Quid de puncto in mappa
Obtecto litteris?
Ibine domus ursorum latet?
An amnis umbris defluit?
Vero occulta non sponte humana res;
Nam pictori hilum praebet carta
Ubi frontes speluncasque rivosque mundus.
Duo tandem frater dentes inferiores carpti sunt;
Licet dolor effectus, at nunc non proprii.
Tantum maius cotidie senesco,
Quantum a corpore me divertere credo.
Sic mihi, dummodo facie aetatem conspexerim
Et mea sponte libidines ob amorem negem,
Quid corpus mihi prosit?
Multum vero; nam animum, pectus, spiritum partes parit.
Hey friends, I had the chance to speak with Kristian of El Ten Eleven! We talked about their upcoming album called Banker’s Hill, their upcoming tours across the U.S., and their ongoing phenomenon of looping with a double-neck guitar. Check it!
Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales 1.3, on the nature of friends who confide too little and those who confide too much
“The rester must do, and the doer must rest.”
Si permaneam, peream.
Terra pinuum, quae mihi fortunam obtulit–
Eadem nunc mihi amorem eripit.
Illa eruitur,
Lacrimas profert,
Vitae gradum dubitat,
Exsul sua sponte.
Quo, vero quomodo, hinc progrediemur?
Num soli,
Duo qui inter se corde fruimur,
Unde fons profluit abundatque
Agmen promittens forte
De aequore tumens pleno
Cursum petens sobrium?
Barbae sparsi sunt crines
Dummodo certamen perpendam.
Ausculta;
Licet non iam litigare.
Iudex arbitravit:
Reum, te regem ensium, fide abusum esse.
Vade, non erra, in solem;
Puer, novam accipe mentem;
Aequalem monstra animum.
Urbem salis, ne statua salis sis,
Praeceps salutem dic amplectereque.
Ibi diebus fortuna se des innumeris,
Et negotiis et domu.
This doesn’t belong anywhere. It’s not supposed to be good or impressive. It’s just a footprint I’d like to leave–a musical diary entry.
Whenever I experiment with new sounds, I always revert to this melody I wrote in 2010 for a song called “I Can See Castles from Here” off an album called “Every Sight Is Home.”
I know why.
This melody makes me feel like I’m at home–particularly now when I’m indefinitely living 2,500 miles from my home, the people closest to me who make it home, the companions who inspire me to write new music for one’s own emotional catharsis.
Please don’t lose yourself. Don’t lose what inspires you to be who you are.
Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit.
Pellitur e medio sapientia, vi geritur res,
Spernitur orator bonus, horridus miles amatur.
Haut doctis dictis certantes sed maledictis
Miscent inter sese inimicitiam agitantes."
Ennius, Annales
“Foul disagreement / burst open the iron-clad bolts and gates of war. / Wisdom is stricken from the middle, business is settled with violence, / the good speaker is scorned, the frightful soldier is loved. / While battling, they will mix not learned words, but curses, / with hostility amongst themselves.
/ Exin candida se radiis dedit icta foras lux."
Ennius, Annales
“Meanwhile, the white sun receded into the depths of night. / Then, a bright light presented itself outside, stricken with rays.”
Quisque turba praebet lapsum amorem
Nostrum augendum sed vere placidum.
An Horatii verba spernanda sunt?
Aurea prudentibus mediocritas praemiis suadet.
Gaudeo in nobis, sed in me florere volo;
Non solum tangi membris, sed vero iungi animis.
Cantat cor,
Renidet ratio,
Acquiescitque animus
Cum te dorminentem dulciter conspicio,
Genis impressis rubris,
Dentibus male absconditis
Labia quae nunc sputum praebuit.
Sic hanc aspecturus cotidie teneram speciem
Excitat me non certus solis radius
Sed vero optatissimus oculorum occursus.
I’m a bad haircut