Scarily enough, I finished another song last night. Actually, not finished, but created in one sitting. It's not super exciting, since it's not the most inspired song ever, but it was still nice to do. These long, silent, candlelit, late-night writing sessions are a good thing. There are several songs which I feel on the verge of completing, and I'm excited. Considering that my pile of unfinished songs numbers about 30 (though not all are great songs), it would be in my best interest to move some of them into the 'completed' folder.

Most of my songs have too many words. My general tendency seems to be to jam the largest possible number of syllables into each song, with the result that they're very wordy indeed. But that's okay. It'll be interesting to see how the second CD works out, since it'll have more of my songs on it than the first one. Byron has a way of making wonderful songs based on simple structures and relatively few words (though still many times as many as the average pop song). I frequently feel many miles behind him in songwriting ability, but I'm slowly learning to appreciate my own work. It's funny -- my favourite Ticklish Brother songs are generally Byron's, while his are mine. Strange. Probably quite a good way of doing things.

Right now I'm listening to a CD by an old friend of mine, Amelia Curran. She's based in Halifax, Nova Scotia right now. She has a great voice, a keen songwriting sense, and her two CDs are a joy to listen to (and I'm not one to love an album just because it was made by a friend). Her band is great too, with a horn section and mandolin and other goodies. Well worth a listen.

Anyhow, I'm starting to feel kind of giddy and inspired, but since I'm preparing to go off to a barbecue with my wife's family, I should channel my energy onto paper rather than the screen.

All the best.

Take care
-Justin-

Well, I'm surviving so far. Actually, it's not really that bad at all. But I had insomnia last night, which didn't help my mood at all today. I managed to nab an hour and a half between 10:30am and noon, but that was it. Oh well. Sleep is for wimps

I finished a song last night, which, for me, is quite an accomplishment. I have an absolutely vast stack of incomplete songs in various stages of life, with the result that I hardly ever finish one. I think last night's may be the first since "Children And Dogs" back in March! I've started lots since then, but not completed any. This burst of work came from the fact that at 11pm last night, I had to sit in near darkness, in silence, with no computer. My wife and I are sleeping in the living room while the in-laws are here.

Anyhow, I have to turn off the machine or my wife is going to growl at me. She's trying to sleep again (weird, I know).

Take care
-Justin-

My in-laws arrive tomorrow, and will be staying with us for about a week. I've spent the past few days frantically trying to fix up the bits of the house I had given up on because we were going to be moving anyway. I've done painting in the bathroom and kitchen. It looks a little nicer, but I'm still resenting the hassle. But it'll be nice to see them (sort of).

Take care
-Justin-

A friend recently got back from a book release in Ireland, and while she was there, she also did some promotion for Ticklish Brother. She got us played and discussed on the radio, and this review in the Munster Express. Very fun. It's killing me not to be recording the 2nd CD before I leave for Korea. Part of me still hasn't completely abandoned the idea yet. But we shall see. Considering that we haven't heard from the recruiter in a week, it may be that we don't depart until later in the year.

Byron (who incidentally has been without an internet connection for several weeks, in case you were wondering where he was) has recently gotten another great job with the APTN (Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network), and will be working as a cameraman for a couple of weeks, during a touring shoot through Alberta and BC. Fun stuff. But maybe after that, there remains a slim slim possibility of a recording window...

I'll be going to Halifax at the beginning of August, to visit relatives and work on the family CD project. I'd like to get all the recordings for it collected on this trip, so that I can compile and edit it before we leave. It's a project close to my heart. I'll also be doing lots of busking (I hope) while I'm there. Performing solo is something I'm slowly getting more and more accustomed to, though it's still difficult to pick a repertoire for particular events. But maybe if I log a few hours on the waterfron, I can pay for a few CDs at one of the used music stores.

Anyhow, I'm gonna go and work on some songs. All the best to you all.

Take care
-Justin-

I'm torn, in that I want to write a nice, meaty post, but it's late and I'm tired. I hate to go so long between posts. I think it has to do with the fact that I love having a nice large number of comments, and if I post more frequently, I end up with 3 or 2 or 1 or 0 comments on each. But then again, if I go a long time without writing, people lose interest. Ah, the eternal blog dilemma

So I'll just post this tonight, and it'll buy me some time to further consider what meaningful things I shall post next!

All the best to you all.

Take care
-Justin-

I'll be writing some things about my wonderful trip soon, but for the moment, here's a poem I wrote for a new friend I met. It was written quickly, and is deliberately obscure so that even she wouldn't easily figure out its meaning. unlike most of my poems, this one has a title, but it's purely utilitarian...

-----------------------------------------

For Sam

When
The time's burden laid simple and bleak
Truth loses sight
Soldiers lose conviction, wandering in thick air
And the trainer becomes the trained
Then must windows be resealed
The hearth be fed and stoked
And a short end bidden to long ago gone.
Brief glimpse
Painted on telescope with gossamer brush
Wears tracks in the landscape green
With or without the light feet of morning.
In sleep, no delicate strands of heavy night
In smile, no ships put to sea
In time no time at all.
And so the vision of walking rolling flight slide
Hangs green as the air moves grey
Strings tempered, jangling but sublime
The moon revolves once again
In her orbit round the sun's jest.
And so, away.

Tired brain.

Well, this has been a good trip. Tiring, but good. I've ended up staying at the university residence the past few nights, because it's a 3-hour walk from where things are happening to where I was supposed to be staying.

I was able to provide a fair bit of help to the bunch from Goose Bay, and the group from Stephenville as well. It's helped me ditch the irritating feeling of being in the middle of a theatre festival but not being involved. Last night's apres-show get-together was glow-bowling. Then afterward, Byron and I provided musical entertainment back at the residence. The party finally broke up around 5:30, and of course I couldn't sleep. So for yet another day, I'm running on 1 or 2 hours. Oh well.

I've met some great people, seen some good shows (and thankfully not paid to get in), and generally had a great time. I'm going home tomorrow, if all goes well. Until today there hasn't been enough in the bank to pay for my ticket home! There's a couple of hundred in there now, but considering that rent is due on Monday, I can't say that we're exactly in anything like financial health. Oh well. Thios too shall pass.

Departure for Korea has been postponed until September, since Crista has found a job which runs until the end of August.

Anyhow, that's it for now. I have to finish packing up here, grab a shower, and make it out to the bus stop in less than an hour. I had been hoping to be able to tell my brother that the residences here weren't as bad as they looked on the school webpages. I guess I can honestly say they aren't, since they're actually worse.

Anyhow... Bye all!

Take care
-J-

Well, I'm on the road.

Actually, I suppose I'm off the road again, thankfully, since the bus ride is no great joy. I got here around 9pm Sunday night. I'm staying with friends. Byron is staying at one of the university residences. I had thought of staying on the floor there, to make it easier to hang out with Byron, but apparently it's an unpleasant sort of place...

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's going to have much free time this week. Crappy. Oh well. Might as well take things as they are when they can't be changed.

Take care
-Justin-

Tonight, I saw bats, skitting around over the surface of a pond, eating the flies.

Today I walked to the far-away grocery store and bought some coffee.

Today I cooked spaghetti and meat sauce for supper.

Today I tried unsuccessfully to work on some songs.

Today I passed a gig offer I receved on to another person because I'll be out of town when it happens.

Today was relatively uneventful, but good nonetheless.

Take care
-J-

Hi all

I haven't been writing much lately, since there seems to be so much to do. But things do seem to be going fairly well. I'm slowly becoming more and more excited about this upcoming adventure, and a lot of the paperwork has been dealt with. The recruiter thought my lesson plan was good, which is a bit of a weight off. I'm not only worried about the logistical/cultural aspects of doing this, but also about the actual teaching. I would love to be a good teacher, and I'm hoping that this experience will put me one step further along the road to that goal. I'm even beginning to consider it again as my career choice. But we shall see...

It's still a chilly spring here. It dips down to just a few degrees above freezing most nights, and the leaves are not fully out on any of the trees. But at least there's no snow to be seen, except in the hills.

I'm hoping to do some traveling before we leave for Korea. First, I'm hoping to be able to get in to St John's in a couple of weeks, to see Byron when he's there for the Provincial Drama Festival. Since it'll be at least a year before Ticklish Brother gets to perform or anything again, I want to get together with my best buddy and play some tunes, maybe do some recording, and generally shoot the shiznit. The cost of the bus tickets for me is coming from a sale of some CDs to Ireland last week.

I'm also hoping to get in to Halifax, maybe at the end of July, to see my relatives. All except for one uncle (who lives in Australia) live there. There are a number of reasons I want to visit before I go, including the basic urge to visit, the fact that some are elderly/unwell and may pass away while I'm gone, and the recording project. The recording project, as I've mentioned here before (long, long ago) is something I embarked upon about 3 years ago, and have been working on ever since. Basically, I'm putting together a CD which will contain contributions (spoken, sung...) from every member of what I consider to be my family. It comes to about 30 people in all, I think. The first recording I made was of my grandfather singing a few nursery rhymes for my cousin Gabrielle (who was a newborn at the time). He passed away unexpectedly less than two weeks later. So if I get out to Halifax this summer, I'm hoping to be able to collect the rest of the recordings I'll need to compile this thing. And as an added bonus, I may get to travel with my mother, who was supposed to go a couple of weeks ago but fell and separated her shoulder (ouch).

But anyhow, the disadvantage of only posting occasionally is that I end up inflicting these long posts on you. Sorry. I'll try and keep them more moderate in length. Thanks for reading, everyone. All the best.

Take care
-Justin-