Carol This Yo!

I feel festive. The following are responsible:

Christmas tree lights, all yummy cheeses, being around my family, snow, cinnamon rolls (the ones my mom makes!), Karli, Bing Crosby, hot chocolate (with cinnamon & nutmeg ), Charlie Brown, O Come, O Come, Immanuel.

Vroom...SHNELL!

This is the car that I've kinda been wanting since its make. YUM. It's the young professional car. It's trendy, signifies some sort of good income, fresh and actually has enough room in the back that means room for friends not just for yourself like other sporty cars. The grill slays me, especially with the little red trim! Nice gas mileage, its German which = great design! I'm not really a car guy in the macho sense 'hey there pal (3 pats on the back embrace, each pat for each word 'i'm not gay') whats under the hood?', i can't tell you years, or how everything is suppose to work, i like things that look tight and clean, kinda like the whole Apple branding of all their marketing stuff, clean, great use of negative space, bold, like that. I think a nice white Apple sticker in the back window would look super cool too. So aside from the macho car, this is kinda geek-chic, ( i push up my glasses and fondly brush my Mac with tender affection ). One day: white VW GTi & white high tops. I'll start with the kicks :D

Justin Yang: High School Hero

This morning while slathering strawberry jam on a piece of freshly made sourdough bread (momma's cookin' yo!) i get a text message from my friend eric inviting me for grub with the rest of the indian crew in my old town Berrien Spring. He ends with the information that the legend Justin Yang is in town! Now i share the importance of this name Justin Yang:

Sophomore or Junior year in high school I learn 2 chords on the guitar, Em and G maj.
Justin is the school association pastor and leads worship for chapel time, he finds out that i'm starting guitar and right before he starts chapel asks me to get up on the stage with him on my guitar. I try everything to resist, i explain i only know a couple of chords, that i picked up the guitar to learn smashing pumpkins songs, but it all proved futile, i don't think anyone can say no to his smile, this kid beamed all day, his joy of being in God was his spring of life and was very contagious to those around him. So after many verbal and physical tugs i get on the stage, out of the corner of his eye he says ' just follow me, you'll be fine '. 4 songs later i've butchered every song, i sit back in the school body and Justin comes down to sit by me "Tommy! that was great! you have to play again tomorrow!" In my mind i'm like "did you hear anything i did?" but something about his excitement said that he believed in me more then i did in myself. The following weeks and months, there i was behind Justin Yang learning guitar from worship songs and i begin to understand guitar so quickly that i think something of it. If i was going no where trying to learn smashing pumpkins and now was quickly learning guitar because of praise songs, then God must be more real then i've ever thought.

The next year i took the role of school association pastor and tried to fill his shoes. I would refer to his passion for God in our school as a tangible and personal friend, I learned from him that our First Love was also our Best Friend. Tonight after 8 yrs, i see him again. I think i'm about to cry. :D

Justin Yang is the reason i play guitar, why i'm a minister of reconciliation through music, the reason that fueled my ears to hear Gods calling in my life. I would serve anywhere with him.

Isaiah 6:8 "here i am send me"

That verse has been my inspiration and has been revealed very personally through the way my friend Justin Yang has lived his life. I pray to be the same.

Fresh Collective!

I had the joy tonight of writing music with 3 other people that i don't usually write anything with! It was wild, understanding how people process, create, contribute to a collective, it was a completely fresh experience for me. Its also nice because generally i write a bunch very consistently, but as of late (1.5 weeks) I haven't written much just a song or 2, which for the first time was a relief in a way. Usually i get kinda worried when i don't write a new song every certain amount of days, but to write something new with 3 new people was SWEET! My good friend Tyler played mandolin and sang background, Vanja sang harmonies and played flute, Jay played guitar and sang background and i sang lead and did standard chords. It happened very quickly, the words the progressions, and Jay took the chorus and brought it out of major key it was in and minored it and maybe even changed the key? AMAZING! Tomorrow i hear the bridge that he is suppose to write for it! At one part we are all singing and throwing in another instrument here and there till the verse was pumpin'! Yummy Yum Yum! Its so nice.

Whatever you do, i encourage to experience it with someone else who is in the same vein but does it differently, a lovely time!

Tin-Tin! Returns!

I'm so excited! A recent exploring through amazon to appease christmas wish lists brought me to Tin-Tin! Amazing comic turned into cartoon and now in 3 box sets for the first 3 seasons! woot woot! They were written in French and have this proper 2o's espionage/mystery adventures! It is now on my christmas list, yes i have a list, yes i'm 25. :D Can't take the boy out of the man yo! investigate this and enjoy, oh and on amazon right now the first episode is down loadable for free! Check it!

Drawings as of Late

Loverly Shoes in a Row, 'short ones, fat ones, some as big
as your head!'



My future white high tops! woot woot! I HOPE



One of my new graffiti beginnings for 'NO THEFT'

Winter Beard Update

My beard oath ended 2 nights ago in spokane after our show with seven years absence.
The boys were all in full beard glory, and it made feeling gross worth it seeing our joint effort so pleasing. Nick said 'tommy if you keep it growing till the next time i see you at the end of january i'll pay for you haircut and a hot towel shave'. I've always wanted to have one of those old school shaves (very manly) i now struggle with the commitment of waiting till then. I haven't made up my mind, but my goodness i feel ugly. I thought i would only keep it to give my mum a little scare when she saw me at the airport (maybe for once i'll embarrass her! thats for you mom if you are reading this :D ).

I heard that Zac Fairbanks had withdrawals of lack of beard after he shaved his and is in the process of regaining the jaw territory on his face. Karli made a better word coupling then withdrawals, i forget. I'm not sure if i'll have that or not. All i can think of right now is getting this grotesque presence off my face. Oh and the Jesus and Moses comments coming to a halt will be nice too.