Bonus Round Portland Performance Now Online.

Steve Schalchlin from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.

I am grateful to Chris Guillebeau for inviting me to the World Domination Summit 2013. You'll hear several references to other speakers in my talk. All of their talks are also online and I absolutely ENCOURAGE you to click around and listen to them.

Service. Community. Adventure.

It has become this mantra for me. Ever since I experienced it at the World Domination Summit, those three words just keep ringing and ringing in my ear.

My most immediate, daily, adventure is my health. My new running/exercise routine is having startlingly strong effects on my body. Feeling good really can be thought of as an adventure when you're physically or mentally down. It takes a conscious effort to, every day, make the choice to live. To grow. To learn.

My new album is also an adventure.

But what am I doing in terms of service? One thing is my volunteer work singing in the church choir. There are also other things I do, such as helping friends with tedious tasks. I like being useful. Does that make sense? Like stuffing envelopes or stapling things.

And then, finally, community. Where is my own personal community? In this world of connectedness, I belong to many communities. My close personal friends are one. But I feel just as close to my cyber friends. I always have. Given the fact that I was doing this before almost anyone else, I was able to develop deep friendships across great divides, back when we were all innocents here on the Net. Before it became a corporate whatever it is today.

One thing is sure, though, and they don't teach you this in high school or at home, you really do choose your community. You hand pick your friends. And what I have found myself doing is hand picking people who are smarter than me, better looking than me, younger and older than me, more talented than me, more loving than me and more generous than me.

And then, I try to become the best parts of them. Another adventure! And what a service to mankind, to boot! To always be thinking of growth and maturity and intelligence and forward motion. What a gift that is to others around you. And how did you get it? Through service. Through community.

As I was running the other day, I was thinking about how, for instance, the adventure of the new album came about because someone did a favor for me. I realized, in retrospect, that I might not have recorded this album if not for Peter Grundy's artwork. He crystallized, without my ever having "set a meeting," everything in that image of that piano. I looked at it and said, "That is my album."

All of the lecturers at the World Domination Summit were there, volunteering their services, because that amazingly open community of -- I was gonna say "True Believers" -- but that term has negative connotations. Maybe a better word is sincere. But not naive. This is a generation that is beyond being naive. The Net has taught us all to be suspicious.

So, that image wasn't merely a connection between artist and songwriter, the environment itself of the World Domination Summit informed what Peter created. I had the lucky job of being the one musical act (except for one woman who played one song on guitar).  

The three energize each other. They create each other. The community energized the art which was a service to me, and now it gets turned into an adventure.

When people ask me how they also can "live in the bonus round," I never had a clear answer. But when I saw the words community, spirit and adventure in all the literature from the Summit, I knew I had my mantra. And it's not even mine. But that's the point. You don't have to die, or almost die, to live a remarkable life.

And, in a mundane and ordinary world, why wouldn't you want to live an remarkable life?

I saw an article recently about how young people want "to be famous," as if that's a career option. I suppose it is. In this world, it's actually quite easy to get famous if you can be weird enough. But what if you chose, instead, to opt for a remarkable life that may or may not lead to fame?

For a songwriter like me, fame is part of the equation because if people don't know who you are, they won't buy a ticket to your show. So, getting recognition is part of the job description. But that's not my goal in life. My goal is to live a remarkable life.

And though I've always kind of known how to do it, instinctively, having it set forth in three simple words is very, very helpful.

Service. Community. Adventure.

Now that's living.

I Just Wanted To Be Superman.

When Darren Rowse spoke at #WDS2013, he spoke of having always wanted to be Superman and how he would be the greatest force for good, etc. A common child's dream. I had it, too. I prayed so hard to be Superboy. To save the world!

As an adult, I see two fantasies in there. The first one, to have super powers. At some point, you realize you're not going to be the Son of Krypton, no matter how hard you wish it or pray it. But the second one, that's the one that trips you up. To save the world. I suppose I grew up in a generation that really believed they could save the world. We knew just what was wrong with it, too.

Here is Darren Rowse's speech at the World Domination Summit. It's for anyone who was ever a dreamer.

Darren Rowse from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.

World Domination Summit Pt. 6: Reactions.

After I got home from #WDS2013, just as it all seemed like some big dream, came these from one of the attendees of the Summit, Mike Rohde, who made one of these of every speaker and activity he went to. He took a few years off and gave me a cooler haircut.

So I immediately made his graphic the primary one on my some of my social media. And it totally changed my image. Hip and cool, that's how I be.

That was followed by many tweets and blog entries which you can find at #WDS2013 on Twitter.

And then came this blog entry and graphic from an artist and attendee named Peter Grundy, who was very praisy about my performance (thanks) but then said this:

I hope I can keep this story in my mind on days I think dont go to well and realise I should treat every day as a bonus round.

And that made it all worth it. Because if he got the message, then who knows how many others did, also? Not that I'm selling a message. It's nothing more than a change of mind, this living in the bonus round. It's a frame of reference.

But the blog wasn't enough. He also sent this incredible woodcut design.

Wasting no time, I asked him if I could use these images for the album I'm recording and he said yes.

So, a little spark lights a couple more sparks.

But, best of all, by donating my service -- though I considered it a privilege -- as performer to World Domination Summit, I realize I'm joining a community of artists and, together, we are now creating a new adventure for ourselves.

The audience really is my hero!

World Domination Summit Pt. 5: My Secret Weapon & The Mystery Solved.

 For #WDS2013 I had a big surprise: an Unexpected Choir. (Part 4 here).

David Peterson, at piano, drills members from the Portland Gay Men's Chorus.

Since the prizes are better in the bonus round, I always look for ways to bring something unexpected or extra any time I make an appearance. When Chris said it was in Portland, Oregon I immediately thought of my old L.A. friend, David Peterson, with whom I've sung, who's now with the Portland Gay Men's Chorus and I asked him if the chorus would sing with me. He asked me what I was singing for.

I said I wasn't sure what it was. But that it looked like a nice event. (At the time, I hadn't read that much about it). It was definitely not promoting some cult or religion. It's just people.

He said that they would have finished a long season and would be on break, but that he thought he could gather a group who were fast readers. I gave them two pieces: The background choral arrangement of "When You Care" (by Alan Satchwell) that you hear on the CDs and in the show -- with a big soprano part that was no problem for them. And a new arrangement of "Lazarus Come Out," which I had put together quickly, since I usually just improvise it with audiences.

We had one rehearsal to get it right. And I am terrible at this work. Teaching someone a part. My brain doesn't compute like a musical director. I can't hear a bunch of sounds and know which one is wrong. So, as I sat there fumfering at the piano, David rescued me. So did the choir. They made suggestions I immediately adopted and it felt like a real collaboration.

We met for the sound check just before the evening session of the last day. The set just before the keynote speaker -- though one could argue that every speaker was a keynote speaker on this weekend.

My set list was now rock solid in my mind. Connected, then Somebody's Friend. Then Lazarus, with chorus followed by When You Care.

Somehow I knew why Somebody's Friend had to be in there. Because the other three songs are inspirational and uplifting. Which is nice, but we need to know uplifting from what? Unless, we as a group, go into hell together, we're not escaping anything. We're not lifted from anywhere.

SIDEBAR: I've used Unexpected Choirs before:

At the first staged reading of The Last Session, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the room had a weird L-shaped configuration, which meant that audiences were on two sides of the stage. So, it was on the smaller L side that we hid the choir from a Methodist church in the Valley. When we reached the end of the piece, where Buddy whips out his cassette and runs it to the booth, the choir suddenly started singing. And in that room, it was so rich, because it was real voices in the room. 

The next time was one I had forgotten about. The National Academy of Songwriters allowed me a place on their annual all-star line-up of The Salute to the American Songwriter concert. I found it after digging around in the old diary. And on that show, I had the choir hidden behind a curtain. I sang "When You Care," surprising the audience in the middle of the song after the first chorus.
That's it! I'll bring the Gay Men's Chorus on DURING Lazarus Come Out! Genius!

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.

I wasn't nervous about the singing or playing itself. I know how to sing and play. I've sung in concert halls and night clubs, Broadway stages and street corners, churches and synagogues. All the same to me.

I was puzzling over the idea that the point of the presentation was "Living in the Bonus Round." What does that mean? How do I take the last 20 years and put them into 20 minutes, while also singing four songs?

What's "Living in the Bonus Round?" I don't know. They are words that came out of my head when I was trying to describe how I felt to have a new life. Like a game show. In the bonus round, time speeds up and the prizes are better.

I don't run around with a set "program." My theoretical TED Talk hasn't been written out and timed down to the last minute. (But I should think one up, just for the heck of it.)

Do I talk or do I sing?

I decided: Sing.

Let the songs tell the story.

However, what I did do was write up an intro for Chris, that set my story up, including the fact that the last time I was in Portland, I was staggering around on the "last cruise of my life" but that, miraculously, I had survived. Even threw in "And he's with us tonight!"

I started Connected.

I have no memory of the performance, but when it was over, all 3000 people leaped to their feet in the most spontaneously enthusiastic ovation of my life. I was dazed and stunned.

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

And in my element. Time for Somebody's Friend. Will they be able to take it? Or will it be like at 54 Below, the week before, when I plunged everyone into a depression.

I went for it.

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

I knew I was safe within seconds, though, because I started hearing laughter. They were getting the joke. Yes, Somebody's Friend is intense, but it's also funny, steeped thoroughly in the kind of black humor suffering people use to survive.

At the end of the song, another spontaneous standing ovation. Hey! I like this crowd.

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

Time to start "Lazarus Come Out," a song from New World Waking, with lyrics by Peter J. Carman. A thank you song to the ones who stuck it out with us at our lowest, who brought us back to life by their refusal to let us go.

I got halfway through the song and, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome a select group of singers from the Portland Gay Men's Chorus." And the guys, all dressed in black, streamed onto the stage to great applause -- at which point we started the second verse. And we sounded spectacular.

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

We got to the second chorus and I said to the crowd, "Sing along!!" They sang. And I don't remember the rest. All of it is an out of body experience. 

After it was over, another standing ovation. I could really get used to this. My emotions were dialed up to HIGH OVERLOAD.

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau

 And then, I looked out over this crowd of people who were true believers that they could change the world. People who had spent money to hang out a bunch of folks just like them. People from all ages, sizes, races, religions, etc. All of whom had made a vow to themselves that they would change themselves and change the world for the better.

I said, "George Carlin once said you can't change the world. You can only screw it up. But you can reach one person who needs what you have. And if there is one person who needs what you have, then there are 10. And if there are 10, there are 1000." Or something like that. I don't know. There'll be video released soon.

I continued, "You don't have to care. No one in here has to do anything."

But when you do, that's when the world starts changing. And I started to sing the words I wrote with John Bettis:

There's a light holding us together
There's a light...

EPILOGUE:
After I finished the concert, I went backstage and saw Chris Guillebeau sitting alone. I asked him, finally, "Chris. I really want to know. How DID you find me?"

He said, simply, "I saw you 10 years ago in Memphis and I knew you'd be perfect." And then he went back to whatever he was working on, preparing for the end of the program.

I said, "I was in Memphis 10 years ago?"

I had no memory. I went back into the diary and saw that there was very little there. 1998, I think. Which means it was probably a college AIDS education concert. It was in the pre-laptop days. Before I even had a functional camera. So, no photographs. Just a quick note that was copied from a discussion board, about how it was a very small venue where I had to use duct tape to keep the microphone stand together.

And that's how things happen.

We never know who's reading us, listening to us or singing with us. Each one of those people will take away something that you can never guess. I'm thinking that the gig was so small, it made no impression on me at all except for the fact that it was there I met Hoover the Pot Bellied Pig who used to roll over and shiver whenever her "mom" put my music on the stereo.

Which is a whole 'nother Tale From The Bonus Round.

I will only know if I was successful by what happens next, by what the heroes in that audience in Portland do with the information, guidance, mentoring and inspiration that came from the stage of the World Domination Summit. If I light just one little fire, then the whole world can, indeed, be saved.

You don't need an explanation when you care.

World Domination Summit Pt. 4: Rejection Therapy.

The speaker who most changed my life since #WDS2013 was an adorable Chinese man named Jia Jiang.

(EDIT: HIS REAL SPEECH FROM WDS IS BELOW, REPLACING THE TED TALK I HAD POSTED EARLIER.)

The first thing he said, after taking the stage, was, "I love rejection!" Then, he told us his story about coming from China to Houston (because of the Houston Rockets).

He found something online called "Rejection therapy," where the point was to go out and try to get rejected. In his case, he decided to spend 100 days trying to get rejected. At first, he was did get rejected a few times, but then, as he persisted, he started to get more and more people accepting his crazy requests -- driving a police car, playing soccer in a stranger's backyard, etc.

Here is his speech (now updated):


Jia Jiang from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.

I have always been a bit of a coward when it comes to asking people for things. Maybe it's because I'm from a small town or because I'm actually kind of shy, but suddenly, I have found myself charged with this new energy when I want to ask for something.

To go looking FOR rejection gives your body a different posture. People start wanting to help.

And the fear of being rejected starts going away. As Jia put it, no matter who you are, or how rich you are, or how successful, rejection is a part of life. It never goes away.

Best of all, though, that fear I always had in my gut when I approached strangers -- a constant in my life -- has completely evaporated.

Right now, I'm at a music conference in Tennessee where I'm surrounded by strangers. From day one, I found myself thrusting my hand out and just saying, "Hello! I'm Steve!" Before, I would have been too shy for such a thing. I can't even tell you why. It's just true.

And people here have sometimes grinned and shook my hand. Some turned away, thinking I was some kind of aggressive nut, but my fear of rejection is gone. Absolutely and irrevocably gone.

Why? Because instead of entering into a situation afraid of rejection, I go looking for it. And when I succeed in being rejected, it becomes this weird kind of victory rather than a sting of defeat. Yeah, it's just a trick of the mind, but it totally has worked for me.

He divided his life into "Before Donuts" and "After Donuts." Mine is now "Before Jia" and "After Jia."

So, reader, look at Jia's speech above if that sentence made no sense and let it inspire you. Go get rejected!

It will change your life.

Part 5.

World Domination Summit Pt. 3: The Audience Is The Hero

#WDS2013

Nancy Duarte's lecture on the first day set my head spinning.

As I got to the venue the following day, following J. D. Roth's advice, I was sitting over in a little area near the stage prepared for the speakers.



But, first Chris Guillebeau came out to introduce the event with the question, which attributed tosomeone else, "How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?" by announcing that on the day before I got there, all the attendees, plus other townspeople had broken a world record by creating a human chain on Willamette River.




Then he introduced Nancy Duarte, someone I'd seen on a TED Talk, because she was talking about storytelling.

As a songwriter, storytelling is one of my fortes and her observations about great speeches -- comparing graphs of MLK's "I Had A Dream" speech with Steve Jobs' iPhone speech and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount -- I was familiar with, but it was fun hearing them live and getting reminded of her main point, that speeches and storytelling are more complex than simply starting, getting to a climax and reaching the end. She even mentioned Evita's speech, which maybe won her husband the presidency of Argentina.

What struck me was this: She said that, like most of us, she though of herself as the hero of her own story, , until it occurred to her, looking out over the crowd, that she had it wrong. She said to us:

"You are the hero."

And that she (and we, the other presenters) are the mentors.

Wow, I thought. A crowd filled with heroes. Interesting.

After that, my mind spun off. All weekend, this little meme kept resonating and repeating itself in my head. The audience is the hero. The audience is the hero.

And I thought, what if we thought that way about everyone in our lives? What if we stop being the Center of our own little Universes and thought of ourselves as people who empower our friends and family, rather than as people trying to get attention in a "me, me, me" world? Indeed. What would happen?

Darren Rowse was next. His speech was empowering, also, as he talked about wanting to be Superman, growing up. But the one nugget I took from his speech was this:

Rather than trying to save the whole world, and getting frustrated, do one thing really, really well. If you start there, all other things become possible. I would go further, if you don't start there, you can accomplish nothing. And how nice to know that that's all it takes. Do one thing really, really well.

After that, we broke for lunch and everyone went to break-out sessions. I was tired by then, so I decided, once again, to conserve energy. Went back to the hotel and laid down for a nap. There was so much great information bubbling around in my brain, it was hard to absorb it all. 

Also, knowing I was going to be performing on Sunday, the last day, I wanted to make sure my presentation incorporated all that I had been hearing so far.

One note, though. It was interesting to me that Chris Guillebeau, far from making this all about himself, as many modern day "gurus" do -- where they rouse an audience into a kind of worship, which turns into a cult of personality, Chris was more like an Ed Sullivan. He was always pointing toward others. He didn't even give a speech, per se. 

Rather, he acted like a curator. All of these presentations were adding up to something. But it was up to us, in the audience, to put those pieces together. And between presentations, he brought up audience members to tell their stories. 

This series is three years old. On the first year, with a simple invitation sent to people who had read Chris' books, he got 500 people. Year two, he got 1000. Year three: almost 3000. And these tickets were sold out on the first day they were put up for sale. With no advertising, no publicity, no sponsorship.

I had to admit it. I was hooked.

Continued in Part 4.

World Domination Summit Pt. 2

#WDS2013 Part 1 is here.

When I finally spoke with Chris Guillebeau, asking him how he found me, he simply said he had two songs of mine on his iPod, "Connected" and "When You Care." He also said that though they'd help me get there and find housing, there would be no pay for my performance. (That none of the speakers were being paid). 

Rather than feel insulted, I was actually intrigued. Really? What kind event was this, anyway? I never turn down a chance to sing, anyway, so that wasn't a problem, but still...

I went to the website, hoping it wasn't some weird religious thing. (It wasn't). Well, then, what exactly was it? There were videos and they resembled the TED Talks. Motivational and inspirational speakers talking about self-empowerment, etc. Okay, I like that.

Even more, no commercial sponsors. No corporate donors logos allowed. Double really? He turns down money? In fact, there was a video from last year. A donor insisted on giving him money, anonymously, and rather than keep it, he gave each of the 1000 attendees an envelope with $100 in it. What? He gave away $100,000 that he could have kept for himself?

Who IS this guy? 

I also checked another page: "If you are a manager or agent or a performer and you would like to submit for an appearance, the answer is we don't take submissions. We will find you."

A follow-up call with J. D. Roth, who was a presenter last year and who was now working for the event, said that unlike other conferences, where you show up, do your thing and leave, they would encourage me to watch the other presenters and get a feel for the event.

Further, they would slot me on the last day just before the keynote address. He asked me if I would mind doing 20 minutes. Are you kidding? I'll sing for 20 hours if you want. But that's a generous amount of time.

---

Portland is beautiful city. 

Walkable, clean, great public transportation, friendly people. 

After I got there, I walked from my hotel to the gorgeous Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium in the historic Portland Theater.

All the other presenters were gathered by Chris, who is a soft-spoken and very sweet person, for our sound checks. Then, we were off to the opening party being held at the Portland Zoo.

Really? The Zoo? There, we were entertained by the most unusual musical act I've ever seen on a stage: A marching band called March Fourth, some of whom were on stilts.

All the other animals were asleep except this one.

It had been a long day for this fella, so I didn't stay for the whole night. I knew my virus-ridden body needed to conserve energy, so I went back to my hotel and laid down, and though I had no idea what was ahead of me, I knew that this was a different experience.

Now numbering 3000, what I saw on that lawn all spread out were some very friendly people. Very, VERY friendly. And smart, too.

What was this? I would find out soon. In Part 3.

Portland 2013: First thoughts on #WDS2013

I've had friends in town, I've shipped Jimmy off to Florida for his five week run of "Character Man," (happy but sad that he's there and I'm here), and I'm getting ready to go to a music retreat.

I need to write up the Summit, but so much has happened, and I've been given so much to think about, I think the only way to do this is in bite-size chunks.

If you, reader, are finding this blog and wondering who I am, since the Summit was probably the first place you ever heard of me, a little background about how it all came to be.

So, first up: I'm not selling religion or promoting any political agenda. I'm just a songwriter and singer who has survived a great difficulty. No manager. No agent. No PR machine. And, like most struggling musicians with AIDS, barely paying the rent and the medical bills.

Not famous on the lecture circuit. No TED Talk. No book to sell, unless you call the Internet Diary a book, but you can have that for free.

How did Chris find me? I didn't know.

My career as an entertainer is not that huge. Mostly AIDS education concerts, and also church gigs, as well as strip clubs and hustler bars. I know he didn't find me there. 

However, when I spoke with a guy named J. D. and he told me about the main themes: Adventure, Service, Community, I understood immediately how I fit in. 

For instance, I have have the title, composer in residence, at Christ Church Bay Ridge. I'll tell you a secret. I made up the title. I'm a volunteer singer. And I write songs for the church. That's the "Service" part of the equation. It's an exchange of services, really. I write for them. They give me a title. Both our resumes look good. 

Next week, I'm attending the Sewanee Music Conference in Tennessee. I hadn't hear of that either until Mark Janas and Dr. Jeffrey Hamblin decided I needed to go. I don't travel much these days because of my diet and medical concerns. But any time I can get a chance to learn more about music, and be around people who love music, count me in.

(You should see me going through a scanner with my gallon bag of pill bottles, syringes and powders. I've learned to just take it all out of the bag first, because they're going to, anyway.)

But this Service, singing, is more than something I'm giving. It's a gift being given to me. A Bonus Round gift.

Woody Allen plays clarinet. I am the tenor in the back row of the choir. It's what brings me perfect bliss.

The Bonus Round gift that is that I'm receiving the unexpected reward in the form of an Adventure: A class at the Bonus Round University on the history of church music, which is the history of music itself, one might argue. Growing up Baptist, I wasn't exposed to "Catholic" stuff. God forbid. So having this hole in my knowledge base filled is supremely sublime. 

But, again, Chris wouldn't have known about that, either. We're a small church in Brooklyn.

In 1997, I got "almost famous," as Playbill put it, for writing the score to a show you, reader, probably never heard of because it was never a huge box office hit since it was about AIDS -- and our production team didn't have much money. 

On the phone, Chris just said that he had Connected and When You Care -- both, songs from that show -- on his iPod. Okay.

So, it was all set. I'd fly to Portland and sing for the World Domination Summit, whatever that was. I was confident until...

Earlier that week, I sang at BackStage at 54 Below, hosted by Susie Mosher. And I don't think I told this story because it was scared me and I didn't want to embarrass Susie. But...

Susie Mosher does hilarious black humor and she started riffing on her mother dying of cancer, a bit which kinda went nowhere, though he joked her way out of it. And then she looked at me to introduce me, probably realized I was Mr. AIDS walking onto the stage. And it all got uncomfortably quiet for a moment. I'm laughing now, but it was awkward.

And then, as planned, I sang "Somebody's Friend." Totally blackened the mood of the room with this great black cloud of doom. 

Again, I can laugh, but at the time? It was a real life Andy Kaufman routine. 

And, worse, something was telling me to sing Somebody's Friend at the Summit.

The Summit, where the point is to lift people up and inspire them? What if I throw this horrible black cloud over everyone there? I can just depress the whole world, maybe, a continent at a time.

I had 20 minutes. With any kind of talking, that's a maximum of four songs. I knew Chris wanted Connected and When You Care. That's 10 minutes gone. I was also committed to "Lazarus Come Out" because I had arranged for a group of singers from the Portland Gay Men's Chorus to join me, thanks to my friend, David Peterson. 

So, three slots gone. Open with Connected. Finish with Lazarus and When You Care. But what goes second?

Somebody's Friend, the voice kept saying. It was like pressure on my heart. Somebody's Friend. Sing Somebody's Friend. 

But, voice, I would say, I just killed a room full of people with that song. 

I also argued that Rescue would be a much more sensible alternative. It's for a doggy shelter. You know this place will be filled with animal lovers. It's sweet and uplifting.

Still, I could work out the logic. if Lazarus is about rising from the dead, then we need to see Dead. What am I rising from?

And how did Chris Guillebeau find me?

NEXT: The Arrival.

From Mike Rohde's Sketchbook

On my Twitter feed, under the hashtag #WDS2013, artist and illustrator Mike Rohde posted all the sketches he made during the World Domination Summit. For my segment, he drew this.

Rights reserved by Mike Rohde

Photos of Steve (and Portland Gay Men's Chorus) on Stage at World Domination Summit

Photo credit: Chris Guillebeau.

"I guess I won't depend on somebody's friend."

"We should all be connected to each other."

I do not know what I was saying here. Are there tears in my eyes?

Big head.

"Time to come out! Lazarus come out!
Into the light. Into the light of day."

"You don't need an explanation when you care."

"The day I stopped having diarrhea was the greatest day of my life."

"You can only lift the darkness when you care."