Embarrassment

So, we played our show last night. We were not impressive. We definitely needed more practice, and there was one moment that pissed me off so bad that I did something that will probably haunt me for a while.

We were playing our second-to-last song of the night, an original, Hush Now. The drummer screwed up the tempo so badly that I finally just stopped playing, turned to the audience and said, "I'm sorry. We can't play that song. We don't know it." Even though it was him screwing it up. So, the only thing that I could think of to do was to do something so outrageous that everyone in the bar would forget how badly we screwed up. So, I grabbed the wireless microphone, and I sang Crazy Train from the bar. No, seriously. I climbed up onto the bar, and sang the song from up there on my knees because the ceiling was too low for me to stand up. So. Embarassment. Infamy. LMAO!

Today, My right foot hurts at the joint behind my big toe, my right shoulder hurts, the muscle that drapes across my left shoulder is sore, and my hip hurts on my right side. So I am grumpy.

I called the lawyer to help him with his e-mail, but he hasn't called me back yet. Got the printed materials back for the CD from Dave and they look lovely. Now, I just have to cut and fold them and put them into the cases. Le sigh.

So Spaketh The Patron Saint of Lobsters

I have a disturbing infection on my left-hand thumb. When I was a kid, I had staph infections in my thumbs all the freaking time, and I have problems with getting infections of all sorts in my thumbs since I was 2 or so. Not always staph infections, but weird things like a little spot - for no reason - suddenly swelling up and red streaks running up my arm. Not fun. So, I have this spot on my left thumb again, and it is pissing me off because it makes it hard to play guitar, it makes it hard to type, and it hurts whenever it gets bumped, which seems to be more often now that it is hurting. (Damn it.) So, if it isn't better by Tuesday, I am going to the doctor.

I mastered the whole record by myself on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. It came out well. But I still don't think the process is worth $400.

On Thursday afternoon, I called the replication outfit in San Francisco and got the answers to my questions, and, rather than having me overnight the master CD to them, he wanted me to upload the songs to him. I said fine, and hung up and went to upload the songs to him, and my freaking Internet was down, and it's a long story from this point on, but the short of it is that I got the files to him eventually. However, they're closed over the weekends, so, if there are problems, I won't know about it until Monday morning, at the earliest.

I didn't sleep for over 48 hours while finishing up the mastering and uploading the files to the replicator and finishing my podcast.

Dave (who is printing the inserts and traycards for the band's CD) decided to change the layout for the insert, so as to avoid additional work for me. (He's so thoughtful.) So, instead of having to cut, arrange, staple, and fold all the inserts, now I'll only have to fold and trim them, as we switched from a booklet design to a poster/fold-out design, which looks great, and is totally going to rock. To do this, though, I stayed up all Friday night and went to bed at 11:30 AM Saturday.

On Saturday, we went into Spokane to practice with the new drummer. Practice went well.

Today, I went out to my Mom's. After eating, we all went back into the drummer's house and practiced some more. The gig at the Owl is going to be fine. I know it.So, that was the last three or four days of my life. (It's all still kinda running together.)

D: None of the above

At this very moment, I am listening to the new remixes of the songs, and I am noticing more effing problems. Nothing serious, but I am a total perfectionist. But, as my Mom told me, at some point, as an artist, you have to say that you are done, or it will never be done. She's right. The songs go to the mastering guy tomorrow. We could be better... per se... but what we would end up doing would be nothing that anyone would notice... except for me. And that's okay.

No, really. It is okay.

And Then...

We were finished.

I went into the studio today and me and the bass player helped the engineer remix the tracks that needed work, and now, we are finished. I am sending the WAV files of the songs to a mastering facility online to get the tracks finished up for the replication process, but, at least this guy doesn't charge as much as the last mastering guy. The last mastering guy wanted $400 to master the whole CD, and, when he sent me a sample of my song, it didn't sound any different from what I started with. At least the samples on this new guy's site had distinct differences.

Happy Birthday To Me

Last year on this date, I was listening to Dire Straits' "Lady Writer" and waxing poetic about the goals I wanted to reach between 05/04/05 and 05/04/06. I wanted to get my book published. That happened. I wanted to get the CD done. That almost happened (and will happen within the next two weeks or so). I wanted to graduate. That will happen in ten days. I wanted my business to take off. That one's negligable. With that in mind, my goals to accomplish between 05/04/06 and 05/04/07:

Write the sequel to Night Cries, A Night Borrowed
Write another book about something else.
Start working on the two non-fiction projects I have simmering in my head.
Write material for the second CD.
Sell at least 500 more copies of Night Cries
Sell out every copy of the band's record, "Too Much To Dream."
Get at least 5 new clients for my business.
Add some new services to my business.
Buy a house and a little property.
Fix up my car.

Busy Me

Today, I cleaned my house some more and then went out and drank rum and played cards.

Tuesday, I have to go to the cellular phone store and change my cell phone number and add Kenny to my cell phone plan. Then, I have to go to Coeur d'Alene for my last class!! Yay me!

Wednesday, I am cleaning and re-arranging the house in preparation for the party. I also have band practice that night.

Thursday is my birthday, and the day's pretty much up in the air. I do know that I am doing the second episode of my podcast.

Friday is the party.

Saturday, I am going out with my aunt and uncle.

Sunday looks like the only day I'll have to finish up the last class I have in school... online.

Next Monday, it's more of the same again until the 14th, when there is graduation, which is an event that I am not too hip on attending, but that my Mom REEEEEEAAAALLLLLLY wants me to go to.