Bumper Sticker Ethics

Finally

Troy Bronsink has a real website!

Welcome to San Diego

Parking for The Cobalt Season?

I think so.

At the Beach

Leaving Los Angeles

Today we take off to head south to San Diego. And I'll tell you what: Despite it's traffic and somewhat plastic culture (at least that I've observed across the decade I spent near here), LA ain't so bad. I guess it's all in who you know and where you stay. It's been wonderful to have friends in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Pasadena, Augora Hills, etc. LA ain't so bad.

And on another positive note, we coerced Paxton into sleeping until 7.40am!!! He woke at 4.40am and we said, "Uh-un, no you ain't." And he's all, "Well, I'm still kinda tired." And we're all, "You better believe you are." And then he put his head back down and went to sleep...until 7.40am. Wow. What a morning. Grabbed cappuccinos at Sabor y Cultura and now are headed to the minivan to pile in and head south.

I tried to stream the show last night, but it was fraught with complications. Still, I hope some of you were able to join for a few songs. And seriously, if you saw the show (or our album release party), can you comment or email me to inform me as to quality and whatnot? I'm shooting in the dark here.

We might try to stream another show or two on the tour. I'll keep you posted.

Ah, to a day off!

Streaming the Hollywood Show

Just in case you'd like to see...

So Cal

It's nice to be back in Santa Monica. I don't often regret leaving Southern CA, but on days like this, when it's beautiful outside and there's good people around, I kinda miss it.

This morning was one of the hardest mornings yet on the tour. We both went to bed at our usual 11.30pm after consuming some nice Cab and Merlot (that was surprisingly jammy!). Pax woke up at 4.45am and refused to go back to sleep. So, Holly, sick as she was, woke up with the munchkin and was with him in the front room of the house for an hour before I relieved her by taking him on a walk from about 6.30-7.30am around town. Got a bagel and some fresh-squeezed orange juice. Mmm.

When he was ready for his first nap at 8.30am, we all slept...for about an hour and a half. Thank God. Wow.

Luckily today's drive is but 30 minutes across town to Hollywood Adventist Church. It's this amazingly futuristic (in the 1960s sense of the word...atomic architecture, I heard it called) and spacey. Quite a piece of modernity.

We're playing a show here tonight and are really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, we head south to San Diego for the weekend...and we have the evening off to simply hang with the Evans and Gonzales. So looking forward to it. Then 3 shows in SD, 1 show in Pasadena, a show up north and then home.

This has been a good and challenging tour. But it's been unusually refreshing for me. And I've personally felt in a better space during it...at least when I'm not dead tired.

Jared Playing at Being Dad

Made it to LA

Santa Barbara

Got a pretty good night's sleep last night. Holly and Pax and I did. I don't know if Jared has even woken up yet...and it's already 9am!!! Can you believe the nerve? Not being awake when I texted him this morning at like 7.15am?!? Geez Jared, wake up and grow up.

Holly and Pax both woke up still feeling pretty crummy. Pax is so hoarse. But he's been playing this morning. He and I walked down to the harbor and got us some breakfast burritos. Wa-Wa was everywhere.



He'll crash here (looks like he might be going down for a nap right now...Holly and Pax both) and then we'll head out to Riverside to see the O'Farrells. Yay!

Here's to hoping that this nap will help Holly and Pax both feel better.

On The Road Again Again

It was actually a really nice day. We let Pax get a nap this morning at Holly's parent's house. A 2-hour one at that. That was nice.

Oh, and I did something I swore I'd never do: I bought a car DVD player for my kid.

Then we took off, all packed, in the minivan, with a DVD player, and drove. And it wasn't so bad. He seemed to enjoy himself. Holly and I even caught a nap on the trip, thanks to Jared's driving. We stopped a few times to let Pax play.

We arrived into Santa Barbara just before dinnertime and let Pax play outside...it was lovely. Had local pizza and wine for dinner. Yum. Then some lazytime TV...Scrubs, Colbert and Stuart, and whatnot.

Yes, it's been a nice day. Thanks to the Almighty and to all of you for your support.

Blast From My Past

Remembering the Old Days When Pax Was Happy

On The Road Again

I'm frazzled. We just picked up the minivan, loaded it full o' gear and CDs and then drove down to Santa Cruz for a wedding and then a show tonight at Vintage Faith's Brickhouse Coffee House.

Paxton has been more than out of sorts lately. Strongly out of sorts for the last 3-4 days and just generally out of sorts for more than a week. It's driving me crazy. Holly tells me that I'm pretty much just like him when I'm sick. And certainly he's teething and he has this bad cough.

But he drives me crazy. Really.

Driving down today, I just wanted to call all the folks hosting us on this tour and just cancel. It just feels like this trip is going to come at such a high cost...and I hope to God that it doesn't. I hope Pax rests well tonight, that his body is healed, and that he can enjoy the trip.

Because if he's not enjoying the trip, no one will. But still we don't just want to give him everything he wants just to get him to shut up. That may sound harsh if you don't have kids. But seriously, a parent on a road trip with their child might just go to any length to attain some sort of peace and quiet.

So, God give us some grace and mercy here. I could care less about angels flying along side the car to keep us from some accident...I'll worry about that. I'm a good driver. Just send some friggin' angels to keep my kid occupied!

[deep breath]

Okay, actually prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, whatnot. Send whatever you got. Or perhaps make a donation to our family counseling fund.

Preview Fragile Iconoclast Here!

Check it.

PS - The Album Release Party was simply amazing. Photos coming soon. If you caught it online, do let me know. I'm thinking of posting a couple of the shows along the way online.

On My Way to Ritual

Streaming the Show?

We might be able to stream the show this evening...8pm PST.

Albums Out!

On this great anniversary of the SF earthquake of 1906, we release a new record. Yours today for $15 plus shipping here. Great news is that if you want to get one for yourself and one for a friend, you pay no extra shipping...at all! And you can take a listen on our site via our music player (press LISTEN on the right after clicking the link).

And now to prep for tonight's album release party. It's been crazy trying to arrange schedules, lodging, and whatnot for all the people coming in. We've got people flying in from Seattle, Nashville, LA, W. Virginia...as well as guest appearances by folks in DC and Africa. Should be an amazing evening of love.

!!!

Okay, we're about to take off on tour. If we're in your neck o' the woods, you better come see us dammit! Website for details!

April 18 - Album Release Party in San Francisco
April 19 - Palo Alto House Show
April 20 - Santa Cruz
April 22 - Casa O'Farrell (Riverside) EARTH DAY
April 23 - Casa DeBenning (Santa Monica)
April 24 - Hollywood SDA
April 26 - Hawthorne House (San Diego)
April 27 - Mission Gathering (San Diego)
April 28 - Casa de Brewster (San Diego)
April 29 - Pasadena
April 30 - Casa Sossaman (Suisun City)

Me and Parker

Back in the groove of reading. Somewhat. I picked up Let Your Life Speak again. The last time I read this, Holly and I were off pilgrimaging across the States (sans baby). I have bought countless copies and given everyone of them away. Mike's reading of it recently made me want to pick it back up.

I opened it up, and following Nouwen's book, it was like water to my parched soul.

He opens, quoting William Stafford (another great Will)...

Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.

Ahh.

Café Lo Cubano

A photo from our show last week. Lisa calls it my "Jesus" pic. I remember shouting, "Our lives are bullshit!" when I had my arms up like this.

Afternoon @ the Park

Super Deluxe

Am I the only person who hadn't heard of this.



HT: Craig and Lora Burnett

A Sunday Morning Walk to Ritual

Coming of Age

Another snapshot of the new CD/DVD. Enjoy.

Afternoon @ the Zoo

Ever seen a grizzly bear peel an orange?

Set-Up Time-Lapse

PS - I have posted 2 new songs on our MySpace.

Got My Copy

Do you have yours?

Fast Food Nation

Wow. That was a heavy movie. I enjoyed the book and found it very enlightening. But the movie is not at all for the faint of heart. It is terribly intense. I had it in the background while I was working and still found it terribly disturbing. But it is a book that more of us ought to read.

Still, I am that hypocrite that says, "Read the book," but still has In-n-Out from time to time. Hmm.

And no, this is not Super Size Me.

Some Reflections on Nouwen

So, as you might have gathered, I spent the last few days up in Marin, north of San Francisco. A friend offered some space at his Zen Center. It was lovely, challenging, and clarifying.

I spent a good deal of my time hiking and reading...and I biked the 18-mile trek over...and I took the ferry back!

I wanted to share some stuff from Nouwen's REACHING OUT. This is a book I read in college. I felt this was a good time to re-read it. It couldn't have hit me at a better time and in a more needed place.

Our culture has become most sophisticated in the avoidance of pain, not only our physical pain but our emotional and mental pain as well. We have become so used to this state of anesthesia, that we panic when there is nothing or nobody left to distract us. When we have no project to finish, no friend to visit, no book to read, no television to watch or no record to play, and when we are left all alone by ourselves we are brought so close to the revelation of our basic human aloneness and are so afraid of experiencing an all-pervasive sense of loneliness that we will do anything to get busy again and continue the game which makes us believe that everything is fine after all.

How often does [our insecurity] lead us against others in self-defense? Sometimes it seems that gossip, condemnation of other people's behavior and outright attacks against their life choices are more a sign of our own self-doubt than of our solidly grounded convictions.

These quotes (and so much of the book) helped me in my quest for clarity these last few days. I am grateful to my wife, who watched the kiddo, and to Rick, for putting me up. And to Henri, God rest his soul, for his life and writings.

I'm On The Front Page of WIRED(.com)

Check it.

Reflections on the China Protest

I an instantly saddened, inspired, and confused. So much pain in our world. We all want to make some difference. Beauty and pain.

Do we stand by and do nothing? Or join the cause of our day, although somewhat ignorantly? Do we seek greater understanding.

This whole Tibet situation is quite complex says my friend. And you know, he's right.

Back Home In SF

Retreat Update

Hitched a ride from Mount Tam to Stinson Beach. Gonna cruise around there and then hike back to Green Gulch.

Hiking the Coastal Trail

Made it last night after seven hours of biking, walking, and reading.

Made it across GGB.

Made it across GGB.

Questions at the Bridge

Does our protesting make a difference? Is that even a good question to ask?

Sitting amidst dozens of reporters.

Sitting amidst dozens of reporters. Interesting to hear people report the story with slight variation. I just have to sit until they open the bridge back up.

Tibet Protest

It borders on terrorism the park ranger just said to me. That makes of sad. I don't claim there protests are right or wrong. But i appreciate their conviction. Still it will inconvenience my crossing. Perhaps it should.

Learning to weep, learning to

Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human. - Someone

7 Years

On my way to Green Gulch for a personal retreat. Stopped by Blue Bottle on the way out of town.

Happy 7th anniversary to my beloved.

New Podcast

Check it out. Me and Mike Stavlund. Good stuff. Showcases 2 of the new tunes. Enjoy.

My First Gibraltar

Everyday Zen

The struggle to be good is not what Zen practice is. That type of training is a subtle form of athleticism...We begin to comprehend that our frantic desire to get better, to "get somewhere," is illusion itself, and the source of suffering. - Charlotte Joko Beck

This has been an interesting read thus far. Nothing too terribly surprising, but I have realized that you have to suspend your own pre-conceived notions to really try to "get into it." But that is good practice.

I sat in on a Zen practice last Thursday night. Kind of an Intro to Zen Meditation at the SF Buddhist Center. It was challenging and peaceful for me. Don't know where that'll go. But next week, I am taking a personal retreat north to Marin to the Green Gulch Zen Center for a couple nights...silence, deep breaths, moist air, my own demons to become aware (or more aware) of.

The first person to turn me onto Zen was Thomas Merton in his book Mystics and Zen Masters. Some beautiful stuff. Then I studied Buddhism a bit at community college and have had some beautiful conversations with those who practice it. I find it a compelling way to follow Jesus into our maddening world.

I could see why so many folks burned out on status-quo religion could find it a good spiritual option. That isn't a moral judgment on the value of Zen or Buddhism, but just an observation that people could adopt Zen and not have to adopt some new deity or anything like that.

Anyway, now back into the insanity that is life...

Be Warned.

They will do you in.

Be careful.