Five years ago tonight I posted my first little post on this new blog called The Different Drummer Soundtrack. It was a very brief and rather silly little post where I likened working with my new blog and website to hijacking an alien space ship, and not being very sure how to drive it. Half a decade later, this "space ship" and I have taken a rather amazing journey.
getting into my sound
I see one aspect of DJ'ing being the art of balancing the desires of the audience with one's own sound. I think DJ's, whether consciously or unconsciously, have their own sound and style, and it's something audiences can often identify even when the DJ's themselves can't. In my new introduction and artist's statement, I define my sound as an effort to explore alternative forms of beauty and inspiration. I did pretty well with that last night, I think.
three years as a Baha’i
Three years later, I'm at my computer writing with the lights off except for the Christmas lights I have on in my room and the glow of my monitor. I can say that I feel more at home in the Baha'i Faith and more sure about the Faith than I did three years ago.
when dealt a hand from a stacked deck of cards, do you keep playing hoping you’ll win anyway?
Many of my friends worry about how the Tea Party can be held at bay. As for me, though, I wonder whether participating in political activism is akin to drilling for oil while the dinosaurs are still alive and roaming the earth.
apple picking while the apple pickin’s good
I guess I had always looked at apple picking as a chore, not a way to spend a pleasant autumn day. But I was intrigued by the idea, so I decided to join my housemates. One nice thing about living in Madison is that it's only a twenty-minute drive before you find yourself in a rural area, so we journeyed a few miles east of town to a local orchard.
here is the best place to be
What I find interesting, after two failed relationships in two years, is that I feel more strongly about sticking to the current lifestyle I lead. Even though my lifestyle has not been central to the ending of either relationship.
proof that God works in mysterious ways has now been captured on video
And Autotuned!
a timeless time of memories and fairy dust
Really, it seemed that people had changed very little. Looking at everyone's faces, maybe there were a few more lines in the faces, a few gray hairs, and different haircuts (usually shorter hair for the men--many of whom, like me, had long hair at the time). Yet, some of the walkers brought their children and a few of those children were teenagers--children actually not that much younger than the walkers themselves were back in 1990. Indeed, I felt like I was transported back to 1990. This was especially true in the evening when we had a big campfire in a beautiful valley.
when indie rockers my age start doing a reunion tour…
Yes, it's finally happened. And I'm not ashamed to say that I'm excited about it.
co-op member, humble thyself
So, as I sat at the dinner table by myself eating my dinner, I really found myself comparing the moment I was in with the efforts my friend's Eritrean community was making on behalf of a bereaved family. In my more cynical moments, I found myself thinking that maybe the best efforts that white Americans could muster in such a situation would be to form a committee.