The Bri Pod

Seeking satisfaction just a search term away,
The world traversed by scrolling is now the only way,
That I know how to reach out and be heard to any degree,
I can learn their secrets before they even think to flee.

I need work but this is where I play,
The stakes are very real but it is hard to say,
What is important out here where false authorities declare,
Their wares are worth the winning.

I can track prey all day,
Do they want to hear what I say,
There’s less blood this way,
On a digital hunt.

All these voices form the forest,
No one looking for the trees,
Keywords flying through the air,
Bringing engines to their knees.

Equal footing given out by a platform we all know,
A housewife, student, or business man can now be a one man show,
Blasting their message and falling over each other,
While we run for cover.

I can track prey all day,
Do they want to hear what I say,
There’s less blood this way,
On a digital hunt.

- The Bri Pod

     Man, has anyone used Twitter for the iPad yet? My god did they juice that monkey up! It looks gorgeous and has functionality at the same time. I have no reason to use the official website anymore. The origami-esque action when you pinch a tweet still makes me giggle inside.

    Also, I’m sure everyone’s heard of Epic Citadel on the iPhone, and buy everyone, I mean nerds like me. Although truly anyone can appreciate the amazing graphics being seamlessly run by a frickin’ phone, I mean this is gorgeous. I can only imagine hijacking a time machine and going back to my 6-year-old self playing the original Super Mario Bros. and showing him this shiny diamond. I really don’t have any doubts that 20 years from now I could be playing with handheld devices that project fully rendered holograms. The human race is pumping out crazy technology too quickly.

   In the real world, we got hurricane Earl on the way. I still think it’s funny that we name hurricanes. Since I’m in the Northeast I assume by the time it gets here, we will only see rain and storms, but I wish everyone else on the lower East Coast the best and I hope they make it out safely. 

- The Bri Pod

I’m around, but I’ve been away,
My presence not present in time,
Looking right through you as you’re trying to say,
You feel like you’re wasting your time.

Thinking about the end,
Leaves me running from the start,
A year waiting around for changes,
Finds me further behind this part.

I have faith that more than that will move me,
To make me more than I am currently,
But right now I’m unwilling to face,
The moves that could take me to first place.

Time won’t tire for me,
It keeps pace all the same,
So all these seasons pondering,
Are efforts made in vain.

Doing just a little,
Everyday is quite a feat,
When my fingers keep on dancing,
The craft won’t see defeat.

I have faith that more than that will move me,
To make me more than I am currently,
But right now I’m unwilling to face,
The moves that could take me to first place.

- The Bri Pod

     Whew! It’s been about a week since I’ve last written at all, and for me that’s a while. Lack of discipline and some burnout are the main contributors to the lack of posting, but I’m back for now!

     I’ve been in awe of video games lately, as I’ve become an uber casual player in the past few years. College life kind of made that a necessity as I didn’t want to waste the socialization resources around me. Mainly, living in a huge building with all my friends in it. Some games that have recaptured my interest are WoW and PS3 online games. The Scott Pilgrim 8-bit game is insanely fun and reminiscent of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle beat-em ups. A new and fairly indie game on the PC that has my brother and I going crazy for is MineCraft. The premise of the game is that you have an open world to create whatever you want out of blocks. There are a ton of different types such as ore, wool, lava, wood, soil, etc. The crafting system is pretty in-depth and you can spend a ton of time trying to figure out how to make new tools and building materials. The fun and scary twist is that as night falls, zombies come out to attack you so you have to build a shelter to keep them out. It definitely has a “I Am Legend” vibe to it. Check it out here: http://minecraft.net/   Also, if you go on YouTube and search “MineCraft” you can find a lot of insane videos of peoples’ creations.

- The Bri Pod

A life that’s stressful,
Having to write all the time,
Writer’s block is mine.

- The Bri Pod

    I’ve been doing this blog for the past 6 months or so and eventually I was going to burn out a little bit. There’s no way I’m going to stop, because I love writing and this is a great challenge for me personally. However, there will be times like this when I don’t have lyrics in me. Instead, I’ve written a haiku to at least get the juices going. Haikus by nature are very short so it didn’t take much time. Still, something is better than nothing. 

- The Bri Pod

I’m blissfully ignorant because knowledge of this,
Is enough to send anybody into massive fits,
Of terror, convulsion of tracking these thoughts,
Why are we imprisoned by the things we bought?

And if we catch what we deserve,
We wouldn’t need this stuff, 
Having to hire others to serve,
As wardens of what we should take care of.

Looking straight ahead avoids the flood,
Of needy, greedy shouting that interrupts,
The one single action that settles the score,
A peace of rest, not mining for more.

I teeter over the meter with plastic strikes,
One can’t be undone, but I keep trying right?
The whole being dug begins a new fight,
For a way to win now without doing it right.

Time to tune out from what they’re trying to say,
I have what I need, no need to pay,
For a living that will cost me the rest of my life,
Trying to pay it back.

Looking straight ahead avoids the flood,
Of needy, greedy shouting that interrupts,
The one single action that settles the score,
A peace of rest, not mining for more.

- The Bri Pod

     I know lots of people grew up playing your standard board games such as Monopoly, Sorry!, Candyland, etc. A lot of those games were fun when we were younger, and to some extent they last beyond those years. However, there are a new breed of board games that involve much more strategy and involve a depth of play that keeps you interested for many years to come. I’m talking about games like Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, Kingsburg, Dominion (card based), and Munchkin (also card based).

     If you haven’t heard of these games, give them a search online. They do cost more than your average board games (coming out to about $50 for the more in-depth games), but they are complete and you have everything you will ever need. There are also options to buy expansions to most of these games to add variety and more players to the mix along with modified rules if you wish. I can’t tell you how much fun they are and they certainly represent the most intellectual stimulation and competitive camaraderie I’ve experienced in the medium.

    I recently played a few games with my brother and my friends and it was very refreshing to be gaming in the same room. In a world where internet connections brings us together in most games we play, it is a nice change to play in the same space for once. Trash talking is more effective in person too. :P

- The Bri Pod

We keep rushing through our lives,
Crashing and careening,
Does anything we do have any real meaning?
I may be a little down,
But I’m not out,
I’m trying to find what I should be caring about.

Money motivated for so long,
But after I can live,
The appeal isn’t so strong,
To juice up a number,
Competing for clout,
These are a few things I can do without.

What you got you need to keep,
Close to the heart,
It all comes apart, 
When you start searching for someone to be,
Because you like the idea,
WIthout loving the art.

Astounded by leaps and bounds,
These others make to pursue,
Creating things without expectation of revenue,
Who can keep going by giving for free?
Giving is the clearest sign,
That there’s more than you see.

So the sights can be shortened,
To your neighborhood,
Honing the craft locally,
Creates lot of goods,
With everyone shining within their town,
Spreads the effect of their dream around.

What you got you need to keep,
Close to the heart,
It all comes apart, 
When you start searching for someone to be,
Because you like the idea,
WIthout loving the art.

- The Bri Pod

    I just saw my third movie this week which happened to be Step Up 3. No I didn’t see the 3D version, I thought it would be a little gimmicky. Who knows though? Seeing this movie brought back my desire to take dance classes. Not that it would result in anything close to the moves in the movie, but I just remember how awesome it feels to have a mastery in a chosen field. I love dancing on an amateur level, and if you ever catch me at the club you’ll know it. My moves may not be honed, but I’ve got enthusiasm dammit!

   The movie definitely knew it’s audience well. Gone are the drawn out story lines and indulgent romances. This movie is about dancing and they know it. There was about 10 minutes of the movie where there was no dancing going on and it was weird. Funny enough, by not trying to fill out the rest of the movie with contrived plot, they ended up making a better story because the viewer is able to put their own idea of what is going on between the dance sequences. They give just enough to let you know the characters are people. Also, who really wants to get to know the lives of college student aged characters when you only have 1 hour and a half to see intense dancing?

    Now excuse me while I watch YouTube videos of dancers and try to pick something up.

- The Bri Pod

No longer in charge,
The will is weakened,
Shallow behavior born,
From impulses speaking,
Louder over the clamor,
Of progress made,
No ideas impregnated,
My brain is spayed.

Nothing I’m getting,
Will come on it’s own,
I should have known,
I should have known,
That the same would happen as it had before,
I depended on others to do the work I own.

Easier to speak the failure,
That people make,
When it’s their idea,
The chance they take,
Believing the best has yet to come,
My turn will be better,
If I’m ever done,
Enough to place my work in public.

Nothing I’m getting,
Will come on it’s own,
I should have known,
I should have known,
That the same would happen as it had before,
I depended on others to do the work I own.

- The Bri Pod

    I don’t go to the movies too often, mostly due to the fact tickets cost $10.50+ per person. I remember when they used to cost $6.25 and that seemed like a lot back in the day. However, I couldn’t help myself the past two days. I had to see “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and “The Expendables”. Both movies have been on my radar for the past few months. 

    Scott Pilgrim was something I had to check out because I had read the graphic novels and I’m always curious how they translate to the silver screen. I was pretty happy with how they brought it to movie form. Obviously they had to tweak some things, and the pacing was lightning-quick but the subject matter lent itself to such a treatment. Visually the movie was freaking incredible and the humor of the video game references and quirky style worked well in the movie. I was definitely surprised by some laugh out loud moments. People who haven’t read the graphic novels can fully enjoy the movie and should still check out the paper version of the story afterwards. If anyone has watched the Japanese live action series “Hotman”, look for the two twin Japanese ex-boyfriends in the movie. Unexpected surprise! Hearing the music of Sex Bob-Omb was refreshing after imagining what they sounded like all these years.

    The Expendables was a testosterone-filled cinema experience as expected. It’s still satisfying as hell to see a group of action stars massacre bad guys. I think Jet Li was a bit underused but that’s just my Asian kung-fu movie bias kicking in. Get it? Kicking in? You know what you’re getting when you see the trailer, so if you liked the trailer, go see it. 

- The Bri Pod

In the rut we all get caught,
Choosing what is in the gut,
Can get you cut off from what you want,
When you don’t know what is good.

We’d like to know how both turn out,
That’s not the way this goes,
Only one can be understood,
The other you’ll never know.

Working double duty,
Will never work out,
As much as we’d like it to,
One answer will never be enough,
For those waiting on what to do.

Before you choose, prepare to lose,
The one you left behind,
If not picked, there’s no reason to stick,
Around watching you run loose.

At least you have a say in the way you go,
So the only one to blame is you,
The others have to wonder what they did,
To cause this change in you.

Working double duty,
Will never work out,
As much as we’d like it to,
One answer will never be enough,
For those waiting on what to do.

- The Bri Pod

    Oh the conundrum of the irreversible choice. The agony of having to choose between two things and knowing you can have only of one them is one of the most frustrating situations to be in. It would be nice if we could see how both will turn out, but as we all know, it’s impossible to do so. The scariest part is the fact that if your choice turns out to be bad, there’s no way to go pick the other side.

   Lately I’ve been addicted to listening to Young Money’s “Steady Mobbin’”. I think part of it is my fascination with Lil Wayne’s creepy goblin voice. Speaking of goblins, I just looked up the term on urbandictionary.com and found out it means a higher level of gangster above a goon. I really don’t know where they come up with these terms, but I still think it’s pretty funny. I definitely don’t relate to the lyrics in “Steady Mobbin’” but I love the beat and it’s still catchy as hell.

   With that, enjoy the weekend everybody and I hope we all make decisions we can live with tomorrow, haha.

- The Bri Pod

You’re too scared to switch,
What always stayed the same,
I can’t tell you what to do,
Without being the voice of blame,
Steeling you against,
The thing that we both want,
Pushing just as hard,
But facing opposite the result.

Clean out the constant,
Crying out for our own way,
The rate that we are going,
Seems that we have all day,
We’ll probably never match,
The points conceded equal none,
When we could have gotten something done.

I’m too scared to switch,
The tone I use to talk,
Dealing with things differently,
Means walking the long walk,
And being close to matters,
That matter just too much,
For regular consumption,
The button I never touch.

Clean out the constant,
Crying out for our own way,
The rate that we are going,
Seems that we have all day,
We’ll probably never match,
The points conceded equal none,
When we could have gotten something done.

- The Bri Pod

     I just finished watching the 64 episode-long series “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” and it was good. Real good. It’s so good that it makes the original series look like a turd. The way things work out are so much better, everything makes a lot more sense, and the motivations of major characters are more developed. If you’ve seen the original and have not given the new series a chance yet, it is a MUST SEE. Seriously. Also, the intro music and videos are of a much higher caliber than the original series, if that’s your thing. There is no need for any other additions to this franchise now that Brotherhood did its thing.

- The Bri Pod

Woe for those who don’t see luck,
The way it keeps them out of touch,
So that things that are bad can never turn good,
Too busy thinking about what should have been.

A crash, malfunction can manifest more,
Never knowing what’s in store,
I don’t worry as much anymore,
Cause I keep seeing things I’ve never seen before.

My chances keep changing,
So no one’s fair game for blaming,
What I’ve been given,
Outweighs all that I’ve lost,
Living another day keeps paying off.

Who would want to end,
A streak that allows for so many times to win,
And you can enter more than once,
Just be willing to lose sometimes.

Leaving the rest of my life wide,
Is better than knowing it can’t change at all,
I’ve made it a game,
So it’s still fun wherever the pieces fall.

My chances keep changing,
So no one’s fair game for blaming,
What I’ve been given,
Outweighs all that I’ve lost,
Living another day keeps paying off.

- The Bri Pod

     I’m back from vacation and ready to start writing again! Now that I’m more brown than a loaf of bread, I’ve had enough sun for the month. Enjoy the new lyric post!

- The Bri Pod

A modern journey we’re going through,
Hearing you sing is what we want to do,
Not as easy as it should be, that much is true,
But we’re going to get to you.

Your tower looms over desert dunes,
The field is red with roses bloomed,
The king of crimson throws bombs, and boom!
The road was never clearer.

It’s a long way but we know where we’re going,
Conflict is casual and reoccurring,
The body’s a mess and the back end is through,
But we’re going to get to you.

The ride is easy until metal collides,
Shutting us down, shaking insides,
Wheels work faster than many strides,
Not knowing what we strive to do.

The reality is inconvenient,
Wishes get ignored,
We don’t know what we deserve,
Until options are explored.

It’s a long way but we know where we’re going,
Conflict is casual and reoccurring,
The body’s a mess and the back end is through,
But we’re going to get to you.

- The Bri Pod

      I’m waiting for so many things to happen that it is cluttering my mind. I’m waiting to see if I can get a new job, waiting for my new iMac to arrive, waiting to find out what apartment my roommate and I are going to move into, and I’m waiting for the time I will sit down and focus on my creative work. Point is, there is no time to even wait. I wait so much for things to happen, when I can more actively affect the outcome. In terms of focusing on my creative work and putting more of myself out there, there should be no wait. I need to be doing it now. There are plenty of anxieties and excuses for not doing it, but they are not worth exploring.

     Waiting has become a prominent theme in my life for the past few months. Until a month ago, I was waiting to get out of my old job. All this waiting just brings home the point that I’m not fully enjoying my life right now, which is wrong. There will never be a great time to take risks, so taking them as soon as you can without a huge detriment to yourself and others is necessary. At least then time will be on my side to repair the damage if there is any.

     On a lighter note, has everyone seen the Bed Intruder Remix done by Auto-Tune the News? Awesome example of people making the best of a crappy situation. Run and tell that, homeboy.

I get the impression that this will last,
Only as long as you see my face,
So these minutes will have to work wonders,
And the traces can keep you coming back.

You’ll start out knowing nothing,
But you’ll know soon enough,
If you want to run with it,
Before time runs out.

We are strangers for only so long,
This is our time, just for this song,
Move in and move out,
I think we’re getting along.

By now we got across,
What we’re trying to sell,
The elevator pitch,
Never floored me this well.

All these numbers to record,
Repeat them so they run upstairs,
We gambled hard,
And made more appear.

We are strangers for only so long,
This is our time, just for this song,
Move in and move out,
I think we’re getting along.

- The Bri Pod

     Whoo! I got to go to two concerts this past weekend that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. The first was Chromeo @ The House of Blues, and the other was Lights @ The Middle East Upstairs. Chromeo pulled out all the stops with their keyboards that had lady legs that lit up. They rarely come to Boston, so this was a show I couldn’t miss. Lights also comes around to Boston fairly rarely so seeing her was another opportunity I had to jump on. She was doing her acoustic tour so it was pretty special. She’s only doing 6 dates in the US. 

    Getting to the Lights concert was another story. Long story short: I got rear-ended by a woman going 30 mph, had to get my car towed, walked 1.5 miles back to my apartment to get my friends car, and then we both drove into Boston. I had planned on getting to the show an hour early so we could be right up front, but that definitely wasn’t possible afterwards. I still got good videos from where I was standing, and she played some material she had never played live before so that was a treat.

    So now I have a rental car while my car gets repaired. It’s actually an upgrade in some respects. I have leather seats now, a sun roof, and Sirius radio! It’s a Ford Fusion so it does handle very differently than my car (Nissan Sentra). I’m going to enjoy trying out something new while it lasts.

- The Bri Pod

Activate fluff speak,
Tone creeks sounding weak,
Describing sound is subjective,
With no point getting across.

What is crunchy or shimmering,
About my power chord?
I’ll know it when I hear it,
No thesaurus left unexplored.

I hear it coming again.

Sound speak loses meaning,
With every single review,
Reading each one,
Leaves me knowing less than I already knew,
Nothing can capture the sound of being there,
You can keep on writing, but I don’t really care.

Brutal beats, blazing streaks,
Of notes running amok,
Maybe you can do it better,
But you don’t, so you can’t talk.

Grow your genre garden,
Labels falling from the sky,
Can water convoluted chatter,
The groupings always lie.

I hear it coming again.

Sound speak loses meaning,
With every single review,
Reading each one,
Leaves me knowing less than I already knew,
Nothing can capture the sound of being there,
You can keep on writing, but I don’t really care.

- The Bri Pod

   I was doing some preliminary job searching and came across some postings looking for writers for music blogs. I won’t mention which one, but they had set criteria they wanted their writers to keep in mind when producing music reviews. After the list of criteria, they proceeded to write out an example review that shows off everything you’re not supposed to do. The example they made went so far out of its way to be “bad” and hit upon all the wrong criteria. It was painful to read what they thought was a humorous way of illustrating a bad review. Now comes the weird part. They linked to three of their reviews that supposedly show the style of their blog, and it had lots of elements of the “bad” reviews! Which leads me to the thought that music reviews in general are bullshit.

      You cannot really describe all aspects of music through writing. The music blog actively discourages the use of music theory terms or anything that would seem too snooty and unaccessible. Unfortunately, music theory terms and other standardized language is there for a reason: so that people will know what you mean. I do agree that it can get crazy and alienating if all you say goes over people’s heads, but is fluff language such as “shimmery” and “crunchy” really going to help that much either? You basically have to spice up music reviews with unique language, or so it seems most times I’ve read them, but does it really give the reader an impression of the sound or if they’d like the music?

       If you hear about a band and even take an interest at all in listening to new music, then you’ll do just that: listen to it. Then you can judge for yourself. And in the end, isn’t that the only person you need to convince?

- The Bri Pod

Of all the things I learned in school,
I forgot what I already knew,
The way it feels to care,
For things and people too.
We always study the what,
While the why escapes us all,
The second degree keeps burning me,
My fear needs to withdraw.

I can justify anything,
So I am never wrong,
If I could be just half as strong as I should, (as I should)
It wouldn’t take this long,
To see what I am doing,
Is everything I hate,
I hope that you are willing to wait.

Older should be wiser,
But experience allows mistakes,
If anything, I’ve just had more time,
For the risks I take to evacuate,
Any chance of taking away,
A lesson to be learned,
Everything both good and bad,
Must equally be earned.

I can justify anything,
So I am never wrong,
If I could be just half as strong as I should, (as I should)
It wouldn’t take this long,
To see what I am doing,
Is everything I hate,
I hope that you are willing to wait.

I don’t believe it’s too late,
To remember what I knew,
Chasing the paths already past,
Is hopeless; time already flew,
But I can see where I have been,
And pick another route,
The messenger has made his mark,
I’m glad I didn’t shoot.

- The Bri Pod

    If anyone out there is an Apple freak like me, you know that they just updated their whole line of iMacs, as well as the Mac Pro and their cinema displays. I have been waiting on the new iMac for a long time, since my black MacBook is now 4 years old and is showing its age. The iMac hasn’t been updated since late 2009, so it was about time that they got some love and just in time for my laptop to die. The fan in my MacBook is broken, so the thing won’t stay on for more than an hour without overheating and shutting itself down.

   Now that my tech gear is getting all fixed up, it’s time my mindset gets an update also. I have been focusing too much on the negative aspect of things in my life, when I have so much to be grateful for. Also, it’s starting to affect all the parts of my life when all I can think about are the bad side of things. It’s funny, because before college, I had no problem with seeing the positive side of things, but it’s almost as if my experiences in those four years made me forget how to do that. I thought I was supposed to learn more! Goes to show you that’s not a guarantee. 

  Hope everyone’s doing well this Wednesday and for those buying some new tech, have fun!

- The Bri Pod

Favors done just to gain favor,
A process that keeps me going in circles.
Signs show that all the materials,
Don’t make the man.

Disguised demands receive no answer,
Nothing goes according to plan.
When I wait for others,
To notice my doings,
And open their hands.

I give,
So forgive me,
For watching to see,
If it turns into something,
Something for me,
A result for effort,
Is all that I need,
I want growth for providing the seed.

This behavior lacks flavor,
Something will return.
For wanting this way,
I have so much to learn.

For what I withhold,
Grabs hold anyway,
The conflict is payment,
Due to me someday.

I give,
So forgive me,
For watching to see,
If it turns into something,
Something for me,
A result for effort,
Is all that I need,
I want growth for providing the seed.

- The Bri Pod

     I find myself thinking too much about what I will get in return for doing things for others. I didn’t used to be this way, but I guess seeing situations where other people are taken advantage of has brought it to the forefront of my mind. 

     Just doing things for people as a default comes with its own good feeling and really that should be enough. I just want to erase the hesitation I have at times to do things for people because I wonder if they’d do the same in my situation. Takes time though!

    In other news, I am back from New York and I’m trying to make sure I don’t derail my regular posting schedule. This entry is definitely late and counts more as an early Tuesday post rather than a Monday one, but it is complete! Thanks for bearing with me.

- The Bri Pod

    For the first time in about 6 months, I won’t be posting as scheduled! I will be in rural parts of New York for the weekend. Scheduled programing will resume after. Have a good one everyone!

- The Bri Pod

Rolling around in reasons,
None fit the bill,
Leaving opportunity,
Is the thrill designed to fill,
Up all the wasted moments,
Deciding when to quit,
Both of us are hurt,
When we know we’re not a fit.

Quitters prosper,
Quitters prosper,
From moving away from everything we hate,
It’s not too late to learn,
Some bridges should be burned.

Everyone will say,
We keep finding the easy way out,
If it were that easy,
Why can’t they do it,
There’s nothing to prove,
By being more miserable,
Than the person over the partition,
Both of them lose and…

Quitters prosper,
Quitters prosper,
From moving away from everything we hate,
It’s not too late too learn,
Some bridges should be burned.

Free at last,
Free from feeling guilt,
For wanting to be somewhere,
A place that we have built,
Then what we do,
Will rule our lives,
Instead of living under rule.

- The Bri Pod

     I am a free man. In the sense that I allow myself to leave jobs/ventures that prove to be detrimental to me. It is risky and I usually don’t know what will happen next, but the thought of staying or doing something that I hate for a long time drives me nuts. I am lucky in that regard, financially not as much.

    I’m in between my next major job and the last one, and I find myself wondering what I’m going to do. I am still working on consistently posting on this blog as well as writing songs from some of the lyrics that are here and in the archives. I’d ideally like to pursue creative ventures full time, but I just don’t have the money to do that while not working a traditional job. I feel most people start out that way though.

  In other news, I just purchased a premium account on Flavors.me so I could use my custom domain: www.thebripod.com for it. It’s going to be my digital business card that links to all my online ventures. I really like the service they provide. It’s really simple to set up and looks great once you have a nice HD photo as your background. They have free accounts, but for more features it’s only $20 a year.

  Here’s to trying to do what you love!

- The Bri Pod

Going forward,
Brings back the memories,
Of times like this,
Seeking the secret,
To prevent the problems,
We all know exist.

It’s good we don’t know,
How to solve this,
Cause it keeps us moving on,
We go where we’re needed,
What we need is never far.

Many days don’t guarantee,
Success or even joy,
Living’s not the default,
It’s something to employ,
Our best chance,
Is just to take one.

It’s good we don’t know,
What’s up ahead,
If we knew how much more,
There was in store,
We’d never do a thing and never win.

- The Bri Pod

    An interesting and frustrating thing happened to me this weekend. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do at all. I constantly battle with the thought that I should be outside when it’s nice out, otherwise I’m missing out on a good day. However, I do know how valuable a full day at home can be, especially for working on projects that I want to finish.

   So what I ended up doing was driving on the highway aimlessly while deciding where I wanted to go. I live in an area that is close to a bunch of more populated areas, so it sometimes makes the choice of where to go that much more difficult. Not to mention I wanted to accomplish a certain amount of things, so finding a central hub that would take care of all my needs was a bit difficult.

  In my indecision, I ended up driving way too far up the highway and just ended up regretting going out in the first place. I kept comparing the time wasted driving to how much stuff I could have gotten done at home. 

  Lesson learned: choose quickly because making that choice is better than none at all, and the time I spent choosing could have been used for things I wouldn’t have regretted.

- The Bri Pod

We’ve been here before,
But never stood ground,
On the streets we see everyday,
Locked in our cars.

Taking care to speed,
Destinations are meant to be met,
Those sights we see,
Are not what we get.

A drive-by viewing,
Not knowing how it feels,
To run through town,
On anything but wheels.
Going much further,
Without doing as much,
I can go anywhere but,
I’m still out of touch.

Rage sets the stage,
For something so passing,
Avoid the consequence,
Floor the pedal, keep on gassing.

Eye contact,
Is a challenge in disguise,
Glass windows keep us separated,
The safety we rely on.

A drive-by viewing,
Not knowing how it feels,
To run through town,
On anything but wheels.
Going much further,
Without doing as much,
I can go anywhere but,
I’m still out of touch.

We never need to meet,
The oil has us licked,
We can’t admit defeat,
The world watches the drip.

[I realized that I drive through the same places everyday but I don’t actually know what it’s like to be in those places cause I’m in my car. I’ve never walked most of those streets or been outside there. It just seems to me that it’s so weird that we never actually get to “be” in the places we go by all the time.]

- The Bri Pod

Are they laughing at me?
Or am I writing dialog,
See the words their mouthing, 
Interpret how I want,
The breath is barely breaching,
Weak waves in the ear canal,
They are merely speaking,
About someone or something else.

I am at the center,
The center of my own mind,
Believing people are staring,
Why is the world so unkind?
I am at the center,
Of thoughts that are my own,
No one even noticed,
My ignorance has shown.

On guard at every glance,
Keeps life much too grim,
They stare at me,
Because they see me staring at them,
No wonder I wonder why eyes are drawn,
From the sheath of their lids,
To the butt of a gun.

I am at the center,
The center of my own mind,
Believing people are staring,
Why is the world so unkind?
I am at the center,
Of thoughts that are my own,
No one even noticed,
My ignorance has shown.

[Sometimes I’m paranoid that I overhear someone talking smack about me, haha. I know 9/10 times it’s nothing; this is my apology to the world.]

- The Bri Pod

Crowding all the choices,
Are the chances to improve,
We get nothing done,
Cause we’re all too scared to move,
Tripping through the trenches,
Each commitment is a bomb,
Words get thrown around,
But a look will easily disarm.

We do everything to prove,
That we have the moves,
The moves to do what we say we’ll do,
When we stop talking and tell the truth,
We do nothing.

Thinking leads to sinking,
In the holes we plotted out,
This idea is our baby,
Conceived but not delivered,
With our deadline looming over,
We find ways to push it back,
Maybe we need another plan,
To keep ourselves on track.

We do everything to prove,
That we have the moves,
The moves to do what we say we’ll do,
When we stop talking and tell the truth,
We do nothing.

- The Bri Pod

I can turn on you,
Faster than you feel me out,
The debate is useless,
No longer about dealing with issues,
Just who comes out on top.

The sick thing is you bring up a point,
But I still know how to leverage your feelings,
To make you worry,
And change the villain from me to you,
Even though I was the original criminal.
I don’t know which mind set is right,
When having to hedge the truth,
Do I belong in the society whose company I keep,
Are they even deserving?
We forgive each other so many times,
But the wound is still burning,
From when they turned a blind eye,

I can turn on you,
Faster than you feel me out,
The debate is useless,
No longer about dealing with issues,
Just who comes out on top.

Cleaning house and delouse,
Is the option I’ve considered,
I can do solo this time,
This nature has been triggered,
By feeling it was the same for a while.

- The Bri Pod

I try to take all the good things from my parents,
They gave me lots of things, not just my appearance,
I want them to know that their morals weren’t in vain,
I’ll try to pass on more than just our last name,
Never really thought about gaining their approval,
But someone will have to fan the flames upon their removal,
From this world, a thought I don’t like to entertain,
The legacy deserves a shot when only my brother and I remain,
We may amount to more than just a stain that missed a tissue,
Joking about my place in life does not address the issue,
Of what I should do when I become the patriarch,
Deciding the direction of the people that I care about.

These genes grant me this life,
Coding what I can do,
Charting my potential,
Am I influential enough,
To merit a reissue?

I wrestle with the best and worst of thoughts,
Do I do things for myself, even if they don’t seem to be enough,
Being the spawn of someone else feels like an obligation,
To make a change in the world or just improve my station,
If I can’t shoot farther than the people of the past,
What’s the point of making sure that my loins will last,
Long enough to sow a field in my own image,
Diminishing returns is a fear that I still deal with,
I can provide an insight, but I may not provide the roof,
To sleep under when the kids are underwhelmed,
By the hand that brings the food,
The hunters in the world gather around the age of information,
Rendering their services moot by machines and imagination,
Creating the beasts of burden who do not feel a damn thing,
Who can want for more, when we seem to have everything.

These genes grant me this life,
Coding what I can do,
Charting my potential, 
Am I influential enough,
To merit a reissue?

My words,  my choice, a rewrite is in the vein,
Of service I give freely for I do not claim to know a thing,
About my own future, so a No. 2 is mandatory,
To erase the things I say,
To accurately portray what will be history,
If my children come to be,
Aware that their father was as confused as they will see,
Themselves becoming when it’s their turn to designate,
What’s important in their hearts, what gives their own words weight,
So they can feel creditable claiming a dream that will not fade,
When the next generation goes to see their missions made,
A complete circle, paying homage to their heirs,
While risking what they gave them just to see how they will fare,
During their lifetime, a burden always bared.

- The Bri Pod

We’re holding each other in a doorway,
Will you let me in,
Will you let me stay?

I did so many things,
To put me standing here,
Halfway out the door,
And halfway on my rear,
I wanted to see what would happen,
If I tested both outcomes,
Now I find myself here saying,
“How come?”

We’re holding each other in a doorway,
Will you let me in,
Will you let me stay?

You have your way,
And I stand by mine,
The results are messy when we combine,
Two strong wills are too strong together,
One knows best, but the other knows better.

We’re holding each other in a doorway,
Will you let me in,
Will you let me stay?

So now I have my answer,
But I don’t have you,
A fairly large loss by the time we’re through,
Shouting through the walls,
Both our faces are blue,
Isn’t that what couples are supposed to do?
And now…

We’re holding each other in a doorway,
Will you let me in,
Will you let me stay?

Brace for impact,
The embrace is coming,
The culture of undoing,
Leaves nobody wanting,
We can say we’re sorry and now everything’s ok,
If we have another problem,
We can fight, then apologize another day.

We’re holding each other in a doorway,
Will you let me in,
Will you let me stay?

- The Bri Pod

I don’t get mad,
I get even,
Even when the odds are against me,
Odds are I don’t really care,
And I won’t get away unharmed.

Who can see all the sides,
When we’re trapped inside a head,
Staring through others but never seeing,
The back of ourselves.

And something’s there,
In the back of the mind,
Dissecting humanity,
Into fine lines,
That once crossed will never come back,
To being relatable.

The gavel comes down,
Hard on the backs,
Of everyone else,
Seeing what they lack,
Is a lack of my ability,
To see the best.

Harsh is the hatred,
Of different manners,
But I must make a judgement one way,
Rather than no opinion at all,
Cause that’s when I know I gave up.

- The Bri Pod

Repeat the retching of all the lines,
Made to turn the dirty into something divine,
A peace of mind, the problem persists,
Why do you need to keep thinking like this?
Nature designs with its own will,
Spaces allotted, but we tend to fill,
Up the air with imagined purpose,
Leaving no time to kill.

Parts and pieces,
Meet for different reasons,
Mystery is out of season,
For things we now believe in.

An impulse will repulse,
Those who think too much,
Being automatic is proof enough,
That it exists for a reason,
The source is somewhere,
The study of everything makes it harder to share,
What you really like for fear of being placed,
Under the microscope.

Parts and pieces,
Meet for different reasons,
Mystery is out of season,
For things we now believe in.

The innards are out now,
We don’t know how to quit,
The pursuit of happiness takes a backseat,
To the pursuit of knowing,
How everything will pan out,
A world of spoilers for every behavior,
Our movie is boring,
Roll credits.

- The Bri Pod

You’re a great recipient,
Of constructive criticism,
No sign of indignity,
Or hint of cynicism,
When seemingly attacked,
In all the wrong ways,
Your patience plays with their minds,
Making them angry,
When you don’t seem to mind.

Are the others so predictable?
That taking two steps apart,
Changes the outlook,
Aren’t you so smart,
Now the vultures have nothing left to eat,
Have to break their circle,
Admit defeat,
Without a bone to pick.

They ignite this bright,
Looking for a fight,
Between stances,
Of saying things wrong,
When trying to make right,
That they get branded.

- The Bri Pod

Free to make decisions,
Don a different hat,
A looser foothold,
Now a free fall,
From the place that I am at,
Driven out by money drought,
I’m not about to act,
That I can live on dreams alone,
I need a wall behind my back.

Cash cows are crying,
The well’s been dry for days,
I left the safety of salary,
Cause dying doesn’t pay.

Paychecks still lack persuasion,
When the job becomes a chore,
Once the basic needs are met in life,
We start looking for some more,
Meaning in the muddle,
Are we making any dents,
If there’s signs of life more pressing,
Than the paying of our rents.

Cash cows are crying,
The well’s been dry for days,
I left the safety of salary,
Cause dying doesn’t pay.

Now what I see,
Is meant to be,
Happier for the moment,
That life’s legs stretch,
Just a little further,
Deliver the final component.
Experience is a prince,
The heir of higher living,
What others take from us,
Is what we should be giving,
Ourselves a chance,
To learn what we do best,
The best is the beginning.

- The Bri Pod

I told them once,
Now I’m telling them twice,
These kids just don’t want to take my advice,
And that’s fine at first,
Until I need to be involved,
With the problems they create,
That could have easily been solved,
By caring enough to make a better process,
Simple and clean, none of this nonsense,
Rushing to finish so they can be quick to rest,
Not all work is a test,
To see who’s fastest,
Maybe we just want the job done right,
For once this month,
Don’t put up a fight,
Or I’ll put out your lights,
Rather than put up with another string of sleepless nights.

Being in charge,
Drains my battery,
Would I rather deal with fear or flattery,
Coming from those under my command,
I only have two hands,
But now I lead an army,
Whose work reflects on me.

Getting undermined,
Every single time one sits down,
And decides for the the others,
That it’s their turn now,
To pick up the slack caused by his own failure,
If you don’t do jack,
Do you think they’ll still pay you?
Now the dominoes are set up,
The influence is there,
When one falls down,
Will the others still care,
Enough to not go down too,
As easy as you make it look,
They’ll want to follow you,
Until no one does what they’re supposed to.

Being in charge,
Drains my battery,
Would I rather deal with fear or flattery,
Coming from those under my command,
I only have two hands,
But now I lead an army,
Whose work reflects on me.

Thanks for the knife in the back,
The momentum will never come back,
I saw the problem mounting,
But I never attacked,
So now we have the fragment,
Of the former working force,
By taking the easy way,
You forced them all off course,
And of course it’s no big deal,
Because you’re not in charge,
The finger points right at my face,
All you can do is shrug,
I may look the fool for not being able to control you,
But you also suffer the same issue.

What’s scariest to me after higher education,
Is the lack of a defined path,
Concrete motivation,
Who does the hand holding,
When teachers go separate ways,
Where is the proof that,
Hard work really pays?
I have no more numbers,
To measure my performance,
But a salary is at the ready,
To show what success is,
I guess what really worries me,
Is what the world is after,
Constantly pushing others,
Just to climb the corporate ladder,
I don’t want a life of weighing,
Benefits against the pain,
Of crafting a career,
Just to save my parents’ name.

[Chorus]
Paper plans are no guarantee,
For a life that’s satisfactory,
Doing what we love may not impress,
But it’s gotta be better than feeling like this.

I have a skill set,
I get that,
But I don’t have a safe bet,
Lying up ahead,
Living with my parents,
Is what I’m about to get,
If I can’t leverage opportunities,
Fleeting in these times,
Nothing as definite,
As my love for writing rhymes.
What we have here now is a failure to communicate,
Didn’t anyone tell the economy,
We’re about to graduate?
I could spend more time blaming,
All the things around me,
What I fear the most now,
Is the quality of my traits,
The factors truly at play?
Well I guess I’ll have to wait.

[Chorus]
Paper plans are no guarantee,
For a life that’s satisfactory,
Doing what we love may not impress,
But it’s gotta be better than feeling like this.

- The Bri Pod

TV narratives intrigued me most,
When I didn’t have my own story,
No plot to turn to on a given day,
My life since has been pretty boring,
A train of thought,
In the dream I had,
Took me through a show,
Of living life the way I watch,
Others who play them know.

The people inside the box,
Seem to be having all the fun,
Then the cameras power down,
And the lights flick off,
To bring them back to life,
Where the soundtrack exists,
Only in your head,
If you’re optimistic to boot,
The next line lies not on pages,
To find your next excuse.

Focus framed the scenes,
Cutting out the edges,
A false sense of security,
Makes the people pleasant,
When they don’t have to deal,
With the rest of the picture,
Where everyone else dwells.

Narration needs no other,
The events always come,
In different order,
But that’s how I know it’s real,
And if I want this life,
This is how I feel,
About making one outside of observing.

- The Bri Pod

The tone I’m setting,
Doesn’t atone for much,
Offending others with,
A lingering crutch,
From days of working,
Inside a hardened shell,
Repelling discomfort,
Through a taste of hell.

Raised rightly,
A deviation away,
From observed mannerisms,
To this day have paid,
Off in placing me above,
The traits of trash,
I forgot where I came from,
Need to find my way fast.

These days I’m continuing,
The trail of mistakes,
That lead them right to me,
Getting what’s coming,
With lingering taste,
Is abrasive but most deserving.

Softening the image,
Will be the way out,
Of a cycle stripping away,
What I care about,
And if I really cared to keep,
Things better than before,
I need to clean the core.

- The Bri Pod

Pitch going flat out,
When pushed too hard this way,
The car can barely hold,
The singing overlaid,
On top of audio waves,
With much more accurate taste.

The moving room barrels on,
The shifting gears and changing song,
In between destination,
But it’s where I belong,
Letting go in broad sight.

Side by side,
When lights go red,
They stare at me,
I look ahead,
Read my lips to tune in,
While I dance with wheel in hand.

Embarrassment afflicts,
Those not in the moment,
Cause I’m completely unaware,
Of all potential opponents,
Pointing out the differences,
In how I find enjoyment.

Switch lanes, switch names,
Talk trash, don’t crash,
I can only hope to get there fast,
But the music lasts too long,
I can’t hear every song.

- The Bri Pod

Sustenance streaming from a steady grip,
Fruit hanging from the hip,
Of motherly mammals,
Who don’t skim on the whole,
Experience of taste,
Entering your bowl.

Grazing for days,
So the flavor stays intact,
Through the process of pulling,
These rubber handles down,
Floods of chalk draw,
Lines to all our mouths.

Pillars pulsing with,
The nourishment needed,
By infants craving,
Something warm right away,
Never knowing the source,
On fields in open air,
As long as it’s in steady supply,
They will never have to care.

Keep it coming,
We have cartons to fill,
The squeezing of these pieces,
Makes the beasts worth paying bills,
For the fountain flows,
And knows no bounds.

[I asked my Twitter followers to suggest a lyric topic for me to write about, and one suggestion I got was to write about cow udders. This is the result.]

- The Bri Pod