friends,

tonight brings us episode 393, and some new songs from my friend ryan. it's good stuff! i hope you'll listen, and visit the related links below...

- terence mckenna
- alan watts
- the ant and the grasshopper
- syncretism

love,
russell

ps - if you don't know what it is - this is a yurt.

Posted by russell at 05:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

friends,

the first week of april brings us to episode 392. it's me ruminating about life and growth, hope and disappointment - how they feel connected and opposite. and how we can't help but change and stay the same in every given moment. along with some songs from my friend ryan.

i'm thankful you're here. i hope you'll listen.

love,
russell

Posted by russell at 07:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

friends,

good evening and welcome to episode 391! tonight meets us with a few new versions of some recent songs, and finds me wondering (more) about regret and loss and the past. how what's gone is gone. and how it ain't coming back. and the fact that, even if it did, we'd just end up making the same mistakes all over again. circles upon circles. it's foolish to dwell and ruminate on such things. i know. and yet it's hard to control the paths our feelings and dreams insist upon.

i guess this is just to say that i want there to be a way to make things better here and now. i want the feeling of it to dissolve somehow. i want the wisdom without the pain. that's my dream. and i realize the world doesn't work that way. it feels overwhelming for all of us at times. and it just is.

songs don't solve the world. but i'm thankful for their help. it's funny how trying to say things right, even when we keep getting it wrong, can make the world feel a little more hopeful. i don't how it works, but the small steps are very good things.

i hope you'll listen. <3

love,
russell

ps - if you don't already know the music of ron sexsmith, i highly recommend him. this song is a great recent one… and here's a quiet live version.

Posted by russell at 06:39 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

friends,

good evening and welcome to episode 390!! it's just me again with a few brand new baby songs (+ a few toddlers), and some thoughts about music and life and learning. it's a blessing to have the chance to try. but painful too - esp if (you're like me and) you keep getting things wrong much more than right. it's a humbling self-conscious thing to grow up. but songs help. for which i'm thankful. ;)

i also mention one of my songwriting heroes tonight - jonah matranga. he has a new album out today called - you and me are two. you can listen and support and purchase it -> here. i hope you will!

thank you for being here. <3

really, truly,
russell

Posted by russell at 07:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

friends

welcome to monday and episode 389! this week finds me noticing the (sometimes vast) differences that seem to naturally flow between people. assumptions, perspectives, preferences, expectations, so on. i can't help but wonder how and why the things between us are as they are. seemingly unavoidably. which somehow reminds me of my heroes - yoko ono and j. krishnamurti

i often feel guilty and wrong for wondering about the world and the lives of others, imagining we're similar - when the facts of life seem mostly determined to bludgeon us with the opposite. it feels both sad and hopeful most of the time. a kind of obstinate faith, maybe?? i'm naive. i know. but i still think it's possible for things to be better. and i think trying is worth it. even if/when we never see it change.

i hope you'll listen… <3

love,
russell

ps - this book by yoko is great!

pps - here's something from - krishnamurti. it take some patience to listen, i know. but worth it.

ppps - and, say what you will about yoko's voice… i absolutely love this song.

Posted by russell at 07:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)