I Hope I'm Like Uncle Buck

I arrived just as the contractions stopped being a cute inconvenience and turned to riving pain. My sister was trying to have a natural birth with no pain medication, however, after an entire day of labor and a few hours of what looked like unimaginable pain, she took a pain medication that more or less numbed her from the waist down.

At this point, she had gone all day and had only dilated about four and a half centimeters. Assuming that the other five centimeters necessary for her to give birth would take another few hours, I was sent on a sandwich run for my family, as hunger pangs were striking hard.

I arrived back in the hospital parking lot with the sandwiches. Leaving to get a bite were some friendly parents whose daughter was going through the same thing as my sister (only their daughter was on her 3rd day!) and they yelled to me, "better hurry, she's waiting for you!"

In the half hour it took me to order five subs, my sister had dilated another five centimeters and was ready to pop out Baby Brylla. I was just in time to see the final few contractions. With video camera in hand and my MacBook capturing that baby's first sounds, I watched a tiny little life enter this world.

Viewing a child birth does weird things to you. If I ever saw someone covered in blood gurgling mucus in their mouth as they spoke, I would probably throw up in their general direction. However, this little thing that looked like something out of Alien brought tears to my eyes as my sister saw her for the first time and the doctor shouted happily, "it's a girl."

At 6:45pm today, I became Uncle Shawn to a yet unnamed beautiful eight pound baby girl.




It was my first time viewing a live birth, and while I tried to make sure my sister's leg was always blocking the truly disgusting parts, I did eventually end up seeing more of my sister than I ever wanted to...however, the beauty that is child birth stirred the emotions in all that were present: my sister, her husband, my other sister, mom, dad, and a few medical personnel.

In the end, I couldn't help but to be proud of my sister and brother-in-law. They worked wonderfully together: Nick being ever so patient and catering to every need Bridgette had, and Bridge carrying through the whole ordeal with such strength and poise. I don't think I have ever seen a smile on Nick's face quite like he had when he locked eyes with that little girl for the first time. In that lingering smile, I saw their bright future together.

This little girl also has great timing, for two reasons. The first being I book out in less than a week for a European tour. Missing this girl's birth would have been a downer way to begin my journey. Instead, her birth was the perfect capstone to a pretty stealer summer. The second reason being rather coincidental. Before I glued my eyes to the computer monitor to write this, I sat down and was enthralled by Obama's final speech in Denver from the Democratic National Convention. Now, I'm not going to turn a lovely blog about my newborn niece into a political rant, however, I couldn't help but to watch Obama's unifying, action-provoking speech and think, "this girl's got a bright future."

I can only hope that by the time I publish this post they have a name picked out for her.....

It's Been a While

Failed. The whole blogging at least once a week goal I had going for me this summer, didn't happen (as you may have noticed). Believe me, I have a ton of excuses which I will write about in my next blog.

In the mean time, however, here's a guest blog I wrote for mouemagazine, an online blog magazine. Check it.... my musical blabbing

This is our weekly GUEST COLUMN. If you’d like to submit a Mix Tape, email Brandy at mouemagazine@gmail.com with “Mix Tape” in the subject line.

Tonight’s guest blogger is Shawn Connelly, musician/DJ/wanderer of the earth extraordinaire, who was gracious enough to share some favorites with us.

Over the past four years if I wasn’t in an 8ft by 6ft practice room working at becoming a better musician, I was keystroking my way through another pointless research paper. So when I heard I could be a guest at Moue and write about music, I leapt at the opportunity….that is a lie. Truthfully, I put it on the back burner as a definite “I’ll get around to doing that someday,” meaning a year or two from now, if ever. Then I was encouraged, rather cattle prodded, by a Moue blogger to get one in NOW. [He's overstating the case just a tad - ed.] So here I am, and in all honesty, I couldn’t be happier to do it.

I had a long drive last night and as I scrolled through my freshly loaded iPod Touch (gotta love Mac and their “you’re-a-student-have-a-free-iPod” policy) my only thought was, “what the hell has happened to me?” My music tastes have done a 180 and my car almost did too as I bounced along a bit too intensely to the beats.

From playing rock guitar at a young age, to joining high school musicals (truthfully to chase after a girl, but eventually loving musical theatre), to studying four years of classical music at the University level, and finally now landing on electronic and indie music after spending those same four years at a college radio station, I’ve mastered music appreciation (and also the run-on sentence).

Because it’s what I’m most into now, this mix tape will consist mostly of the electronic music and some indie that fires my pistons late at night, or any time of the day really. However, I’ll also toss in a few of those gems I’ve found from all sorts of genres that have molded me into the musician I am today.

Follow over the flip for the tunes:

Justice: Let There Be Light: Cross – Truth be told, this entire album makes me happy in all the right places. However, I found myself conducting along to this song in the car….yup, nerd.

Crystal Castles: Magic Spells: Crystal Castles – a head bobber, foottapper, whatever cliché term you’d like to apply to it.

Cut Copy: Lights and Music: In Ghost Colours - music + beats + singable lyrics = I’m pleased.

Daft Punk: Television Rules the Nation/Crescendolls: Alive 2007 – Daft Punk is nothing new, but this remix album/show (Lollapalooza 2007) took what they had and did something completely new with it. Another reason they rock - they don’t sue people for posting videos of their show on Youtube.

Hot Chip: Over and Over: The Warning – if this British electropop group doesn’t get you moving, check your pulse…in your neck and wrist just to be sure.

Hot Chip: One Pure Thought: Made in the Dark – taboo to put an artist twice in a mix tape? I don’t care. The contrast between these two songs yet their ability to stay true to their sound is worth the repeat.

Jose Gonzales: Killing for Love: In Our Nature- messed up music video, great musician.

Pat Metheny: Last Train Home: One Quiet Night – one cannot be guitar player and not appreciate Mr. Metheny, period..and I just played him on the jazz radio show I’m DJing right now.

Jason Robert Brown: She Cries: Songs for a New World – remember that musical nerd side of me? Well, this man began the new age of musicals as we know them, simply songs that tell stories that intertwine to make a stage show.

Joseph Stillwell: Bright and Energetic: Sonta No. 1 for Saxophone and Piano – academic music has given me a great appreciation for classical music. However, many are surprised to discover this post-modern side of classical music.