PatBlogahan.com

Then I will live to a very old age. I was just with ALL of my brothers and sisters for the first time in ten years. That was Thanksgiving just before my mom passed away.
So, there we were in Erie, PA to be with my dad during a pretty scary time for all of us due to his health struggle at 85 years old. He’s always been indestructible and now he isn’t and it’s strange for my entire family.
My dad is a pretty wonderful guy. Everyone knows and loves Jack Monahan. If you don’t, you just haven’t met him. He’s always had a youthful twinkle in his eye that I recognized early on in my life. People gravitate to him and love to listen to his stories and his hilarious points of view about life. But yesterday the world slowed to a crawl as we held our breathe hoping for his friends of yesteryear to hold off on taking him so we could have more time soaking in the goodness that is Jack.
He has always loved this life. Not knowing what’s next was never really part of what he spent much time reflecting on. He loves the now, here, right here where the action is.
He has taught me so much about word use and what’s compelling. He’s very hard to impress by the arts and when he is impressed, his reasons are well thought out and passionate and filled with admiration.
His generation was astonishing. The wars they won. The inventions they came up with. The character that they had as a whole. They lived by a code. A code of class that could never stoop for any reason ever. What a generation! What a story. What a man.
He and my mother had seven kids. I was last. We told stories around my dad today and filled him full of the light that he had filled us with all these years.
His heart was pulling him down but his spirit was lifting him up.
He taught us to laugh and never take ourselves or life too seriously. That was for the unwise. We were to be beyond that. These lessons all came silently. We just watched a humble man make a living with great charisma and personality and were able to get the whole picture that he was painting.
I was wishing today that all that laughter could help him live forever but as we all well know who gets the last laugh.
I am grateful for the great friendship that I have been able to have with my dad. I hope that these past few days experiences will bring the seven of us closer and give all of our children reasons to get together in the future and remember this great man. I hope that he will be around for many more years but either way he will live inside of us as our mother does, reminding us what is truly of value that costs nothing and adds decades to your time here.

Love, Pat

Drive By is out and what a great response you have all giving it. It’s a side of the band on our new record that is a lot of fun and up beat in a way that reflects the new energy of Train.
For those of you who were counting on a more reflective side of the band, there is plenty on the new CD. We’ve always made records that are kind of divided in two parts, A side and B side. It’s old school thinking but it’s hard to break that habit.
We cut a couple songs today at Butch Walker’s studio and they sound kind of like The Band meets Train meets James Taylor meets Led Beatles. You know what I’m talking about, right? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, there is a lot of fun up beat stuff coming and also singer songwriter vibe as well plus we are a band, so it sounds like a band.
I’m very excited about what we’re doing. I wish I could invite you all in to the studio.
We are putting together period of time we will be spending in SF playing some old joints we came up in and also we are still brain storming about a listening party that I had mentioned a while back in one of my blogs. We’ll fill you in when we figure it all out.
One more thing I wanted to say is that I’m very happy that Jason Mraz’s single is #1 on iTunes. It’s real good and I like where that guy is coming from. Seeing him and Adele and Train charting on iTunes is pretty crazy after all the changes that music has made over the past 15 years.
I appreciate those changes.
I appreciate our own evolution musically. And I mostly appreciate you all being here to be the biggest part of what’s good about Train and our music.
Train fans are the kinds of people that being around just makes you feel better about being on this orb.
Sending healing love out there.
Especially for my pops.

Love, Pat

There’s a moment when you paddle out to sea, just before the wave in front of you breaks, it seems like both you and the ocean hold your breathe and you leap into one another. I feel like I am in that state of mind a lot these days. I’m waiting to leap in and hope for the best. When you rise up to catch another breathe there is both great relief and exhilaration. Salt in your eyes, morning calm, quiet. Then again, hold, dive, breathe. I’m tired thinking about this. It’s been a few years since I even surfed but the memory never leaves. I miss the fear. I miss the vibration of the water at 6AM.
I have time.
Time has me.
We will leap together again.
Knowing that we are both fragile yet one of us will always be the victor.
I will be there where the motion is pure and fluid and the world has paused.
These days have been filled with caution. I am ready for 2012 to really take over now as a leader would a week or so after taking power.
Take us to this new vibration of love, twenty twelve.
I think I’m going to start calling you guys this year. Once in a while I will randomly call someone and say thank you. We can all call one another in 2012. You in ?

Love, Pat

I stopped drinking about 16 years ago. That’s about the time music actually started to become a possible future for me. Every since then though, I have not had an epic New Years Eve.
I’m thinking that it’s just a strange time for me in general but this year was just as weird as the past 15. Not complaining, just sharing a part of my life outside of music.
It feels like this evening before the year changes over is kind of filled with lots of stress and expectation. I made a great dinner. Had family around and watched the ball drop. Pretty standard. Then I stressed on a few people and let things that had piled up come out in a blaze of frustration. Seriously, a glass of Drops of Jupiter could have mellowed me out. Starting to seriously think that New Years Eve should be my one alcohol day of the year. We’ll see.
In general, I’m wound pretty tight. I love the laughs of life but damn I just can’t chill these days. What am I so upright about? Relax! Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
That’s better. No its not. I’m in a hotel in Miami so I can’t really scream. Doing the Orange Bowl half time tomorrow. Very exciting. Such great people running the whole thing. I’m really impressed with this event and how it is run.
Okay, I vented a bit and I thank you for allowing that. New music and new lots of stuff coming very soon.
Hope you are all being loved and having a great 2012 so far.
Love and miss you all, except that one guy. Ha. Kidding.

Pat

I’ve been very family lately so I have kind of been away but please except my deepest thank you for the wonderful life you’ve given me and my family. Train fans and friends are kind and thoughtful and so what I’m trying to be more of.
I hope that we get many more years of sharing life moments and having a good laugh and cry together.
I’m always working on getting better at what I do and who I am because I feel like that is truly the best way to show appreciation.
I hope you’re all having great times with the ones you care the most about and before you know it we’ll be together again singing and mosh pitting ….or ya know something like that.

Love, Pat

Autumn is probably my favorite time of year. The colors mean everything to me. I’ve always felt like autumn inside. Leaves, which are green and unnoticed for much of their life spans, become vibrant and filled with personality and reason to pay attention.
Its a reminder that you can’t ever expect anyone to know your potential. Only you know your potential. Only you know what your capable of and what your boundaries and limitations are. Like Doug Stanhope says, “Your body is your property. No one should be able to tell you what to and not to do with it.” Makes sense.
So, as the leaves all change before they fall, I long for those familiar sounds of football, the wet streets with trick or treaters, the excuse to eat pumpkin pie and family. I’m missing my brothers and sisters, my older children, whom I’ll see very soon, and my dad. Usually we have Thanksgiving. There will be some missing pieces this year. My dad will stay in PA and my friend Connie will be joining us this year in spirit. It will be a great time to really be grateful this year. So much to appreciate. As I expand in age, I am seeing so much that I need to reflect on more. For instance, I haven’t exercised because I have an injury. Man, I’m grateful for times without pain. My wife and I have a new baby guy named Rock(not a music reference). He’s sweet and healthy and beautiful. And what I really am learning to love is time. Time to be. Time to rest. Time to remember and time to forget. Time will come and go as we will but people and the beasts will always have these fleeting moments to choose all of these amazing choices in this weird world. I suppose I will just want to look back one day and be grateful for how I chose to spend my spare moments. I will be taking that more seriously in these years to come. These spare moments have gotten to be few and far. And so I love this season. It is Northern California’s most beautiful as well as it’s warmest time of year.
So much to be grateful for. Yes!

I just read all of the letters that I received in Erie. Thank you, everyone. You are so kind and when I do get to actually see you and talk to you all, I am always so excited that you are even more wonderful in person. I hope you will continue to send love and good energy during our recording time, which begins this weekend. Hoping to have new music out right after the new year. We’ll see. There’s so much to do and we definitely want to be evolving in a positive direction.

Lastly for now, I’ve been reading the same book for 5 months now. 353 pages. I read about a page a week. Ha. What a joke. Does everyone do this kind of shit? I feel like a dummy. I know people that read a book a week. Oh and yes I do hate them. Jokes.
Okay, I’m on a plane to LA with Pergo. He and Moose are really getting famous among you guys. I think I know why…they’re weird and fun to watch cause weird is fun to watch. Right? I know they aren’t hot! Okay, well not super hot anyway.

Love you guys. Thanks for always looking out for one another. So good to see on this planet right now.

Pat

I have no idea what to write. I feel as if I’m late for an appointment and I don’t know what its for so I just keep hurrying in hopes that by the time I get there I’ll remember what the hell I’m there for.
Nothing yet…hmm…okay, I’ll ad lib cause that’s what I’m hoping to be someday, an ad lib master.
Uuuhh oh okay, here, I’m outside a grocery store with my sleeping 3 year old and Daryl Hall is on Sirius 2 Blend. I’ve been hoping to catch more Howard Stern but I’m not sure that Autumn would enjoy sleeping to incredible comedy without sensor. Okay, Howard’s on now. She seems to love it as much as I do.
This is some good parenting..I hope. I would have thanked my dad.
Other news, as if I’ve said anything worthy of being news, is that we will start to record our next record soon. So excited. We’ll work in LA, SF, Seattle and I’m trying to get a day or two in Hawaii or on the moon.
Also, we still plan on doing the listening party in SF for a couple hundred fans. I figure we should do a vote. You can’t vote for yourself or you won’t be invited. I thought YOU should be the ones to decide. You can vote for people and say why. Not yet, but in January probably.
Hope you like that idea.
We have some pretty good music right now too. I’m trying to hone in on how to complete the album vibe. Been listening to a lot of Van Morrison and The Band. Then I went through itunes to hear all the greatest songs ever, like Lover You Should’ve Come Over. Buckley is missed. Radio Head had some great songs back in their start. Fake Plastic Trees is wow. James Taylor. Carol King! She wrote a thousand hits.
Anyway, I’m eating more. Softening up for the big Thanksgiving feast. Oh yea, and I’m gonna take a lot of kid’s candy this Halloween too. I think I’m gonna be te new “Round Rocker”. We’ll see.

Miss you guys!
See some of you in Erie(may be my final show as a skinny).

Love, Pat

I would like to point out 20 reasons Train fans are the best!
1.T-fans are actually kind people
2.You have a great sense of yourselves
3.You are open to things
4.You have a great sense of humor
5.You care about your fellow friends and other fans of Train and other music
6.You’re really attractive
7.You think we’re awesome, therefore YOU are awesome
8.You have formed a loving community among yourselves and its growing stronger and more beautiful
9.You don’t say things like, “Pat looks great…for his age”
10.You don’t hand me shirts from other bands and ask me to sign them
11.You’re great cooks
12.You love football and your fantasy teams have our song titles in their names
13.You don’t sit in the front row of our concerts and act completely uninterested in the other bands/artists
14.T-fans have great asses
15.You believe in a universal truth and that truth is always the best policy
16.You think you’re Virginia(some of you) and that’s sweet
17.You don’t take this life too seriously but you are serious about living right
18.Your kids, parents, friends love Train and that makes you all really smart
19.You have great taste in music
20.You are truly wonderful people and we appreciate you all so much for all you do for us and with us

I’d like to finish by saying how much fun we’re having on tour with M5. Its the home stretch for us before we record our next record and start all over again.
Also, I love Matt Nathanson! He is an amazing artist, friend and overall dude. Please get to know him and his music. I’m such a huge fan of his. He is making this tour even more incredible.
Lastly, there was a little girl(trainette) on stage tonight in Georgia. She was wonderful. She’s pretty sick and that didn’t stop her from being the most beautiful energy I’ve ever seen. Let’s all send love and healing energy to her and get her better. The world needs her. Thank you.

Love, Pat

Years ago I had a great therapist. Her name is Judi. She is a really special person and she was the start of a large transformation for me. I am forever indebted to her. I should call her more often to thank her and give her my love. Anyway, I mention her because I’ve been wondering why people behave the way they do. Why do we treat one another the way we do? Why do some relationships work and others don’t? Why do I entertain the way I do? Why do managers manage the way that they do? I then remember the process that Judi helped me go through and I’m going to share it. It really opened my eyes. Maybe you will find something interesting in her theory(that I claim as my own when I think I can get away with it).
Here goes…
A few years ago I often wondered why I was so unhappy. I felt as though I was draining every ounce of ‘try’ and ‘love’ from myself to give to others and it was getting me absolutely nowhere. Why, Judi, why??
Her response, as best as I can remember was, “We give others what we want in return. The problem with this is that just because its what we want, it doesn’t mean that its what the person we’re giving it to wants.” This made a jygundous impression on me.
Of course! There it is, the answer to all things human. Why are we who we are? Because we know, for the most part, what it is that we want and that conditions us to give what we want. We attract like minded others and eventually we grow more alike or more different.
**********this next part is NOT a judgement*******************
I became sober during this time and it had been so long since I wasn’t getting hi or drunk that I never really knew who I was or what it was that I wanted. My addictions just turned into other addictions after that, like work and running, etc. All much better for you, I’m told.
So, there it is! The answer to “us”. We are what we eat and we want what we do. Huh? It kinda makes all the sense in the world, doesn’t it? The Universe is ingenious.
I’m a hundred percent sure that this theory has as many holes in it as a colander but at least its a damn theory. And its really frickin late, so that’s what ya get for late…and free. Ha. Good night.

Love, Pat