After an evening searching for information about solar power, i accidentaly found myself reading about The Rolling Stones and U2's tax shelters. Since i was contemplaing the tax benifits i would be receiving myself, it seemed relevant.
The process of buying a home is frustrating to say the least. when you're 18 years old, and that dude offers you a t-shirt that'll put off laundry for at least a week, you don't think about the road you're heading down, how difficult it'll be to make monthly payments and how hard it'll be to get a home loan with jacked credit. You just think, 'sweet, free shirt'. then, 4 weeks later (after you've ruined/lost/cleaned with the shirt) the shiny new card comes in the mail. You're broke, know you'll make that much money in the summer to pay it off and max that bad boy out on mcdonalds, music and other non-equity generating endavors. (if this didn't happen to you, retense for 'I' and use your imagination). Thank god i didn't have to put all of college on credit.
I keep forgetting to take my blood pressure medication. that's right, i'm 25 years old and on BP meds. i'm sure quitting smoking, adopting a diet that dosen't make 'Super Size Me' look healthy and occasionly engaging in some kind of aerobic work out might help, but my doctor says it's genetic and i just need the meds. hmmm.... i hate to second guess professionals....
I watched Borat the other night, it's painfull to watch but great commentary on the american people. While Kazakhstan may find his characterizations offensive, he may be right about Uzbeks.
The Blogger interface is way more enjoyable than i had thought it would be. coming back to a pure blog from a 'social networking' (read: self promoting) site is nice. I'm also relatively sure no one will accidentally find this one. friggn' insomnia is getting to be a bit much this week, i'm sure my doctor will hook me up with some sweet lunestra. sleep driving, here i come!

Searching for the sound

I read Phil Lesh's book a few months ago, it's pretty sweet. probably not a good choice for someone who thinks about running back out on the road some days, but good reading all the same. I've been playing a lot lately (see a few posts back) but i'm starting to kinda find my favorite place to be on stage these days. i feel like i kinda have to be picky, my time is limited and my chances fewer and fewer, so when a group of musicians lets me hang out as long and loud as i want to, it's quite fabulous.

work always seems so easy... during a break from it. when we get back to work, it's always pretty obvious who has and hasn't practiced over the last week... and sometimes it lets you know who cares and who doesn't as well. as we get ready for the run up to contest (1 month from today) it takes a lot of will power for me to do what must be done. as a kid in the chair, i hated, hated, hated stopping. man, all i wanted to do was play, i practiced, knew my part, showed up on time and was ready to go. so when we had to stop and start to make needed repairs and corrections, it was traumatic for me. it got better during college when a mean old man forced me to learn how to practice correctly and not just run through stuff (practicing mistakes isn't really practicing...).


i think i might actually have insomnia. it's getting worse.

moving pictures with sound

So here's a little video from christmas time, the boys were back in town and kind enough to let me play a few tunes. it's a bit rough to watch me dance, i know, but it's worth checking out. if you like bad dancing, that is.

Spring Broken

Spring Break hasn't really been much of one. I took Tuesday off... completely. i didn't even go in to the building.... we spent days and days ensuring that we had all of the right music for district solo and ensemble on Saturday. i seriously spend more time on the phone as a band director then i did at the worst job i ever had. all of my private lessons cancelled this week so funding for my spring break assault on the white river was on a kinda shoestring budget. and it was really, really cold. anyway, i get asked about what i'm up to frequently and i provide the stock answer, "same ol' same ol'" or some other mindless rot. here's what i've been doing:

Winter Guard
i teach winter guard as well as band (although i bring in other staff to the point that i'm mostly a DJ/Secretary/Enabler) and we're nearing the end of the competitive season. we have two more performances and six more rehearsals. not that anyone's counting. the girls are getting used to me (thats a mixed bag kinda thing) and they are spinning well.

Concert Band
the other focus this time of year is concert band. we have state large ensemble coming up in about a month and we are preparing our contest selections. while not always the most exciting part of musical development, we are at the crucial stage of cleaning where we work on small portions of music for long periods of time. if nothing else, we are learning about patience. fun! i've also been updating the band website. this extensive web portal has been mostly neglected for the last 3 or 4 years so it's taking quite some time. the jazz and winter guard sections are most up to date, hopefully the rest will follow soon. we're working on the marching show for next year, more on that later.

Wedding Planning
the real love of my life (aside from the beautiful women i'm marrying) is table cloth. i mean, finding just the right shade of cloth for tables, napkins, drink stations and buffets is what gets me out of bed in the morning. usually at a dead run... anyway, this fantastic event in the middle of june is coming together...if we could just decide on an officiant...

Playing
i'm still in springfield a few times a month to play music. very, very nice people that have managed to book real gigs allow me to blunder on stage and stumble around inside their arrangements. in the last month i've played with Jah Roots, Jalopy, Fairweather Foe, Eddie Gumucio, The Moonshakers, The Eckles brothers, The guys at Ernie Biggs and probably a few more that i'm forgetting. Great folks that leave the mic on for ya, please support them if you have time. i'm to lazy to link all of those people, i assure you they have myspace.

whatever you may have heard, from me or someone who looks like me, i am going to stay for at least one more year. i think i owe it to myself to see this thing out a bit further (and for christs sake, it can't get any harder).