Liebster Award….whaaa?

I’ve been haunting this space on the web for a little over a year now and it’s been lots of fun.  It’s also been quite therapeutic for me.  I’m a musician and songwriter.  I have been since I was 12 years old.  I’m into that grey area known as middle age now, so it’s been a few years,/decades/century since I first picked up a guitar and strummed the chords to ‘Rocky Raccoon’.  Some people paint, design, write novels, or make origami giraffes to scratch that artistic itch.  I write songs.  I layer sounds upon sounds with words spread on top like a frosting.  One other thing I’ve always done -even before picking up a 6-string- was write.  I’ve always enjoyed telling a story.  The act of stringing words together into some sort of narrative has been something I’ve always found myself doing.  Whether it was writing a three-act play in the fourth grade, or poetry as an awkward teen, or even a screenplay with a friend in high school, the act of putting words to paper has been a release for me since the days of short pants.

Well I’ve realized in the last couple of years that  I can’t write music all the time.  It’s not convenient to come up with melodies, lyrics, and chord structures 24/7.  Yet, I still have things to say.  Mostly those things are about music.  Sometimes it’s about my family.  Once in a while it may be about politics, religion, and social issues.  But mostly, it’s music.  Oh, I have my opinions in regards to current affairs;  but I save those for face to face conversations.  Music though, I’m always looking for new music.  New in the sense that it’s new to me, not necessarily new as in new artists.  Music stokes that creative fire in me -whether it influences what I do in the studio or what I write about right here- it’s been a great passion for me since I can remember.  I started this blog as a means for me to express my love of music to the world.  What world?  Well, whoever may stumble upon my breathless rants about artists new and old, that’s what world.  Whether it’s a world of one or of a thousand, it doesn’t matter to me.  I’ll be right here on my soapbox,  sharing this love of music with whomever wants to listen.

Well, after a little over a year at this it seems I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award.  What does this mean?  Nothing, really.  I don’t go to a ceremony.  I don’t get a key to the city.  And I don’t get a giant check made out to me.  The cool thing about this award is that you’re nominated by your fellow bloggers.  Those same folks screaming out into the digital wilderness trying to share their opinions, just like you are.  So thanks Marisa D. Lyon for nominating me.  Check out her great blog at http://fate423.wordpress.com/ and see what she’s passionate about.  So here it goes:

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award is intended to recognize up-and-coming blogs, particularly those with fewer than 200 followers.

Here are the rules.

• Post eleven facts about yourself
• Answer the questions posed by your nominator
• Pass the award on to eleven new recipients
• Pose eleven new questions to your bloggers

Post a copy of the badge on your blog (type “Liebster Award” into Google images; you’ll find plenty to choose from). Notify nominees and include links to the originating blog, as well as the new recipients.

Eleven facts about me:

*When I was 9 years old I won a Young Authors Contest for a three-act play I wrote.

*My cousin was a guitarist in The Rivieras.

*I’ve never seen any of the Jurassic Park films…and I’m okay with that.

*I once saw Ben Folds in a Chicago record store shopping for 78s.

*My wife and I have seen Wilco live over ten times since 1999.

*I’ve written and recorded 8 full-length albums since 2006.

*I came in fourth place in a guitar contest in 1990.  I was 16.

*I make amazing pizzas.

*My kids are the funniest people I know.

*I’ve worked in the orthopedic industry since 1993.

*I have a secret identity.

Q&A:

1. Have you always had a passion for writing or is it something that grew over time?

I’ve always loved writing, even as a little kid I’d write stories.  Usually they were about werewolves, aliens, and the afterlife.

2. What is your ultimate goal for writing? Hobby, career, Literature Nobel Prize?

My ultimate goal is this: just keep doing it.  I never want to get bored with writing, and as long as I continue to keep searching for that next great song, album, and band I don’t think I ever will.  Writing is an extension of me.  Making writing a ‘career’ would be like me trying to make a career out of breathing.  It’s something I do regardless of any sort of monetary gain.  It’s a part of me.  That said, if someone would want to pay me full-time to write for them, then I’d certainly consider it.

3. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?

Search for records at music stores and go to bookstores with my family.

4. Can you cook? What’s your favorite dish to make?

I can cook.  It started out as more of a thing I had to do years ago.  Given that my wife worked more of an evening shift, I was the one doing the cooking for 3 kids at night.  But it’s turned into something I quite enjoy.  I make a mean pizza.  Veggie, taco, and grilled italian sausage with roasted peppers(a summer pizza) are some of my best ones.

5. What is your favorite movie? Any reason why?

Although I haven’t found one his films as equally moving, Lars Von Trier’s Breaking The Waves is one of my favorite films.  Why?  I don’t know.  It was a very hard watch at times, yet Emily Watson’s performance was so powerful that you couldn’t help but be moved by it at the end.

6. If you could obtain a career in any field, what would your ultimate dream job be? (Can be within writing or otherwise)

Making a career out of music would be great.

7. Have you traveled internationally? What was your favorite destination?

I’ve never traveled outside of the US.  I’ve been all over the US, though.  Loved San Diego.  I also enjoyed New York.

8. What piece of writing are you most proud of?

I’m proud of ‘Newtown:  A Dad’s Perspective’.

9. What type of music do you enjoy?  Who is your favorite artist or band?

Indie rock, post punk, British Invasion, psych, garage, pop, jazz….I love analog synths, stomp boxes, Jazzmasters, Fender Rhodes,… I love improvisation, long jams, inspiration on-the-fly, anything that elicits warmth through tubes.  Beatles, Kinks, Can, Miles Davis, Wilco, Flaming Lips, The Soft Moon, Real Estate, Spoon, just to name a few.

10. What made you start a blog?

I had opinions and passions regarding music and wanted to share those opinions and passions.

11. Favorite author and/or book?

Kurt Vonnegut.  Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut.

Questions for the nominees:

1.  What made you start writing?

2. What would your dream job be?  Do you already have your dream job?

3. What else are you passionate about?

4. What was the last movie you watched?

5. What was the last album you bought/downloaded?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. Would you ever consider writing a novel?  Do you have any ideas for a novel?

8. Do you have any favorite writers?

9. Why did you start your blog?

10.  Who was a big influence on you and who you became?

11. On a daily basis, what inspires you?

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My Nominees:

1. http://soundslikeorange.com/

2. http://jatstorey.com/

3. http://kateginnivan.com/

4. http://mydadsalbums.wordpress.com/

5. http://takenbysound.com/

6. http://thecheesewolf.wordpress.com/

7. http://joshprinsloo.wordpress.com/

8. http://papaangst.wordpress.com/

9. http://nevereverlettinggo.wordpress.com/

10. http://fichtenstein.wordpress.com/

11. http://ellaawells.wordpress.com/