sprawled out

there was only one time in my life i ever felt i got a clear answer when i asked God a question. it was years after i left twi, and i was wrestling with the idea that i should be "doing more." i was driving home one night, thinking about it, and asked God outright: "What should i be doing?" the answer was immediate. i don't really know if it came as words or a feeling or impression or what, yet it was clear as can be: YOU'RE DOING IT. it was good enough for me.

yes, i did, remarkably. some are still my friends today--even though we disagree on "doctrinal" issues. and others i've had no contact with for many years, but still miss. of course, there were plenty who were NOT true friends, or friends in any sense.

and everyone knows what dancing can lead to!

that's a BIG part of it, dooj!

this all reminds me of one of my first encounters with twi. friends of a friend said "God got us this great apartment. only $300 a month!" (it was back around 1976.) my first reaction was, "if God got it for you, why isn't it only $150 a month? or better yet, free?" of course, that was before i got suckered in. and now here i am, 30 years later, back to myself! feels damn good.

thanks, all--i appreciate it! :D

no, really, ex--you're getting funnier. you're like the "One-Liner Champion" of GSC! all you need is a rimshot sound effect. ba-dum-bum.

c'mon, everyone, sing it with me! (you remember the tune, doncha?) On the CES board, Mark can't be removed. On the CES board, Mark can't be removed. Just like tu-mor, too close to your brain stem Mark can't be removed. p.s. please stop saying "pp." it's making me pp in my ppants.

you're welcome. yeah, it's really something. some artists are trying to close it down--even though they're paying royalties. it'd be a shame to see it go. my advice is, enjoy it while you can!

any of you Sons fans heard the shows up at wolfgang's vault? http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ there are two shows under the name the Sons of Champlin, one as Yogi Phlegm. not the best i've ever heard, but worth listening to!

i just read this over in the ces section: Remember those times at conferences, and listening to tapes and talking to people when 'something just didn't seem quite right?' That was GOD telling you it WAS NOT QUITE RIGHT. argh. i'm sorry, but i don't think we really need God's help to figure out when stuff like that isn't right. that's why God gave us a brain--and a "gut." yes, we can be fooled. we can get lulled and dulled to the point that we might need divine intervention. BUT i think that, even in those times, WE KNOW. if we just push aside the debris, the clutter of doctrinal bs, and just make a little space for our built-in büllshît monitor to be heard, it'll be there. IN MY OPINION, of course. drawn from experience, naturally. i don't think it's God's job to tell us things we should be able to discern for ourselves. is that what you do as a parent, peek over your kids' shoulders all day, whispering in their ears at every turn? and yet, it's like that's the goal of certain brands of christianity--to get to the point that God tells you everything you need to know. ugh. can you say ROBOT? i'm not saying we don't need God for ANYthing. just that we don't need him for EVERYthing. it's all mixed up with the "without God, i'm just a worthless wretch" way of thinking that's so popular in some circles. i get it, i know what the bible says. but it makes no sense to me at all. we have plenty of admirable qualities. talents. i'd rather follow the "awesomely and wonderfully made" school of thought. does that make me self-righteous? i don't think so--i didn't make me! how is it self-righteous to acknowledge that i'm pretty ok? why is it somehow preferable to lie to yourself and say you're not? seems to me, it's just better business for a church or a religion or a biblical research outfit, etc. to saddle us with this kind of thinking. BECAUSE IF PEOPLE ACTUALLY FELT GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES, MAYBE THEY WOULDN'T COME AROUND SO OFTEN. which means less money in the till. and we couldn't have that, now could we?

perspective is everything

let's hope! hey--shouldn't elizabeth l*nn (and god knows who else) be the one doing some suing? talk about defamation of character, and worse!

i'm surprised that it's not a new york term! (but not just a new york activity.) maybe that's newyork-centric of me, but it's what i thought. and whatever you call it, it sure was DUMB. but fun!

BINGO!

that guy NEVER seemed even remotely happy to me. on the rare occasion when i saw him smile, it looked like it hurt. and, as i believe i've said elsewhere, he was a pr!ck. in my experience, anyway. but it's apparently worked for him--looks like he's running a pretty successful splinter. maybe he's happier now that it's his show.

am i just noticing, ex, or are you getting funnier? D-R-Y, and FUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNY!

nice job on the new look! i especially like the background--VERY diner-y! poifect, in fact. thanks for all your hard work.

not a problem, bluzeman. my "bickering" remark was just a gibe.

if anything, i have the opposite "problem." i played the same 335 i bought in 1975 (for $250!) until about 1997, when i bought a standard (mexican) tele. i've bought two american-made telecasters since then, and returned them both because i realized i didn't like them as much as the mexican! i AM keeping the squier 51, though. which brings my guitar total up to 4 (the fourth being a guild acoustic my mother gave me!). it's attached. enjoy! (since the attachment limit is 2 mb, i'm only posting the solo. if anyone wants the whole tune--and it's worth having--i can email it.)GoldMine_solo.mp3 great story! i can see it. yeah, tuning was definitely a problem in those days, for a number of reasons. heck, i remember doing it myself, giving up and handing off my guitar to the other guitarist to tune. (i'd be lost without a tuner today--whatever facility i had is long atrophied!) but as you said, it never got in the way of their making great music--once they actually started playing!

smoking bud? not drinking it? i'm sure i have no idea what you're talking about, bluzey. you're not bickering with me, are you?

i was--and AM--11th, dooj. twi may have dropped me, but in my heart, i'll always be a proud member of the 11th. i mean, we were as f'ed up as any of 'em, but i loved us!

derailment? bickering? at greasespot? NEVER! but that reminds me...you know, sometimes, when you're watching tv, maybe after a couple of beers, or not even, and you switch channels during a commercial, and then forget to go back to the original show and think you were just watching the new show all along but then suddenly you remember you were just on this channel because of the commercial and now you can't even remember which show you were watching and if you somehow DO remember you can't for the life of you remember what channel it was on and now there are TWO shows you don't know what's going on on and you can't just hit the "last channel" button because you were hopping around before you ended up on the channel you're on...

to shop? dance? what?

i think you're right about that--it really is a vestige of the old twi thing. which was really just vpw's thing--an ego trip.