hopes and dreams, porches and cigarettes

many of my weekend nights are spent on the couch of the symmetry house on broadway, home of my good friends. we spend most nights watching an important piece of film, debating the merits of album x or book y, discussing theology, etc. the hours are late, and the mornings begin even later. it is a home away from home, a respite for the mind and spirit.

and let’s not forget those who reside within this home. upon my entry last night, brock and andrew began immediately debating about something that i cannot remember, but the over-all attitude brings a smile to me even now. and as soon as danny got home, discourse about what makes a person an artist versus what made someone a person that wants to be an artist began. then skyler arrives, and we agree that james franco is a versatile actor. i am amazed to sit among these men, who accept me in and consider my thoughts and views. they are good men, full of the same fervor for life that i am, albeit in different forms than i.

upon awakening this morning at eleven o’clock (still morning by a.m./p.m. standards), i grabbed a cup of coffee and went out onto the porch to have a smoke with danny and andrew. there we discussed the wonders of constraint by recording with tape and the eccentricities of jack white. just the three of us, sitting on the steps of the porch as cars bulleted by, unaware or uncaring of the strange cigarette-holders that the white stripes’ front man uses. our world is a cloister where we eagerly defend, support, and purport our musical nerdiness. this house, for me, is a place where i can open up, say anything i feel like, and then sift through the unfiltered ideas, looking for whole-grain worthwhile. the symmetry house is a holy confessional, held together in confidence and open-mindedness.

and as i sit there, offering up tobacco-stained vapor to the heavens, i realized something that has been forming and coming to fruition over the past couple of weeks. i live the life that i have always wanted. we are starving artists, staying up late, sleeping in later, expressing our opinions and thoughts and misunderstandings to each other and to God. my friends and my surroundings are blurred in a sudden flash of creativity and endless possibility. i live to be inspired, in order to give back to the Eternal One whom gives all good things. and one of the best good things in my life is the space that has been created by my friends in this house.

so blessings to you, andrew, danny, brock, and skyler, for being so open and funny and excited about the same stupid shit that excites me. blessings to you, o house of recycled items thrown back and forth between garbage can and plastics bin, o home of inspiration and creativity. blessings to you, symmetry house, o megaphone pressed against my soul and sending my longings to God.