::: luke :::

HALLOWEEEEEN!!!

2008-11-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

hello friends. it looks like i have failed again to post on this thing consistently. oh well. i'll regulate my life someday. or maybe never. probably never. that's okay. well... you'll be glad to know that i've been using my time wisely. i built a killer halloween maze and filmed myself going through it:

http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=34105754

check it out!!! (click the link)

i also carved some super cool pumpkins.

i also wore a blow up horse costume but i do that every year so it's not that cool.

then i passed out candy to little children but i underestimated how many kids would come to my house and i ran out of candy!!! it was so awful. i had to watch the cute little kids in costumes run up to my door all excited for candy and then i walk out with an empty bowl and have to tell them i'm an idiot and i ran out cause i was giving the first kids huge handfulls... i'm an idiot. eventually i couldn't bare seeing the disappointment on their faces so i made a sign that said "out of candy, sorry :( " and i hid in my room and cried. not really but basically.

anyways.

well... that's basically all i wanted to say for now. just wanted to make sure you guys knew about the maze!

hope everyone had a super great halloween.

peace&love!

-luke.

'tis the season!

2008-09-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

hello friends and brothers and fathers and mothers and sisters and misters and young careless lovers!

it has been a while since i wrote here. today i want to show you some photos from my recent summer adventures:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058349&l=f0122&id=34105754

please click that link and check it out!!!

the weather is beginning to turn and words cannot describe the boundless joy that is welling up within me oh and i just might explode it is so stunning all the time all around me i sometimes can't bear the weight of beauty!

this time i plan to wear as many seasonal sweaters as possible so i can tell it's going to be a good year.

well i use a lot of exclamation points lately so that's good!

look. i have a lot of new songs i'm trying to record and put out but you have to be patient with me because well i just want to be outside all the time and i can't really work on my music when i'm kayaking down the chicago river except well i write new songs in my head but that doesn't help anybody except me cause it's like survival in a way: write write or die!!! but i promise to stop keeping it all to myself.

if you want to keep up to date on the songs that i finish i have added a "new releases" section to the music page on the lukedot website so check that out frequently: www.lukedot.net/music.html

okay well have a wonderful day and listen close because God is in the wind and he is whispering!

-luke.

super sweet

2008-07-10T12:42:00.001-07:00

i want a cat that can play the piano!!!

hmmm. but i have a super cool cat.

mine can hump pillows!

and play dead!

and drink beer!

and play hide & seek!

what more could you ask for in a cat? plus he's a huge fatty which is pretty funny/cool.

so sweet.

-luke.

on the road

2008-05-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

hey everyone. i am currently in northville MI, hanging out with my family. john, amy (john's girlfriend), graham and i are on the road for the next week and a half, playing shows and making friends. so far it's been AMAZING. our kick-off show at lily's in chicago went pretty good, but i don't think we were really functioning together as a band and as friends. our lansing show at mac's bar, on the other hand, couldn't have gone better. everyone was so kind and encouraging and we gave away TONS of cd's and buttons, etc. people were eager to sign up for the mailing list, which never happens, and everyone just responded really well in general. one kid, named ross, came up to me right after our set and told me that he was so impressed and he was gonna follow the band and come see us whenever we came back through town, he was so excited to listen to the cd and i told him to send me a message... then he told me that i have the soul of an eagle, which is awesome cause i was wearing a feather in my headband and i feel like an eagle represents me pretty well... then ross told me that we need to do shrooms together. ross made my day so bright because he was just so genuine and friendly and encouraging, and he even wanted to share his psychedelic drugs with me! haha.

later that night we hung out at a friend's house from lansing, and we were having a great time till like 5am until a cop came and gave christina, the girl who's house we were at, a ticket for noise violation! it was so lame... but luckily we had made a little over $100 bucks or so from the gig and we were able to pay for most of the ticket... so nobody really got screwed. it was worth it though cause we were basically having a dance party on the roof of her house and it was the best time ever.

tonight we played an acoustic (sorta) set at the plymouth coffee bean. it was super awesome and i had so much fun. i always love playing there because i really feel at home. connecting with the audience always seems inevitable in that small intimate room, and when i sing those words that are from my heart i feel like those people are my best friends and my family. it is a beautiful and comforting feeling. i kept forgetting words though cause we played tons of songs that i haven't played in a while, but we all laughed about it and in the end i remembered most of it! ha. people whistled really great on tin-man... they always whistle so good at the bean! thanks so much to everyone who came out to see us.

tomorrow we'll be playing a full band show at Genitti's little theater in northville. it's gonna be cool but i have a predilection for the intimate acoustic setting. but i will most definitely still have a fun time tomorrow night and i am excited. after that we're off to cleveland, then columbus, then louisville, then nashville, then back! it's gonna be super cool.

well... i'll probably write more later. i'm so mad, i have a bunch of sweet pictures to put up but i forgot the chord to transfer them to my computer! if i can't find a way to post them i'll do it right when i get back.

LOVE!
luke.

funny video

2008-05-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

this video made me laugh so hard!

these videos made me smile and laugh, too:

love,
luke.

the importance of climbing trees

2008-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

hello!!!

lately i have bronchitis so i haven't been climbing very many trees, but spring is emerging in chicago and i feel that i've forgotten or neglected the importance of climbing trees, and/or engaging with nature in other ways. i also feel that i've fallen out of touch with myself and others around me. it's been a hard semester but i'm determined to make this spring a time of renewal in my life. i plan on journaling a lot more consistently again, not on this thing, but in my real journal. i also have been trying to make my social interactions much more meaningful and frequent. i'm immersed in such beautiful diversity everyday and it's a complete shame that nobody ever talks to anybody, so i've been trying to come up with sweet/awkward questions to ask strangers that will make their usually ordinary day much less ordinary. yesterday i talked with the Lisa the nurse practitioner at the walk-in clinic and it was the best part of my day. she was so kind and our conversation was very sincere, unlike many conversations between strangers. maybe i should start reading more poetry again.

here's a picture i like a lot:

lately i've been learning how to screen print, but it's proven to be sort of difficult. i was talking to my good friend chelsea today and we came up with the brilliant idea of printing a cool design on the back of a button up flannel shirt, but really it'd be the front cause they would be SMOCKS!!!! so genius. i also got some fanny packs and i'm printing a picture of a bicycle on the from and it says "i want to ride my bicycle!" like the queen song cause that's so true in my life, and i think everyone sorta wants to ride a bicycle, to some degree or another, so i'm confident people will relate to that.

well, i think i'm gonna go to the beach and throw a frisbee and try to learn somethings from the wind and the waves and the sand. then i will ride my bicycle to the art store and get some more paint to make smocks.

i hope you, reader, are having a wonderful day full of positivity and vitality.

peace&love.

-luke.

from the whales vagina (happy Saint Patrick's Day!)

2008-03-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

hello friends. well, it's saint patrick's day and i'm in san diego visiting my sister sarah. we're actually about 30 minutes out of the city in a town called Encinitas. it's pretty cool here. everything feels like a beach resort. the weather is nice and warm.

today we're going to disney land wearing matching t-shirts. it's funny because the logo on our shirts just says "HOME" and i wrote this song on the plane ride here called "home" ... and the idea behind the song is that home is in the people you're with and the memories you share. the song presents a definition of the concept of home as something more than the place where you grew up... or a house with walls. for me it's not a place or a certain configuration of wood and stones. for me, the old cliche, "home is where your heart is" holds a lot of truth... but my heart is not lost in some distant place that i long for... my heart is with the people i long for..

and so today, as i'm here in this unfamiliar place, sleeping on an unfamiliar couch with unfamiliar blankets on an unfamiliar pillow... i am HOME, precisely because i am with my beautiful sister and she has my heart. and later today, when we're traversing the vast land of Disney, i will be right at home as long as she is nearby. and forever after this day of disney magic i will think back to these fond memories, and the mere thought of them will take me home.

speaking of memory... last night we played tons of card games from our childhood, including memory, spit, liar liar (a.k.a. bull shit), go fish! and more. we also played catch phrase. ah. it was quite the game night. it brought back fond memories of family vacations and playing those games with my siblings in random RV's on random campgrounds. good times. that is what i mean when i say home. those moments with those people. that is home, to me.

well. i gotta get ready for the big day. hope you all have a wonderful saint patty's day!

peace&love.

-luke.

ps. i'll post photos of my trip when i get back.

okay, seriously... (part 2)

2008-02-26T23:43:00.001-08:00

this video is truly amazing and it entirely alleviates all of the anxieties i expressed in my last post. i mean, seriously... watching this reminded me that everything is simple, and simply beautiful. it also made me laugh a lot:

thank you chelsea for sharing this joyful video with me.

-luke.

okay, seriously...

2008-02-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

welll. i was kind of joking about learning how to ride bicycles in the way demonstrated below... but i wasn't joking about buying a bicycle for my own transportation purposes. i haven't yet done so. but once i do, i'll probably throw a party for it and you're all invited.

okay well, i did want to say something real. not to get too serious, but lately i've been doubting myself a lot... mainly in terms of my musical abilities. i feel like all the new material i've been writing is ordinary and lacks some serious creativity. the kind of innovation that i feel i used to display in my writing. and honestly, this is the first time i've ever said this, which could mean that i've just been arrogant my whole life about my abilities and now i'm finally seeing that i'm not the best composer ever. or maybe i'm just having self esteem issues and i really am not that bad...

either way, i just wanted to put this out there... if anyone believes in the music that i make, and believes that there's power behind it to inspire and to evoke emotion, then this is the time that i need to hear it the most. often i don't care for praise because i don't need it when i believe in myself enough already. but this week it is hard to really believe that i can make an impact with my music.

i think it has a lot to do with the fact that i've been studying so much for school and all the stuff i'm learning about is, in general, very depressing... sociology and global politics are full of daunting injustices that are hard for me to even wrap my head around, let alone devise plans for their eradication that are realistic. i'm 20. i feel old enough that i should be doing significant things, but my time all seems to fly by and nothing real is accomplished... and at the same time i feel so young that i can't imagine how i am supposed to make a real difference in the world because of my youth and naivety. these things all weigh on me, and undoubtedly contribute to my feeling of worthlessness when it comes to my music. my music is, in the end, the means by which i hope to accomplish many of my goals in life... but with such big goals and so little knowledge and preparation, my music is bound to appear powerless to affect change in the face of such monumental issues.

okay... that was depressing, but if anyone has any thoughts or words of affirmation or anything to share, please leave your comments. i'd love to interact with you about these things. thanks a lot.

love,
luke.

bicycle

2008-02-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

hello. i'm sorry i haven't had time to post pictures of my new rubber shoes yet. i've just been busy, you know. but i have been thinking a lot about getting a cool bicycle to ride to class and to other places, too. then, i stumbled across this awesome video, and i realized that it is my destiny to learn to ride a bicycle like this person:

what greater purpose in life can there be???

winter sports, etc.

2008-02-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

today was productive. woke up around 10. ate some bagels, slammed some coffee, grabbed some hand warmers, went snowboarding, shredded some back hills, grinded some ice logs, found some random gear at the discount thrift store... updated my blog, etc. aha. BLOG!!! what a silly thing.

i got two new scarfs at the thrift store, and a pair of rubber shoes. they're gansta to the max. perfect for stomping piles of slush.

okay.
here are some photos from our day so far:

spencer combs ::: me & spencer

hot hands ::: pink hands

on the road ::: luke the snake

PUMPED about winter sports!!!

spencer the shredder

pumped about winter sports (part2) !!!

HOT WOK!!!

moon face piano man at McDonalds

soon i'll post some photos of my new rubber shoes...

-luke.

jetman

2008-02-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

okay. today i discovered that i'm actually really sucky at jetman. my score of 2060 is no match for the mad gamers who have mastered their technique and are scoring 6,000+ ... my global rank is 721445. that's pretty awful.

this is me being pissed about my lack of jetman skills:

i gotta go practice...

my favorite things lately:

2008-02-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

-mardi gras beads
-snow days in college
-jetman (personal best = 2060)
-sledding + snow boarding + ice skating
-stomping on piles of slush in huge snow boots

first entry

2008-02-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

hey yo. this is my new online journal. i really don't know how often i will update this thing, but check back every so often and send me comments or something. okay. here are some pictures of me RIGHT NOW so you can picture this...

okay
i'm hangin in minneapolis with my good friend spencer. we were pals during my nashville days and we've remained close since. we just got back from a crazy sledding adventure in the frigid iceland of minnesota. my toes just about froze off. i'm pretty sure i have the worst circulation ever, so i've decided to get a huge stash of foot warmers and just always put them in my socks.

i've been eating chocolate chip pancakes and drinking hot chocolate straight for about a week. it just always seems like the best idea.

i've only been gone for one and a half full days now, but i miss my cat already. here are some photos of me and gippetto snuggling the other day:

okay. i'm gonna post some other sweet stuff later. for now, peace&love.

-luke.