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A Busy Mid Day and an Untied Shoe Lace

2012-02-04T04:19:31Z

My Mid day was busy.

I sang the national anthem at a pre-Super Bowl party. [The key to singing the national anthem is to start low.]
Then I drove home to eat the lunch I packed last night, but forgot to take to work. [Pork roast and roasted cabbage with bacon]
Then I bought a ticket to see Eddie Vedder in April. [$90 for one ticket - sheesh. I remember when tickets cost a quarter of that. Uphill, both ways.]
Then I stopped at a coffee shop on the way back to work, giving in to a craving for a mocha latte. [NOT on my diet]
Then I took some ibuprofen for the headache that was getting worse by the minute. [A couple hours later, I felt on top of the world. I don't know if I was back to healthy good, or just high on caffeine, sugar and OTC painkillers.]

In the evening, I tried Duck Duck Go search engine. I like it so far. One baby step toward reducing my Google consumption.

Something I Saw At Work

This table's shoe lace was untied.

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Hiking at Mary Moore Searight Park

2012-01-23T02:17:48Z

My spontaneous, planned-to-be-quick trip to Mary Moore Searight Park for hiking today turned into a 1:15 hour, almost 3 mile hike. Thank goodness for the GPS app on my iPhone, or it would have been longer.

I discovered some nice trails along Slaughter Creek. The water is low, and at one point, I crossed the creek. After crossing, I think I was on private land because there was barbed wire. I was expecting someone to show up with a shotgun and call me a tresspasser, but the worst that happened is some little dogs at an apartment complex perched on a cliff barked at me.

There were horse shoe tracks on the trail, and I saw a couple of mountain bikers. People were walking their dogs and pushing strollers, too.

My only complaint is that the trails aren't marked, and it's very easy to get turned around. You can see on the map of my route below where I crossed the creek and walked one way and then the other only to go back the way I came. And even then, I found myself on a different route around the perimeter of the park. I looked at GPS several times to find my way.

The exercise was beneficial and something I still don't do regularly. I've lost 35 pounds since I started following the Primal Blueprint and hiking out in the sun is a perfect fit for that lifestyle.

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Bird of the Rings

2012-01-19T01:57:20Z

I am the lucky owner of a custom Bird of the Rings (BotR) drawing from That's A Girl's Car blogger and my friend, Sarah. She offered readers a drawing in return for a donation to Small Chance Rescue.

A BotR drawing includes a bird and a quote from Lord of the Rings. She let me choose the bird and the quote, so I chose a female cardinal to which she replied, "you know the female cardinals are brown, right? Just making double sure." Oh yes... the lesser colored gender was perfect for my favorite quote from the books (not the movies). Eowyn said, "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman." just before she proved to the The Lord of the Nazgûl that prophecies should not be too specific.

Behold, for she is a beauty.

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The Politics of Kitty Litter

2012-01-03T00:37:08Z

The cats who occupy my house have three litter boxes. They don't usually mix pee and poop in the same box. They used to use one for poop and two for pee, but lately, it's been two for poop and one for pee. Every once in a while, though, they'll mix it up in one box.

I can only imagine the discussions they have about this. Does Mr. Orion get upset when he finds pee in the poop box? Maybe take it personally as pay back for some other slight? Or does Mr. Ripley constantly remind Mr. Orion which boxes are for which? And what precipitated the change from 1 poop/2 pee boxes to 2 poop/1 pee box?

A few months ago, I switched from Scoop Away (clumping litter) to Yesterday's News (made from recycled newspaper). The vet recommended this because Mr. Ripley has asthma and the Scoop Away produces a lot of dust. The boys made the switch without a problem and the lack of litter dust is a great improvement for me as well as Rip. My only complaint is that I have to scoop a lot more to ensure I get all the pee pee out. Consequently, I have to buy more than I used to.

Something I Watched Today

New video log (vlog) from my friend Shannon. She's cute and she used one of my songs.

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Happy New Year('s)?

2011-12-31T21:13:25Z

Two people told me "Happy New Year's!" Isn't it "Happy New Year" without the 's?

Today is the last day of the year to make donations and claim them on your income taxes. Goodwill got a box full of stuff from me including two Yoga DVDs. That'll be good for someone's New Year's resolutions.

Merlin: New Year's resolutions. People do these. Dan, do you know about New Year's resolutions?
Dan: This is the thing where you say "This year, I am going to do this thing." And then, for some reason, saying that at the start of the year makes it less likely for you to actually do it than if you just started doing it.

Back to Work 47: Utter Failure and Hotel Steak

Something I Gazed Upon Yesterday

Colorado River Bridge as seen from Fisherman's Park in Bastrop, Texas.

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Sweet Hostage

2011-12-22T17:47:06Z

I bought a movie from the Warner Archive that I thought I would never see again. Sweet Hostage stars Linda Blair and Martin Sheen (who looks a lot like his son, Emilio Estevez in this). Sheen escapes from a mental hospital and kidnaps Blair. She falls in love with him. It made quite an impression on me. It's been about 35 years since I've seen it, and I still remember the title, premise and some details.

Do you remember any obscure movies from that long ago?

Something From Facebook

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Vaclav Havel

2011-12-19T19:04:43Z

My father's side of the family was from Czechoslovakia. I don't know their history — why they left Czechoslovakia to end up in Nebraska and then Oklahoma so many years ago. I don't know much about Czechoslovakia even though I have a nearly two inch thick coffee table book called "Czechs in America."

So when I read that Vaclav Havel died yesterday, I don't know why it brought tears to my eyes. One of my friends in grad school talked about him being president of Czechoslovakia. And back in November when I was writing "On The Strength of Hope," I was browsing through famous quotes with the keyword "hope" and he had a few things to say on the subject. Here are a couple:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.

The article about his death in the Austin American Statesman paints a picture of a great man. I would like to learn more about him and the country of my ancestors.

Something Lily Dawg Wanted To Tell You

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Live Oak Cemetery

2011-12-11T23:13:05Z

I used to drive to San Marcos 1-2 times a month for pizza and coffee. On the way there, I would pass a turn off to Live Oak Cemetery. I always had an idea to turn off and see it... next time. I don't go to San Marcos as often now because I don't eat pizza, so today I decided to make a trip to Live Oak Cemetery for the sake of seeing Live Oak Cemetery.

It was peaceful, as cemeteries are. One grave caught my attention -- a little girl who was born May 1977 and died Oct. 1980. Just 3.5 years old. Her picture was on the gravestone and there were a small Christmas tree and two angels on the ground above it. I wonder who put it there 31 years later.

Sometimes I visit my parents' graves in Houston. I don't know how to act when I go, really. First, it takes me a while to find their plots, and I almost always give up but then always make myself keep looking. I find them, and I stand over them, and I look at them. Sometimes I move some grass or dirt off of their headstones, mainly because I saw my aunt do that once. I think if there was a bench, I would sit for a while. There's usually a bench in the movies. But to sit on the grass would mean sitting on someone else's grave and that doesn't seem right to me. But I like this ritual better than the alternative of not going at all.

Something I watched today

Pearl Jam Twenty - Great documentary by Cameron Crowe, especially if you love Pearl Jam the way I love Pearl Jam.

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More Than I Can Chew, NaSoAlMo 2011

2011-12-05T03:50:19Z

For the low, low price of $0.00, you can download all of the songs I wrote and recorded for National Solo Album Month in November. I named the album in October, thinking it would be short of the goal of 29:09 minutes. In other words, I thought it would be More Than I Can Chew.

I'm happy with the songs and especially happy with "What Went Wrong." It's classic folk rock chick.

I'm also debuting my new music website, Kimp3.net. I've had that domain name for years. Catchy, eh?

Enjoy the music!

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NaSoAlMo 2011, Day 30

2011-12-01T03:31:12Z

I spent the evening tweaking mixes on the album. I haven't posted anything yet because I don't want to start something I can't finish before bedtime (which is right now!). I will post the songs sometime on Sunday, 12/4. Or maybe Saturday, 12/3 if all goes well.

Doing the album this year was easier than expected. I could get introspective and try to figure out why, but I won't. I'll just say...

YAY!

Something I Started Watching on TV

The Color Purple - I've never seen it. I think it's about time.

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NaSoAlMo 2011, Day 29

2011-11-30T03:25:31Z

I finally got back to working on the music today. I added the cymbal crash that my BGFF Shann gave me to "Count the Sunrises" and I like how it sounds. I added the clip of the Occupy Austin people chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out" to the beginning of "Bright Eyes (Disenchanted)" and I like how it sounds. I also tweaked the reverb and deesser on both. Deesser (pronounced dee-esser)--tones down the sssss sounds. Then I edited the drums a little on "On the Strength of Hope" as well as messed with the volume and reverb of some tracks and I like how it sounds.

That doesn't mean I will like how any of them sound tomorrow. :P

I took Mr. Ripley to the vet today. He hasn't been eating, but he acts like he wants to eat. He'll beg for a treat and then will only sniff it and walk away and then come back to beg again. The vet gave him an anti-nausea shot. He ate some food the vet tech fixed for him and kept it down, so I'm optimistic it's nothing major.

Something I Got In The Mail Today

I got a check for $18.04 for the settlement of a class action lawsuit from the "Foreign Currency Fee Litigation Settlement Fund." This tickles a memory, but I can't recall the details. I'm going to cash it, but I really hate these class action lawsuits. The lawyers are the ones who clean up.

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Get Motivated

2011-11-29T01:27:51Z

I went to a Get Motivated seminar featuring Howard Putnam (SW Airlines), Colin Powell, Mary Lou Retton, Bill Cosby and Lou Holtz. General Stanley McChrystal and Rudy Giuliani were there, too, but I missed seeing them because of lunch and leaving a little early to beat the traffic.

The famous speakers were fun to watch, but they had short presentations sandwiched between long sales pitches from financial advisors. The sales pitches were only marginally painful because of the time waste, but there were no hard sell tactics.

Colin Powell was impressive... he talked about leadership and the value of people and compromise.

Mary Lou Retton's main point was "Don't let anyone try to limit you." Doctors told her she would not be able to compete in the Olympics because of knee surgery, yet six weeks later I watched her stick her landing on the vault to win gold.

Lou Holtz was hilarious. When he was a kid, he told his mom he wanted to be a garbage collector. When his mom asked why, he said, "Because they only have to work on Tuesdays."

Bill Cosby was classic Cosby. He copped his advice from James Brown, saying that if you have an idea, "Get Up!" and "Do It!" He also advised that if you don't have any ideas, go talk to people who smoke dope. They have the best ideas.

Something I Saw on Someone's Back

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NaSoAlMo 2011, Day 27

2011-11-28T00:40:57Z

I didn't put the heater on last night despite the cold outside. My blanket and cat were enough to keep me warm, and I sleep better when it's colder in the room anyway. When I got up, though, I switched the thermostat to heat and went into the kitchen to cook a big breakfast. After breakfast, I noticed it was still chilly inside. The heater never came on because the pilot light was out.

Oh.

It's been burning for over four years when I had an HVAC company come out and light it for me. The guy showed me how to light it, but I've watched a lot of brain cell sucking TV since then. Through the miracle of the internet, I found several step-by-step instructions. The key to it all, though, was my own documentation of where the pilot light is. The cover of my first NaSoAlMo is a picture of my pilot light, and if I hadn't taken that picture, I never would have thought that's where you have to hold the lighter to light it.

My plan this afternoon was to go to a coffee shop, drink coffee, listen to my NaSo music and take notes about how to make the songs better. I went to Strange Brew first. No place to sit. Next was Flipnotics. No place to park. Next was Summermoon. Again, no place to park. How about Red Table Coffee? Closed, seemingly for good. Circle back to Strange Brew. Same damn people taking up all the seats an hour later. So I got a coffee to go and came home.

This is the kind of thing that makes me angry, even though I know it's my own problem. What are businesses supposed to do, save me a parking place and a seat? I wish.

Instead of working on music when I got home, I cut up 3 butternut squashes for roasting. When the squash was in the oven, I sat down to listen to the tunes. I only got through 1.5 songs before Lily wanted to go out. Then I had to go to the bathroom. Then the squash was ready. Then it was time to feed the animals. Then it was time to feed me. So I gave up on music.

I'm annoyed by days like this... when there's something I want to do and it feels like time and the world are conspiring against me. The way I coped today can be summed up by something my friend Richard used to say.

Someone would say: I'm upset because I want to [XYZ] and I can't.
He'd say: Stop wanting that.

But I did light my pilot light, and that's a damn fine thing.

Something I Heard on a Podcast

Regarding shopping at Goodwill.

John Roderick: Every once in a while I'll go into a Goodwill, and I'll catch this whiff of... Do you smell mothballs? And I'll run to the back and some guy died and ... 25 suits from the 50s are in there.
Merlin Mann: It's kind of, there's a slight smell of... there's definitely mothballs, mildew and dreams deferred. And go fast because that's going to be some good ass suits.

Roderick on the Line, Episode 9

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NaSoAlMo 2011, Day 26

2011-11-27T03:11:23Z

I set the music aside for the Thanksgiving holiday with just vocals and bass to go on the last song, Kimmage. Today, I finished those tracks and declare myself done with NaSoAlMo from the perspective of meeting all the requirements. I still want to play around with the songs before I make them public.

Tomorrow, I'll find a comfy spot and listen to all the songs and make notes about what to change. I have a sound clip I recorded from some Occupy Austin folks that I want to add to the beginning of Bright Eyes. I also have a cymbal clip that my BGFF Shann found for me that I want to add to Count the Sunrises. Other than that, I think the changes will be mostly to the mixes (turn this knob, slide this slider, lather, rinse, repeat).

Progress:

NaSoAlMo 1: Count the Sunrises (Finished ~ 4:21)
NaSoAlMo 2: Bright Eyes (Disenchanted) (Finished ~ 4:20)
NaSoAlMo 3: Personal Space (Finished ~ 2:36)
NaSoAlMo 4: Scoggins and Kay (Finished ~ 3:21)
NaSoAlMo 5: On the Strength of Hope (Finished ~ 5:00)
NaSoAlMo 6: What Went Wrong (Finished ~ 5:43)
NaSoAlMo 7: Kimmage (Finished ~ 4:34)

Total Length according to iTunes: 29:52

Something I Saw on a Pier at Clear Lake Park

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NaSoAlMo 2011, Days 21 & 22

2011-11-23T02:22:37Z

No music the last couple of days. Yesterday when I was leaving work, my car wouldn't start. My friend Bruce jump started it and I drove straight to Walmart. I turned the car off and tried to start it again with no luck. There were no auto customers at Walmart and they got me right in to replace the battery. Not even 30 minutes later, I was on my way.

Tonight I'm just worn out from work and cooking.

Something I Bought Today

I bought a produce basket from the Farm to Work program at my work. That's like having a farmer's market at work. They do it weekly for $20. I came home with the following, fresh from a farm in central Texas:

4 butternut squash
2 acorn squash
1 small spaghetti squash
2 bunches of collard greens
1 bunch of mustard greens
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of spinach
1 large sweet potato
1 gigantic sweet potato
1 bunch of dill (for the sauce on my salmon this weekend!)
1 bunch of spicy arugula

I didn't know arugula was spicy. I tasted a leaf and had to take it out of my mouth because it was burning my tongue. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

I cooked and ate the large sweet potato and the bunch of spinach already.

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