these days

I have been wanting to sing a song at some open mic night and my friend Christina has this friend Iben who works at this little Cafe/Bar in Copenhagen. Back in March, Iben said I should come and sing, but it took until September for me to actually make it! I wasn't sure how it would be, because it was a jazz club, but Iben told me that singer/songwriter stuff would be ok.
So we showed up around 9pm a couple of weeks ago. I thought we would just go and check it out, before I walked up with my guitar. All the singers were very show-tunes-cabaretesque! I felt really out of place. I had prepare These Days by Nico and felt like there was no way I could sing it. I would have been boo-ed off the stage (even though there was no stage and everyone who came in the door kind of ran into the singer standing by the piano). There was no mic for my guitar and no mic stand, so I couldn't even go hands free! Needless to say, I wasn't brave enough to perform that night and now I am on the look out again for a place to sing some songs.
I don't know this part of me that wants to put on a show. I think deep down I always wanted to be a musician, but realized in my mid-twenties I wasn't poetic enough to write the songs I wanted to be singing. So I keep playing other peoples' songs and enjoy doing that, even if it is just for me. But lately, since Amanda is back sharing my apartment with me, I have been singing her to sleep with some melodies and it has been wonderful to play and sing every day for an appreciative audience. 
Maybe I will start and internet open mic, where I just post videos of me playing and you drink tea at home while you listen. Enjoy this one!

Loving all this summer sun.



Yesterday I went to the beach TWICE. I went in the morning by myself and then rode bikes back their later with Malene and Shu-Mei. I think I could swim in the sea and lay on the beach all day long.

cultivate a culture of reciprocity.

I just read this article about a communal style of living. It was written by a woman who lives in a neighborhood without fences with her friends. They share a garden, a lawnmower, a bbq and take care of each other like family. I love the idea of living like that. Maybe that's why I love living at Guldagergaard.
I really want to live where I don't need as much money because we have a group of people willing to share and exchange services instead of trying to acquire more and more material belongings for the individual.
Here is the last paragraph of the article:
We don’t keep strict tabs on what or how many hours we share. Instead we cultivate a culture of reciprocity. We trust that what we give to the community will come back to us many times over. In Bowling Alone, his classic work on the decline of community in America, Robert Putnam writes: “Trustworthiness lubricates social life.” But you don’t have to live in a commune or a kampung to share with your neighbors. It can start with borrowing a cup of sugar or offer of a helping hand. All it takes is the decision to put more emphasis on building community than acquiring Stuff.

I'd love to establish a community like that. Although I am finally living in one place, I still lead a transient life because every month new people are coming to live with me. I never have a set group of friends and sometimes I feel like I am constantly stuck in those "getting to know you" conversations. I like it when people stay for a few months and we can stop talking about the basics.



Mark just came out with a new album and this song pretty much explains the transient life and the quest for community.  I feel the same way. "I still dream of the simple life, boy meets girl and makes her his wife, but love don't exist when you live like this, that much I know, yes I know, all these roads will still be wrong but I still drive them all night long"

Instead of Abracadabra

"make no small plans; they have no magic to stir men's souls" --SWK

I'm all about the magic. Lately I've been thinking big. I watched this Ted Talk (posted below) last month which asked the question, "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"


It made me think about why I hold back in my life. Why don't I try to run a marathon? Why don't I start my own studio? What's keeping down my potential?

Sometimes it seems easier to make a million small plans (things I may not necessarily want to do) then attempt to make some magic (what I really want).

So for now I'm motivated to make some major plans! You better be ready for some Abracadabra!

just trying to learn how to say the danish Y.

To resolve your Love.

Lately I've been thinking about Pure Love and how to make that my daily motive when working with people. Most of the time our motives behind communication can be so selfish, but I hope to become more and more motivated by a true love for every individual I come in contact with.

I read this quote about Love the other day and can't stop thinking about how great Love is:

"Love as depicted in the mass media is not what this level is about. What the world generally refers to as love is an intense emotional condition, combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction, eroticism, and novelty. It’s usually fragile and fluctuating, waxing and waning with varying conditions. When frustrated, this emotion often reveals an underlying anger and dependency that it had masked. That love can turn to hate is a common perception, but here, an addictive sentimentality is likely what’s being spoken about, rather than Love; there probably never was actual love in such a relationship, for Hate stems from Pride, not Love.

[Pure Love] is unconditional, unchanging, and permanent. It doesn’t fluctuate—its source isn’t dependent on external factors. Loving is a state of being. It’s a forgiving, nurturing, and supportive way of relating to the world. Love isn’t intellectual and doesn’t proceed from the mind; Love emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive."

-David R. Hawkins Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior