Time Shifter

Lillie is telling me there’s an app that you can use that helps with jet lag, called “Time Shifter” - it tells you when to go to bed and then … I don’t know …it slowly starts to reset your body clock ? That’s the idea anyway? This is the kind of thing that sounds like a scam to me. Like someone thought: “Here’s an idea! We charge people 5 bucks for an app and all it does is tell you to go to bed, because it’s later in Europe!”

I never try to change my body clock, I just let it do its thing. Birds chirping? Probably time to move. Tired? Probably need a nap. Dark and quiet? Let’s go to bed. Up in the night? Let’s play Crosswords. I just roll with it. Not ideal.

But everyone needs guardrails. I have been trying to get on top of my diet lately. I got a great new nutritionist and she tells me what to eat and that’s that. No deviations. No wild cards. Just what’s on the list. It helps me simplify my life because everyone THINKS they want more choices, but what they REALLY want is LESS CHOICES.

I’m not saying I’m not hungry, or that the idea of a burger and a shake doesn’t sound good. One of her books is called “Your Tastebuds are A**holes” which is a very funny title but that says it all: They are thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies and they don’t give a shit about the person they are attached to. So selfish.

I’m into small things. A small guitar, a small amp…taking up less space in this world.

I had this realization the other day, and also I’m reading Mel Robbin’s “Let Them” and it’s pretty amazing and so simple. Let’s write a book and charge people 20 bucks and tell them the world is just doing its thing, and we need to let it. Not taking it personally. I’m on board I think it’s a work of genius and inspiration, and clearly, the world agrees cause it’s a huge book. I don’t mean it’s really long, I mean a lot of people like it.

People like to be told how to look at situations, me included.

“So glad we are getting this rain, we really needed it.”

I go to extremes, I know. But once something clicks, I don’t want to hem and haw and deliberate, I just want to move.

Lately I’ve been feeling like selling all my music equipment and just having one guitar and a laptop. I’m not going to do it, but the urge to simplify things so there’s no decision to make about which guitar to play. Which mic to use.

But the realization I had was “You can always elevate.” You don’t have to be happy with the status quo. The mainstream of music, film, art, fashion, whatever it is- whatever is popular, you don’t have to chase that, or make your stuff like that. You can elevate it. This is particularly useful thought in terms of pop or country music because it has a tendency to get on these kind of patterns where a lot of the songs are similar, and artists and writers (myself included) can have the thought “Well if I want to be on the radio, it needs to be like this.” But that’s not the case. There’s a lot of noise in culture today. Between 100,000 and 120,000 songs are released each day on the streaming services. So this means, I mean, if I’m looking at that, the more different mine sounds, the better. I’m not saying I want to invent a whole new style of music or anything. I’m still moon in June, sky is blue, you love me and I love you, but you get the idea. I really liked how Burt Bacharach music sounded so different from everyone else’s. I bet he never got sued for copyright infringement like Ed Sheeran, because people can hardly play Burt’s songs, let alone claim that THEY came up with it first. Okay, if you came up with it, then play it!

“When you say no, your price doubles. “ That’s what a friend told me the first rule of show business is. I’m gonna try it out. I just need something to say “no” to.

Slowing down, chewing the food properly, not eating standing up, like I usually do. That’s part of it too.

Not grabbing the half of a peanut butter sandwich Tilly didn’t eat, and wolfing it down like a leopard.

No caffeine! This one is really wild. I don’t know how to describe the feeling but it’s kind of terrible and awesome at the same time. When was the last time you quit caffeine. You feel superior and sleepy at the same time. It’s a vibe. I’m not as restless and doomscrolly at night tho. I think in general I have MORE energy and require less naps. What the heck does that mean? Caffeine might be a hamster wheel. I’m not saying hamster wheels are bad or anything, I think the world is like a hamster wheel in a lot of ways but it’s okay to get off the wheel sometimes and get on a different wheel.

Everyone tries to get me to listen to the band “Elbow” - I will! I just have so many things I want to listen to. I know I’m losing valuable time I could be enjoying Elbow.

When somebody says “Oh man! This is RIGHT up your alley you have to check this out! Introspective lyrics, dark moody atmospheric synthesizer, minimalist beats.” My first thought is “Nooooo.” What I want is something that’s not up my alley, something that’s not in the same hamster wheel. Tell me about a forgotten symphony by Dvorak that was just unearthed. I think of myself as having good taste, but you never know, my tastebuds could be snobby jerks.

But i like when a song catches me “off guard” and brings tears to eyes, out of the blue like when I hear it at a middle school choir recital. The most recent song that made me cry was “A Million Dreams” from the Greatest Showman, sung in microtonal intervals, by the 7th and 8th graders at my daughter’s school graduation. Part of it was the passing of time, and being young, and the things you want to go out and do in this world, and will you even get a chance to and all that, but it’s still a really great song.

Kids singing is really great. Like 40 kids singing a Coldplay song like “Yellow” and I will burst into tears instantly. Well I was a kid too, like when that song came out. A college kid maybe, but a kid nonetheless. And I remember what it felt like, to be a kid, and I’m still a kid in my heart. I’m still the same. I never let the world change me, I never let it get to that room inside my heart where I live in my dreams. I still feel the same as when I was 5 and I know what’s wrong and what’s right. Protect the small and take care of the little things. Be loving to all creatures and look out for them, unless a dog bites you, then it can burn in hell. Not really, but my spirit is on or off. In or out. There’s not a million choices. Only 3. There’s only yes or no, and occasionally maybe. Mushrooms, no. Steak, yes. Lemonade yes. Marmalade ? I want to like it, but it’s bitter… maybe…