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HIGHLIGHTS




Some highlights — and lowlights — of a spiritual being having a human experience.

Always looking for more ideas, please send my way. Stay tuned for annual updates.

Join my Holiday Card Mailing List to have these sent in analog form in your mailbox.

   

YEAR BY YEAR

2025

 ✭ made my own coldbrew coffee

 ✭ finally got a subscription to the New Yorker magazine

 ✭ finally got my cholesterol tested

 ✭ finally got current on my tetanus shots (after 30+ years)

 ✭ washed blood out of a shirt

 ✭ saw Cake at Ascend Amph. free from Korean Vets bridge

 ✭ final Sunrise Session and Under Over

 ✭ was pooped on by a bird flying inside a recording studio

 ✭ filmed a music video at my office

 ✭ bribed staff for iced cream when ‘machine was broken’

 ✭ got a tree planted for my HOA

 ✭ sold 7 guitars, 2 amps, 1 keyboard, and 1 drum set

 ✭ gave away 15 guitars

 ✭ helped Fred Burch blow out 94 birthday candles

 ✭ found a plastic frog at Alcatraz

 ✭ carved my initials into a sidewalk in Sylvan Park

 ✭ ran 1000 miles in 13 months

 ✭ celebrated 10 years of continuous sobriety

 ✭ went on 1 date with a movie star

 ✭ released web series songwriting with the homeless

  (www . ourlivingcity . com)

2024

 ✭ wrote and recorded 2 songs on Greyhound buses

 ✭ got my first Gibson guitar

 ✭ applied to be the new Smashing Pumpkins guitarist

 ✭ had sudden debilitating arthritis

 ✭ worked my first two paid gigs as a photographer

 ✭ broke the same cellphone twice

 ✭ had lunch next to Jay Cutler and Kathy Lee Gifford

 ✭ shared a stage with Jelly Roll

 ✭ got stuck on the tarmac with Robert Downey, Jr.

 ✭ sat in church with Mary Gauthier

 ✭ got caught in flash flood while jogging, kept jogging

 ✭ high fived another jogger

 ✭ caught Beethoven’s 9th on its 200th anniversary

 ✭ voted for our 1st female president

 ✭ went skinny dipping in the Cumberland River

 ✭ wrote a song with John Lomax III

 ✭ we recorded it at Cowboy Jack Clement’s studio

 ✭ nearly bought Jeff Buckley’s house

 ✭ declined a job w/ 15k raise, then got laid off

 ✭ got a better job in 30 days flat

 ✭ wrote one song every day (instagram / leapsongs)

2023

 ✭ swept Elmington Park with a metal detector

 ✭ opened for Rodney Crowell

 ✭ accidentally took a switchblade thru TSA, twice

 ✭ fit an upright bass into sedan

 ✭ wrote 1 song in the Brill Bldg, 1 @ Memory Motel

 ✭ flew 1st class for free

 ✭ created a sunrise song circle: tinyurl / sun5am

 ✭ interviewed Broadway tourists on camera

 ✭ made host of my fav writer nite: tinyurl / w33ks

 ✭ jogged 3 miles in 9° Fahrenheit

 ✭ stole a brick out of printers alley

 ✭ also jogged 3 miles in 90° F

 ✭ earned a $100 tip for playing one song

 ✭ found $100 while jogging

 ✭ gave $100 tip to an excellent Taco Bell manager

 ✭ got kicked out from behind a bar

 ✭ got a song featured on the Times Square screens

 ✭ got cussed out by rich neighbor

 ✭ got kissed by a stranger on a city bus

 ✭ got retweeted by Tim Ferriss

2022

✭ put a song circle under a highway (tinyurl / tuo22)
✭ read the entire bible
✭ spent one long night on the floor at Chicago MDW
✭ gave myself 52 haircuts
✭ lifted up 200 other creatives (instagram / songdoer)
✭ got a reply from Mark Cuban
✭ snuck my music on cassette into 30 thrift shops
✭ perfectly folded a fitted sheet
✭ finally saw my favorite artist live (tinyurl / tones22)
✭ slept at a hippie commune
✭ applied for five new Guinness World Record titles
✭ took motorcycle riding classes
✭ washed and wore 10 garments off city streets
✭ visited Jeff Buckley’s house
✭ found and visited Townes Van Zandt’s old farm
✭ started taking cold showers
✭ used sunblock for the first time in adulthood
✭ became a homeowner
✭ facilitated a sync placement on VH-1
✭ turned 40

2021

 ✭ put a message in a bottle in the Cumberland river
 ✭ started EMDR therapy
 ✭ taught myself how to shave with a safety razor
 ✭ wrote letters to 8 inmates
 ✭ made tin can walkie talkies over the Cumberland
 ✭ co-wrote a song with 12 people
 ✭ won a songwriting contest (and lost 28 of them)
 ✭ invested 50k in cryptocurrency
 ✭ put 500 Song A Week stickers all over Nashville
 ✭ wrote a poem on a lamp post
 ✭ registered my publishing co. and got a BMI rep.
 ✭ got my first brain MRI
 ✭ wrote my five hundredth song and 100 others
 ✭ did 20,000 sit-ups
 ✭ recorded and released my second audiobook
 ✭ wrote a song with my Lyft driver
 ✭ saw my first fox, coyote, bear, and rattlesnake
 ✭ beat a breakthrough COVID case
 ✭ created a 24 hour songwriting marathon
 ✭ got my first panic attack 

2020

 ✭ slept through a tornado
 ✭ wrote song #400 (and over 100 others)
 ✭ got zoom bombed
 ✭ landed a guitar endorsement deal
 ✭ got hit by a car
 ✭ beat UV activated plant phototoxicity
 ✭ recorded an audiobook
 ✭ usurped a co-write from Chris Gantry (sorry!)
 ✭ walked through a drive thru
 ✭ saw Song A Week membership increase 80%
 ✭ insured my wrist watch
 ✭ bought a winning lotto ticket (now $4 richer)
 ✭ got a staff songwriting deal
 ✭ joined 3 hit songwriters in the round
 ✭ lost a friend to Covid-19
 ✭ sprained an ankle doing tornado relief work
 ✭ co-created a Battle of the Bands
 ✭ survived a pandemic
 ✭ texted over 2,000 random phone numbers
 ✭ walked over 2,000 miles 

2019

 ✭ renovated a recording studio
 ✭ caught salmonella
 ✭ wrote song # 300 (and 59 more)
 ✭ had a tattoo removed
 ✭ broke a lease after one week
 ✭ sang at a wedding
 ✭ attended a family funeral
 ✭ became a notary
 ✭ meditated for 4,100 minutes
 ✭ made 318 friends
 ✭ called DHS on a suspicious drone
 ✭ saw my first black widow
 ✭ played gig # 1,000 (and 42 more)
 ✭ learned 128 new songs
 ✭ hosted a live sports talk show
 ✭ was audited by the IRS
 ✭ earned a window office promotion
 ✭ tried a baptist church
 ✭ ate an extremely hot chicken sandwich
 ✭ got cussed out on a first date 

   

2018 & Before

The Elves are currently hard at work on making these archives available, check back for thrilling and chilling tales. 


Copyright © 2025 James Tristan Redding

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