Process Piece

These are the sounds of Jordan shaving his head.

Shaving Jordan's Head

Tiny Stories

"She loves me," he said

As he plucked the last petal

And watched her walk off

"Cheers," said Jane to Jim.

Clinking cups on a white beach,

Prisoners now free.

He only typed "yes,"

But the crash took less time.

Now she had none left.

"Will you marry me?"

Diamonds, her tears, and a "yes"

Their dreams coming true.

His arms spread out wide

Looking at the conquered slope

His journey complete.

While thinking about the Tiny Stories assignment, I decided that I wanted to take a minimalist approach to the actual writing of the stories.  I did this because I felt like it would challenge me more creatively.  All of my stories are actually haikus.  I did this because I felt like the point of the assignment was to be inspired creatively by all kinds of images that we see, and I feel like art is inspired by the glorious and awesome, but also the simple and the every-day.  I think of the poetry of William Carlos Williams who wrote tremendously minimalist poems about objects like wheelbarrows, but did so in such a way that has inspired countless people.  One of the reasons I love his poetry is that it is so open to the interpretation of the reader.  It serves as another testament to the idea that normal objects can serve as objects of incredible amounts of inspiration.

I was also inspired by many of the stories that we read as part of the assignment such as the Tim Burton short stories and the six-word stories video.  Both of those examples used very few words to evoke lots of emotion and paint vivid pictures either physically or in the readers' minds.  I took a similar approach to writing my own stories.

Another reason why I decided to write stories as haikus is because I feel like artists create art about all phases and experiences in life.  I tried to create a story about a vital or key human experience or emotion.  The first story is about heartbreak, which I feel like everyone experiences at least once in their life, even if it isn't necessarily in love.  The second story is about freedom, second chances, and fresh starts.  In my own personal life, I have experienced feeling trapped by my own mistakes, by other people's rules or actions, and by my inabilities.  The third story is about tragedy and what can happen when we are careless with our actions.  The fourth story is about happiness and love and finding something that makes you forget about your past heartbreaks.  The last story is about triumph and achieving a goal through hard work and perseverance.  There are, of course, other human emotions and experiences that could also be portrayed.

Music Mosaic

Link to song "I.P.C."

The song that I have chosen to play as part of my musical mosaic is called “I.P.C.”  I created this song when I was a senior in high school and I honestly did not take thought for what it would mean to me 6-7 years later.  Part of the reason I have chosen this piece of music is because of the way in which my views of and feelings toward my life have changed and continue to change through time.

I have chosen to represent concepts and feelings I associate with this song in the form of photographs because music always causes me to engage in introspection, especially in this case, being that this song is my own creation.

The first photograph portrays an empty highway.  To me, this picture represents the beginning of life.  When we are born, we come into this world with little.  Knowledge, desires, and responsibilities come into our life gradually.  When life is created, we can only detect slight movements and steady heartbeats.  Likewise, the beginning of this song starts with minimal musical aspects, but as it continues, more are added.

As we age, we begin to develop personalities and talents, accumulate responsibilities, and we are drawn to various people, places, and activities.  Some of these beautify our lives, but some of them can become obstacles in our path to reaching our short and long-term goals.  Instead of life being a smooth path that seems to only be headed in one direction, we often feel spread thin, pulled apart, re-directed, or hindered.  This is reflected in the nature of the music as more elements are added.  

Are we growing like a forest or an urban jungle?  Are we reaching toward the sky with our focus on the light or are we trying to create light of our own for others to see?  Have these additions to my life been wholesome or have they been decadent and distracting?

Why have I tried to run faster than I am able?  Is it because I want to please others?  Is it because I want to impress or showboat?  Do I tell myself that one purchase on a credit card won’t make a difference even though I’m on a budget?  Do I need the newest iPhone?  Will engaging in passionate kissing with as many females as possible before I’m not allowed to for 2 years satisfy my desire and pride to the point of rendering those feelings dormant during that time?

Am I freeing myself from such things or am I actually imprisoning myself?

As with all rivers and streams, I have a destination.  Will I lose myself among others in the vast ocean of the human family, destined to move with the current of the world and the seasons, or will I come to rest like the pond or lake?  Will I seek the power to impress and potentially pulverize, or will I capture the calm of contentment by being still and finding God?  

'Love in the Future' Review

9 Grammy awards and numerous Billboard hits into his career, John Legend released Love In The Future on September 3^rd, 2013.  Unlike many of his contemporaries such as Frank Ocean or newcomer Miguel, John Legend takes a step backward toward the vintage with his latest effort as he takes steps forward in his personal life. Recently engaged to model Chrissy Teigen, it is obvious from what source Legend draws upon for inspiration for his latest album.  With Love in the Future, a madly in love John Legend not only presents us with all of his own feelings, but also reminds us that love has always and will always be one of the supremest forces of human existence.

As the listener begins the journey through the 20-track love saga, he or she is greeted by the sounds of a string quartet and musings of the beginnings of a serious relationship between two lovers.  Fittingly titled, “The Beginning” not only samples classical sounds with more contemporary drum beats, but it reminds listeners to keep their life and their important long-standing relationships fresh and exciting.  This message is reiterated in the subsequent cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes.”  Love is elemental an ancient, as exhibited in the production of the tribal “Made To Love,” but you have to find the person and the things you love in your own way keep it vibrant and vital.  In other tracks, Legend more subtly can be heard drawing upon influences such as Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston is tracks like “Hold On Longer” and “Wanna Be Loved” (reminiscent of “Easy [Like Sunday Morning]” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?”).  The supreme message that has inspired so many others hasn’t changed, but those that are in love change and so does the world’s view on the subject.  We need to discover our own love and our own way of showing it.

Legend not only shows us a glimpse into the past and love’s place in history, but in his own personal life.  For the first time, he puts not just one, but three wedding reception-worthy songs into the mix with “All of Me,” “For the First Time,” and “Dreams,” which sounds like Legend’s version of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed.”  Not since “Ordinary People” has he produced a song that featured nothing but his sultry voice and piano accompaniment (which song, we might add, was not the definition of “love ballad”).  The haunting vocals on these tracks ooze infatuation and can haunt any listener in love.  He isn’t just giving his all to his true love, but he’s bearing all of his feelings to the listener as well.

Unlike his past flirtatious, playful, and even braggadocios songs such as “Alright,” “She Don’t Have to Know,” and “Number One,” Legend is fully committed to his songwriting and his personal love endeavors.  In the past, he sang “You can’t say I don’t love you just because I cheat on you,” but now he croons “Out of all of the girls, you’re my one and only girl/Ain’t nobody in the world tonight” in the appropriately titled “You and I (Nobody In the World).”  There’s only one person on Legend’s mind these days.  There are no more public escapades with new women, no displays of bravado or machismo in the club.  In fact, he would rather ditch all of that and spend the night at home with his special someone according to “Save the Night.”

Legend has always been an expert at blending the classic with the modern and making them his own, but Legend doesn’t cling to what others have said about the most important of feelings.  There are plenty of original and modern elements in the songwriting and production, befitting of the album’s title, such as “Asylum” and “Caught Up,” which not only illustrate the companionship found in love, but also the fact that in it we can find healing, happiness, understanding, and even an escape from the mundane, monotonous, and maddening.  Love can be a powerful aphrodisiac.

As the artist takes us on this journey, he shows us the beginning stages of love and moves us through its different phases:  the first intense feelings of attraction, the first pleas for companionship, the first stages of discovery and intimacy, the continuation of this excitement and the thrill of feeling it repeatedly, and then he discusses the subsequent frustration of temporary separation, the realization that you’ve found that one special someone that keeps you committed, that you’ve found what all the artists of the world have written and sung about – the yin to your yang, the one person who understands you and knows you inside out, the one that occupies your dreams and your heart, your one true love.

To some, these thoughts and feelings might seem old-fashioned or cliché, but as Legend explains on the closing track “For the First Time,” when you feel the kinds of feelings that he feels, it all seems brand new.  This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard a similar message from other artists, but John Legend’s refreshing and moving effort reminds the listener just how supreme that message is.