It's hard to believe sometimes that summers are never quite so long as you would like them to be. In some ways I'm excited because the closer the school year comes the closer I am to finally being a college graduate. But in others I wish it could continue indefinitely.
At least I can't really say I haven't done anything interesting this summer. It's not often that you have a group of friends willing to do highly unusual activities in public, such as going to movies in your work clothes (it doesn't sound weird, but when you consider I work at a pioneer park it raises the peculiar factor of it all a few degrees). The only thing I wish I could do more of is write music, but with a computer completely down and an overarching laziness that makes me unlikely to notate the good old-fashioned way, it doesn't really happen.
And so instead I guess I should probably start trying to actually write the book/libretto (music training in me begs that use the formal word) of my musical. Not that I'm so far advanced in writing the music, but that I should at least get an idea of the sequence of events so that I can figure out where musical numbers should be placed. Mostly the show, PRIDE, is going to be loosely inspired off events in my life since I'm only ever good at retelling and satirising true stories.
Speaking of stories, does anyone have a story in their life when you didn't feel as though you were being true to yourself or had lost all confidence in you or your abilities? I would love some input and other ideas to possibly incorporate into the book. Granted I don't actually know how many people actually read my blog. I feel a little like Amy Adams in Julie & Julia when she wonders what her audience really is on her blog. Am I currently watching that show? Yes. Does it make me want to cook and blog? Very much so. Anyway, comment or email or what have you if you want to help at all. Maybe here in the future I can even post rough drafts of the script! ;)
28 July 2013
05 July 2013
The Power of Friends
Sometimes I feel like I have the most active social life when I'm sitting at home alone on the 4th of July because the person I thought I had plans with told me otherwise with one days' notice. Ever have that happen? Don't get me wrong, I have lots of friends, but when you have not much time it's hard to make much plan (yes, I know how that sounds). I decided to at least be a little productive and actually post at least twice in a single summer month! Look at me being all wise with my time (I say after having just turned off Food Network following a three hour stint)!
To those who actually read and comment on things, that really helps me out a great deal. Obviously if my goal is to write a musical, even if it never hits broadway, I want to at least know what people are thinking of the rough drafts I develop. I still wish I could actually get some live recordings with vocals of some of this stuff so it's not all so lackluster, but c'est la vie ("La vie!" :))
Earlier in March I posted a rough draft of a song I named "Call Me" from this same musical Pride I've been working on. I finally got around to playing around with some ideas for lyrics. I mentioned in the original post that the song idea and melody came to me when I was half asleep, well that included lyrics as well. Unfortunately even the next morning I forgot nearly all the lyrics that had come to my head. They may not have even been that interesting anyway - I was half unconscious at the time, for crying out loud! The only things that stuck were the first two lines of the chorus, which is why they repeat. Keep in mind also that this is a rough draft, so don't be too harsh.
One thing I've noticed is that I'm not that good at creating stories (unless they're stories like Lewis Carroll would write, because I'm really good at nonsense stories - maybe one day I'll post "The Adventures of the Peach and the Apricot"), however I'm decent at satirizing my own life or reworking experiences I am highly familiar with. Lyrics sort of follow the same suit. This is one reason why it can be hard for me to share things because, when it comes to stuff for this show, it's automatically kind of personal. I just want to help others out from the things that I've learned, and this song is meant to give the sort of advice I received from many great friends in my life.
When life hits us hard we often just see all the bad.
It leaves us so frightened, bitter, so angry and sad.
Sometimes when that hits
It's easy to give up,
To throw in the towel,
But, buddy, please don't shut me out.
I'm reaching out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
You're feeling lost and depressed,
Just know I'm here by your side
And that I'll never rest
To see you safely home.
No, you're not alone.
I've watched you so long, I've seen you have courage, be strong.
To see you like this, I have to admit - it seems wrong.
What happened to joy?
What happened to laughter?
Denying yourself,
Ignoring our pleas and our shouts,
Please just reach out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
But that's so far from what's real.
You have your friends by your side,
And if you'll just kneel
And ask Him for that peace,
You'll feel that happy release.
Call me, I'll be there by your side.
Never surrender.
Keep smiling through.
Call me.
These are a few pictures of some of my amazing friends who have given this sort of advice to me in the last couple of years. Yes, I'm aware the pictures aren't the greatest, but I suppose that can also protect the identities of the innocent! :)
To those who actually read and comment on things, that really helps me out a great deal. Obviously if my goal is to write a musical, even if it never hits broadway, I want to at least know what people are thinking of the rough drafts I develop. I still wish I could actually get some live recordings with vocals of some of this stuff so it's not all so lackluster, but c'est la vie ("La vie!" :))
Earlier in March I posted a rough draft of a song I named "Call Me" from this same musical Pride I've been working on. I finally got around to playing around with some ideas for lyrics. I mentioned in the original post that the song idea and melody came to me when I was half asleep, well that included lyrics as well. Unfortunately even the next morning I forgot nearly all the lyrics that had come to my head. They may not have even been that interesting anyway - I was half unconscious at the time, for crying out loud! The only things that stuck were the first two lines of the chorus, which is why they repeat. Keep in mind also that this is a rough draft, so don't be too harsh.
One thing I've noticed is that I'm not that good at creating stories (unless they're stories like Lewis Carroll would write, because I'm really good at nonsense stories - maybe one day I'll post "The Adventures of the Peach and the Apricot"), however I'm decent at satirizing my own life or reworking experiences I am highly familiar with. Lyrics sort of follow the same suit. This is one reason why it can be hard for me to share things because, when it comes to stuff for this show, it's automatically kind of personal. I just want to help others out from the things that I've learned, and this song is meant to give the sort of advice I received from many great friends in my life.
When life hits us hard we often just see all the bad.
It leaves us so frightened, bitter, so angry and sad.
Sometimes when that hits
It's easy to give up,
To throw in the towel,
But, buddy, please don't shut me out.
I'm reaching out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
You're feeling lost and depressed,
Just know I'm here by your side
And that I'll never rest
To see you safely home.
No, you're not alone.
I've watched you so long, I've seen you have courage, be strong.
To see you like this, I have to admit - it seems wrong.
What happened to joy?
What happened to laughter?
Denying yourself,
Ignoring our pleas and our shouts,
Please just reach out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
But that's so far from what's real.
You have your friends by your side,
And if you'll just kneel
And ask Him for that peace,
You'll feel that happy release.
Call me, I'll be there by your side.
Never surrender.
Keep smiling through.
Call me.
These are a few pictures of some of my amazing friends who have given this sort of advice to me in the last couple of years. Yes, I'm aware the pictures aren't the greatest, but I suppose that can also protect the identities of the innocent! :)
01 July 2013
July Already?
I know I have so many avid readers that were sitting around wondering in their spare time "I wonder why Jordan hasn't really posted anything lately" and becoming very concerned.
Now that I've put my lame attempt at ego to rest, I will still apologise that I haven't tried hard enough to keep writing. One of the reasons I started blogging was to push myself to write and produce things more frequently and actually get working on all the projects I've been making for myself, and yet that hasn't happened. Oh, well. At least I'm trying to get on it now.
You always tell yourself that summer will be the time that you will work on all the things you don't have time for during the school year, and yet I personally get so busy during the summer that I don't want to spend my free time doing anything except lying on a couch and vegging out after work. I can't complain though since I love my summer job and wouldn't rather be doing anything else!
So here's something very rough I put together tonight. I found I had some free time and finished plucking out a crude melody and accompaniment on the piano and just wanted to see what some of you thought of it. It's going in the show "Pride" I think I mentioned in an earlier blog post and will be sung by the female lead to the male lead who is offstage. After some tweaks I think it will be pretty good. Thoughts? Musings? Concerns? Awkward moments to comment about? :)
Someone to Watch Over You
Now that I've put my lame attempt at ego to rest, I will still apologise that I haven't tried hard enough to keep writing. One of the reasons I started blogging was to push myself to write and produce things more frequently and actually get working on all the projects I've been making for myself, and yet that hasn't happened. Oh, well. At least I'm trying to get on it now.
You always tell yourself that summer will be the time that you will work on all the things you don't have time for during the school year, and yet I personally get so busy during the summer that I don't want to spend my free time doing anything except lying on a couch and vegging out after work. I can't complain though since I love my summer job and wouldn't rather be doing anything else!
So here's something very rough I put together tonight. I found I had some free time and finished plucking out a crude melody and accompaniment on the piano and just wanted to see what some of you thought of it. It's going in the show "Pride" I think I mentioned in an earlier blog post and will be sung by the female lead to the male lead who is offstage. After some tweaks I think it will be pretty good. Thoughts? Musings? Concerns? Awkward moments to comment about? :)
Someone to Watch Over You
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)