Macklemore has some fun songs on his latest album, but he also has some songs that resonate for anyone who considers themselves an artist.

First, here’s Make The Money

(I wish he had an official you tube channel, but he doesn’t seem to.)

A few choice quotes:

“Life’s a beautiful struggle–I record it.  Hope it helps you maneuvering through yours.”

“Make the money, don’t let the money make you.”

It’s a good song.  Worth listening to unless you really hate hip hop or rap.

I also thought his song Starting Over is an excellent song about being authentic once you’ve reached a certain level of fame.  I think there’s a temptation to quit acknowledging that you’re still human and still flawed and still capable of making mistakes once you’re in the public eye.  Especially if, like in his case, part of your story is triumphing over addiction.

This song really gets to the heart of that struggle between authenticity and image.  (At least for me it does.)

On a completely unrelated note…I think I’m going to make the very bold move of not taking my computer with me on my road trip.  It’s a scary prospect–two weeks without my laptop.  (Of course, I’ll still have my phone, libraries, hotels with business centers, Kinko’s, and random strangers that I can hit up for a few minutes of computer time.)

I can still write.  There’s this thing called pen and paper out there that seems to do the trick.  (Although it’s slower and my hand hurts more.)  But I’m going to be randomly stopping and hiking throughout the drive and I just don’t want to risk having the computer baked or stolen.

It’ll be nice to disconnect from the internet for a bit.  I sometimes experience useless information overload.  (And often contribute to it as well…)

I am taking a thumb drive with all my writing on it–just in case, you know, someone wants me to send them something.  (One can hope, right?)

(And, yes, I know–the cloud!  I could store everything there and not need to worry about a thumb drive.  But I am not a trusting soul.  And I have had far too many times with work when that little folder I’m supposed to use on the share drive isn’t available to truly trust an arrangement like that…)

So, the odds of my posting on here for the next two weeks just dropped to near zero…