Life and Stuff

I'll recap my weekend real fast: I had a great visit with one of my best friends Friday afternoon, and I made sugar cookies later in the day and got more stuff into the people at Gonzaga. Saturday, Kenny didn't want to take me grocery shopping, so I ended up waiting for my Mom and Dad, who were going to Sandpoint, anyway, to do their Christmas shopping and grocery shopping. I also went to visit another of my best friends and took him his Christmas present. We had a nice visit; it's always nice to see my friends in person. E-mail is so impersonal.

So, after shopping, I rushed home. It was 5 til 6 and I had to be at the bowling alley at 6PM for a bowling thing we'd signed up for. I always win money for stinking at these things, and Saturday was no different: I bowled a 47, a 55, and a 74. I won $10 for playing badly. Yay!

Afterward, we all went up to the Cusick Tavern for the free dinner, and then I went over to visit my bass player and we had a nice visit about computers. After that, we went home and I went to bed. Got up Sunday morning at 8:30 AM and watched the Steelers lose while wrapping Christmas presents. Then, I baked the sugar cookies for which I had made the dough on Friday. Dad and Dad's friend, Carl, came over to watch the later games. Carl brought pizza and we played Hearts during the late game and munched sugar cookies.

Test Taking

So, Kenny and I went to Moscow yesterday. It was an all-day trip. I had fallen asleep in my recliner at about 9PM Wednesday night, and went to bed at about 11:30-ish or so. I then woke up at 4:15 AM. I tried to go back to sleep, but nothing worked. So, at 5AM, I got up and printed off a practice exam for the test I was to take.

The test is called the "Miller Analogies Test," and, as the title will lead you to believe, the entire test is made up of analogies. The subject matter covers everything from pop culture to history; from literature to word games; from math to sciences. You really have to have a wide knowledge base (and a love for trivia, I think) to do well on this test. Just as a yardstick, the average test taker of the MAT gets 30 questions right out of 120.

Anyway, so I took the practice test, and missed 21 questions. But, it didn't make me feel any more confident, as the test was a simulated one concocted by Harvard and was rather old. But it got my brain pull-started. I got ready, and we left here at 9:30AM. We took Highway 41 to Post Falls and got on the freeway and then headed south toward Pullman.

And that's where things got seriously FUBAR'd. We knew that the LTD has the ability to have one of those window washer things (the liquid squirter part), but it didn't work. We assumed that it was out of fluid, even though Kenny had glanced at the engine compartment once to see if there was a reservoir, but he was unable to locate it then... but he really wasn't looking. Before we reached Post Falls, the windshield was COVERED in road grime. We stopped at a gas station in Spirit Lake and really looked for the windshield cleaner reservoir. All the plumbing for it is there, but the tank itself was missing. So, we cleaned the windshield there.

So, we're heading south, and we encounter a very dense fog. It was so thick that we couldn't see 25 feet around us in any direction. We passed Steptoe Butte, but we couldn't see it. Couldn't even see the wheat fields around us. What with the fog and the road grime being thrown up by the semi in front of us and coating our windshield, Kenny was, essentially, driving blind. So, I took to throwing bottled water (left in the car from this past football season, as the kids tended to leave full bottles of water in the car where they got pushed under the seats) on the windshield. I accomplished this by rolling down my window, holding the bottle by the very bottom, and flinging the water catapult style across the windshield. This worked quite well.

However, at about the halfway mark, we went to turn on the wipers, and this horrible electric burning smell came out from the dashboard and the wipers stopped working. We were convinced that the wiper motor had burned up on us, in a dense fog, behind a truck, on sloppy roads, with a snow storm coming... and we weren't yet even to Pullman, much less Moscow, and we had a return trip to make.

About 10 miles down the road, Kenny decides to try the wipers again, and, lo and behold, they WORK! Heh. We finally find the place I need to take my test, and I go in and get signed in and pay for the test. I expected the test to be hard. It wasn't. Well, not really. Having gone over the practice test helped me a lot, I think, as I got a raw score of 437, which, as my advisor at Gonzaga put it, puts me in the 90th percentile of people who take the MAT.

Anyway, so, we headed back to Spokane. More fog. More water splashing. Went to Denny's for dinner. We got home at about 7:30PM or so, so the whole trip took almost 12 hours.

School Stuff

Tomorrow, I am going down to Moscow to take a required test to get into the Master's program at Gonzaga. This little test will cost me $75 to take. What fun.

In the meantime, I had to write a "statement of purpose," also for getting into the Master's program. Normally, I would share, but I have several good reasons for not doing it this time. First, it contains too much personal information about me. Second, it contains too much personal information about other people. Third, I've heard that people have a tendency to just steal these things when they need to write a letter of intent or statement of purpose for college... so, I will keep it to myself. Let's just say that my advisor liked the letter and leave it at that.

Not Much Going On

I've not done a lot in the last few days. I applied to Gonzaga. I filled out a new FAFSA. I still have to write a "letter of intent" that addresses why I want to pursue this particular degree and get two letters of recommendation.

I wrote another new song. In the last two months, I've written three new songs. I mentioned one: "Moonshine Valentine." The others are "Honor Among Theives" and "If The Stars Align." The first two I am pretty happy with, but the last one needs some lyrical work, I think. Just a couple of touch ups, especially in the pre-choruses and bridge.

Stuff

So far today, I've taken a shower, almost finished my Christmas cards, and decided to do something stupid.

Yes, indeed: I've decided to return to school for my Master's degree. I need to do some research very quickly if I am to get started by the Spring Semester at Gonzaga... I originally thought about law school and becoming a lawyer, but that would require me to go to classes at least two or three days a week.

Miscellanea

I spent a few hours recording yesterday. It was frustrating, as usual. I am getting a strange hissing noise, which I think is the guitar cord. I am going to try switching it out and see what happens. My plans for today include more recording and making out Christmas cards.

New Music

I have written a new song. It rocks. :D It is called "Moonshine Valentine," and it is based on a true story from Eastern Kentucky in about 1920. It is a sad story, though. The story is about the daughter of a notorious moonshiner and how she falls in love with a revenue man, even though her father warns her not to see him. It ends badly. But the song is still pretty damned cool!

UGH

Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, WORK.

UGH.

Been Busy

I've been working pretty much non-stop since Sunday. It's not over yet. I've been working on the lawyer's site, but I've got the content almost done in my Word documents, and the design is finished. Just have to insert keywords into the text and then insert the text into the design and publish it. Well, I also have to research how things are uploaded in the UK. It seems that domain name registration in Ireland is different than here: you have to write to someone or other and explain why you want a specific domain name. So, I think there might be differences in how things are uploaded or how you attached a domain name to a certian hosting account.... Also, I have to develop a "Conveyancing Calculator" that runs on the web site and outputs numbers. Also, I have to set up the e-mail accounts. And a "search" feature. And RSS feeds to publish automatically. Lots to do by the weekend.

That's pretty much all that's happening.

Half-Stache The Cannonball Pirate

My cat passed away today. He was 14. Actually, I don't think it was today. I hadn't seen him since Monday night. I found his body underneath the lilac bush next to my bedroom. We buried him next to the aspens in the backyard. I dug the hole and put rocks on the grave.

I'll miss him.

I Am The (Whatever) Whisperer

I started feeling funny last night at about 11PM. A heaviness in my chest, burning in my throat. I tried to deny it, but I was coming down with Kenny's cold. Only, I am not stuffed up. I got laryngitis. I cannot speak at all, much less sing. I know I won't be able to sing by Saturday. And then there's practice! I don't know HOW we're going to practice if I can't sing.

ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Busiest Weekend

Cue eerie music

It was a dark and stormy day. I was feeling lazy as usual. The rain pelted the side of the house like an angry woodpecker with A.D.D. and O.C.D armed with a 12-gauge. This was my Friday. I finally got up the gumption to get ready and drive to Spokane, three cranky kids in tow. It was the start of the long weekend, so the traffic was as crazy as a meth-addled squirrel after a ride on a tilt-a-whirl. People had completely lost all common sense while driving, all seemingly concentrating on what they were all going to do whenever they got to wherever it was they were going off to.

I made my way carefully - with my cruise control set at 60 - to the wedding site for the rehearsal. It was at the rehearsal that I met a woman that I shall call "Controlling Bitch." She attempted to control every aspect of the rehearsal... even the stuff she couldn't possibly know anything about, including how to time my music to the activities of the bridal party. I made my best attempt at ignoring her.

After the rehearsal, I hurried home to cook dinner, but with the traffic and nothing to drink, I decided to swing into the Ram Drive-In on our way home. I am so not shitting you: we must have waited there in the drive-thru lane for over an hour. When we got to the window, I'll bet we weren't there more than 45 seconds. PATHETIC SERVICE. Stupid teenagers. I'd have fired the lot of them, were I the manager. But, hell. I'm not. So, I'll shut up about that.

I got home and started cooking dinner and was helped my aunt work on her new laptop. It was during this that I was looking for my Dreamweaver CD and realized that I lost it in the move. Le sigh. After dinner, I put Cait's hair up in pincurls and put the kids to bed. I had some computer stuff to do, so I didn't get to bed until almost 3 AM.

I got up at 8AM and we drove into Spokane and met up with my aunt, uncle, and the twins at Pizza Hut. After lunch we all went to the wedding site. Me, Kenny, and the kids were the only ones there at first. About 5 minutes later, Controlling Bitch showed up and told us to move our car so "other people didn't park" where we did. No matter how many times we assured her that we would, indeed, move our car as soon as our musical equipment was unloaded, she wouldn't shut up until the car was moved. Finally, we just moved the thing just so she would STFU.

The day was hot, and I spent the majority of the day just sitting in the shade and getting nervous over my piano performance. The ceremony got going after while, though, and I did play pretty well. I started with "In The Garden," just like at practice. And I did the performance just as the Controlling Bitch told me I should: play "In the Garden" until the groomsmen appeared, then play "Ceud Mile Failte (100,000 Welcomes)" (a song I wrote) for the bridesmaids. Only, there was a pretty big delay between the appearance of the groomsmen and the appearance of the bridesmaids. So I ended up playing "Ceud Mile Failte" WAAAAAAAAAY longer. The controlling bitch had told me earlier to start playing the wedding march as soon as I caught sight of the ring bearer because, she said, the bride would be "right behind him."

Well, clearly, "Controlling Bitch" was wrong. I saw the ringbearer, but the flower girl and bride, et cetera, were some distance behind him, so, I started playing the wedding march as soon as I saw the ringbearer... and ended up playing it, like, 100,000,000,000 times. I felt so stupid. Thanks, Controlling Bitch, for the great musical advice. Ha!

After the ceremony, me and Kenny played some music for the guests. After the wedding me and Kenny came home and I made some ravioli and we watched a football game replay on the NFL Network with my Dad until Dad went home, and then me and Kenny watched some stuff Kenny had taped on the DVR. Kenny wanted to get a Pay-Per-View movie, but the phone line hasn't been plugged in for a while to the receiver, so just using the remote wouldn't work. So the kids brought me the laptop to order the movie via the Internet. Well, I hadn't looked at the laptop for some time; I have let the kids use it pretty much exclusively since they moved in. Well, I booted it up and it was then that I realized that Something Had Happened to my laptop. The left click key on the touch pad was sticking down, and something was stuck under the "t" key. After cleaning up the left click key, I kept touching the "t" key, and it spontaneously fell off, revealing a PIECE OF RICE under it. To my surprise, unlike the last time this happened, the key popped right back in place, but I was peeved, so the kids have a week-long ban from all my computers. Hopefully, that will teach them to keep food and drinks away from the Expensive Equipment.

I ended up falling asleep on the couch. Kenny woke me up at about midnight and we went to bed.

I woke up at about 10AM the next day and got ready to go to Spokane... again. Three days in a row of driving in an out of Spokane... arg. Anyway, went in to the studio and traffic (still the long weekend, yanno) made me late by almost half an hour. I told them when I got there that I had to leave by 5:30 PM, but then, at 4PM, they were all, like, "okay, we've got all we need. You can go." And I'm like, "Are you sure you don't want me to do more harmonies or something while I'm here?" And they're like, "No, we're good. Lots of music work tomorrow, though."

So, bewildered, I left. Stopped at Dairy Queen and bought a Moo-Latte. Stopped at Safeway, took a leak, and bought pop and cat food. Came home, and cooked pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash browns for the band and the kids. Then, we practiced. Mom and Dad stopped by.

We had band practice scheduled for the next day at 4PM. The bassist and drummer showed up, and we practiced.

Later, I put the kids to bed, did the dishes, talked to my friends, and then dropped dead (i.e.: slept). I had set the alarm on my cell phone for 9:30 AM, and simply slept through it, so I didn't get up until 11AM this morning.

Made coffee and got the kids started on their school work. They did all right, and were done by 12:30 PM. I ran a scan on my computer, filled out the rebate forms for our cell phones, and sent Cait's check to her savings account. Once my computer scan was finished, I worked on a web site.

I cooked dinner for the family and two of my cousins, and then helped the kids and Kenny make their picks on the band's Pick 'Em League on the forum.

Tomorrow, the kids have school again, and then they have football and cheerleading practice. The kids have games late Saturday afternoon. Sunday, I am going to WATCH FOOTBALL!!!!

Light News

I called the attorney I do web pages for, and he has more work for me. Apparently, he needs a whole new web site. It's good for me. I'll get some money and the work isn't terribly hard.

I have come down with another case of tonsilitis. I first started feeling icky at the football field while Hunter practiced. I feel somewhat better now, but who knows how long that will last?

We have band practice tomorrow. Friday, there is a rehearsal for the wedding that I must go to. Saturday is the wedding. Sunday, I am supposed to record. The tonsilitis may prevent that. We'll see at practice, I guess. Monday, everyone seems to not have anything happening, so we may go to the Legion, and I would like to do an early practice. Tuesday, school starts. Wednesday, the kids all have practices. Thursday, we will have band practice again, and it is the start of FOOTBALL SEASON!!! So, yeah. I'll be watching football. Friday, we should practice again. Saturday, the boys have games and we are SUPPOSED to play at the Burro with Mister Fifteen. Sunday, there is football, but I expect that I will be in the studio for at least part of the day. The Monday after that is the first day that I don't know what is happening other than that the kids will have school.

Update

Went through the kids' school books and got everything ready for them to start school. I must say, I feel sorry for Raven. He is starting junior high, and his school work is heavy, to say the least. He has 4 books over 600 pages. Plus 5 book reports. At least he gets to type everything.

Also, I ran into one of the gals who works at the Priest River Times at football practice today, and I asked her if they'd hired anyone. She told me that they hired an intern that they had brought in after the reporter they were replacing left. Hiring from the inside bites me. I informed her that I was a little ticked that nobody even bothered to tell me, but that I assumed that they'd picked someone else, based on how much time had passed since my interview.

Another Day, Another Project

I took it easy today. I didn't cook. I didn't clean. I didn't talk on the phone. I played piano and learned the Wedding March and "Canon in D" for CJ's wedding, and had band practice later in the day. It went a lot better than the last one. We'll practice again Monday afternoon.

Tomorrow is a busy day. Kenny has football practice with Raven in the morning, and then practice with Hunter and Cait in the afternoon. While he is at practice with Hunter and Cait, I will take Raven up to Sandpoint with me to do grocery shopping. We're out of everything. Except chicken. I still have chicken.

Not sure what's happening Saturday.

Sunday, I am in the studio again. Kenny is coming with me, this time.

Like I said, Monday is band practice. Not sure about the rest of the week.

Finished Working

I finished writing that computer safety article I was commissioned to write. It turned out pretty well, all things considered. Since I was limited to 800 words, I was only able to do a cursory examination of the main problems with people's computer security.

At any rate, I talked about anti-virus software, firewalls, securing your Internet browser, and common sense techniques for avoiding infection, such as e-mail tips and avoiding P2P. I called the article, "Creating a Safe Harbor for Your Computer." We'll see how they like it.

I didn't manage to write anything else today, but I might get an opportunity to do so tonight. I've been thinking about Devil's Handiwork again, and, maybe, enough time has passed since the last time I wrote in it that I might have something new to add that would make it better. I would like to get some beta readers to go over it, but I am scared of that; it usually ends up that people want to edit it until it suits THEIR idea of the story should be. They pick on stupid stuff, too. But that's for another blog post.

Murphy's Law

I had another "Murphy's Law" day.

I had intended on getting up at about 8:30 AM, making coffee, leisurely getting ready to go, warming up, driving into Spokane, picking up files from the cover demo guy, getting Kenny a new cell phone, and going to the studio. My plan also included getting a MooLatte on the way home and watching the Hall of Fame game.

It did NOT turn out that way.

My day started stressfully, as I woke up at 10:30AM. Ran and made coffee, slapped on some make-up, threw on some clothes, grabbed said coffee and ran out the door. Called cover demo guy and told him I would be late. Called producer and told him I would be late. Drove out to the Valley via Highway 2 to Argonne. Got just to the Argonne Street bridge and ran out of gas. Coasted to a gas station on just the other side of the bridge. Barely pulled out into traffic, and I set the cruise control. Things are going good. Then, I see a cop going in the opposite direction. Check cruise control. Perfect at 35MPH. The cop pulls a u-turn and pulls me over. Tells me he pulled me over for my taillight being broken and he couldn't tell if my driver's side rear turn signal worked. I'm thinking, "No, duh. You weren't behind me to see that." But I give him my driver's license, registration and proof of insurance and wait. And wait. And wait. He holds me there for almost 20 minutes. Now, I am really late. I didn't get a ticket, but he then spent another 10 minutes making sure every single light on the car was in working order. Finally, I get back on the road. Get onto Sullivan heading toward the Verizon store, and the cover demo guy calls wanting to know where I am. I told I would be there in less than 5 minutes. I get to the Verizon store, and they made me sign in, and then they made me wait for at least 10 minutes before waiting on me. While I am waiting, the cover demo guy shows up. I get the CDs from him, and talk about his web site. Then, I get my new phones (one for Kenny, one for Dad, and one for me, since I was eligible to upgrade all the phones...) and head out to the studio. Finally get there.

We worked on "Strings." I harmonies for backing vocals. I left the studio at about 5:45PM, and went directly to Dairy Queen to get a Moo-Latte. Got my Moo-Latte, and my day brightened a bit, especially when I found out that the Steelers were winning the hall of fame game. :) I finally got back to Newport and came home because I had to pee like a Russian racehorse (where did that saying ever come from, and what the hell does it mean? Do Russian racehorses pee a lot? Inquiring minds want to know.). So, I peed, changed, and ran to Safeway and dropped off our movie rentals, bought bread and milk and paper towels and ran out to my aunt's house.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. I came home and played guitar for the kids, playing an impromtu game of "Name That Tune."

Kids all have practice tomorrow, and I am drained, both emotionally and physically.

I want to write tomorrow....

Not Much Going On

I haven't been feeling very inspired here lately. I haven't been writing, practicing music seems dull, nothing creative at all. I've spent a lot of time looking for work and not finding very much. I applied for four positions today, and I have an interview with a local newspaper tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Practiced tonight. Did some original material. We haven't practiced any original material in months. It did not go so well. There's a reason we were practicing originals, but I can't say more about it just now.

Excerpt Time!

Spent some time writing tonight. Not a whole lot I can share at this point, but I did write some "funny" stuff. The term "funny" is relative, I guess. At any rate, here is an excerpt, and then I am, most certainly, off to bed.

Anyway, the excerpt, from Devil's Handiwork:

My head felt like a two hundred-piece drum line playing "Wipeout" on constant repeat had taken up residence inside it. Tequila was so not my thing. Coupled with the headache were the waves of heat radiating off the asphalt at the Reno airport. Jess said he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy who had a private jet and who owed Jess a favor. Something about erasing IRS debt. Who knew?

Between Jess and me, we’d devised Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. By the time we were planning Plans D through F, though, we had polished off two fifths of tequila. Our grand scheme of taking a few million dollars from the Council and spending it on a chain of Mexican restaurants that only served tequila didn’t sound so good to me today. Sounded like the best plan ever, then, though.

Though You're Probably Not Interested...

I've been both domestic and hard-working today. I started working on the That Bytes web design. I dealt with a client all day. And then, I made baked Mac & Cheese. From scratch. Here's my recipe, which I made up myself:

Boil pasta until al dente.

In large sauce pan, combine 2 cups milk with 1 egg. Blend with a whisk. Over medium heat, stir in 1/2 cup of flour. Whisk until very warm but not boiling. You can vary the cheeses, but I used bags of pre-shredded cheese, including: colby & monterey jack, pizza blend (cheddar, mozzerella, colby, swiss, and jack), and mozzerella cheese. Add cheese to warmed milk mixture by fingerfuls. Continue stirring. Total amount of cheese added should be about 2 cups, plus or minus to taste. When cheese is fully melted, add sauce to drained pasta in a casserole or other baking pan. Top with more shredded cheese, crushed crackers, and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cheese is browning and bubbly on top. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Serves about 6 people.

I'm so, so domestic.

Went into the studio yesterday and recorded scratch vocals and scratch guitar tracks. I did really really well, and, yes, I got a CD of what I did to practice harmony parts. But I am not showing that off yet. Soon.

Et Cetera

I rehearsed for the producer... it went well, but I wanted to change the time I would be going in Sunday from noon to, say, 3PM, so that I could have the opportunity to warm up. Well, it was a good thing I called 'cause he cancelled it.

I also did some writing, and completely re-did Kenny's boss' web site.

Here's some decent stuff from Devil's Handiwork:

I grabbed the beer and made my way around the counter and to the stairwell. I heard the whirring, buzzing, and clicking of a computer geek in his native environment below, and descended into the darkness.

Basements are normally cool and slightly damp, but basements in the desert are only mildly more comfortable than a mineshaft in the middle of August with one hundred percent humidity. Jess’ basement apartment had three rooms connected by a mineshaft-like tunnel. The ceilings still bore pick marks and the burnt scars of blasting, probably the only way of getting through the dense rock. Immediately to my left was a "bathroom," if you could call it that. A manhole-like drain marked the lowest point of the slate-tiled floor, and, behind it, a toilet that probably pre-dated my grandparents sat lopsided against some black pipes. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in sixty or so years.

I Used My Gig Money To...

...buy an armoire. I found it on Craigslist this afternoon. Kenny went and got it. It is cedar. It took a lot twisting and turning to get it into the bedroom, but it is exactly what I wanted. Cost me $250 of my $300, but it was worth it.

Here is the best stuff I wrote tonight, from Devil's Handiwork:

There is nothing but sagebrush, dirt, and rocks in Ione, Nevada. Well, there are a few people to cater to the tourists who come to see the fossils at the nearby state park or one of the numerous "ghost" towns from the mining booms. I had to smile at the thought as I parked the truck in front of the bar. No one knew ghosts the way I knew ghosts.

A trickle of sweat snaked its way down my spine as I exited the truck. The Nevada desert in July was not a pleasant place to be; I couldn’t fathom why Jess had decided to hide out here when there were plenty of other – more temperate – hidey-holes of desolation. I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulder and made my way into the bar. The air conditioning was on high, instantly freezing the sweat to my skin.

"Yellow."

I glanced up at the bartender, inwardly grinning at the accented way he’d greeted me. "Hey," I said. "Got a beer back there?"

"Yup," he said. He reached beneath the counter and placed a can on the counter.

The barstool's vinyl seat immediately adhered itself to my bare thighs.

Shows and Tells

We had some pretty fun shows over the holiday. We played at the Kalispel Indian Reservation and then at a private party later. I got up at about 9 AM on Wednesday and took my time choosing an outfit, getting ready and just generally preparing myself for the show. It was hot out. Over 90 degrees, I'm sure. Anyway, so they load up the drums and equipment and stuff and we head off.

Get to the venue at about 2 PM We find out where they want us to set up, and we get our things all ready to go and whatnot. There is about 1,500 people gathered around. We played a couple of short sets and got paid. We did really well. My Mom (who was watching the kids while we played) said that she could hear every part of the band everywhere on the grounds, and that people were really enjoying it. At 6PM, we broke down all the equipment and headed back to our place. We got the drummer's truck unloaded and he took off. We loaded the PA monitors, one of Kenny's amps, my amp, our cords and things, Kenny's Les Paul and my acoustic guitar into the Daihatsu, and Mom and Dad took off 'cause Dad had to go to bed early 'cause he had to get up at 2AM.

Got our stuff unloaded and set up and started playing. Mind you, all day long, I've had half a hot dog to eat. I'm starving after about an hour of this, and the bugs are eating me. I feel dizzy from my hypoglycemia, and finally take a break to pilfer some food from the buffet. I had half a chicken sandwich before we started playing again. About 20 minutes into our second set, the Priest River fireworks started. We had a great view of the whole valley and all the fireworks, but they looked miniscule from our vantage point, and we all kind of felt gypped out of our 4th of July celebration. Anyway, we finished up our set, got paid by our appreciative hosts, and set off for home.

Came home and ate a little bit of leftover rice while I watched the end of The Patriot on TV. Finally got to go to bed at about 2AM. I took the kids swimming out at McAbee Falls. The water was fantastic, but there was this weird, creepy guy there that was making me uncomfortable, so we left a little earlier than I had planned. On the way home, I got pulled over on Peninsula Road for going 55MPH in a 35MPH zone. I got off with a warning because - the cop said - the kids were all in seatbelts.

Wild Weekend

I had quite a weekend. I got up Friday morning and went shopping with Mom while the Twins stayed here with the kids.

Got back out to Mom and Dad's and Dad was home from work. By the time we left, a huge thunderstorm was brewing overhead. Within a mile down the road, we went from bright sunshine to pounding rain and howling winds... winds that were maybe 60 MPH at times. As I drove down the Shingle Mill Hill, the wind pushed trees to the ground all around us; I had to swerve and drive off the road a couple of times to avoid the debris. Five miles later, as we were just entering Priest River, the storm stopped. The power was out, and branches and trees were down everywhere. I got home, and the power was out here, too. I had just spent $300 on groceries, and I was pretty pissed that they might go bad because I didn't have refrigeration. But, I got all the groceries put away, and then got a call to go play a show at Stateline Tavern in Oldtown... just me an Kenny, acoustically.

So, I got ready (in the dark, no less) and went to the bar where Kenny was setting stuff up. The power came back on just as Dad and I got there. We finished setting up and started playing. The people were really responsive, and we had a great show. We performed really, really well, and had a blast. The bartender told us that she made more than double what she usually makes on Friday nights with karaoke, and that the owner might make me and Kenny's duo thing a regular thing on Fridays. She said she'd know more Monday after she talked with the owner. After the show, I drove my aunt and uncle home, and then drove my Dad home. As we went through Priest River, it was like driving through the remnants of a city after the apocalypse. There wasn't any power anywhere. There were no cars on the streets. It was completely black and empty. It was a little scary, to be honest. Especially thinking about the state of this country's energy dependancy... and the whole global warming thing... and how much we rely on our power and electricity... what if it was gone? This is what it would be like all the time.... Very scary stuff.

So, I came home, ate some cookies, and went to bed. I don't know what time it was when I went to sleep, but I got up at about 9 AM Saturday and made coffee, got cleaned up, drank some coffee, and made chocolate chip cookies for an friend. Then, I went and picked out my "formal" outfit for the show Saturday night. I went and fixed my hair all up in a cute upswept style with cascading curls, and then did my make-up and went to get dressed. Two people had to help me get into the get up. It was a black damask/brocade kinda dress that went to my knees and is very low cut. And very tight around the rib cage. But it accentuated all the right things, and hid all the bad things, and I looked AMAZING. We got everything loaded and to the show site and started setting up.

We sounded awesome and totally rocked. We got asked back for another show on August 11th. But it was BUTT-ASS COLD out there once the sun set. Sheesh! I haven't been that cold in a LONG time. I couldn't feel my thumb on my right hand at all, and, by the end of the night, the ends of my fingers on my left hand were very, very sore just from pressing on cold metal strings in the cold. And the location of the Dumpster out back in relation to the band stand and the wind coming from a certain direction made for some rather unpleasant breathing experiences.

After the show, we all came back to my house and unloaded equipment and I fed everybody, and we all sat around and talked for an hour or so. Dad drove himself home after eating and sobering up a little bit. He called me when he got home to let me know he'd made it home safe. I almost fell asleep in the recliner, but managed to make it to bed - fully dressed - and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.

This Just Isn't Like Me...

...being this domestic, I mean. I cook, I clean, I take care of things. And what thanks do I get? Lip, that's what. Ptttthhhfff.

Tomorrow, I am shopping with Mom. Saturday is the show at the Burro. Monday and Tuesday are up in the air at the moment, but Wednesday is our show for the Kalispel Tribe.

Le Sigh

I am tired, and I still have work to do. It sure didn't seem like I did a lot today, so I can't quite figure out why I am so tired. But here is the best news story I've read all day. Crazy, cocaine-fueled crop circles?

I rehearsed for the producer guy again today, for the first time in over a week. It wasn't going well for the first two hours. Then, things got into shape and was well. Sorta.

The lady from the tribe called me today and we rescheduled our 4th of July show. Now, instead of playing from 2:30 to 3:30 and again from 7 PM to 8 PM, we are playing from 4 PM to 6 PM with an hour break at the one-hour mark. Then, we have a choice of playing two different parties....

Work, Work, Work

I was very domestic today, but I also did a lot of work. I got up, got dressed, made coffee, finished the dishes, and then started working. I had applied for a content editor position with an electronic publisher - you might remember that - and they had sent me a test manuscript to edit. I did that, wrote an analysis of it, and sent them a second letter with the attachments.

Got a letter from a client wanting me to do more work for him.

Tomorrow, Kenny and I will practice, I think. Thursday... I don't know. Friday a lot of shit is going on. Saturday is the show at the Burro. It's the outside show, so pray for a high pressure system. Starts at 7 PM. Sunday... again, I don't know.

Normalcy!

So, things are more back to normal. We did practice tonight. I applied for four jobs last night. One is a content/acquisitions editor position for an e-book publisher. The second was an article writing position for an open source program. The third is a blog writing position for a childhood development site. The last one is a copywriting/SEO thing that would pay $25 per hour. Any would help.

Other things:
I practiced my stuff for recording this weekend, and I even amazed myself. I had control, range, and excellent pitch. I am definitely ready for this.
Devil's Handiwork is turning out really well. I'll have to post some of it soon.
May be practicing Thursday.
Something is happening Friday, but I forget what it is.
Something is happening Saturday, too, but I forget what that is, too. Hopefully, someone will remind me of this shit.

That is all.

Another Boring Day

Nothing much going on (again). I put some bulletins on MySpace looking for work. Went out to Mom's and saw the kids. Came home and practiced. Ended up going over to the drummer's to work on his girlfriend's computer. Other than that, nothing much going on. Tomorrow is kind of up in the air. Saturday is the show. Sunday I am going into Spokane. Monday, I am supposed to talk to Kenny's boss about filling in with the office work. Tuesday is band practice again.

Bleh

I am feeling very "bleh." Nothing exciting. Just practice, practice, practice, seeing as how I have nothing else to do. I don't have a job. I don't have any web design projects. I don't have anything pressing. I've cleaned and organized almost everything in the house. I am, officially, bored. I guess that means that I should write, but I don't really feel like it. So, I've been watching a lot of TV and thinking. And I have been practicing. Upwards of eight hours a day. I get up, get dressed, get coffee, watch a little TV while I warm up, and then I start practicing vocals and playing guitar to a metronome. I practice four hours in the morning and four hours when I get home.

So, yeah. At least I am taking something seriously.

Also, I have started writing another book, but this one is a non-fiction how-to book called, "The No B.S. Guide to Computers." It is subtitled: "Instructions so easy, my Mom can do it!" I am also planning a follow-up book entitled: "The No B.S. Guide to HTML." I figure, even the "Dummies" and "Idiots" guides have too much tech-speak in them. I'll make it even simpler: It says things like:

"To stop looking at something on the Internet or in a program, click the red 'X'
in the very tippy-top, upper right-hand corner of the screen."

I mean, we are talking a book for people who know NOTHING about using a computer. There might even be a market for this for another two years or so. Also, these books will not cover the history of HTML or computers or anything that bogs down the learning process. It's just instructions on the simplest, easiest, most efficient ways to operate a computer and the programs contained therein.Also, I am working on two sites for my business: one of them is a site offering writing services; the other is a computer repair site. I am still working out the bugs on both.

Other than that, I am getting ready for the show on Saturday and just lounging.

Gak! I Did Nothing Today!

I seriously didn't do anything constructive today. I spent last night working on a laptop. It was having "drive errors," and we decided to wipe the drive - which was running Windows 98 - and install Windows ME. Would've worked fine, too, but when I went to do it, the machine went into this mode of saying "Trying to recover allocation unit." This statement was followed by a number that changed about once every five minutes or so. This, on an 11GB drive.

So, anyway, I started practicing the songs again. I still don't know what I am going to do about it, but I'll keep practicing anyway. Then, I took a shower and then went to check my e-mail. I am doing my Internet things for the evening when suddenly, the power goes out for split second, shutting down my computer, obviously. I was sorta pissed, but, since the cause of the power outage was a raging thunder storm, I decided to go try to take some pictures of the lightning using my expensive new camera that I have barely used. I scanned the booklet that came with it about shutter speeds, and snapped some pictures... of a black sky. Never could seem to get the timing right. Oh, well. Then, I watched some TV about "green" living and now I am on the computer again since the storm has passed. I have a teeny bit of work to do, so I might as well go do it.

Tomorrow I have to take some posters to the Logger's Bar for our show on July 27th, and then we have band practice. I am still expecting a check from the Canadian client. I have not heard from the cover-demo recording guy in regards to his web site. I have no other work. I can't seem to buy a job. And I need money to finish paying for this demo thing....

Catching Up

Been a while since I posted. Things have been busy. On Thursday, I had The Twins over cutting the long grass around the house and in the back yard, and I also had to do a lot of running around looking for lightbulb for an overhead projector, again for Mom's VBS thing.

I've been unpacking and arranging the new place. I've got it looking mostly house like: I got all the kitchen stuff unpacked and put where it belongs; the livingroom and office are finished; the bedroom is still a disaster because of the lack of closet space. My project tomorrow is to clean off the porch and make it into my sitting room. I will put a recliner in there, and will decorate it with my see-through curtains and my new palm tree I bought today. I also bought petunias, snapdragons, and marigolds today, and planted them this evening in terra cotta pots outside.

A freaking spider just crawled across my desk!!!!!! ARG!!!!!!!!!!

Finished working on Kenny's boss' site for the time being, and I got paid, which is always good.

Well, I find myself sleepy at the moment. More later.

Wide Open

My week is wide open. I have no real plans, no schedule. I am almost done with the house. Not much left to do there. No jobs, no plans for any jobs... nothing is happening now. Kind of a relief. I can now concentrate on practicing and stuff.

Moving

It's been an extremely long weekend. I started packing, like I said, on Thursday, but we didn't get finished moving everything out until yesterday. The last thing to get moved was the Ford truck, which doesn't run.

At any rate, it wouldn't have been possible to move without my family. Everybody busted their butts along with me to get this all ready to move, get it into the trucks, out of the trucks, into the house, and getting things arranged. The new place actually looks like a nice place again - albeit full of furniture now - rather than a poorly organized storage facility that it looked like for a short period of time.

I had arranged to have my cable Internet connection moved and ready to roll on Friday; however, the one and only outlet in the house was in the band room (on the complete opposite side of the house from where I wanted it), and, even when I hooked up my modem in there, it didn't work. So, the guy came over today, and, for the price of $10, I got my hook-up exactly where I wanted it.

Other than that, the band has a show on June 9th at The Burro Inn in Diamond Lake. Hopefully, a few of my friends can make it.

Still much to do; more later.

My Life, In Boxes

Yes, I am packing now. Dad took me over to the liquor store, where they were stocking up for the long holiday. They had LOTS of boxes they wanted to get rid of. So, me and Dad got a truckload of them and brought them to the house. I am not-so-systematically filling them, taping them shut, and labeling them. By "not-so-systematically," I mean to say that I am packing in quite schizophrenic fashion: I will pack a box or two of stuff from the kitchen, say, and then go do a bag of clothes out of the bedroom, and then clear crap off of some bit of furniture... there is no method to this. I'm just randomly packing crap. Shit, it's only 4 miles, yanno? But I managed to hurt myself packing things... I stepped on the upturned heel of high-heeled shoe while trying to step over the shop vac... I stubbed my toe on a treasure chest... and cut my right arm on a nail sticking out of the wall. Oh, yeah... and my neck is out. Oh, wait... I just hiccuped and it popped. We'll see if that helps.

I made phone calls today: got the phone service, the Internet service, and the satellite service switched to the new address. I also set the water to be shut off on Saturday. There still is lots to do here.

So, So, So, So BUSY!

Well, I got a new car. Kenny brought it home to me tonight. It needs a tune-up and an adjustment in the steering coupler, but, outside of that, she's cherry. It's a black 1971 Ford LTD with a 429. It's lovely. I'm so, so, so happy with it!

We're also moving into the house. Kenny's boss REEEEAAAAALLLLY wanted us to move in there, so, it appears as though we'll be moving in next Saturday and Sunday. I will be packing things up most of the week coming up, and I also have to find time to go over to the new place and spray for spiders. I am applying for another job. The Priest River Times is looking for a reporter. It is pretty much the same job as the Kellogg paper wanted me for, but it is here in Priest River, which is cool. The Sheriff's office is just dicking around too long. Anyway, I was going to print out a resume tonight, but I couldn't. I lent Mom my printer this afternoon to make copies of her VBS stuff, and she still has it. So, I will have to get Kenny to print a copy and I will go get it tomorrow and take it to the paper.

Graded all the kids' school books today. Did almost nothing else. I did do some writing in Devil's Handiwork, though. Here is the best stuff from tonight:

I ran my hands up his pants legs against his skin, removing various
weaponry and sundry items from his clothes as I went. "About the only reason the
Council would be worried enough not to tell you about their targets or
assignments was if it had to do with money," I said, pressing my hand into his
crotch. "Is that a transmitter, or are you just happy to see me?" I asked,
clasping my hand around the locator he'd hidden in his undershorts.

"Old, dumb line, Shelby. You can do better."

"So could you," I said. "You put this damned thing in the exact same place
you did when we were together."

He leaned forward a little. "When we were together and you unzipped my
pants, it wasn't to get at my locator."

I pushed my hand down to the chair's seat, pinching a delicate bit of his
skin between my hand and the metal seat. He gasped. "Yeah," I said. "At least I
found what I was looking for, this time."

"Ouch, Shelby."

"What?" I tossed the locator on the floor at my feet and smashed it under
my boot heel.

"Just ouch."

I grabbed my backpack and shoved Billy's gun inside. "Well, when
Brick-Noggin and Sunglasses find you, you three can go back to the Council and
tell them to kiss my ass, won't you?"

Tomorrow, like I said, I am getting a resume to the Priest River Times, and then I am going shopping with Mom. Kenny is taking the kids over to the elementary school tomorrow evening to sign the boys up for Pop Warner football and sign Cait up to be a cheerleader. Saturday, I might be going to Spokane to work with the producer. Depends on his schedule. I might also be packing and/or fumigating the new place. Who knows? Sunday might be free (again, who knows?); looks like packing and moving shit the rest of the week. Won't likely be practicing as a band again until a week from next Tuesday.

Stuff

I didn't do much of anything today. I did hear from the radio jingle guy this morning, and I have an appointment to go do a demo for radio jobs for him on Tuesday at 11. I am definitely cancelling the newspaper job interview. Who am I kidding? I'm not going to take the job. I mean, shit. It's a 90-mile one-way drive five days a week. If I drove my Buick, that would cost me $36 a day. I would be working for $54 a day, which works out to $6.75 an hour. SOOOOOO not worth it. I could make that here washing dishes. So, yeah. My week so far is looking like this: Sunday, the Legion; Monday, Spokane with the producer; Tuesday, radio jingle guy, Mom to dentist, and band practice. The rest of the week is wide open.

La Da De Dum

I got a call today from a newspaper in Kellogg, Idaho. They want me to come down there right away and take a reporter job that they have. I have an interview scheduled for Monday morning at 11, but I think that I will call them and cancel it. The pay is only $10 an hour, and I would have to relocate or buy a REALLY economical car for the commute. I mean, we're looking at a 90-mile or so one-way drive every day. On the other hand, I would be using my degree.... But, no. I think not.

Sunday's looking free so far. Monday, I have that interview scheduled and I also have time scheduled with the producer Monday afternoon. Band stuff Tuesday and Wednesday... after that, I have no clue. I finished the final mock-up of Kenny's boss' web site. Working on finishing the other recording studio guy's site. Waiting for a check from the Canadian client, though, admittedly, I did not check the mail today. I will have to do that in the morning.

Working Day

Well, we didn't have band practice today. Kenny was in Coeur d'Alene all day doing training, and then he was late getting out of work after making deliveries, anyway, and we knew that was coming. So, yeah. Practice cancelled.

I spent the day doing a bunch of research on bars, looking for places that I can send the new demo. Then, I worked. I got the recording studio guy's Flash site pretty much done. Started working on Kenny's boss' site. Billed the guy from Canada.

So, yeah. Just worked and stuff. Nothing much interesting. Tomorrow might be more interesting, as I am going to look at a house we might be moving to and I am supposed to hear from a couple of bars tomorrow.

Music!

We got the cover demo! Go here to stream it!

YAWN

I am so tired. A trip to Spokane, heavy work load, several surprises... just makes one very tired.

So, yeah. Kenny and I went into Spokane to finish the cover demo. I was amazed at how good we sounded. Then, we came home, and I started working, first practicing the voice stuff the producer wanted me to do, and then working on the cover demo studio guy's web page. I just got finished for the night. Will finish it up tomorrow night and send him the link. He is supposed to send me the MP3 files of the cover demo stuff by Wednesday morning so that I can make a copy to send to the booking agent. We'll see how that works out. So, anyway, I am tired. When I first got up this morning, I practiced guitar and singing and then took out all the empty water jugs and boxes (cat food can boxes, pop can boxes, beer halfrack boxes, et cetera) that had accumulated over the winter. Smashed up the boxes and threw them away; strung up the jugs and had Dad take them out to his place for Mom to use making a castle wall for her VBS program. Tomorrow is band practice. I need to clean the house for the party and do some decorating things both Wednesday and Thursday.

Well...

I went to the producer's house today with Dad. Me and the producer went over the songs again with a metronome; he seemed marginally pleased with the fact that I could play in time to a beat. However, he also said that I have a tendency to start flat and swing "up" into the note I need; I also, apparently, have a tendency to sing the fifth harmony of a root note, which means, if I am playing a C chord, I will sing G note. Which is not bad, I guess, but he wants me to work on the "tonal memory" of the songs, so that I can sing the note perfect every time.

Me and Dad got back to my place and took the starter off my car. Either the starter or the solenoid got FUBAR'd, 'cause one or the other of them was "stuck." Dad fooled around with it for a while after we got it off and got it working, but we've decided not to take any chances and just replace it.

Monday, we're in Spokane finishing the cover demo; Tuesday is band practice; Thursday I am going shopping with Mom in the morning and cleaning my house in the afternoon and evening; Friday is my party; Saturday, we have a show; Sunday is the birthday party. Next Monday, I plan to sleep all day. Hahahaha.

Busy Week Upcoming

Saturday afternoon I must go to Spokane to do some more work on my songs with the producer. Monday, I'm back in Spokane finishing the cover demo with the recording studio guy (the one who is having me make him a web site). Tuesday is band practice. Thursday, I am cleaning my house in preparation for my birthday party. Friday is my birthday, and, therefore, my party. Saturday, the band is playing at The Riverbend in Oldtown.

Whaddya Know?

I've got to get $3,000 by the end of May. I was sort of counting on the dispatcher job to cover that, but that is taking too long. Luckily for me, I went The Rio tonight, and ran into a guy who does radio jingles for eight radio stations in the local area. He liked my voice and wants me to do radio jingles for him at $100 per. Score! If I can do 35 of them, I got this thing paid for!

Weekend Report

Sunday, I had gone to bed at 5 AM and got up at 11 AM. Got ready and went to Spokane and had the meeting with the recording studio guy I am doing a web site for. I took a design to him and he liked and said go with it. Okay. Meeting over. I ran on down to my sister's house for the birthday party.

The meeting with the producer got moved back from 4 PM to 6 PM. He wanted me to play my newest stuff first, so I started with "The Night Let Me Down." He didn't say anything while I was playing at all, but when I finished, he says, "yeah, that's a good song, as is." So, yay. He does a few things figuring out about the song, like what key it was in, what other instruments he would put in it, et cetera. Then he said, "Play me a fast one," so I started playing the other one I wrote last week, "The Cover." When I had played it for Kenny, he said it sounded like The Beatles. I was unconvinced. Then, when I played it for the producer, he said the same thing. Said it was definite "hit," and then it was very catchy and hooky, and that, if I cut out a few things that it would be a massive hit. I was okay when he suggested that we cut out the pre-chorus, but when he said that I should cut the first four lines of the chorus, I was dubious, but I said, "Well, let's get Dad out of the sawmill then." So I am re-writing that one. I played all my other newest stuff. The ones he picked to use were "Rumors," which is a new one I wrote back in January or something; "Strings"; and "Relax," a pop song I wrote in 2004. He taped me playing the songs on a little bitty recorder, and then we talked about what direction he would steer my career.

Songwriting

There isn't much going on except that I wrote two new songs. One of them was re-appropriated lyrics from 2003. I've turned it from a boring song into a 1960s pop track. I really like it. It rocks. It is called "The Cover." The other one is kind of a country/rock ballad. It's called "The Night Let Me Down."

Devil's Handiwork Excerpt

Best lines I wrote tonight:

Grabbing the leather jacket on the bed frame, I slid the backpack on and,
bringing the pistol to the ready again, slowly made my way down the stairs. As I
settled my foot on the last step, my eyes adjusting to the darkness again, he
cleared his throat.

I recognized him immediately, and I still shot a hole in the
chair he was sitting in, mere millimeters from his testicles.

"God damn it, Shelby!"

I shot four more times at the chair’s seat, putting the bullets within
hair's breadths of his thighs. He recoiled violently through the tufts of
recliner stuffing floating through the air and toppled backward, chair and all.
I launched myself across the room and vaulted over the now-holey recliner. My
knees pressed into his elbow joints, and I sat hard on his chest. My left
forearm came down across his windpipe while I shoved the barrel of the
still-smoking 9MM into his left nostril. "You've got five seconds to tell me
what the fuck the Council wants with me before I wipe your nose with something a
little more dangerous than a tissue, Billy."

News of Note

Friday night, me and Kenny went to see the drummer's Dad's band play at The Rio. They had me and Kenny play an entire set and a half.

But what I really want to talk about is the OTHER thing that happened Friday night. I had previously arranged for a producer with whom I had been trading messages on MySpace to contact me about 9:30 Friday night. He called while I was at The Rio. This is the same guy I've mentioned before. Well, he told me on the phone that, while the band needed some work the last time they'd seen us, he still thought that I would have a better chance of success by myself as a solo artist. He said that he "really dug" my songs; that they were pop, but had darker lyrics, kinda like a mix (in his words) of Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow. He said that he doesn't just work with anybody with money, either. He said that he only works with people he thinks have a real chance of making money with music, and he thinks I have that potential. Yay!

Now, I have been thinking for quite a while about the next record. Obviously, we can't just record the next album the same way - live - as we did the last one. The thing is, to be accepted into the new music business model, you have to have a product that is instantly marketable. Which means paying for world-class recording. If I were to choose just a recording studio, I'd still end up paying them at least $2,500 for the recordings... and I'd be producing them. Honestly, I think I have gone as far as I can all by myself and doing everything. I think it's time to move to the next level and get some professional help for this next project. With this guy, even though I will be paying him $3,500 to record it, he is also going to produce it. Make the songs marketable. Make them sound world class. Make the production sound like everything else.

I had to drive through snow today. Arg. No word from any clients, so I am home-free there. Band's next show is May 5th, with maybe at least one more before then.

Strange Things Are Afoot

I wrote a song today. It is very sad. That's so typical of me.

I went to The Rio tonight to watch my drummer's Dad's band play, because they've come to our shows. And they had us up to perform. Me and Kenny performed "Living On A Prayer" (the slow version), that Irish song I learned for St. Patricks Day (it's actually called "The Rose Pipe-Set"), and "Thirteen" by ourselves. With their band we did a typical easy-song set list, including "Dreams," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Wild Nights," "Brown-Eyed Girl," "I'll Be There For You," and "Sweet Home Alabama."

Tomorrow, like I said, I have a meeting with about a web site, and I have to go to Sandpoint with Mom to do her grocery shopping.

I need to get some projects finished up this weekend, hopefully.

News, News, News

So, one of my project contacts called me yesterday night to tell me that the guy who is funding the project had completely backed out of the project and took all the equipment (whatever that was) with him. She told me that I could keep the start-up money (my deposit) and re-sell the work I had done. I was like, well, whatever. But then, the guy with the moolah called me this morning at about 9 AM to tell me that the project was over but that he wanted to work with me. I told him to send me an e-mail and I'd send him whatever he requested because, you know, 9 AM is too early for me.

I haven't really done anything with any of my projects for a while, although I did hear from that record company in Spokane that wanted us to pay them money to record our record. Whatever, right? Seems that they are changing their tune. I've been doing a lot of thinking here recently, though. Mostly about my music, but some about my books, too, which I would like to get done here pretty quick.

Catch Up

Well, let's see... we played last night. Between Kenny's cold, half the audience leaving during one of our best songs in the second set, and the mistakes we made, the show itself was not as good as our show last week. Kenny's rotten attitude rubbed off on everybody, and that, coupled with the lack of audience energy to feed from, caused us to be... well, we were still good - more than good, actually; we still rocked - but it definitely wasn't our "best" show. By any means.

I did the "911-specific" testing for that job last Monday. It went well, and, as it turns out, I managed to pass the test, and I have an appointment for an interview at 3 PM on Monday.

I've been working my butt off to finish what projects I still have pending for my business, mostly because I get the feeling that I am going to get hired by the Sheriff's office, and I won't have time to do web design if I do get the 911 job. At any rate, I'll just finish one thing up, and two more things will come in. Considering that I do not YET have this other job, I am snapping up whatever work comes my way, as I need the money for a few things. So, I have about 8 projects I am working on right now. Why is it that, just when I'd like things to calm down a bit so that I can concentrate on getting this other job, all this work starts pouring in? And, sure as shit, as soon as I think that I could get by on web design stuff and turn down the job (assuming they offer it to me), the web design stuff will dry up. It's almost as if God wants me to be busier than a neat freak in a landfill.

I did some more writing the other night (Thursday, I think... my days are running together), but nothing significant came out of it, so, nothing to share today.

A Night Borrowed

Well, a while back, I did promise a sneak peek at A Night Borrowed... or, rather, what little I have so far. Well, I'm finally coming through on that promise. I'll warn you, though, that I am not really feeling this so far... and, if you've read Night Cries, a small amount of time has passed between the end of Night Cries and the beginning of this book. Anyway, without further comment, here is the snippet:

It was the perfect place for witchcraft. So, why it surprised me that I was
staring slack-jawed at the scowling visage of a man who had died in my arms more
than a year ago was beyond my comprehension. In fact, most everything but his
face was incomprehensible to me at the moment. I had held him as he died,
begging him not to leave me. The ghost of that loss haunted me constantly since
then, especially when….

My hand clamped tight over my mouth as I continued to
stare. Oh, dear God, I thought. He doesn’t know!

He strode purposefully through the leaf-strewn yard, deftly weaving his way around the bodies of William’s sleeping soldiers. He poked each man as he passed, apparently demanding some sort of information from each one, and, not getting the answer he sought, moved on to the next.

I was frozen in place. I couldn’t feel my feet; I would surely fall if I attempted to move. The shock of his appearance had not yet worn off, though, at least, my brain had thawed enough to begin to put together a few coherent thoughts. Why was he here? How was he here?

And then, our eyes met. The dawning of recognition lit in his eyes. His scowl lifted, and he broke into a run toward me, leaping over the bodies of the men who slept in his path. Startled, I backed up, tripping over the laundry vat behind me, and landing in the cold, dirty water. I struggled to extract myself from the predicament,
taking my eyes from his only for a moment.

His strong hands – as warm as I remembered – lifted me from the water and set me gently on my feet. His hands were on my arms then, and he pulled me roughly to him. His nose touched mine, and I looked up.

"You did this to me, and you are going to fix it."

Not Much To Say

So, um... let's see.

Today, I went to a funeral, which was hard for me, because I kept thinking about the last funeral I went to, which was Grandpa's. It brought up a lot of things I am not ready to face yet.

What else? Kenny may be in a movie.

I have not been paid by that guy who had me design a lighting site for him. I may have to send him a collection letter.

The sheriff's office called today. I am supposed to go in for dispatcher's testing on Monday at 6:30 PM.

No word from ABC New York.

Somebody in the UK downloaded the entire album of "Too Much To Dream" from iTunes back in February, which is cool, but I wish I knew who it was.

The drums were supposed to arrive today, but they did not.

Y'All Ain't Gonna Believe This Shit

So, my Dad found this ad in the Priest River Times that said:

Are you a musician who dreams about making the big time... but have no idea how?
A national television show wants to talk with you. We can't guarantee to make
you famous, but we can promise you an adventure that will be seen by millions.
If you are a musician (or know one) from a very rural spot; who has never
recorded, never gone on a tour; but people tell you: "You could be a star" ...
we want to talk to you.

And it had a phone number and some extensions and whatnot. I thought, well, it's probably a scam, but you never know. So, today, I called the number. A machine picks up that says I've reached ABC New York. So, I punch in the first extension number and expect to get a machine. I have no idea what I am going to say, but I wait as the line rings. And a real person picks up. He asks me all kinds of questions about where I live and just how rural it is... and he seems genuinely pleased to hear all about it. And he asks me some questions about my music, what my dreams are with my music... and I got emotional talking about how I wanted to get my Dad out of the sawmill and how I wanted to honor Grandpa's musical legacy. He told me that I had a very compelling story, and told me that the show they were working on is ABC's "Primetime Live," and, earlier this year, they did a segment about the "6 degrees of separation" just in New York City. Apparently, they'd randomly approchaed people in New York City and had them try to connect themselves in "6 degrees" to some other people with certain qualities. Well, for this, they are doing the same thing again, but they are adding the element of geography. They said that they would want to do the shoot out at my parents' place because of the rural look, and that they would want to have the band play, and that they would be sending me on a 5-day excursion to wherever I needed to go to complete this "mission" of finding this other person within 6 degrees and they would pay for everything. I'm thinking, well, cool. Not at all what I expected, but very cool. So, then he tells me that he will need to see some pictures and hear my music, so I sent him to my band's site, and he kept asking me questions about how I look... like, "Is your hair still that long?" (Yes.) "How tall are you?" (5'11".) And things like that. Then he took my phone number and said that he would be in touch. Pretty cool!

Other News: We were in the studio on Sunday, and are almost finished recording the cover demo. We have lead vocals on three songs left to do and backing vocals on all 6 to do still.

Proper Order of Horse and Cart

I've finally decided that I most definitely want to start a tattoo parlor in town. So, I started laying out a plan on how to do that. First, I figure I need about $2,000 in funding to get started. Basically for the equipment, supplies, and to rent a small space in town, maybe sub-lease from someone. Second, I figure, during the slow days of tattooing, I can still run my web design business. However, there's still those start-up costs. So, I will either need to get a job (911 dispatch, something else, whatever) or get a bunch more web design stuff. Either way, once I have the equipment, I will probably be ready to roll in four months or so.

I talked to a friend of mine tonight, and also to a friend of his who has some contacts in the music industry. I sent him a CD through CDBaby (since I don't have any more). We'll see what happens. The people he wants to show it to are some pretty big names in the producing part of the industry.

Sunday, we're in the studio. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll have gotten paid so I can order a tattoo kit. Tuesday, I am going to a funeral. That's all I know for now. Tomorrow, I will have a sample of A Night Borrowed for you all to read.

Stuff

I found a drum set in the Musician's Friend catalogue that I wanted to buy. It was a Ludwig 5-piece set that came with Zildjan cymbals. All for $479! Great deal, right? NOPE!!!!! Considering that we have a show in 17 days, the two- to four-week stocking period was just too long. So, I started looking at other sets. That's when Kenny comes in and tells me that we have a show on March 10th at The Beef 'N' Brew. So, now we have a show in 10 days. Lovely. So, I went ahead and ordered the Taye drum set and cymbals that the drummer recommended. Should be here 2 to 7 days.

We also had read in the newspaper that a bar was looking for bands to come play. We talk to the guy, and he has heard of our band and seems all excited to have us play. Haven't heard anything back yet, though.

Brief Update...

...because I'm really tired and need to go to bed.

1) No money today from the new client.
2) No band practice tomorrow because we do not have a drum set yet.
3) I have not been writing or drawing or doing a whole lot of anything other than work.
4) I am increasingly disliking work, mostly because no one will pay me.
5) My random play MP3 player just played two Van Morrison songs back-to-back, which is relevant to nothing.
6) I have mucho e-mails to catch up on tomorrow.
7) I am finally formulating a new song!

Another Long Weekend

I'm pretty tired and will be taking a long nap here in a few minutes, but here's a recap of my weekend: I spent Friday at my Mom and Dad's, and one of my Dad's friends came over. And then my Dad's best friend came over. I went home at about 10PM and watched a movie called Idiocracy which was pretty funny. Afterward, I checked my e-mail and had finally received the e-mail from my contact for the new project. I printed out the info so that I could do a quote for them, and then I did the quote, printed out contracts, and did some additional work for the project. I went to bed at about 6:30 Saturday morning.

I got up at 10 AM Saturday and went to the studio. Except we got stuck in the driveway and we were late. The drummer was already there when we got there, but the bassist was no where to be seen. We set up and recorded anyway, just getting the drum tracks, and "scratch" vocals and guitar. After that, me and Kenny went and got lunch and then went to this coffeehouse to meet with the investors in this new project.

So, I went to bed at about 2 AM and got up Sunday at about 11 AM. Then me and Kenny went up to the Legion in Cusick with my aunt and uncle. Me and my aunt played gin and made fun of the country music and then played pool. And now I am home, sleepy and ready to go to bed. I did write some in Devil's Handiwork. Here is some of the best stuff:

I should have known that something was up when two guys in suits came into
the Dew Drop Inn. I wasn’t certain, but I didn’t think that anyone in this area
even knew what a suit was, much less where to buy one. No, overalls and flannel
were haute couture of the Southern Oregon farmers that populated this area.

I definitely should have known that something was wrong when one of them
put a quarter in the jukebox and Mick Jagger started pouring through the
speakers. All the Good Old Boys turned to look at the newcomers, their
displeasure of Hank Williams’ usurpation as the jukebox king evident in their
frowning expressions.

Comments on this, anyone?

Nothing New To Report

I've just been working on new tattoos... I have fifteen or so that I haven't scanned in or added to my book. They're just sitting here.

I got more copies of my book today, so, if anyone wants one, put in your order now from my web site and I'll even sign it for you. One copy is already spoken for, so that leaves three. Get with it. :D

Sent a friend a birthday present and a check for his help with that computer the other day.

No new songs, and no new writing to report.

I have not heard from Civil Service. So, no new clue on what's happening with my life.

News

I just heard that I placed number one on the 911 dispatcher's job.

New can o'worms, I guess.

Aw, Hell...

Today, I had to get up early and go do another computer call-out and fix someone Internet connection. They have a new computer running Vista... and I think it sucks. Perhaps I would get used to Vista, but, right now, with what little contact I've had with it... I don't like it overmuch.

Later, we had band practice, and it went rather well. We went over several originals, including "Even If I Stagger," "Slow Burn," "Relax," and the new one, "Rumors."

Tomorrow, I am going into Spokane to meet with the recording studio guy about his web site and to book some recording time. I also need to go to Guitar Center and buy picks for Kenny, and I want to get some guitar strings for both my guitars. Thursday, I am testing for the 911 dispatcher's job. Friday's still up in the air, as is the weekend. Next Wednesday (the 21st), I am having the temporary crown put on my tooth, and having two cavities filled. That's about as much as I know for right now.

I haven't been writing, and I haven't been drawing tattoos. Mostly, I've been reading a book I got in the mail from a friend of mine.

What A Weekend

I went to King's with Kenny and Germ. We had barely walked into the place when the owner of the bar comes running up to us with a calendar in hand and asks us to play on March 16th, to which we agree. So, now we have a show! Yay!

So, then, Saturday, I get a call from the drummer's girlfriend telling us that the band that was scheduled to play at The Rio had cancelled sue to the flu, and would we play that night? And we were like, "Yeah, we'll do it."

We get to the show, get set up, and soundcheck. And... it's time to start. A few more people trickle in. We start off with "Burning For You." We have the typical first set jitters, but, by the third or fourth song, we were in the zone. The place started filling up pretty fast by now, because people had spent most of the first set calling their friends on cell phones and telling them that the other band wasn't playing. We went on first break, and then whizzed through the second set, including playing a MAJOR KICK ASS version of "Radar Love" (playing it better than we have probably EVER played it) and playing two originals that had people ON THE DANCEFLOOR!!!! We took second break, played most of the third set... we were two songs from finishing the third set when... the bar's bass amp blew a tube or something. We had to take the third break two songs early to see if there was another bass amp in the building (no) and the figure out what the hell we were going to do to finish the night. We ended up running the bass through the P.A., and all went well from there on out. We were ready to quit, and annouced that we were at the end of the night. The bar was still FULL. There had to be about 100 people there. They started begging us to play one more. My Dad came up and asked us to play "Crazy Train," so I said that we would do that. Just then, a guy comes running up, and tosses a $100 on Kenny's vocal monitor and says, "Play 'Sweet Home Alabama'." Kenny turns around to us and says, "We're playing 'Sweet Home'," and he launches into it. That was super cool. The guy's name was Chuck. I'll never forget that. And then the bar paid us $100 more than we thought we were getting. SCORE!

But the best part of the whole night was this: the bartenders told me that, the night before, when the other band was playing, there had been 14 people ALL NIGHT. That, the night before, when the other band was playing, the band had left at 11. But while we were playing, they'd had to empty the till THREE TIMES, and it was full again at the end of the night. The very best part? We played REALLY well. We kicked ass. I was so proud of us. :)

So, Grandpa's musical legacy lives on. I miss him so much. And I could never thank him for this gift he gave me.

I Should Be Sleeping...

...but I am not sleeping. Obviously. I have had some trouble sleeping lately, but that's another story.

I am working on some tattoo designs to start a tattoo parlor in Oldtown. It's going pretty well so far. I figure I'll do a few more web sites to pay for the start-up costs, and then get going. How hard could it be?

Well, I need to go to bed because I have a call out to fix a computer.

Working...

I've spent the vast majority of this week designing websites in Flash. I am not sure why the suidden interest by people for websites designed with this God-awful program, but, whatever. It pays the bills. Or, rather, it doesn't, because, in fact, both of these projects are non-paying in the traditional sense. The one, which I am pretty sure I mentioned, is doing a website for a recording studio guy who is starting a rap record label in Spokane. He's not paying me money, but he is trading me recording time in his studio. The other one, which I am positive that I didn't mention, is doing a web site for 1970s singer/bass player Suzi Quatro. I thought I was getting pretty close to being done with both sites, but then, last night, I get an e-mail from the record company saying that he hates the design. I suppose that all this means is that I will be getting more recording time.

I do (mostly) enjoy my work; I haven't enjoyed it all this week. Working with Flash SUCKS ASS.

In other news... we didn't have band practice at all this week.