it’s been too long and life is too short to not get free stickers.
hey everybody! i know it’s been a really really long time since i’ve updated the site…like, months…it’s terrible. but i’ve got some exciting news, fo’ sho!
first off, for the fourth of july my beautiful girlfriend lauren came to see me. we had a great time. we went skydiving and saw fireworks and we got tattoos! check ‘em! lauren’s is an underwater robot:
and mine is a phaser from the original series star trek, made to look all hardcore for dramatic effect.
yep, pretty kick-ass, if you axe me. we had a really good weekend.
now friends, you may have noticed the new “merch” section on this here little ol’ website o’ mine. well, that’s because i got some my sisters’ brother stickers made! wooohooo! and guess what? they’re free! yessir, just go to the merch section when you’re done readin’ this here blog entry and find out how to get some. (it involves a self-addressed stamped envelope and a note telling me how many you want.)
in other news i have another show at south side coffee in lompoc, ca on aug 6. it should be fun. anyways, sorry again for the lack of communication. i’ve been very very busy and kinda overwhelmed with…well, life in general at times, but you know how it goes, eh? be safe errrbody.
love peace and chicken grease.
God came to me in a screensaver.
why do i never know what to write any more? i feel like i don’t care about anything or something. i don’t know. i ‘m trying to tell stories but i don’t feel like i’ve got anything interesting to talk about. i’m trying to get my thoughts out but i don’t feel like i’ve got anything interesting to say. like i’ve been thinking lately about what God is, not that i’ll ever be able to understand it. i learned a lot from a screen saver recently. the way this particular one works is it has these two polygonal shapes that appear on the the screen. the shapes change as the lines bounce around and as they move across the screen getting bigger and smaller and bigger again, you can still see the desktop of the computer but anything the bouncing lines touch turns to black, so you slowly see the desktop disappear and the whole screen turns to black. eventually, and i’ve now proven this by letting it go over night, the two bouncing shapes hit every pixel on the screen, even the ones on the very edge and in the corners. it takes between 16-20 hours to do so, though.
i’ve been pretty interested in theoretical physics since i was a kid (that explains a lot, i’m sure) and one of the foundations of quantum mechanics is that, eventually, if you give anything enough time (though i use the word “time” loosely) anything and everything will happen, even the most outrageous circumstances. take, for example, the evolution of intelligent life on earth. according to more recent theories, we live in a “multiverse.” basically, there are an infinite number of parallel universes, some only slightly different than ours (like the universe in which you actually studied for your test and passed) and some where humans don’t exist at all. ours is just one of an infinite number of possibilities. eventually, the universe as WE know it had to show up. to further illustrate, there’s a concept called “tunneling” which, if i’m not mistaken, is where an atom or subatomic particle could actually disappear in china and reappear in north carolina. in theory, if you give it enough time, a rock or a human being could experience this tunneling. it’s like gambling: if you play long enough you’re gonna win. unfortunately, the amount of time you’d have to wait is longer than the universe is predicted to remain an active place. all the stars would die out and the universe would be cold and lifeless before you’re likely to see your car disappear and turn up in egypt or something.
and screen savers take about twenty hours to turn every pixel black. but, given the scenario and the event we’re waiting for, it will eventually happen.
but what about Existence in the first place (notice the capital “e”)? why does Existence exist? in all these scenarios i’ve mentioned and many others that i’ve read in the past, there’s a closed system at work and an event on which we’re waiting to occur. i’m not going to resort to saying “who caused the big bang?” because i believe more and more scientists aren’t even sure the big bang happened. but ultimately, everything they theorize on- where the multiverse came from and whatnot- is theorized upon with all these prerequisites. the laws of quantum mechanics work in such a way that eventually we get our universe, right? it’s like the laws of the screen saver. certain equations built into it cause the lines to bounce around at random and therefore, according to this scenario- the operation of which could not take place without a computer, a screen, the screen saver and the pixels- eventually all the pixels will be black. similarly, we need the laws of quantum mechanics, and all the subatomic particles, matter and energy that are governed by those laws to have anything at all. a person made the computer, the screen and the screen saver. who made the laws of quantum mechanics? and if that doesn’t hold water with skeptics, what are the laws of quantum mechanics and nature other than something that is, always has been and always shall be?
i think i know someone like that.
great success, brothers and sisters.
last night was the big show! south side coffee’s a great place and i had a lot of friends there to listen. it was awesome. thanks to everybody who came out. in a few weeks i’ll have some stickers coming in. they’ll be pretty much free and pretty much awesome, though simple. i’ma try to record the next song on we are storytellers in the next couple weeks, but i’m pretty busy lately and i’m trying to get outside more. it’s good for the soul. oh! also i’ve already got another show booked at south side for 18 june. more info on that later. for now, brothers and sisters, i’m going to santa barbara to check out the telegraph brewery. have a wonderful saturday everyone.
new song, “josie”! and an upcoming show!
hey, check out the latest track on “we are storytellers”! it’s called josie. you’ll also notice that there’s a new page on the site titled: “shows”. you know what that means, right? yeah, the first ever my sisters’ brother show is coming up on may 7 at south side coffee in lompoc, california. yeah, i know a lot of you won’t be able to go, but hey, i’m pretty excited about it and i thought y’all should know. werd.
here’s the lyrics to josie. click on the title to go to the albums page and download the track!
josie, this is a song for you
and your family, living so far away
your daylight is fast becoming measured in minutes
and the yarn your mother uses to knit your sweater
is fast becoming measured in inches
josie, this is a song for you
does your brother understand?
josie, do you?
josie, this is a song for you
braver at sixteen than i could ever be
at twenty-three
you’re a light in a room on the other side of town
with four people hangin’ around
while you fade away
josie, this is a song for you
walking into a room without the benefit of edison
with nothing left to do
but lay your head down on the hardwood floors and
go to sleep
and i hope you sleep well, josie
i hope you sleep well
update, my friends! a classic is reborn.
a long time ago when i was a young lad (about a year ago), i thought that every track i on every song i recorded required insane amounts of eq-ing because, well, i had no idea what i was doing (not that necessarily do now, but i think i’ve gotten better). the moral of the story is that i haven’t been happy with the way the song “ad astra per aspera” sounds for quite some time now so i went back to that old project and took (almost) all the effects off the tracks and it sounds, in my humble opinion, far superior. now friends, i present to you the updated and much more punchy sounding, “ad astra per aspera.”
you are always on my mind,
tj
oh my god! i’m on fire!
i took this shot of a picture a kid drew whilst dining at the lompoc restaurant (which we affectionately call “the lompoc diner”). i though it was hilarious. it was like he thought, “how am i gonna finish this? death by lightning bolt,” and then gave himself a verbal pat on the back when it was finished, saying, “good work, bobby. you saved what could have been a rather dull ‘portrait of a stick family.’ they’ll surely hang this in a museum one day.”
huxley beats orwell.
my sister showed me this last night and i think it’s kind of creepy how true it is.
completely beside the point bit of information: whilst growling at something out the window, my dog just farted. it was like, “merrrrrrf.” that’s where larry lives.
waking up.
i wrote these ponderings a couple weeks ago.
it’s a surreal feeling to open your eyes and think about- really realize- where and when you are. i’m not doing anything wildly different from what i might be doing at home or at any other stage of my adult life. i’m wearing my favorite shoes (my ratty sperry’s that i’ve had for a couple years now), my favorite shorts (my dockers-pants-converted-to-shorts shorts that i found in a dumpster), and a black t-shirt whilst sitting at a mexican restaurant to which i walked (but not without jay-walking). it’s a quarter to one in the afternoon. it’s seventy-five degrees outside and it’s the seventh of january. i can feel the breeze on the back of my neck as it makes its way through the open door of the tiny restaurant and suddenly i have this feeling that i just woke up.
i realize that i’m in california. i realize that i’m in the air force (the freaking air force!). i realize that i’m twenty-three, my roommate and the other two chicks i hang out with regularly are people i’ve known for all four months. lauren and my mom and dad are back in kansas city, my oldest friends (extended non-blood family) audrey and anthony (and others, of course) are in virginia beach. jamie’s actually in san diego, which is weird. my beautiful sisters are at school (jen’s in lawrence and molly’s in arkansas). my best friend and brother john is in kentucky and my friends preston, lisa, jason, tricia and and brandy are in missouri and holy crap! where have i been all these years? i’ve known so many people and loved the ones i’m close to, avoided the ones i didn’t like. what the hell happened? (i mean that in a positive way). it’s like it was all a dream, which is a feeling i lament, and now, without warning, i’m waking up in a mexican restaurant in lompoc, california only a five minute walk from my new apartment where i’ve lived for two days.
and it’s a good day to be awake.
new site, new recording, oh yeah.
hello, everyone! and welcome to mysistersbrother.net, the new site dedicated to the musical stylings of tj vazquez and friends. you can still follow @teajams on twitter to be updated when i post a new entry or add a new song to anal bum…i mean, an album.
anywho, in order to celebrate the new folkiness of my sisters’ brother and mysistersbrother.net, i’ve recorded a folk version of the classic nofx song, “linoleum.” this recording features my new accordion (acquired from the goodwill near my apartment for $200), my new glockenspiel (acquired from a cracker barrel in prattville, alabama for $25) and my new compressor (it’s a recording thing…i got it on amazon). for the time being it’s not available in the album section (where you can download all my sisters’ brother music for free!) because (this is the disclaimer) i did not write this song. this song was written and originally recorded by nofx on their album “punk in drublic.” this song (and others you may hear in the future) is but an homage to my favorite band from my teenage years. werd. hear it is (see what i did there?): Linoleum (by NOFX)
