random stuff about me, musical and beyond…(part 3)
thanks to everyone who submitted questions…here are a few of them answered:
*do you like dancing and have you had any interest in it before…
submitted by Okan Pala
i like dancing a lot for someone who’s no good at it. it’s kind of a joke amongst musicians, how few of us actually have rhythm…at least when it comes to dancing. i took tap and ballet when i was small and i’ve taken one class in modern dance. i took it thinking you can never really be “wrong” in modern dance so i could only look so silly, but boy was i wrong!
i guess i’m more of a fan of dance than anything else. i have some super talented friends who are modern dancers and i love to watch them. two of them actually composed a piece to one of my songs “These Four Walls” and that was a thrill to see!
*i’ve noticed a lot of scientific references in your songs… “radioactive…watch me decay” and the song about the dog cosmonaut, as well as “distill”. you must’ve been a science major in college, right?
submitted by Carol Thompson
i’ve been found out…i studied chemistry in college along with a self-designed major in the humanities that was focused on world music, philosophy and world religion. i’m a big geek at heart, i love science as it applies to the natural world. i probably should have studied biology instead of chemistry for that reason but also because i was a horrible klutz in the laboratory. my fave chem class was quantum physics because it was so brainy and theoretical. i had to work hard to wrap my brain around that stuff. (and i’ve probably forgotten it all at this point but i remember it was exciting)
from time to time i like to make metaphors out of things in my science background. “radioactive” is a song written from the perspective of someone who has decided to do what they have to do to get on the radio. it’s a play on the word radioactive ( and the decaying process) and “selling out” to get on the radio. in the song “distill” i used the concept of separating a liquid out into its parts as a metaphor for separating yourself from another person after a relationship ends. “laika” is a tribute to a little canine hero…i was so moved by Laika’s story which found its way into my life from 3 different directions in the space of a few months and wouldn’t let me go until i wrote about her. (don’t tell anyone i’m a big nerd!)
questions submitted by Ami Lum:
*what song do you think best describes your life at this point?
of my own songs…probably “higher ground.” most people assume that song is about getting over a broken heart, which is fine with me because i’d rather listeners see a little of themselves reflected in my songs than try to see them through my eyes and where i was at when i wrote them. higher ground” was actually a small step in the direction of closure for me in dealing with the grief of losing my mom to cancer 4 years ago. when i wrote it, it was about finding a way to be able to live with that loss and get through the day, even if that way was by burying it. in a different way that song seems to fit for me right now because for whatever reason this has been a really emotional fall for me and it seems to be like a faucet that is either off or totally flooding so i have to sometimes just turn it off to function.
*do you have any pets? (aside from the mice in your apartment.)
so you heard about the mice eh? that was a disaster. we had 2 generations of mice living with us in our Brooklyn apartment…i think the mice outnumbered me and my roomies by at least 3:1. they’ve all pretty much “moved out” by now though and boy was it a pain cleaning out my closet. while i was on tour they set up shop in there and all i can say is “ewh!”
sadly i don’t have any pets right. if you read my original “random stuff about me…” installment then you know i grew up with an assortment of pets that always outnumbered the people in our family by 3:1. (but at least we chose them!) i really miss having pets, i’m “puppy crazy” right now in the same way some women get “baby crazy.” over the holidays i became an aunt to my brother’s second puppy (i’m so jealous!). his name is Blue and i think he might actually be the cutest thing ever, and he doesn’t know it at all. he’s part border collie, part blue heeler and i’m all googoo-gaga for him! i can’t wait till i have a tour bus and can take a dog with me on the road…
*what book would you reccomend every person read at least once?
i hate these type of questions(no offense)…”what’s your all time favorite (book, movie, song)” where you know people are going to read into your answer and interpret something meaningful about your character, there’s so much pressure! how about “Goodnight Moon.” actually, everyone should have Goodnight Moon read to them at least once but preferably every night before bed until you’re too old (or too cool) to have your dad read to you. 
*what are this week’s winning lotto numbers?
i’ll have to consult my crystal ball and get back to you
*do you have a favorite poem?
i don’t, actually, which is kinda lame. maybe “The Yippiyuk” by Shel Silverstein. i’m not an avid poetry reader, not because i’m not into poetry, just because i hardly even have time to read my email and my Rolling Stone! the last poet i read a significant number of poems by was Rainer Maria Rilke after two friends within a week said i had to read his work. they both actually gave me books of his so they made it really easy and they weren’t kidding, i was totally inspired! (thank you)
*do you believe that you can be in love with two people at the same time?
that’s a tough and sticky question. i think its very possible to think at the moment its happening that you’re in love with two people at the same time but maybe in retrospect later on you’d have a different perspective on it and see there were other issues at play. though i don’t know what’s the most pure and true assessment, what you feel in the moment or what you believe to be true from a distance. i do know that love is a complex and unpredictable beast and i surely wouldn’t put it past it.
*if you had the power to change one thing about the way people live their lives, what would it be and why?
i would wish people to be more conscious about the choices they make and how they affect the big picture. i think a lot of people feel helpless, that their efforts are too small to change things, their voice to small to be heard. i know that feeling well and it can be a dangerous precursor to apathy, to giving up on believing anything or trying to change anything. for young people in that place it’s really easy to be seduced by the commercialism in our society and to forsake ones ideals for the pursuit of creature comforts.
i really believe in the power of living your life by what you believe and that can make a difference by inspiring others. and maybe your contribution is small, but the collective sum of everyone’s small contributions could really change the face of the world. for instance, if everyone who’s feeling overwhelmed and helpless in the face of what’s happening to the environment would make changes in their own lives in terms of reducing their waste and making more informed decisions about the products they purhcase, i think it could make a significant difference both in the state of the environment and in the importance we place on protecting the environment in our culture. i think there are a lot of people out there who are disgusted by pollution and wastefulness but who don’t do much about it in their own lives because they feel like it won’t makes things any better so why bother. if all those people started buying more eco-friendly products with less packaging then suddenly those products would become more attractive to manufacturers and would become more mainstream and integrated into our culture, which would in turn encourage people who never gave it a thought before to be more conscious of the environment. then the government would have to take more notice that the environment is an important issue. i don’t think people realize how powerful of a vote they have by how they spend their money. as you can tell i’m an idealist and i’m going to get off my soapbox now. i don’t want to tell anyone what to believe, just don’t be apathetic, ok?
questions submitted by Jennifer Allison:
*have you had your heart broken many times?
i’ve had my fair share of heartache.
*have you broken many hearts?
i’m sure i’ve caused my fair share of heartache too.
*are you a quick healer?
i don’t know, compared to what? i don’t know what the measuring stick looks like that i would need to hold myself up to. i think i’ve healed on my own time. at the risk of sounding sadistic, i think getting your heart broken a time or two can be good for the soul. you learn a lot about yourself and life in those low moments. i know i’ve found out i’m tougher than i ever thought i could be and that the will to survive is more powerful than pain.
*do you trust that the sadness that happens in life means there will be a better tomorrow?
hmmm. i think the sadness in life is random and meaningless except for the meaning we choose to interpret in it. sometimes there isn’t a better tomorrow afterall but it might help us get through to find meaning in an event that seems senseless. this is one of those questions i’ve struggled with for years. i don’t really believe in fate anymore. i can’t swallow the idea that some people are destined for horrible tragedy and pain. i like to think we make our own way through the open fields and thickets of life, some of us are fortunate and have more expanses of green grass and others have more brambles and thorns. how we forge our way through is what defines us.
wow, this installment got pretty serious, those were some heavy questions guys! just for a little comic relief, i have to tell you something funny i heard in the background on TV on “Spin City” (i’m multi-tasking of course). Michael J. Fox was trying to talk to Heidi Klum (guest starring) in her native german and told her he only knew two words: “hello” (Wilkommen) and “constipated” (farfrompoopen).
on that note, i bid you gute nacht!
kyler