Easy/Lucky/Free

It's amazing how much your life can change in a day.

Yesterday I woke up as my normal self,

and today I woke up with a tattoo and glasses.

Wait, that doesn't make sense to you?...

Let me explain.

I'll start with the glasses.

See, last week I had my first real eye exam, because I was pretty sure that my vision was blurry (or I was just going crazy).

So after the exam I come to find out that I have what's called an "Astigmatism",

so basically, instead of having normal basketball shaped eyes, mine are a bit more curved like a football (or at least that's how my eye doctor explained it, made sense to me)...

therefore, I can't see things up close or far away very well.

So yesterday I went and picked up my first ever pair of glasses...

and now I can officially be a nerd ;)

I don't have to wear them all the time or anything, I'll mainly just be wearing them to read and drive at night, so I'll only be nerdy looking about 20% of a normal day.

(Here's me in my new nerd form)

Alright,

now on to the tattoo.

I had it done at Icon in Nashville.

And for those that are curious,...

Yes, tattoos do hurt.

No, it is not the worst pain in the world, but it's also not the best either.

The way I've decided to describe it is: 

Have you ever been stung by a bee?

If you have, just imagine it being little worse than that, but it's a constant pain for the duration of the actual inking of the tattoo.

Afterward, it pretty much just feels like a sunburn.

One thing I wanted to mention, is that tattoos are no joke. If you're thinking about getting one take the advice I took...

think about the tattoo you want, and once you decide exactly what you want and where you want it think about it for a year.

And then, if you still love the idea, go for it.

Because if you get a tattoo, of course, you can't erase it, it's there forever.

I can gladly say that I really did have this idea for a little over a year,

and after getting in I have 110% no regrets at all.

I'm in love with it.

I'm completely and entirely happy to have this piece of art displayed on my body as long as I live.

So basically I'm just trying to say (because some people end up not really putting thought into their tattoos and get them as a spur of the moment thing and end up regretting it later in life) is that a tattoo is literally a commitment, so be sure of your decision before you do it.

Like I said,

I have no doubts at all about my decision.

There's a list of meaning behind what my tattoo represents to me.

And for those wondering I'll explain a little of what it means right here,...

but to know the full meaning you'll have to ask me at a show, because I want to at least some of it as a personal thing that I can tell people one on one, you know?

(Here's the tattoo)

But anyways,

the tattoo says "easy.lucky.free"

It's actually the title to a song by Bright Eyes.

The actual lyrics of the song, to me, are about death and how it's not a bad thing (and I'm pretty sure that's what Conor Oberst was going for with the song)...

but I've always interpreted the title as something completely different.

I look at it as this...

EASY.

No matter what bad situation I'm ever in, no matter how terrible I think it is, I just like to think about how easy I have it compared to many people. I mean, there are people homeless on street corners, there are people battling cancer, there are people hiding in bunkers at war, and so many more worse things than situations that I could consider hard...

so the "easy" part is just about respecting 

LUCKY.

This part is mainly about how I'm just literally so lucky to be alive... and the fact that I should be thankful for everything I have. I'm lucky to be able to breathe, to be able to speak, to be able to jump, to be able to love, to be able to think, to be able to walk (this list could go on forever).

So, the "lucky" part is just a reminder of how lucky I am to be alive, and to not take one second of life for granted.

FREE.

Now, this part. This part is something I've never really explained to anyone about how I feel about everyones life. The way I see it, every single human on earth, without looking at restrictions of law, community, or hardship, we are all free. What I mean is that even though there may be consequences, there's one simple fact about life that I don't think a lot of people notice.... but see, you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Right this second, if you want to go climb a tree, if you want to sing in an elevator full of people, if you want to hug a stranger, if you want to scream at the top of your lungs from the top of a car,.... you can do it. Now, I'm not saying you SHOULD do any of this necessarily just because you can, but I AM saying that really, you're free, you're free to do what you want. 

So the "free" part is basically just to represent that I am free, and no matter how many things in my life people tell me I'm crazy for trying, or how many things they say I'll never be able to do, I'm still free to believe in myself and go for what I believe in.

So there's the representation of my tattoo as far as directly relating to the actual words.

There are also a handful of personal reasons that tie to the actual font of the tattoo, and a meaning of how I got the tattoo,...

but like I mentioned, you'll have to come ask me about that at one of my Backseat Goodbye shows on tour if you want to know any of those reasons ;)

Okay,

so other than those two big changes...

tonight I'm finally going to get to see Regina Spektor in concert!

I'm pretty fucking excited, to say the least.

She's playing at The Ryman in Nashville...

and the last show I went to there was the first time I saw Bright Eyes,

it was a night I'll never forget, so I expect I'll never forget tonight either.

Hmm,

other than that,

I've finally got some "in the studio" videos I'm getting ready for you all to share some of the new stuff off of "Dressed Up Like Dreams".

By the way, I'll be announcing the final tracklisting as well as the really exciting pre-order deals for that album tomorrow :)

Don't forget that the pre-sale begins March 1st at store.backseatgoodbye.com

I really suppose that's it for now.

Feel free to check out my brand new website for my book at www.chadsugg.com

There's not much there yet, but just as soon as I have some final info ready for my book that will be the place to find out info on it :)

Love,

Chad

P.S. - There's a bigger photo of the tattoo at my personal Myspace at www.myspace.com/nostorybook

P.P.S. - Be sure to add the official page for my book on Myspace at www.myspace.com/csbook