Lately...

There's a Stevie Wonder song that I have always loved, one of those slow ballads he used to do, and still does so, uhhhhhh......wonderfully =) . It's caled "Lately", and many of my generation might only know it because Jodeci covered it on their MTV Unplugged in the early 90's. Their's is good too, but KC and Jojo can't be Stevie, and if anything I prefer the Red Hot Chili Peppers' rendition of "Higher Ground" anyday. (By the way he's playing the Hollywood Bowl soon! Anybody got tickets????)



Anyhow, I am a sucker for R&B, I admit it. I grew up with it and used to hate singing in choir @ school because they made us sing lousy songs, dated stuff, and then Church music and cheesy Neil Diamond stuff. Sweet! If we were lucky we'd get to sing "A Bridge Over Troubled Water", which has grown on me more and more over the years. I mean I also loved Alternative Rock, Salsa, and Hip Hop, but R&B has always had a huge place in my heart.

I had this friend of mine named Pete Utley who used to play basketball with us all the time, and I remember one day we got talking about music. Or friendship really sparked when I realized that he was also into Boyz 2 Men, ABC, and B.B.D, and much more, so we knew we were gonna be great friends.

One day we got sick of choir, and ditched practice (we were outlaws!) to walk around the back side of the campus and sing our own songs. I remember it being close to graduation time for us when we were in 8th grade, and all of us were preparing to enter the next phase of our lives, thinking that we'd already seen it all. It was kinda emotional for some, but all i wanted to do was play high school baseball finally. Regardless, those were times that always stay vivid in my mind. So vivid you can taste them, feel them as they were yesterday.

Lately, as i mentioned the other day, i feel like i've been in a rut of sorts, unsatisfied, like my energy has been misplaced and i need to enter that next phase. i dunno what it is exactly, but maybe, just maybe i do?

....i guess everything is always right in front of us. Maybe its the opportunity we have at all times, the fact that anybody can do anything if they set their mind to it? Maybe it's the person you love and can't live without, or the career you have chosen and are happy with.

Whatever your everything is, i feel it is important to figure out what it is. Without that guideline, that goal you strive for, it is easy to fall off course, to get sidetracked. It's important to figure out what it is that you want, what it is that you need, and what it is that you just can't live without.

When you cannot live without something, and nothing and nobody can ever stand in your way, you have found your passion. If it's something that you kinda want, but won't bend over backwards to get it, put in blood sweat and tears for, then maybe the passion isn't there, and maybe that may not be meant for you.