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2.15.07 TIMELESS
According to the latest theory (and some ancient texts), time is only a perception created by our minds so that we can function in our physical universe. There really is no past or future, there is only this moment, only now. What we perceive as the passage of time is actually a series of moments, like frames in a movie that, once put together, create what appears to be a sequence of events.
This was illustrated for me recently when an old college friend whom I had not spoken to in years contacted me. He invited me to visit him and his family in Puget Sound for his wife's birthday party. When I arrived, he picked me up at the Seattle airport, and within minutes, twenty years distance simply disappeared, and we were again close friends. It was as if we had never lost contact. And in a way, we hadn't. What we had perceived as passage of time was really just a series of moments, many nows, which could be put in any order. And that's how it felt. One moment we were hanging out at Washington University in St. Louis, the next we were together on Puget Sound.
Being in contact again made me very happy. It brought back some of my faith in friendship that had been tainted by people who claimed to be friends but weren't and by my own misplaced expectations in certain relationships (our language needs a word in between friend and acquaintance). This was something I hadn't expected, and it's been a delight to again be in touch with my close friend. If there is someone in your past that you cared for and miss, I would encourage you to make the effort to contact them. You might find that no time has passed at all.
As for the birthday party at my friend's house, it was probably the most amazing party I've ever been to in my life. But that's something I'll leave for next time…

1.24.07 SINGLE IN SILVER LAKE
I'm sitting here in my Silver Lake guesthouse writing this update and listening to Vanessa Daou's first album Zipless. I have no wondrous news except for the fact that I'm alive and healthy and whole, and I suppose that kind of news is wondrous enough if you have the awareness to receive it. And that's what I'm busy at: staying aware and awake and living in the now with whatever I do as well as I can, trying to stay open to whatever life has to offer, sharing whatever beauty and truth I have, and hopefully growing at least a little bit in loving-kindness, which the world needs so much.
I'm about three-quarters of the way through my first draft of my first novel, and I hope to tell more about that as it comes to completion. I am pondering doing some music as a type of soundtrack or songs inspired by the story, but at this point I don't even want to give away the snappy title (it's necessary to protect the child for a bit longer before releasing it into the world). I'll just say that it deals with a guy and a girl, San Francisco, tasty cocktails, love, the nature of reality, time travel, non-normal states of consciousness, that sort of thing.
Working from home as I do, writing, promoting, designing, I get to spend quite a bit of time with myself. And as much as I am into the adventure of self- discovery (meditating, doing breathwork therapy, reading) and need a fair amount of time alone to create, I have to say: I've really had plenty of my own company to last awhile. Plenty. Really. Being single, I did the online dating thing for years, but no more for me thank-you-very-much. Can an offline boy find love in an online world? I'm guess I'm going to find out…

12.6.06 SYNCHRONICITY IN SILVER LAKE
Some of you know that I recently moved to the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, which is one of the most magical places I've ever been. It looks a bit more like Berkeley than LA, and there's a strange clash of civilization and nature going on. I live in a guesthouse on top of a hill with a distant view of downtown LA on one side and Hollywood on the other, but I'm surrounded by greenery and hills. I'm only three blocks from busy Sunset Blvd., yet I've seen coyotes roaming the streets on about half a dozen occasions since coming here! Like I said, magical. And even more magical...

Since moving here I've had some amazing moments of synchronicity (strange coincidences), unlike any I've experienced before. Apart from working on music, I've been working on a novel and a series of connected short stories. Since coming to Silver Lake I've encountered five elements of my fiction manifesting themselves in "real life" after I'd written about them. I've also had two brief dreams that came true the day I dreamt them. These experiences and a lot of the reading I've been doing about the latest ideas in quantum physics have really changed my view of the world and reality. If you're curious about such things, I'd recommend checking out Michael Talbot's The Holographic Universe or the movie What the Bleep Do We Know. For something a bit heavier: Joseph Campbell, the works of C.J. Jung (especially his Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious), David Deutsch's The Fabric of Reality and Michio Kaku's Parallel Worlds.
If anyone else has had strange experiences of synchronicity, I'd love to hear about them. Just drop me an email.

8.11.06
I was at my local grocery store this evening. The owner had his 10 year-old son working the cash register, which he did quite efficiently and in a friendly manner. I joked with the owner that soon he could just go fishing and have his son working for him. He told me that his son was doing such a good job that day that he told his son he was going to pay him extra. His son told his dad that, instead, he didn't want to be paid at all that day because he was having such a good time working with him.

There's hope for the future.

8.7.06
It's a time of change for me and for Kiss the Girl, a time of new awareness, possibilities, opportunities. I've become aware recently (not only intellectually, but finally, emotionally) that we can have a strong effect on shaping our reality through our thoughts, decisions and actions. Part of this awareness has prompted me to move Kiss the Girl's base of operations to Los Angeles. We'll still be doing some recording and mixing in San Francisco, but I'll be relocating to LA to take advantage of the music industry there. After only three days of searching for an apartment (and focusing my emotions and thoughts on visualizing and manifesting that reality) I found a fantastic place in the Silver Lake district, which is the center of the music/arts scene in LA! I'll miss beautiful San Francisco, but I am very happy about the move and the new opportunities that will await me and Kiss the Girl. Before I leave, I'll be playing doing one last solo acoustic performance in San Francisco; so if you're in the area, please come out and say hello and goodbye. It's for a great cause...

Thanks,
Szeles

6.29.06
Yikes. Been a long time since my last entry, but there's good reason: most of my time apart from getting the album ready for release has been taken up working on a novel. So, I've been writing, just not here! I can't say much, except it's a kind of romance/mystery/sci-fi story set in San Francisco. I'm about halfway finished with the first draft, so there's still a lot of writing to do.

Emotionally, writing is quite a rollercoaster, not unlike the creative process with music. One minute I'm inspired and excited by it, even exhilarated, the next I'm discouraged (though this happens less with music since I have more experience with that). Anyone who has seriously been involved in a creative process knows that must be gone through.

I do have more to say on this and other topics, and I've got quite a backlog of writing not connected with the novel, so I'll be posting more regularly. No...really!

9.21.05
We're getting down to the wire on the album. Only weeks away from being finished, and there are still some important decisions to make. For instance, we still haven't settled on a name for the album. So, if you're reading this, check out our sound samples if you're not already familiar with our music, and if you come up with a good idea for our album title, please email us at info@kissthegirlmusic.com. If we use your title idea, we'll give you a free, autographed copy of the album when it comes out.

I'm sure everyone's heard and read enough about the tragedy in New Orleans. So, I'll only say, I'm sorry I never visited the famous historic city before this happened, except through Anne Rice's novels. It was supposedly an amazing place; hopefully it will be again.

8.11.05
I've been too busy living life to write about it. Jaime and I are hard at work in the studio trying to finish our new album, tentatively titled To Turn You On. In fact, we're in the studio again for the next two days working on the song of the same name. Between doing that, planning a spring college tour, spending time making friends and fans on myspace.com/kissthegirlmusic, promoting and just living life to the hilt, I've had a hard time getting to this journal. I've made some interesting new friends on myspace from all over the world: Australia, Chile, Rome, Rochester NY, Ohio, Florida, you name it. Interesting people with interesting stories to tell. But it can feel pretty isolating when most of your communication with the world is through a computer. I'm happy when I'm able to get away and go have a drink at a bar or go to the movies or just get out for a hike - which I did just the other day with my friend, Steve. I just had to get out of the freakin' fog (typical San Francisco summer, though I must say, worse than usual. Still, how can I complain when the rest of the country is boiling?). We drove up to Mount Tamalpais, just half an hour across the Golden Gate Bridge. We emerged from the fog right as we were crossing the bridge, and the weather on the mountain was incredible: about 85 degrees, completely clear with a nice coolness in the shade. We had a great hike, and the sunshine revived me, and I carried the memory of that sun and blue sky with me back to the foggy Inner Sunset where I dwell. Tomorrow, downtown, no doubt it will be sunny and beautiful, but Jaime and I will only see the light of the studio lights, the led displays and the glow of the monitor as we continue working on our newest release which we can't wait to share with the whole world. So, sacrificing a few days of sunshine will be well worth it. We hope when you hear it, you'll agree.

Enjoy the sun, stay cool -

-R-

6.1.05
It was great to see democracy in action when I headed down to City Hall with my friend, Paul, to defend the right of a local bar to have live music. I didn't plan on speaking,but realized I had to when I saw the small number of residents who lived near the bar lining up to speak against the bar. Most of the complaints had to do with noise or drunken behavior. I spoke about the importance of live music for San Francisco, something that has suffered terribly the last few years. Many bands moved to Portland, LA or elsewhere due to the shrinking number of venues or lack of support for live music in the area. I then addressed the absurdity of people complaining about noise when they have chosen to live next to or upstairs from a bar that has had live music since the early 70's, while they have only lived there less than ten years. As for the drunkeness, that's not the result of the music, it's the result of booze, and that would happen anyway. I respect people's right to some peace and quiet, but choosing to live near a bar is not the way to get it. C'mon, this is the city, people!! It already pisses me off that you can't have a drink after 2 am or find more than a handful of restaurants open later than midnight. We're supposed to be a cultural metropolitan city. It doesn't have to be like NYC, but there's plenty of support for a more thriving nightlife. It's about the only thing I don't like about this city I love, San Francisco, except for the weak music scene (I don't mean lack of good bands - there are a fair amount - I mean the lack of support for venues and musicians). Well, we'll keep working on it. The live music license was granted - so democracy can work! But I have to say, I was disappointed to see none of the bands who actually play at the bar make an appearance. Democracy only works if we take part in it. And the same goes for a live music scene. So, get out there, people!

-R-

5.24.05
Bono vs. Greg Kot

I recently read an article by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, where he decries U2's latest tendency toward product endorsement and their apparent lack of musical freshness and risk-taking. He interviews Bono, as the singer was upset by these observations and wanted to explain his side of things. Bono's explanations were, as always, a mixture of brilliance and bullshit. I've always admired U2, both their music and what they do with social activism. But I do agree with Greg Kot that their best album was Achtung Baby, and I don't think their music has been sounding very fresh lately (though I do like Vertigo). I also agree that even Pop had some interesting things on it, more so than their recent music. In fact, judging by Kot's opinion of what he believes to be U2's strongest period, he might be better off looking to other groups that are creating melodic rock that has a fresh and innovative sound, including some groups that don't presently have a huge corporation propping them up. Groups like, I don't know, maybe Kiss the Girl. Hey, I'm just sayin'...

To read Greg Kot's article, click here.

-R-

5.16.05
Where were you eight months ago? I ask myself that same question and realize the many changes that have happened to me and to Kiss the Girl since last September. Maybe it’s been the same for you.

I’ve had my heart badly broken and bounced back stronger, faced and overcame some difficult situations, lost a couple friends and gained at least a couple new ones. Maybe, like me, you have something consistent in your life that’s always there despite any changes or hardships. For me, music is that thing. And I process all of these experiences and express how they’ve affected me emotionally in Kiss the Girl songs. Whatever else the songs may or may not be, they are at least a partial journal of my experiences and feelings. And we all share the same experiences and emotions: love, loss, hope fear, joy, despair, desire.

So, I think you’ll be moved by our new songs. And the new grooves Jaime and I are creating may make you move as well.

Please check out the sound samples and let us know what you think. We hope they give you some joy or comfort, or at the very least, entertain. More than anything, we hope they’ll make you feel more alive. And we’d love to hear from you, and hear the stories you’ve lived in the last 8 months.

Thanks for listening!

Robert