I’m most grateful to announce my latest batch of music, “I Wasn’t Ready” is now available via the link below. It is available for “Name Your Prices”, meaning if you want to download for free, have at it. If you want to pay $1000, have at it (though I question your sanity but appreciate the generosity). I just ask that you leave an e-mail address so I can thank you and update you on future releases.
I will be sharing some background behind the music, such as the meaning of the titles, some techy stuff, and other thoughts.
The cover art as seen below is by Ana Babil. Please visit Shutterbox and search her name.
As always, I’m most grateful for the privilege of having my music heard and appreciated. I thank you for the support. I wish you peace and blessings. Cheers.
Another U.S. election has come and gone and I’m more inclined than ever to NOT watch TV news and the like. The level of negativity and vitriol is exhausting. That said, there are a few points I can’t help but to make….
1st off, I must state that I’m not a partisan. I have been greatly disappointed by both major parties in my lifetime. If I was to label my political philosophy, I’d lean towards “Anarchism” in the classical definition and Christian Anarchism to be more specific. I’m also a realist and know that we as a society are not evolved enough to have a state-less society as described in classical anarchism. That said, I have, at the least, suspicion of those who seek power and, at the most, contempt.
All that is to say that I am very disappointed in where we as a society seem to be. That racism is no longer a disqualifier, after a brief period in our history (post-Civil Rights movement) where it was, disgusts me. It has emboldened people to display ugliness. I speak not just from observations made in the media but also from recent personal experience. I find myself being suspicious of people in public spaces…and I hate that.
It is my hope that things will not continue to get worse in regards to civility. It is my hope that people who profess to be Christians will remember The Sermon on the Mount before they cast disparagement at their neighbor in support of a leader who, by any observation, lacks the ability to be sympathetic or charitable. It is my hope that love will prevail. Perhaps we must 1st experience more ugliness and pain before “our better angels” emerge.
I will finish this borderline rant by expressing my core values. I’m unapologetically, unequivocally opposed to racism, xenophobia, homophobia (or any social “phobia”) and violence. I have no tolerance for any of that BS. I’m of mixed race (BTW, who isn’t?!) and am married to a Filipina immigrant. I have no time for anyone who I perceive as a threat to those I love.
As we near another “most important election in our lifetime” cycle in the U.S., I’m left wondering where we are heading as a country. So much vitriol, anger, and fear. I refuse to believe that we are as divided as a country as so many pundits and politicians make us out to be. I base this on my own personal experience.
I’m non-partisan and have lived long enough to be disappointed by both major parties and even some of the non-majors (i.e., Libertarians, Greens). I’m suspicious of people who seek power and the cults of personality that arise all too often in national politics.
To be blunt, I’m not a fan of Trump and I’m equally leery of the majority of the Republican party that is following his lead. But that does not make me a Democrat or Biden fan. And therein lies my point: I try very hard not to view things (politics or otherwise) through an either/or, dualistic lens. Life is more nuanced than that. I believe most people, deep down, think this as well. There is just so much bullshit from the halls of power and the media that fosters division and some people tend to follow the bullshit without thinking critically. But my own experience, having travelled millions of miles around the world and meeting people from all over, tells me that people have way more in common than not. And whatever differences are largely superficial.
I have some friends that are staunch Republicans and have views on politics that I don’t agree with. But they remain my friends because what bonds us is more substantial. There is love and respect that has been fostered over time. The same holds true with me and my radically liberal friends. I don’t necessarily agree with them on many matters but not so much as to disqualify them as friends because of our commonality. This may sound like I’m a “centrist” (i.e. wishy washy or luke warm). I am not. If I’m to label myself, I’m a “non-dualist”. I choose to try to look at the whole of life, not the convenient “compartments” we get placed in, I believe this is what Jesus was getting at when he suggested “love your neighbor”.
