Think Positively

This being Thanksgiving, I'll say thanks to anyone reading it and will pass on a bit of advice regarding life. Take it or leave it, it's advice, it's one of the things in life that's honestly free anymore (which I can afford), and heck, you just might go "hmmmm", and then perhaps "aahhh!!"

So here the advice; "Live it" (Yeah, I know, right? Pretty short and lazy of me, huh?)

Take a good step back and look "behind you". Not literally, because if you're at work, no doubt, your boss will be standing there tapping his foot and if you're in a room full of relatives, they'll all think you're looking guilty for browsing something naughty. But I digress...look where you've been and then ask, "Have I done my greatest thing yet?" In the case of people with children, I guess you can say "yes" followed by "and I'm paying for it" or if you're lucky, "and I'm proud". So, excluding proud parents, if you looked around and discovered that your greatest joy hasn't yet been realized, the only person to make it happen is you. Corny, I know, but I actually "got off the couch", (which isn't easy because I'm a house husband and it's always there lulling me to have a nap).

Here's how I came to this epiphany. I turned 40. On that birthday, my wife bought me a guitar and the whole notion behind it was simply that it wasn't a sports car. - But - with the *guitar*, I could potentially buy as many sports cars I wanted. (side note: Dream car = 1967 sunshine yellow Ford Mustang w/289 V8 and stock "everything"). I'm 44 and if I hadn't decided to chase my rock star dreams, I wouldn't be gearing up to recording an album with two very talented guys right now. A big part if this is how I changed my thinking from "aww, this sucks" to "ahh, it's only temporary, we'll get through this". Also, I didn't let go.

I have this vision in my head that I hang on to when I get discouraged. It's a simple vision; it's the view from a stage overlooking thousands of screaming fans. Those of you who've ever been on stage in this capacity know what kind of a rush that can give a person. The mere thought of it, on some days, gets me motivated. So, find that vision, whatever it may be, hold tight to it and "keep plugging at it" (another side note: Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea told me this when I had 1 song under my belt...I now have 52 with three 'backstage' still being worked on).

You've heard a phrase thrown around a lot; "The power of positive thinking" and once I started to look at life from under THAT umbrella things started changing for the better.

Case in point: Our old motto, (my wife and I), used to be "If we can survive this, we can survive anything" because I, at one point, lost my job to the Dot Bombs that fell in Silicon Valley, I also lost functionality of both my kidneys, and eventually I wound up in the back of an ambulance hearing nothing but white noise until the paramedic asked, "do you want Morphine?" (yet another side note: DUH!?) The fun didn't stop with that night because I had remained on "CAPD" Dialysis for a year and three months before my then-girlfriend, (who hates doctors, hospitals, emergency rooms, syringes and anything that smells remotely like a hospital), donated a kidney to me. (yeah, she's my WIFE now).

My point being is that the motto; "If we can survive this, we can survive anything" just temped the fates and they'd say things like, "...oh yeah? How about surviving THIS", and "you ain’t seen nothing yet" We'd be dealt life-challenges a lot, but we'd get through it.

So, when we moved to where we live now, we changed that motto to "Life is good and getting better"; a delicate, easy, and "event-free" way of looking at things which has done wonders for our lifestyle, albeit we've had a couple of setbacks, but with our positive outlook, those setbacks weren't really too hard to overcome. It's kind of like when you practice the guitar - your fingers hurt at first and then you get the calluses and the pain leaves.

I've said quite a lot to simply say "stay positive" but I really believe in this stuff, so keep your chin up, laugh at adversity, help your fellow man or woman (or cat, dog, lizzard, snake, spider, etc...), and know that life is, indeed, good....and getting better.

Sing, Dance, Live,

Junkyard Academy

Bonaparte - Junkyard Academy (Original) ©2010 by Lewis Nowosad

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce a friend of mine...Music.

Goin' Down - Acoustic with Dave Coldren of Junkyard Academy (Original) ©...

Junkyard Academy has added two new members to the band.

Dave Coldren met Lewis Nowosad as the result of a posting on Craigslist. Lewis was hoping to hook up with musicians to play Barenaked Ladies tunes together in the capacity of a tribute band. Later, they attended two BNL hosted cruises and got to know each other more. Eventually, Lewis and Dave wound up in Dave’s living room playing the originals Lewis had been working on and Dave agreed to join the band.

"I'm tickled pink to share a stage with this guy", Says Lewis Nowosad, JYA's lead singer and guitarist, "He takes music seriously. I mean, if you cut him in half, a million little musicians would come flying out - he's good for the band".

Dave has been playing since he was 16. He currently plays at 3 different churches and teaches piano both at home and at Guitar Showcase in San Jose, California. While at UC Berkeley, he played with Dead-influenced Lektric Submarine Dance Band (later Goliards and Vicious Hippies), and Blue Cartoon. Dave's musical influences are many - (Roy Bitten and Danny Federici (Springsteen), Jackson Browne, Elton John, Beatles, Nicky Hopkins, Jerry Garcia, Stephen Sondheim, Barenaked Ladies, Guster and lots more.

Junkyard Academy is also looking forward to the delivery of their Bassist Paul Imel. Yes, "delivery". He attended High School with Lewis in Morgan Hill California back in the mid Eighties. Twenty-five years later they reconnected via Facebook, only to discover that each had always thought the other was the "cool" kid.

When Lewis asked Paul about his playing bass guitar, despite the fact that Paul hadn't played a bass in about twenty years, he suggested Paul move from Indiana back to California to play bass for Junkyard Academy. Paul decided to give it a shot, borrowed a broken bass, (no sound came out of the amp), to get his chops back, and eventually purchased very nice Schecter neck-in bass, (this one works), to play in the band.

Paul has a music degree from Greenville College in Illinois, and his influences range from the Beatles to seventies rock to modern alternative folk. He is currently packing to move his family to Benicia, CA. Said Paul, "(I'm) excited to be playing with guys as dedicated and talented as Lewis and Dave."

Junkyard Academy looks forward to his mad skillz, his vocal talent and his laid back and positive attitude come mid November. In the mean time, here are Lewis and Dave at a recent practice session at Dave's place. The song is "Goin' Down" and Lewis wrote it to showcase Dave's ability on Keyboard;

Musings on Muses....

I have to gank a line from a friend of mine's blog, Pretty Good For A Girl, and artist blog written by, possibly, one of the most talented women I know. She writes;

"Sometimes you have to scribble something down -fast - either before it leaves you or so that it will leave you alone."

As response to this, I offer this...(it was a bit "long" to post as a reply on her blog, in fact it's probably a blog entry itself...so, yeah, here it is.....

"It's the same with song writing. My muse lives on my shoulder and is a five and a half inch tall girl wearing half-laced kick boots, black and white striped stockings, a mini-kilt- style skirt, about three or four belts, a tank top,leather jacket, lots of bracelets and necklaces, fingerless fringed red leather gloves, has a bob cut that's either purple or blue and she holds a bat with a nail sticking out the end of it with the word "write" or "inspiration" written on it.

When the ideas come to me, it's usually because she's swung that bat at my ear and won't let go until I finish the song....All the while she's laughing at me.

...Sadistic little mynx."

Bonaparte -- Junkyard Academy (Original) ©2010 by Lewis Nowosad

Well, look at what we've gone and done...and less than 24 hours ago.....sorry for the mess, but in the mean time, check out the new song "Bonaparte"!

Getting Tighter...

We've been practicing for our gig coming up on October 1, 2010 at Angelica's Bistro in Redwood City, CA and we can't wait to share with you the new arrangement for "Jennifer Alone". Rather than everyone playing their respective instruments, Dave will be accompanying on keyboard with Robert, Dave and myself singing.

We've been recording what we've been doing like a football coach and playing it back to ourselves to see what can be changed or to make fun of ourselves, but over all, I've discovered that moving from "solo" to "band", (with actual people playing with me), has been more rewarding than I had anticipated.

Stay tuned for more and thanks for listening!

Junkyard Lewie

You don't need hands to hold someone's heart.

Today's blog will consist of a video.

A friend of mine posted this on is Facebook page and after viewing it.....I don't think I need to say much more than, "We're all good enough"

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries.

Sing, Dance, Live.
Junkyard Academy