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• Aug 3, 2010

  SHAWN MILKE: “NO RHYME, NO REASON”

  posted by Joel(ctrl)
  

  Today is: Monday, August 2, 2010
  Where I am: Bonner Springs, Kansas—Day 37 of the Vans Warped Tour
  Where I am actually: Laying in my bunk where it is cold because it is hot outside. Very, very hot.
  Time of day: 5:44 p.m.
  What I am listening to: “Sweet Tangerine” by The Hush Sound (such a cute song!)

  Allow me to begin by saying that I was blown away by your responses last week. I honestly read each and every one of them and I still cannot believe how many of you took the time to share your thoughts. Thank you. Oh, and just a heads up. I am in a very hyper mood today, which is causing my thoughts to race about a million miles a second. Needless to say, keeping this week’s blog to only one idea or concept is pretty much an impossibility. If you are lucky, I might label each section. Maybe not. Probably not.

  I am going to be a super-fan for a moment, if I may? I recently met Ace Enders (formerly of the Early November, currently of I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business). He is playing the Warped Tour this year on the same stage as we are, which still does not feel real to say, even as I write it down. He watched us play one day, and, no joke, his exact words were: “Wow. I feel tougher just having watched that set.” How cool is that? I have looked up to Ace for years. I used to put “The Room’s Too Cold” into the stereo in my car and blast “Ever So Sweet” as loud as I could and sing my heart out. I remember thinking how cool it must be to have written a song that was so good and so powerful that it led people to make fools out of themselves in their cars (me = that very same fool). Even more important, he is a great person and a kind soul. He is the definition of humility, which is something I strive to become as a musician and an entertainer. In my mind there is no better quality that an artist can possess.  

  Student Rick meets Slick Shoes meets Name Taken. If I had to define my first real band, that is the comparison I would have to make. I loved all three of those bands, and still do. Sadly, Student Rick only made one record. Name Taken made more than one, but only the last one ever received any recognition in the public eye. Slick Shoes made a bunch. Wow, I am rambling.

  I am not a very religious person, but I definitely believe that there is something that exists beyond our understanding. It is my belief that the term God is something we lend to the possibility of something so powerful that it is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. I do not believe he is a guy sitting on a cloud in a white robe smiting the wicked and embracing the blessed. However, I most certainly believe that we were created by someone or something. I am not so vain as to believe that the beginning and the end rests in the hands on mankind alone.  

  Is it OK to laugh if you watch someone trip on their own shoelace? I am not saying it would be funny if they actually fell and hurt themselves. But I think I would laugh if they just stumbled a little bit. Tell you what, if you ever see me trip on my own shoelace, feel free to laugh.

  I am going to jump back to religion quickly, but this time in a more lighthearted fashion. When God created Earth, do you think he hid practical jokes everywhere? For example, when it rains, it is our instinct as human beings to run for cover. I am sure God thought of this, so he gave us big, tall trees to hide beneath. But the most readily available thing for lightning to strike would be this very same big, tall tree. I would like to think that God has a sense of humor. I mean come on, a hammerhead shark? Really, God?

  “This is what living like this does. This is what living like this does. This is what living like this does.” Damn, the first Taking Back Sunday record is so good.

  If you are a writer and are ever experiencing writer’s block, I feel your pain. Sometimes the words are just not there. Sometimes every idea, every sentence just feels hackneyed and mundane. One trick that I have used in the past and have found pretty good success with, is to write with a pen and paper instead of on a computer. I know it is 2010 and the thought of doing anything by hand sounds archaic, but trust me it works. Using the pen and paper technique causes you to write slower and consequently gives your mind more time to relax and adjust. Instead of stressing about having nothing to say, you will concentrate more on the physical act of writing and before you know it you will have written a couple of pages. Even if it is total crap, at least you got something down and gave your mind a chance to breathe. Also, when using the pen, never cross anything out. Writing on a computer literally goes hand in hand with the delete key (a function we all use far too much) causing us to sometimes suffocate potential ideas. Once in a while, go back and read through what you wrote down on paper. You may be surprised how much an idea can seem like a plethora of garbage one day and a pirate’s treasure the next.

  Most poorly used word in the English language? Literally. Thank you, David Cross.

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