mechanicalSPIRIT

Igniting the Year of Music

Recently, I was pleased and fortunate to speak to over 800 people at Ignite Phoenix 8. For me, it felt almost as though things had come full circle; I have now been an attendee, a volunteer, a team member, and a selected speaker. I guess all that's left is to be a sponsor! Maybe one day... :)

Speaking at Ignite is supposed to be all about passion, and for me, it absolutely was. I have found my true passion, music, and I was excited to share my story with the audience. I set out with two simple goals for my presentation:

1. Make people realize that they have more power to control their lives than they probably think they do.
2. Make people stop making excuses, and just buy an instrument and try playing it.

My thesis was that all humans are natural musicians, and all we need to do is decide to act like them. I wanted to convey my belief that music is something for all of us to create, not just for us to consume, and that it deserves a place in our social fabric just like the one held by the use of language.

Judging by the response I got both in person and online, I think my message got across. In addition, there was a different effect that I had not anticipated: Many people spoke about having been musicians in the past, but having allowed it to slip out of their lives. I heard people expressing that they suddenly realized what a mistake that was, and vowing to pick up those forgotten instruments. My goodness, did that ever make my heart swell!

I want to share with you some of the responses I received on Twitter. I have removed the names to protect the innocent. :)

Killer presentation! You need to do more public speaking; that was probably the best delivery of the night.

"All humans are musicians." @brandonfranklin I love music in my home too! #ignitephx

Went to @ignitephoenix and Felt Inspired: http://t.co/EaEyjdv Thanks again to @BrandonFranklin and all the awesome presenters.

You did such a great job at Ignite Phoenix last night. I play guitar and piano but not often enough, and you inspired me to do more! :-)

1st #ignitephx a success! Was there of course for @olllllo's rockin beer preso, but @BrandonFranklin totally wowed me! Humans are Musicians

@BrandonFranklin reminded me that I haven't made music in 4 yrs & that hurts my soul. Time to play the piano again #ignitephx

Feeling inspired by @BrandonFranklin's #ignitephx pres. Thinking of taking up an instrument next year. Can't decide between banjo or guitar.

I am so very happy that my little five-minute speech struck a chord with so many people. I could not possibly have asked for more! If you are one of those people, please feel free to comment and let me know how your Year of Music is coming along!

Here's the official footage of my presentation. Please check it out, and pass it along to others, too!

Also, if you liked what I had to say here, then please also check out my Month of Music project!

Moving

I have to move by the end of the month. This is nothing especially new, as I've moved many times before. It is also not a surprise at all, and is something I've been planning for quite some time. And it's not an especially big move, since I'm probably only moving a few miles westward (to Tempe, AZ) from where I currently live (Mesa, AZ). [Update: I ended up moving to Phoenix, AZ instead!]

Nevertheless, it's a disruptive and stressful activity, and it also causes me to reflect on the places I've lived and the ways that they have affected me.

I honestly feel kinda bad for people who are born in a place and then just stay there. I know that often those people will say they're content with that, but that doesn't resonate with me. I can't help but think that in some cases, they're just afraid of the unknown, and are clinging on to the familiar for no good reason at all. Or maybe they're just disinterested, or never saw it as an option financially. I don't know. I know from my own experience that there's a lot of world to see, and even with all my journeys I've only seen a minuscule sliver of it, but I've learned so much about people and myself by observing what has varied both within and without as I have relocated from place to place.

Do you give things up when you uproot? Yes, of course. Is it hard sometimes? Absolutely. Is it worth it in the end? One thousand times over, yes.

For one thing, I think American culture would be turned on its head if every American had to live in another country--any other country--for a year. Two years would be even better. I can say with confidence that inside the borders of the United States, we do not accurately perceive ourselves relative to the world in which we live, and we do not have a clear sense of how other nations view us. We are raised with a type of arrogance about America's place in the world, and most of us have no experiential context against which to validate or repudiate that.

By the same token, if we spend our entire lives in a particular city or region, journeying outside of it only for the relatively trivial, shallow experiences gained during vacations and business trips, we cannot possibly have a reasonable understanding of what kind of life we really want to lead, and whether or not the place where we dwell really fits us.

Anyway, the original reason I wanted to write this post was simply to present a list of the places where I've lived, so I can refer back to it in future posts. I have no smooth transition to offer. So here you go:

• Bristol, VA, USA -- born and grew up
• Lexington, KY, USA -- University studies
• Eugene, OR, USA -- initially for grad school, but ended up being for employment
• Seattle, WA, USA (area) -- for employment
• Washington, DC, USA (area) -- for employment
• Adelaide, SA, Australia (area) -- my then-wife wanted to move back to her home area
• Gold Coast, QLD, Australia (area) -- no good reason, honestly
• Seattle, WA, USA (area) -- moving back to the USA, originally as a transitional thing, ended up being for employment
• Phoenix, AZ, USA (area) -- to get out of the rain, and forge a new life...which is what I've done

So here I am in Phoenix, the place that I hope to finally call home once and for all. I genuinely love it here. I love the people I've met, and the things that I've become involved in. I have real faith in the future of this city, despite the many challenges and problems, and I want to be a part of it.

An ex-girlfriend of mine told me I have itchy feet. I really don't. I hate moving, but I don't really regret any of my past moves, as I learned something about myself during each stint in a new place. This is how I have learned where I want to be, and where I want to stay. My feet don't itch at all.

Announcing New Event: Extinguish Phoenix

DISCLAIMER: The following is entirely a work of satire, meant to poke fun at those who are negative about everything in Phoenix, regardless of its success. If you don't live in Phoenix, you probably won't get the joke anyway. Sorry.

"Because Under the Fire, Phoenix is Still Just a Stupid Bird"

Our hearts sink every time we watch failed events like Ignite Phoenix sell out in less than half an hour, or TEDxPhoenix fill a huge venue with an enthusiastic crowd. It would be tempting to think that such things happen because the community enjoys them and gets something out of them, but we know that can't be the case, because everything in Phoenix sucks. (They're not really in Phoenix anyway, which includes only the city center. But everything in the valley sucks, too, so the rule still applies.)

Why on earth would anybody want to hear people speak about diverse topics that they're passionate about? Ridiculous! Why focus on the flames when you can wallow around in the ashes?

We hate events like these, and would never be caught dead at one (unless you guys want us to speak at the next one, in which case ♥♥♥ call us, okay?) so we decided to combine our favorite two activities, complaining about stuff and drawing attention to ourselves, and launch an event of our own.

It's common knowledge that the best way to improve something is to continuously berate and insult it. Despite the claims of bleeding-heart hippie liberals, we know this technique is effective in everything from spousal relations, to child rearing, to corporate management. Extinguish Phoenix will promote this simple truth with a series of presentations by members of the local community who know as well as we do that Phoenix is a completely hopeless, futureless, cultureless trainwreck.

Submissions are being accepted, starting immediately! Entries can use the following topic templates for inspiration:

• "Top Ten Reasons Why I Hate [local event, person, or place]"
• "Why [local company] Should Move to [city other than Phoenix]"
• "[local event] is a Failure Because [any reason]"
• "Phoenix Needs [something you like but aren't willing to help with]"
• "Fail Rail: Light Rail Sucks Because [any reason]"

We already have some great early entries:

• "Tough Love: Convincing Others That You Support Them While You Insult Them to Their Faces"
• "Saying 'Good Job' is for Pussies"
• "Why I Continue Living in Phoenix Even Though Every Other City is Better"
• "Brutal Honesty: Because Manners, Respect, and Basic Social Skills are for Wimps"
• "Give It Up: Tempe Will Never Be Like Austin"
• "I Hate the Weather Here"
• "How to Hide Desperate Insecurity Behind a Non-Stop Flow of Venom"

Half-way through the presentations, we'll have a special Extinguish Ego-Strokey in which speakers will compete live to see who can increase their Twitter follower count the most in a 5-minute "rap battle"-style insult throwdown, carried out entirely through tweets!

However, since there's no culture in Phoenix and definitely no music scene, there will be no music outside during intermission.

We will also have a short panel session at the end for speakers to discuss the ways that they're working to fix the problems in Phoenix. So far, though, we have had no speakers sign up for this. We may cancel this portion due to lack of interest.

Event Details
Ticket Price: Free, because any non-free ticket price sucks and is a rip-off
Date: on the same day as another event you want to attend
Time: inconvenient for you to get to after work
Location: way too far away, what the hell are we thinking?