New Song - "At Least Until Dawn"

Alright so the first line of the chorus came into my head while I was watching my little brother play video games. Inspiration comes from everywhere I suppose!  I'm gonna start posting youtube links instead of downloads, it's just easier and then maybe I can start selling music! Anyway, this is a duet I wrote and then recorded with my friend Rebekah, Grant (drums), and Rebekah's dad (bass). We're gonna record another take later, but for now this will give everyone an idea of what I was going for. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K00-K8j6VjQ



I've been stumblin around, barely dragging my feet up off the ground. 
But I straightened up on that dark night that I found you standing alone. 
You looked like a thousand miles from home so I took you in 
we sat in my truck until you said


"I don't know who you are, I don't know where you've been, 
but right now you're here and I'm wondering if you're stickin around 
or if you're gonna leave. Well I'm hoping that you will keep me company. 
Cause it's been a long night and my friends are all gone
 so please hold me close, at least until dawn, at least until dawn."


I was staggering down a street on the darkest side of town, 
but I sobered up when I heard the sweet and gentle sound 
of you offering me a seat in your 1983 chevrolet. 
I only had one thing to say

"I don't know who you are, I don't know where you've been, 

but right now you're here and I'm wondering if you're stickin around 

or if you're gonna leave. Well I'm hoping that you will keep me company. 

Cause it's been a long night and my friends are all gone

 so please hold me close, at least until dawn, at least until dawn."

We could sit here all day, and pretend like we don't know what to say. 
We could skip to the action and let all our sorrows fade away 
along with the suffering. It's time to forget that painful sting
 of all the wrong choices that made us lose the heart to sing


And I don't know who you are, but I don't really care. 
You made me feel like a someone when no one was there. 
So I'm askin you now if you'll stay here with me.
 Cause I just can't bear losing this harmony.
 And it's been a long night, and my friends are all gone.
 So please hold me close at least until dawn, at least until dawn.

New Song - "My Little Ticker"

It's been a while, blogosphere! Obviously I've been real busy, going home for the summer and all.  Even though I don't have a job (yet) I'm keeping myself relatively busy.  Not really as far as writing songs go, but other things. I promise.  Anyway, I did finally write another song in honor of love fests that occur in the summer. Enjoy!

My Little Ticker.m4a

Here we go again: I think I've found a bird to share my nest
and it's crazy 'cause I never would've guessed.
One more time again: I gotta see your face before I leave
to the city of love now honey come with me.

I really gotta hand it to you baby you know me so well
you broke into my heart and stole the footholds 'til I fell
in love with all the mischief that you're making. You're causing
such a scene inside my little ticker, yeah if you know what I mean.

Call me up again: you know I'm waiting by my phone all night
just praying you feel what I feel inside.
Let's meet up again: I'd love to see you glow under the moon.
I'm just saying it could never be soon.

And I really gotta hand it to you baby you know me so freakin' well
you broke into my heart and stole the footholds 'til I fell
in love with all the mischief that you're making. You're causing
such a scene inside my little ticker, yeah if you know what I mean.

I'm crazy about you, can't you tell?
And just maybe you care for me as well.
I'm trying the best that I can.
I'm not lying, I wanna be your man!

One more line again: I hope this song will make you realize
that to me you're perfect, you're worth it when I see those eyes.

But you really gotta hand it to me baby: I'm giving it my all.
I'm loosening the footholds in your heart until you fall
in love with all the mischief that I'm making. I'm trying to cause
a scene inside your little ticker, I hope you know what I mean.

New Song - "Aviator"

I wrote this song about my older brother, Travis, who I love very much. Just click the orange text below to download and listen through iTunes. Enjoy!

Aviator 2.m4a

"He's an aviator; spreads his wings across the sky.
Doesn't let the world tell him no or that he's wasting time.
Yeah he's cutting clouds like butter,
turns a loopty-loop on a dime.
He's laughing us he fades the Sun - aviator, fly on!

While he was soaring alone he came to realize
that home's where your heart is and no one should criticize.
While he was living on land they called him a clown.
Well no he's up in the air and he's never coming down.

'Cause he's an aviator keeps his wings up in the sky.
Doesn't let the world hold him back from getting super high.
Yeah he's burning streams of gas and
turns a barrel roll on a dime.
He's laughing as he races towards the Sun - aviator, fly on!

As he dreams of reaching the stars, he keeps off the ground.
Staying out of trouble where he knows he can't be found.
But now and then he comes out of the clouds and puts on a show,
or travels 'round the world, there's no where he cannot go.

'Cause he's an aviator; lights his wings up in the night.
Doesn't let the world tell him how to love or live his life.
Yeah he's plunging straight towards Earth
but turns it level on a dime.
And he's laughing as he shoots off to the Sun - aviator, fly on!

Aviator, fly on!"

Been a While, Interwebz!

Yeah, sorry about the month and a half break. I would say I've been really busy, which is partially true, but I definitely could've updated my life on here a few times. I think the main reason I haven't posted anything is because I haven't written any songs since I went on that streak of madness. I guess a lot of stuff has happened since though! For one, I'm engaged!!!

Ha. Just kidding. For a student at BYU, I suppose it is a little strange that I haven't had a girlfriend at all this year. Not that I'm upset or anything, it would suck if I had a girlfriend and then left home for 5 months, and then France for 7 more. Lord knows I've done something like that in the past, it sucks. Anyway, speaking of France...

"Dear Future Teaching Assistant,

Congratulations! We are very pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the Teaching Assistant Program in France for the 2011-2012 academic year, sponsored by the French Ministry of Education."

I got accepted into my internship!!! I'll be going somewhere in the Grenoble region, which is SO pretty. Plus it's right next to Italy - com'è perfetto! Basically I'm really excited. I'll be hearing back pretty soon about more instructions to follow. More waiting. Then they won't know where exactly in my area I'll be going until the summer. MORE waiting. That's alright, as long as I know that I'm going! Now I can plan a sweet road trip to California with friends to pick up my visa in either San Francisco or Los Angeles. I still don't know a lot about what I'm doing haha. Mostly I just don't know where I'm living, like with a family or in a dorm, but I'm pretty sure I get to pick? I guess I'll figure it out later. I just heard yesterday and like 60 people (and counting) have liked my status about it on Facebook. That's a new PR!

As of tomorrow, we will only have a WEEK left of classes. That's crazy. Most people will still be in school till June, some until May. I'll be home until the end of September, which means I'll have a 5 month summer. BAM. Hopefully I'll find a somewhat enjoyable, flexible job that makes good money and I'll have a good time. I'll need to be able to leave for Chicago for Aunt Stacey's wedding, and then Cali for a little. Tyler Bowers might hook me up with a job working parks & rec, and Mike Graff might be able to get me a job working construction, and Mark Larson might be able to hire me to do soil sampling. Or I'll apply at GameStop haha. Just kidding, I just called them to see if they're hiring over the summer. They're not :(

So what else has happened...not a lot, which is kindof sad. I learned a new song on guitar called "Cherry Blossom Time." It's beautiful, maybe I'll put up a recording of it later.

I went to the Power Tumbling Gym last night for FHE, it was freakin awesome. I did a triple front tuck, black flipped off the top of the rock wall, and did a double full off the tumble trak. Basically tore it up. Except there was this one kid there who was really good, everyone was obsessed with him. And rightfully so! We went to Wendy's after for frosties and fries. Delicious.

There were two weeks a couple weeks ago where I averaged 25 hours a week, racked up a $341 paycheck, which is nice, but I had to pull an 18 hour shift on one of the days annnd I about died. Ballroom dance competitions. Never again. But now I've only been working like, 2-6 hours a week. LAME.

Oh yeah, I went on a shopping spree. I bought myself a France away jersey, which I'm wearing now. Also a Messi Argentina jersey, and a pair of green, black, and red Nike Laser III's (which are SO legit) and a ball. All together it was like...$250. Not bad, eh? I better play a ton of soccer over the summer. My feet have a few blisters from the cleats, but I'll get over them.

I officially declared a French studies major, and I think I wanna double in Italian. But I'm not sure, maybe I'll just minor...if it's possible, I'll double. For kicks. I basically don't have any idea what I'll do with either, but I suppose a lot of people graduate with degrees that have nothing to do with their field of work. i.e. the P.E. teacher who has a degree in sociology? Something like that. Hopefully I don't end up just teaching P.E. though...

I went and ate dinner at the French housing here on campus, it was really fun. I just spoke French a bunch with my friend Jonathon, who's the RF (resident facilitator...?). He's the native speaker in the house. We ate pasta without sauce, salad and porkchops. It was...interesting. It was just fun to speak French all the time. I'd like to live there if it wasn't so freakin' expensive. I need to go back a few more times to get my cultural events in for my French class...speaking of which, my LAST paper is due on Monday. Haven't really started, but I guess it'll get done eventually.

I have to give a talk in church on Sunday, based on a talk during General Conference. I think I'll do it on President Uchtdorf's talk from the Sunday morning session. I don't like the idea of giving talks based on other talks, but it's whatever, I'm sure it'll be fine. It'll be nice to get to talk to everyone from the ward one last time!

Speaking of General Conference, we went to Starr Valley over the weekend! It was awesome. I went down with Cache, Brad, Danielle, Gentry, Hannah, and Marynn. It's only 3 hours away, so that gave me time to work on my last English paper on the way there and 25 journal entries on the way back. We got there and went to Cache's grandparents house to see a cow and her calf. Then we went and rode motor bikes at his house, played ping pong for a while, and then headed off to Brad's. They both have real nice houses. We at Chinese food for dinner, and turns out Brad's mom is a super good cook. It was great. Then we played games or something and watched Zoolander and went to bed. I ate 4 grandma's cookies with a pint of ice cream and a Twix. You can imagine how I felt after a while. The next morning we had waffles (made by Brad's mom of course) and then went and shot shotguns, .454 and .44 magnums. I shot a clay pigeon off the hip with a 12 gauge, pretty much I'm a boss. Then the handguns were sweet too. The .454 made my ears ring for a good half hour. After the guns we went to Cache's to ride his horses. It ended up being REALLY windy and cold, so just the girls road a little bit. After that we went and had lunch at Rulon's Burger place or something, and it was really good, but also really greasy. I think we just played ping pong at Cache's again for a while before we had dinner at his house. French dip au jus with shrimp pasta salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Turns out Cache's mom is also a dynamite chef. We went back to Brad's and played some more games. I stayed up and chatted with Brad and Mark, Brad's brother, for a couple hours before we went to bed. We watched the morning session of conference and went to Cache's for lunch, which was really good ham and baked potatoes. Then we packed up and left! I had an awesome time, but I hope I can go back during the summer when it's green and warm. I'd love to hike up in the canyons and go camping and stuff. Some day!

We're gonna have a French-themed party in celebration of my internship and the end of the year. Don't know where/when yet, but Jenn's helping me plan. Hopefully it's off the wall!

I got a hair cut. I think I clipped off like 3 inches. Yikes. Short hair is nice though.

Gotta go work the baseball game now, but it's been real!

Ramblin' Man is being a responsible adult.

What Happens in Vegas Doesn't HAVE to Stay in Vegas...

So for the last couple of months me, Alli, Melissa, and and Jenn had all planned on coming to Alli's over President's Day weekend because she lives right outside Vegas and we thought that would be fun. Well, unfortunately Jenn, Miranda, and Leah all weren't able to make it so it ended up just being me Alli and Melissa. We left after classes on Friday and had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. I needed to write a 4 page paper for my Writing 150 class, which I actually finished in the first 2 hours. That made the rest of the drive a little boring. There wasn't really anything to look at. We stopped at Ihop for dinner, and even though it took forever for us to get our food, which even then they screwed up our orders, the food was good and we got into Henderson around 11 or so. I met Alli's family, and they're really great. I feel right at home! Before going to bed Melissa and I came up with a day plan for Vegas for Saturday - which turned out to be awesome.

After a couple hours of sleep Alli, Melissa, and I woke up and ate a delicious apple crisp muffin - you know, the kind from Costco. The delicious kind. Anyway, we reviewed our itinerary for the day and decided to get going around 10:30 or so. We went to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory/Botanical Cactus Garden which is right by her house. That went by really quick but I imagine it's more fun when there's actually workers there that you can see making the chocolate. I got a free sample of the peanut brittle and it was fantastic. I just wasn't willing to drop $40 on a set of 8 pieces. The cactus garden was pretty cool, I'll have pictures loaded up eventually.

Next we went to a mall in Henderson. Not especially exciting, but a part of the adventure none the less.

We were pretty close to this restaurant Alli had raved about called the Elephant Bar, which was in the District. It had an Asian feel to it, and I ended up getting Teriyaki Chicken, but I'm still not sure if it was an Asian restaurant or not. The food was really good though, and so was dessert - apple and blueberry cobbler. A healthy, $22 meal after a $5 tip.

The real beginning of the day began after we left the District and entered the Strip, parking in the MGM parking garage. We walked into the hotel from the garage, and I was immediately blown away. The lights were so bright and EVERYwhere, just in the first couple of steps of the hotel. In the daytime. We made our way for the lion exhibit, but there were only two adult females, annnd they were both sleeping. Didn't even see a yawn. I've never been so close to a lion though, so that was still pretty cool.

The M&M's World was next on the list, but we decided we would just come back to it on our way to Paris from the Silverton Aquarium. We started walking to south towards the much-anticipated mermaid show, meanwhile checking out the Luxor, Excalibur, Four Seasons, and New York New York hotels. After a while of walking we realized that the Silverton was literally another mile away. We turned around. To M&M World!

Literally everything in that store is M&M-related. And super expensive, like the smallest coin purse for $10. Needless to say we didn't buy anything. We did, however, go to the little 3D movie they show upstairs, which was cheesy but still kindof fun. It would've been more enjoyable if the 3D worked for me. Mostly it just hurt my eyes. P.S. there were annoying volleyball girls there. Yikes.

After leaving M&M World we walked up the Strip until we hit Paris and the little Eiffel Tower! Which was actually surprisingly big. I was trying to compare it to the real thing, but it's been a while...all I know is that it was a lot smaller. Still pretty though.

We crossed the street and went inside the Bellagio and walked around a little while, mainly just enjoying the sweet aroma of slot machines and people smoking at blackjack tables until we turned around and headed for Caesar's Palace. We walked through the Forum Shoppes where everything is expensive and stood front row to watch the little fountain/statue show they put on. It was awesome, I got a video of it! I walked to the Nike store to see if - yeah, everything was still expensive. Wasn't ready to drop $120 on a new pair of awesome Nikes. Yet.

After the statues we walked down to the Mirage and Treasure Island to check out the erupting volcano. We thought it would be better to see it across the street, that way we wouldn't have to watch the new stripper show they do during the explosion. It was intense even from across the street, but I would've liked to have been up close just because it was cold outside and even a little heat would have been great.

We started jogging to catch the fountain show in front of the Bellagio. We finally got there, just in time for them to start. It was very, very cool. I wish we would've been right up front, listening to "Remember the Lilies" but it was still a sight. Then a van stopped in front of us and all these relatively attractive girls were staring at us because they were right where the water show was - it was just poor (or not so poor, depending on how you look at it) timing. Except then they started laughing about it and kept looking over and so I had to wave. They tried mouthing something to me but I couldn't understand so I had them fog up the window and write it down. They wrote it really small and backwards, so I couldn't read it. So then they were trying to yell it out the window, but just then the light turned green before I could get it and they drove away and out of my life...I will forever be curious what they were trying to say.

That was the last thing we wanted to do on the strip, so we walked back to the car and drove over to Fremont to check out the light show. We walked underneath the cover where are the lights are and there was some rock band, "Dirty Pair A Dice" I think? playing cover songs, and they weren't half bad. We had about 45 minutes to kill so we kept walking. There was a guy jamming on a tenor, then alto, then soprano saxes. He was legit. P.S. there were people on zip-lines going from the start to end of Fremont street the whole time. It looked exhilarating. With 20 minutes till the show we were walking back towards the sax guy when we saw a crowd around this artist doing spray paint art. He was super talented and pumped out several of these paintings an hour. After he finished the one we saw him start, the light show came on. It was a tribute to the Doors and it was really well done! They played a couple songs and had these very Doors-appropriate lights playing across the cover of the whole street. We started walking back after the lights were done and watched a guy drumming on buckets and pans for a little while before going to the car. Alli and Melissa didn't want tacos from the taco truck by the car, so we left. Even though they were cheap. And probably very tasty. And authentic. Out of a truck.

We stopped at Jack in the Box on the way home and got all filled up on fatty American food before calling it a night. Melissa and I watched Toy Story 3 with Alli's brothers and sister before finally going to bed. Which leaves me in the present.

I loved Vegas. I loved the lights, I loved the sounds of the casinos, I loved the architecture of the hotels and stores. I wasn't a big fan of the million people handing out porn cards, or seeing it on the ground, in shop windows, in newspaper boxes, and on billboards. But, regardless of all that, I still loved it there. People were having a great time. I was having a great time. Most people there were pretty trashy, but we're supposed to love everyone, n'est-ce pas?

Tomorrow we have church, then we might check out the Hoover Dam. I'm pumped. GET IT?! Sorry. It's 3:10 my time and I've been walking around all day. Probably won't get much sleep...not sure what else we'll do tomorrow. Monday we'll leave early afternoon. I have another 3-5 page French paper to write. It's one where you just pick a topic and go to town explaining everything about it. I have NO idea what to write about, which makes things a little difficult. Especially because on Tuesday we have Monday classes. So I'll be in class until 7, then I have to write a draft for the next day. I just pray I'll have a topic in mind by then...I just had an idea to do a mini-biography on Michael Jordan. Thoughts? I suck at picking my own topics.

Well that was my day. I haven't written any songs, surprisingly, but maybe after this weekend I'll have something in mind ;)

Ramblin' Man will be back here some day.

New Song - "Outlaw"!

Outlaw.m4a

The recording is super rough, but some day I think it will be pretty cool haha

Verse:

There was a trapped outlaw, he knew he was dead:

the black and white spurs were on top of his head.

He knew that it was only a matter of time

before the long arm of the law had caught him for his crimes.

In fact he had a letter ready to read

as he stood up on the gallows in the summer heat.

Chorus:

"Before you judge me, step into my boots.

Come to the other side of this dirty noose.

Let me paint a little picture now:

why I became a bandit - where, when, and how.

Verse:

There was a little boy about the age of twelve

when he saw his drunken dad beat momma in the den.

Well he tried to stop it, but there was no use.

The father always got away with drinking and abuse.

But the son had another plan today,

so he crawled to mom as soon as dad had gone away.

Chorus:

'Tonight I'm gonna end it all

when I put a little something in his alcohol.

I'm sick of seeing all the hurt he's cause,

and it's about time I let him know who's boss.'

Verse:

Finally, that night when the husband came home

the twelve year-old gave him a glass that he had mixed on his own.

There was a hesitation after the drink and the

suspicions of the old man were confirmed with a wink

from the little boy who was at his side;

he took the bottle from his hand and started waving good-bye."

(instrumental bridge)

Verse:

There was a quiet murmur across the crowd

as they debated whether they should let the poor man down.

But he stood fast and looked them dead in the eye, and said

"If they deserved justice well then so do I. Cause I've

buried men and given women hope

but to receive my final judgment would you drop the rope?"

Chorus:

Some months when the moon shines bright,

the shadow of the outlaw keeps guard of the night.

As a patron to those in need, and

unto brave souls he will plant his seed.

New Song - "Birch and Bismark"

Just a preface to this song - I love BYU and the environment in Provo. I just wrote this in memory of where I'm from and all the things I miss about it. The "crowded prison" in the second to last chorus is referring to all the memories, not BYU! :)

Birch and Bismark.m4a

Verse:

Just take me back to the Evergreen State.

At least there I know it's daytime -

not in the way when the sun is out

but where everything is alright.

Chorus:

Give me the Columbia River

just thinkin' bout it makes me shiver.

Get me out of this valley I'm in,

I wanna go back to Badger Mountain.

Verse:

If I was hanging out on Birch and Bismark

life could not be better.

On Entiat or Piper yeah

we're all birds of a feather.

Chorus:

Give me the Yakima River,

just thinkin' bout it makes me shiver.

Pull me down from this altitude I'm in,

I wanna go back to George Washington.

Bridge:

Let's roll down to Leslie Groves

while Mary jumps out the windows.

Octopus Garden and spudnuts galore;

yeah the Uptown baby is what I live for.

Verse:

Put me inside a Privia and

drive me to Howard Amon.

We could sit out on the dock all night

or catch a show at Ray's Golden Lion.

Chorus:

Give me all-nighters with a Nutter,

I wouldn't want one with any other.

Free me from this crowded prison,

I wanna go back to Seagull Island.

Verse:

Bring me to the nearest coffee-shop,

I could drink bestie-jet-teas forever.

I'll wait while you smoke a shmigarette

out in any type of weather.

Chorus:

Give me that city in any season,

I can't think of any reason

why I've gone so long missin' -

I just wanna go back to Richland!