Wittianity

Hello to all that may or may not read this blog.

Just a little heads up: Jason and I have decided to start a new religion based on being witty. Well, it's honestly just a blog.

It will most commonly consist of articles containing our day to day conversations and marketable ideas. Perhaps there will be some deep theological questions and shout outs for the underrated.

Definitely worth checking out, I think.

wittianity.blogspot.com

Oh, and life has been pretty swell these days. Working on the SL EP still. I think the original songs by Kelsey and Casey are going to turn out quite nicely. I was also playing around with doing transitions and interludes in a Church Music-esque style. I think that will help it's legitimacy increase a good bit. You can check out part of Chainbreaker on my Indaba page if you're interested http://www.indabamusic.com/people/938384046
Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers!

Jonathan

Shoulders

Something gets me about shoulders.

The way they're shaped is perfect.
Have you ever stopped to think about them?

It would seem as though they were created for heads to rest in.

Sometimes intimately.

Sometimes friendly.

Sometimes comfortingly.

A friend of mine came up to me crying. She wasn't really up for talking, but she was able to place her head in my shoulder.

You know what?

That probably meant more than anything I could have come up with to speak.

They say actions speak louder than words.
I feel compelled to agree.

Jonathan

"For the times they are a-changing"
-Bob Dylan

EP

Hey guys. Things have been pretty good these days, actually. I'm (hopefully) about to get a little more busy with the release of the new Student Life EP this Fall. I've been getting really excited about that. I'm trying to play around with a little bit more of an electronica-rock kind of sound. I think it'll end up sounding a lot more professionally done than our last EP(which was a good starting point, I think).

Working on this kind of project has been really exciting for me personally, though. I just get pumped at the thought of sitting down and coming with little parts that will add to the song and then sitting down and mixing everything in so it sounds just right. I just take great joy in that. There's a little snippet of a mid-progress loop/drum track on my Indaba page at: http://www.indabamusic.com/people/938384046

Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think.

I've been realizing more and more that this is something that I pretty genuinely love. It's currently kind of my general direction to head when I get out of high school. We'll see where God takes me throughout this year, though. :)

Jonathan

Purpose

God I love a good movie.
I just saw Lady in the Water again, and it is an incredibly beautiful story.

Imagine that you-yes you-have a purpose. Imagine that your seemingly worthless talent or hobby held great importance.

What if it could change your life?
How about the lives of others?

Not everybody figures out their purpose on the first try. Most people in the movie didn't get it on the first time. However, if you keep searching, you will know. It should be obvious if you are where you were meant to be or not.

Just listen to your heart.


There were some great quotes in the movie. Just thought I'd put them on here while I was thinking about the movie.

Cleveland Heep: H-how was the movie?
Harry Farber: Sucked
Cleveland Heep: Oh... what a shame.
Harry Farber: Characters were walking around, saying their thoughts out loud. Who does that? And in a typical romance where the couple finally tell each other they love one another in the rain. Why does everyone like to stand around and talk in the rain in movies?
Cleveland Heep: Um... well maybe it's a metaphor for purification; starting new.
Harry Farber: No, it's not!

"Once, man and those in the water were linked. They inspired us. They spoke of the future. Man listened and it became real. But man does not listen very well."


Jonathan

"I'll miss your faces. Oh, they reminded me of God."

Goodbye

Alone with myself
My heart's in a box
On the topshelf safe
Where nobody knows


The tables have turned
No blackwaters deep
To dive in head first
Where nobody goes

And I daydream at night
Now that you're not here
You said goodbye
Without going anywhere
I always want what I cannot have

Love makes you happy and sad

Love makes you happy and sad


The curtain has closed
Tell me now where did our love go?
Nobody knows


Loves Makes You Happy and Sad
By Gregory Page

This is a really pretty song. I listen to it when I am feeling sappy.
I highly recommend giving it a listen to.

Jonathan

Happy

You know, sometimes it is just nice to sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of a loving god.

After all, how often do you just feel genuinely happy?

Jonathan

Summer

If my Junior year was a time tearing me down, then this summer has been a time of building me up.

I feel like over last year while porn was something I managed stay away from, I felt pretty dead inside for the most part. While porn was something I dealt with pretty much all Summer, I honestly would rather be dealing with that than feel dead inside. So while my issues pretty much switched this summer, oddly enough I would rather it be that way. Not to say that I want to deal with either of them, really. I am just saying that in my heart I would rather struggle with porn than not feel alive in Christ or in anything for that matter. I guess that is a really backwards way of thinking, but I was talking to God about that in the 40 room. All that said I feel quite well these days, and am planning on continuing to work at my current struggles(with the help of some close friends).

The Summer was a rather lovely time, though. I got to be a leader-type figure on two mission trips, along with Xtreme VBS. On a more personally exciting note, I also finished my first 4 part EP this Summer for the South Africa. Not that it was at the quality of even the first Student Life EP, but I really loved getting to really take on and finish a whole project like that. Along with all that, there was plenty of time to play with my band and work on that, as well as just being friends I care about and love dearly. All that said, it was a very full Summer with plenty of new experiences and times of relaxing.

Almost makes me teary eyed thinking about all that happened this Summer, really. Not even the big events, but just getting to enjoy the simple company of friends. Pardon me for rambling. As a Senior citizen, I am old and my mind is frail, causing me to reminisce on past events in history. Anyways, time to pick out my Senior Coffin. :P

Throughout life we will find that in everywhere we look it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright!
In everywhere we look...

Jonathan

P.S. Having internship with Jake and Creative Writing with Kathleen along with no Math is basically going to be the equivalent of a totally kick-butt* year!
*censored in respect to potential minors reading the above text.

Doves

"Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest..."
-Psalm 55:6

I don't know why, but I just really found that quite lovely
and felt compelled to share it.

I guess it's just because the idea of peace has always sounded really nice to me.

Not saying that I am without peace.
But just the idea of flying away to a distant land and being able to fill my lungs
full of air. Living life.

Benjamin Button teaches that our lives are defined by opportunities taken and missed.

Like, yesterday, Chris and I were going to go to the park to hang out, but instead we hung around outside my house and played music. Two men came and hung out with us. One of them was pretty blown away by the fact we could listen to a song and play along with it.

But that's besides the point.

What I'm saying is that we could have gone to the park and had an okay time, but life thew another opportunity when we chose to go a different path. So we missed one opportunity to go to the park, but gained another to meet new people and enjoy their company. Who knows what we missed by going to the park? Nobody really(God doesn't count because he's God).

Anyways, if this sounds like I'm rambling, it's because I am.
Hope you enjoyed some of my thoughts and are all enjoying your life. :)

Jonathan

Porn

Hey. I've gotten pretty jacked up with porn lately, not gunna lie.

It's just so hard to care, if that makes sense.
But honestly, it's been so long that you forget how degrading it
is of women. This might sound weird but I seriously stopped and wondered
what was really going on here. Where she came from and what brought her
to that place. It breaks my heart, really.
But like I was saying, in the moment, it's hard to care.

I guess I'm just going to have to keep working at it.

In other news BOTH EPs are going pretty well.
I should be wrapping up the very final details and finishing up the South Africa EP by Thursday.
It will have been my first fully completed project, so that's exciting. I wish the whole project could have
been done at my house, though. But it should sound fine.

The Drifts EP(It's not really The Drifts, but I still call it that because I like the name) is coming along more slowly than I was hoping. We are done with two of the songs, so that's progress I guess. We're just going to keep picking away at it until we're done I guess. That's a bigger deal to me than the South Africa EP as far as finishing it. It's way more personal to me because it's music that I've had a part in making it what it is. You should check out our new song: How Long and let me know what you think of it. www.myspace.com/thedrifts4

This whole recording process has been kind of like if Hell suddenly decided to become enjoyable.
As if that makes any sense unless you've done this. :P

And last but not least: Six Flags on Saturday.
Oh, and apparently I'm heading out to Raleigh, North Carolina for the SHIFT mission trip. Weird.

I think that about covers my whole life right now :)

Jonathan

P.S. How are all two of you that read this doing? :P

Becky

Hey! I got back from DC yesterday and it was quite a trip.
I spent ten hours planning next year at ALTAER with Jake.
Then ten hours planning on the way back.

The second day there we went out into the city just to hang out
with different people around town. I took Becky and Kara with me
to go talk to this homeless man named Larry. Really cool guy. He was
having problems getting a shelter because in order to get a shelter you have
to send an address, but he was homeless. Anyways, we ended up praying for him,
and afterwards Becky was saying that was the first time she had prayed out loud for
someone. It really was cool to see her step up.

This happened time and time again with the younger ones in my team.

Some talked to the homeless.

Others to the elder.

A few gathered the guts to ask restaurants for extra food to feed the homeless.

Sure I stepped in and tried to set the pace, but after I stepped back, they took the reigns.

Just the fact that they were once these immature SHIFT kids a few weeks prior and were
now growing into these beautiful women and strong men after God.

Still, when it comes down to it, what they are going with these experiences is up to them.
I have been around Student Life for six years and have seen some people take them and run
with it, and others forget and drift away.

I pray they will choose continue to pursue God.

If you want to hear about all the little details, you can talk to me or borrow my journal or something.
Glad to be back, though :)

Jonathan

Late

Well I'll tell you all the dreams I've had
I'll write them in a song
Feelings from my pens and paper
They ain't right or wrong
Sometimes my heart breaks into pieces
And I ain't where I belong
Out of my tree is what I'm feeling
But that ain't right or wrong

There's just one thing for certain
I promise you will see
It's never too late to be the person
That you were meant to be

Well I traveled all the way to Melbourne
It feels just like my home
Down Chapel Street, no one sees ya
But that ain't right or wrong
Miles away I have this thought
So I wrote it in a song
In a God I'm a true believer
I may be right or wrong

There's just one thing for certian
I promise you will see
It's never too late to be the person
That you were meant to be

While a princess waits for her prince charming
But he may never come
Who says fairy tales can't harm you?
But they ain't right or wrong
And all the friends I've made along the way
And those who are gone
They didn't know how to leave or stay
But that ain't right or wrong

There's just one thing for certian
I promise you will see
It's never too late to be the person
That you were meant to be

I'll tell you all the dreams I've had
Then wake up from my sleep...

Right or Wrong by Gregory Page

Jonathan

Junior

Man.
Junior year sucked.
Big time.

I think the only thing that really went right was that I passed math.
But honestly, I really could care less at this point.

I just feel like everything I poured my heart into were the things that failed.

I mean, good things happened to be sure. It is just that the bad overweighs it so
much more to me.

Still, the thing I have to learn is that no matter what I think, this year was a gift from God.
It was more than I deserved, to be sure.

It is like that hymn:
Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say it is well with my soul.

It doesn't make make me feel like much is well with my soul, though.

Hopefully this summer will be good.
I have a lot to do...But I lack much inspiration to do it.

I guess I am trying to appreciate the year...but I don't.

I wish I could fix things, but I can't.

Jonathan

Wishes

I wish there was something I could do,
but it always takes two.

Porcupine

For the past five; almost six years now,
You haven't once looked at me with kindness in your eyes;
And you say Judas is a brother of mine?
Oh, but sister in our darkness a light shines!
And all I ever want to say for the rest of my life,
Is how that light is GOD!

And through I've been mistaken on this or that point,
That light is God.

It has been forever since I have listened to Brother, Sister.
But I kind of have felt that way this year.
Like nothing good has really lasted, but nevertheless in darkness
God is light.
And that is all I want to say for the rest of my life...
though I have been severely mistaken at times, that light
has never ceased to be God.

I just sometimes wish my mistakes weren't so costly.
But I suppose sin does have consequence.
Life. What a double edged sword it is.

In other news, the EP is coming along pretty well. We are slowly picking away at it.
I think at this rate we can do one song a practice and be done with it in about 4 or 5 more practices.
The rest will just be up to me finding time to mix and edit everything. I am really excited about it.

Thanks for all being my friends. I know every one of you(reading this) is someone I love dearly. I can honestly say I really appreciate you being in my life.

Much love,

Jonathan

Music

How will people know I am forgiven when I never feel it?
How will people know I am free when I never live it?

How on Earth will I live when I never feel alive?
Except once. Recently, that is.

There was something about sitting in my basement.
With Chris. Spring Break.
Playing music simply because we love it.

I think I freaked him out because I gave him a weird smile. :P
I couldn't help it, though. I just felt alive for the first time in ages.

And its not like we were practicing for anything in particular.
It was just fun. Peaceful.

Music one of the only gifts God has given me that I haven't lost yet.
I pray that never happens.

But, if worse comes to worse, I still have his grace.
That's not so bad either. :)

There is talk of Jason and me going to SAE together in Atlanta. We may perhaps even go to Europe to backpack beforehand. That would be great. But SAE more so. I would love to be with Jason. We both need to figure out what is next. Might as well find out together, I say. :)

Jonathan

Ouch

So Kelsey just broke up with me.

Lovely.

Nothing feels better than putting 110% into something only to be rejected.

My heart was damaged enough, so might as well destroy what was left.


In other news the new mwoY album is really good...

Jonathan

Shining

So the band and I officially started working on our Summer project:
Our first EP!

I must admit, pushing for doing this in a proper way was kind of agitating at first.
I was trying to convince them to use Logic in my basement to do the recording, but
they were insistent on using their track recorder. Now, they had some okay recordings
on this, but like one of the band members later said, It is like offering a million dollars to a
homeless person only for them to be content with being homeless. We spent the whole Friday
recording from about 5 to 10, and final mixing/bouncing around 12:45. Overall I think it is a
great start. While we were not shooting for the 100% quantized(machine perfect) sound, I still
feel that everything felt tight, but still very human.
After listening to his vocal, our lead singer(the most skeptical) was completely sold.

I am really excited about this project! :)

Check it out at www.myspace.com/thedrifts4
It is titled Shining Eyes(compare it to the other songs and let me know what you honestly think)

Jonathan

Break

Spring Break was like a calm battle.

I have felt more relaxed and more alive this week than I can remember feeling in a LONG time.

It probably had to do a ton with the fact I spent a lot of it writing and playing music with my friends. Honestly, few things on earth make me feel so happy. So ALIVE and FREE.

I felt like this is how I want to wake up every day. Call up a friend or two. Write some songs. Make something in 5/4 that transitions into 4/4 just for the heck of it. Record something for fun. Find out you are playing at the Warehouse in two weeks without prior notice.
I loved just about every second of it.

And yet there was the battle.
I have struggled more with porn/masturbation the past two weeks than I have in about a year or so.

It was scary.
I was terrified that it would become a habit again...but thank God it has not. Yet.
Be praying for that if you would like.

I also think I was able to sit down and evaluate the way I treated people...Mostly Kelsey, if you want to know the truth.
Not that I think I treat her poorly, but I always think there is room for improvement :)

Oh, and back to music, The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists came out.
One word: Inspiring
Now if I could get more people to appreciate its glory with me.
And the new mewithoutYou CD is coming out!!! Check out their new song on their myspace.

I hope you all are doing well,
Jonathan

PS check out these videos:
http://vimeo.com/1713668
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8 (I am playing this at the Warehouse apparently :P )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9V4Zn85rnI (There are a few of these!)

Sigh

Let out a sigh of relief and know
that everything will end in tears.
Beautiful streaming tears flowing
down your lovely rosy cheeks
as you wonder your future outcome.

Through marching in the snow.
Through facing all your fears.
Through the pains of growing.
Through not being able to peek
at what is to come.

But these are not tears of sorrow
but of JOY!

Joy.

Because you were able to grow.
Because your God looks at you and cheers.
Because His grace is now flowing.
Because you were resilient enough to seek
out what He wanted you to become.

Let out a sigh of relief and know
that everything will end in tears
of joy.

Jonathan

Frustration

I feel like I have had a lot more peace over the past few weeks or so.
Obviously I am not perfect, but it has nice to remember what it feel like
to not be overwhelmed or bitter or hopeless.

But my parents decided to have a meeting with my counselor today at school after I asked them not to because of my F in math. Apparently they still have the technical course which would mean no math class for me next year, but it would boot me out of either Music Tech or Internship next year.

That seriously pisses me off!
At the beginning of my freshman year, I signed a little check box for that course and they blatantly told me to my face they did not offer it any more. Now three years later it has left me screwed in my current math class and next year because I will either knock off something that actually matters to me or be stuck in a math class I cannot handle.
All because they friggin lied to me.
Then people wonder why I am against our school system. They lie to increase their friggin school funding!

I trust that God has something for me in this, but it honestly does not really make me feel any less pissed right now.

Jonathan

Trying

I am still trying to trust you through this.

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
James 1:12 (Message)

Hope

There is a heart of such distress that I carry in this chest please reach out and caress in your pillowesque manner.

Front and center right here and right now I'm throwing in the towel I've committed too many fowls I've flown south.

My sprits turning sour I can't go through another hour, be my precious pretty pink petite flower that blooms in the night and leave me in the dark by your moonlight no more fight. I never fought anyone so I thought and now I'm here on these knees distraught.

Crying out to you pretty please, pretty please take this disease turning these insides brown my smile turns to frown and my breathe smells like death.

Because I am dead to life and alive to something I don't know that you would have me feel but this is for real and I need you right now, I need you right now.

So seal the deal with your stamp of regeneration and grow me up into a new creation taken from a tree and plucked from a vine, if it's my time to shine then shine your light on me so that everyone hurting can see that there is hope, hope in the seemingly endless valley full of rotten fruit left behind from previous troops that are now in your mountains drinking directly from your fountains, save me a spot I will be there sooner than not, I'm picking up the pace and slowly starting to trot.

Bradley Hathaway is awesome :)
Jonathan

Young

Do you ever feel young?

Not in the
"I am youthful and exciting"
way.

Like in the everybody around you is like
"I am an adult and I drive and I get it"
kind of way.

It is weird dating somebody who you feel like is twenty when you feel sixteen.

I feel like Holden from the Catcher and the Rye.
He is stuck between childhood and manhood and cannot seem to transition.
Neither can I.

Oh, well. I guess life moves at a different pace for everyone.

Jonathan

Bible

Something that I am not very open about myself about is that I do not really like to read the bible.

It is not anything personal, I just feel like I get very little out of reading.

I look at it and can maybe pull a cool quote here and there...But that is just about it.
And it is not like I have never put discipline into reading it or anything.

Reading just tends to be a very empty activity for me.
But stick in a movie and I can often times catch some symbolism.

I guess that is why I am dropping to CP Language Art next year.
Reading literature means very little to me for some reason.

Anyways, I just thought I would share something about myself that you probably did not know.

Jonathan

Thanks

Thanks for everything I have.
Including what little talent I think I have.

And for the rest I will just have to trust you.

After all, who is to say that I deserve anything? (Nicky told me that once). :)

Jonathan

Equality

All men are created equal.
I think that is a lie.

If that is true then why are some people good at photography while others are writers?

People are not equal.
They are loved by God equally, though.



Imagine if you were forced to take guitar lessons and you were terrible at it. Now imagine if you were constantly told that your success in life was based on how well you could play that guitar and you will be a failure at life if you suck at it.


That is kind of how I feel right now.

Band

So today was my first day of band practice with The Drifts.
Not bad, not bad at all.
They are all really friendly AND talented guys.

And the style...
Imagine Beiruit meets The Decemberists.

Kind of like my dream band actually :P

I really think this will be an awesome opportunity to glorify God
outside of the worship scene and play with people who are passionate
about music (although 2/3 other guys are passionate Christians so there is some
commonground there, not that it really mattered to me as far as playing with them).

Also, I love a chance to make some new friends :)

I really think this will be good for me.
www.myspace.com/thedrifts4

How are you all doing? I miss seeing you college people!
Jonathan

Beauty

No other could ever be as beautiful.
No other could ever steal my heart away.

Beggar

I have been reading Crazy Love.
There is one part that goes like this:

God tells the priests that if they don't want to give Him Excellence, others will. God says His name will be great among the nations. Right now a hundred million angels are praising God's name; He certainly doesn't need to beg or plead with us.
We should be the ones begging to worship in His presence.

That caught my attention. I should be begging to come in His presence.

Now, I do think that God is approachable. I mean, he did humble himself into a human and became a servant. Little children ran to him. That seems pretty approachable to me. But God is also this incredibly powerful and overwhelmingly mighty. I tend to miss out on having a certain reverence for such a being.

I also like this part:

I want you. And even if I don't want you, I want to want you.

I also think that is a cool idea. Because in reality, I do not always want God every day. But I know I cannot let that stop me from chasing him ever day. I want to want him every single day of my life.

I am going to be with my brother now :)
I hope you are all doing well.
Jonathan