I have found that those 2 important things can be elusive once schooling is over. Sure, there are promotions, job changes, moving cities, and a number of other changes you can bring to your life. But few of them have the same kind of anticipation and certainty that graduating has. And after 6 years my mind is craving it. So I have decided to reinstate graduation into my life.

I have set a date for myself on which I will graduate from where I currently am in life. On that day I will make myself a diploma, walk off a stage (even if I have to build it for myself), and thereafter, I will ensure that each following day will look entirely different than the days before — until my next graduation.

I now have a renewed sense of anticipation and excitement for what graduation holds for me. And like every other graduation I’ve had, it comes with a host of uncertainties. But those inevitable uncertainties are the very things I’ve missed being certain of.

So here we are, at this vital crossroads in our band career. We must choose a name. And not any name. A GREAT name. A name that can be plastered on billboards, television teleprompters and panties. My first suggestions were:

Babies Taste Good
Oops I Dropped The Soap
Damn, I Thought That Jalapeño Was An Olive
Hot Tubs At Midnight
I Thought I Told You I Changed My Number
Actually You Are Pretty
Exxon
Panic In The Cubicle
&
Vital Breathe
[choose any color][choose any number]
[word ending in "box"][choose any number]
R.T.A.B.F.G.T.
We-Tried-To-Think-Of-A-Witty-Somewhat-Topical-Band-Name-But-Ended-Up-Passing-Out-From-Our-Own-Pretentiousness

But these left bandmates feeling dirty and confused. So the next stage included the following suggestions (and yes, these are real and still technically possibilities):

Hidden Planet – but I don’t use enough space echo delay for this band name
Early Morning Sunday – I’m always asleep at this time, making music playing difficult
Lion Red – I fear this would make us seem dislexic
Based on Reality – (1) My life is based on the imaginary, (2) I hate reality TV shows
Kill the Radio – Radio is already dying, we don’t need to kick it while it’s down
Misfit Generation – We’re not a punk band. And even if we were… well, no.
Social Tension – Distortion, Tension, can anyone really tell the difference?
Balking at the Subject – Too “baseball” meets “middle school” for my taste
Original Subject – A bit too “dorky-kid-wants-to-feel-special-in-middle-school” for me
Planned Excape – Not sure where the “x” came from, but I might reconsider this if I were opening a titty bar
The Lions – We’re simply not good enough at this point or indie enough to have a name like this
Oakland Street Band – …except that only one of us may have spent any time on Oakland Street
The Locals – Difficult application when touring to other cities we’ve never been to
Reality Bites – I try to avoid law suits with 90s movies at all costs
Half-Baked idea – I don’t even think any of us smoke weed…
Bane’s Daughter Band – None of us are girls or have parents named “Bane”… that I know of…
Case of the Mondays – Not quite ready to be that cubicle-bound-suppressed-tie-wearing-office-worker-who-also-plays-cover-songs-at-Chili’s-on-Wednesdays guy
Back Stage West – Cardinal directions confuse me when I’m drunk
Kanye West Meltdown – mmm, topical…but where will be in 20 years?
Vegan Tuesday – I don’t like vegetables or Tuesdays enough to latch onto this
Found Suspension – WHAT?!? Why in God’s name would we want to suspend food? Oh wait, that says “Found”, my bad, I see where my head is at.
Regular Unleaded – that’s like saying “we’re not quite hard enough to be called ‘Diesel’”
Amsterdam – City names are always a solid bet… follow in the footsteps of Chicago and Boston. But I’m not sure my love of absinthe is enough to keep this one in the mix
Echo Distortion – Too many effects… clean tones are where it’s at
Indie Underground – We are neither.
Lion Rogue – Again, some fear of being labeled a dyslexic, but maybe if you reverse it…
Calico Collective – I prefer Persian cats.
Calico Perspective – I still prefer Persian cats.
Woodland War Heroes – YES! And our first gig can be at Dragoncon 2010!
Devon Herald – I don’t know who this is, but he’ll probably sue us.
Emblem – Vague, dark, brooding. Can’t live up to that.
The Amber Lions – Whew, proper adjective-noun placement. But I don’t like the color amber.
The Scarlet Sound – What if “sound” was actually “letter” and we wore matching sweaters?
Loose Neck Babies – Making fun on babies born without spinal cords is neither funny nor practical.
Davenport – First I would need to know where this city is located.
Author’s Architect – this just confuses me
Channel 71 – shit, what if there’s already a band named “Channel 72″? Then what??
Canal Sweepers – This is an impossible task. Chimneys are more doable.
Drifting Woodies (haha)…… – ha ha indeed. That means “no”
The Contortionist – only if we could hire one to be on stage with us at all times
Frankincense & Spurs – ooo, Jesus meets Basketball meets Cowboys… both sexy and intriguing…
Winchester Derby Parade – we could play the NRA-sponsored tent at the next horse race… but then again, I don’t look good wrapped in a confederate flag
Castle Bailey – Who is Bailey?
Seascape Conductor – if I were a retired train buff, this would be perfect
Secateurs – I have no idea what this means, but I think I like it

So that’s where we are. We are open to taking suggestions. And I suggest you make some. After all, if you’re reading this, you’re going to be seeing this name frequently in my status updates and live news feed… and yes, I know if you’ve hidden my live news feed.

Peace,
Mars

OK everyone…I’ve been promoting my music for nearly 5 years now, and it JUST occurred to me that I have never initiated any type of program that says “thanks for being a fan.” Which is downright shameful. So welcome to the brand new Fan Appreciation-Make-You-Feel-Like-A-Unique-Snowflake Program. By signing up on my mailing list, you get access to the following stuff:

• Every fan – DISCOUNTED PRE-SALE CONCERT TICKETS

• If you bring a friend to a show* – CHOICE OF FREE EP OR FREE SAMPLER CD OF UNRELEASED TRACKS

• If you bring 3 friends to show* – CHOICE OF FREE T-SHIRT OR HAT

• If you buy a CD – FREE CHOICE OF STICKER, GUITAR PICK, OR BUTTON

* = based on pre-ordering tickets

• You get every CD I’ve ever released immediately, right up front for FREE!!

• You get every new CD I release (regardless of length), for FREE!!

• Every month, you get something new. This could be any of the following: live recorded track, unreleased acoustic track, demo track of new songs, swag, artwork, free concert tickets, free raffle entry, cookies, and other cool or edible stuff.

So join up TODAY!! I promise you won’t regret it!

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“Working.”

“Still working.”

“And yet still working.”

I slowly eased my way in as a way to update my Facebook status. Then I started following some news feeds as my way of keeping up with what’s going on in the world. Which was fine. I’d look at it about once a week and go on my merry way. I’ve noticed that a lot of celebrities and companies use it to answer the question: “What are you promoting right now?” I can see that. Good way to get a little advertising done. Or at least brand awareness. But after a couple months of using Twitter, the real power of it finally hit me. The most powerful question Twitter can be used to answer is not “What are you doing right now,” it’s:

“What are you thinking right now?”

What am I thinking? Well, that’s far more interesting than what I’m doing. And far more me. I am not my job. I am not my products. Really I’m just my mind and soul. And our minds and souls don’t typically express themselves in well-thought out blog entries or stories. They express themselves in random thoughts that pass through us like energy. The internet began as a massive connected world of anonymity. But it has grown to be just the opposite. It is now breaking down the barriers of anonymity and connecting the world by who we really are. Take John Mayer for example. Prior to Twitter you could listen to the songs he wrote, interviews he did, blogs he wrote, etc. Not bad for a glimpse into someone’s life. But still, all those things were planned out to some extent. And who we are is not planned. You saw John Mayer the recording artist, not John Mayer the person. But with his recent addiction to Twitter, you see what he is thinking multiple times a day. It makes us all seem more human. What is more human than our thoughts? Some say our actions define who we are. But more than that, I think our thoughts define who we are and our actions are an extension of that. Twitter is bringing people’s thoughts together on a second by second basis. It’s powerful. Intimate even. And a bit scary at times. But overall, there is something very liberating about sharing your thoughts with the world. It can make even the loneliest person feel connected. People are giving up more and more of their privacy in this age. Where past generations have viewed this as a heresy, I believe that it will be what joins us together in a larger community. I’m not afraid of the world knowing who I am. If anything, it challenges me daily to continue to be who I am and share that with the world. The good, the bad, the ugly, the funny and the not-so-funny.

* By “backlog” I mean money/work that someone wants you to do, but you haven’t had time to do yet.