My WOIC.

I just heard that flossing your teeth reduces your risk of heart disease.

Think about that.

Holy shit. FLOSSING YOUR TEETH REDUCES YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE.

When did this happen? It kind of sounded like a joke to me... but I looked it up. It's true.

I'm not writing about this to raise awareness... (Although, now you know!) I'm writing about this because it's the first data point on my newly-minted WHEEL OF INEXPLICABLE CONNECTIONS. I just made that up, but I think I might start using it... the WOIC.

IF flossing your teeth can lower your risk of heart heart disease, THEN what else is possible? I'll tell you what. The possibilities are endless...

What if schtooping reduces your risk of being hit by a train?

What if picking your nose increases your accuracy at skeet shooting?

What if chewing gum makes you walk straighter?

What if firing your drummer makes you a better singer?

What if masturbating makes you smarter? (Score!)

What if hopping on your left foot inoculates you against lung cancer?

What if masturbating makes you smarter? (Did I already say that?)

Look... you get my point. I'm just saying that it's a crazy, whacky world. And we don't know what we don't know. And there's a whole lot we don't know... a lot more than what we know we don't know. You know?

For all we know, wearing thong underwear prevents STDs...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Prolly not.

But let this thing we call a "blog" put you on notice, dear human. You have been forewarned. Be on the lookout for those strange connections... and email them to me at letters@johncommon.com. I promise to add them to my WOIC.

One day, when you least expect it, I'll show you my WOIC.

It'll be great.

People who vote are hot. And smart.

Hi!

It would break my heart if you missed out on the coming presidential election... Studies have shown that VOTING actually reduces body fat, tightens and tones, improves circulation and makes you look hot and smart. Seriously, it's incredibly important that we ALL participate -- i.e. VOTE. But, you can't vote if you don't register and the deadline for registering is super soon. So...

Visit this link to A) register to vote for the first time (Yay!), or B) make sure you're registered to vote at your current address (Yay!). It only takes 3 minutes -- silly easy:

https://www.voteforchange.com/index_obama.php?source=091008emailR

(Be patient with the site -- lots of people are registering!)

When you're done, please forward this same link to all of your friends and family. They'll appreciate it and think you're smart and hot for doing it.

~John

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.
The fears are paper tigers.
You can do anything you decide to do.
You can act to change and control your life;
and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

~Amelia Earhart

A Facebook Conversation About Christianity

I ended up on an friend's Facebook page, kind of wasting time and browsing when I saw something she wrote entitled "Are you sure you're a Christian?". I clicked it and uncharacteristically made a comment.

===========================
Julie wrote
Are you sure you're a Christian?
Today at 4:02pm
I recently had a conversation with a guy who said that he was a Christian. He went on to say that he believes in reincarnation, karma, and that after our souls "grow up," they go to become a part of God. I asked him if he had ever studied Buddhism, and he said he had not. I asked him if he knew that most Christians don't believe in those things, he said that there was "some priest in some ecumenical council who had the power to change the religion." I asked him if he really thought of himself as a Christian, and he said he did, but that he thought that Jesus, Buddha and Allah are all one and the same. I asked how one should made the distinction between right and wrong, and he said that you have to use your heart and not your brain. I asked if he thought it was wrong to use your brain, and he said it was not. I was confused.

Clearly, everyone is different, and some value certain things more than others. This guy admittedly hadn't spent time studying any religion or philosophy because he didn't see the faults in his personal philosphy. I couldn't help but think about the verse in 1 Corinthians: "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." While there are some elements of mystery in Christianity, the core of it is (thankfully) simple and not a mind-numbing puzzle.

Still, I thought it was so amazing that he defended his title of "Christian" although he didn't have any orthodox Christian beliefs!

===========================
Mikael wrote
at 4:41pm
'Cultural Christians' are prevalent in our society. I am reminded of a sermon I heard long ago in Yakima (WA) Presbyterian Church entitled: "God Has No Grandchildren".

The theme of the sermon was that Christianity is based upon there being a rift between God and Mankind due to our inherent tendency to "miss the mark" and stray from the perfect Will of God.

The way that chasm is bridged is by an individual (re)establishing his or her direct relationship with God through prayer. As this bridge was (re)built from God's side rather than ours, the bridge back to God has been by his plan rather than any construct of our own.

Thus, the path to a restored parent/child relationship with God is the only one available to us - not as a 'grandchild' getting the relationship from parents or friends.

I John 4:9: "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

It is my understanding that although there are many roads that lead to Jesus Christ, Jesus claims for himself to be the only road to God:

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 14:4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

John 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

What is most beautiful to me is that God has done everything possible to restore this relationship but has not taken away our free will to wander or return.

But Jesus makes clear that once He is found by us, being in relationship to Him is the only perfect solution for us.


===========================
John Common wrote
at 10:03pm
This is probably an inappropriate reply to this string. I hope I'm not viewed as being disrespectful-because I would NEVER disrespect someone's religious or philosophical views -- especially ones that are the result of study and thoughtfulness and earnest emotions. That said...

"Christianity is based upon there being a rift between God and Mankind due to our inherent tendency to "miss the mark" and stray from the perfect Will of God."

THAT is my central problem with Christianity. That is where Christianity has always rung kind of false to me, personally. (This is coming from a person who tried to believe and obey, by the way -- years and years of trying.) The first "given" in Christianity's argument is: "You are flawed, lost, doomed, predisposed to evil and eternally screwed without Me. Hope you liked the apple. Enjoy the rest of the movie."

I don't buy it. And in my more cynical moments, when I think a large percentage of religion is just a way of trading people's fear (of dying/loneliness) and/or hope ( that "this" isn't all there is) for their compliance, that central, first "given" makes me want to check my wallet -- like I'm being taken.

The Daddy-In-The-Sky metaphor just doesn't resonate. What if this really IS all there is? Is that really so bad? What if we are supposed to be focusing on THIS life. What if this life isn't the appetizer-but the main course? I feel pretty good about that. It definitely sweetens things. And when those existential terrors hit... well, I just ride it out... talk to a friend... calm myself down a bit and realize that there's a lot out there that I don't know. And in the meantime, I need to work my practices-those things that "work for me" at making me feel connected, alive, useful, loving, kind.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad there is Christianity, most of the time. I'm just dealing with my fear and/or hope differently.

Hope I didn't come off as acidic! I'm really not! I appreciate the conversation.

The Lyrics vs. Music Question

A friend recently asked, "Which comes first the lyrics or the music". It's a question you hear a lot. It's kind of like asking a photographer, "Which comes first, the lens or the camera body?" Or asking a painter, "Which comes first, yellow or blue?"

Not to make light of the question -- at all. I think, from the outside, songwriting is an interesting and semi-mysterious thing. (It's even more of a mystery from the inside.) So I get that we try to understand it in a linear way. Like explaining how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But the truth is, it's a lot more layered and complicated and circular and simple and unconscious than that. At least it is for me. I think Elvis Costello said, ""Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do." I agree, mostly. (I think he was talking about music criticism, mainly here... in which case I emphatically agree.)

I've been writing songs for a long time... and I honestly don't understand it much better than the day I started. I understand a handful of things better (what they call "the craft of songwriting") but not many things. But they're the kind of pedestrian things I imagine a carpenter would pick up after building chairs and tables for years with his uncle out in the garage... "Don't hold the router that way. You'll cut your thumb off." "That glue won't hold. Use a dovetail joint instead." "Change the angle just a little and it'll be a lot more comfortable." "You should have sanded more." "That isn't classic, it's just boring."

I could write that stuff down (the songwriting stuff), but it would probably seem obvious and small-minded and hardly soaring... so I'll spare us both. Besides, I'm sure smarter guys than me have already written it and you can find 47 books on songwriting. I've looked at a couple of them -- I think they're mostly a) insultingly boring and b) filled with stock advice for writing boring songs.

The real question is, "How do you capture that thing that makes a song worth listening to over and over and over again?" How do you create something that isn't dependent on having the right band or a great audience or the perfect guitar tones or an inspired moment? How do you write a timeless song?

Dunno.

I don't have an answer... I only really have a few suggestions (for myself, mainly): 1) keep writing, 2) try not to lie to yourself, 3) treat your weird ideas with more respect than you think they deserve.

=============

Oh, and to answer The Lyrics vs. Music Question, here is my typical songwriting process:

1) stuff happens i.e. life
2) think about some of it
3) mix it with coffee
4) some random idea or feeling or phrase usually hits
5) sit in front of a blank piece of paper with a blank guitar or a blank piano
6) lyrusicmusiclyricsmusiclyricsmysiclyrics... one informs and guides the other.
7) fall in love with the song because it's new, not because it's necessarily good
8) go to sleep
9) wake up with the song, feel ambivalent about it, try to make it better.
10) throw the song into the deep end with all the other songs and let it either drown or fight its way onto set lists and maybe even a new record
11) see a shiny object off in the distance and run in that general direction

New song - in my neighborhood

in my neighborhood
sep 7, 2008
copyright john common music

mary loved tony for 70 years
on the day that he died, no tears
he saw it comin', she saw it too
when it hurts that bad, cryin' won’t help you

in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood

michael and michelle were always in a fight
I could hear them yellin' through the window every night
but michael found a job and they bought a little house
nobody was fightin' on the day they moved out

in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood


mister ramirez lives across the street
works three jobs to make his ends meet
says he's got a dream to buy his own place
I bet he's gonna do it, I can see it on his face

ramon and his family live across the street
he cooks at three restaurants to make ends meet
says he always dreamed of runnin' his own place
I bet he's gonna do it, I can see it on his face

in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood

pretty blonde lady about fourty-four
decided that she could not wait any more
her new dream man isn't tall, dark or handsome
but she knows when she needs him, he's gonna answer

in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood

me on my porch, dreamin' up songs
smoking, drinkin' coffee all day long
everybody wonders can he get a real job
maybe I will, when I finish this song

in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood
in my neighborhood

=========================

Here's the requisite rough-sounding laptop demo:

Open A Window And Let It Out

I was having one of those conversations that you just sort of end up having with band members after rehearsal. You know the kind... Grinding through a couple of hours of new songs just sort of loosens a person up. For some reason, the topic of flatulence arose... she shocked and amazed me with her views on the topic. Thankfully, we were near my laptop, so I secretly recorded it.

Think of this as a public service announcement from Jess.

New song -- figure it out

figure it out
written by john common and jess de nicola

you're my favorite
in the whole wide world
if I could keep you
I'd be your best girl
I tried to out run it
but it ran me down
I didn't believe you
but you stuck around

you're my favorite
in this whole damn bar
I could find you
no matter where you were
we get scared, scared
whenever we fight
we could call it
but that wouldn't be right

show me how
I need your help
nobody else
could figure me out
ready now
I've got no doubt
making space
we'll figure it out

short instrumental

you're my favorite
when everything's been said
turn the light out
let's go to bed
in the morning
it's gonna be the same
it's so easy
when you call my name

CH X 2