Artshadows

Hello, loves!

So it seems life is just a big circle sometimes! Life brings you around and around and it gets somewhat sickening at times. We have all felt like that, I’m sure! That’s why we gotta keep spicing it up! Do one thing everyday that scares you! Take some chances! Go to a movie alone, take a book to read while eating your chili cheese fries at Krystal’s. Anything weird…even though it seems unnecessary…will probably help in the long run! It has always made me feel better.

And if you’re bored with life and you’re looking for something new to do…why don’t you comment my blog? Love!

jt

Hello, lovelies!

A most of you know (or will now know), I am gay. Well, beyond gay lol. But the point being. I’ve struggled with this so much in my life. I don’t like being gay. I really don’t. People look at me differently. In a bad way. Men rarely want anything to do with me, at least the straight ones.  I still act the same. I still do the same things. You think they would have figured it out on their own? Oh well.

I love doing my little “gay” activities, as people say. I love making my tea, going out for lovely strolls with the intentions of picking flowers, I love chick flicks and a nice book, and a lovely evening out with my ladies. But I still hatehatehate. Part of me thinks that things would be SO much better if I was straight. One good thing in particular…….but I am so sure of this it’s not even funny! Beyond gay gay gay gay. Butterflies and rainbows, people!

Ah, alas. It’s nice to stare at a cute boy’s ass sometimes.

love, jt

So, it took long enough! What a wonderful night with the GrooGrux Kings in Nashville! This show BLEW AWAY my time at Atlanta, and even though I had nosebleed seats the experience was amazing.

Bartender – I was kinda bummed to hear the same song open my second show, but that bum-ness was short lived. I’m respecting this song more and more with the passing of LeRoi Moore last year, and the passing of my mother. I dedicated it to my mom befor the song swelled up in it’s chorus. Gotta love Jeff Coffin ripping the pennywhistle and the “If I Only Had A Brain” interpolation! Loved it!

Grey Street – One of my FAVORITE songs! This had tremendous energy, the best I have ever seen from the guys! Jeff and Rashawn tore this one up. Still miss the 3rd verse, but I’m glad to hear this one.

Last Stop/Satellite – Dave totally pulled one on the crowd by softly strumming his guitar, plaing the first few chords to The Last Stop and even singing the first verse….and as soon as he got to “…this is the last stop,” he started playing the main riff to Satellite and it drove everyone NUTS!!! Kinda gave me a case of blue balls, because I REALLY wanted to hear The Last Stop, but Satellite was a crowd favorite and it felt good singing along to it.

Seek Up – I LOVE this song! I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to hear it this spring but the boys didn’t disappoint! It’s a tad long and of course I was sort of bummed seeing everyone sit down and complain, but you can’t get much better than this song.

Burning Down The House – I’ve never heard the DMB cover of the Talking Heads classic, but it blew me away! The crowd went insane, and the energy level was incredible. Nice to see Rashawn on some vocals! <3

Why I Am – One of the newer tunes. Definitely poppy, but in a good way! Love the line about the GrooGrux King! Props to LeRoi!

Anyone Seen The Bridge/Too Much/Ants Marching – Dave & co broke into the bridge spontaneously after Why I Am…teased the first few notes of Too Much and went into Ants Marching! Definitely the COOLEST experience ever having everyone sing louder than the band! Almost had tears rolling down my eyes! The end jam was FANTASTIC

You Might Die Trying – I’ve always loved this song. My favorite off of Stand Up. Great jam by Jeff and Timmy at the end!

Recently – Never been big on this song but DAMN they ripped this one open! The energy never ceased: a really long extended jam kept me entertained.

Crash Into Me – This shut some of the teenyboppers up Such a wonderful song, I almost cried! Wonderful to hear Dave reference the great state of Tennessee while rocking out in Nashville!

Spaceman – Wow what a cool song! Another new one, and I could see this becoming one of my favorites! A great vibe and groove going on.

Cornbread – I LOVE Cornbread! Such a fun, dirty song! Timmy was great on guitar, as always.

Funny The Way It Is – The new single. Sounds amazing live, as poppy as it is on radio. Great tune, hope to see it in the future!

Jimi Thing – Dave let the crowd sing BOTH verses to Jimi Thing! This amazed me, and, the band, who seemed flabbergasted at the volume of the crowd singing. Great jam and scat from Dave at the end.<3

Two Step – YES I finally got Two Step! This song is an amazing experience live, and came close to Ants Marching in terms of people singing their hearts out. I bet they would have sung much louder if the dancing wasn’t as fierce as it was! AMAZING drum solo by Carter at the end! The man is a GOD!

(encore)

Blue Water – OMG almost got a full Blue Water!! This song sounds soo sick….I’d bitch if the song didn’t bridge itself into…

All AlongThe Watchtower – HELL YEAH since last summer’s all but benching of this tune, I was afraid that I wouldn’t hear this! But there I was, rocking out to one of my favorite songs, ever! Dave and company REALLY know how to put on a kickass show. Really amazing, I’d definitely leap at the chance to see them again! Tickets are cheap, get some now for the Summer Tour! <3

love,

jt

Hello, lovlies!

Well, when it rains, it pours! Amidst my emotional state and brokeness, my car busts a line! No thanks to that bog obnoxious tire that came rumbling towards me on 1-40! Thank heavens that it was flat! But it’s okay. Luckilly, my aunt will be able to drive me to-and-from places until we get it fixed. I have to take an exam in Western Civ tomorrow, and then I am done with freshman year! How exciting!

Now that I have got my venting under control…;)

This makes me wonder, why do days like this happen all the time? We have one bad incident and it seems to blossom throughout the day! I suppose it has something to do with our attitude. When things don’t go our way, we tend to get all fussy. As we should right? Well, when this happens, a good thing to do is just back up and look at your situation. A good thing to do would be to thank God for giving you things that are good! So that they CAN go bad! If we have something that was once good and is now bad, we can thank the Lord for giving us that good or great thing in the first place. Another good antidote in this antecdote, would be to SMILE! I cannot stress this enough! Just stand back and smile at the comedy known as your life! Your life can be a horror film, an adventure film, a romance film, and a comedy film at different points. But it NEVER has to be a crappy D-movie! So make it Oscar-worthy! Or at least a movie that you can watch with your best friends and give it a good chuckle every now and then!

SO, take my advice, if you want. I won’t make you. Oh- Have you smiled at anyone random today? I know I have.

Love,

jt

So comes the end of my freshmen year at the big Roane State Community College, and I can’t help but feel like it’s doing nothing for me. All the things I have learned, I have learned through repetitive memorization and painful nights staying up and reading things I knew I was going to forget by the weekend. I have learned more during my heartbreaks and my job than I have learned at school. And while I have met some wonderful people, some great, enlightened souls, but nothing has “rubbed off” on me.

I made a promise to someone, recently. That I would stay in school and make the best out of myself. And I will NEVER break that promise to her. So next year, you can find me once more at the grand campus of Roane State, getting my learnings on. Trying to get that piece of paper that will advance me to the next level in my life. I have too many people riding on my back to let them fall off. Let’s make the best of this.

And let’s make the best of today! Remember to smile to one random person every day!

Love,

jt

Hello, world!

I have heard once before, I forget where exactly, but I have heard that we are not ourselves. But that, we are not an individual whole but merely a part of everyone we’ve ever encountered in our lives. This makes me ponder. We are all part of everyone else. People leave impressions on you. Whether positive, negative, or neutral. The person’s mood determines yours and determines the actions that you take and the paths you walk in life.

So, SMILE!

Smiles can only bring good things. Smiles can attract people to one another. Smiles can make a lousy day great. Many times have I heard a suicide victim being saved from someone who just gave them the time of day. Just a random “Hello!” or even just flashing a smile, instead of that fake hurried look that we all suffer to give every now and then. It could be for the better. We’ll never live in a frown-proof world, I know it. But we can still afford to make it the best we possibly can.

And it all starts with flashing that beautiful smile!! Everyone is beautiful when they smile. So, be your most beautiful, and make the world a more beautiful place!

Love,

JT

I imagine, for a truly great blog, there should be a great deal of connection between the writer and the reader. Hopefully I’ll succeed in creating this sort of kinship with my readers, but I’m sure I won’t and I’m sure there will still be those who just don’t care! But that’s just life.

There’s not much interesting about me. I’m a quiet kind of guy. I like to sit alone in the sun, drink tea, and chill and think and write and exist, and breathe deeply with the breaths that God has blessed me with. I’m far from perfect, and in a sense it’s as if my life is falling down all around me. I can’t catch myself, from the mistakes I make. But that’s okay. I’ve quit expecting so much out of me, and in the end I suppose I’m better for it.

I’ll get deeper later. But, I want to know about YOU! Introduce yourself to me! I might have introduced myself to you already. So here’s the perfect time to respond! As for now, I’ll get back to listening to Taylor Swift and humming along vivaciously in my little corner.

Love,

JT

Hello,

My name is JT. It’s very nice to meet all of you, and to meet all of you in the immediate future, I hope. I’m really looking forward to starting anew with this blog. I’ve been through some VERY strenuous times, and some VERY awkward moments and it seems as if the brakes are just now stopping me. So I’m enjoying the view. Sipping some tea and some coffee. Planning on buying a cookbook and just creating. Planning on painting. Anything to consume me. Perhaps finish my book…? It all sounds good. I want to thank all my lovely ladies for helping me out during my time of need. I’m a total bitch sometimes, and i wish that didn’t need to be the care, but I am who I am. Warts and all. Thanks everyone for the love! Be sure to stop by again!

Love, JT