Business Class

A couple years ago, Marcel called me up and asked me to accompany him to a speaking engagement in Riverside. He had been invited to talk to a group of business students about his experience compiling a CD of christian recording artists. 

I tagged along and brought my guitar at his suggestion. His rationale was, "well, you're a christian artist, so if they have questions that would be better suited for an artist, you can field those questions." 

Ok, cool. Makes sense. 

We get there, find the classroom, Marcel says hello to the professor and introduces me. Class begins, professor introduces Marcel, he does a marvelous job explaining the details and logistics of forming a compilation. I sit there listening, thinking how cool is it that a business class has a term assignment of recording and marketing a CD? 

Q&A time comes. Marcel fields several questions about producing concert events and promoting cd projects. Then he tosses me a question about the artist's perspective. 

Now, let me say this. I'm the tag-along to Marcel's gig. So I'm really relaxed. I'm not here to sell anything. I have no agenda. I'm in here-with-him mode. But I am holding a guitar and I'm being asked questions, so I start talking from the heart. I'm saying exactly what I think, because it will help these guys with their project. The better their information about the artist perspective, the more effective they'll be at producing their compilation. 

Fielded some questions, sang a couple songs, next thing I know the class is singing with me. What a great feeling! One of the students says, "why don't we have this guy on the compilation?" 

I'm thinking, "Yeah. Excellent question, young man." Extra credit for the brilliant young fellow in the front row there.  

Professor says, "you can do whatever you want to do, but remember that you set parameters for your artists based on the demographic you want to market. One of those parameters was 29 or younger..."

He turns to me. 

"How old are you?"

I'm deflating as I face the reality. Record labels aren't looking for a guy my age. Heck, business students aren't even looking for a guy my age. 

"35"

Ah well, I've had a great time, and I'll certainly remember the time a classroom full of business students sang with me. Glad I could help, Marcel was awesome. It was a good evening, no matter how you look at it.

Class is over, we chat with a couple students who have more questions and comments, thank the professor for having us, and head to the car. It's gonna be an hour back to LA. 

We're about to leave, the professor comes out to the parking lot. 

"Hey I like your music. I own a small record label, and I'd like to produce your record." 

The beginning of an amazing friendship.  That was 2006. We've traveled a ways since then.

 

 

 

What is it with me and parking lots? 

A single phrase to describe my friend Tom Macomber: Professor Attorney Banjo-man Producer

Conduit

Times shift. Seasons change.  Conversations rearrange. I value things that stay the same. This friend is one of those. 

When everything else fades to gray, some people I still see in color.

 

Yesterday I saw red. Gorgeous red columns of steel at the new LACMA building on Wilshire. Jeff Koons' red high-chromium stainless steel cracked egg. That was my favorite piece. We laughed about how you can look at a piece of art and not really get what it's about, but for the sake of people in your company, you 'ooh' and 'aah' so as not to appear unsophisticated. More accurately, we laughed that neither of us felt compelled to pretend. 

Never had to pretend much with this lady. Wouldn't do me any good anyway. Sees me like I am, calls it like it is. Maybe it's the photographer eye. Why do I have so many photographer friends? I'm thinking about the last 4 blog entries. All interesting personalities. All dreamers. All photographers. Whence come these people to my life, who save the world in frames?

My friend Rita once mentioned the concept of an accountability circle. I never formalized one, as in, we don't have printed badges and assigned seating.  I have, however, benefitted greatly from the concept and have a loosely organized but deliberately pursued, circle of accountability. 

I had lunch with two of it's members yesterday. I know when I'm being investigated. To be sure, the food at Pailin Thai was delicious, and I betrayed my inner vegetarian yet again. But I was being called before the council, and I knew it. 

Having answered at least a passing grade's worth of questions to their satisfaction, I was released under my own recognizance into her custody, to enjoy the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art, where I saw red. 

Do you get angry when the people you love are mistreated? Do you see red sometimes? 

I wonder why Jeff Koons' piece was my favorite yesterday.

I won't try to capture 20 years of friendship in a single entry.  

A single phrase to describe my friend Zoe Pamintuan: Beauty Well-RED

Prayer and Pasta

"Seven?"

It's the last word he says to me at close of day, typically around 10:30 in the evening, a question tossed over the shoulder as he walks away.

"Yup." My response confirms a recurring appointment. We meet at the church to pray weekday mornings from 7 to 8. I'm learning so much from this man. Learning tons.

Then there are some things I'm not even gonna try to keep up with.

It would take years to master photography the way he has. He's a brilliant film-maker. I'm happy enough to hang around said brilliance---probably not gonna rub off on me any time soon. Heck, according to some people, I can't even pick a good movie to watch, so I'm in no danger of making one, right?

I'm learning about flavors like Mexican Oregano. I'm even getting a little daring with Rosemary and Rubbed Sage, but I'll probably not master gourmet cooking the way he does it. This dude made a curry sauce for lunch yesterday that turned Pasta into the food of the gods. That's fine. It's ok that I don't know how to do that.

Photo by Kathy Khoo

He reads encyclopedias for fun. For fun, I'm saying! Don't believe me? Watch this.

I just called him while I'm typing this...

"hey, tell me a random fact"

"about what?"

"anything"

"ok, Polar bears are left handed"

I think he's just making it up, so I start laughing. "No really, all of them?"

"Yes, all of them."

"All of them?"

"Yes"

"All of them?" O, he's serious. He's dead serious.

"Yes...And they cover their noses when they hunt. It's the only part of them that's black. They cover it so they can sneak up on you"

He knows everything that happened on MSNBC today. I never watched political tv 'til I met this guy a few months ago. And by the way, Stephen Colbert is hilarious. How did I not know that?

He just released a documentary called "Kim" online yesterday. It's a powerful story about a crime that's overlooked far too often and affects way too many people I love. I'll probably never make something that important.

It's not likely I'll have the time or energy to learn Photography, Politics, Gourmet Cooking, Film-making, or Random Party Facts from him, so what do I mean when I say I'm learning so much?

I watch him talk to God in the morning. He doesn't say much. He means every word. Then he listens. That's it right there. I'm learning to listen.

A single phrase to describe my friend Leslie Foster: Encyclopedia Renaissance

Hide and Seek

She still writes letters the old-fashioned way. How cool is that! Nice pens and fancy stationery. She makes candles and soap. Seriously. And plum pie from scratch. She homeschools 4 kids and they're all well-behaved. The kids, I mean. Her, not so much!

You should hear the things she's doing. Rock Climbing and Water slides and reading Les Miserable, and painting and frisbee and passports for travel.

I didn't know all of this. She's usually hiding behind the camera. Says it's her way of freezing time. Preserving memory. Capturing the moment. It just ocurred to me yesterday that it's like a game of hide and seek for adults.



That's what I do with my guitar. I keep it with me 'cause it makes sense to me and I can stay behind it and feel secure. Every so often I'll venture out from behind, but I always know where it is. You can tell if I've moved in to a place by whether or not my guitar is there. So I'm thinking about that and I said "hey, my turn, I get to take pictures this time."

Shortly I'll be in studio with Mike Turner recording Secret Place. It's a song about hiding. I think hiding is good sometimes. I was hiding back in 2002 when I wrote this song. I think you can hide out of fear or you can hide cause you're preparing something, or being prepared for something.

Same song, second verse:


It's not like I've been to the point where I'm supposed to break

And it's not like I've already taken more than I thought I could take

Not like I'd get what I got if it was mine to choose

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I was born to lose

Still, hypothetically, if it should happen to me

I think I'd run and hide, believe that I would run and hide...

In the Secret Place of the Most High...

A single phrase to describe my friend Darlene Taylor:
Hiding Seeker