brassell

flyin with them low flyin birds

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 06:37:34 GMT

i rode a tall bike tonight. this guy at my friend's house showed me the way, the truth, and the light. it made me feel like the king of the world... circus. i was touching the leaves from mid-level branches with ease. there's a good chance that i might not ever do it again, but i'm ok with that because i will always have the memory of the night i went flyin with them low flyin birds. really though, it was a very liberating experience and i would recommend that everyone try it at least once if you have the opportunity.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:26:49 GMT

i can not imagine why someone would go to bloc party instead of animal collective, unless it was an actual block party where animal collective was playing and the former was common animals collected and shown to the public within the confines of a chicken wire fence.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:10:31 GMT

there's a lizard in my room! and i kind of like it.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:24:51 GMT

i'm pretty sure that ben e. king has the best string arrangements pop music has ever had.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:45:51 GMT

apparently we got rolled last night. it's probably the shittiest attempt at vandalism i have ever encountered (except for the neatly wrapped porch swing which was just kind of cute). kids these days just don't know how to do it. it took about 2 minutes to clean up.

i'll be 22 tomorrow which is pretty weird and anticlimactic. there's a party at patty's house with 3 kegs. it should be a good time. i asked off for work friday and saturday but they scheduled me to work the latter at 10 am. steve took my shift and then get suspended the same day for getting drunk on the job. sweet. we'll see if i make it there on time.

i'm getting closer and closer to not having an excuse for not accomplishing as much as i would have liked to, but also getting closer to feeling fulfilled and am continuing to hone my trade on a daily basis. the two may end up overlapping to some degree, but i think i'm cool with that.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 00:40:07 GMT

the last few days have been extremely conflicted, karmic, and brilliant. these have probably been 3 of the most important days of my life. first an amp of patrick's that I play through was taken from the springwater after a festivus show. grievances were aired. then on christmas eve while i was at a family gathering, i found out that brynne was going to give patrick $200 from the show because the amp was stolen which is more than we deserve and an unfathomably nice donation. later that night, i found out that the person who stole the amp had been bragging at a party about it and that springwater had been notified of this person's actions, and also that there was a large chance that we could get the amp back (pretty fucking crazy response time). the next night after playing cards at the kenyon residence (rare and glorious these days)i couldn't sleep because the bed at my parents' house is too small and the pillows are too large, so i rummaged through the desk in "my" room. the contents were mainly random trinkets of no use, but two of the drawers contained totally unexpected items. one had a black spiral notebook that apparently was my mom's. i read several grocery lists, looked at an overhead sketch of an amazing garden that my parents had planted at a house we used to live in, and then noticed a journal entry. i read about a paragraph out of it and decided to stop, but the little that i read made me understand my mom so much more. she spoke a different language (metaphorically speaking of course) that had so much more of a "friend" vibe to it that allowed me to see her as an equal. in another drawer a note that i had completely forgotten about was found with a cartoon depiction of a heart floating like a balloon with a string tied around it held by a stick woman. the inside of the note was incredibly sweet and reminded me how positive and loving people can be. i slept hardly at all throughout the night. it was more rotating and kicking than anything else. the last time i woke up i decided to get on the computer. the first thing that was pulled up was the announcement of james brown's death, which was a total surprise and an awful piece of information to hear on such a supposedly joyous occasion. the day proceeded basically as a normal christmas morning minus the anticipation and excitement and plus the death of a musical icon and mastermind. these things dampened the day, but i did enjoy spending it with my parents, eating tasty home made food and getting a very useful piece of musical equipment (tube amp). i hung out with patrick and kyle at the scudder household and found out that the amp had been returned to springwater, and i was about to be heading to nashville anyway so i went to pick it up. the bartender (steve) recognized me and pointed to the stage where the amp was sitting. i thanked him, told him he was a badass, and told him to let me know if there was anything i could do for him. he said that it was just the right thing to do and expressed the anger he felt towards the thief who for some reason, basically turned himself in. he then let me know that if i wanted to talk to the two guys who returned the amp, i could find them at the opposite end of the bar. when i looked at the end, my head nearly exploded when i saw charles and brandon, who are two guys that i work with and am friends with. i went to talk to them, and everyones mind was blown, etc. this went on for quite a while, and we drank beer in disbelief while explaining and reviewing the situation with steve (the bartender with a heart of gold). i found out that my two friends had known the guy who stole the amp through a friend of a friend, and that he had slept on their couch a couple of times and showed up to their house this time because he knew they played music. he was a party dude with a drug problem who was basically his own nemesis. anyway, he brought the amp to their house after the show (which they had attended) and told them that he had taken it from that very same show. he then attempted to sell it to them. they flipped out and told him how fucked up it was and that he was basically stealing someones livelihood, baby, etc. he ended up leaving the amp with them when he realized what he had done was wrong and they called the springwater. so we are all in amazement and decide to book a show together as soon as possible. steve is still pissed and has apparently told the guy that he has 1 week to come talk to him (he also knows the whereabouts of this shady character in case he doesn't show). i then find out that steve was in a band that did an album with nico which is just one more thing to think about and take charles back home. we talked about karma so much, and also james brown. fuck. james brown was playing the whole time i was sitting at the springwater. he is clearly the funkiest man of all time. there were several toasts.

i don't even know what to think about all of this except that next to nothing turns out perfectly, but that the times things turn out well, are always unexpected and most necessary. down to the last detail.

now it is time to go rock this empty house and wonder how things happen this way. my life has definitely be enriched.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 07:05:36 GMT

the newest and the relatives song (w/ motown intro)
in A or something
repeat parts as necessary

i still think of you
i'm not gonna lie
it's not that i want to

try and exercise some control
we will be one
once im out on parol from this life beneath the sun

soon enough i will be dead like you
(dead like you dead like you)

you left your soul in my bed
i can't seem to get you
in or out of my head

you shot your gun with my blood
workin on the still
and leaving the cubs
with no bread

soon enough i will be dead like you
we'll scale the clouds
skipping through
this whisk of existence
stout and proud
to have only distance
infinite
black shroud unto us all
and that will be the christening and the fall

oh yeah, i also recorded a song (improv style) for a classmate's project in which the following nonsense proceeded:

she's lookin good tonight
i think i just might
she's lookin good tonight
and i think i just might

sock it to ya!
wanna do ya!

(screaming, dirty talking, etc.)

i think it will turn out pretty fucking awesome and funny

if i succeeded our professor will be amazed/disgusted

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 23:33:52 GMT

cat power on conan tonight. support your schizophrenic musical genius's.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 19:01:20 GMT

listen to the new spoon song posted on the pitchfork site. as to be expected it's pretty fucking good.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 06:23:36 GMT

If you haven't heard Jolie Holland's album "Springtime Can Kill You" you should listen to it immediately and plan to be hypnotized by her heavenly voice and masterful songwriting. She sounds like a cross between Bjork and Fiona Apple to me but you should just judge for yourself.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 08:14:53 GMT

There was a Narwhal in my dream last night. It was pretty amazing. Check it out.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 05:02:36 GMT

We caught a mouse in one of the humane traps that we bought. I baited it with organic peanut butter which just happens to separate quite easily. When I took the trap up to the corner of 18th and Shelby (a horrible place to release a mouse) the mouse fell out of the trap and stumbled around like a newborn baby. It was covered with oil and apparently could not really see or move and had also been in its own feces for probably a little under a day. It was awful. I caught the mouse again and have brought it home to hopefully rehabilitate before releasing into the wild. Damn. It has not eaten hardly any of the bread I have given it. We need different bait and a more prompt execution of our deportation to avoid further mouse neglect.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 20:49:48 GMT

There's something crazy and fantastic in the air today. I woke up feeling more energized than usual even though I got pretty trashed last night. The water in the shower was the perfect temperature. I found a bunch of cds that I thought were long gone, and everyone I've seen or talked to on campus has been in a great mood. I'm pretty sure I bombed a test, and definitely forgot to bring in my recording project which was due today, but it has yet to phase me. Ping Pong is the best sport in the world and I will be the champion one day. Last night was incredibly fun and I hope to see all of those people more often. I am one scatter-brained, happy man-boy. Chimpanzee Monkey Something. That's the game everyone should be playing... aside from ping pong of course. Finally I have come to the conclusion that although many people make me feel anxious and awkward, I love pretty much all of them and it's getting easier and easier to accept that and do as I please.

Also:

I hope you sleep well tonight
Hope you don't need it
Hope you dream heavenly flight
Hope you repeat it

I'll try not to wake you
with loose loving hands
I could never break your silky landscape
no chance
or cut all your strings with my fiery demands again

I hope you remember the good things
and make peace with the worst
hope we outlive this trifling
don't think the worlds gonna end first

give me peace like deep sleep
with loose loving hands
never break the sanctity of anything (anything!)
with your plans
or cut anyone's strings with your fiery demands again

these are my wishes
just to let up on the stiffness

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:49:36 GMT

I got a fortune cookie today that read:

"Pull the universe inside you.
Make it your own."

Right on fortune cookie man, right on.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:54:31 GMT

My family is fucked. I come from murderers, thieves, moon-shiners, cheaters, addicts, pimps, and most likely whores. I'm sure there must have been a few whores in there. I have horrible things running through my blood and I'm trying my best to deny them. Sometimes I really wonder if there is any reason why I should continue being a relatively good person.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 05:56:23 GMT

I have a problem with fully communicating my thoughts and feelings to people, and by "I" I (Andrew Brassell) mean the entire world. Sometimes it creates problems. I feel that everyone in the world has this mechanism of brain-to-mouth retardation that kicks on and off at random, but especially in stressful or complicated situations. It makes people say things the way they aren't meant to be said and often they come out in an abrasive way, or a violent way, or a whiny way, or a bitchy way. Sometimes the words do not come out at all, or they are slurred. This causes people to have distaste for one another. Fuck. I wish I had telepathy.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 02:47:58 GMT

The ready section is officially done. The last show is september 8th. Easy breakup. No hassle. Awesome.

"sometimes I'll take out my false teeth and maybe get lucky"

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:17:19 GMT

So I went driving around today because I wanted to get out of the house. After I went to by my staples for the morning I proceeded on my way to Shelby Park. I noticed that there was a nature area/preservation and decided to check it out. I got out of the car and looked at the visitors sign noticing that it suggests that you walk the trail with a friend. Kind of a strange feeling came over me because I already know that this particular park is not exactly the safest place to be. My interest was piqued when I see that there are several cool animals that live in this area, and I have not been on a good walk in a while so I decided to have a go at it. When I walked over the bridge I noticed an old man in a mechanics uniform standing by the pavillion. As I was trying to decide which way to walk the trail, the guy started talking to me about how hot it was outside which was strange because it's probably the coolest day we've had in at least two weeks. So we talked about the weather for a second and he began walking towards me. He then started talking about where he was from and asking if I was from here and throwing in vague refrences which I initially thought were about drugs saying "yeah sometimes you can come out here and find some shit." At this point I was a little weirded out and he was standing about two feet from me. The conversation went from that to "sometimes you can come out here and meet people" and I continued to try and talk about how I just wanted to look at nature and walk the trail. He then said something about how it was a really long trail and he couldn't even make it half way around it, and here's the kicker:

he went straight from that into "yeah sometimes I can come out here and meet people and take out my false teeth and maybe get lucky." At this point I had to laugh a little bit and just said "oh really, well I'm going to walk some of the trail" and began walking away from grandpa creepo. He then tried to get me to walk the opposite way on the trail by saying "people usually walk this way." At that point I left.

Wow, I was creeped out a good bit, but then it just made me sad. I wasn't even really shocked that much because I knew something strange was going to happen, but I could have never anticipated being propositioned for a blow job by a 60+ year old dude.

Oh yeah, he was from Carthage by the way.

big surprise

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:14:45 GMT

sometimes shit hits the fan. even if it's not all that bad it's still incredibly stinky. what else can you expect from people than carbon monoxide, some pretty but false words, and waste (shit/piss)? not too much without getting dissapointed.

really, life's not bad, i just forget on occasion that most of it's not that great either. i mean, people really are amazing sometimes, but are incredibly inconsistent especially with their thoughts and true feelings as compared to their actions and conscious decisions.

moral of the story: do not place expectations in any way on any one, and find joy in things that only you control and/or things that no one and nothing in existence controls.

seriously though, don't get upset.

this is reality.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:42:55 GMT

i participated in a most excellent singalong last night/this morning, and had some good old-fashioned fun on the west side. everything is going very well lately for myself and most everyone i know, except that the world seems to be ending, but im pretty sure everyone thinks that all the time so i suppose it's best to enjoy it while you can.

i'm not a patient person and have failed miserably several times trying to teach people how to do things. i'm learning to have patience or at least to not think about the things that are out of my control in that kind of light.

it's damn near impossible to postpone feelings. kind of makes me feel like a brassell roast on a lazy susan, but i'll be right back after the green bean casserole.

woke up this morning, couldn't sleep, acted kind of silly, did a tp transfer, drove home wondering why

learning okkervil song, have to scream some parts, took out the trash, did the dishes

also have been writing lots of new songs for and the relatives lately and a few for myself

it's going to suck when zack leaves.

im hopeful about eli and want to continue playing as much as possible.

i also want to record a real album. it's just a matter of time.

i don't want to go back to school, but that's part of the deal that keeps me afloat.

I give at least a lick and a half.

brassella@pop.belmont.edu — Fri, 05 May 2006 03:35:58 GMT

Are you white? Do you want to keep foreigners from coming across the border and doing the menial, shit tasks that you would never want to do? Are you tired of the government slacking off in keeping these people from taking advantage of all the opportunities we are granted? Well now you can finally do something other than accept change and love your tan, spicy food eating neighbor. Mail a mother fucking brick to congress, that's what these awesome people on the news are doing. They'll get the bricks (and the message) and totally ship them to Texas and California so that we can build a gigantic wall/eye sore and keep those hard working, communal living bastards out. These people may just be dumber than the president. Just go here: http://www.ship-a-brick.com/

This idea is soooo good that the website doesn't even have anything on it yet, but don't let that disappoint you, it will be up soon!

And don't forget, "If you give a lick... Ship A Brick (to Congress)!"