The Blank Page Before You

"I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind,
I'm undefined,
I'm just beginning,
The pen's in my hand,
Ending unplanned."

- Natasha Bedingfield

Have truer words ever been written about one's life? We have control, make decisions and live with the consequences.

Every new day a beginning to the rest of your story and every previous day is a chapter in your autobiography. You just keep writing. You may be writing the next great novel or a beautiful and emotional collection of short stories. You just don't know which.

If we could wrap things up and make the words dance on a page, we'd have a complete body of work. You would have tight story lines, deep character development and intertwining situations. The critics would love it and your fans would hang on every paragraph. It would be a best seller. One little problem though.

You never know if it is the end you are writing.

"No one else, no one else,
Can speak the words on your lips,
Drench yourself in words unspoken,
Live your life with arms wide open,
Today is where your book begins."

- Natasha Bedingfield

You can add Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield to my inspirational song list.

How Does Your Light Shine?

The first cassette tape I ever owned was given to me by my uncle Curt. He probably doesn't even remember giving it to me, but it's a moment I think back to often.

We were at my grandma and grandpa's house on a Sunday and I was messing around with one of those old time tape player/recorders. I'm not sure if it was even mine or not but I do know that I took it home with me. My uncle saw me playing around with it and said"Here!" and handed me a cassette. I put it in the player and hit the combination play/record button (remember the little red nub-type button?). The song that came on was life changing...

At that point in my very short life, it was the "coolest" thing I had heard and was instantly in love with the melody. It peaked my imagination and tweaked my senses. It instantly had me wondering where this place is, what it looks like, how beautiful it must be. Trying to picture it in my mind the whole time.

It was Shambala by Three Dog Night. I never looked at music the same.

Each song a story or chapter. Each album a book. And for me, it is one moment in time. A moment when my life froze, a snapshot was taken and filed in my picture book of a brain. To view later and just remember.

Thanks uncle Curt...

Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well

It's sometimes difficult to see the light when you are feeling buried or trapped. Even a pinhole is enough light to find the end of a tunnel or the way out of a well. you need to have hope and always look forward or up in this case. Don't hang it up. Tilt your head.

I always have a well of songs that I draw inspiraion from, some from words and with some it is just hte sheer energy of the beat. Or the the tightness of the music. Or the songwriting.

The songs don't fluctuate much and remain constant no mater the situation or the day.

• Super Bon Bon by Soul Coughing
• Starin' at the World Through My Rearview by 2Pac
• California Love by Dr. Dre and 2Pac
• Girlfriend by Matthwe Sweet
• April Fool by Soul Asylum
• Maybe It's Just Me by Butch Walker
• Key to Gramercy Park by Deadsy
• For the Love of God by Steve Vai
• The Way You Make Me Feel by Katmandu
• Fall Back Down by Rancid
• Seven Deadly Sins by Flogging Molly

That is the list I always seem to go back to for energy and inspiration. So many more and i will share even more in the future.

Hackers can really ruin your day!

I understand the freedom of speech and innate yearning to have fun and be mischevious. It's in all of us. But damn, what a waste of time and resources. It must be a huge drain on the economy.

Cost of Data Loss Rises

I guess it is...

You Know it's a Good Day!

You know it's a good day when you are planning to plan a meeting. Seriously. It's the little things that mean so much.

What come from where you at?

In other words, why is this blog here. It's a two-fold answer really.

Tom is a popular name, although it's not my name. Just seems that I have many "Toms" in my life. Maybe Tommy is more appropriate. You could say say the name is derived from Tommy Lee, Tom Jones or Mike Patton. You see, Mike Patton (Wiki) has an avante garde one man band type project called Peeping Tom. So now you know the pattern and my passion. Music. To be more exact. ALL music. That is reason one.

The second is much easier. It is a work related experiment to see how this all works. By this, I mean blogging.

As you read my posts and words, you will begin to understand where I work, why I love what I do, what it is I do and how this all came about. It's as much an experiment for me as it is for my job. We shall see what happens.