Stalling

This will be brief. I did it. I worked on music! It may not sound that impressive, but for me it is. I've been so busy/lazy and writing for me had kinda fallen off. I really miss it and I'm glad it's back in my life. The next post will be an official music post, I promise. For now, keep an eye out here.

Movie: Wanted

Selling Out or Buying In

As I've stated in an earlier post, within the last couple of months I started a new job. It pays well, it's not very hard, I have good benefits and I even like the people I work with. This is the first job I've had where I'm not treated like a complete child. It's a big company and along with that comes a lot of structure and formalized procedures. And even those things I like. My last job was the exact opposite. It was a small shop and things were made up on the fly. It was nice while it lasted but I was ready for something more solid. I tried for six months to get a new job, and of all the ones I applied for this was the one I wanted most and the only one that got back to me. Everything seems perfect. Still, something doesn't feel right.

One thing keeps coming back to me: the feeling that I've given up. Ever since I was in high school I've been playing music. It started out as my brother and I just horsing around on guitar and drums, but eventually we had a band and were playing local shows on a regular basis. Although that band didn't work out, another band I was in went a little further. We recorded a couple E.P.'s and sold over 4000 copies of them on our own. It felt like we were moving in the right direction but as we got older we started seriously lacking in the funds department. Eventually our guitar player pulled the plug and told us he'd be quitting to join the CHP.

It was a serious blow to the band and while we tried to keep it going for a time, we too eventually moved on. I still play music a little bit and would someday like to get back into the studio. I've even come to the conclusion that I'm happy playing music in any form. I don't need to be famous or live the rockstar life to be happy. I really don't. I like my life right now and I actually have exciting things going on for me at the moment. HOWEVER, I still wonder what could have been if we didn't give up. Is it even fair to call it "giving up"? Did we reach the peak or could it have gotten even better? I guess I'll never really know.

All I can know is what I want to do. I want the best of both worlds. I want to write and perform music but I also want to have a family and a regular life. And maybe now is the best time for that. Everyone knows that the state of the music industry is changing. It's a rare thing for people to become stars and even rarer for them to maintain that stardom. And I don't even want that. All I want is to make music. Weather or not that is my job I can't control right now, but that shouldn't stop me from being creative! I'll keep it going, however indie it has to get. Maybe the next time you hear from me I'll have new music to prove it.

Movie: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

New Plan

Blog= Once a week, Twitter= Daily. I also want to start working on music more often. Maybe everyday also. So now I just have to pick a day of the week to start blogging on...

Movie : The Holiday

Coming Soon

Somehow this old looking camera has me obsessed. From everything I've read it's the perfect medium between thousand dollar dSLR's and tiny point and shoot's. I've played with it a couple times and I want it now. I'm in the process of selling my old camera and as soon as I get that together I should be able to have it. Then I can really start taking advantage of that Flickr Pro account.

Movie: Goodfellas

Mo' money, Less Problems as Long as I Use Smart Money Management Techniques

Today I accepted an offer for a new job. I've been trying to get it for a while now and things finally worked out today. I no longer have a high school kid's job! Just wanted to fill peeps in real quick. Be back soon. Maybe.

Movie: Drugstore Cowboy

So what's happeing here again?

I was gonna write something here about politics again but I just can't bring myself to. Instead, I want to talk to myself. I've talked about this before. I'm pretty sure nobody reads this. Its okay. I'm just a regular person, not a celebrity. So why am I writing this? I never tell people about it and I probably won't. Is this just an online diary? Am I thinking one day maybe someone will come across this and give it a read? Do I really want random strangers reading my thoughts? I really don't know. I do enjoy writing and I guess this is just the way kids do it these days.

By the way, I am writing this while watching the second presidential debate. Some ridiculous stuff going on. I just wish I could have seen Ron Paul answering these questions. That guy knows how to get people going.

Anyway, I think I've come to this realization before (maybe even here on this blog) but I guess I'm just gonna keep this going as an online diary. I do want to, however, get better at it in terms of frequency. *ahem* I am getting busy with school but hopefully I'll be able to keep this up. Only time will tell...

Movie: Dances with Wolves

p.s. - Speaking of movies, did i mention I have a 42" TV and PS3? I love my life :)

Politicians are such politicians

So I just finished watching a portion of the RNC and I gotta say that politics just bug me. Everything is so fake. I've watched portions of both the DNC and the RNC and its funny to me that people will get up and cheer and for their favorite new candidate when just a few months ago they probably had never really heard about them. Just a few weeks ago these candidates were talking crap about each other and now they come together and pat each other on the back and tell you to vote for them. Its just weird to me. It seems so corny. Oh well. Just had to get it off my chest.

Movie: Cars

A Three-Day Weekend is a Good Weekend

It's the beginning of a three day weekend and anything is possible. Kinda. I just love the weekend okay? So I'm getting really excited about my future in Fire Prevention. I met with a retired Fire Capt. and he went over the pros and cons of the job and what I need to do to get things going. It seems like the pros out way the cons if you ask me but then again I've only been looking into this for a few weeks so... Anyway, I've started a couple classes and I'm hoping things work out cause minimum wage isn't cuttin' it anymore. On a netflix note, Netflix is sucking right now. A couple weeks ago they had the big meltdown but now I've sent in two movies and still haven't gotten any back yet. I'm pissed. But only mildly.

Movie: The Darjeerling Limited

School is cool

So I've got a few minutes here at work in between things to do so I thought I'd post a post. The only real big thing going on these days is that I... reapplied back at college. Crazy, I know but I had to do something. Making no money with the band and minimum wage at work had turned me into the dreaded "Loser Boyfriend." Signed up for a couple Fire Tech class. Hopefully gonna get some good stuff out of it. We'll see.

Movie: The Majestic

Oops

So one night Christina and I decided to trim my hair. We forgot to put the gaurd on the clippers and this is what happened. I look like I joined a metal band.

Movie: Hustle and Flow

Let's try again

So I guess I kinda forgot about this place and after spending 20 or so minutes trying to remember my password I finally got back on blogspot.  I guess this will just be my official homepage from now on.  I'm not sure how often I will get things up here but I like being mysterious.

Movie: Grizzly Man

Hello

Anybody there?

No news is bad news when blogging

It's the weekend kinda. I have to work tomorrow so it's not the same but it's cool. Not a whole lot going on right now except for one horrible tragedy. My Netflix account got messed a little. I sent a couple DVD's back and Netflix never got them. So I've been stuck on only one DVD at a time for the week and it happened to be American Psycho (which sucked a little). I'm really distracted right now because I'm watching Diggnation. I like. Okay it's over, I'm back. I think I'm gonna start using this blog to do updates of my band. Maybe one day if this band gets going this will be a place where someone could come and be kept up do date on what's going on from my point of view. Cool. Right now we (the band) are done recording but are waiting for the music to be mastered. Very close to being done. While waiting we've been taking care of the other stuff that goes along with a CD other than music. We just picked out all the final artwork for the CD. It looks very nice and we're all real happy with the finished product. Our friend JR did it all. Visual mastery is a good way to describe his ability and it's pretty obvious when you check out more of his stuff. That's all for now but don't worry I shall return.
P.S. - I "southparked" myself up above.

Movie: Saw 2

4 8 15 16 23 42

It's been three months and I've been pretty bad about this whole blogging thing. I know I have an excuse just give me a second... I've been so bus-- No, no that's not it. Ummm... Oh yeah! I'm lazy! That's right. I almost forgot. Aside from that things have been going pretty good in my little old life. My band, Hydabrink is doing good. We are done recording our new ep Eyes Shut and I think it turned out great. We should have it for sale sometime next month. Then we want to start hitting the road and getting our name out. Maybe sometime after Christmas.

My job is going pretty good too. I actually just got back from vacation in Hawaii. I did a lot of snorkeling. It was a lot of fun. Just don't ever use spray on sun screen. I put up a bunch of vacation pictures on my Flickr page if you want to go check those out. Now that I'm back at work though I realize how much I really want to be a professional musician and not whatever it is I am now. I just don't think I'm cut out for regular work. I probably sound like an idiot but that's okay.

My personal life is basically the same as it's been for a while now. No girlfriend, which is fine. It's not that I'm not interested but I'm not desperate yet either. Probably a safe/healthy place to be in. Same roommates, but that may be changing soon. One might move into a house across town with a friend and the other two are having a baby. But that's kinda how it goes around here. I get new roommates about every 3-6 months. Next month I'll have been living here for 2 years. It's crazy. I still like it a lot though. Moving sucks anyway. Not the part about having to live in a new place because I think that part is cool. It's the whole packing and unpacking that I hate and I've only done it once that I can actually remember.

Ever since I watched the first season of Lost on DVD I've been hooked. At the time I was watching it, the second season was already about half way through on TV. Well the season two DVD finally came out and I borrowed it and watched it in one night so I could be caught up for the 3rd season. It feels good to be caught up on a good show. I'm always a year behind on The Sopranos.

Well I guess that about does it for me. 3 months of my life. 4 paragraphs. That's not sad at all.

Movie: Cinderella Man

Road Rage: Part 2

To continue my story that I began last time, he rolls up in his big rig. As I see him drive up I begin to realize that this is no ordinary alchoholi- I mean truck driver. I chuckled to myself as I opened the door to my car and got out imagining the humor that would inevitably ensue. He jumped out of his truck and walked through an open part of the gate into the storage center. We approach each other without hesitation and I catch a glimpse of that scociopath that lives deep inside some people. He was sweating, though not profusely as he balled up his fists. And it began. I asked "What are you doing?" like an embaressed parent watching their child through a tantrum.

"I'm gonna pound yer face in!" he dralled.
"Are you?"
"Yeah, I gotta teach you a lesson!"

I'm not trying to be funny. That's really what he said. A trucker wanted to teach me a life lesson. Hmmm.
"I think I'll pass on the life lessons from a trucker today but thanks anyway."
"You're a fuckin' smartass!"
"Thank you. I agree."

At this point a couple of things start to happen. Firstly, I had some trouble keeping a straight face. I guess you had to be there. Secondly, Alastair had come out of the office and was putting together what was happening.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked
"I'm about to beat the shit out of this kid!"
"Huh!? How old are you?"
"That doesn't matter. All that matters is... He's--"
That's when I jumped back in, "Are you on the clock right now? I should call your boss."
"I am the boss! It's my company!"
"And you still have to drive your own trucks?! How sad."
This is when his profuse sweating started.

The banter went on for a few more minutes until I had to actually pull out my phone and threaten that I would really call the cops. Eventually he waddled back to his car swearing that he would one day see me again and that day would be the day gets his revenge. I haven't seen him since. Lucky for me I'm sure.

Movie: Dumb and Dumberer

Road Rage: Part 1

So I've been posting as much as I can recently even though I haven't had a lot to talk about. Today, however I do have a story. I've been saving it for when I have some time to spend on it. It's that good. A couple weeks ago I was helping my friend Alastair move some of his storage from one place to another during our lunch break. We loaded up our cars with stuff from the first place and were on our way to the second storage center. On the way there I was stopped at a stop light behind a few other cars. To my right was a gas station. A lady was trying to pull out and turn right. As the light turned green I waited a moment for her to jump in front of me. Apparently this was taking way to many seconds for the trucker directly behind me in his unhitched big-rig. He laid on his big trucker horn. This was his first mistake. It was not a polite horn honk. It was way to long for that. He was pissed and was gonna let me know. OK. That's his right. Then it was my turn to exploit my rights. I decided to screw with him. He obviously had a short fuse, so I had a good chance of getting a good reaction out of him. I hit the gas, then quickly hit the brakes. I repeated this maybe 2 or 3 times before he got the message and merged his truck left to get around me. In my head it was over and I had won. But little did I know how sad this poor trucker's life really was.

He pulled up next to me and glared his evil glare, trying to get my drift. I looked over at him and flashed him a smile. Not what he was expecting. He flipped me off and sped up. In his old trucker mind he probably figured it was over and he won. Not the case. This time I pulled up to him and smiled some more but this time I pushed it even further... I waved. He couldn't believe it. To a dumb trucker the only response to getting flipped off should be more flipping off. It's not their fault. They have under developed brains. That's been proven so don't bother veifying it. Anyway, about this time I had to make a turn toward the storage center while the trucker kept going. As we parted he kept glaring and flipping off while I kept smiling and waving. You know very cordially. As I pulled into the storage place I wondered if Alastair had noticed what was going on a few car lengthes behind him between me and Trucker (his name from now on). A parked in a spot right in front of the office while Alastair talked to the attendent. I sat their thinking of how funny it all was. I chuckeled to myself as I imagined Trucker crying his way down the road. It made it all worth while. That's when Trucker entered the insane realm (more insane than the average trucker of course). He pulled into the storage place to complete his road rage.

It only gets better. Part 2 next time.

Movie: Ravenous

Drum Off

Next they arm wrestled.

These pictures a are from a while back but it was a fun night. We seriously stayed up until like 3am. Sammy is probably the best drummer in the valley. He has years of experience and tons of knowledge all about drumming. Check out his band Ikarus on MySpace. Good stuff. As we all went started going home Sammy realized that the drum set he had left in his car had been stolen. He was bummed out but he vowed to find the crooks. A couple days later he got a call from the local Guitar Center. They told him that a couple of punk kids had come into the store trying to sell a drum set that looked a lot like his. These idiots had no idea they stole the most famous drum set in town. They were caught, arrested, butt rapped. That is a happy ending.

Drums are so easy.

Movie: Being John Malkovich

Memorial Day Eve

So I had to work today, Memorial Day, and because of this I decided to celebrate Memorial Day yesterday. Wasn't any big deal. Just hung out at my parents house and had pizza. However I did get some good pictures of the kids and stuff.This is Betty and her mom, my sister, Jenny

I was going to go over to my friend Luke's house for a Bar-B-Que but I ended up flaking. It just got to late and by the time I would've left I wouldn't have gotten home until really late. Besides, he lives so far away that I am running out of money because of gas prices.This is Eli and his hat

Overall I had a pretty good time. I actually stayed fairly late over at my mom's house anyways but you know. There's kind of a lot going on in my life right now but I just don't have the desire to type it all out for some reason. Maybe later.This is my mom, Peter and a bench

Movie: The Island of Dr. Moreau

I did stuff today

Today was the first Saturday in long time that I didn't sleep in until like noon. My friend Luke spent the night last night so before his wife came to pick him up we were up talking and stuff so it was kinda nice. After that I lazed around for a while until I got a voice iChat invite from Ferocious (across the hallway).

He tells me that we are gonna do lunch at Costco. It sounds kinda weird but no where else do you get to buy fresh baked pizza in bulk. I hung out there for a while with Ferocious and Alastair where we got to talking about going to see X-Men 3. Although I had already "seen" it I really was dozing off and on through the whole thing so I figured I'd go see it again and see what I missed. This time I stayed awake a little bit better but sleeping in movies is just kinda what I do unless it's REALLY good or something.

After the movie we went back to Ryan's house and Computer Clubbed it up. Hence the sweet picture up top. One thing a few and my friend's have been getting into is making up songs on Garage Band. We are in the middle of a competition to see who can come up with the best songs. I'll try and find some way I can put them up for people (by people I mean me) to check out. They are pretty sweet.

Last thing I want to mention before I go to sleep is a cool website I've been checking out a lot. It's called What Would Tyler Durden Do. It's a good way to stay up to date on the latest celebrity news without feeling like a loser... I think that might be an oxymoron. I don't know.

Movie: The Woodsman

The Boys

Last night my friend, Luke came ino town and we hung out for a while. It was good catching up with him and hearing about all he's been up too. He got married last October and things seem like they are going really great for him. It's interesting to think that up until a few months ago I was getting married too. My brother also stopped by and we all hung out for some time. It was nice to see him when he wasn't shitfaced. I love him but he's always drunk.

Like two nights ago fro example, we go to see the midnight showing of X-Men 3 (which was pretty good) and he and his friends show up drunk. They passed out 30 minutes into the movie and didn't wake up until the credits were rolling. And my brother is the kind of drunk that starts talking nonsense. He tells me how much he loves and misses me and that we should get drunk together so that we can really get to know each other. I just hope that kind of logic sounds as dumb to him in the morning as it does to me when he's saying it. At least he keeps his clothes on more often than he used to. That used to be his thing; get drunk, get naked. Weird. But you gotta love it.


Movie: Cop Land