tien beat

Tien Beat, June 6 2008 Hi everyone! Summer is well under way now, and I'm finally settling into my rhythm here in Easton. This is the first summer I've spent here since I went to college. I'm enjoying it immensely. As soon as I got home, I started an internship at Coffee East, which has become a venue for surprisingly amazing acts. It's really strange and awesome to have so much talent coming through our little town, and I get to mix the sound for them. I've never been a sound guy before, but I learned pretty quick after a trial period involving a lot of eardrum-piercing feedback. A couple of cool bands you should check out: Carney, Judd & Maggie, Catie Curtis. I guess they stop by while they are playing in D.C., Baltimore, or Annapolis...they are all national acts and its a great internship because i get to rub elbows with people doing what I want to do. Coolest thing about it: I get to play music here too...I opened for Catie Curtis, and I'm opening fo...

Tien Beat April 08 updates on life I have two weeks left of classes. This semester really blew by. It has definitely been the hardest semester academically, but I should be okay. Last week I wrote papers about theories of morality, the metaphysical nature of ideas, and johnny rotten's impact on the punk movement, all while finishing my first solo acoustic CD. I slept all weekend, pretty much. For the past couple months I've been busy recording this CD, which most of you have heard about. I ended up calling it "Patience Finds EP", named after a song I wrote that is basically about the idea that the best things in life are worth waiting for, as many have surely said. There are seven songs on the CD, five of which I recorded in my room, singing, playing guitar, and playing a little violin. I had a couple friends add their voice or their guitar playing to it, and I recorded a couple of the songs live in my friend's room. I also reserved a coffee shop near campus...

I've been RECORDING recording RECOrding for the past couple weeks, getting some music together for my demo cd. I'll have some advance copies when I come home. I'm playing at Easton's venerable AVALON theatre on March 19th. 6:30 pm. I'm flying back east on saturday, going up to Vermont with Uncle Chris, and coming back to easton for next week, my spring break. Can't wait to see y'all maryland folk! L.A. is only tolerable because I've been playing loads of music...my songwriting class had a showcase at a local coffeehouse and it was really successful. let's pack the avalon! love, tien

It's a new year, a new beginning, a new apartment, new major (philosophy), and pretty much a new outlook on life. This new outlook includes an intention to avoid overlooking what really matters in life, and enjoying the moments that come and go so quickly. It's a reminder to seek balances between work and play, short-term and long-term considerations, being social and being alone, order and chaos. My classes are proving to be quite interesting; I think I made a good choice in studying philosophy. I'm taking Contemporary Ethical Theory, History of Western Philosophy, my Junior Writing course, a Geology class about Planet Earth, and Songwriting 2. One of these pictures is the library I'm sitting in right now, studying (USC Doheny library) and the other one is the beach where I went rock climbing after a camping trip this weekend (Point Dume, I didn't take this but i promise it really is this beautiful)... Too bad I have to live in the 'hood. Hope everyone is well...

TIEN BEAT: a periodic account of thoughts and notable happenings in the life of Tien. I've been back in Los Angeles for a week, trying to get everything in order for next semester, finding a place to live, talking with my academic advisors and all that. Maybe I haven't told you yet, I decided to delay Semester at Sea until a later term. The plan is to go to school this spring, chip another bunch of courses off my graduation requirements, work to save up some money for the trip, and reconnect with my life on the left coast. Sounds easy, right? One thing I realized during this brief visit is that my friends at USC are amazing, especially my band, a-capella group, and fraternity. Not only are they doing great things but they have also been very supportive of me. All of that good stuff means that I must continue my involvement while I'm at USC, even though my course load is going to be really intense. Looks like I'm going to be really busy, come January. Busy is okay ...

Dear Friends and Family, After spending three years spent toiling away in L.A., it's amazing how my adolescent angst towards my hometown has become nostalgic admiration. Maybe it was just high school that was a drag, and not so much the locale; it seems like every day is a rediscovery of how beautiful nature can be, how kind people can be, and how therapeutic it is to be surrounded by majestic trees, the serene shimmer of the bay, warm smiles, and the much appreciated absence of textbooks, alarm clocks, smog, gang-related shootings, non-gang-related shootings, etc. Regardless, I miss my dear friends at USC, especially the activities related to the Spoon Drawer, Trojan Men, Theta Xi, and Dayplayer. From what I've heard, you're all carrying on in accordance to your high standards of excellence. Either that means that I've left a self-sustaining legacy of brilliance and greatness, or I'm expendable and obsolete. Legacy, it is. Anyway, I'm appreciating life, and...