Yes, yes, yes. I’ve fallen off my internet abstinence program. I have my reasons.
Having a sick child monopolize the TV does that to me. LOL
The burlesque festival is this weekend. I’m looking forward to it.
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“I’m so ugly – My mother had morning sickness – After I was born” Rodney Dangerfield
I would say it’s been a pretty eventful week.
Saw the Dex Romweber Duo on Thursday at the House of Blues. Exene Cervenka opened. I wanted to see Dex Romweber live so Terry and I booked it over there and saw a rather intimate show in the Cambridge room. It was a cool show – I enjoyed it. Approached the weekend having hit some golf balls and plenty of homework assigned. My piano teacher is now including me in his Piano II class – which is fine. Guitar has taught me enough eye/hand co-ordination that I can pretty much keep up. I’ll only get credit for Piano I, but at least I won’t be playing beginner stuff. Also applied for my associates degree – I graduate this semester.
Friday saw the Young One get ill – (pharyngitis again AND an upper respiratory infection). Her trip to H-town was put on hold and she’s attempting to burn out the sickness in my bedroom. Been alternately writing papers and taking care of her (and slacking – of course).
Somehow this week I believe I managed to fracture my big toe (doing jumping jacks barefoot – silly boy). I’ve got it taped up and it feels okay now. Thanks for asking.
Set my PS3 to run Folding@home so that I’ve got another PC running it. Again, if you ever have had someone you love get cancer, this program uses your computer to compute protein molecules and how they react – researching cures for cancer. Power of collaborative computing. Go team 169588!
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“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” Friedrich Nietzsche
I’m fairly sure, at some point last night that these words came out of my mouth:
“So…. can you shit lottery tickets?”
It’s been a pretty interesting weekend. Last week was the first week of the new semester – which is shaping up to be pretty cool.
Unfortunately, I did make it over to UTA on Friday and discovered that I am much, MUCH further behind than I thought I was in terms of the degree I’m after (or was after).
I’m kind of at a crossroads – so the weekend pretty much mirrored the confusion and chaos that I’m in right now. I’m glad that I used this time to finish up my Associates Degree – but I’m not quite sure where to go from here. Plus, the one year anniversary of my father’s passing is right around the corner – and I finally got around to sending “Thank You” cards to all his friends for the nice cards and letters that I received. It’s nice to get that off my mind – that pile of letters kept nagging at me.
I got my brake pads replaced, and played pool over at Rusty’s Billiards for about four hours (!) while they worked on my car. Got completely schooled by a guy I met there who had such excellent ball control that it put me to shame. It didn’t help that I’m not regularly playing anymore, playing for long periods of time is completely exhausting now – and I forgot to bring my cue.
Went out last night and stayed out until 5am – which actually was a lot of fun. I got to meet some new people, try some new things, and managed to go through half a bottle of vodka in the process.
Needless to say, I took a few naps today.
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“To me, music is like air, food or water. I just have to have it. I use it to shut things out when I want to study … it helps pass the time on the long walk to class, and is just my way of unwinding at the end of the day.” – Fred Russell
I’m taking liberty with my “only sunday” posting policy as I went to my music appreciation class today (History of Rock and Roll). Looks like it will be a lot of fun.
The instructor is a professional drummer and is a pretty typical musician professor – laid back, goofy, funny etc.
Before I left I asked him if he took points off for “drummer jokes” but then gave extra credit for “guitar player and lead singer jokes”. He laughed, so I’m off to a good start.
I did answer a bunch of open ended questions that he asked (when everyone else was silent) and I knew every single artist on a survey that he handed out….so this looks to be a really fun class.
He did ask if anyone was a fan of heavy metal – most of the class raised their hand. I didn’t raise my hand but said, “Reformed”.
The girl beside me said, “Reformed? How can you be reformed?”
I just smiled.
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“Try to put well in practice what you already know. In so doing, you will, in good time, discover the hidden things you now inquire about.” Remy de Gourmont
Gosh – is it Sunday already?
Time has flown a bit. I kicked some ass this week – spent most of it practicing scales, learning a jazz chord progression and simultaneously watching streaming Netflix (Damn you season 1 of “Lost”!!!)
Other than that, not much else is going on – school starts next Tuesday….with “MUSIC 1306 – History of Rock and Roll”. Looking forward to it.
Found an friend from way back on Myspace (which then transitioned to Facebook) as Myspace still is too cluttered. It’s a shame that Facebook can’t come up with a companion site that deals solely with bands/artists/etc. The “fan” pages don’t do much for me.
There’s a burlesque festival in February that I bought some tickets to. Should be a fun time.
Everything else has been…..pretty quiet.
Nice.
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“I would never speculate on the limit. Every time you speculate, you’re way too conservative.” John Warnock
Okay – it’s finally time for a Sunday post.
What’s going on?
Well, I needed an intermission….to take some time off the internets. Spending more time IRL (as it were). By not spending time on the internet all the time, I’ve found plenty of time to paint my bedroom, paint my breakfast area, practice plenty of guitar, read about four different books, watch about six or seven different movies…..the list goes on and on. Rather than going cold turkey on the whole thing – I decided that Sunday should be my day to “cheat”. Depriving yourself of anything entirely is not usually a good plan.
My first guitar lesson was last week – I’ve been going through minor scales and getting the key signatures down by memory. Next lesson tomorrow. I’ve got a week or two before school starts again.
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“I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.” Marilyn Monroe
I went out yesterday and looked for guitar instructors. It’s a nice feeling knowing what questions I want to ask. (Essentially, I’m “auditioning” guitar teachers – since they’ll have to prove that they know what they’re talking about before I buy into the lesson) New students have no idea what to look or ask for – but I’ve done this long enough I know what I want. Mostly though, I wanted to check out the “vibe” of the places to see if they matched up with what would motivate me. For some reason, I can’t get my ass into gear and practice like I need to. I’m currently overwhelmed with options I suppose. Too much stuff to study from, and not enough thought about what I’m going to actually practice. That is not helping me in my quest to audition at UTA.
Most people who hear me play would say (and do say), “What? Lessons? You? Why are you taking lessons?”. Anyone who actually plays guitar for a living (whether it be a band, a teacher, what have you) quickly can see my weaknesses as a guitar player. I told the one guy (at the place I’m hoping to hook up with) that I’m really looking to increase my fluency on guitar. I need goals, and I need a taskmaster to get me to those goals. While I’m definitely better than a beginner, I’m man enough to admit I need help to get me to my next level.
Found a place conveniently located near that same little club that has an open mic night on Tuesdays. It’s a few miles from my house and while it did appear fairly disorganized, I liked the setup of the practice rooms. They remind me a lot of when I was taking lessons at Rockin’ Robin back in the 80’s from one of my best friends. I suppose that’s why I like it so much. That and it’s close by the house. Ha!
Still waiting on a response from the scheduling lady. *crossing fingers*
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“Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death” Dead Kennedys
I’ve got a new nephew.
Yes, it is a surprise, but only because they waited until the birth to find out what sex the baby was (which apparently is pretty rare these days). The instant-gratification society we live in can’t wait nine months for anything. LOL. Apparently all the nurses were shocked. Spent some time with the family this morning (first in – which is pretty unusual) and got to get some alone time with my first nephew. He’s now the “older brother” and I guess he and I can relate.
Not much else to report – I guess I still got a lot done. I think my daughter has bronchitis, so I’m taking her to the doctor tomorrow. Took some airborne and took a three hour nap to combat these feelings of fatigue I have. *crossing fingers*
Time to work out, then maybe do some reading. I have a lot of unread books right now.
*did forget to mention*
I have a really cool trip booked for September, but right now linkage to the site where I’m going is worthless, so I’ll wait to update with more detail.
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“While others may argue about whether the world ends with a bang or a whimper, I just want to make sure mine doesn’t end with a whine” Barbara Gordon
Okay, okay. I admit it.
I’ve been slacking……a LOT.
My weight has ballooned up, and now that I’m out of school for a while, I guess it’s something I should take care of.
Granted, I give myself a “pass” for last weekend – a friend came in from out of town and we managed to indulge in some culinary delights.
However! That being said, it’s time to crack the whip, and make things happen.
Here we go…….
