what?
3 days: this is how long my weekend is, starting today. this is coming after 7 days of straight working, though. man, I am worn out. but a 3 day weekend is undoubtably noticably more relaxing/productive than the 2 day weekend we're all used to. especially since I feel we lose a day (in a good way) on sundays, when we spend the entire day in gig harbor/fox island. so I typically only have 1 day to get caught up on house/yard work and to actually relax. it's not really sufficient. at all. so today Kelley and I went shopping for some clothes for her... not really so much "relaxing" (I'm actually pretty worn out), but it was good to get out and do something and to not feel like I'm working. tomorrow we'll do some house/yard work and hopefully some writing. maybe play some soccer in between. and then sunday we'll go out and do our sunday usual. all this to say, I wish every weekend was a 3 day weekend. 2 is not enough to make it happen.
10 days: I think this is how long I have left on my facebook fast, which will have lasted approx 40 days at that point. I think I started sometime towards the end of March. the first few weeks were surprisingly easy. this week I've been wanting to actually log in and see what's going on. it's sad. but at the same time, this is how I know what's going on in the lives of my friends... namely those who I don't see much. the disappointing thing is, the reason I did this fast was to focus my life more on my family and my music. I don't think this objective has totally been met. I could say I've spent more time with my family, but I think a lot of it has just gone towards housework... which benefits my family I guess, so that's....good. and the music hasn't been nearly as productive as I had hoped. in the next 10 days, I hope to make this fast more worthwhile.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I'm putting myself on the line
tonight, during a good hang out with our friends Greg and Katie, I made a bold choice. Katie, who is off to a great start as a professional photographer, asked me to do her a favor. she is putting together this slide show for a wedding and found out that it costs quite a bit more than she anticipated to "use" a "real" song. to make a short story shorter, she asked me if I would be interested in writing a song to use in that slide show, and in turn, she would give me credit for the song (by using my name and such).
this is actually not my first time writing a song for a wedding.
when my sister got married in '03, she also asked me to play a song at their wedding. this song had no words, just a little doo-dad I make up that was a 3-4 minutes long. I have no recollection of the song, other than the fact that I used the same tuning used in "narcolepsy" by third eye blind. so it had a somewhat similar feel.
while I have no aspiration to be a wedding singer, I did see a few bene's (benefits) other than helping out a good friend. 1) I haven't really worked at songwriting since Noah was born and 2) this is a good opportunity to force a completed song out of myself.
I have 3 weeks to finish this, so already feeling the pressure, I started tonight. even though I don't know this couple I'm writing the song for, (and probably never will) I am still surprisingly anal about putting out a quality product - plus I don't want to make Katie look bad. so tonight I fiddled around with the acoustic. not happy with what came of it, I switched over to the les paul and came up with a riff I liked. I ended up laying a few tracks down. I think I'm off to a good start. I also finally broke down and learned how to actually use some cool effects with the software I have.
wish me luck - t minus 20 days.
this is actually not my first time writing a song for a wedding.
when my sister got married in '03, she also asked me to play a song at their wedding. this song had no words, just a little doo-dad I make up that was a 3-4 minutes long. I have no recollection of the song, other than the fact that I used the same tuning used in "narcolepsy" by third eye blind. so it had a somewhat similar feel.
while I have no aspiration to be a wedding singer, I did see a few bene's (benefits) other than helping out a good friend. 1) I haven't really worked at songwriting since Noah was born and 2) this is a good opportunity to force a completed song out of myself.
I have 3 weeks to finish this, so already feeling the pressure, I started tonight. even though I don't know this couple I'm writing the song for, (and probably never will) I am still surprisingly anal about putting out a quality product - plus I don't want to make Katie look bad. so tonight I fiddled around with the acoustic. not happy with what came of it, I switched over to the les paul and came up with a riff I liked. I ended up laying a few tracks down. I think I'm off to a good start. I also finally broke down and learned how to actually use some cool effects with the software I have.
wish me luck - t minus 20 days.
Monday, April 13, 2009
like it or not, time to try something new
I am in a somewhat-constant effort to keep life fresh. whereas some people do pretty much anything to prevent change in their lives, I kind of welcome it like the proverbial breath of fresh air. it does a couple things for me - 1) keeps me from getting bored, 2) challenges me to learn and grow and 3) keeps me from getting more comfortable than I should be. I would say #1 is definitely the main drive behind it, though.
Even still, I have sporadic desires to re-live the past - and actually repeat things I've done before and feelings that I've felt before. there are certain good things I've experienced in my life that I find myself holding onto with a firm grip. these experiences that I attempt to re-create have dug themselves into a semi-permanent place in my heart; I can't really find an alternate method of coping than trying to manipulate the variables in my life to what once was. of course, as one might predict, it is never quite the same.
there are a few things I'm referring to: certain friendships, high school life, college life, experiences being outdoors in washington, experiences in california, experiences on vacations I've taken, and experiences playing music, to be vague and brief. I know that everyone has these memories they cling to and cherish. they might even be as old as childhood. but the truth is, as I catch myself reminiscing, I have to remember that new great memories are being created in the present. and if I spend too much time thinking about the past, I'll miss out on everything great happening in front of my face.
I've come to recognize that when I feel that my life is becoming stale, it's because I'm living in the past. in fact, I realized that just now as I was writing that last sentence [I am humbled by how dense I am sometimes]. but, when I attempt to re-create the past, I am not making the most of what I have now - which is tragic.
up on the horizon, there are a few variables that may need to change. among those that seem the most pressing and impactful are looking for a different church - one with more people in a similar demographic, similar dreams/goals/passions/priorities/etc. I'm not quite sure that kind of place exists locally - we'll see. of course, those aren't the only factors we're considering, just an example. what we'd be leaving behind is 9-10 years of a church where we've been loved, mentored, and challenged by older generations - where we experienced major spiritual growth during our formative years - where we've served in music and youth ministries for 7 years - where we've made some great friends - where we've had the opportunity to mentor and love students and watch them grow up - where we've made great memories. it's not an easy thing to even think about.
from Ecclesiastes 3:
there is a "season for every activity under heaven..."
"a time to plant and a time to uproot"
"a time to keep and a time to throw away"
I don't know what lies ahead for my family, but I do recognize that we need to live life in the present. that we need to always be fresh. that we need to grow to thrive. that we need change in our lives like a splash of cold water in the face every now and again.
we will keep moving forward.
Even still, I have sporadic desires to re-live the past - and actually repeat things I've done before and feelings that I've felt before. there are certain good things I've experienced in my life that I find myself holding onto with a firm grip. these experiences that I attempt to re-create have dug themselves into a semi-permanent place in my heart; I can't really find an alternate method of coping than trying to manipulate the variables in my life to what once was. of course, as one might predict, it is never quite the same.
there are a few things I'm referring to: certain friendships, high school life, college life, experiences being outdoors in washington, experiences in california, experiences on vacations I've taken, and experiences playing music, to be vague and brief. I know that everyone has these memories they cling to and cherish. they might even be as old as childhood. but the truth is, as I catch myself reminiscing, I have to remember that new great memories are being created in the present. and if I spend too much time thinking about the past, I'll miss out on everything great happening in front of my face.
I've come to recognize that when I feel that my life is becoming stale, it's because I'm living in the past. in fact, I realized that just now as I was writing that last sentence [I am humbled by how dense I am sometimes]. but, when I attempt to re-create the past, I am not making the most of what I have now - which is tragic.
up on the horizon, there are a few variables that may need to change. among those that seem the most pressing and impactful are looking for a different church - one with more people in a similar demographic, similar dreams/goals/passions/priorities/etc. I'm not quite sure that kind of place exists locally - we'll see. of course, those aren't the only factors we're considering, just an example. what we'd be leaving behind is 9-10 years of a church where we've been loved, mentored, and challenged by older generations - where we experienced major spiritual growth during our formative years - where we've served in music and youth ministries for 7 years - where we've made some great friends - where we've had the opportunity to mentor and love students and watch them grow up - where we've made great memories. it's not an easy thing to even think about.
from Ecclesiastes 3:
there is a "season for every activity under heaven..."
"a time to plant and a time to uproot"
"a time to keep and a time to throw away"
I don't know what lies ahead for my family, but I do recognize that we need to live life in the present. that we need to always be fresh. that we need to grow to thrive. that we need change in our lives like a splash of cold water in the face every now and again.
we will keep moving forward.
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