People My People http://trainofthoughtsd.com/conversations.cfm Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:07:01 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Drive-Bys and Bathroom Hugs http://trainofthoughtsd.com/conversations.cfm?feature=2989394&postid=4089182 People my People, Ever had a drive-by hug? Let me tell you about mine. I was waiting for Renee to come out the bathroom in Target. It was my actual birth day and she had surprised me at work on a day I thought I would spend alone (My wife is a beautiful liar). Anyway we had to stop in Target, and when she came out the restroom for some reason I picked her up and spun her little self around. Don’t ask me why I decided to hug her after finishing her business, she has been potty trained for years, but something came over me. A random surge of joy. However, like so many zombie epidemics you hear about, my joy was contagious and a white man in his mid to late forties stood in front of me as I put my wife down and said, “Well, if you are just giving them out...” and spread his arms. On instinct I threw my arms around him and lifted. He was nowhere near as light as Renee but for some reason I felt it needed to be done. When I put him down, he turned and left without a word. He was a total stranger, I cannot remember his face, smell, hair color, anything. He randomly came to make an impression in my life and subsequently yours. Sometimes I believe the most self centered people are the quiet ones. The ones that keep everything in and everyone else out. The self centered worry all the time what people think of them so they decide to never do anything that would break any of our cultures 2.7 billion unspoken, arbitrary rules. A fully realized individual can walk up to a stranger and ask for a hug when he needed it, or better yet just because. Most of us are a bit in between with flashes of genuineness coming out when the mood hits or when under the influence. I have to be honest ladies and gentlemen, as cool as I thought that person was...I still checked my pockets afterwards to make sure he wasn’t the world’s kindest pick pocket. I’m from the suburbs of Oxnard kid, we don’t play! WHAT’S HAPPENING This week TRAIN OF THOUGHT pulls into a new state of the art station and we are kicking things off Gangam Style (which means utterly ridiculous, which means we are just gonna have a whole lot of fun with it). I can’t wait for you to see our new place and have fun with us. Remember it will be the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. It’ll be your chance to make it your mid week art and culture fix. We all need it sometimes. Also, don’t forget, half of TOT will be competition. So sign up to show your skills and actually win some gas money. Times are hard yo.’ WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS If you are interested in giving back to the community, being around artistic folks, attending free shows, laughing a lot, and getting inspired on the regular, come join our team. Hit us up at ilovetrainofthought@gmail.com. THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: I have a good one for you this week. This comes from a book I'm reading called Wishcraft: How To Get What You Really Want from Barbara Sher. She gives very realistic advice for living a fully realized life. Often we worry about not living our life in a way that people say we should. But she gets into getting what YOU really want. And guess what guys, it doesn’t have to be just ONE thing. You don’t have to decide what you want to be for the rest of your life right now. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to do what you want to do when you want to do it, and then when it no longer interests you, do something else? Well there are practical ways to do it, you have to read the book to find out. But first and foremost lets find out how close you are to doing what you want and being who you really are. Take out a sheet of paper. Number it 1-20. List twenty things you really enjoy doing, but you must list twenty. Even if number 20 is something you rarely do. Then for each thing answer these questions... • How long has it been since you last did it? • Is it free or does it cost money? • Do you do it alone or with someone else? • Is it planned or spontaneous? • Is it job related? • Is there physical risk? • Is it fast paced or slow? • Does it feed your mind, body, or spirit? When you look at all these things on one piece of paper you start to notice a pattern. A type of person you are. Maybe most of the things you do are free and you don’t need a whole lot of money to make you happy. Perhaps everything you love doing is fast paced so working in a office may not be the best thing for you, even if you have a hook up at a job. its up to you to determine what the pattern means in terms of your life. I have done this myself, a real eye opener. Let me know what kind of results you get. I am really interested in knowing the real you. Until Then, Be Now Gill Sotu If you like these blogs, tell a friend, lets continue these conversations globally! Get them to www.gillsotu.com and sign up for the mailing list. Ever had a drive-by hug? Let me tell you about mine. I was waiting for Renee to come out the bathroom in Target. It was my actual birth day and she had surprised me at work on a day I thought I would spend alone (My wife is a beautiful liar). Anyway we had to stop in Target, and when she came out the restroom for some reason I picked her up and spun her little self around. Don’t ask me why I decided to hug her after finishing her business, she has been potty trained for years, but something came over me. A random surge of joy. However, like so many zombie epidemics you hear about, my joy was contagious and a white man in his mid to late forties stood in front of me as I put my wife down and said, “Well, if you are just giving them out...” and spread his arms. On instinct I threw my arms around him and lifted. He was nowhere near as light as Renee but for some reason I felt it needed to be done. When I put him down, he turned and left without a word. He was a total stranger, I cannot remember his face, smell, hair color, anything. He randomly came to make an impression in my life and subsequently yours.

Sometimes I believe the most self centered people are the quiet ones. The ones that keep everything in and everyone else out. The self centered worry all the time what people think of them so they decide to never do anything that would break any of our cultures 2.7 billion unspoken, arbitrary rules. A fully realized individual can walk up to a stranger and ask for a hug when he needed it, or better yet just because. Most of us are a bit in between with flashes of genuineness coming out when the mood hits or when under the influence. I have to be honest ladies and gentlemen, as cool as I thought that person was...I still checked my pockets afterwards to make sure he wasn’t the world’s kindest pick pocket. I’m from the suburbs of Oxnard kid, we don’t play!
WHAT’S HAPPENING
This week TRAIN OF THOUGHT pulls into a new state of the art station and we are kicking things off Gangam Style (which means utterly ridiculous, which means we are just gonna have a whole lot of fun with it). I can’t wait for you to see our new place and have fun with us. Remember it will be the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. It’ll be your chance to make it your mid week art and culture fix. We all need it sometimes. Also, don’t forget, half of TOT will be competition. So sign up to show your skills and actually win some gas money. Times are hard yo.’
WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS
If you are interested in giving back to the community, being around artistic folks, attending free shows, laughing a lot, and getting inspired on the regular, come join our team. Hit us up at ilovetrainofthought@gmail.com.
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE:
I have a good one for you this week. This comes from a book I'm reading called Wishcraft: How To Get What You Really Want from Barbara Sher. She gives very realistic advice for living a fully realized life. Often we worry about not living our life in a way that people say we should. But she gets into getting what YOU really want. And guess what guys, it doesn’t have to be just ONE thing. You don’t have to decide what you want to be for the rest of your life right now. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to do what you want to do when you want to do it, and then when it no longer interests you, do something else? Well there are practical ways to do it, you have to read the book to find out. But first and foremost lets find out how close you are to doing what you want and being who you really are.
Take out a sheet of paper. Number it 1-20. List twenty things you really enjoy doing, but you must list twenty. Even if number 20 is something you rarely do. Then for each thing answer these questions...
• How long has it been since you last did it?
• Is it free or does it cost money?
• Do you do it alone or with someone else?
• Is it planned or spontaneous?
• Is it job related?
• Is there physical risk?
• Is it fast paced or slow?
• Does it feed your mind, body, or spirit?
When you look at all these things on one piece of paper you start to notice a pattern. A type of person you are. Maybe most of the things you do are free and you don’t need a whole lot of money to make you happy. Perhaps everything you love doing is fast paced so working in a office may not be the best thing for you, even if you have a hook up at a job. its up to you to determine what the pattern means in terms of your life. I have done this myself, a real eye opener. Let me know what kind of results you get. I am really interested in knowing the real you.
Until Then,
Be Now
Gill Sotu
If you like these blogs, tell a friend, lets continue these conversations globally! Get them to www.gillsotu.com and sign up for the mailing list.


]]> Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:07:01 GMT CC5635D83E203EA9C6C8FA6474E26C5C Game of Thrones, Lord of Your Matrix: The Nerd-Out http://trainofthoughtsd.com/conversations.cfm?feature=2989394&postid=2285000 People my people, Currently I am reading the Game of Thrones book series…(nerdy I know, it get’s worse). In it, a princess looking for answers to her fate has to enter the House of the Undying which is a maze of hippy trippy witchcraft and sorcery in which you see your past, your future, and anything else a creative, overweight genius author who wrote the book series can think up (told you it got worse). So at the entrance dude tells the princess no matter what you see, no matter what distracts you always go to the first door to your right, and always ascend any stairs you see, never go down. Seems simple enough, even for a dragon princess but it never is (watch the TV show, you’ll get hooked.) How’d the princess do? Well you’ll have to nerd-up and read the book wont you? I walk my path, treading the tightrope of past, future and now, all connecting, all distracting with instructions past on from those who have gone before. They whisper, “always use the door on the right and walk up stairs never down.” But Im a knucklehead, I don’t listen, I even give correct advise to people I meet along the way, but I choose to ignore the wisdom that comes out of my mouth. But in the distance I see light, however faint, always a light. Getting so close to fulfilling parts of my dream I can smell the future smile on my face. Not that Im not smiling now. In fact, I can honestly say that Im the best I’ve ever been (but still far away from where I want to be). Often I romanticize about the past but this is a great time to be taking up oxygen. What other day and age could an untrained poet as myself do a show to hundreds of people in Jakarta, Indonesia touching lives without leaving LA. Or being a pre-teen in love with the heroine of Krush Groove (Sheila E) filmed in New York and years later doing a show with her in San Diego. I bet if you look at your life now and the things you have done and are going to do its all pretty amazing. Its always been about perspective. Either you let your mind take you were it wants or you can control the way it sees. You have never been your thoughts, “I think therefore I am” is a load of BS. You are the observer of your thoughts. You are the guy/gal watching the screen, thousands of channels (thoughts) passing you by. Beautiful thing is that we get to choose what we want to focus on (which in turn controls what we say, do, and who we are). I just fear the case with most of us is that our remote is broke and we are too lazy to get off the couch and change the channel. Typical. Ha ha. We are soooo lazy. WHATS BEEN HAPPENING: THE ALBUM Working on the double album! Super excited. This is going to be a beast. Hopefully done in fall but it depends on time and the creative process being kind to us. Working with super producer Aaron Evans with more than 30 albums produced under his tutelage I am in good hands. First few tracks we have done so far are dangerously dope. Brewing beautiful ballads by the beach is doing something good for me. A lot of new guest appearances and some old ones, for those of you who copped Flawed American Male. I have a title but I may not release that until next newsletter just in case it changes. THE BOOK Still in the works, however in talks with mega poet Ise Lyfe to help guide my way through it. Which is a big deal because his book Pistols and Prayers, just got picked up by a major distributor and is now in bookstores around the country, is mandatory reading in several universities, and the audiobook was in the top ten when it came out on iTunes…good hands to be in if I do say so myself. (I like to brag on my friends, I know some amazing and talented people) THE BAND ELECTRIC COMPANY is back in full effect. Had to take a short newborn baby hiatus (no not mine). And life on the Sotu farm was hectic. But we are back with two new shows for you July 28th (Kava Lounge) and 29th (Brick by Brick) . We also added some estrogen to the mix and have a powerful vocalist sweetly named Peach. This girl is going to blow you away. THE CHALLENGE This weeks challenge may be the most difficult and most ignored of all the previous: So I would say I was a fairly positive guy. More than most, less than some. So when I heard about the “Good Thought” cleanse I went in half cocky and failed after 1 day. A lot of people may say “why try to have good thoughts? There is a lot of f**ked up things going on.” Well it boils down to perspective again. You can see whats going on as PROBLEMS or CHALLENGES. PROBLEMS, will leave you on the couch writing a poem, singing a song or yelling at the TV about it. A CHALLENGE will get you up and start the change process. So I give you this one: For 2 days we are going to work on finding new perspectives. Actually controlling our thoughts and the way we want them to go. Don’t fight the negative feelings, emotions, or thoughts…but don’t hold on to them (what good are they anyway? They cause cancer, for real for reals.) for every negative thought, fill it with the opposite. Just for 2 days! Then you can go onto your old grumpy self. I know so many will skip this. but for those who try, I commend you. hit me back and tell me how the experiment goes. BIG SHOWS Jul 28th - Aaron Evans “Family Always Matters” Album Release Show - Kava Lounge 9pm feat. Gill Sotu and The Electric Company, Sojourn, and Todo Mundo Jul 29th - Brick By Brick Show feat. Gill Sotu and The Electric Company Aug 10th - Opening for Sheila E at the 4th and B Details for all shows are on gillsotu.com until then, be now Gill Sotu

People my people,

Currently I am reading the Game of Thrones book series…(nerdy I know, it get’s worse). In it, a princess looking for answers to her fate has to enter the House of the Undying which is a maze of hippy trippy witchcraft and sorcery in which you see your past, your future, and anything else a creative, overweight genius author who wrote the book series can think up (told you it got worse). So at the entrance dude tells the princess no matter what you see, no matter what distracts you always go to the first door to your right, and always ascend any stairs you see, never go down. Seems simple enough, even for a dragon princess but it never is (watch the TV show, you’ll get hooked.) How’d the princess do? Well you’ll have to nerd-up and read the book wont you?

I walk my path, treading the tightrope of past, future and now, all connecting, all distracting with instructions past on from those who have gone before. They whisper, “always use the door on the right and walk up stairs never down.” But Im a knucklehead, I don’t listen, I even give correct advise to people I meet along the way, but I choose to ignore the wisdom that comes out of my mouth. But in the distance I see light, however faint, always a light. Getting so close to fulfilling parts of my dream I can smell the future smile on my face. Not that Im not smiling now. In fact, I can honestly say that Im the best I’ve ever been (but still far away from where I want to be).

Often I romanticize about the past but this is a great time to be taking up oxygen. What other day and age could an untrained poet as myself do a show to hundreds of people in Jakarta, Indonesia touching lives without leaving LA. Or being a pre-teen in love with the heroine of Krush Groove (Sheila E) filmed in New York and years later doing a show with her in San Diego. I bet if you look at your life now and the things you have done and are going to do its all pretty amazing. Its always been about perspective.

Either you let your mind take you were it wants or you can control the way it sees. You have never been your thoughts, “I think therefore I am” is a load of BS. You are the observer of your thoughts. You are the guy/gal watching the screen, thousands of channels (thoughts) passing you by. Beautiful thing is that we get to choose what we want to focus on (which in turn controls what we say, do, and who we are). I just fear the case with most of us is that our remote is broke and we are too lazy to get off the couch and change the channel. Typical. Ha ha. We are soooo lazy.

WHATS BEEN HAPPENING:

THE ALBUM

Working on the double album! Super excited. This is going to be a beast. Hopefully done in fall but it depends on time and the creative process being kind to us. Working with super producer Aaron Evans with more than 30 albums produced under his tutelage I am in good hands. First few tracks we have done so far are dangerously dope. Brewing beautiful ballads by the beach is doing something good for me. A lot of new guest appearances and some old ones, for those of you who copped Flawed American Male. I have a title but I may not release that until next newsletter just in case it changes.



THE BOOK

Still in the works, however in talks with mega poet Ise Lyfe to help guide my way through it. Which is a big deal because his book Pistols and Prayers, just got picked up by a major distributor and is now in bookstores around the country, is mandatory reading in several universities, and the audiobook was in the top ten when it came out on iTunes…good hands to be in if I do say so myself. (I like to brag on my friends, I know some amazing and talented people)

THE BAND

ELECTRIC COMPANY is back in full effect. Had to take a short newborn baby hiatus (no not mine). And life on the Sotu farm was hectic. But we are back with two new shows for you July 28th (Kava Lounge) and 29th (Brick by Brick) . We also added some estrogen to the mix and have a powerful vocalist sweetly named Peach. This girl is going to blow you away.

THE CHALLENGE

This weeks challenge may be the most difficult and most ignored of all the previous:

So I would say I was a fairly positive guy. More than most, less than some. So when I heard about the “Good Thought” cleanse I went in half cocky and failed after 1 day. A lot of people may say “why try to have good thoughts? There is a lot of f**ked up things going on.” Well it boils down to perspective again. You can see whats going on as PROBLEMS or CHALLENGES. PROBLEMS, will leave you on the couch writing a poem, singing a song or yelling at the TV about it. A CHALLENGE will get you up and start the change process. So I give you this one:

For 2 days we are going to work on finding new perspectives. Actually controlling our thoughts and the way we want them to go. Don’t fight the negative feelings, emotions, or thoughts…but don’t hold on to them (what good are they anyway? They cause cancer, for real for reals.) for every negative thought, fill it with the opposite. Just for 2 days! Then you can go onto your old grumpy self. I know so many will skip this. but for those who try, I commend you. hit me back and tell me how the experiment goes.

BIG SHOWS

Jul 28th - Aaron Evans “Family Always Matters” Album Release Show - Kava Lounge 9pm feat. Gill Sotu and The Electric Company, Sojourn, and Todo Mundo

Jul 29th - Brick By Brick Show feat. Gill Sotu and The Electric Company

Aug 10th - Opening for Sheila E at the 4th and B

Details for all shows are on gillsotu.com

until then, be now

Gill Sotu

]]> Sat, 14 Jul 2012 05:40:00 GMT A1B588264E79A1F6B0B51791B22F0219 The Joy of Drowning http://trainofthoughtsd.com/conversations.cfm?feature=2989394&postid=1601087  People my people, (wait, let me start that again)   Guess who's back? (no, that doesn't capture it)   "Don't call it a comeback!", love's been here for years...a calm, violent, majestic, raging sea luring sailors, surfers and star-gazers alike.  And here I stand, at the edge of the bow, diving straight into this unknown, no gear, holding my love's tiny hand the whole way down because the ironic thing is, we are told that as long as we don't let go of each other, the breathing is easier down here.   WHAT'S BEEN ON MY MIND I have to say, underwater for only a minute, and I got to say that the rumors are right.  Marriage feels good.  Just got back from our honeymoon.  5 days Orlando, 6 days Jamaica.  Renee finally braved and enjoyed some roller coasters. I let go of the reigns of Train of Thought and trusted my folks to do what they do for two weeks.  All went well.   I have learned... I didn't understand Patois as much as I thought... Jamaican's are serious about getting tipped... They play top 40 club hits in the castle-like foyer of Medieval Times (which ruins the effect they spent the last 2 hrs building)... A 50 yr old white man who looks and is balding just like Jack Nicholson braided the last remaining strands of hair on the back of his head with colorful beads so he could fit in with the jamaicans is OFFICIALLY the funniest thing I have seen in the world so far.  I whispered to Renee "that's how little black girls wear their hair!" I don't know how this is translating in text but I was crying on our bus.  Renee had more tact.  Imagine, no hair on top, blond braids with colorful beads melodically tapping each other all around the side.  Now if he did it for comedic purposes I think he is a genius and only him and I share this particular strand of extreme hilariousness.  And for that I am grateful.     WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON Whenever I go to a different culture the most important thing to me is to learn the temperature of the people.  What moves them? How are they different? More important, what strand of culture or human experience connects us?  On the islands I saw men in their 50's and 60's doing construction, long grey beards and dreads, keeping in pace with their younger counterparts. Lucky for them Burger Kings are expensive and miles apart from each other.  At the same time around our all-inclusive resort, Americans laying and eating, eating and laying.  One woman was not only in a electronic chair, but had to be strapped in.  I was/am no different.  We worked out, made sure I had a lot of fruit and veggies on the plate, but it was after serious looks from my health/fitness fanatic of a wife.  I actually think she made it start to cloud up and drizzle on me when I had too many pieces of fried fish.  I laugh about it now, but that look wasn't funny when I wanted that fish.  She goes easy on me, and I try harder for her.  But it just hits me how much I try to hold onto my old conditioning when it really doesn't serve me well.  It's pretty obvious with food.  But I also wonder how that translates into other things I keep doing that I know won't serve my greater good?   THE CHALLENGE Pick one habit that you want to correct.  Choose one person you see a lot and trust with your heart and tell them to ask you periodically (and kindly) about how it's going.  You don't need any more advice or opinions (that can be annoying, everyone's an expert if you ask them), just find someone to be a sounding board if you feel like speaking about it.  If you don't feel like talking about it, then you have the right not to.  I honestly believe we all know what to do to change what it is we want to.  We just need someone who cares about us to remind us that we want to change.  I married my inspiration.  You don't have to go that far, but it's not a bad way to go.   As always, I write these things to challenge me and share them with you.  I am in no way an expert at anything, just a man who knows what works for him, reminding himself what's really important.   Until then, be now GILL        
Guess who's back? (no, that doesn't capture it)
 
"Don't call it a comeback!", love's been here for years...a calm, violent, majestic, raging sea luring sailors, surfers and star-gazers alike.  And here I stand, at the edge of the bow, diving straight into this unknown, no gear, holding my love's tiny hand the whole way down because the ironic thing is, we are told that as long as we don't let go of each other, the breathing is easier down here.
 
WHAT'S BEEN ON MY MIND
I have to say, underwater for only a minute, and I got to say that the rumors are right.  Marriage feels good.  Just got back from our honeymoon.  5 days Orlando, 6 days Jamaica.  Renee finally braved and enjoyed some roller coasters. I let go of the reigns of Train of Thought and trusted my folks to do what they do for two weeks.  All went well.  
I have learned...
I didn't understand Patois as much as I thought...
Jamaican's are serious about getting tipped...
They play top 40 club hits in the castle-like foyer of Medieval Times (which ruins the effect they spent the last 2 hrs building)...
A 50 yr old white man who looks and is balding just like Jack Nicholson braided the last remaining strands of hair on the back of his head with colorful beads so he could fit in with the jamaicans is OFFICIALLY the funniest thing I have seen in the world so far.  I whispered to Renee "that's how little black girls wear their hair!"
I don't know how this is translating in text but I was crying on our bus.  Renee had more tact.  Imagine, no hair on top, blond braids with colorful beads melodically tapping each other all around the side.  Now if he did it for comedic purposes I think he is a genius and only him and I share this particular strand of extreme hilariousness.  And for that I am grateful.
 
 
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON
Whenever I go to a different culture the most important thing to me is to learn the temperature of the people.  What moves them? How are they different? More important, what strand of culture or human experience connects us?  On the islands I saw men in their 50's and 60's doing construction, long grey beards and dreads, keeping in pace with their younger counterparts. Lucky for them Burger Kings are expensive and miles apart from each other.  At the same time around our all-inclusive resort, Americans laying and eating, eating and laying.  One woman was not only in a electronic chair, but had to be strapped in.  I was/am no different.  We worked out, made sure I had a lot of fruit and veggies on the plate, but it was after serious looks from my health/fitness fanatic of a wife.  I actually think she made it start to cloud up and drizzle on me when I had too many pieces of fried fish.  I laugh about it now, but that look wasn't funny when I wanted that fish.  She goes easy on me, and I try harder for her.  But it just hits me how much I try to hold onto my old conditioning when it really doesn't serve me well.  It's pretty obvious with food.  But I also wonder how that translates into other things I keep doing that I know won't serve my greater good?
 
THE CHALLENGE
Pick one habit that you want to correct.  Choose one person you see a lot and trust with your heart and tell them to ask you periodically (and kindly) about how it's going.  You don't need any more advice or opinions (that can be annoying, everyone's an expert if you ask them), just find someone to be a sounding board if you feel like speaking about it.  If you don't feel like talking about it, then you have the right not to.  I honestly believe we all know what to do to change what it is we want to.  We just need someone who cares about us to remind us that we want to change.  I married my inspiration.  You don't have to go that far, but it's not a bad way to go.
 
As always, I write these things to challenge me and share them with you.  I am in no way an expert at anything, just a man who knows what works for him, reminding himself what's really important.
 
Until then, be now
GILL
 
 
 
]]> Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:43:23 GMT C5C5FE95665C1A9F7D9759D81979E202