it’s three degrees in minneapolis.  cold like a curse.  i’ve been wearing black chuck taylor’s all winter long and my feet are frozen.  cryogenics style.  if i have to give ‘em to science, doctors will be startled to find the iced toes of a ten-year old on a man’s body. 

today is valentine’s day.  the second biggest gift-giving, card-sending holiday in america, according to local police.  i feel good about it.  i’ve got no special someone in my life to smear chocolate on or eat sushi with, but that’s alright.  i’ve got friends and they’ve got friends and we’ve got hearts and they’re beating and pumping a little thing called love, so i’m satisfied with that thought.  i don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the world, but people ‘round here, treat valentine’s day with a certain apprehension.  maybe it’s just my age.  you’re on the side of found/shared “love” or you’re still in the trenches, digging for heart-shaped paydirt.  i’m in the trenches alright, but i’m not digging.  well, i am digging but i wouldn’t say i’m looking for something i don’t have.  i’ve got good friends, good family, memories i can handle, etc.  i’m thankful.  you dig?

happy valentine’s day.

i just got off the phone with my dad.  i was wondering whether or not to call him “my dad” or “my father”.  given the nature of our relationship, it makes sense that I’d call him “my father”.  it’s got a little more distance to it.  like a one-armed hug.  it wouldn’t be fair to air the particularities of our bond, but i’ll just say i’m glad i was offered him as an agent for material emergence into this corporeal existence.  i can’t say i’d be better off one way or the other having a different scenario.  sometimes, i wake up in the morning and when i’m brushing the sleep out of my eyes, i recognize him in me.  i remember re-visiting my hometown for the first time in fifteen years and some lady at a flower shop saying, “you must be terry shannon’s boy!”  maybe he isn’t as far away as it seems. 

so anyway…..our phone chat wasn’t the stuff dreams are made of.  but then again, i’m not on a movie set.  and i’m not bringing any of this up for your sympathy or to shed light on what goes on in my day to day with the hope you’ll know me better.  it’s what just happened so i’m writing about it.  another thing that just happened is that a pretty girl sat down next to me.  but i can’t see her eyes because she’s got one of them silly trendy, pilot hats on.  snap out if dottie!  you’re hair belongs to the wild. 

i’m off to my studio to do some writing.  that’s what i do pretty much every day.  wake up.  get something to eat.  jog on a treadmill with shoes not fit for running.  hit the steam room for a nice three-minute interlude with a bunch of heavy breathing, hairy, naked dudes.  smoke a cigarette.  eat a chicken sandwich.  do some emails.  and then write write write.  even if there is nothing in me, i do it anyway.  and play the guitar until my ears get tired.  work on my singing.  fiddle with knobs, etc.  or i learn some covers.  i learned leonard cohen’s “tonight will be fine” yesterday.  that’s a good one.  my violin player, wendy, recommended it to me.  i had heard it before.  i wish i woulda wrote it.  there’s some damn good words in there.  every verse has something that’s like a kind slap in the face.  the kind of song that, if Mona Lisa wrote it, she’d be smiling for sure.

in other news, the band has a management team that is working to get us on the road starting in mid-late may.  so i’m excited about that.  some of you (is there anybody out there?) may be wondering why we played such a great, big, fun show at the Varsity Theater on January 9th only to have nothing follow it up.  Well, I can’t answer that.  But we’ll be up and running very soon.  Very soon.  And then people will be asking, “God, do they ever NOT play?”  We’re gonna be doing some serious gigging in the region and around the country.  So look out.  I can’t believe it’s happening but it’s happening.  Funny enough, now that this opportunity is approaching, I’m having a case of cold feet. 

But then again, it’s three degrees in minneapolis.  i think i’ll take the risk.

Take Care,
Jason