I and Love and You

The Avett Brothers

Granada Theater, Dallas, 2010. A cold Sunday just after New Year’s, and the three of us, friends who felt like brothers, slid into the crush near the front. The Avetts stepped out with their arsenal of strings. Upright bass, a mournful cello, banjo bright enough to cut through winter. I felt the first shiver at the downbeat and the second when their voices locked. Two bearded men, no artifice, just the kind of harmony that makes you remember the names of your ghosts. I was carrying a lot then, fear and pride and unasked questions, and the music loosened the knots without humiliating me. It told the truth in a voice I could stand. By the end, I wanted to call people I had drifted from. I wanted to say things that had become hard to say. Some songs do not just play. They give you permission.

… Dumbed down and numbed by time and age
Your dreams they catch, the world, the cage
The highway sets the traveler's stage
All exits look the same

… Three words that became hard to say
I, and love, and you

Dream Night

Jamie xx

July has long inspired me because of its revolutionary spirit, pushing me annually to reinvent myself creatively. Jamie xx’s Dream Night perfectly captures the quiet intensity of this July. It feels like those nights when I’m driving down an empty city highway, streetlights flickering past the windows, and reality condenses into a calm, reflective focus. The vocals glide over the music with a soothing steadiness, creating an atmosphere that feels both peaceful and charged with possibility, a soundscape that mirrors my own personal revolutions.

The xx used to be magic to me. I remember the day Chained came out, not just the song but this exact video. The music and visuals hit me in a way I still haven’t forgotten. It felt intimate and strange and perfect.

No one will ever really know me without intimately understanding the rush of listening to new indie music between 2007-2014.

If you care about digital ownership, consumer rights, and resisting corporate control over the things you "buy," check out Louis Rossmann's Consumer Action Taskforce. This wiki is dedicated to documenting the ways companies strip away our control over the products we purchase—whether it's Amazon revoking access to e-books, manufacturers locking down device repairs, or corporations pushing anti-consumer policies. Knowledge is power, and platforms like this help ensure we stay informed and fight back.

I’ve been studying for a new technical certification exam for the last few months and on Monday I sat for the exam and passed it. Over the following days I’ve found myself feeling guilty and anxious in my free time. Eventually I realized the source of my anxiety is that my mind hasn’t caught up to the fact that I achieved all that I wanted during The July Revolution. It’s done.

Time for some rest.

Chasing Chords

What Is Yet

Blind Pilot

As I grow older, there are fewer and fewer of my favorite bands that I haven't seen play live. It's been since 2016 since Blind Pilot released any music, so there were times I doubted it would ever happen. Not too long ago, Pitchfork referred to them as “one of the crown jewels of Oregon’s indie-folk scene”—a sentiment I've always shared. Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, José González, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, and Blind Pilot: all titans of indie folk, with Blind Pilot perhaps lesser-known but no less significant.

I have my ticket for their summer tour in hand. The trip is planned, and the road to a new city, where I'll finally experience Blind Pilot live—not just as echoes in my headphones, but as vibrant notes floating through the air—is now before me.

It’s been a long four years. February 08, 2020. That’s the day I rented a storage unit and put my life on hold. It’s funny how if you just act like you’re invisible and meaningless long enough, you can eventually become exactly that— a shadow in your own story, drifting through the days until you're ready to step back into the light.

I’m ready.

It’s disorienting to remember how hopeful I was back in the early days of when I was heavily involved in politics. I think that’s honestly one of reasons most people in the US are so disaffected by politics. We’ve all had our hopes crushed.

It's interesting Facebook changed their name to Meta today, which is short for Metaverse. It's a word first coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. Coincidentally I'm currently reading Stephenson's newest novel Fall which also explores Metaverse concepts higher consciousness, the internet’s future, and virtual worldbuilding.

Smile Upon Me

Passion Pit

I remember back in 2008 and 2009 I used to drive home from college on the weekends blasting Passion Pit just so damn happy to be on my way back to my friends. We would always have music exchanges and new music listening sessions. We’d do psychedelics and write/draw messages for our sober selves to decipher later in a journey to self-actualization. We’d throw house parties that brought different cool friend groups together for the first time and we’d go to concerts of our favorite bands that left our bodies vibrating on strange frequencies.

Passion Pit is the embodiment of that unbound optimism.