John Mayer Has a TV Show

As we can all tell, I'm a big music fan. I collect CD's, play music, share music with friends, watch concert footage, read biographies of legends...the list goes on. Everyone has something they are passionate about, and this is definitely mine. I'm making progress from the last post with the whole "focus" thing, I guess. I digress.

Apart from the actual listening to music part, I like to get to know the artists I enjoy. To me, I can't get into an artist until I've read or watched something about them. It could even be as simple as knowing what town they grew up in or how old they are. I don't know why. I think my brain has a hard time grasping the unique personality of the music unless I have real world facts and a face to put it to. There are people, like John Mayer and Dave Grohl, who I havealways heard about and listened to their music. I never said they were my "favorite" until I searched up some interviews on Youtube or read an article. Artists say the art is the only thing that matters and should be able to stand alone. I beg to differ, by saying the presentation matters.

To me, they way you present anything, whether it be music or writing or a photo...it makes a difference. The personality of the person who created it will always be behind the art. John Mayer explains a little bit of his newest record "Battle Studies" in this video. Prior to watching this, I listened to the album countless times, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was one of those records that I had my 5 favorite songs, and skipped all the rest. It wasn't that they were bad songs, I just couldn't connect with them. So I skipped them...until I watched that interview. The concept behind the album as a whole made sense to me now. Maybe I'm a simpleton and I was supposed to find that out for myself, but I like conversation and getting to know people, so hearing it strait from the source was more than beneficial.

So, if you ever become famous, know that there are girls (and boys too, although I'm sure not as much) like me that are so passionate about your work that they want to learn as much about it as possible. Take the time to be real with your audience and connect with them. That's all art is, really...it's communication. I just like taking it to the next level.

"John Mayer Has a TV Show" is not the name of a song (although, if I ever become a famous musician, perhaps I'll write a song titled that as an ode to the Great Bagel Banger himself). I deviated from the rules a little bit, but I think this was a good cause, and I promise it has relevance.

"John Mayer Has A TV Show" was a TV show that only ran for 1 episode on VHI a few years ago. It got picked up again by CBS and is in the works. Hopefully, it will be on the air before Mayer continues growing his hair out. See how much presentation matters?! Anyways, he does some funny things and pokes fun at his fans a little bit. To me, this is the epitome of making a connection with an audience. Not every musician needs a TV show, but just letting people see the true personality proves to be worthwhile. And everyone knows teenage girls dominate the record industry. Glad to know I have power over something!

This is part one. I behoove you all to check out part 2 as well. It will change your life.

Sleep All Day

This is me hitting myself in the face because I suck at keeping promises to myself. I don't want this to become my legacy, so this is where I stop all my bullshit.

I told myself in a previous blog post that I wanted to write everyday, even if it was just to say hello, just so I could feel accomplished and work on my writing. This sounds like a good enough goal for myself, right? Well, it was...until I didn't do it. I have no excuse as to why it's taken me almost a month to get back on here. The only week it would have been difficult for me to do it would have been the 9 days I was up north and forgot to bring my computer cord, so I had no way to charge it. The other days, however, those have no excuses. But at this point, it's really not here nor there. I can only move forward. Or turn the page. I live up to my titles :)

I want the focus of this entry to be on focus. I've been out of school for over a month now, and I haven't done a lot of the things I wanted to do. I went up north, I've spent a lot of time with friends, I got oral surgery...but then I look around, and I see people doing these amazing things with their summers. I have friends that attended or are currently attending prestigious camps, going to internships, or getting paid at their jobs. Right now, I don't really have anything I'm doing that requires me to keep a schedule like that. I feel unproductive.

Let me say something strait away...it's not that I'm unhappy. I actually really like not having set things to do and just chillin', as they say. But in reality, I need to grow up and find some direction. I need to start thinking that in a year, I will be preparing for college. I know next summer, I'll have a full time job with not a lot of wiggle room. This is my last chunk of time in the near future that I can devote to whatever I want to devote it to. I want to make it count.

For now, I am going to compile a list of all the things I want to do with my remaining 6 weeks, give or take:

1) Finish the books and summer assignments I have to do for AP Lit. I already finished How to read Literature Like a Professor (which was actually very good. You don't realize how much symbolism is involved in literature until someone writes a book about it.) and I'm almost done with My Stroke of Insight. I still have to read one more book and then work on the essays. Gotta keep those writing juices flowing!

2) Do more with my guitar. I take lessons, and I practice a lot, but I want to find people to play with. I don't necessarily want to join a band, but just find people to jam with. I miss the times Alex (a close friend and fellow guitar player) and I used to work on songs together. He's the first person that really pushed me to get better and encouraged me to play in front of people. He's moving on to college, so next year, I won't be seeing him as much, but I still want to keep that part of my life up.

3) Decorate my room. I've been working on this collage type thing over my bed for almost a year now, and I think it looks pretty cool, but there is still more I can do with organizing and cleaning it up. I'm a bit of a slob.

4) Work on my internship. My aunt set up an internship for me in Pittsburgh in August. I'll be living in her house in the city for 2 weeks and city slickin' it up. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone there and getting work experience. Plus, I get bank. Always a plus! This will be my "Summer Camp" experience of this summer, and I know I'm always more productive when I have to get up early in the morning (I'm a late sleeper, even when I go to bed early. For example, I went to bed last night around 10:30. I didn't get out of bed until around 11. That's not healthy, I'm pretty sure.) so this should be a good thing for me. Plus, Pittsburgh is the shit. Everyone should visit.

5) Finish my college applications. This is pretty standard. Everyone has to do it. Also, more writing experience. Yay!

Those are the big ones. Of course, I'll still be hanging with my friends and relaxing. But it helps to have a little bit more of a roadmap for the way I want to spend my time. Because I know, the day school goes back in session, that's the day I become stressed out. It happens every year, I've learned to expect and accept it.

I think I'll be doing a fair share of writing over the course of the rest of this summer, what with this blog (that I won't forget about again, I promise), my AP Lit stuff, college essays, and any other little projects I decide to take on for my own enjoyment. And as always, any tips I find, I will of course put them on here. Oh, and I spent a lot of time writing letters to Leah while she was at Interlochen (which I'm super jealous about), so that counts, in my book. I spent a lot of time crafting those letters, and I'm damn proud of them!

UPDATE: I tried emailing more writers, no responses. Matt Hires also didn't respond, which I'm a little surprised about, but he's a busy guy, so whatever. Most of the time, I can look up interviews with the writers I like and they have most of the information I'm curious about. I encourage that.

Writing this made me feel a lot better. I'm glad to finally be back on track. Also, my mom just gave me all 6 seasons of Sex and the City yesterday, and I watched a few episodes last night. I'm on my Mac right now, and I feel like Carrie Bradshaw. Makes me feel special.

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This is like a PS kind of thing. I didn't have a song in mind when I started writing this entry, so I just decided to turn on iTunes and listen to songs as I write, and the song I'm listening to at the end of writing the entry is the one that I would share and name the post after.

Turns out, that song is "Sleep All Day" by Jason Mraz. How fitting, seeing as a lot of this was about how unproductive I feel. Plus, there is my love of sleeping late. My iTunes account knows me too well.