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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Invalid Item" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 20"Take Me To Heart" by Quarterflash I love it when watching something reminds me of a great 80s song that I had totally forgotten. That was certainly the case with this song, which was featured in Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story. Quarterflash is usually better known for their hit "Harden My Heat" but I've always enjoyed this song of theirs better, and when the show played it on their soundtrack, it reminded me of how often I used to listen to this track growing up. Back in the day, I remember Quarterflash being notable because the lead singer, Rindy Ross, also played the saxophone, which was unusual at the time. Quarterflash is also a consolidated band from two pre-existing bands, Pilot (not the Scottish one) and Seafood Mama. In the case of the latter, I think it was a very good idea to change their name to Quarterflash.  |
 I have to admit, seeing this notification made me chuckle. All due credit to Annette  who inspired the idea with "Reading, Writing, Reviewing" .Tonight I removed everything I had "fanned" on the site, hence the note above. That's not to say that I "unfavorited" people; I still have my favorites so I can keep track of the users and activities that I enjoy interacting with. But I've been really uncomfortable with the idea of obsessing over one's fans, and offering incentives to gain more fans. No judgement against anyone who does find the accumulation of fans important, or wants to encourage community-building by doing so, but for me personally it's just not sitting well. I suspect it's part of a recent, larger move away from social media on my part. I also check Twitter and Facebook less. I'm not as enamored with the idea of scrolling through a feed trying to make sure I haven't missed anything, whether it's Instagram, LinkedIn, or Writing.com. I've been through cycles of trying to add friends, followers, fans ... whatever term a site adopts for its audience. I've seen people, myself included, chase artificial metrics for success like who has the most CR, whether you can collect all the merit badges in the shop, if you can be the #1 reviewer for the month, or raise/spend the most GPs in an activity. And if I'm being honest with myself, I'm exhausted by all of that. Exhausted and ultimately unfulfilled. So I'm trying something different. I'm focusing more of my time on meaningful interactions rather than superficial ones. I'm slowly gaining back some of the time in the day that I used to use for productive purposes rather than social media interactions that haven't been filling the void that formed when I stopped exploring my creativity. One of the things that I love about this site is all of the different ways one can participate. You can write, review, run activities, communicate on the newsfeed, shower others with gifts and recognition; each user contributes to this site in their own unique way. For me, I want to reorient that engagement away from chasing social rewards (GPs, CR, fans, etc.) and back toward writing and running activities that celebrate writing. I have absolutely nothing against anyone who enjoys the social rewards on this site, but that's just not something that's a priority for me at the moment. Will I still visit the newsfeed and interact with others? Sure. Will I still collect trinkets when I find them? Of course. Will I still try to earn exclusive Merit Badges when a challenge comes up that strikes my fancy? Geez, I didn't swap out my entire personality.  But I'm going to try to be more intentional about not letting popularity and social cache drive the agenda anymore. And to that end, I've non-selectively chosen to "unfan" everything.Okay, maybe that last GIF was a little extreme. I still have my favorites. I'm still always on the lookout for new activities and users to favorite so I can follow along and interact with them. But I'm going to try to let that happen organically, where connections are built on the quality of the interactions themselves. I don't need to "fan" someone (and they don't need to "fan" me) in order to make a connection.  Maybe I'll "fan" some things again in the future. One never knows. But, for right now, I think the right choice for me is to step away from the pursuit of fans and CR and the Writing.com social economy in general, and instead reinvest in the site's writing and creative community. Stay tuned, I've got some ideas about what to tackle next.  |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 19"Take Me There" by Delta Rae This is the last of my "Nashville" inspired choices, I think. The independent artists who remind me of the shows we went to in Nashville a few years ago. Fun fact, when I first started listening to this song, I assumed "Delta Rae" was a solo artist. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that six-member folk rock band consisting of a trio of siblings plus an additional vocalist, percussionist, and bass player. After the majority of the members had graduated from their respective music programs they, and I quote, "all moved into a big house in the woods in Durham, North Carolina and officially became a band." Living in a remote house in the woods with a bunch of folk band musician roommates sounds a little like what I imagine Hell would be like, or at least a really unpopular premise for a reality TV show. While I really like this song, I have to say I'm not a huge fan of their other work. Most of their music is more on the folksy side and pretty slow and subdued. This kind of upbeat song is more my speed, and what I imagine the real benefit of a six-member group would be, with everyone just absolutely letting loose and rocking out. I think the lead singer has a great voice and they do have a good sound, so I hope that they put out a few more uptempo songs that are more fun to tap your toes to. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 18"Obsessed" by Sam Riggs Here's the other side of my country/rock double-feature, to dovetail with yesterday's "When The Lights Go Out" . This single was first released in February 2019, which was the first of a four-month run where he was releasing a single every 30 days or so. In a weird coincidence, Sam Riggs also recorded a song called "When The Lights Go Out" but Patrick Droney's version is far, far superior.This song was my 8th most listened-to song on Spotify in 2021, so I'm slowly knocking out my Top 10. The ones at the top of that list you won't see on this year's playlist are "Problems" by A R I Z O N A, "My Thoughts On You" by The Band CAMINO, and "Lost" by Blake Rose (all featured on last year's Soundtrackers playlist), as well as a few songs that I heavily listened to in early 2021 but have similar vibes or inspirations to other songs I've picked for this year's playlist. Don't worry, I've still got a few left to feature, though. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 17"When The Lights Go Out" by Patrick Droney This was my 11th most listened-to song on Spotify in 2021, and honestly it's kind of amazing that the song made it that high given that I didn't discover it until mid-September. I found him through a friend's Spotify channel recommendations. I've listened to a handful of his other songs at this point and they're okay, but this one's really stuck with me for some reason. I'm also including the video of his live performance of the song from The Late Show with Steve Colbert because it also showcases some of his talents with a guitar which aren't present on the original song. There are times when I like music with a country flavor, but I tend to gravitate towards either country/pop or country/rock (which will also be evidenced by my next song choice  ). My wife and I visited Nashville a few years back and this was the kind of music we loved finding in the city, going from show to show as independent musicians played in venues all over the city. Listening to this song makes me want to go back to Nashville again for a visit. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 16"What I See" by Elevation Worship feat. Chris Brown Everything that was true about the last song on playlist is true of this one. I love the rock sound to this song (the way it starts off kind of reminds me of an AC/DC song or something from a similar hard rock band) and I breathed a sigh of relief when the "Chris Brown" that's being featured on the song is a worship leader and not the "other" Chris Brown who's famous for his dance moves and assault and battery charges. I really like Elevation Worship and almost put a number of their other songs on my playlist this year. I've also been listening to "Jireh" and "RATTLE!" quite a bit over the past year. If you're looking for an intro to Christian worship music that doesn't always feel so... stuffy and religious-y, this is a pretty good worship music band to start with. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 15"Surrounded (Fight My Battles)" by Michael W. Smith Another of the worship songs that I've been listening to a lot over the past year. And yet another one where Elyssa Smith and UPPERROOM do an amazing extended cover version as well. I'm not someone who feels particularly "surrounded" by adversity most of the time, but I do find this song comforting in the idea that God is always with us, always around us.A lot of the worship songs I've been listening to this year have been both really uplifting and often have videos from concerts or worship services where everyone's really into it. I think part of that might come from the fact that our own church services have been either online, or a bit of an understated affair held outside in the church parking lot (thanks to COVID on both counts) with just a guitar, a keyboard, and a cajon. It's not really possible right now for obvious reasons, but I miss the big gatherings with a full worship band plugged into a top-notch sound system. You don't need all that for worship, of course, but I've always enjoyed that kind of worship. |
PROMPT: Write about the hymn, Wherever He Leads I'll Go ▼ One of the things I find most compelling about the Christian faith is the knowledge that you're not perfect. That you don't have all the answers, that you're going to make mistakes, that you will ultimately fall short of the example that Jesus sets. And yet, God still loves you anyway, no matter how messy you might be. If I'm being totally honest with myself, prayers and hymns like this terrify me a little. I know the idea of going wherever He leads you is supposed to be one of the cornerstones of our faith, but would you actually go anywhere? I love my life. If He told me to move to Uganda to help reach unchurched people on another continent, would I be brave enough to do that? If He told me to sell all my worldly possessions and give all that money to the church and live on nothing but faith that He would continue to provide one day at a time, would my faith be strong enough to allow me to do that? I know intellectually that this is literally the point of faith. To trust in God's provision and goodness so profoundly that you grow closer to Him. But in a real world where there is rent and bills to pay, kids to clothe and feed, and a whole lot of other daily rhythms some of which I enjoy (I actually like my job! I like my house!), it's hard not to want to hold a little something back to insulate yourself against losing those things. It's hard to trust so fully in God that you do little to weather the storms of life on your own. My parents, particularly my father, raised me to always be self-reliant and to take care of both myself and my family, so it's a little counterintuitive for me to turn around and say, "Sure, I'll throw all that caution and preparedness to the wind and just trust that God will work it all out." There's also something to be said about God working in your life in different ways. One of my favorite parables is the one where a devout man is stranded on the roof of his house during a flood. It's been told a thousand ways before, but it goes a little something like this: A devout man lives in a town beset by a flood. He retreats to his roof, surrounded by rising waters all around him. As the waters keep rising, a boat comes by. The man declines help and says, "My God will save me!" So the boat leaves and a little while later, another boat passes by. The man again says, "I have faith that my God will save me!" After that boat leaves, a helicopter with a rescue team comes to him. Once again, the man refuses. "My faith is strong! My God will save me!" The helicopter leaves and eventually the man drowns. When he finds himself in Heaven in the presence of God, he's angry and demands to know why God had forsaken him. "Why didn't you answer my prayers and intervene to save me?" God: "I sent you two boats and a helicopter!" It kind of raises a bit of a conundrum, doesn't it? How much are we supposed to trust God's in future provision versus the provision he's already blessed us with?  And I also know that not everyone is called to such radical acts of service. The truth is that most people are called to serve in their own communities in their own ways within their means. But I have a fair number of friends who have been called into radical acts. Church planters who have left the USA to plant churches abroad. Brazilian ministry friends who moved to Mozambique to live on mission for three years. People who have felt called to sell everything they own and live radically simpler lives. So it's not just a theoretical question for me. I've seen God call people to do the kind of stuff that scares the heck out of me. Ultimately, this will be something I probably struggle with most of my life. The push and pull between me wanting to exert control over my life, and letting Him lead the way. I have no problem letting Him lead in the mundane, or within the confines that I've constructed for my life. But following Him also means "taking up your cross" (it's such a prevalent theme it's literally a line in this hymn AND the name of the blog group I borrowed this prompt from!). And that ain't exactly an easy or pleasant process. The real challenge - and I sure hope I'm not alone in this - is going to be letting Him lead in profound ways, when that path takes me outside of the comfortable life I've constructed for myself. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 14"Love You For A Long Time" by Maggie Rogers It's Valentine's Day, so I figured I should probably go with one of the love songs on my list to mark the halfway point in "The Soundtrack of Your Life" . I featured Maggie Rogers on last year's playlist too. Her album Heard It in a Past Life was released in January 19 and spawned four singles. This track was a non-album single (and her most recent one) from November 2019.I'm actually really curious to see what kind of a career Maggie Rogers is going to have. She's clearly a unique talent and comes up with some really great songs (case in point, this one), but she's also pretty sporadic with her releases (case in point, this is her most recent single). Since the end of 2019 she's done a cover of the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with Phoebe Bridgers. She also released an album in December 2020 (Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011-2016) that is "a compilation of songs written and recorded over the past ten years" including material from her previous two independent albums. And, the math error notwithstanding (ten years, but from 2011-2016  ), it's a little worrisome to be from a career longevity standpoint that she's already dipping into the unfinished older materials after all of one studio album.Something tells me she's not going to be a terribly prolific artist over the coming years, but that's okay... maybe she'll be more like Adele and release an album every few years when she has gathered enough life experience/material (she is only 27). Let's just hope she doesn't end up like the George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss of pop/folk music, where we're all still waiting on a new album ten years from now and instead get a half dozen side projects that aren't the new album we're all waiting for. #FantasyNovelShade |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 13"66 Days" by Rozzi In 2021, I made a concerted effort to listen to more music and find some new artists. To that end, I resubscribed to Spotify and started using their recommendation algorithm (both for specific songs and through their "Discover Weekly" playlist based on your listening habits) to find new music. This was one of the first songs recommended to me that I absolutely fell in love with, and it was heavily listened-to all last year. According to my "Top Songs 2021" year-end recap playlist, it was my 12th most listened-to song in all of 2021. That's a little misleading because I also listen to songs on Apple Music, YouTube and other sources, but at least on Spotify, it was #12 on my year-end 2021 chart. Number 11 has already been featured in my "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge this year ("Imagine" ) and at least two or three of my Top 10 will make an appearance at some point.Rozzi (Crane) has a really funky, soulful sound which I really enjoy. This is a song I listen to a lot because the bass mixed with the vocals is really easy to follow along with and is a good rhythm for when I want to get into a groove at work. Rozzi initially rose to prominence at age 19, after being "discovered" by Adam Levine of Maroon 5. She collaborated with and toured with the band for a while before branching out on her own. |
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