Thoughts and Musings on Faith, Music, Family, Life

Life after being Mediocrely Bad

Here's a lesson I've learned in my 40+ years on this planet: it's easy saying "Yes" to something you love.  It's harder saying "goodbye" to the same.

About six years ago I got a call from my good friend and fellow Mayberry musician Jerry Chapman, asking me if I wanted to play keys in one of his bands, Mediocre Bad Guys.  The "yes" came quick and easy - it was a no-brainer.  While music is just an avocation for me, and I had done the solo acoustic thing for decades, the thing I'd always wanted to do is be in a band with guys who shared a similar taste in music.  Excluding the pseudo prog-rock trio that Michael Propst, Greg Faucette and I had for a single weekend my senior year in high school, it never happened.

The six years since that phone call have been quite a ride. Les, Jerry, Gary, David, and Doug have pushed me musically in ways I never could have myself.  We've played at numerous festivals, wineries, clubs, bars, weddings, street parties, July 4 parades, fundraisers, birthday parties, and neighborhood backyards.  We've shared the stage with the Rolling Stones sax player on either three or four occasions (it's kind of cool when you lose count of something like that) which you can reminisce HERE, HERE and HERE). Recently we've flexed our collective songwriting muscles and recorded what I believe to be some pretty nifty original tunes.  I've hauled Les's awesome Yamaha stage piano and Hammond XK3 (and yes, they're Les'; pretty much everything the band has is Les') across parking lots and up countless stairs, and I've given my brain an incredible spatial configuration workout every time I've tried to cram that godawful keyboard stand into any vehicle, no matter how big or small (you keyboard players out there feel my pain). I even picked up a new instrument on account of the band, adding an accordion to my arsenal.

In short, I've had an absolute blast.

But earlier this year, I felt something change.  Not my feelings about the band, mind you.  I still loved making music with Doug, Jerry and Les.  No, it wasn't about subtraction as much as addition.  Something else was entering the picture.  It was fuzzy at first, but over time the clarity came.  And it revolved around my family - specifically, my two boys.  When I first signed on, our boys were four and two; young enough where neither really noticed when I was away at an evening practice or gig.

But now they were 9 and 7, and it was clear that they missed me when I wasn't around.  My absences were noticed - and felt - more acutely.  And this realization was the tipping point: in just a few years they would be teenagers, and they wouldn't give a rat's behind where I might be.  I had this window, and I needed to jump on it.

Telling the guys my decision was a hard conversation, for sure.  These are not just bandmates; they're good friends.  But they understood, because they're fathers too. And because they're good friends.

That was back in September.  I told them I'd be happy to honor the gigs we'd already committed to through the end of the year.  Which means my last stand as a Mediocre Bad Guy will be on the very last day of the year - a New Year's Eve extravaganza at Old North State Winery in downtown Mayberry (here's the Facebook event if you wanna come).  Going out with a bang for sure.

I know that Les, Jerry and Doug are making plans to keep Mediocre Bad Guys chugging along in some configuration. Which is exactly what they should do.  Those dudes are way too talented not to make music together.  And I'm excited about the transition I'll be making to being a fan of theirs.  I'll be the first to download the original tunes they'll keep releasing; I'll enjoy being part of the crowd at some 2013 gig.

For the record, I won't be hanging up the music thing completely.  Back a few months ago, we auditioned for a band reality TV show on AMC; and if MBG gets the nod I'll be part of that.  I'll keep doing the solo acoustic thing, hanging on to a few regular gigs.  And who knows - maybe an occasional guest appearance with the band if they should ever ask.  After all, it's a small musical community we're part of here in the Greater Mayberry metropolis. Like Bono once said, being in a band is a lot like being in the mafia.  You really can't say "never."

I'm like a lot of people, I think, in that I struggle to let go of things when it's time to.  After all, being human is about being a creature of habit.  And most of us spend our waking hours all wrapped up in "doing" rather than "being;" crossing things off the list rather than taking a step back to check out what's actually on that list.  I'm glad I stepped back earlier this year; and while it means saying goodbye to something I've really enjoyed, it's going to help me focus myself where I need to be focused going forward.  Who knows - maybe my boys and I are meant to start up a band.  

Letting go of being mediocrely bad is going to be weird, for sure.  But I'll figure it out. With a lot of great memories and music to stay with me.

Bobby and the Bad Guys

Had a great time yesterday playing with my band, Mediocre Bad Guys, alongside the legendary Bobby Keys, well-known sax player for the Rolling Stones, at the BudBreak Wine Festival in Mount Airy, NC.  Bobby, by the way, is the dapper looking fella in the cap. This is the third time we've shared the stage with Bobby (fourth if you count the jam session at our practice space when an official gig got snowed out).  It's a testament to the random happenstance way life rolls sometimes, as we got hooked up with Bobby through a friend of the band (who also lets us use the basement of his warehouse for practicing) who knows Bobby and invited him to Mayberry one Christmas break.  You can read my blog post about that first gig with Bobby HERE.

Bobby's always a lot of fun to play with, and has an amazing knack for coming up with phenomenal sax parts in songs nobody but him would ever imagine sax in.  And when he growls out that sax solo on "Brown Sugar" it sure is something special.

There are a lot of other pics and hopefully some videos coming soon on our Facebook page, so consider "liking" the page and keeping in touch with the band.

Oh, and Bobby just put out a biography of his pretty amazing life. You can check it out on Amazon HERE.

He should get a Grammy for his speech

They could call it, "Best Advice For Any Aspiring Musician."

"To me, this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what's most important.  Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft - that's the most important thing for people to do.  It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on a computer, it's about what goes on in here (points to heart) and about what goes on in here (points to head)."

As my good friend and MBG bandmate Jerry Chapman tweeted, "Preach it, Rev. Grohl." 

(click HERE for YouTube video if you don't see it above)

"Love>Fear" released today!

It's official! As promised, my new EP, Love>Fear, is being released today, the last day of 2011.  This project is tied to my involvement with the College Conference at Montreat next week - two songs I wrote to be part of the conference.

I've got the album available for immediate download at Bandcamp - a great service where I released Let Go back in May.  You can even get a bonus acoustic live version of "Greatest of These" too.  Just click on the "BUY" link and you'll be good to go! (Note: an iTunes release is coming any day now, but it won't have the bonus tune).

Thanks for listening, and feel free to spread the word! (Click HERE if the download widget doesn't appear below).

P.S. If you didn't get a chance to read this Thursday's edition of the Winston Salem Journal, there was a neat little article in there about me and the Let Go album. Check it out HERE!

P.S.S. - My band, Mediocre Bad Guys, is continuing our "Download of the Month" project, which means we have a fresh new tune dropping tomorrow. Not only is it one I wrote, but it's an up-tempo version of "The Dance" off Let Go.  I think you'll dig it.  Click HERE to sign up for our email list and be the first to get word when it's available!

A good week in Chicago

I’ve said it before – I love airports.  There’s something about the random humanity that fascinates me. I’m in an airport as I write this – Chicago O’Hare, to be exact – at some concourse restaurant grabbing a hot dog. Aptly titled “the Chicago.”  I like the way my waiter pronounced it when he brought it to me – “CHI-cago,” not “SHI-cago” like us non-residents are prone to say.  I gladly stand corrected.

I’ve spent the past week in the Windy City at McCormick Theological Seminary.  You know those people who have elaborate plans to tour all major league ballparks?  A few years back I decided to do the same thing with Presbyterian Church (USA) seminaries. I know, not as exciting; but as I'm proving at this very moment, you can still get a hot dog. Anyway, there are nine or ten of them, depending on how many you count in the mix; and including the three I attended for formal schooling I’ve been to six: Union (Richmond, VA), Columbia (Decatur/Atlanta), Pittsburgh, Louisville, Austin and now McCormick in Chicago.  I’m always amazed by the diversity of the schools and the people associated with them, but also all the things they share in common. Every school in their own unique way is making a difference.

I usually try to attend some specific event, like a conference, but if that’s not available I’ll spend a few days just studying and reading.  The latter was my intention when, back in the summer, I pulled up McCormick’s web site.  And then my eyes caught a little blurb about their brand new Certification in Environmental Ministries and Leadership.  Anyone who knows me can certainly understand my immediate interest.  I was getting spousal permission and plane tickets within days.

The program is spearheaded by four faculty and involved ten participants from all over the country and beyond (a gentleman from north of the border joined us).  We met for three days, two of which were seminar-style discussions and one “field trip” day to a local conservation.  Lots of incredible conversation and insight.  In many ways its getting back to some of the core Biblical and theological emphases on "creation-care" that we seem to have lost in recent years - captured quite eloquently in a comment I remember someone making in our local curbside recycling brouhaha last spring: that "God loves people, not the earth" (there's this little thing called John 3:16 you ought to check out...)  It's helping me fine-tune my perspectives and passions on the issue so I can do my part to help the faithful  reclaim an important conversation that's been sorely neglected.

Anyway, this was part one of two trips - we’ll be back in early 2012, after which we’ll have a project to complete. And as much as I enjoyed the program itself, I also fell in love with Chicago.  The seminary is located in Hyde Park, on the south side of town.  I came to love the neighborhoods and my daily walks through the University of Chicago campus to some friends who graciously opened up their guest room for me.  It was also cool to reconnect with some old Mount Airy peeps (and a former Mediocre Bad Guy band member) who moved up here a year or so ago.  Hyde Park is a fantastic place, bustling with activity amidst old-school buildings and homes, ornate trees, and two – yes, TWO – organic coffee shops.  Take that, Starbucks.

Lots to think about as I board my flight home in an hour – including my strategy on how to get to my parked car as quickly as possible so I can to book it home in time to make a Mediocre Bad Guys gig.  Enjoy the pics that follow, and pay special note to the incredible rainbow that greeted me this morning as I prepared to depart.  I'll take it as a sign that this week was time well spent.

  Downtown Chicago skyline via Grant Park on a gorgeous day

 

Chicago Harbor. Bet this looks different in January.

 

Home of a certain famous Chicago residence who currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC. About two blocks from the seminary. Pleasantly waved to the Secret Service guy parked across the street before snapping this pic.

  Went on a jog one morning and headed six blocks east to Lake Michican. Got there in time to see the sunrise. Add this to my collection of awesome sunrise running pics.

 

Our Certification group visiting Glacial Park about two hours outside Chicago

 

So I was walking to my last class Saturday morning with suitcase in tow right in the middle of a rainshower. Kind of a pain, until the sun came out and I stopped at 55th Street to see this. If it's not a sign of the promise, at the very least it's a Starbucks PR dream.

Mediocre Bad Guys

First and foremost, it's the name of a nice little Jack Johnson tune.  It also happens to be the name of a band I play in on occasion - which, appropriate enough, started out as a Jack Johnson cover band. We broke out a little bit from that JJ box a few years ago and started covering a fairly wide range of music (as you can see HERE).  And just this past year we took a big step forward and started writing and recording our own music - which has me especially excited.

We've also launched a brand spankin' new website this past week, which you can check out at:

www.mediocrebadguys.com

I'd like for you to go visit and check it out.  I'd also love it if you'd sign up for our email list on the right where it says, "Your Email, Please."  We're going to have some pretty exciting news to share with the world this coming Monday, and if you subscribe to the email list you'll be the first to know. Not to give anything away, but it involves "mp3 download," "free" and "once-a-month."  I know, pretty mysterous stuff... ;-)

It's not often you come across three other guys whose musicality you have incredible respect for and who are really great people in general.  Guess I'm just a lucky guy. As well as a Mediocre Bad one, too.

P.S. We're also on Facebook and Twitter too!

Late night/early morning musings

I typically don't do much blogging at 1:30 in the morning, and there's good reason for that.  I'm not much of a night person. Other than the occasional late night band gig (which amounts to a personal test of endurance), I pretty much flake out after The Daily Show.  I'm much more of a morning person, to be honest.

Ah, but tonight I'm having to defy my instincts.  There's a batch of pretty bad storms making their way through our area, bringing some tornadoes southwest of us.  So the wife and I made the decision to go into full storm-prep mode.  The outside dogs are in the downstairs bathroom, the boys are sleeping on the living room couch.  Right now my wife is joining them there, and I've taken the first watch.

If nothing else this little bit of self-imposed sleep-deprivation gives me the chance to reflect on a number of things this week - something that, frankly, I don't get to do all that much.  If I'm not running from point A to point B and trying to cram C, D, E and F in there somewhere, I'm probably sleeping.  But I can't do that right now.  So I'm reflecting.  And here's what I'm thinking:

• I'm enjoying my week off this week.  I always try to do the typical seven-day respite following the pastoral rat race known as Holy Week and Easter.  It's a nice change of pace.  Even if I keep myself busy doing stuff, at least it's stuff I want to do.  In fact, there's something actually restful in that, isn't there?


• I'm hopeful about the latest installment of our garden.  Cautiouslly hopeful.  This will be the third year that our family has attempted to grow some of our own produce.  And I use the word "attempt" very intentionally.  Our first year wasn't too bad; we had a couple of items that came from it.  We figured that would lay the foundation for better things to come.  No produce at all.  Nada.   This year I'm a little more hopeful because of two things: first, we added mulch to help keep moisture in the dirt.  We should've done that the other two years.  And second, I installed a small chicken wire fence to keep out any little creatures who might want to help themselves to any of the bounty in there.  If all goes well, at various points in the spring and summer we'll get to enjoy some home-grown tomatoes, green/yellow/red peppers, green beans, cilantro, basil, okra, canteloupe, lettuce and onions.  I'll keep you posted.


• Man, the wind is really picking up now.  Perhaps my idea of sitting out on the screened-in porch is not a wise one.


• Something's wrong with my iPhone, and this really bugs me.  Last night it wouldn't charge no matter what I plugged it into.  My good friend and Apple know-it-all here in town tells me this is a classic sign of water damage.  So the phone spent the entire day today fully submerged in a bowl of rice (a common method used to dry out electronic gadgets). I don't think it worked, although the phone seems to charge in my Bose sound dock (ironic, since it's not an Apple product, and you know how Mr. Jobs is about his stuff....)  The plan is to get it up and running for tomorrow (well, today now) and then take it to the Apple store in town, where hopefully any bad news will be diverted.


• There's nothing like having your car deep-cleaned and waxed.  Even if you're the one who had to do it.  It's the biggest pain the world (just ask the Karate Kid - the original one, not Will Smith's son), but the darn thing is paid for in full so we've got to keep it in the best condition we can.  I also vaccummed the interior and wiped the 1/2 inch dust layer that had accumulated on the dash.  Looks pretty darn cool now.


• I don't care what political persuasion you are - contrary to what Mr. Trump may feel, it's a sad day in our country when our president is forced to share his long-form birth certificate to satisfy a few nutjobs who refused to believe the truth that was shared a long time ago.  I have a lot more I could say but I'll just leave it at that.


• Tomorrow will be a music day.  I have a radio interview with our local NPR station in the morning (seven hours, in fact).  After that I'll head to Doug's studio to lay down some Hammond & piano for the Mediocre Bad Guys tunes we're working on.  Then I go pick up the promo CDs for the new album that should be arriving via UPS.  They were supposed to arrive earlier, but the company botched the order and it took a few days to set it straight.


• It's starting to rain/thunder/lightning now, so I think it's time to head inside.

What the click of a LIKE button can do

I'm sure you've seen these Facebook "LIKE" buttons before.  This particular one, though, is near and dear to my heart.  That's because it's for the Facebook page for my upcoming album, set to debut in 2011.  So I really hope you'll take the .5 seconds and click on it, as well as visiting the page itself to check out updates, pics, videos, links, and other goodies.

The story behind this latest project of mine is something I'm pretty excited about.  This past summer I took a three-month sabbatical with the blessing of my wonderful church and with a grant from the Lily Endowment.  One of the main purposes was to reconnect with music in a way I hadn’t in years: listening, playing and especially writing.  I wrote a number of songs during that time – some brand spanking new, others that I revisited after filing them away for too long.   The plan was to head back into the studio to record them – in fact, I built funds into the grant budget to do just that.

So in mid-October I got the ball rolling.  I’m working once again with fellow Mediocre Bad Guy bandmate and WFU fraternity brother Doug Davis and Flytrap Music Production in Winston-Salem.  I’m also excited to work with Nashville singer/songwriter Jeremy Casella on one particular song, using some session players like cellist John Catchings who have played with the likes of Cat Stevens, John Mellencamp and Bon Jovi (yeah, I know, it is cool!)  We’re still very much in the middle of things and anticipate a release sometime next year. 

As I've already said, I’m very excited about LET GO – I feel really good about the seven songs we're working on, and it's always a joy watching the tunes come to life.  But the thing that really has me excited is something I bet you’ll be excited about too. Here it is....

When the album is released, it will be a FREE DOWNLOAD.  That’s right – free.  As in “you pay nothing.”   All seven songs, high-quality stuff, fully mixed and mastered, no corners cut.  And it won’t cost you a penny.

Why, you ask?  Simple.  Music is a passion, not my job.   Like most musicians, though, I’ve always had to charge something for CDs and mp3s to make back the investment I put into it – recording studio fees, guest instrumentalists, production costs, CD manufacturing, etc.  It's not cheap, and it adds up quick. This time, though, every bit of the expense is covered by the aforementioned grant.  And since the album will be download-only, I’m not having to pay CD production costs either.

The long and short of it is this: if I’m not spending my money to make music, I don’t feel you should have to spend yours to listen to it.

This really excites me, people.  My hope is that you and a whole bunch of other folks will be willing to download this seven-song album not just because you know me, not just because you will hopefully like the music, but because it won’t cost you anything.  I also hope you’ll let your family and friends know about it too.  When the songs become available you'll have my full permission to burn as many CDs as you want; copy as many mp3 files as you want.  Or simply invite people to download it themselves.  In a music business where artists are being protective of their material (and rightfully so) I’m not only allowing you to copy and share to your heart’s content - I'm begging you!

So, back to that Facebook page thing.  As I see it, the "success" of this project depends on the number of people who know about it. The more the merrier, as they say.  So please click the LIKE button and encourage others do the same.  My goal is to have 500 "Likers" by mid-December.  Thanks for putting your mouse to work for me, and I can't wait to share the new songs with you.

(For more information visit www.stevelindsley.com and click on the "LET GO" link - this is where the downloads will eventually be available).

 

 

Guster + Avett Brothers + Sufjan = musical mishmash

I was looking back at my blog posts as of late and realized that it's been a while since I've done a straight-up music post.  I did post the Gungor YouTube clip (which you absolutely must check out if you haven't already), but that was really more about the theology than the music.  Although I really dig the tune.

No, I'm talking about album reviews; a "here's-what-I've-been-listening-to-as-of-late-and-what-you-should-be-listening-to" kind of post.  I found my opportunity in what has become a great month for new releases.  Two of my favorite musical acts released albums today, and a third is coming in a week - all of which I've had the pleasure of previewing beforehand at NPR Music's "First Listen," where they provide streaming audio of selected albums prior to their release date. It is, in a word, simply awesome.  Okay, that's two words.  But you get the idea.

So, the disclaimer I've mentioned before: I'm no music critic, so don't expect terribly insightful commentary.  I'm simply a fan of great music and like offering my two cents.  Also, I'm writing this after only a few listens, where for the most part I was doing something else (like writing a sermon or typing emails) while listening to it.  So it didn't have my full attention.  Feel free to add your comments below.

I got introduced to Guster by my fellow Mediocre Bad Guys bandmate Doug Davis, when we were recording Feet & Hands & Stuff.  He thought their sound was something I ought to explore as I was trying to discover mine.  I liked what I heard, especially their 2003 release, Keep It Together.  Wonderful songwriting and some killer melodies made the record.  I continued to collect their stuff and found, for me at least, that no other album quite measured up.

The Massachusetts alterative pop band, after a four-year hiatus, has returned with Easy Listening, following much the same forumla that has defined their sound for over a decade.  And this isn't a bad thing.  Their acoustic guitar-driven style lures you in to some catchy melody and subsequent harmonies, and before you know it you find yourself humming along.  "Architects and Engineers" is a perfect lead-off song, with "Do You Love Me" hearkening back to some 60's pop feel that has you bopping your head from side to side.  The occasional banjo and ukelele adds texture, while on the down side the fake strings that open "This Is How It Feels To Have A Broken Heart" amount to a form of subtraction.  Still, it's a solid album - not quite on par with Keep It Together, but pretty darn close.  And right now it's a relatively cheap $7.99 download over at Amazon.

We North Carolinians are proud of our Avett Brothers for taking their bluegrass-pop-rock-punk-country-honkytonk-ragtime sound from little Concord to the national stage.  Like Guster they've developed quite a cult following, although they've compiled it in a much shorter time.  To listen to their studio albums is to be entertained; to see them live is to be moved.  "High-energy" apparently doesn't quite describe it, so I hear.

The Avett Brothers have a habit of releasing live albums to attempt to capture this element for those of us not yet privy to the experience.  Live Vol. 3 is the first since their debut on the national stage and their major-label release I And Love And You.  Columbia did a fantastic job on that album of preserving their rootsy sound (not a small feat for a major label looking to make a quick buck off the next big thing).

There is a slightly higher-quality recording sound with this live album that you don't get from their previous ones.  At the same time, you wouldn't call this slicked-up, either.  It's all-out, all the time.  And a good mix of old and new tunes, too.  "Talk on Indolence" tears it up, while "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" and "The Perfect Space" will have you wrapping your arms around your neighbor on either side and swaying away. And you'll never tire of the crooning harmonies from brothers Scott and Seth.

I never thought I'd hear an act that so seamlessly integrated acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, piano, strings, and the (more than occasional) primal scream.  That's tough to pull off in the studio; even tougher live.  But The Avett Brothers pass the test with flying colors.  Which is why you should download it right now, and even chip in a little extra to get the accompanying DVD.

So much of music today is same old-same old.  You listen to the radio and you hear the same song four times in an hour.  And then you realize that two of those times it wasn't the same song; it was a different song that happened to sound exactly like the first one.  It's sad and depressing.

That's why we should all thank the good Lord for Sufjan Stevens.  The opening sentence of his website bio pretty much says it all: Sufjan "mixes autobiography, religious fantasy, and regional history to create folk songs of grand proportions."  I guarantee you those combination of descriptive words do not appear in any other musician bio.  Whether he's creating his own work on albums that follow a state theme (Michigan, Illinois) while incorporating an intoxicating mix banjo, group vocals and orchestra, or producing one of the many groups on his Asthmatic Kitty Records label, he is always up to something good and unexpected.

Stevens' latest project, The Age Of Adz, pretty much embodies that "unexpected" part.  You don't quite see it coming with the first track, "Futile Devices," with a lulling guitar arpeggio that sounds familar.  But when you hear the opening of the second tune, "Too Much," which contains an odd assortment of electronic drumbeats and something that resembles the sound an old-school Fender amp makes when you bump into it, you know he's being all Sufjan again.  There are the strings and brass/woodwinds and choral vocals that have always been a staple of Stevens' sound, but there is no doubt a new stone has been turned.  Electronics rules on this album, all the way down to the 25-minute epic "Impossible Soul" that comes complete with - yes, it's true - autotune.  Major autotune.  Which I'm not a fan of, by the way, as it has polluted so much of popular music these days.  But somehow Sufjan makes it work.

As opposed to Guster or The Avett Brothers, this is not an easy album to listen too.  One of my work colleagues, upon entering my office to hear the dissonant choir singing away on "Now That I'm Older," exclaimed, "That's not even music!"  Well, it's certainly not music as we know it.  But that's why we listen to people like Sufjan - because they yank us out of our comfort zone and show us what else is out there.  Come October 12, you can download Sufjan's latest from Amazon for $7.99 and boldly go where very few have gone before.

And because you're so awesome, a bonus review....

My boys love Weezer, and it's not surprising why. Their songs are fun pop/rock and Rives Cuomo's voice is neat to listen to.  If music is a soft drink, Weezer is like a Diet Cherry Coke.  Lots of fun for the pallete; no harm done.  The critics have not always been kind to the boys from Los Angeles, but that hasn't slowed them down.  Ever since "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)" back in 1994 (off what my kids, and I imagine many others, refer to as "the blue album), folks have been paying attention.

Their latest album, Hurley, follows the same format that has worked for them over the years.  There's a great story around the album's title and cover.  Cuomo met the actor Jorge Garcia, who played Hurley in the noted television series Lost.  Cuomo had a picture of them taken for posterity's sake, and later he liked Garica and his television alter-ego so much that he cropped out everything but his face.  Voila, you have yourself an album cover and title.  Hey, it's better than simply calling it "Weezer," as they've done three times before.

If you're only into music evolution (like good ol' Sufjan), this may not be your cup of tea.  But that's because it's a Diet Cherry Coke, remember?  Keep your beverages straight.  It's light and fun, and good songwriting to boot.  And sometimes that's all you need.

So there you go, folks.  Happy downloading and listening!

A yard sale with a purpose

I am not much of a fan of yard sales, either going to one or having one.  The last yard sale we hosted was back in 2003, right before we piled our cars with the stuff we wanted to keep and headed north on Highway 52 from Davidson County to Mount Airy.  It was such a memorable experience that my wife and I swore we'd never do it again.

As they say, famous last words.

But you can't blame us, can you?  I mean, what would you do if your 7-year old son came to you one day and said he wanted to have a yard sale because our family had lots of stuff we didn't really need and there were probably others out there who needed it more than us?  And what if he also said he thought it'd be a great idea to give all the money away to help the wildlife suffering in the Gulf oil spill, as well as the children in Haiti still dealing with the ill effects of January's earthquake?

So there we were, Friday afternoon, filling our living room with an abundance of "stuff," making signs on neon poster board, labeling items with pre-marked price tags.  We got up at 6:30 (me after getting home from a Mediocre Bad Guys gig at 2:30) to get ready for the yard sale at 8. As fully expected, they started coming at 7.  We were literally dragging things out the front door as people were perusing and purchasing them.

In the genre of contradictory statements there is probably none greater than "enjoyable yard sale."  But that truly was the case here. And I am fully aware that the planets aligned in a way they probably never will again to make it so.  The local newspaper had come the day before to interview Elder about his yard sale and where he got the idea to give the funds to Gulf oil spill and Haiti relief, and the article (which you can read HERE) was the lead story in Saturday morning's paper, plastered at the very top of the front page - complete with a picture of two adorable boys seated in a mass of yard sale goodies. (picture & article courtesy of Mondee Tilley & The Mount Airy News)

So not only did we have a steady turnout of people all morning, but we also had a lot of very generous folks.  Generous with their willingness, on the most part, to not haggle so much on the price, a staple of most yard sale experiences.  Generous with their praise for our boys, reaffirming the good thing they were doing.  And even generous with their own stuff.  Over the course of the week we had invited friends to donate any goods, which they did.  What we hadn't anticipated were complete strangers bringing things that morning for us to sell.  These were items they could've easily taken to Goodwill on the other side of town for a tax write-off.  Instead they brought it for us - well, for our 7-year old, really.  Just another reason we love living in this great little town.

Yard sales are transitional moments of sorts, primarily for the seller, as it has been determined that some item has outlived its usefulness in that particular setting and should find another home. This can be a bit of a bittersweet moment.  At one point I looked out on our front lawn and saw signs of a past chapter in our family's life.  There was the crib in which both our boys slept every night in their early years, a changing table where you-know-what was changed, an infant car seat, our first stroller, and the nighttime camera we had in the nursery. I'll never forget waking in the wee hours of the morning to see my wife intently watching that tiny TV screen strategically positioned inches from her face on her nightstand, as if the life of the newborn baby displayed depended on it.  Our boys are 7 and 5 now, long past the need for such things. And there's a tinge of sadness to that, to be honest; to finally let go.  But we are glad that someone else can take them and get use out of them as we did (although we didn't sell the crib, so if anyone's interested, let us know).

Later that afternoon, after the huge thunderstorm roared through just minutes after we packed everything up and hauled the very few remains to Goodwill, our 7-year old and his mother sat at the kitchen table to meticulously count all the dollar bills and change.  And when all was said and done we had a grand total of $490.33, an amount unheard of in most yard sale experiences.  My wife sent out an email announcing the good news and promptly received a half-dozen responses from folks saying they'd donate the remaining $9.67 to bring the total to an even $500 - something the boy had expressed in the newspaper article as being very important to him. 

So the final tally is still undetermined, but we do know that our son will be able to make a pretty sweet donation to two very important causes. And perhaps more importantly he's learned that when you get an idea on how to help someone or something and act on it, and let others know about it, folks will be more than happy to jump on the bandwagon with you. We got rid of a lot of stuff yesterday, but honestly, I think our family got so much more than we let go of.