getting baby on a schedule

Dylan has embraced the role of big sis like a champ. She even puts her "baby" (pictured) in her ergo and feeds her and puts her to sleep.  And we are getting baby Harper on a schedule which is essential and recommended if your baby is at least 6 weeks old.  And Harper is starting to sleep half way through the night and I keep dreaming that I'm awake with my wife and her but my wife keeps telling me that I'm just dreaming....Right now I'm daydreaming about Mexico and the beach and the ocean and margaritas and snorkeling and in that order.

DZ

unconditional love

Make sure to focus your attention on your toddler if you've had a recent new baby.  Make sure to have 1 on 1 time with her and make sure she knows she's your baby and you love her just as much as ever.  Make sure you include her in helping out with baby, have her pick out baby's clothes for the day.  Make her feel apart of the process.  Unconditional love for your children is something I've embraced after reading an interview with Huffington and that was how she treated her children. With unconditional love.  The adjustment is an adjustment not just for you and your wife, but for her as well.  Don't forget to give her more love than ever.

dylan in red: living in the moment

DZ

moon state's 15 random tags on youtube

1. Moon State
2. Dan Zweben
3. Sarah Moliski

4. Vanessa Bennett
5. Nectarios Leonidas
6. Dating
7. Lesbians
8. New York City

 9. Bridges
10. Brooklyn
11. Kissing
12. IPhone
13. Carousals
14. Birds
15. Gay Marriage

moon state video under the brooklyn bridge

Film clip for the Moon State single 1:18
Buy 1:18 at iTunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/1-18-single/id500931781
Buy 1:18 at Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/1-18/dp/B0076M5SD4
http://www.twitter.com/danzweben

**********************************************
1:18 lyrics

Over the sky, often wonder why
How the world outside has comes so vine
Vanity
What's to be
Is meant to be
Over the sky, there was a lie
In the book I tried to read
I don't know why, I waited for you
All these years I
You appear to me
In a dream I see you
Walking back and forth
Like a high
.
*************

Video credits:
Directed, produced and edited by Nectarios Leonidas
Starring Sarah Moliski and Vanessa Bennett
Produced by Dan Zweben
Casted by Dan Zweben

Music credits:
Produced by Dan Zweben
Mixed by Dan Zweben at BRD Studios, Brooklyn, NY
All sounds put together by Dan Zweben at BRD Studios, Brooklyn, NY
Shorewood Songs (BMI) 2012

Category:

Music

Tags:

• moon state
 
• dan zweben
 
• sarah moliski
 
• vanessa bennett
 
• nectarios leonidas
• flippant films
 
• dating lesbian
 
• new york city
 
• brooklyn
 
• brooklyn bridge
 
• love
• music
 
• video
 
• carousal
 
• iPhone

moon state video shoot: behind the scenes 3

I'm stoked to report that the final cut of Moon State's video for the single "1:18" is done. Before we go live,  I thought I'd share another clip from behind the scenes: an interesting discussion between Sarah, Vanessa and the director.

sarah: moon state video star

moon state video shoot: behind the scenes 2

I love to watch behind the scenes footage of films and videos and I thought I would share some of the footage I shot on my iPhone at the Moon State shoot on Tuesday.  The director said we'd have a cut by today so I'll keep y'all posted.

DZ

cry wolf

I've had some feedback on where to move next and some folks are tired of the discussion. Some just want us to move to Portland already and get over it including my good friend drummer Justin Meyer.  Some say Austin, some say LA, some say Milwaukee and some say New Orleans.  What do you say?

DZ

moon state video shoot: behind the scenes

Behind the scenes footage from yesterday's shoot for #MoonState #1:18 now available at iTunes.  I shot this footage on my iPhone between takes and right before "the kiss" :)

DZ

moon state video shoot pics

moon state video shoot

Today we shot a video for my new band moon state's single 1:18 in dumbo under the brooklyn bridge with actresses Sarah Moliski and Vanessa Bennett.  The shots were beautiful and it made me remember that the journey is just as important as the destination.  It made me realize and appreciate the process of making music and film and telling a story and I can't wait to see a cut of the video :)  #MoonState #Love #SarahVanessa

DZ

Sarah:

la, portland, brooklyn or the moon

Every winter my wife and I have the same discussion.  Should we stay or should we go?  The first thing she said to me this morning was, "If we lived in LA right now, we'd be having coffee outside in our backyard."  My reply, Are we going to be having the same discussion when were like 50 because it's already getting old."  And this winter on the east coast has been totally doable and mild.  And I'm realizing that our community here in Brooklyn is so amazing and you can't walk down the street without bumping into a friend.  My friend Ari calls our hood "Sesame Street".  Except Gordon is a hipster who owns a soda shop or a burger joint or is a film director (Just like LA and Portland).  That's a lot to give up and every time I mention LA to Dylan she seems less than thrilled (she's only 3 but she's already a New Yorker).

So I'm taking a poll like I did on Facebook where the vote was overwhelmingly for Portland.

Brooklyn, LA, Portland or the moon? :)

DZ

the house of pies

Dylan turned 3 last week! So we decided to throw her a party at The House Of Pies, a brilliant pizza joint in our hood that has a great space for parties and awesome pizza.  The kids can dance and get crazy and I did a set of kid's music. This year we had baby Harper as well so I picked up 2 dozen pink and purple balloons (Dylan's favorite colors :) with Harper in the ergo and my guitar on my back.  The wind was blowing so hard I thought I was going to fly away.  Lisa, the ultimate party planner, was in full effect prepping the room before our guests arrived.  The party went off without a hitch and everyone had a blast including Dylan.  I can't believe she's getting to be such a big girl, the time is going by too fast.

DZ

baby lockdown

If your like me and recently had a new addition to the family, you've spent a lot of time indoors (especially if you live in a place with a real winter, how's Portland's winter? :), watching bad movies that you'd never watch (i.e.: Something Borrowed), eating too much food, not sleeping enough etc....If you feel like your in baby lockdown, I can relate.

It's not like you never get to see the light of day.  It's not like a walk with baby in the ergo and mama with and bad back and you chasing your toddler down the street on her scooter is not fun.

It's not like when your wife asks you what you want to do for your birthday your first reaction is to say: a break.  Well, we all need a break as parents.  We need our time for ourselves, we need time for our spouses, we need to remember what it was like.  My wife and I have not had a night out since baby Harper was born. We need a night out.  We need to reignite that flame, that love. Someday soon I hope :)

DZ

the art of negotiating with a toddler

there is an art to negotiating with a toddler.  you can't give too much. too little can backfire and turn into an all out battle.  i.e.: my daughter likes to "go out" after school these days, we take a walk, she wants to hit the party, we hit it, she wants to stay out but it's time to come home.  try: setting your alarm clock on your iPhone with a preset alarm for your toddler (dylan has a duck).  if that doesn't work, it's time to play hard ball.  if you are at a park, tell her the park closes at dark and those left in the park will be arrested (The only park she should be sleeping in/occupying is Zuccotti Park with a sleeping bag accompanied by her daddy :).   And if she wants a cookie before dinner? Your on your own my friend :)   dz

fb tagging

Why do people tag themselves in photos in which they do not appear? The word "tagging" had such a cooler sound to it in referencing graffiti art back in the day. And what are we looking for in reconnecting with people we haven't seen in years? This is on my mind because I found myself recently under the questioning of my father (not on fb) who wanted to know about a long lost cousin of his that he found out had a daughter who I was friends with on Facebook.  She had recently posted a comment to my status update: "Should we move to Portland, LA or the moon? :) " Which she replied "Put a bird on it. Portland!" So at least she's aware of my favorite show on television right now... But I'm not sure if it constitutes a "relationship" and I basically told my dad to leave me out of his attempt to reconnect with that part of our family.  I have the ones I love in my life, my friends, my music, my desire to change the world and I don't have time or interest in reconnecting with everyone in my life or those who've never been in it.  Why are we always looking for the missing elements in our lives? I asked my dad why this was so important to him, he said he wanted more information. He likes information. He's a professor.

 I know I suffer from all this but I wish as a whole we could put more focus on the people around us everyday and not to put too much emphasis on our 1307 friends on Facebook that we really don't know and don't spend time with.  I use Facebook primarily as a social media platform to promoting what it is I do: music, blogging and to help raise awareness for the causes that I believe in and also to help increase my Klout score ;) I'm interested in spreading my art and music to folks that care and I get to engage with other artists who are trying to do something out of the box. I guess this post is more about tagging but when you think about it, the game of tag is like the game of life.  We always want to be chasing someone or have someone chasing us.  To all my Facebook friends, keep chasing that dream of reaching the 5000 friends limit but just make sure you know all of them personally or Big Brother will tell you only to connect with folks you already know.   That's like telling someone to go to a party and only talk to the people you know....Oh, how I miss the 90's..East Village...Where is there a place in this country where you can go and make friends with strangers? Where is the dream is alive?  In Portland? :) Brooklyndia? :)

DZ

back in the ergo again

yes friends, back in the ergo again, pacifiers, swaddles, diapers, my life again....yes all good...? dude, you thought 2 was twice as hard, try 4 times as hard...every time you think you have a free second to breath, read, write, day dream, bam...crying baby....I know, I remind you of that annoying new york magazine article, I love my kids I hate my life....so don't have kids I said, and I'm sure your thinking now reading that...dude, dz, you've got it good...2 healthy beautiful girls, a beautiful awesome wife with a great job....but is this it?  is this the next 40 or 50 years?  once I realize, once my anxiousness to accomplish massive feats are deluded in realizing that my fortune cookie was right last week that said "happiness is success" and that's what I have for now that's all I know.....dz

whitney

whitney houston was my 1st concert, summerfest, wisconsin, 8th grade, when I hear how will i know, I hear my first crush, I hear my first kiss, I hear my adolescence, she will be dearly missed by us all...our innocence is gone...she did have the greatest voice of all, in my book, i've been to clive's pre-grammy party in la, I empathize with her family and can't believe that she's gone...I can't believe that michael jackson is gone....It's like my childhood has gone and is never coming back.

dz

How To Make The Perfect Omelette: Cooking With Food Network Chef Danny Boome

Here's an on-air segment I recently shot with Food Network Chef Danny Boome at an event for www.arthriving.com at The James Hotel in NYC.  Chef Danny attempts to teach me how to cook (not an easy task) the perfect omelette. There are a few helpful cooking tips in the segment so watch, learn and enjoy.
DZ

4 essential tips to getting your baby on a schedule

Getting baby on a schedule is essential in that babies like adults like the consistency and predictability of a schedule (I'm not one of those adults but that's another matter my wife and I have to deal with :0).
But getting baby on a schedule should be E-A-S-Y :)

E. Eat
Feed baby when they wake from a nap or after a night's sleep.  Like us, babies wake up hungry.

A. Activity
Activity with baby can be anything from taking off the swaddle to changing her diaper to just hanging out and listening to music with baby.

S. Sleep
Put baby to sleep.  Don't forget to swaddle and the white noise but don't make it too dark in the day, you want to start distinguishing night and day to baby.

Y. You
Time for yourself.  Blog, shower, write a song or take a nap yourself!

DZ

to nap or not to nap: the toddler question

dylan is going down around 8 pm every night and woke up this morning at 5 am! and yes it's me that gets up with her...and yes it's me that's not complaining b/c my wife is nursing harps all night (which I'm awake for?)...am I dreaming right now or am I awake?  is this reality?  are we still in a recession?? ok, back to reality...is it time to give up the nap?  I would give up the nap if it meant my daughter went down (I love this expression in parenting, it's like a war term :) at 7 pm and slept until 7 am....thoughts folks??

sleepless dz