New (old) song

I've been going through my song vault lately... found this one from a looong time ago. I might pull it back out and start playing it again.

broke enough

those homeless boys along the wharf
are pitching quarters 'cause they're bored
so don't believe them when they beg you
for a bed that's nice and warm
a little shelter from the storm
when you close your eyes they're gonna pull out
their sharpened spoons and forks

I want to say I'm sorry for not being broke enough
I know there's something charming
about a clock that doesn't tick
or a stray that's lost and sick
but if it makes you feel much better
you gave me my first chip

am I broke enough yet?

I'm learning how to starve
I've started sleeping… in my car
I carry a pistol in my heart
and I've got you to thank for it
it makes a perfect fit
when I breath it hurts a bit
but I'll know just where it is

when I see you
and I ask you
am I broke enough yet?
am I broke enough yet?
am I broke enough yet?

Triathlons and stuff

So I've been doing these little one-man training triathlons every week for about a month now... usually at the Boulder Res or Chatfield. They've been really great. But one of the unexpected side effects is that doing them has made me feel like I've already hit my goal of doing a triathlon this year. I suppose that's because I HAVE hit my goal. So the idea of doing an official race seems a) less scary but also b) less interesting. Also, my music schedule is making it difficult.

Case in point: this weekend. I'm playing Friday at the Lyons Folks Festival for the songwriter competion this Friday. And Saturday night, we're playing a show in Lyons at Oskar Blues. I was signed up and ready to do the Rattlesnake Triathlon on Sunday morning, but I think there's literally NO CHANCE that I'm going to get home at 2:30+AM on Saturday night (Sunday morning) and then wake up at 5AM for a a triathlon. I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy... So I'm skipping it.

I've signed up for another TRI on Sept 15 at Bouler Res. It's a cool one: 750 meter swim + 25 mile bike + 5K run. It's called "TRI for your cause". They let you choose the nonprofit of your choice to donate a portion of your registration money to... I chose KGNU -- Boulder's community/public radio station. They're such great people there and have always been so great and supportive to me. Anyway, I'm gonna do that TRI so that I can say I've done an official triathlon". But honestly, I didn't get into this TRI stuff for the races. It's truly my least favorite part. The best part has been and still is the training... and setting goals and then hitting them.

It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago as I was finishing a 5K run (the run portion) of one of my training triathlons that I had hit my goal: to complete a triathlon in 2007. It felt SO INCREDIBLY GOOD when I realized that I had done it: an 850 meter swim, a 20 mile bike and a 5K run... all in 96 degree weather (stupid!). Anyway... I'm babbling I suppose. I've just been writing about it so much, I felt like I should write an update on this TRI stuff...

I'm going in for hand surgery in October to fix (hopefully once and for all) my broken left hand... when I do that, I'll be in for 4 to 5 months of zero-to-superlow activity: i.e. no triathlon training. I think I'm going to go completely fucking nuts. I've gotten really used to doing 2-3 workouts a day! Seriously!

Maybe I'll take up meditation... something to try and calm me down.

Maybe.

Maybe I should have been a historian. Or a futurist. The present tense is so much more difficult to understand.

A roots record... Maybe.

It hit me again today... that I should record a roots-influenced record. When Rainville ended, I was sitting on what would have been Rainville's 3rd record. Since then, I've continued to write root-ish songs... about one out of every 6 or 7 songs still falls in that genre for me. But that's not really why I want to do it.

I want to do it because I think it would be really fun to record a KICK ASS roots record... with gorgeous tones, simple, straight forward arrangements and do it with a bunch of really good friends and great players. Think Steve Earle or Drive By Truckers or Lucinda Williams or even some of that Okkervill River stuff or Magnolia Electric Co. or Milton Mapes or... you get the point.

Anyway, I started looking around my songs for candidates for such a record... and I found this one. I wrote it during "the last phase" of Rainville. Jesus, the writing was literally on the wall!

disillusionment part 2
may 2003

I'm fucking sick of this guitar
I'm fucking tired of the road
I couldn't give less of a shit if you like me
but I wish you'd take me home
I'm getting wiser so much wiser
and so totally out of touch
there's nothing in the world that I love more
but it might be time to hang it up

morning rolls around and we climb into the machine
bad attitudes and listerine / gasoline
what's the quickest way to get out of here
I'll punch the gas if you just steer

I'm totally sick of new york city
yeh I know it got attacked
but it's full of arty pricks and posers
who love to stab you in the back
it's the capitol of the new world
but the subways smell like piss
she's a dirty concrete beauty
who likes to screw but never kiss

morning rolls around and we climb in the machine
bad attitudes and listerine / gasoline
what's the quickest way to get out of here
I'll punch the gas if you just steer

one two three four
I'm so totally bored
five six seven eight
I guess we showed up late
nine ten eleven twelve
I got nothing to sell
but these thirteen rock songs
thirteen rock songs
thirteen rock songs

I used to live in boulder county
with the dreadlock trust fund trash
they're selling peace, love and understanding
but what they really want is cash
I had to quit my stupid day job
'cause it was leaching out my soul
I traded money for a calling
and now I'm broke on rock-n-roll

morning rolls around and we climb in the machine
bad attitudes and listerine / gasoline
what's the quickest way to get out of here
I'll punch the gas if you just steer

drive me way out into the country
and drop me off in a tiny town
I wanna fall in love with the girl at the co-op
I need someone to help me down
I'm gonna buy me an old piano
and take a gig at a local bar
I'll write songs about redemption
and how it only goes so far

morning rolls around and we climb in the machine
bad attitudes and listerine / gasoline
what's the quickest way to get out of here
I'll punch the gas if you just steer