Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Nice way to start the day.
I'm in the shower this morning shampooing my hair... got the radio going and stuff as usual when all the sudden, the music cuts off and the lights go out. There are no windows in my bathroom and the door is closed so now it's pitch black. Nice. I had just gotten into the shower so I still had the majority of my showering to do. I was able to finish anyway since I knew where everything was without looking. Yeah, I've got skillz.
After I got out, I checked my breaker box to make sure something didn't inadvertantly trip. It was fine. I looked outside and none of my neighbors seemed to have power either so it wasn't just me. Next challence was how to dry my hair. I can't just let my hair air-dry. If I do, I'll end up looking like one of those kids in a hunger-relief campaign poster. All I'd need to do is get an empty bowl with some bits of oatmeal in it and sqat down next to a dried up creek.
But I digress.
Being the technofile I am, I realized that hey - I've got a serious backup power system for my main computer at home. SCHWING! I plugged my hair dryer in and... was kind of disappointed. I had power, but not enough power to run the dryer like it normally runs. So after all that, I had what I called "Pilgrim Hair" - dried it the way the Pilgrims did... without electricity. In the end, I got my wig looking passable but had to use more hair products to accomplish what normally doesn't take much.
How's THAT for a start to my day! This will impress you - even with all that, I was only about 10 minutes late for work. The power did come on just as I was about to leave. I still don't know what caused all this but I suspect a nearby susbstation went BOOM.
The weather was awesome today. So awesome that me and some co-workers ate lunch outside by the river at Jemisons. I quickly finished my lunch and took off with my camera to get some shots of plants and people in the park. I got a few that I'll post later.
It was laundry night tonight. Jeans and towels.
After I got out, I checked my breaker box to make sure something didn't inadvertantly trip. It was fine. I looked outside and none of my neighbors seemed to have power either so it wasn't just me. Next challence was how to dry my hair. I can't just let my hair air-dry. If I do, I'll end up looking like one of those kids in a hunger-relief campaign poster. All I'd need to do is get an empty bowl with some bits of oatmeal in it and sqat down next to a dried up creek.
But I digress.
Being the technofile I am, I realized that hey - I've got a serious backup power system for my main computer at home. SCHWING! I plugged my hair dryer in and... was kind of disappointed. I had power, but not enough power to run the dryer like it normally runs. So after all that, I had what I called "Pilgrim Hair" - dried it the way the Pilgrims did... without electricity. In the end, I got my wig looking passable but had to use more hair products to accomplish what normally doesn't take much.
How's THAT for a start to my day! This will impress you - even with all that, I was only about 10 minutes late for work. The power did come on just as I was about to leave. I still don't know what caused all this but I suspect a nearby susbstation went BOOM.
The weather was awesome today. So awesome that me and some co-workers ate lunch outside by the river at Jemisons. I quickly finished my lunch and took off with my camera to get some shots of plants and people in the park. I got a few that I'll post later.
It was laundry night tonight. Jeans and towels.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Buzzzzz....
After all the bee excitement this morning, the rest of the day seemed fairly dull. The story on the bees was that somehow they got into an old chimney in my office building. This chimney no longer opens into a fireplace anywhere so there wasn't a problem inside. The plan was to get the queen out and move the swarm into a bee house/hive/whatever and get them relocated. Unfortunately, the queen was down too deep to get to so as a result, had to get rid of them before they caused more problems. There were some painters across the street re-doing the outside of a home (our office is in a historic district) and the army bees were flying over there trying to sting them a few days ago. That's what got all the attention.
Tonight I worked on photography stuff for a good bit then took a break and played my drums. That was relaxing believe it or not. I also took a stab at cleaning my office more, mainly getting rid of old books in my bookcase. Eric stopped in to get a copy of the music Kyle and I recorded over the weekend so he could work up a bass part for it. We're making pretty good progress. Hopefully we'll be ready to get Charity recording again soon. There are some things that have to be done though before it's ready for public consumption. Copyright stuff. As soon as I can post a clip, I'll get one up here.
Tonight I worked on photography stuff for a good bit then took a break and played my drums. That was relaxing believe it or not. I also took a stab at cleaning my office more, mainly getting rid of old books in my bookcase. Eric stopped in to get a copy of the music Kyle and I recorded over the weekend so he could work up a bass part for it. We're making pretty good progress. Hopefully we'll be ready to get Charity recording again soon. There are some things that have to be done though before it's ready for public consumption. Copyright stuff. As soon as I can post a clip, I'll get one up here.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Napoleon Dynamite
That was one weird movie. It had funny parts but overall it was just... well, weird. I actually did find myself being entertained at times but at the end, you're left feeling like you're not sure if you enjoyed it or not.
Anyway.
Things at the office were suprisingly mundane for a Monday. This is not a bad thing. Kevin informed me that the last few days of Lobsterfest (at Red Lobster) are about to be over and that we need to get in one good dinner there - so at 6:00, me and Burns met up there and stuffed our faces. It was scrumptious. When the grazing was over, I hauled Kev over to Kyle's to track a keyboard part for the song we've been working on. After Kyle wired everything up using all kinds of adapters and converters, Kev was able to record without incident. Also, I had to sing again. I didn't mind at this point. We'll soon get Charity back in there to re-record her vocal track once we're done.
Wrapped up the evening watching the aforementioned movie back at Kevin's. That was about it.
Anyway.
Things at the office were suprisingly mundane for a Monday. This is not a bad thing. Kevin informed me that the last few days of Lobsterfest (at Red Lobster) are about to be over and that we need to get in one good dinner there - so at 6:00, me and Burns met up there and stuffed our faces. It was scrumptious. When the grazing was over, I hauled Kev over to Kyle's to track a keyboard part for the song we've been working on. After Kyle wired everything up using all kinds of adapters and converters, Kev was able to record without incident. Also, I had to sing again. I didn't mind at this point. We'll soon get Charity back in there to re-record her vocal track once we're done.
Wrapped up the evening watching the aforementioned movie back at Kevin's. That was about it.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Rainy days and Sundays...
First, Happy Easter to everyone!
Today started off with my usual Sunday morning routine except that for some unknown reason, I was up at 4:30. I've found that if I just lay there, I don't get back to sleep any quicker. On the other hand, if I get up and just go do something, I'll soon be sleepy again and can just conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I did make one interesting discovery though, my morning newspaper was already sitting in my driveway at that hour.
Fast forward a few hours and I'm behind my drums at church going through the set list for the morning. Like we always do, warm up was a bit bumpy but when we played "for real", it all went off without a hitch. I really enjoyed it. Dave used some cool multi-media clips leading up to the message which meshed nicely with all that was going on. Good stuff.
Afterwards, I had supper with Dave and his family. They've pretty much adopted me for family-type events like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas since the majority of my family is overseas. It was a peaceful afternoon. Ate too much so naturally, a nap was in order.
Headed over to Kevin & Stacey's for pizza. Kyle was already there chasing the cats around. Kev and I got a few quick games of Ridge Racer under our belts before the food arrived. Ate and watched Extreme Home Makeover. I LOVE that show. It's so great to see how family's lives get changed and to see the tears of joy in their eyes. I know that's kind of sappy sounding but there's something moving about seeing other people so happy.
Wrapped up the evening bringing a CD to Charity to listen to of the results of yesterday's recording session. She was thrilled with it! Again, another person happy.
That's what it's all about.
Today started off with my usual Sunday morning routine except that for some unknown reason, I was up at 4:30. I've found that if I just lay there, I don't get back to sleep any quicker. On the other hand, if I get up and just go do something, I'll soon be sleepy again and can just conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I did make one interesting discovery though, my morning newspaper was already sitting in my driveway at that hour.
Fast forward a few hours and I'm behind my drums at church going through the set list for the morning. Like we always do, warm up was a bit bumpy but when we played "for real", it all went off without a hitch. I really enjoyed it. Dave used some cool multi-media clips leading up to the message which meshed nicely with all that was going on. Good stuff.
Afterwards, I had supper with Dave and his family. They've pretty much adopted me for family-type events like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas since the majority of my family is overseas. It was a peaceful afternoon. Ate too much so naturally, a nap was in order.
Headed over to Kevin & Stacey's for pizza. Kyle was already there chasing the cats around. Kev and I got a few quick games of Ridge Racer under our belts before the food arrived. Ate and watched Extreme Home Makeover. I LOVE that show. It's so great to see how family's lives get changed and to see the tears of joy in their eyes. I know that's kind of sappy sounding but there's something moving about seeing other people so happy.
Wrapped up the evening bringing a CD to Charity to listen to of the results of yesterday's recording session. She was thrilled with it! Again, another person happy.
That's what it's all about.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
A little tracky-tracky.
Got aquainted using Kyle's old-school DrumKat. (There should be a picture of it in the vicinty of this post) For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a flat unit, with several pads on it that are used to trigger sounds on a drum brain - in this case an Alesis DM4. It's easier to record with at this stage because I don't have to deal with my full drum kit and assorted mics/cables/electronics. It takes a little getting used to especially the hi-hat pedal. It's either on or off, no in-between. It works for our purposes though.
Funny conversation of the night as Kyle was getting ready to do the guitar part:
Kyle: "Dude, I'm gonna need you to... uh... sing."
Me: "What?!? There's a reason I'm a drummer."
Suprisingly, I was able to make all the correct sounds. From a distance, it's possible it would sound like singing. Anyway, I think I ended up singing the song at least half a dozen times. At one point, Charity called (the songwriter). I let her hear what we had done up to that point and she was SO excited! Almost to the point of crying. Very touching. Made all the time spent on this project this afternoon worth it.
I think I'll just do some reading to wind down for the night.
Funny conversation of the night as Kyle was getting ready to do the guitar part:
Kyle: "Dude, I'm gonna need you to... uh... sing."
Me: "What?!? There's a reason I'm a drummer."
Suprisingly, I was able to make all the correct sounds. From a distance, it's possible it would sound like singing. Anyway, I think I ended up singing the song at least half a dozen times. At one point, Charity called (the songwriter). I let her hear what we had done up to that point and she was SO excited! Almost to the point of crying. Very touching. Made all the time spent on this project this afternoon worth it.
I think I'll just do some reading to wind down for the night.
