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Monday, November 24, 2008 - 20:31:41
A while ago, a good friend asked, "You're so normal, why are you single?" For me, a resounding question recently asked by yet another friend. It's a question I can't answer because my abnormalities stare back at me. The last few times I've let my guard down and thought I'd found something special and real, I later discovered it was a facade leaving me empty handed and heartbroken. A part of me died, but I don't really miss that wide-eyed girl.
Never really feeling means never really hurting. And yet, how does one truly disconnect emotionally? Do we shut out the surface love for fear it could expand and eventually cause pain? Or, does one jump in, cannonball-style, despite the risk of probable hurt? What is the right route? For me, it's sitting on edge with occasional dips in the shallow end.
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Monday, November 17, 2008 - 17:50:55
Several years ago, an ex-boyfriend, Justin #1, would regularly get together with my best friend, Wes and his friend, Micah to play music. Occasionally, I would assist with harmonies and writing, but was never fully part of the group as I didn’t play an instrument. When my relationship with Justin #1 ended, his ties to Wes and Micah ended as well due to their connection to me. A couple of years later, Micah and I decided to give the music thing a shot as we both had identical musical preferences. We began writing several of our own songs, but the predominance of our focus surrounded cover tunes. We selected our favorite songs while working on new ways to make them our “own.”
Months later, I met Scott through a mutual friend. Through email exchanges, we discovered our musical preferences paralleled. I invited him to join Micah and me to practice one evening and the rest is history. Our greatest struggle surrounded selecting our band name. I liked “The Pass a Fist,” a play on words for “The Pacifists,” which obviously have opposing meanings. This was immediately shot down. I always joked with Scott, telling him all the girls would come see us just to see him. Micah jokingly said, “Yeah. Like the poster in Almost Famous. You’ll be in focus and Lauryn and I will be blurs in the background.” Scott retorted with, “Hmm. Haven’t seen it, but we’d be more like Almost Infamous.” And it stuck. We roll our eyes when asked of our name now, however it was too late to rename our trio.
The original crew.
From L to R: Micah, me, and Scott
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Friday, November 07, 2008 - 17:50:14
Last July, my friends and I gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate my birthday. We reserved two large tables which unfortunately, separated the group. Early in the evening, I noticed one of our servers and thought he was attractive. It was nearly impossible to miss him as he stood almost seven feet tall. Retreating back to my junior high school self, I sent a couple of texts messages to a few girls at the opposite table, encouraging them to inquire if he was single. He, Jonathan, was. I asked them to prod him for his evening plans, asking him to join us later if able. Yes, I was pimping myself out via text message. Classy, I know.
Once we finish dinner, our crowd disperses. The other server approaches me and requests my number to give to Jonathan. I oblige. As we exit the restaurant, I introduce myself to him. I felt like an Oompa Loompa despite wearing unusually high heels. In this moment, I also learn he is left-handed with puppy-dog eyes. I’ve always been a sucker for eyes with a quality of sadness.
Jonathan and me in July of '08.
Yes, he really is a foot and eight inches taller than me.
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Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 17:21:45
In the summer of 2007, John Mayer (my future husband,) wrote a glowing review of a band by the name of Just Off Turner. Upon listening, I fell instantly and wholly in love. Soon after, I discovered two of the four band mates were originally from Northwest Arkansas making me all the more eager to pass on the word. Phil, the keyboardist and backing vocalist, and I began communicating casually via myspace. The exchanges spawned a surface friendship which enabled me to encourage the foursome to stop through Little Rock while touring in October of ’07. I assisted in finding a suitable venue and the crew played an unreal show at Sticky Fingerz one random, rainy, Thursday evening. They were so fantastic in fact, the sound manager at Sticky Fingerz made a point to mention more than once, “We have to get you guys back here on a weekend!” Unfortunately, due to the weather and weekday, the crowd was small. Small, though mesmerized. The typical bar room chatter was hushed in efforts to hear every song and note played.
They are lyrically, melodically, and musically pretty dang great. Music stirs many things within me and finding the entire package, all the components, is an infrequent find. I have since shared their music with nearly everyone I know who has ears. The majority of the feedback is positive. Even those who tend to disagree with my taste in music, agree with me on this particular band. I would describe the sound as “rock and soul,” but it transcends these genres as well. At times, they even have a jazzy quality to their music. Perhaps the eclectic styles lead me to never tire of listening. In a previous blog, I mentioned of “nostalgia inspired by music.” Just Off Turner’s album, “The Long Walk Back,” ices the cake in this regard.
L to R: Bryan Mounce (Lead Vocals, Guitar,) Phil Metzler (Keys, BV,) Stephen Andrews (Bass, BV,) and Eric Gustafson (Drums, BV.) Erik Thureson for lightbox57.com
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