otherwise you’ll never be able to fully empathize with the pains of the people who populate this planet.

Otherwise you’ll miss many of the beautiful things that have been planted along life’s way.

I’m refocusing my life. My doctor, my friends and my family have told me it’s time. And I still don’t know what’s right but you can bet that this song is one of those signposts along my way.

Here are the lyrics to Picture of Jesus. Tell me it isn’t beautiful, regardless of what creed you subscribe to. Do yourself a favor and learn from them.

Picture of Jesus by Ben Harper

It hangs above my altar
Like they hung him from a cross
I keep one in my wallet
For the times I feel lost
In a wooden frame with splinters
Where my family kneels to pray
And if you listen close
You’ll hear the words he used to say
I’ve got a picture of Jesus
In his arms so many prayers rest
We’ve got a picture of Jesus
And with him we shall be forever blessed

Now it has been spoken
He would come again
But would we recognize
This King among men
There was a man in our time
His words shine bright like the sun
He tried to lift the masses
And was crucified by gun

He was a picture of Jesus
With him so many prayers rest
He is a picture of Jesus
In his arms so many prayers rest
With him we shall be forever blessed

Some days have no beginning
And some days have no end
Some roads are straight and narrow
And some roads only bend
So let us say a prayer
For every living thing
Walking towards a light
From the cross of a king

We long to be a picture of Jesus
In his arms so many prayers rest
I long to be a picture of Jesus
With him we shall be forever blessed

How deep do you think these still waters run?

(photo credit: Pete Simon via Flickr)

4 years ago, I dove deep into The Blues in order to write a book of blues, or two. And about on a third. But life has been changing rapidly.  And a trip to the doctor’s indicated I got the blues.

• Stretched too thin.
• Not takin’ good enough care of myself
• Not exercising enough
• Adjusting to life’s drastic changes

And a battery of tests coming…

Ironically, it’s going to take getting back into the blues to get over them.

• Edit the books
• Deepen the research
• Work on the Plan B skills
• Cut down on commitments – to a minimum

and let myself adjust to the changes

The effects have already been nice. I breathe easier.

And, for example, this morning I was researching blues while half-watching Memphis Blues. The TNT show played an old Aretha Franklin song, “The House That Jack Built.” M’mmm, forgot all about the jam. I stopped the show and listened to the jam for the last hour…so far. The drums alone can make one see why Aretha was Michael Jordan’s favorite.
Take a listen to the song in its entirity.

“I turned my back on Jack. He says he wasn’t comin’ back.”

So I guess I”ll start my research deeper with Aretha.

And for those who like lyrics…here you go:

The House that Jack Built by Bob Lance and Fran Robbins

This is the house that Jack built, y’all
Remember this house!

This was the land that he worked by hand
It was the dream of an upright man
There was the room that was filled with love
It was a love that I was proud of
This is the life, the life that he planned
On the love, the same old loved
In the house that Jack built.
Remember this house!

There was the fence that held our love,
There was the gate that he walked out of
This is the heart it has turned to stone
This was the house, it ain’t no home
This is the love that I destroyed
On the day that I toyed with love,
In the house that Jack built,
I’m gonn’ remember this house!

Oh-ohh wha-a-at’s the use of crying?
You know I brought it on myself
There’s no denying
But it see-e-ee-ems awful funny
That I didn’t understand
Until I lost my upright man

Up on the hill
Everything stands still
In the house that Jack built
I’m gonna remember this house

Listen!
I got the house
I got the car
I got the rug
And I got the rack
But I ain’t got Jack
And I want my Jack back!

I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn’t coming back
I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn’t coming back
Ohhh, Jack
You oughta come on back
Ohh Jack
You oughta come on back
To the one that you built
It’s the same one that you built
You oughta come on back Jack,
Oh now Jack,
I didn’t understand
Until I lost a upright man
Come on back Jack

 (photo credit:  Amazon.com)

In a stroke of brilliance, the city of Philadelphia, PA is considering making bloggers play $300 a year for a business privilege license in order to blog with an ad on their site. The art form once called “journaling,” is now being conceived as a potential to make money.

And I thought only the sports fans were maniacal.

How I Would Handle Blogging in Philadelphia

1) Incorporate – one of the recommended ways to protect yourself from liability is to incorporate yourself. So instead of being a blogger, you become an affiliate marketer who uses a blog for thought leadership. And if they actually think to write language to incorporate affiliate links.

2) Pay the taxes just to spite them – If you make peanuts a year, the state has to spend more on the paperwork – per blogger – to refund your taxes than it would cost them to to collect it. There’s a reason why nontaxable gifts are up to $1,000 a year. Not only that, but now you’re at poverty level. And if you do it right, you can apply for welfare. Now the city has to pay more just to deal with you. And you get government cheese.

Married bloggers:  file jointly to make this works!

3) Collect receipts – Might as well get tax writee-offs for internet service, phone…keep this up and you could end up saving more than what you could have done if you didn’t incorporate and pay the tax.

And if this fight continues…

4) Start protest tweetups – bloggers have shown their power to make change. Start organizing and getting the word out. Once all those politicians Google Rankings are flooded with their decision to tax bloggers who make less a year than

And if you’re still having to pay $300 a year to maintain your 1st amendment rights

5) Leave Philadelphia – When the city gets that stupid and near-sighted, it’s time to leave the city. I know, easier said than done, but any city that’s going to try to loophole artistic expression is desperate. Treating bloggers in this fashion automatically shuts the door on the possibility that  more tech companies will consider to start shop in Rocky’s town.

There are reasons why cities like Austin and Indianapolis are continuing to grow while cities like Detroit and, potentially, Philadelphia are fading. Adapt to change and survive. Try to control change and you suffer these fates.

Maybe for an encore they’ll start taxing everybody who wants to see the Liberty Bell.

The last few days at Blog Indiana’s BIN2010 were an absolute whirlwind. Liveblogging, catching up with friends, helping out wherever possible. I even pulled out the old Valet skills and handed out parking tickets the first day. I still don’t think there’s a “niece who was volunteering.” jk

Of all the great lessons I learned (as well as the many marketing mistakes I found I was making) the number one thing I saw was how people were organizing themselves.

So after the afterparty, as I laid on the Lawn at White River listening to Government Mule, I started to look through the clouds to find the stars. I structured how I’d get through, and when I finished my thoughts I realized:  I was making lists.

It’s what I did to get through writing books of blues. It’s what I did to get along the career path. I was just hoping my mom was wrong and that I’d never have to make another list for my personal life ever again. They’re claustrophobic. The commit me. “Commitment,” there’s a concept that puts one on the line.

And the resistance takes control. But…

…as I spent those days in Indy watching friends do book signings and moving forward to the next task while all the while my now-infamous books of blues are still in editing, life felt like it flew right by me – like them 5 days in Indy.

So when I got home I had the Sunday dinner with the oldold man. Then I got home, put my stuff in my room and…caught up on television. After 2 hours, I turned off the TV (as nice and new as it is) and swore at myself for five minutes till I got moving. Then I grabbed a goblet of water, put my clothes away, started laundy, cleaned up my room and put down all my goals I want to accomplish by the end of 2010.

• Personal
• Professional
• Extra-cirricular
• Skills
• Daily Regiments

I even put them all in a spreadsheet.

Now not everything feels so daunting. Maybe there’s something to these organization things my mother was telling me about when I wasn’t listening.

Some day I hope to speak at BIN, just to say that BIN2010 was the kick in the ass that got my life over the hump. I’ll find better words to phrase it.

Time to go to bed. One of my new daily goals is to be an early riser.

THANK YOU SHAWN AND NOAH for letting me help out, and to all those who made BIN2010 so special for me! The event really has become the yearly time-of-reflection for my professional.

Mecca, so to speak.

I trust little, “little” being an overestimation. I’m not a skeptic or a cynic, but I seldom accept the first argument. Unless it’s oldold man Finn.

In a generation that pleads to lesser crimes and only reveals what helps them achieve their ends, for me to believe someone involves more negotiation than belief. Or faith. Or grace…

and whoever wants to can take the dogma for a walk.

But I have faith in Douglas Karr.

And if Douglas Karr‘s going to steal time out of his obnoxious schedule to write an instructional manual, I’m going to read it.

I’ll read the book on blind faith.

Why I would recommend Corporate Blogging for Dummies without having read it, yet

5) Marketing Tech Blog is my favorite industry blog: I was learning from the Marketing Tech Blog before I knew of its founder. And for those who don’t know, the founder is DK.

4) Nice wins: You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who gives more of himself. Any one who remembers Doug, his friend Bill Dawson, and the Blog Indiana crew traversing a dominating Region blizzard to give a presentation to the natives at the Boiler Room – as opposed to rescheduling – will remember the passion he and that crew had to do their part to help put the Midwest Economy ahead of the curve for a change.

3) A Valpo thing – Corporate Blogging for Dummies was co-written by Douglas and Chantelle Flannery, Vice President of Firebelly Marketing of Indianapolis – & a Valpo HS grad. I can’t help but support that! Not only that, but Chantelle went to school with a few of my friends. I’m hoping she can give me the dirt on them. I need some more leverage.

2) BeanCup – Down in Indy where many Social Media companies reside, there was this magical place called the Bean Cup. I drove down their last Halloween to witness its closing. What I found was a little shop at the end of a strip mall on a side street in South Indianapolis. What I discovered was an enchanting little community that had blossomed thanks to friendships, great food, and a little SEO and social media. I helped give the BeanCup an additional sendoff. Doug and I started blogging about the evening sendoff party, put the event on uStream, tweeted, shared it, engaged in conversations and even lipsynced to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was the first time I felt my skills were being used for good, and the event changed my career and my life. I can’t help but thank DK, Paden, and the Carrs for the experience. (I also know who I’m getting to paint my house )

And the #1 reason I’d recommend Corporate Blogging for Dummies without having read a single word…

1) I learn from Douglas Karr – I listen and read a lot of industry stuff, again and again. I have had the privilege of meeting quite a few of those writers and I like a lot of what they have to say. But the one I learn from the most has been Douglas Karr. He always gets deep into the heart of SEO, Social Media, and business blogging, yet keeps the language simple and succinct so even beginners can grasp the most complex of concepts.

In a couple or so days, I’ll have read the book and at that point I’ll let you know if the reading was worth my predicted hype.

Have you read Corporate Blogging for Dummies yet?

What did you think?

Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic from his set at the Filmore West, April 26th 1970 is playing from my iPhone through the local establishment’s speakers as I help to close’er down, again. Not that it’s a habit, but it’s a great place to work when friends work the place. My new, old friend behind the bar says we’re moving to Vegas in the spring. Or Austin, too. But I think she might change her mind after we visit Minneapolis.

I should probably warn my cousins that we’re coming.

I hope she finds the right festival to work. And soon. When she’s ready. If she’s ever ready – which is inessential.

My new, old friend is brilliant, beautiful, paradoxical, shines in the light. And is still too close to the story for her to see that her canvus will be her next 8 months. These scribblings won’t make much for the nevermind but for the hope that I’m nearby the moment her past washes through her.

We should sell tickets for that upcoming exhibit. It’d pay for Vegas & Minneapolis. & Austin too.

What else sparkles in contrast is that I haven’t gotten past the thought that I might actually still be young enough to be that adventuresome, still. Again. All over again.

And together we will fold into the mystic.

Another season went by and the cobwebs are still on my books of blues. Other things are starting to grow, but at the cost of the dream – the reason for which I’m helping build everything else. I’m not feeling my age, but I’m watching the years slide by.

A couple other editors have volunteered to jump on board while Max learns to be a father for the first time. Lost another one to the domestic fold.

I hope it stones him to his soul.

As the concert finishes and the iPod changes over, the muse vacates this post and something new takes its place. Doctor Doug…good stuff.

The staff from a nearby establishment starts to pour into the place, pausing our travel planning till a morrow or so. As they do, I find myself starved, desparate, and afraid I’ll never get them books done and my gambles will be for nothing.

That should scare a few people.

I think I’m going to listen to the Van Morrison concert again while walking just to see where the ideas unfold.

And this caravan is on its way.
(Post title from Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.”)

PS – Oh, look, my guitar.

It’s been awhile since I’ve liveblogged. The last time I did it was at a trade show. So I”m getting back into the habit.

The first thing I want to liveblog is the movie, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” I’ll be starting in a few minutes.

What Is Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

I’m gonna find out here before long. Thanks to the obnoxious upsell process on Dish TV, I started the move 5 minutes late.

So far someone dropped off stage, slipped into a mud puddle, fumbled through a maze of drunken bottles, whirlwinded through a haze of mystical jellyfish before being dropped on the underside of a thumbtack and forced to choose between Dr. Parnassus’s enlightenment and Mr. Nick’s bar.

What happened after that?

“Will we miss him? I don’t think so.”

The current-day police seem confused.

It’s the mirror that means everything…takes one from a traveling side show Shakespearean tent called “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” and into a candyland of surrealism. I’m suspecting it to be the real imaginaruim. And then a choice is made between good and evil…

“He’s come to collect.” – I think it to be the devil. (I didn’t know Verne Troyer was still alive).

And the plot is a-rolling. Trying not to give too much away, but the doctor’s young daughter is thinkin’ of running away but now Doctor Parnassus starts to tell the story.

Characters in Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus:

• Doctor Parnassus – Christopher Plummer
• Devil – Tom Waits
• Percy – Verne
• Valentina – Doctor Parnassus’ Daughter
• Anton – The teenager assistant who’s in love with the daughter

It’s gonna be about an old man retelling his youth. I can get on board with that…Nope, I lied.

Amazing special effects so far. Tapered with Buddhists realms here in the beginning.

Damn, Dish TV. I paused it for a phone call and it stopped it. Now Heath Ledger is here and I’m not sure who he is. Is it Dr. Parnassus?

Grrr. Nope, there’s Doctor Parnassus so it can’t be the guy.

Heath was hanging from a noose. But five minutes later he’s got the girls from the supermarket to come watch the show.

Talk about fumbling into brilliance, Ledger’s character wears a mask with a Pinocchio-lying nose half the tie.

Now the devil (Tom Waits) has bet the doctor on the first to five souls. I mean, who makes that bet?

The ‘mirror’ is becoming a metaphor.

But the Doctor’s backstory is becoming surreal. Stories with immortals often are.

If you can’t handle the gondola scene in Marry Poppins cut short by a heard of dead gurnsey cattle floating in the stream, then don’t watch this.

But for those like me, now I’m only interested.

Heath’s character, Tony, is a real-time hero. Flawed, passionate. And because the Doctor saved Tony’s life, Tony wants to return the favor.

“Do you believe in coincidence?” asked the Doctor.

And the traveling show has a Alice in Wonderland / Clockwork Orange sensation.

And Tony jumps into the imaginarium for the first time…and turns into Johnny Deep. Nice way transition the character.

And the healing begins

But Tony’s past returns and he jumps into the mirror and becomes…Jude Law.

Believe it or not he’s walking on air.

What’s with Russians and their nooses?

It’s cool that they don’t ignore the fact that different characters play Tony. The other characters don’t recognize him at first. It’s the burn marks that make the difference. And the “different faces” blends into the story line.

And Jude gets to be the actor that tells Tony’s backstory.

Wow, they’re fumbling into brilliance again…they must have done Ledger’s work before they did the special effects because Ledger’s actually been able to be in throughout the movie. Makes me want to watch “The Dark Knight,” again.

And here come Farrell’s part.

Given Farrell’s recent history, he’s the perfect person to play the part.

And, yeah, the end of this movie is the reason to see it.

And the end isn’t the end. I would have been mad were it.

How Was the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?

I’ve seen infinitely worse. But now as I watch the bit I missed in the beginning, I realize that, had I’d seen it the first time, the rest of the movie would have made much more sense…somewhat. It’s a bit surreal, a bit metaphysical, and just short of completely letting go which will lead some people to believe it to be “over the top.”

In fact I hope they do. I don’t always like to share treasures with everyone

Ledger plays a great role, once again.
Plummer, once again, plays a prototypical sage with mortal flaws that people have begun to take for granted.
Depp is suave.
Law was his mercurial self.
And Farrell was, well, Farrell.
And Tom Waits as the devil. It makes me want to listen to some of his tunes.

(note:  Amazon.com links are affiliate links)

I’m south of the lake along the pond, listening to a local jam band finish up their set. 4 songs in 20 minutes & no lyrics: the mark of a good band.

My buddy, Jelly, is enjoying sundown on the phone, chatting to his girlfriend who is across the river attending grad school at the University of Missouri. The pains of long distance relationships simplified by technology.

Jelly’s theme of the night, “roll with it.” It’s a theme I keep forgetting. I’m around the music all the time, but seldom do I heed its advice as much as when I started writing.

Instincts only get one so far. After that you have to train the body to perform the desired craft.

Or to appreciate it, all over again.

I should publish now. I think my other friend is coming up the road. She invited us. Wow, she’s in the music.

And banjo great Randal Saul is about to thrown down.

Shout out to the “pack”

And “happy birthday,” Bugh.

- Finn

A highly tantalizing holiday taken to writing took its typical course…

• behind closed doors
• windows drawn and close
• my computer
• my thoughts.

What did I accomplish?

• viewed season two of my second favorite television show
• watched a few movies

The good news was, during all that watching, closed-off and isolated, those blues thoughts got time to finally breathe.

The Ben Harper Revival

A few weeks ago I started carboloading on music and fumbled back into Ben Harper while I was looking for more Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

I hadn’t really listened to Harper since Diamonds On The Inside. It was the album I was soaking in when a girl I cared for dearly moved on. Most of the songs remind me of the moment when I got that fateful text during my drive to the boat.

Some girls can only be loved when they’re chased.

Harper might have paid the price for my pain – though I wasn’t a fan of his performance on Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

But as I slid back into that time period, drew upon those times, dove back into my resources, and stirred it all together, Ben Harper started bubbling to the pop.

During my search, I came across a performance Ben Harper gave with the Innocent Criminals called Live at Twist and Shout Records. Softer and more soulful then when I last left him, this performance sticks into my head.

Especially the song “Fool a Lonesome Train.”

If you listen to the song and you can’t picture yourself sitting on a deck, rocked back on a chair, sipping a crafted drink from a sparkling glass and tripping into a memory as if,

“Last night is still ringing in my head like that lonesome whistle in the rain” (Harper, 2007)

then you died some time long ago, my friend.

For me, it’s that deck and that chair. Leaned back. So I can place a Martin guitar over my lap and play something soft and slow…

Like “Fool for a Lonesome Train.”

Lyrics to “Fool for a Lonesome Train.”

“Fool for a Lonesome Train” – by Ben Harper”
It’s late and I can’t sleep
I’ve made promises that I can’t keep
Cobblestones and broken bones, has a kingdom but he’s got no home
Last night is still ringing in my head like that lonesome whistle in the rain

I’m a fool for a lonesome train
I’m a fool for a lonesome train

The lifetime we’ve left behind with strangers
Promises and lies both have their dangers
I just can’t be wrong enough and I can’t hide for long enough
So far away, but I still feel your pain

I’m a fool for a lonesome train
I’m a fool for a lonesome train
I’d try to say goodbye but I never got your name
I’m a fool for a lonesome train

I’m a fool for a lonesome train
I’m your fool for a lonesome train
I know it sounds crazy but I’m painfully sane
I’m your fool for a lonesome, lonesome, lonesome train

MP3s of Ben Harper songs mentioned – via Amazon.com

And for those paying attention at home, the girl mentioned above is referred to as “Gracie,” in the books of blues.

(photo credit: Jazmin Million via Flickr)