The Internet

The more I use the internet the more it bothers me, and the more it sucks me in.

Do you found yourself staring at a screen, looking at things that in all reality don't really mean anything? Do you spend part of your day basically wasting time in front of a computer when you could be using the moments to truly better your life, or be more productive, or read a book, or take a walk, or spend time with someone you care about? Are there things you've always wanted to do, but for some reason can never find the time to do them yet your Facebook status and Twitter updates are always up to date and current? Do you spend more time telling others what you are doing, than actually doing?

I can answer yes to all of these questions. Can you?

Do you remember when an experience didn't need to be documented, or 'tweeted about', or photographed for our 'Facebook page'? Just the pure joy of being there was what really made it worth while. We have our memories and stories, and sometimes the more personal they are, the more sacred they become.

Tonight I went to a free Sea and Cake show at the park alone. I haven't went somewhere by myself to just enjoy the experience without any outside influence or others around me for quite some time. It really felt good to spend some time with me. I'm not sure how this ties into the internet, but maybe it's that we all sometimes look at that lighted screen trying to avoid loneliness. When in all reality, I think the pleasure of spending time with oneself and their own thoughts has become too separated from the human experience. 

Remember when you used to just give someone a call, or randomly stopped by their house to see how they were doing? These human interactions are slowly being replaced by text messages, emails, DMs, and Wall-to-wall comments. Maybe the writers of Terminator are on to something. Take the humanity away and are we really even human anymore?

I'm going to begin to spend more of my time being productive, bettering myself and my life, creating things, reading, being part of events, and spending time with other people I care about and less time talking about myself to people that are really also just there to talk about themselves. It's quite the bizarre love triangle as Bernie Sumner would say.

How many friends do you really have?

Saturday Fun Day Part II

Yesterday I attended the opening of the new modern art wing at The Chicago Art Institute with my great friend Chelsea Winkel. Chelsea is talented painter, designer, and all around swell chick. Check our her design stuff at www.hirechelsea.com, some of her paintings at www.chelseawinkel.com, and her blog at www.hirechlsea.com/blog. Anyways, the new wing is pretty key. Unfortunately, the mass of people that showed up for the opening made it tough to fully enjoy all of the great artwork. Some of the highlights were the Picassos, Lichtensteins, Matisses, and Dalis. There are of course some pretentious modern works such as a canvas painted completely orange or blank white ones with a few bolts and stuff attached to them. But all in all, it's a fairly respectable collection and a must see for anyone interested in the last 100 years of modern art. The building is beautiful and they have some great gigantic glass doors :). I'm looking forward to visiting the museum again when there's a smaller crowd.

Later in the evening we attended the Saturday night performance of The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The performance featured conductor Osmo Vänskuä and violin soloist Nikolaj Znaider. Osmo was extremely animated and very entertaining to watch. Not only was Nikolaj an amazing violinist, but I found it fascinating that he had every one of his parts committed to memory. Wow is all I can say. It's great to get out the suit jacket every once in a while hit the town and absorb some culture.

All in all a great Saturday! Ok, I need to get to work now.

Design Vs. Art

Lately I have been getting out and seeing a lot of artwork at various galleries around Chicago. Today I attended some of the gallery open houses at Explore Fulton Market (www.explorefultonmarket.com). In the past couple weeks I have seen some great artwork and well, truthfully, some not so great artwork.

Years of producing commercial design had soured my drive to be truly creative outside the guidelines of the advertising world. Although necessary for practical means, the confines of commercial design doesn't offer a creative type the needed outlet and release of ideas and emotions that fine art provides.

With the help of all the great, and not so great, work I've seen in the past couple weeks, I have been feeling truly inspired to do some projects that aren't trying to sell someone something or convince them to jump on the latest cultural bandwagon. Seeing others that are active in the art community here in Chicago really gives me some drive to get up and do something. I have talent that I feel has basically been wasted for quite some time. I know that I have something to offer and I'm ready to start dishing it out! As a teenager I enjoyed creating art for the mere act of expressing myself and providing the viewer with something that's interesting to the human psyche. I feel that stepping back and just producing work for myself without any rules or guidelines will really help me in many aspects of my life.

I'm taking back my lifelong love of creating... So where did I put that drawing pencil?

Hayweek show and Hinter's last show

Last weekend my band Hayweek played in Bloomington, IL for Hinter's last show ever. They will surely be missed by all. Thanks to Chris, Matt, Neil, and Justin for the great tunes and good memories! A great time was had by all and I'd also like to thank Trip the Light Fantastic, and 11 / 17 for playing.

On another note, Hawyeek will be playing this Saturday at Beat Kitchen with Psilocin, Braveyoung, and Lungs. It should be a great time. With a forecast of 86 degrees, there is sure to be some PBR drinkin' on the patio!

Hayweek was recently asked to be part of a Tom Petty covers album featuring a bunch of great Chicago bands including Tight Phantomz and Post Honeymoon to name a couple. The details aren't worked out yet, but I'm really excited to potentially be part of such a great project. I love me some Tom Petty!

I leave you with a video of Hinter playing at Quenchers here in Chicago. There aren't any videos of the last show so a clip from their third to last will have to do! Nice and poppy so you leave with a good taste in your mouth.

Twitter Video and Hayweek show.

Hey all! The first Hayweek show at The Beat Kitchen was a success and we did a great job for our first time playing out together. Congrats to my band mates Justin Miller, Jeff Larson, and Matt Fast. I only made a couple mistakes. Thanks to Joe for the extra drink tickets! Everyone had a great time and it was good to see some old friends.

On another note @hirechelsea over at Twitter posted a link to this great video making fun of Twitter. Although I use Twitter myself, I have to say that this is really hilarious and I feel the same way about it sometimes. Watch and enjoy: