Jeff Keen

You’ve never got it down. It’s this fluid thing, music. I kind of like that. I wouldn’t like to be blasé or think, ‘Oh you know I know how to do this.’ In fact I teach a class at a the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys — I do a little songwriting class with the students — and nearly always the first thing I go in and say [is], ‘I don’t know how to do this. You would think I do, but it’s not one of these things you ever know how to do.

What a comfort. Nobody knows what they’re doing—they just do.

Further evidence that even idols are imperfect, self-doubting humans. Paul McCartney questioning one of the greatest albums of all time.

SWEET JESUS, where has this album been all my life? The answer is it’s been there—waiting—the whole time, because this album came out in 1963.

Discovering new old albums might just be my favorite feeling. This is an instant favorite. I’d only heard Little Red Rooster before, but the entire album is awesome. Give this a spin for a night time chill time. The last half is best.

My parents kept a notebook I had for piano lessons when I was 5, and there’s this revealing apology written by my dear mother to my teacher.

So different from Roger.

SORRY

Story of my life as the youngest child, disappointing teachers year after year when they expected a rule follower and got a smartass.

SORRY

Prince being Prince and just nailing this guitar solo at George Harrison’s tribute concert.

Also worth watching: Prince’s amazing superbowl half-time show. Playing Purple Rain in the pouring rain? C’mon.

There was a great exchange on Facebook between two of my friends when Prince died:

Mark: I’ve never been so sad that a musician has died. I’m even sadder today than yesterday. I can’t put my finger on the reason why–I’m not even a ‪#‎prince‬ superfan.

Tony: I think there’s so much bullshit in the world, and then you have a guy like Prince. Gifted, creative…an icon. A guy who always did things the way he wanted to do them. It seemed like he was all about giving his music and his vibes to the world… It sucks that a guy like that suddenly disappears

Mark: Beautifully said. Prince was 100% Prince and 0% bullshit¹.

In the Spring of ‘93 I was in sixth grade, and I vividly remember riding my black Raleigh 21 speed mountain bike across my hometown of Mankato, Minnesota to meet a girl I just started seeing. It was a beautiful crisp spring Saturday, and I was looking sharp in my black windbreaker pants, and matching black, white and bright blue windbreaker jacket. Most importantly though, I had my walkman strapped to me and my headphones on with Prince’s “7” blasting on repeat while I made the 2.5 mile ride.

Those harmonies got me then, and they still get me today.

This guy from Austin wrote his own obituary, and it might hit you right in the feels.

So, words of advice; if you think something isn’t right, go see your doctor. Better safe than sorry and if you wait, it might be too late. There are all sorts of tricky ways nature can get you and no one is immune or immortal. As that great thinker Anonymous said, “never regret growing old, it’s a privilege denied to many”.

New York
November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First – if you are in love – that’s a good thing – that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second – There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you – of kindness and consideration and respect – not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply – of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it – and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone – there is no possible harm in saying so – only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another – but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens – The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

Check out this 1950s promotional video for Austin that I found. This is so dated, and so great.

@7:13 - Twin Oaks Shopping Center. Today, this place is one of those dime-a-dozen dumpy strip malls in the heart of South Austin.

One of the symbols of progressive community living, American style, is a shopping center. Clusters of attractive stores centrally located in a suburb are rapidly replacing highly congested downtown shopping areas. And we in Austin certainly boast the most modern of these new commercial developments in the Twin Oaks Shopping Center. Stores of all types fill every family need with a variety of reliable reasonable products.

Twin oaks is easy to get to. There’s plenty of parking space for all. All we, the customers, have to do is drive in and park and then take our time, browsing here and there, buying foodstuffs and clothing, taking advantage of services stores—the cleaners, the laundry, and the shoemaker.

The theory behind the shopping center—the idea which has made it an immediate success—is simple. People today do not have the time to do their day-to-day shopping downtown. Parking space is, as we all know, difficult to find. The shopping center, on the other hand, located within easy reach of our homes, offers speedy, comfortable service for all of our ordinary needs. We don’t have to fight our way through traffic.

And Twin Oaks in particular offers such comfort to its customers that once there shopping becomes a pleasure rather than a chore, and we find ourselves lingering in these beautifully designed stores, doing our buying the modern way. The Austin way. The Twin Oaks Shopping center way.

Constants in life: never enough parking, never enough time.

SXSW Film is my favorite part of SXSW. For 5 years now I’ve gotten the Film wristband ($80 or so) and seen basically everything I’ve wanted to see, with little hassle. This year I saw some ammaaaazzzziinng movies. It might be my favorite year yet.

If you live in Austin and like to watch moving pictures that make you feel things, you should get a wristband next year. I’d been nagging my friend Andy to get one since 2013, and this year he finally did. Besides getting his bike stolen (classic SX), he had no regrets and says he’s going to do this every year.

Join the club.

Here’s a too-long breakdown of everything I saw that’s worth mentioning. You should see these 7 full length documentaries, 7 documentary shorts, and 2 narrative feature films. Or at least watch the trailers.

Read the rest of this

Oh man, the last few weeks have been pretty rough, health-wise. Was it bronchitis? Was it my first bout of Austin allergies? Who can say, but I haven’t felt better in what feels like years, and I can sing again. This is good news for my overall happiness, and my will to live.

There were some dark days in there, where wallowing in my misery got the best of me and I didn’t have the will to do much of anything. There are people in this world who get sick and carry on like nothing is wrong, and I tip my hat to those people. Much respect, as they are much tougher than this delicate flower of a man.

It’s raining this week in Austin, and I’m loving it. It stormed and poured last night, and the thunder was so loud it rattled my bones. The best. And it’s supposed to be like this all week. My british isles roots are strong, and it’s rare Austin rainy days like this that make me question how I’m living in one of the hottest and driest cities in the US, when I thrive in sweater weather and have no aversions to umbrellas. I’m going to Portland for conference soon, so hopefully I’ll get some more rainy and cool weather before Austin delivers consistent crippling heat for the next seven months.

Maybe it’s the novelty, and having rain all the time would be soul crushing in its own way, but today I’m savoring it. I’ve been camped out in a couple of favorite coffee shop windows, enjoying the weather, working on things, and feeling thrilled to be able to breathe again. It’s the little things.

Why do we as humans always laugh when eating a nice bowl of mixed greens?