If you still like it in the morning…..

then it must be okay.

There are plenty of times when I write songs, record them, and then wonder if they’re total crap. I have developed a theory that if I still like them in the morning, after a good night’s sleep, then they must be okay. That makes sense to me, because most times, I think, "Boy, I’ve really written my best song yet" and then I’ll listen to it later, usually a few days or a week later, and I’ll say to myself, "You thought that was GOOD?!!!!"

So I trust my instinct of giving it one day’s chance. I think it’s working. I’ve been doing it for a while now….not sure exactly how long.

Last night, I pieced together what I have tentatively called "Birthday". It was originally thought of as a 16th Birthday present for my daughter. I don’t know if it’s quite suitable for that or not, but I gave it overnight, and I still like it. Maybe I’ll make it another of my "You should live your life this way" songs, which really are targetted at myself, with peripheral aim at anyone else who might glean something from them.

I write songs about any number of things. I wrote "Back Off" in defense of John V. I wrote "Part of Living" for a friend AND myself. I wrote the whole "This Beholder’s Eyes" cd for My Mikey. I wrote "Pushin’ To Survive" for my mother. I wrote "Pulled" originally for Mama, then for Adam. I wrote "Dimensions of Dementia" about my crazy, mixed-up emotions about my grandmothers’ states of minds, if you will.

I like it when Barbara writes songs, like "Hang In There Baby". It was based on things Mama has said to me all my life, and it has touched more than one person, thus far. I only know this because they told me. One girl told me she cried as she listened to it…that it should be the theme song for all OCD people. I was very touched by that. I thought to myself, "If they only knew the wonderful woman behind it, and how she’s supported her total fuckup of a son, even when nobody else would!"

Diana, an old friend of mine, said she wanted to use "People Today" as the main song for an organization she wanted to form to help people. She liked the upbeat attitude of "I know you’ve made a friend lately, it’s all in what you say – for a stranger on a street, who’s going your way – And the chance to make him SMILE could be in what you say – I’m sure you knew – and now I pray – God bless people today".

I believe in the intrinsic goodness in people. I know I spend a lot of time complaining in this diary. Believe me, I’m aware that I don’t SOUND like I know people are good, but I do know it. I know it in my heart. I feel it in my heart. There is a lot of evil in the world, but there is a lot MORE love. I don’t think I could live, were it not so.

Just rambling.

Love to all,

Jack and Barbara