I awoke this morning to Lucy's head on my shoulder and Oliver licking Lucy's ears to death. You can't help but love the little guy, he's just so friendly and personality filled. Lucy used to get upset when he tried to sleep near her, but lately she's been letting him get close. The other night he slept with his head on Lucy's side.
I got out of bed and got ready because I had a few things to do before I left the house for the day. First I took Lucy on her walk. She has had to deal with kids on rollerblades or skateboards during her walk for the past two days, but has done remarkably well for her. Maybe she is mellowing out some...we can only hope.
I wanted to finish painting the walls when we got back. Unfortunately Lucy licked all the spackle off of the one spot last night, so I had to respackle that this morning. I sanded the other two spots down, painted them, and then waited for the other to dry. It didn't dry enough before I had to leave, so I put a bag over the roller and paint and left.
I made my way to Oriental House via 385 like usual. After you turn left, you pass the exit from the southbound lanes. It is always a very busy exit, and every now and then someone makes the mistake of getting stuck in the middle and blocking a whole green light for those on Woodruff Rd. Today there was a guy blocking just the right lane, which I was in. There were fingers and obscenities flying everywhere, and I had a good laugh watching all of it happen. It's hard for me to get too frustrated by things like that, because I am pretty absent minded and make mistakes like that fairly often.
I knew I was meeting Nate for lunch to talk about youth group sound stuff, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Joe, James, and Tommy had also come along. Nate wanted some advice on how to get a cleaner mix where everything was distinct, so we mainly talked about the frequency spectrum and what space everything occupies, how to utilize EQ to create space, and how to utilize the stereo field (since they run in stereo). I also gave him some advice on how to mic things, and some effects that they should invest in. When we were done we went back to the church and I showed him some routing things on the board, as well as some of the other controls. Their board is the same as the one we had in Columbia, so I was very familiar with it. As a side note, I think the greatest thing about digital boards is having 4 EQ points, and being able to control the q and frequency for all of them. Actually, it may be a toss up with having a compressor on every single channel.
After I helped Nate, I went downstairs and started on my work, most of which consisted of cleaning up things and rearranging the stage. Joe had already done alot of it, which was nice. He had dinner plans, so he left around 6 I think, and I did a few more things like changing gels and collecting trash before I came home. It was nice to get home a little early, because I was able to watch Clemson play USCjr. in basketball. Beating them in other sports is never as fun as football...but I still enjoy it. Our team is looking better than I thought they would this year...all I'm hoping for is another trip to the big dance.
I sanded and painted the other spot during the game. Oliver decided to be annoying and paw at the roller while I painted. He's fascinating by anything that moves back and forth. By the time I was done he had paint all over his paws. I waited until the game was over and then went around the house painting any spots that needed touching up. The paint shade was pretty much exact, so I figured while I had it out I might as well make the most of it. After that I played guitar and drums for a while until Kristi came home from visiting a friend.
Once Kristi got home we talked about our days, looked for more spots to paint, and then got into bed. I enjoy having Kristi off from school because she stays up later with me. Normally she has to get up so early that she goes to bed pretty early also. Some days that means that I don't even really see her, because she's in bed by the time I get home from work. Too bad she starts back next week.
Tomorrow is New Years Eve, in case you weren't aware. I am going to work in the morning so that we can leave for party in Columbia later on in the day. Also I have to get my ducks in a row as far as food for the party on Thursday. I'm excited to see what Dabo can do!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Apparently this is the week that everyone decides to move furniture...
Today was quite a busy day. I slept until about 9:30, which is later than I would have liked, but next week I am going to start running, so I guess I should enjoy it while I can. Kristi had given me a few things I needed to do around the house today, but first I finished some design stuff. Here's one of the series slides I made...I think it looks pretty decent.
Next on my list was cleaning my music room. We are having a Gator Bowl party on Thursday, so Kristi wanted it a little neater than usual. Typically I have musical equipment strewn about. I got sidetracked playing the drums for a while, my new-old snare is just too much fun. As you might remember, I spent some time the other day cleaning it up and then put new heads and a new strainer on it. They were out of Remo Ambassador Hazy snare sides, so I had to get an Evans Hazy 300. I typically use Remo because I have had better luck tuning them for whatever reason. The Evans is fine though, and I haven't really noticed much difference. The snare is pretty dry, and has a different tone to it since it is aluminum. I really enjoy playing it, and it will be fun to figure out which styles it fits well in. Here are some before and after (mostly after) pictures of the cleaning process:
After I played drums for a while it was time for lunch, so I made an egg sandwich for me, and a grilled cheese for Kristi. We needed to go to Wal-Mart today, and she had a doctors appointment later on, so we decided to go right after lunch.
We left for Wal-Mart, but stopped at the Duron paint store on the way. We have some spots on our wall that need touching up, and I found the card which lists what all was used in our house (it was built only in 2006). Our interior walls are Duron Antique White, so we picked a can up. I'm hoping the shade is pretty close, but who knows after 2 years. Also, good paint is more expensive than I thought.
On our way to Wal-Mart from the paint store, some kid was standing in front of Perkins holding a sign saying that he stole from Wal-Mart. He looked really embarrassed, and his mom was standing nearby. I wasn't sure what I thought of the discipline method, and I was wondering whether it was his parents' doing or if a judge gave him options. Either way, definitely a unique thing to see while running errands. Wal-Mart took a long time because there was much that we needed to buy, and so we had to rush home so Kristi could leave for her appointment.
Once I unloaded I commenced spackling some holes in the wall and cleaning my music room. I have never actually spackled before, but I got some advice from my dad and Chad, and I think I did a pretty good job. My music room also looks pretty sweet all organized...I wonder how many days it will take before I screw it up again. I also cleaned the bathrooms and took everything out of our old entertainment center.
Chad and Jaime came over right after Kristi got home to help me get the huge centerpiece inside...well mostly Chad I guess, Jaime was here for moral support though. After we got it in place we all left for Kristi's parents' house. They needed some help moving some furniture in their upstairs game room, so we ate dinner there and then helped them. I had to eat my dinner after everyone else though because we forgot to blow a candle out and I had to run home to do so. The house burning scares me not because of our stuff, but because our pets wouldn't be able to get out, and that would be really hard to deal with. Kristi's aunt made Fettuccine Alfredo, and it was awesome, even if I did have to eat it by myself.
We also had a chance to do a side-by-side comparison of my blues jr. and Charlie's. His is a blue tolex version, which just has a different speaker and different covering (mine is tweed). I thought they sounded very similar, maybe with mine sounding just a little warmer. Either one makes for a great little tube amp. After that we moved furniture and disassembled their ping-pong table. They wanted to get it out of the game room, so we brought it to our house! I am extremely excited as ping-pong is one of my favorite pastimes. My dad and I used to play on a regular basis, and he usually beat me. At one time we were both pretty awesome, but now I am a little rusty.
After we moved everything, Chad and I loaded the ping-pong table pieces into the van and everyone followed us home to help unload. After that Kristi and I spent a few hours staining the nicks in the entertainment center and then oiling it. I used lemon oil which I use for my guitar necks, and after all the work the thing looks like a new piece of furniture. We are both very excited about how nice it looks and how cheap it was. We need to get some decorations for the shelves, but it looks amazing already:
So that was our day. I feel pretty tired after all the activity, but I don't have to be up early to up early tomorrow, so that is good! I also am eating lunch at my favorite place with Nate to give him some sound advice, so that is even better. Maybe I'll order something different than house fried rice...and if you fell for that, then you have alot to learn...
Next on my list was cleaning my music room. We are having a Gator Bowl party on Thursday, so Kristi wanted it a little neater than usual. Typically I have musical equipment strewn about. I got sidetracked playing the drums for a while, my new-old snare is just too much fun. As you might remember, I spent some time the other day cleaning it up and then put new heads and a new strainer on it. They were out of Remo Ambassador Hazy snare sides, so I had to get an Evans Hazy 300. I typically use Remo because I have had better luck tuning them for whatever reason. The Evans is fine though, and I haven't really noticed much difference. The snare is pretty dry, and has a different tone to it since it is aluminum. I really enjoy playing it, and it will be fun to figure out which styles it fits well in. Here are some before and after (mostly after) pictures of the cleaning process:After I played drums for a while it was time for lunch, so I made an egg sandwich for me, and a grilled cheese for Kristi. We needed to go to Wal-Mart today, and she had a doctors appointment later on, so we decided to go right after lunch.We left for Wal-Mart, but stopped at the Duron paint store on the way. We have some spots on our wall that need touching up, and I found the card which lists what all was used in our house (it was built only in 2006). Our interior walls are Duron Antique White, so we picked a can up. I'm hoping the shade is pretty close, but who knows after 2 years. Also, good paint is more expensive than I thought.
On our way to Wal-Mart from the paint store, some kid was standing in front of Perkins holding a sign saying that he stole from Wal-Mart. He looked really embarrassed, and his mom was standing nearby. I wasn't sure what I thought of the discipline method, and I was wondering whether it was his parents' doing or if a judge gave him options. Either way, definitely a unique thing to see while running errands. Wal-Mart took a long time because there was much that we needed to buy, and so we had to rush home so Kristi could leave for her appointment.
Once I unloaded I commenced spackling some holes in the wall and cleaning my music room. I have never actually spackled before, but I got some advice from my dad and Chad, and I think I did a pretty good job. My music room also looks pretty sweet all organized...I wonder how many days it will take before I screw it up again. I also cleaned the bathrooms and took everything out of our old entertainment center.
Chad and Jaime came over right after Kristi got home to help me get the huge centerpiece inside...well mostly Chad I guess, Jaime was here for moral support though. After we got it in place we all left for Kristi's parents' house. They needed some help moving some furniture in their upstairs game room, so we ate dinner there and then helped them. I had to eat my dinner after everyone else though because we forgot to blow a candle out and I had to run home to do so. The house burning scares me not because of our stuff, but because our pets wouldn't be able to get out, and that would be really hard to deal with. Kristi's aunt made Fettuccine Alfredo, and it was awesome, even if I did have to eat it by myself.
We also had a chance to do a side-by-side comparison of my blues jr. and Charlie's. His is a blue tolex version, which just has a different speaker and different covering (mine is tweed). I thought they sounded very similar, maybe with mine sounding just a little warmer. Either one makes for a great little tube amp. After that we moved furniture and disassembled their ping-pong table. They wanted to get it out of the game room, so we brought it to our house! I am extremely excited as ping-pong is one of my favorite pastimes. My dad and I used to play on a regular basis, and he usually beat me. At one time we were both pretty awesome, but now I am a little rusty.
After we moved everything, Chad and I loaded the ping-pong table pieces into the van and everyone followed us home to help unload. After that Kristi and I spent a few hours staining the nicks in the entertainment center and then oiling it. I used lemon oil which I use for my guitar necks, and after all the work the thing looks like a new piece of furniture. We are both very excited about how nice it looks and how cheap it was. We need to get some decorations for the shelves, but it looks amazing already:
So that was our day. I feel pretty tired after all the activity, but I don't have to be up early to up early tomorrow, so that is good! I also am eating lunch at my favorite place with Nate to give him some sound advice, so that is even better. Maybe I'll order something different than house fried rice...and if you fell for that, then you have alot to learn...
Sunday, December 28, 2008
I was kind of hoping with all the connections they would just decide to give us the thing for free...
This morning was an early morning because of running sound, which I think was good because I slept in way too much last week. I got to church a little before 7:15, moved a few things around on stage and then rehearsal started. Things went pretty well today...the only frustration was that the bass guitar stopped working in the third service. There's nothing like playing air guitar behind the mixer and then having the bottom drop out on you. The solo I was doing was crazy too, you should've seen it. I wasn't really getting any signal at all, which made the music sound empty without a foundation. The drums also sounded way out in front without anything to ride on. I don't think many people noticed though, and after talking to Jesse afterwards I think his battery just died for his active pickups. Not a big deal overall.
After church we went to the Corleys for lunch. There was a large group there, and it was a good time. Kristi and I left around 3 and came home.
I regularly keep track of listings on http://www.craigslist.org/. Kristi and I have rooms in need of furniture, but unfortunately we haven't won the lottery yet so funds remain few. Maybe we should actually start buying tickets. 95% of the stuff on craigslist is terrible, but every now and then something really nice pops up for a good value. For instance, our vacuum is pretty solid and I think I paid $10 for it. Anyways, last night I saw a very nice Cherry entertainment center for a low price in Spartanburg. Kristi and I have wanted a very large entertainment center because we have a huge wall that our TV is on that needs something wide and tall. Most things that look nice that are that large are completely out of our price range, but this particular one was very large, very nice, and very cheap. It consists of a large center pieces and two shelve pieces on either end.
I had the woman measure the largest piece and determined that it would not fit in my dad's Explorer. Instead we measured the back of the Boyd's van, and sure enough it was big enough. They removed the seats for us and we borrowed it to go look at the piece, which was in Spartanburg.
The couple was very nice, and we found out that we had a few connections. They knew of Kristi's dad and the husband even listens to him through Southside's podcast. Several of Southside's people have worked for the guy, including Dave Rushing, Justin Degarmo, and John Johnson just to name a few. They also have taken all three of their kids to my dad as their pediatrician. When I asked my dad about them later, he easily remembered who they were. It only took us a few minutes to determine we wanted the piece of furniture, as it was nicer in person than in the picture. The center piece was extremely heavy, but we got it in the van only to find out that we couldn't fit the other two pieces in at the same time. Kristi and I ended up having to drive home and unload, and then go back for the two shelves. Getting the big piece out of the van by ourselves was rough, but we got laying down in the garage where it will stay until Chad comes over to help move it tomorrow. He's been working out, so I expect he'll just throw it on his shoulder and I'll tell him where to put it. Don't let me down Chad.
Going back and forth wasn't too bad as it only too a little more than 30 minutes. After getting back the second time we took the van back to the Boyds and then went to my parents' house. My dad needed help moving their leather chair back into the house. The Christmas tree replaces it during the holiday season, but today they took the decorations down. It's always nice to visit my parents and Lucy loves playing with Molly, so we stayed and talked for a little bit. I also showed them my new amp since they hadn't heard much about it.
We came home a little around 10, and have been watching a TLC special about Dede, who has a virus which causes some weird warts so bad that his hands and feet look like tree roots. It is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen on TV, and he is in a group of people with unbelievable diseases/disorders which does a freak show to make money. It seems like they could do a TV special on any one of the people in the group. It is kind of sad, but truly fascinating.
Tomorrow I think Kristi and I are going to work on some stuff in the house and run some errands. I have some great pictures to post, but I think I will wait until tomorrow night when we have our new piece of furniture set up. Stay tuned!
After church we went to the Corleys for lunch. There was a large group there, and it was a good time. Kristi and I left around 3 and came home.
I regularly keep track of listings on http://www.craigslist.org/. Kristi and I have rooms in need of furniture, but unfortunately we haven't won the lottery yet so funds remain few. Maybe we should actually start buying tickets. 95% of the stuff on craigslist is terrible, but every now and then something really nice pops up for a good value. For instance, our vacuum is pretty solid and I think I paid $10 for it. Anyways, last night I saw a very nice Cherry entertainment center for a low price in Spartanburg. Kristi and I have wanted a very large entertainment center because we have a huge wall that our TV is on that needs something wide and tall. Most things that look nice that are that large are completely out of our price range, but this particular one was very large, very nice, and very cheap. It consists of a large center pieces and two shelve pieces on either end.
I had the woman measure the largest piece and determined that it would not fit in my dad's Explorer. Instead we measured the back of the Boyd's van, and sure enough it was big enough. They removed the seats for us and we borrowed it to go look at the piece, which was in Spartanburg.
The couple was very nice, and we found out that we had a few connections. They knew of Kristi's dad and the husband even listens to him through Southside's podcast. Several of Southside's people have worked for the guy, including Dave Rushing, Justin Degarmo, and John Johnson just to name a few. They also have taken all three of their kids to my dad as their pediatrician. When I asked my dad about them later, he easily remembered who they were. It only took us a few minutes to determine we wanted the piece of furniture, as it was nicer in person than in the picture. The center piece was extremely heavy, but we got it in the van only to find out that we couldn't fit the other two pieces in at the same time. Kristi and I ended up having to drive home and unload, and then go back for the two shelves. Getting the big piece out of the van by ourselves was rough, but we got laying down in the garage where it will stay until Chad comes over to help move it tomorrow. He's been working out, so I expect he'll just throw it on his shoulder and I'll tell him where to put it. Don't let me down Chad.
Going back and forth wasn't too bad as it only too a little more than 30 minutes. After getting back the second time we took the van back to the Boyds and then went to my parents' house. My dad needed help moving their leather chair back into the house. The Christmas tree replaces it during the holiday season, but today they took the decorations down. It's always nice to visit my parents and Lucy loves playing with Molly, so we stayed and talked for a little bit. I also showed them my new amp since they hadn't heard much about it.
We came home a little around 10, and have been watching a TLC special about Dede, who has a virus which causes some weird warts so bad that his hands and feet look like tree roots. It is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen on TV, and he is in a group of people with unbelievable diseases/disorders which does a freak show to make money. It seems like they could do a TV special on any one of the people in the group. It is kind of sad, but truly fascinating.
Tomorrow I think Kristi and I are going to work on some stuff in the house and run some errands. I have some great pictures to post, but I think I will wait until tomorrow night when we have our new piece of furniture set up. Stay tuned!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Two movies I've enjoyed within a week...that must be some kind of record!
Christmas was a fun day. It was a little sad since it was my first Christmas morning not spent with my family, but I spending it with the Boyds was fun. They open their presents all at the same time, which differs greatly from my family's method of taking turns. It does go faster, that's for sure, but I felt like I didn't get to see what other people got.
After presents and breakfast we spent some time with Kristi's grandmother and then left to spend time with my family. My sister was only able to be in Greenville for a little bit due to work, so it was nice that we got to see her. We also saw a few family friends that stopped by. Christmas lunch or dinner or whichever it was was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the seasoning my mom used on the asparagus.
That evening we went to see Marley & Me as a big group, including my family, the Boyds, and some others. As could be expected I really enjoyed the movie. I went in expecting an enjoyable cheesy movie about a pet, but it was better than I expected. For one thing, it was much more about Marley's family than I thought it would be, and there were also quite a few witty parts which made me laugh. I thought that what Owen Wilson tells Marley at the end of the movie supported the statement I made the other day about why people enjoy their pets so much. I also enjoyed the interaction between Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston as husband and wife. Kristi and I got home from the movie pretty late, and after putting all our new things away went straight to sleep.
Today was a good day, although a little frustrating at times. We didn't really need any Christmas paraphernalia, so neither Kristi or I got up early to go shopping. Last year I got up early, but I have to admit it was a little weird being one of the only males in Target at 7 AM. The pets spent most of the morning playing and tearing up the Christmas tree, so after sleeping in Kristi started removing ornaments while I got ready and left for Guitar Center. I was excited to buy the Fender amp, which I decided to go with, and I also needed some drum heads and a strainer for my Ludwig snare. After all of my 8 gift cards and an American Express gift card, I only had to pay $4, which was pretty sweet.
After Guitar Center I met Kristi and mom at Oriental House for lunch. My fried rice was delicious as usual, and it's always fun to eat lunch with my mom. She had been shopping all morning, so she was almost done. From lunch I stopped at Lowes to get some metal cleaner to clean my Ludwig snare, and then headed to the mall to keep Kristi company while she ran some errands. Traffic was so crazy that Kristi was done by the time I got there, so I ended up just coming home.
When I got home I was excited about trying my new amp. I plugged it in and let it warm up, and then began to play it. It seemed like every time I played the B string, I would get a high pitched rattle or feedback tone. This worried me because I have read several places online that state that Blues Jr.'s sometimes have the bias too high on some of their tubes which cause them to go microphonic. I actually talked to the guy that fixes Fender amps in Greenville last week to ask him about that. He said that if it seemed like there was a problem you could lightly tap on each tube. If one made a loud high pitched sound when tapped on, it was microphonic, which could be a bias issue. So, I tapped on the tubes, and sure enough one of them was very loud, much more so than the others. I read a little more about the subject online, and then went back the amp, and there was definitely something wrong with it. I called Guitar Center and they said to bring it back it. I had to take Lucy to the vet at 4:10, but I hurried and left so I could be back in time.
I don't really want to get into the story in excruciating detail, but the experience at Guitar Center was not good. The assistant manager that helped me was not very kind, and didn't think there was a problem with the amp. I don't do well with conflict, and I was just kind of standing there while he told me why there was nothing wrong with it. At first I showed him what I was talking about, but he didn't really seem to be interested. Not really wanting to get into some discussion where I was trying to prove I was right, I just told him that I had bought it this morning, and I wasn't even trying to get my money back, I just wanted to exchange it. It's not like I had had it a few months and wanted my money back or something. After calling some other people over, who heard what I was talking about, he begrudgingly exchanged the amp and I was on my way. I drove home feeling kind of sick to stomach and remembering why I prefer to do my shopping online. You can always get what you want, and usually if there is a problem the customer service people are just friendly.
I got home and tested the new amp quickly, which sounded great and did not have the same issue. I then left to take Lucy to the vet. I needed to get her heartworm medicine, but they said that according to what my old vet gave me I had missed a month, so I needed to have her tested for heartworms first. I didn't think I missed a month, but it wasn't a big deal. Lucy is actually really good at the vet because she is scared to death, so she just sits between my legs and shakes. She doesn't even growl at the vet assistants when they pick her up...she just shakes. Everything was fine with her, so I bought the medicine and we came back home.
Tonight we ate with Chad and Jamie, and then went over to their place so I could try out his Line 6 M13 and he could try my new amp. His new M13 is pretty sweet. It is a bunch of boxes rolled into one unit where you can program different settings in different banks, but then everything can be turned on and off like pedals. It's like a multi-effects processor except it sounds good and its way cooler. You can read more about it here.
Hanging out with Chad and Jamie was fun, but all good things must come to an end, so we came home around 10. I spent some time finishing up cleaning my Ludwig snare and then we got into bed. Leno was a rerun tonight, and it had that performance I posted again, so that was kind of exciting. Tomorrow Kristi and I don't have much to do, except I think we are going to her cousin's house tomorrow night for dinner. Sorry that this post is so factual...I'm just not feeling too inspired tonight. Until next time...
After presents and breakfast we spent some time with Kristi's grandmother and then left to spend time with my family. My sister was only able to be in Greenville for a little bit due to work, so it was nice that we got to see her. We also saw a few family friends that stopped by. Christmas lunch or dinner or whichever it was was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the seasoning my mom used on the asparagus.
That evening we went to see Marley & Me as a big group, including my family, the Boyds, and some others. As could be expected I really enjoyed the movie. I went in expecting an enjoyable cheesy movie about a pet, but it was better than I expected. For one thing, it was much more about Marley's family than I thought it would be, and there were also quite a few witty parts which made me laugh. I thought that what Owen Wilson tells Marley at the end of the movie supported the statement I made the other day about why people enjoy their pets so much. I also enjoyed the interaction between Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston as husband and wife. Kristi and I got home from the movie pretty late, and after putting all our new things away went straight to sleep.
Today was a good day, although a little frustrating at times. We didn't really need any Christmas paraphernalia, so neither Kristi or I got up early to go shopping. Last year I got up early, but I have to admit it was a little weird being one of the only males in Target at 7 AM. The pets spent most of the morning playing and tearing up the Christmas tree, so after sleeping in Kristi started removing ornaments while I got ready and left for Guitar Center. I was excited to buy the Fender amp, which I decided to go with, and I also needed some drum heads and a strainer for my Ludwig snare. After all of my 8 gift cards and an American Express gift card, I only had to pay $4, which was pretty sweet.
After Guitar Center I met Kristi and mom at Oriental House for lunch. My fried rice was delicious as usual, and it's always fun to eat lunch with my mom. She had been shopping all morning, so she was almost done. From lunch I stopped at Lowes to get some metal cleaner to clean my Ludwig snare, and then headed to the mall to keep Kristi company while she ran some errands. Traffic was so crazy that Kristi was done by the time I got there, so I ended up just coming home.
When I got home I was excited about trying my new amp. I plugged it in and let it warm up, and then began to play it. It seemed like every time I played the B string, I would get a high pitched rattle or feedback tone. This worried me because I have read several places online that state that Blues Jr.'s sometimes have the bias too high on some of their tubes which cause them to go microphonic. I actually talked to the guy that fixes Fender amps in Greenville last week to ask him about that. He said that if it seemed like there was a problem you could lightly tap on each tube. If one made a loud high pitched sound when tapped on, it was microphonic, which could be a bias issue. So, I tapped on the tubes, and sure enough one of them was very loud, much more so than the others. I read a little more about the subject online, and then went back the amp, and there was definitely something wrong with it. I called Guitar Center and they said to bring it back it. I had to take Lucy to the vet at 4:10, but I hurried and left so I could be back in time.
I don't really want to get into the story in excruciating detail, but the experience at Guitar Center was not good. The assistant manager that helped me was not very kind, and didn't think there was a problem with the amp. I don't do well with conflict, and I was just kind of standing there while he told me why there was nothing wrong with it. At first I showed him what I was talking about, but he didn't really seem to be interested. Not really wanting to get into some discussion where I was trying to prove I was right, I just told him that I had bought it this morning, and I wasn't even trying to get my money back, I just wanted to exchange it. It's not like I had had it a few months and wanted my money back or something. After calling some other people over, who heard what I was talking about, he begrudgingly exchanged the amp and I was on my way. I drove home feeling kind of sick to stomach and remembering why I prefer to do my shopping online. You can always get what you want, and usually if there is a problem the customer service people are just friendly.
I got home and tested the new amp quickly, which sounded great and did not have the same issue. I then left to take Lucy to the vet. I needed to get her heartworm medicine, but they said that according to what my old vet gave me I had missed a month, so I needed to have her tested for heartworms first. I didn't think I missed a month, but it wasn't a big deal. Lucy is actually really good at the vet because she is scared to death, so she just sits between my legs and shakes. She doesn't even growl at the vet assistants when they pick her up...she just shakes. Everything was fine with her, so I bought the medicine and we came back home.
Tonight we ate with Chad and Jamie, and then went over to their place so I could try out his Line 6 M13 and he could try my new amp. His new M13 is pretty sweet. It is a bunch of boxes rolled into one unit where you can program different settings in different banks, but then everything can be turned on and off like pedals. It's like a multi-effects processor except it sounds good and its way cooler. You can read more about it here.
Hanging out with Chad and Jamie was fun, but all good things must come to an end, so we came home around 10. I spent some time finishing up cleaning my Ludwig snare and then we got into bed. Leno was a rerun tonight, and it had that performance I posted again, so that was kind of exciting. Tomorrow Kristi and I don't have much to do, except I think we are going to her cousin's house tomorrow night for dinner. Sorry that this post is so factual...I'm just not feeling too inspired tonight. Until next time...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I'm not sure which part is better...the lights or the popcorn?
I woke up this morning with Lucy's head on top of mine. I stayed like that for a few minutes, but it wasn't very comfortable, so I made her move. Kristi woke up a little while later and decided to start the day, so I did the same. I got a call from a 864 number I didn't know, and since it was before 9 I figured it was important, so I picked up. It was a Sam's Club employee letting me know Kristi's replacement tire was in. Kristi and I were already planning on running some errands, so we got ready and then embarked on our adventure.
We dropped her car off at Sam's, and then headed to the mall as I like to do on Christmas Eve. It was really disappointing this year. It wasn't crowded at all, and no one seemed to be in a hurry or stressed out. So much for the hustle and bustle. Kristi bought some Starbucks and we made our way back to Sam's to pick up her car. On an exciting note, I payed 1.36 for gas at Sam's today...which meant my whole fill-up cost me 15.50. Amazing.
After that Kristi went home and I ran a few other errands. Then I came home, ate lunch, and left for work. I got out my Santa hat before leaving as I wanted to bring Christmas cheer to the Christmas Eve service. Lucy had apparently chewed on it, so it smelled bad, but I loaded it up with Febreze. Ah the smell of dog saliva masked by Febreze.
I spent time setting a few things up at work and getting some prelude music ready. I like to choose prelude music, so I was glad that Matt let me do that, although I did have him approve what I chose. The service went well, I thought the sound was great, and the congregation seemed to enjoy it wholeheartedly. It sure was a packed house! You can see some pics at Joe's blog.
Kristi and I hurried home from the service to go look at Christmas lights with my parents. Our family tradition was to eat at McDonald's and then go look at lights with the dogs in the back of the car. My sister wasn't in town tonight, and we couldn't do the McDonald's thing, but at least the lights were still carried on. By the way, the McDonald's tradition started one year when my dad was working and the rest of us ate at a drive-thru.
Looking at lights is always fun, especially going by the incredible house in Mauldin. The piano player wasn't there tonight, which made me sad, but they still had the popcorn machine, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas on a big screen, and all of the amazing lights. There are so many lights and inflatables that the people use several other yards around them. The arrangement was different this year because one of the neighbors was new, so the guy said he thought he'd let him observe for a year before asking for his yard. They have donation buckets along the trail around the house because their power bill is so incredibly high. I can't do this place justice at all, but I did take a few pictures:
We dropped her car off at Sam's, and then headed to the mall as I like to do on Christmas Eve. It was really disappointing this year. It wasn't crowded at all, and no one seemed to be in a hurry or stressed out. So much for the hustle and bustle. Kristi bought some Starbucks and we made our way back to Sam's to pick up her car. On an exciting note, I payed 1.36 for gas at Sam's today...which meant my whole fill-up cost me 15.50. Amazing.
After that Kristi went home and I ran a few other errands. Then I came home, ate lunch, and left for work. I got out my Santa hat before leaving as I wanted to bring Christmas cheer to the Christmas Eve service. Lucy had apparently chewed on it, so it smelled bad, but I loaded it up with Febreze. Ah the smell of dog saliva masked by Febreze.
I spent time setting a few things up at work and getting some prelude music ready. I like to choose prelude music, so I was glad that Matt let me do that, although I did have him approve what I chose. The service went well, I thought the sound was great, and the congregation seemed to enjoy it wholeheartedly. It sure was a packed house! You can see some pics at Joe's blog.
Kristi and I hurried home from the service to go look at Christmas lights with my parents. Our family tradition was to eat at McDonald's and then go look at lights with the dogs in the back of the car. My sister wasn't in town tonight, and we couldn't do the McDonald's thing, but at least the lights were still carried on. By the way, the McDonald's tradition started one year when my dad was working and the rest of us ate at a drive-thru.
Looking at lights is always fun, especially going by the incredible house in Mauldin. The piano player wasn't there tonight, which made me sad, but they still had the popcorn machine, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas on a big screen, and all of the amazing lights. There are so many lights and inflatables that the people use several other yards around them. The arrangement was different this year because one of the neighbors was new, so the guy said he thought he'd let him observe for a year before asking for his yard. They have donation buckets along the trail around the house because their power bill is so incredibly high. I can't do this place justice at all, but I did take a few pictures:
We drove through a few neighborhoods and then came home. I don't think Lucy enjoyed looking at lights because she doesn't seem to feel good in the car and just sleeps the whole time. The other dogs (Molly and Carter) enjoy looking out the windows the entire time. Maybe Lucy will enjoy it more next year.
Tomorrow is Christmas! We will be spending some time with relatives, exchanging gifts, and reflecting on the fact that God came to earth. It doesn't get much better than that!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
When in doubt, stick with what you know.
Another day of sleeping in, but I didn't have any trouble this morning. I had a headache last night, and I had it again this morning, but thankfully Advil works really well for my headaches (typically). Kristi and I cleaned the condo and then drove to North Forest Beach to eat lunch and walk out to the beach while we were there. The condo is at the beach too, but we figured we'd just do it everything all at once.
I always like to go to Coligny Plaza in North Forest Beach whenever I am in Hilton Head. My parents used to own an old house close by with many other families. The families bought the house incredibly cheap in the 80's when Hilton Head was not as touristy, and my parents bought a share while I was in high school or middle school...I forget which. Anyways, the property was second/third rowish, and became so valuable that most of the people wanted to sell a few years ago. My parents would have rather kept the house, but there were enough other families that said they would reinvest into another house farther back, so they weren't too upset. It was one of the few small old houses left, and the company that bought it completely tore it down and built one of the largest houses I have ever seen. Once the house sold I guess the other families decided they needed the money, and the other house thing just never panned out. That's why my parents bought the condo a little while later.
The weather was pretty nice today, and there was a good number of people walking on the beach. We just stood there for a little while, and then went to lunch. We ended up going to Wild Wings. After our experiences yesterday, we wanted to stick with something safe. I had Ranchilada wings, which are some of my favorite, right up there with the Honey Mustard at Guiseppi's. I consider myself somewhat of a wing connoisseur, as they are one of my favorite foods and I have eaten them at many restaurants.
After lunch we left for home, stopping to get Kristi some shoes that she decided she wanted on the way. Traffic was pretty bad on the way home, which is never very fun. I like to set my cruise control, put my feet up, and take a nap when I'm driving long trips. Kristi just screams when we are about to hit something and I wake up and adjust accordingly. There was no sleeping today though.
While on the way home we arranged for some socializing in the evening. MiMi's Japanese Steakhouse just opened a Simpsonville franchise, so we decided to eat there with my parents and the Blackwells, and then go back to my parents' house for presents afterwards. Also, our good friends the Hurleys were on their way to Tennessee tonight, so we arranged for them to stop by on their way. I listened to the Copeland CD a good bit on the drive, as I am becoming addicted to it...especially track #1. I love the smooth vocals, the interesting melodies, and the production. It's almost like they decided to produce the drums in a way that makes them sound like drum loops. The snare has this really woody/thuddy sound with tons of the actual snare wires in there. You should give the album a listen, it's called "You Are My Sunshine."
MiMi's was kind of different. Instead of a big restaurant, it was a small storefront with a small bar, two hibachi grill setups, and two regular tables. I guess they just aren't planning on getting much business in Simpsonville, but it seemed to work well because there were never people waiting but tables were usually full while we were there. They didn't have mustard sauce at this one, which was a big disappointment to me. I made a few jokes about it with the chef thinking that maybe they will get some because of the attention. They have it at the Woodruff Rd. one, I don't understand. We also couldn't use our free entree coupon because it is only good at the other one...that was lame.
When we got back to my parents' house the Hurleys had just arrived. Lucy didn't know whether to be excited to see us, or be nervous about the Hurleys when we came in. In case you weren't aware, she struggles with warming up to people she doesn't know, especially children. It was great to see the Hurleys, even though they couldn't stay for long. After they left we exchanged gifts with the Blackwells. They were our neighbors at our old house, and became very close family friends, not to mention I mowed their lawn for many years. A very interesting fact about them is that Phil is a golfer...but he is blind. Not only is he a golfer, but he has won the national USBPGA championship several times, and he is now the president of the association. He also is a great musician, and has played in several bands. They gave us a cool clock/thermometer that will show us the outside temperature. This is good because I routinely check the weather in the mornings for Kristi...now she can just look at the clock! Although, I guess it won't tell you the highs and lows for the day.
We left around 9:30 and came home to unpack. Oliver was extremely excited to see all of us, especially Lucy. Unfortunately Lucy was mostly just tired so she wasn't really in the playing mood. After getting things situated we got into bed, and I remembered to look up a performance I saw on Leno not too long ago. I am only slightly familiar with Sara Bareilles, but I saw this and thought it was one of the most amazing live TV performances I've ever seen. It's so flawless it's almost like they're lip-syncing. Enjoy:
Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson "Winter Song" Live on Jay Leno 12/9/08 from mmmc on Vimeo.
I also learned about a technique I was not aware of on some of my favorite forums called "parallel compression." This involves doubling a track (or input live) and severely compressing/limiting just one of them and then mixing them together. This makes so much sense, I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I am definitely going to play around with it at home, and I also think it would be really cool to try with the bass guitar at Southside. I have the bass input absolutely slammed with limiting; it would be fun to have another channel of the same signal not quite so processed. I guess I sort of do this with the kick already, although it involves two different microphones.
Tomorrow I think Kristi and I are going to go to the mall just to see the holiday rush. I love seeing the crazy people buying last minute gifts on Christmas Eve. After that it's off to work to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. Following the Christmas Even service Kristi, Lucy, and I will participate in the great Stoeber tradition of driving around to look at Christmas lights. There is this one house in Mauldin that has the most amazing lights you've ever seen. Mom and Dad said this year that they not only have a popcorn machine, they have a piano player as well. I am pretty excited!
I always like to go to Coligny Plaza in North Forest Beach whenever I am in Hilton Head. My parents used to own an old house close by with many other families. The families bought the house incredibly cheap in the 80's when Hilton Head was not as touristy, and my parents bought a share while I was in high school or middle school...I forget which. Anyways, the property was second/third rowish, and became so valuable that most of the people wanted to sell a few years ago. My parents would have rather kept the house, but there were enough other families that said they would reinvest into another house farther back, so they weren't too upset. It was one of the few small old houses left, and the company that bought it completely tore it down and built one of the largest houses I have ever seen. Once the house sold I guess the other families decided they needed the money, and the other house thing just never panned out. That's why my parents bought the condo a little while later.
The weather was pretty nice today, and there was a good number of people walking on the beach. We just stood there for a little while, and then went to lunch. We ended up going to Wild Wings. After our experiences yesterday, we wanted to stick with something safe. I had Ranchilada wings, which are some of my favorite, right up there with the Honey Mustard at Guiseppi's. I consider myself somewhat of a wing connoisseur, as they are one of my favorite foods and I have eaten them at many restaurants.
After lunch we left for home, stopping to get Kristi some shoes that she decided she wanted on the way. Traffic was pretty bad on the way home, which is never very fun. I like to set my cruise control, put my feet up, and take a nap when I'm driving long trips. Kristi just screams when we are about to hit something and I wake up and adjust accordingly. There was no sleeping today though.
While on the way home we arranged for some socializing in the evening. MiMi's Japanese Steakhouse just opened a Simpsonville franchise, so we decided to eat there with my parents and the Blackwells, and then go back to my parents' house for presents afterwards. Also, our good friends the Hurleys were on their way to Tennessee tonight, so we arranged for them to stop by on their way. I listened to the Copeland CD a good bit on the drive, as I am becoming addicted to it...especially track #1. I love the smooth vocals, the interesting melodies, and the production. It's almost like they decided to produce the drums in a way that makes them sound like drum loops. The snare has this really woody/thuddy sound with tons of the actual snare wires in there. You should give the album a listen, it's called "You Are My Sunshine."
MiMi's was kind of different. Instead of a big restaurant, it was a small storefront with a small bar, two hibachi grill setups, and two regular tables. I guess they just aren't planning on getting much business in Simpsonville, but it seemed to work well because there were never people waiting but tables were usually full while we were there. They didn't have mustard sauce at this one, which was a big disappointment to me. I made a few jokes about it with the chef thinking that maybe they will get some because of the attention. They have it at the Woodruff Rd. one, I don't understand. We also couldn't use our free entree coupon because it is only good at the other one...that was lame.
When we got back to my parents' house the Hurleys had just arrived. Lucy didn't know whether to be excited to see us, or be nervous about the Hurleys when we came in. In case you weren't aware, she struggles with warming up to people she doesn't know, especially children. It was great to see the Hurleys, even though they couldn't stay for long. After they left we exchanged gifts with the Blackwells. They were our neighbors at our old house, and became very close family friends, not to mention I mowed their lawn for many years. A very interesting fact about them is that Phil is a golfer...but he is blind. Not only is he a golfer, but he has won the national USBPGA championship several times, and he is now the president of the association. He also is a great musician, and has played in several bands. They gave us a cool clock/thermometer that will show us the outside temperature. This is good because I routinely check the weather in the mornings for Kristi...now she can just look at the clock! Although, I guess it won't tell you the highs and lows for the day.
We left around 9:30 and came home to unpack. Oliver was extremely excited to see all of us, especially Lucy. Unfortunately Lucy was mostly just tired so she wasn't really in the playing mood. After getting things situated we got into bed, and I remembered to look up a performance I saw on Leno not too long ago. I am only slightly familiar with Sara Bareilles, but I saw this and thought it was one of the most amazing live TV performances I've ever seen. It's so flawless it's almost like they're lip-syncing. Enjoy:
Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson "Winter Song" Live on Jay Leno 12/9/08 from mmmc on Vimeo.
I also learned about a technique I was not aware of on some of my favorite forums called "parallel compression." This involves doubling a track (or input live) and severely compressing/limiting just one of them and then mixing them together. This makes so much sense, I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I am definitely going to play around with it at home, and I also think it would be really cool to try with the bass guitar at Southside. I have the bass input absolutely slammed with limiting; it would be fun to have another channel of the same signal not quite so processed. I guess I sort of do this with the kick already, although it involves two different microphones.
Tomorrow I think Kristi and I are going to go to the mall just to see the holiday rush. I love seeing the crazy people buying last minute gifts on Christmas Eve. After that it's off to work to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. Following the Christmas Even service Kristi, Lucy, and I will participate in the great Stoeber tradition of driving around to look at Christmas lights. There is this one house in Mauldin that has the most amazing lights you've ever seen. Mom and Dad said this year that they not only have a popcorn machine, they have a piano player as well. I am pretty excited!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Somehow food always seems to be an important part of my post.
I had a hard time sleeping in this morning. I am probably just used to Kristi leaving early and the pets waking me up, but we had agreed that sleeping in was a priority on this trip, so I stuck it out until 10. Hard life, I know.
Kristi and I took our time getting ready and then left to do some shopping. I enjoy shopping for the first little bit, and then I get progressively more tired and grumpy after that. We ate lunch at this Mexican restaurant called Jalepenos that we remembered being extra tasty and cheap last time we were here, but it was a big disappointment today. Kristi said her food wasn't very good, and they gave me a beef quesadilla instead of chicken. I didn't feel like telling them and then having to hurry through my meal by the time they cooked me a new one, so I just ate the one they gave me even though I didn't really enjoy it. After lunch there was lots more shopping.
One very exciting thing did happen during the shopping trip. While driving I saw a little music store and remember that one of the Blackheart dealers I had seen on their website was in Hilton Head, SC. I stopped in to see if they had any Blackheart amps, and sure enough they had the Little Giant (3/5 watt) halfstack. I dropped Kristi off at the next store and came back to play with it for a little while. It sounded really nice. It was much cleaner then I expected, and started to break up with single coils once you got past about 80% on the volume. I still am pretty sure I'll stick with the Fender...but I don't know, I did really like the sound.
Once we were through shopping we stopped back at the condo for me to change and grab the camera, and then we drove to Harbour Town on Sea Pines Plantation (sorry I spelled it wrong yesterday). I enjoy going to Harbour Town and seeing the yachts whenever I am in Hilton Head. We don't often eat dinner there, so I wanted to do that tonight. The place was extremely deserted since it is the off season, and many of the shops were closed, but there were plenty of yachts to look at. I wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant underneath the lighthouse, but it was closed, so we went to the Crazy Crab. It wasn't really very good. We got a bucket of assorted seafood to share, and neither of us loved it. I think Kristi and I just both have a hard time getting into seafood...and I am hoping that oyster doesn't come back to haunt me. I am a big texture person when it comes to food, and that oyster was about the worst texture I have ever had...except for maybe Jack Fruit, which I had in Bangladesh. But lets be honest, no food will probably come close to some of the things I ate in Bangladesh.
Later Kristi and I laughed about how today was probably one of our worst "food" days since we've been married, and it was on vacation. Oh well, it was still enjoyable, despite the food choices, and I was able to take a few good pictures in Harbour Town:
After dinner we drove around and looked at some Christmas lights, and then headed back to the condo. We thought about doing the movie thing, but there weren't any I was excited about in the theater, and Kristi didn't want to rent one so we decided to pass. Thankfully there is always HGTV to watch, which always delivers quality programming.
We may leave tommorrow night instead of Wednesday morning. We both were thinking that might be better than feeling rushed on Christmas Eve day, and it isn't like we have much to do around here. I think tommorrow we will take a walk on the beach, find somewhere good for lunch, and then possibly head home. My only stipulation is that we eat a nice dinner on the way.
Kristi and I took our time getting ready and then left to do some shopping. I enjoy shopping for the first little bit, and then I get progressively more tired and grumpy after that. We ate lunch at this Mexican restaurant called Jalepenos that we remembered being extra tasty and cheap last time we were here, but it was a big disappointment today. Kristi said her food wasn't very good, and they gave me a beef quesadilla instead of chicken. I didn't feel like telling them and then having to hurry through my meal by the time they cooked me a new one, so I just ate the one they gave me even though I didn't really enjoy it. After lunch there was lots more shopping.
One very exciting thing did happen during the shopping trip. While driving I saw a little music store and remember that one of the Blackheart dealers I had seen on their website was in Hilton Head, SC. I stopped in to see if they had any Blackheart amps, and sure enough they had the Little Giant (3/5 watt) halfstack. I dropped Kristi off at the next store and came back to play with it for a little while. It sounded really nice. It was much cleaner then I expected, and started to break up with single coils once you got past about 80% on the volume. I still am pretty sure I'll stick with the Fender...but I don't know, I did really like the sound.
Once we were through shopping we stopped back at the condo for me to change and grab the camera, and then we drove to Harbour Town on Sea Pines Plantation (sorry I spelled it wrong yesterday). I enjoy going to Harbour Town and seeing the yachts whenever I am in Hilton Head. We don't often eat dinner there, so I wanted to do that tonight. The place was extremely deserted since it is the off season, and many of the shops were closed, but there were plenty of yachts to look at. I wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant underneath the lighthouse, but it was closed, so we went to the Crazy Crab. It wasn't really very good. We got a bucket of assorted seafood to share, and neither of us loved it. I think Kristi and I just both have a hard time getting into seafood...and I am hoping that oyster doesn't come back to haunt me. I am a big texture person when it comes to food, and that oyster was about the worst texture I have ever had...except for maybe Jack Fruit, which I had in Bangladesh. But lets be honest, no food will probably come close to some of the things I ate in Bangladesh.
Later Kristi and I laughed about how today was probably one of our worst "food" days since we've been married, and it was on vacation. Oh well, it was still enjoyable, despite the food choices, and I was able to take a few good pictures in Harbour Town:
After dinner we drove around and looked at some Christmas lights, and then headed back to the condo. We thought about doing the movie thing, but there weren't any I was excited about in the theater, and Kristi didn't want to rent one so we decided to pass. Thankfully there is always HGTV to watch, which always delivers quality programming.We may leave tommorrow night instead of Wednesday morning. We both were thinking that might be better than feeling rushed on Christmas Eve day, and it isn't like we have much to do around here. I think tommorrow we will take a walk on the beach, find somewhere good for lunch, and then possibly head home. My only stipulation is that we eat a nice dinner on the way.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
I'm really trying to cut down on how many times I say "really" in my blog...really.
Ah Sunday. The only day I have to get up and stay up before 7 on a regular basis. This morning I was pretty awake, which was nice. Lucy is always a little confused on Sunday as to why I am waking her up to go out instead of vice versa...sometimes I even get a courtesy growl when she's extra tired. She's such a nice dog.
Church today went really well all around. First of all, I enjoyed the videos, and I especially enjoyed the annoucements video..enough about video stuff, now onto sound. On Wednesday I was a little discouraged with the sound, and I wasn't sure that I would be able to do much about it. I just counted in my head, and we had at least 28 live microphones on stage, many of which were condensers, so it was extremely hard to control feedback and also not have it sound washed out. Friday I spent a good bit of my time changing mic placements, and then I rang out the choir mics to a point where I could turn the faders all the way up without any sustained feedback. I also decided to run the center cluster 1 dB quieter than I usually do, and the stereo and sub feeds 2 dB quieter, as well as remove the monitor fills behind the choir (sorry if you couldn't hear much back row). Everything seemed to help, because I ended up getting a pretty decent sound. The only thing I couldn't figure out during the warm up rehearsal was a weird feedback loop I would get that was connected to any sibilance from Matt. I tried gating every mic I could and EQing his mic, but nothing helped that much. Right before they left the stage as he was giving last minute instructions I finally figured out that it was because of James's vocal mic, which was all the way across the stage, and not near any monitors or other mics even. I just turned his gain down a tad and notched out some 4-6k, and that solved the problem perfectly. I wouldn't say the sound was the best, but it definitely was decent, and the choir sounded great.
I have also enjoyed the messages that past few weeks, which have centered around Christ breaking into our world and then inviting us to join Him in what He is doing. The messages have been very challenging to me, which has caused me to do some thinking. I have never made New Year's resolutions before, but I think that this year I am going to write down some things that I would like to be true of me for the rest of my life and put them somewhere where I can constantly remind myself. Also, I'm going to start running the second week in January...but that is completely unrelated.
One of my closest friends, Daniel Peek, came by in the second service and invited me to his birthday lunch with his family and fiance. He lives in Charleston, so it was great to see him...especially since it was his birthday. I talked to Kristi and we decided to go. The lunch was at Miyabi's, which was even more incentive. It was great to eat lunch with him, I am really excited for him and Ellen to get married this summer...they are going to be a great couple.
After lunch Kristi and I quickly stopped by the house to load up our bags and get Oliver situated, and then we took Lucy to my parents' house to stay while we are in Hilton Head. They are keeping my sister's dog Carter for a few days too, so Lucy is in dog heaven. Not only does she love Molly and Carter, but my parents are some of the select few humans that she loves, so I don't even think she misses us that much while we're gone. She doesn't get to sleep in their bed though, so I guess there are some drawbacks.
We talked to my parents for a little bit and then started our drive to Hilton Head. I thoroughly enjoy driving on trips...something about unadulterated time listening to music and talking to my wife is just completely enjoyable. We also listened to a Piper sermon on the way. It was alright, but a little dry, and I was getting a little sleepy so I was glad when it was over and I could turn up the jams.
We got into Hilton Head around 8 and went to Giuseppi's, one of our favorite pizza places to eat. Tonight we just got some honey mustard wings and fries, and it was delicious as usual. We shopped at TJ Maxx after that and then came back to my parent's condo to relax for the rest of the night. I am excited about having nothing to do but hang out, read, and eat the next two days.
Tomorrow should be...pretty much like I just said. I think we are going to the outlets in the morning and then maybe going to Sea Pines in the afternoon to go to South Beach Marina and then end up in Harbor Town for dinner. If you've never been to Hilton Head, it is a great vaction destination. It doesn't seem super commercialized, but there are still things to do, and the beach is beautiful. When we did our "favorite place on earth" icebreaker in the worship team meeting, the other place I thought of saying other than Clemson was Hilton Head...but if you remember, I caved into the pressure of not sounding weird and said Hawaii. Too bad it's too cold to get in the ocean this time of year...or is it?
Church today went really well all around. First of all, I enjoyed the videos, and I especially enjoyed the annoucements video..enough about video stuff, now onto sound. On Wednesday I was a little discouraged with the sound, and I wasn't sure that I would be able to do much about it. I just counted in my head, and we had at least 28 live microphones on stage, many of which were condensers, so it was extremely hard to control feedback and also not have it sound washed out. Friday I spent a good bit of my time changing mic placements, and then I rang out the choir mics to a point where I could turn the faders all the way up without any sustained feedback. I also decided to run the center cluster 1 dB quieter than I usually do, and the stereo and sub feeds 2 dB quieter, as well as remove the monitor fills behind the choir (sorry if you couldn't hear much back row). Everything seemed to help, because I ended up getting a pretty decent sound. The only thing I couldn't figure out during the warm up rehearsal was a weird feedback loop I would get that was connected to any sibilance from Matt. I tried gating every mic I could and EQing his mic, but nothing helped that much. Right before they left the stage as he was giving last minute instructions I finally figured out that it was because of James's vocal mic, which was all the way across the stage, and not near any monitors or other mics even. I just turned his gain down a tad and notched out some 4-6k, and that solved the problem perfectly. I wouldn't say the sound was the best, but it definitely was decent, and the choir sounded great.
I have also enjoyed the messages that past few weeks, which have centered around Christ breaking into our world and then inviting us to join Him in what He is doing. The messages have been very challenging to me, which has caused me to do some thinking. I have never made New Year's resolutions before, but I think that this year I am going to write down some things that I would like to be true of me for the rest of my life and put them somewhere where I can constantly remind myself. Also, I'm going to start running the second week in January...but that is completely unrelated.
One of my closest friends, Daniel Peek, came by in the second service and invited me to his birthday lunch with his family and fiance. He lives in Charleston, so it was great to see him...especially since it was his birthday. I talked to Kristi and we decided to go. The lunch was at Miyabi's, which was even more incentive. It was great to eat lunch with him, I am really excited for him and Ellen to get married this summer...they are going to be a great couple.
After lunch Kristi and I quickly stopped by the house to load up our bags and get Oliver situated, and then we took Lucy to my parents' house to stay while we are in Hilton Head. They are keeping my sister's dog Carter for a few days too, so Lucy is in dog heaven. Not only does she love Molly and Carter, but my parents are some of the select few humans that she loves, so I don't even think she misses us that much while we're gone. She doesn't get to sleep in their bed though, so I guess there are some drawbacks.
We talked to my parents for a little bit and then started our drive to Hilton Head. I thoroughly enjoy driving on trips...something about unadulterated time listening to music and talking to my wife is just completely enjoyable. We also listened to a Piper sermon on the way. It was alright, but a little dry, and I was getting a little sleepy so I was glad when it was over and I could turn up the jams.
We got into Hilton Head around 8 and went to Giuseppi's, one of our favorite pizza places to eat. Tonight we just got some honey mustard wings and fries, and it was delicious as usual. We shopped at TJ Maxx after that and then came back to my parent's condo to relax for the rest of the night. I am excited about having nothing to do but hang out, read, and eat the next two days.
Tomorrow should be...pretty much like I just said. I think we are going to the outlets in the morning and then maybe going to Sea Pines in the afternoon to go to South Beach Marina and then end up in Harbor Town for dinner. If you've never been to Hilton Head, it is a great vaction destination. It doesn't seem super commercialized, but there are still things to do, and the beach is beautiful. When we did our "favorite place on earth" icebreaker in the worship team meeting, the other place I thought of saying other than Clemson was Hilton Head...but if you remember, I caved into the pressure of not sounding weird and said Hawaii. Too bad it's too cold to get in the ocean this time of year...or is it?
If you saw one of your neighbors washing cars in the rain, with no shoes, in a t-shirt, in the month of December...would you be concerned?
Today was a pretty busy day! I woke up a little before 9:30. They pets were up playing and Kristi had started cleaning the house, so I figured I should stop being lazy in bed...well kind of. The first thing I did was finish up the design stuff while lying in bed, so I guess that's pretty lazy. I was done with that around 10:30 and so I got up and took a shower. I had a few people left to buy gifts for, so I said goodbye to Kristi after I got dressed and took off to finish the shopping.
I expected the roads to be ridiculously busy today, being so close to Christmas and all, but really it wasn't bad at all. First I went downtown to get a giftcard, and then I drove to Greenridge to stop at a few stores. One of the places I stopped was Best Buy, because I needed to buy a flash drive for my dad. He let me borrow his a few weeks ago, but Oliver knocked it off of my nightstand one day and Lucy chewed on it for a little while. They work together like that sometimes...especially with Christmas ornaments. It's kind of weird, the drive is recognized by the computer, but there is nothing on the drive. And I don't mean there's no files, I mean there's no bytes. I think there's a possibility that I could get it formatted again, but they are cheap and I doubt my dad wants his back with teeth marks in it. After Greenridge, I stopped at Target to return an item for Kristi, and then made it home by 1:30.
Once I got home I ate lunch, took Lucy for a walk, and then helped wrap a few presents. At that point it was about 3. I had planned to wash cars today, but I knew we were going to a movie with the Boyds at 7, and that we would have to eat before hand, so I decided I would just clean the insides and see if there was time left to do a quick wash. I finished all the vacuuming and Armor All-ing the insides at about 4:30, and since we weren't meeting for dinner until 6, I decided to wash the outsides too. Kristi switched the time to 5:30 in the meantime...thanks alot Kristi...but I was able to rush through it and do a half decent job. It was raining outside, but the cars were so dirty, and I hate to have my schedule messed up by rain anyways. It also wasn't that cold, so I was barefoot with a t-shirt on. I tried not to make eye contact with neighbors as they drove past because I didn't want to see the looks of laughter and disbelief on their faces.
I finished washing the cars at 5:07, ran inside, took a shower, got dressed, and we were out the door by 5:18...pretty impressive. Kristi suggested we eat at Oriental House, which of course was very exciting for me. Interestingly enough, when Chad walked in he told a waitress how many we had, so they sat us and did the whole waiting on the table thing. Every other time I've been there I've just ordered at the front, so it was kind of nice. They seem to be service oriented like that, because one time when I was there they ran out of Diet Coke in the fountain drink machine, so one of the ladies brought around bottles of it to anyone that needed some. My fried rice was top notch like usual, and they remembered to leave off the pees this time (I spelled that wrong accidentally, but then decided it communicates my thoughts on the vegetable pretty well).
We went to see the new movie "7 Pounds" tonight with Will Smith. He has become one of my favorite actors after seeing him do such a good job in such a diverse set of movies. Since this movie is relatively new, I will avoid spoiling it and just say that it was one of the best movies I remember seeing in a theater. I am not really a movie person, so I tend to be pretty picky, but I really loved it. By the way, did you know they let you take drinks into the movie theater now? Weird...
We left the theater, stopped at Barnes and Nobles to get some books, and then came home. Once we got home we packed for our vacation, and then got into bed. I spent some time downloading some more of my honeymoon pictures off of my Webshots tonight. My hard drive crashed a little while ago and the only things I didn't have backed up that were really important were my honeymoon pictures...but I don't really want to talk about it. At least I have most of them on my Webshots...it just takes a long time to download them one by one. I also am updating my Ipod for the trip, which is exciting. It has been sitting in my center console with a dead battery for over 2 months. I don't know why, I think it's because I've bought so many new CD's lately that I haven't missed it.
Speaking of new CD's, I bought the new Copeland album today at Best Buy. Imagine my excitement when I saw that the producer was none other than Aaron Sprinkle. I really like the album, although I don't understand why most of my friends like this one but not the last one. They are extremely similar in my opinion. My favorite song so far is #6.
Tomorrow is going to be a good day. I'm running sound and then we will be leaving for Hilton Head. As I grow older I understand more and more why adults get so excited about vacations.
I expected the roads to be ridiculously busy today, being so close to Christmas and all, but really it wasn't bad at all. First I went downtown to get a giftcard, and then I drove to Greenridge to stop at a few stores. One of the places I stopped was Best Buy, because I needed to buy a flash drive for my dad. He let me borrow his a few weeks ago, but Oliver knocked it off of my nightstand one day and Lucy chewed on it for a little while. They work together like that sometimes...especially with Christmas ornaments. It's kind of weird, the drive is recognized by the computer, but there is nothing on the drive. And I don't mean there's no files, I mean there's no bytes. I think there's a possibility that I could get it formatted again, but they are cheap and I doubt my dad wants his back with teeth marks in it. After Greenridge, I stopped at Target to return an item for Kristi, and then made it home by 1:30.
Once I got home I ate lunch, took Lucy for a walk, and then helped wrap a few presents. At that point it was about 3. I had planned to wash cars today, but I knew we were going to a movie with the Boyds at 7, and that we would have to eat before hand, so I decided I would just clean the insides and see if there was time left to do a quick wash. I finished all the vacuuming and Armor All-ing the insides at about 4:30, and since we weren't meeting for dinner until 6, I decided to wash the outsides too. Kristi switched the time to 5:30 in the meantime...thanks alot Kristi...but I was able to rush through it and do a half decent job. It was raining outside, but the cars were so dirty, and I hate to have my schedule messed up by rain anyways. It also wasn't that cold, so I was barefoot with a t-shirt on. I tried not to make eye contact with neighbors as they drove past because I didn't want to see the looks of laughter and disbelief on their faces.
I finished washing the cars at 5:07, ran inside, took a shower, got dressed, and we were out the door by 5:18...pretty impressive. Kristi suggested we eat at Oriental House, which of course was very exciting for me. Interestingly enough, when Chad walked in he told a waitress how many we had, so they sat us and did the whole waiting on the table thing. Every other time I've been there I've just ordered at the front, so it was kind of nice. They seem to be service oriented like that, because one time when I was there they ran out of Diet Coke in the fountain drink machine, so one of the ladies brought around bottles of it to anyone that needed some. My fried rice was top notch like usual, and they remembered to leave off the pees this time (I spelled that wrong accidentally, but then decided it communicates my thoughts on the vegetable pretty well).
We went to see the new movie "7 Pounds" tonight with Will Smith. He has become one of my favorite actors after seeing him do such a good job in such a diverse set of movies. Since this movie is relatively new, I will avoid spoiling it and just say that it was one of the best movies I remember seeing in a theater. I am not really a movie person, so I tend to be pretty picky, but I really loved it. By the way, did you know they let you take drinks into the movie theater now? Weird...
We left the theater, stopped at Barnes and Nobles to get some books, and then came home. Once we got home we packed for our vacation, and then got into bed. I spent some time downloading some more of my honeymoon pictures off of my Webshots tonight. My hard drive crashed a little while ago and the only things I didn't have backed up that were really important were my honeymoon pictures...but I don't really want to talk about it. At least I have most of them on my Webshots...it just takes a long time to download them one by one. I also am updating my Ipod for the trip, which is exciting. It has been sitting in my center console with a dead battery for over 2 months. I don't know why, I think it's because I've bought so many new CD's lately that I haven't missed it.
Speaking of new CD's, I bought the new Copeland album today at Best Buy. Imagine my excitement when I saw that the producer was none other than Aaron Sprinkle. I really like the album, although I don't understand why most of my friends like this one but not the last one. They are extremely similar in my opinion. My favorite song so far is #6.
Tomorrow is going to be a good day. I'm running sound and then we will be leaving for Hilton Head. As I grow older I understand more and more why adults get so excited about vacations.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Billy Ray Cyrus appreciates this post...
I didn't really feel that great this morning or really all day. I felt kind of achy...but not so much breaky, at least not my heart anyways. But, I had an appointment to get my car's oil changed at 9, so I got up around 8:15 and got Lucy situated before heading out the door. Meineke has been running a 16.99 oil change special forever, so that is where I've been going. They also brush the corrosion off of my battery for free, which is nice. The other places always want to charge me to do that. I guess it isn't as bad now anyways since I have a garage...probably my favorite thing about owning a house really.
After getting that done I came home for a little bit, took Lucy for a short walk, and then left to run some errands and eat lunch with my friend Jay. He called me while I was on my way to tell me his boss was being a little weird and he would have to bail on me. That kind of left me not knowing what to do. I called my mom but she couldn't eat, so then I thought about trying some new local place by myself, but I didn't really feel like looking for a place. I ended up eating at McDonald's since I've never been there before. It's this fast food restaurant, I don't know if you've heard of it? I really regretted eating there. It was one of those meals where I finished and thought..."I probably should have just skipped lunch." After that I did some Christmas shopping and then came home. I only have two people left, and I know what I'm getting them, so I am pretty much done.
When I came home I worked on the design stuff for a while. I tried some new ideas and then emailed them out, which took me a little while. Once I was done with that I remembered I needed ingredients for the birthday cheesecake, so I took a quick trip to BiLo to get that stuff. Philadelphia cream cheese was on sale for cheaper than the BiLo brand, so this one should be even better than usual. When I got back it was like Lucy didn't remember going on a walk in the morning, and she was driving me nuts, so I gave in and took her for a longer walk. That seemed to appease her because then she slept when we got back.
I tried to do a little recording then, but it took a while to set up and Kristi got home in the meantime, so I stopped what I was doing and we left for dinner. She agreed to go to Oriental House, which was really exciting because I hadn't been able to go there Wednesday like I was supposed to. The girl that took our order was new though, and there were peas in my rice, and it also wasn't spicy...that was a little disappointing. I didn't complain because it was still good, and I don't like to be the picky type. My friend Jesse used to work at Starbucks and always said he hated how the people who came in every morning could tell if the coffee wasn't the right temperature and would complain about it. I always told him that I completely understood. If I got coffee every day, I would imagine it would be very important to my day, and I would probably want it to be just right if I was going to spend my money on it. He lived in China for a while though and is kind of into the whole collectivist culture thing, so he doesn't like it. I still pretty much never complain about my food, but I'm just saying I understand.
After eating we went to the NHC nursing home off of Pelham Road. Kristi's grandmother is in the rehabilitation wing for a few weeks until her fractures heal and she is able to get up and down again. It was good to see her, she looks tired but seems like she is doing well considering. I told her I'd bring her a piece of cheesecake next time we come.
Going there brought back some memories for me. My Poppop Stoeber had a stroke my senior year of high school and was there for a few weeks afterwards. Typing that, I can't believe it was that long ago. It is a really nice nursing home, but it was hard seeing him there, especially because he never really recovered. He remained paralyzed and unable to speak and was moved from there to another not as nice nursing home for a little while before he passed away. I just remember it being really hard to visit him because he would often sit there and cry and he couldn't talk to us. Every time I hear that song "What Sarah Said" by Deathcab for Cutie I think of my grandfather. Probably the greatest line in the song is the first one, which is:
Anyways, it's about being in an emergency room, and there is kind of a climax line which is, "Love is watching someone die." Hearing that makes me think of families I have seen watch loved ones go through illnesses, and specifically makes me think of my grandfather.
Anyways, after visiting Kristi's grandmother we came home and I got started baking another cheesecake. Once again it went pretty well, so I am excited to have my family try some, especially since the Thanksgiving cheesecake disaster.
We also took a family picture so we can send it to my aunt with her present. Here it is:
Also, here's a picture I took of our Christmas tree the other night. It didn't look very good so I did some weird stuff to it in photoshop so it would look more intentionally bad:
And last, Kristi took some cool pictures of the pets the other night. This one isn't exactly focused, but either way it's one of my favorites:
Tomorrow will be quite a busy day. I work until 3ish, then I will come home to get Oliver and take him to the vet, and then we are going to Bonefish for Jenny's birthday. I ordered one of her presents on newegg a while ago, but they are having some issues with DHL, so it hasn't gotten here yet. I guess we'll just have to wrap a picture of that present if it doesn't get here tomorrow.
After getting that done I came home for a little bit, took Lucy for a short walk, and then left to run some errands and eat lunch with my friend Jay. He called me while I was on my way to tell me his boss was being a little weird and he would have to bail on me. That kind of left me not knowing what to do. I called my mom but she couldn't eat, so then I thought about trying some new local place by myself, but I didn't really feel like looking for a place. I ended up eating at McDonald's since I've never been there before. It's this fast food restaurant, I don't know if you've heard of it? I really regretted eating there. It was one of those meals where I finished and thought..."I probably should have just skipped lunch." After that I did some Christmas shopping and then came home. I only have two people left, and I know what I'm getting them, so I am pretty much done.
When I came home I worked on the design stuff for a while. I tried some new ideas and then emailed them out, which took me a little while. Once I was done with that I remembered I needed ingredients for the birthday cheesecake, so I took a quick trip to BiLo to get that stuff. Philadelphia cream cheese was on sale for cheaper than the BiLo brand, so this one should be even better than usual. When I got back it was like Lucy didn't remember going on a walk in the morning, and she was driving me nuts, so I gave in and took her for a longer walk. That seemed to appease her because then she slept when we got back.
I tried to do a little recording then, but it took a while to set up and Kristi got home in the meantime, so I stopped what I was doing and we left for dinner. She agreed to go to Oriental House, which was really exciting because I hadn't been able to go there Wednesday like I was supposed to. The girl that took our order was new though, and there were peas in my rice, and it also wasn't spicy...that was a little disappointing. I didn't complain because it was still good, and I don't like to be the picky type. My friend Jesse used to work at Starbucks and always said he hated how the people who came in every morning could tell if the coffee wasn't the right temperature and would complain about it. I always told him that I completely understood. If I got coffee every day, I would imagine it would be very important to my day, and I would probably want it to be just right if I was going to spend my money on it. He lived in China for a while though and is kind of into the whole collectivist culture thing, so he doesn't like it. I still pretty much never complain about my food, but I'm just saying I understand.
After eating we went to the NHC nursing home off of Pelham Road. Kristi's grandmother is in the rehabilitation wing for a few weeks until her fractures heal and she is able to get up and down again. It was good to see her, she looks tired but seems like she is doing well considering. I told her I'd bring her a piece of cheesecake next time we come.
Going there brought back some memories for me. My Poppop Stoeber had a stroke my senior year of high school and was there for a few weeks afterwards. Typing that, I can't believe it was that long ago. It is a really nice nursing home, but it was hard seeing him there, especially because he never really recovered. He remained paralyzed and unable to speak and was moved from there to another not as nice nursing home for a little while before he passed away. I just remember it being really hard to visit him because he would often sit there and cry and he couldn't talk to us. Every time I hear that song "What Sarah Said" by Deathcab for Cutie I think of my grandfather. Probably the greatest line in the song is the first one, which is:
"And it came to me then, that every plan
is a tiny prayer to father time"
Anyways, it's about being in an emergency room, and there is kind of a climax line which is, "Love is watching someone die." Hearing that makes me think of families I have seen watch loved ones go through illnesses, and specifically makes me think of my grandfather.
Anyways, after visiting Kristi's grandmother we came home and I got started baking another cheesecake. Once again it went pretty well, so I am excited to have my family try some, especially since the Thanksgiving cheesecake disaster.
We also took a family picture so we can send it to my aunt with her present. Here it is:
Also, here's a picture I took of our Christmas tree the other night. It didn't look very good so I did some weird stuff to it in photoshop so it would look more intentionally bad:And last, Kristi took some cool pictures of the pets the other night. This one isn't exactly focused, but either way it's one of my favorites:Tomorrow will be quite a busy day. I work until 3ish, then I will come home to get Oliver and take him to the vet, and then we are going to Bonefish for Jenny's birthday. I ordered one of her presents on newegg a while ago, but they are having some issues with DHL, so it hasn't gotten here yet. I guess we'll just have to wrap a picture of that present if it doesn't get here tomorrow.Salsarita's is really just a poor imitation of Moe's...
This morning was kind of a weird one. I woke up around 7 when Kristi was getting ready to leave so I could get her cheesecake on a portable plastic thing for her and then I took Lucy out. The cheesecake did turn out well, so that was good. My sister wants one for her birthday celebration on Friday night, so I guess I'll be making another tomorrow.
Anyways, I came back in and felt pretty awake, so I checked email/facebook and watched sportscenter for a little while. Eventually i drifted off to sleep, and then woke up again around 10 and got ready for the day. My lunch with Nate was cancelled since he is still sick, so I considered calling some other people to meet up for lunch but eventually decided to stick around the house. I enjoy eating lunch with people and talking, but unfortunately I have started that tradition with so many that it's hard to keep up with everyone now. Hopefully no one is offended.
I wasn't going to take Lucy for her walk, but she kept pulling on my jeans, so we went on a short one. When we got back she was really worn out, I guess because of her sickness, so she slept the rest of the morning. I made some early lunch and then started working on the design stuff again. I have not really been feeling all that creative the past two days, and I don't know if I love the two things I have designed. Part of the problem is I don't really know how to do my own illustrations so I am limited to what stock images I can find around the web. It would be cool to learn all that stuff, but I don't really plan on using it extensively in the future, and it doesn't really get me all that excited.
I finished working on that stuff around 1:30 and decided to leave for work a little early. There was still a ton to clean up from Jingle Jazz, so I figured I could use the extra time. Joe wasn't feeling well, so I was there pretty much by myself all day. I told Matt and James to let me know when they went to dinner so I could have someone to go with.
I keep the big lights off in the sanctuary to save money and just work with the fluorescent stage lights on, so it's generally pretty dark. When James came in to tell me it was time to go, he said all he could see was a silhouette. I told him that I'm kind of like Quasimoto in there, just running around all hunched over with no friends, doing my job in the dark. I thought that was a pretty funny comparison.
We ate at Salsarita's and Matt asked me a bunch of questions about my last job in Columbia. I felt like I was talking the whole time because of all the questions, which makes me feel really uncomfortable after a while. I used to do this thing in high school and college where I would try to go whole days without telling any stories about myself. Usually I did this when I felt like I had started to be too self-focused. It is extremely hard, but it really helps you take an interest into other people and learn how to ask questions...you should try it sometime. I haven't done it lately...maybe I should.
When we got back I helped Joe (who showed up to help with rehearsal) do some stuff with choir rehearsal and then I went down to get ready for the big rehearsal. Things were kind of a mess sound wise tonight. With orchestra and choir, there is just tons of mics on stage and I really struggled to get anything to sound decent. Everything just sounds washed out and harsh. Not to mention it was really hard to get the choir up loud enough without feedback. I have the Audix micro condenser in the middle right now, but it is giving me some problems, so I think I'm going to switch it out for one of the SM81's. I used those last time, and they worked pretty well. I couldn't get the orchestra up as much as I usually do with out creating bleed and feedback issues, so I think they'll just have to be more in the background this week.
One of the ladies playing flute brought some Hershey's chocolate for the tech guys wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper with a little thank you note on it. I don't know why, but that just seemed like one of the nicest things I've ever seen, especially since I don't even know her. Somehow she knew that I was going into nursing too. I think I'm going to find her address on Friday and send her a little thank you note. Thank you notes are underrated, and yet I am still often too much of a slacker to send one. I bought one for someone months ago and it has just sat in my car since then...sad really.
After rehearsal I came home and talked to Kristi a while, and then I got into bed. I love having Lucy and Oliver sleep in the bed, even though it's supposedly not the best thing to do. It's just kind of nice having your wife and your pets asleep beside you while you go to sleep. I think people without pets are really missing out. Sure sometimes they mess up things (like the time Lucy chewed up my favorite Sennheiser headphones), but it's definitely worth every bit of it. The other day I was thinking about why people like their pets so much, and I decided that it's probably because it's the closest we get to feeling unconditional love on this side of eternity. I know I'm anthropomorphizing because pets act on instinct and don't really have emotions and all that, but still you understand what I mean. I know too that we feel God's unconditional love on this side of eternity, but I guess I'm talking more about physical breathing beings. I feel like I'm throwing way too many qualifications out there, but that's generally what I do.
On another note, I started reading this book called Thriving as an Artist in the Church by Rory Noland, who also wrote The Heart of an Artist, which I hear is good. I saw the book on Matt's bookshelf and asked him to borrow it, because the title really interested me. I think I was interested because lately I've been feeling like sometimes the church seems to suppress creativity and artistry either because of fear of new things, fear of "too much production," having things not work well, or whatever else. I was talking about it with Trenton Stokes at lunch the other day. As a pastor, he was talking about a worship leader not being so artistic that he/she loses touch with the congregation. I certainly agree with him in principle, but the thought also scares me because I feel like it can also be abused to a point where worship leaders and other artists lose a great deal of artistic control and creativity. I definitely think the church should lead in ingenuity and overall awesomeness when it comes to the arts, especially because we are directly using it as a form of worship. While I would say that art can't be "Christian" because it isn't a human with a soul, and there is nothing inherently more worshipful about a song with "Christian" lyrics than a painting that someone painted as an act of worship, art that comes from the church is unarguably recognized as "Christian" because of it's context.
The book has been really good so far, and I am not even that far into it. Alot of the sections bring a good bit of clarity to the way I function and think. I don't think it was until I became Performing Arts major that I began to realize what an artistic mindset I have, and this has helped me realize many things about myself that I didn't before. One thing that has stuck out to me in the book is the point he makes about constantly challenging yourself artistically so you don't lose passion and become bored. I definitely have struggled with this after moving back from Columbia. He makes the point that you need to be ready in case God presents an opportunity to use your gifts.
Lately I have been a little discouraged in this area. I am not really sure if God will ever give me another opportunity to use my musical gifts in the church on as much of a day to day basis as I did in Columbia. In one sense, I have such a passion for music, and for developing others as part of a worship ministry team...but in another sense I believe that if God never calls me back to that, I have to be OK with that. No one would argue that if I were to be in a terrible accident and lose a limb I would have to be satisfied with what God chose for me, so in the same way I don't think that just because I have the passion for certain things that I do that God will automatically call me to do that for the rest of my life. There may be other things that he wants to use me in. I am rambling a little, but this is just a picture of the things that go through my head. Disagree with any of it? Leave a comment if you do...
I think I'll end there for today. When I started my blog I mainly wanted to keep a record of what I do from day to day, but I have found that it is a great place for me to ramble about my thoughts. I don't think many people would care to sit and listen to me talk about all the sound/music/God thoughts that go on inside my head, so in a way it helps me get them out without having to put someone through that. If you made it all the way through, I commend you once again.
So anyways, tomorrow should be a pretty good day. I'm taking my car to get it's oil changed, then I'll finish up some Christmas shopping, and then I'm going to eat with my friend Jay, which I am really excited about. I ordered my sister's birthday present last week and it hasn't come in the mail yet...hope it gets here by Friday!
Anyways, I came back in and felt pretty awake, so I checked email/facebook and watched sportscenter for a little while. Eventually i drifted off to sleep, and then woke up again around 10 and got ready for the day. My lunch with Nate was cancelled since he is still sick, so I considered calling some other people to meet up for lunch but eventually decided to stick around the house. I enjoy eating lunch with people and talking, but unfortunately I have started that tradition with so many that it's hard to keep up with everyone now. Hopefully no one is offended.
I wasn't going to take Lucy for her walk, but she kept pulling on my jeans, so we went on a short one. When we got back she was really worn out, I guess because of her sickness, so she slept the rest of the morning. I made some early lunch and then started working on the design stuff again. I have not really been feeling all that creative the past two days, and I don't know if I love the two things I have designed. Part of the problem is I don't really know how to do my own illustrations so I am limited to what stock images I can find around the web. It would be cool to learn all that stuff, but I don't really plan on using it extensively in the future, and it doesn't really get me all that excited.
I finished working on that stuff around 1:30 and decided to leave for work a little early. There was still a ton to clean up from Jingle Jazz, so I figured I could use the extra time. Joe wasn't feeling well, so I was there pretty much by myself all day. I told Matt and James to let me know when they went to dinner so I could have someone to go with.
I keep the big lights off in the sanctuary to save money and just work with the fluorescent stage lights on, so it's generally pretty dark. When James came in to tell me it was time to go, he said all he could see was a silhouette. I told him that I'm kind of like Quasimoto in there, just running around all hunched over with no friends, doing my job in the dark. I thought that was a pretty funny comparison.
We ate at Salsarita's and Matt asked me a bunch of questions about my last job in Columbia. I felt like I was talking the whole time because of all the questions, which makes me feel really uncomfortable after a while. I used to do this thing in high school and college where I would try to go whole days without telling any stories about myself. Usually I did this when I felt like I had started to be too self-focused. It is extremely hard, but it really helps you take an interest into other people and learn how to ask questions...you should try it sometime. I haven't done it lately...maybe I should.
When we got back I helped Joe (who showed up to help with rehearsal) do some stuff with choir rehearsal and then I went down to get ready for the big rehearsal. Things were kind of a mess sound wise tonight. With orchestra and choir, there is just tons of mics on stage and I really struggled to get anything to sound decent. Everything just sounds washed out and harsh. Not to mention it was really hard to get the choir up loud enough without feedback. I have the Audix micro condenser in the middle right now, but it is giving me some problems, so I think I'm going to switch it out for one of the SM81's. I used those last time, and they worked pretty well. I couldn't get the orchestra up as much as I usually do with out creating bleed and feedback issues, so I think they'll just have to be more in the background this week.
One of the ladies playing flute brought some Hershey's chocolate for the tech guys wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper with a little thank you note on it. I don't know why, but that just seemed like one of the nicest things I've ever seen, especially since I don't even know her. Somehow she knew that I was going into nursing too. I think I'm going to find her address on Friday and send her a little thank you note. Thank you notes are underrated, and yet I am still often too much of a slacker to send one. I bought one for someone months ago and it has just sat in my car since then...sad really.
After rehearsal I came home and talked to Kristi a while, and then I got into bed. I love having Lucy and Oliver sleep in the bed, even though it's supposedly not the best thing to do. It's just kind of nice having your wife and your pets asleep beside you while you go to sleep. I think people without pets are really missing out. Sure sometimes they mess up things (like the time Lucy chewed up my favorite Sennheiser headphones), but it's definitely worth every bit of it. The other day I was thinking about why people like their pets so much, and I decided that it's probably because it's the closest we get to feeling unconditional love on this side of eternity. I know I'm anthropomorphizing because pets act on instinct and don't really have emotions and all that, but still you understand what I mean. I know too that we feel God's unconditional love on this side of eternity, but I guess I'm talking more about physical breathing beings. I feel like I'm throwing way too many qualifications out there, but that's generally what I do.
On another note, I started reading this book called Thriving as an Artist in the Church by Rory Noland, who also wrote The Heart of an Artist, which I hear is good. I saw the book on Matt's bookshelf and asked him to borrow it, because the title really interested me. I think I was interested because lately I've been feeling like sometimes the church seems to suppress creativity and artistry either because of fear of new things, fear of "too much production," having things not work well, or whatever else. I was talking about it with Trenton Stokes at lunch the other day. As a pastor, he was talking about a worship leader not being so artistic that he/she loses touch with the congregation. I certainly agree with him in principle, but the thought also scares me because I feel like it can also be abused to a point where worship leaders and other artists lose a great deal of artistic control and creativity. I definitely think the church should lead in ingenuity and overall awesomeness when it comes to the arts, especially because we are directly using it as a form of worship. While I would say that art can't be "Christian" because it isn't a human with a soul, and there is nothing inherently more worshipful about a song with "Christian" lyrics than a painting that someone painted as an act of worship, art that comes from the church is unarguably recognized as "Christian" because of it's context.
The book has been really good so far, and I am not even that far into it. Alot of the sections bring a good bit of clarity to the way I function and think. I don't think it was until I became Performing Arts major that I began to realize what an artistic mindset I have, and this has helped me realize many things about myself that I didn't before. One thing that has stuck out to me in the book is the point he makes about constantly challenging yourself artistically so you don't lose passion and become bored. I definitely have struggled with this after moving back from Columbia. He makes the point that you need to be ready in case God presents an opportunity to use your gifts.
Lately I have been a little discouraged in this area. I am not really sure if God will ever give me another opportunity to use my musical gifts in the church on as much of a day to day basis as I did in Columbia. In one sense, I have such a passion for music, and for developing others as part of a worship ministry team...but in another sense I believe that if God never calls me back to that, I have to be OK with that. No one would argue that if I were to be in a terrible accident and lose a limb I would have to be satisfied with what God chose for me, so in the same way I don't think that just because I have the passion for certain things that I do that God will automatically call me to do that for the rest of my life. There may be other things that he wants to use me in. I am rambling a little, but this is just a picture of the things that go through my head. Disagree with any of it? Leave a comment if you do...
I think I'll end there for today. When I started my blog I mainly wanted to keep a record of what I do from day to day, but I have found that it is a great place for me to ramble about my thoughts. I don't think many people would care to sit and listen to me talk about all the sound/music/God thoughts that go on inside my head, so in a way it helps me get them out without having to put someone through that. If you made it all the way through, I commend you once again.
So anyways, tomorrow should be a pretty good day. I'm taking my car to get it's oil changed, then I'll finish up some Christmas shopping, and then I'm going to eat with my friend Jay, which I am really excited about. I ordered my sister's birthday present last week and it hasn't come in the mail yet...hope it gets here by Friday!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Making a cheesecake that you might not even get to eat can be pretty disheartening...
I woke up a little before 9 this morning, but since Lucy and Oliver were still sleeping I decided to stay in bed and work on some design stuff. I still do sermon series slides and other random stuff for my old church sometimes. I think working in bed is great...if I had a business run out of my home I would probably just get a bunch of those lap desks and put a filing cabinet and a refrigerator beside the bed. Either that or I could teach Lucy to go get me Diet Cokes out of the kitchen. I finished up what I was doing a little after 10 and got ready for the day.
Lucy didn't bother me much to go on a walk today, and it was pretty evident she wasn't feeling great with all the hacking and moping around, so I figured we'd skip the daily walk for a little while. I ate lunch around 11 and then headed to work not too long after that.
Work wasn't really too fun today, although I knew it wouldn't be which I think just made it worse. I spent the whole day cleaning up the closets from Jingle Jazz and then tearing down and setting up the stage. Tearing down from Jingle Jazz is enough work by itself, but then this week there is choir and orchestra, which is a huge setup. I got a break from setting up at 6 when Joe was ready to go eat. We went to Arby's tonight. Last time I went there I didn't feel that great afterwards, and tonight I felt even worse. The food just seems extra greasy, and my stomach feels sick all night. I think I'll be avoiding Arby's from now on, or at least try something other than the chicken/bacon/swiss if I do go back.
Dan showed up right as we got back to the church and all three of us worked on setting up. Joe didn't feel well, so he left a little early. He was coughing and clearing his throat all day too, but I told him I didn't mind because Lucy had been doing the same thing all morning. He asked me to stop comparing him to my dog.
It took Dan and I a good while to get things set up, so I didn't leave until after 9. We didn't even clean up the mess left on stage, but I have so much lighting stuff to clean up anyways from Jingle Jazz I figured it really doesn't matter. I don't know how I feel about running sound this week. Choir and orchestra makes for a lot going on, not to mention two acoustics, electric, bass, piano, keys, and obviously drums. I think there will be alot of choosing what's important and what's not. If anyone's mic has feedback problems, I think that will automatically disqualify them from the important category...well except for the choir...although that would be mildly amusing if you had a special choir week and you couldn't even hear the choir.
When I got home I remembered that I needed to make a chessecake for Kristi's school function. Let's not forget that my last one was a disaster, but this time I had Kristi get the cream cheese out a few hours earlier. My mom also told me it would help if I beat the cream cheese first before adding the other stuff, so that's what I did. I am happy to report that it seems like it turned out great. It is cooling in the oven right now, but last time I checked it didn't even have any cracks in it. The consistency seemed correct this time when I poured the filling on top of the crust, so I think it should be great. I will have to tell Kristi to save me a piece....mmmmm cheesecake.
In other news, I'm thinking about buying a domain name. I figure I will continue this whole blog thing for a long time, and it would make it easier for people to find it. I am trying to figure out though if I can get some web space and make it so that instead of merely pointing to my blog I can have two sections...one that is my blog, and one that is mp3's of stuff that I write. Good thing that I have a .net developer for a boss...I know you're excited Joe, don't try to hide it.
Well...short post, but that was it for today. Tomorrow I don't know what's going on yet. I was supposed to meet with some youth guys for a while to talk about how to improve their sound, but I think the main guy, Nate, is sick with the Flu. I figure I'll text him tomorrow morning and then go from there. We were supposed to eat at Oriental House, and I love talking about sound, so I'm kind of bummed. Anyone up for some good sound tips over oriental food?
Lucy didn't bother me much to go on a walk today, and it was pretty evident she wasn't feeling great with all the hacking and moping around, so I figured we'd skip the daily walk for a little while. I ate lunch around 11 and then headed to work not too long after that.
Work wasn't really too fun today, although I knew it wouldn't be which I think just made it worse. I spent the whole day cleaning up the closets from Jingle Jazz and then tearing down and setting up the stage. Tearing down from Jingle Jazz is enough work by itself, but then this week there is choir and orchestra, which is a huge setup. I got a break from setting up at 6 when Joe was ready to go eat. We went to Arby's tonight. Last time I went there I didn't feel that great afterwards, and tonight I felt even worse. The food just seems extra greasy, and my stomach feels sick all night. I think I'll be avoiding Arby's from now on, or at least try something other than the chicken/bacon/swiss if I do go back.
Dan showed up right as we got back to the church and all three of us worked on setting up. Joe didn't feel well, so he left a little early. He was coughing and clearing his throat all day too, but I told him I didn't mind because Lucy had been doing the same thing all morning. He asked me to stop comparing him to my dog.
It took Dan and I a good while to get things set up, so I didn't leave until after 9. We didn't even clean up the mess left on stage, but I have so much lighting stuff to clean up anyways from Jingle Jazz I figured it really doesn't matter. I don't know how I feel about running sound this week. Choir and orchestra makes for a lot going on, not to mention two acoustics, electric, bass, piano, keys, and obviously drums. I think there will be alot of choosing what's important and what's not. If anyone's mic has feedback problems, I think that will automatically disqualify them from the important category...well except for the choir...although that would be mildly amusing if you had a special choir week and you couldn't even hear the choir.
When I got home I remembered that I needed to make a chessecake for Kristi's school function. Let's not forget that my last one was a disaster, but this time I had Kristi get the cream cheese out a few hours earlier. My mom also told me it would help if I beat the cream cheese first before adding the other stuff, so that's what I did. I am happy to report that it seems like it turned out great. It is cooling in the oven right now, but last time I checked it didn't even have any cracks in it. The consistency seemed correct this time when I poured the filling on top of the crust, so I think it should be great. I will have to tell Kristi to save me a piece....mmmmm cheesecake.
In other news, I'm thinking about buying a domain name. I figure I will continue this whole blog thing for a long time, and it would make it easier for people to find it. I am trying to figure out though if I can get some web space and make it so that instead of merely pointing to my blog I can have two sections...one that is my blog, and one that is mp3's of stuff that I write. Good thing that I have a .net developer for a boss...I know you're excited Joe, don't try to hide it.
Well...short post, but that was it for today. Tomorrow I don't know what's going on yet. I was supposed to meet with some youth guys for a while to talk about how to improve their sound, but I think the main guy, Nate, is sick with the Flu. I figure I'll text him tomorrow morning and then go from there. We were supposed to eat at Oriental House, and I love talking about sound, so I'm kind of bummed. Anyone up for some good sound tips over oriental food?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sometimes I don't make phonecalls in the car just because it interrupts the music...
I was determined not to sleep in too late today, so I got up at about 9 o'clock. I guess some would consider that sleeping in, but 9 is kind of my breaking point. If I sleep later I feel lazy, but I enjoy not getting up earlier. Of course, I want to start running again when January hits, so my schedule will hopefully be changing.
Today I had some errands to run. First though I wanted to call a store in Spartanburg which didn't open until 11 to see if they had a Blackheart amp in stock. So I took my shower, took Lucy for a walk, and checked my email/facebook. I called them as soon as it hit 11, but they don't have any in stock. For fun I called a few other dealers around SC, but no one I called had any. Oh well, I guess if I want to try one I just have to drive to Charlotte.
I ate some lunch at home and then left for my errands. Lucy seemed a little weird before I left, kind of moping around, but I figured she just didn't want to be left home alone or something. The first place I went was Guitar Center, just to play the Tweed Blues Jr. again. It was a good day for it because there wasn't a myriad of shredders blasting out. I think the trip convinced me that the amp is the right choice...there is just nothing I don't like about it. Petsmart is right next door, so after playing a few guitars I went and bought Oliver some more kitten food. Purina was on sale, which is what we got last time, so that was nice. I think I saved $3 or something with my PetPerks card.
I next drove to Greenville Tech. I wanted to turn in a financial aid form they sent me, and also sell my books back. I could have mailed it in, but they didn't send anything with it instructing me where to mail it too. Seems like an egregious oversight to me. Since half of my tuition being covered depends on this form, I figured better to hand deliver it to the office. When I went to the bookstore after the financial aid office, the lady informed me that book buybacks ended on Friday. I don't really understand how that is possible, and it definitely didn't work like that at Clemson. I had seen some other text book stores down the road, so I went to those and sold the books back. I'm not really sure if they pay as much, but the other store in Clemson was always similar to the main bookstore. I only got $58 total, which just reminded me how lousy book buyback is. I remember this one class in Clemson I payed over $200 I think for the book, and then they changed editions and no one would even buy it back.
My last errand of the day was going to FedEx to ship out Kristi's broken Chi and some gifts for relatives. I have really grown to like FedEx ever since living in Columbia, so I typically ship things through them, although it stinks that there isn't a shipping center close to my house any more.
After FedEx I came home. Lucy seemed a little out of it still, and hadn't eaten her food from the morning still. After I let her out she got back into her bed. I went and played the drums for a while, and when I came out discovered Lucy had been throwing up. For the rest of the day she wouldn't eat or drink and just slept all day. It was really kind of pitiful, especially because Oliver just slept on top of her crate since she wouldn't come out. Lucy barely came out of her crate for Kristi when she came home, and then went right back to sleep...which if you know Lucy you know her not going crazy about Kristi or me getting home is bizarre.
Tonight we went to the Boyds' house for Charlie's birthday dinner. Since Lucy hadn't eaten all day I made her an egg to see if she would before we left. The only other time I gave her an egg was when she was spayed. She wouldn't eat for a day and half afterwards, so I made her an egg just to get her appetite going. Tonight she wouldn't even touch the egg. Oliver had a piece though and seemed to enjoy it. On that note, I never would have guessed that we would have trouble with Oliver constantly eating Lucy's food and not vice versa.
Anyways, I wasn't sure if we still would do the dinner thing because Kristi's grandmother fell yesterday and fractured her pelvis. She is doing ok considering, but is still in the hospital and Karen has been really busy with all of that. I think everyone is a little down about it, which is understandable. She has been living with the Boyds ever since her husband died last year, which I think makes it even harder on them. Callie cooked some food so that we could still have the dinner, and so we drove over around 6:30. When we got there Kristi realized she forgot the gift, so I got to drive back and get it. Not a big deal, I enjoyed listening to the new songs from David Ramirez while I drove.
Dinner was good, and we stayed for a little while afterwards before coming home. Lucy was still acting sick when we got home, but eventually perked up enough to eat some food, which is good. She only got up for a little bit and then went back to sleep when we got in bed. I think Oliver is concerned because he spent 5 minutes cleaning her face and her ears for her.
I spent some time reading some of Blue Like Jazz again tonight. I have read it before, but for some reason that book has sections which I can really identify with and challenge me in alot of ways. If you haven't read it you definitely should.
Work tomorrow probably won't be all that exciting. The two storage areas are a complete mess, so I think I will spend most of my day trying to organize those. Tomorrow night I am going to attempt a cheesecake again. Kristi needs a dessert for a something at school, and I want to try to make a cheesecake and not screw up so badly. We'll see if it works!
Today I had some errands to run. First though I wanted to call a store in Spartanburg which didn't open until 11 to see if they had a Blackheart amp in stock. So I took my shower, took Lucy for a walk, and checked my email/facebook. I called them as soon as it hit 11, but they don't have any in stock. For fun I called a few other dealers around SC, but no one I called had any. Oh well, I guess if I want to try one I just have to drive to Charlotte.
I ate some lunch at home and then left for my errands. Lucy seemed a little weird before I left, kind of moping around, but I figured she just didn't want to be left home alone or something. The first place I went was Guitar Center, just to play the Tweed Blues Jr. again. It was a good day for it because there wasn't a myriad of shredders blasting out. I think the trip convinced me that the amp is the right choice...there is just nothing I don't like about it. Petsmart is right next door, so after playing a few guitars I went and bought Oliver some more kitten food. Purina was on sale, which is what we got last time, so that was nice. I think I saved $3 or something with my PetPerks card.
I next drove to Greenville Tech. I wanted to turn in a financial aid form they sent me, and also sell my books back. I could have mailed it in, but they didn't send anything with it instructing me where to mail it too. Seems like an egregious oversight to me. Since half of my tuition being covered depends on this form, I figured better to hand deliver it to the office. When I went to the bookstore after the financial aid office, the lady informed me that book buybacks ended on Friday. I don't really understand how that is possible, and it definitely didn't work like that at Clemson. I had seen some other text book stores down the road, so I went to those and sold the books back. I'm not really sure if they pay as much, but the other store in Clemson was always similar to the main bookstore. I only got $58 total, which just reminded me how lousy book buyback is. I remember this one class in Clemson I payed over $200 I think for the book, and then they changed editions and no one would even buy it back.
My last errand of the day was going to FedEx to ship out Kristi's broken Chi and some gifts for relatives. I have really grown to like FedEx ever since living in Columbia, so I typically ship things through them, although it stinks that there isn't a shipping center close to my house any more.
After FedEx I came home. Lucy seemed a little out of it still, and hadn't eaten her food from the morning still. After I let her out she got back into her bed. I went and played the drums for a while, and when I came out discovered Lucy had been throwing up. For the rest of the day she wouldn't eat or drink and just slept all day. It was really kind of pitiful, especially because Oliver just slept on top of her crate since she wouldn't come out. Lucy barely came out of her crate for Kristi when she came home, and then went right back to sleep...which if you know Lucy you know her not going crazy about Kristi or me getting home is bizarre.
Tonight we went to the Boyds' house for Charlie's birthday dinner. Since Lucy hadn't eaten all day I made her an egg to see if she would before we left. The only other time I gave her an egg was when she was spayed. She wouldn't eat for a day and half afterwards, so I made her an egg just to get her appetite going. Tonight she wouldn't even touch the egg. Oliver had a piece though and seemed to enjoy it. On that note, I never would have guessed that we would have trouble with Oliver constantly eating Lucy's food and not vice versa.
Anyways, I wasn't sure if we still would do the dinner thing because Kristi's grandmother fell yesterday and fractured her pelvis. She is doing ok considering, but is still in the hospital and Karen has been really busy with all of that. I think everyone is a little down about it, which is understandable. She has been living with the Boyds ever since her husband died last year, which I think makes it even harder on them. Callie cooked some food so that we could still have the dinner, and so we drove over around 6:30. When we got there Kristi realized she forgot the gift, so I got to drive back and get it. Not a big deal, I enjoyed listening to the new songs from David Ramirez while I drove.
Dinner was good, and we stayed for a little while afterwards before coming home. Lucy was still acting sick when we got home, but eventually perked up enough to eat some food, which is good. She only got up for a little bit and then went back to sleep when we got in bed. I think Oliver is concerned because he spent 5 minutes cleaning her face and her ears for her.
I spent some time reading some of Blue Like Jazz again tonight. I have read it before, but for some reason that book has sections which I can really identify with and challenge me in alot of ways. If you haven't read it you definitely should.
Work tomorrow probably won't be all that exciting. The two storage areas are a complete mess, so I think I will spend most of my day trying to organize those. Tomorrow night I am going to attempt a cheesecake again. Kristi needs a dessert for a something at school, and I want to try to make a cheesecake and not screw up so badly. We'll see if it works!
Last time I checked, flowers smell alot better than body odor...
Joe gave me the day off again today, so I slept in with Kristi until the third service. It was nice to sleep in, but I'll admit I was a little bummed I didn't get to run sound this morning. I was excited about using the Shure LDC on the kick in a service...but really it's no big deal, 'cause I'll just do it this week if I have the channels. I've also been thinking it would be fun to record a service with the ADAT and mix it myself. I don't really ever get to studio mix large scale stuff, so I would enjoy it. Well, I'm not really sure how many tracks and effects my 80$ computer will be able to handle, but it will be a good time until I run out of resources.Maybe I can bounce some tracks with effects if I get them just right...know what I'm saying?
It was nice to sit with Kristi again in church today. I don't usually get to just sing, so that was nice too. I said hi to some tech guys afterwards and then we went to lunch at Moe's. I actually hadn't been to Moe's in a little while, and I'm thinking I may be going there less in the future because I will probably go to Oriental House anytime someone will go with me. After lunch Kristi and I did some quick grocery shopping and then came home.
I got some deodorant at Wal-Mart, which is important because I ran out earlier this week. Today I wore some of Kristi's Dove deodorant, and while it worked wonderfully, it did feel funny smelling like flowers all day.
Once we got home I spent some time playing the drums and guitar, and then I took Lucy on a long walk. Something spooked her on the walk today, so the second half was a pain because she kept pulling on the leash. I have spent alot of time teaching Lucy to walk decently on a leash, which I find pretty impressive considering her high energy level and difficult personality.
When I got home I played guitar some more and then helped Kristi wrap some Christmas presents. We are going to go to Hilton Head for a few days before Christmas, so we need to have all that junk taken care of before we leave. I am excited about having a vacation. Hilton Head is fun in the winter because it's just old people and all there is to do is watch movies and eat at restaurants. I'm not a huge movie person, but throw some good food into the mix and I'm in. Plus it doesn't hurt that we stay in my parents' condo for free.
A little later in the evening my parents called to see if we wanted to eat, so around 7:30 we headed to the Simpsonville Zaxby's. My wings were hot and not drowned today, so apparently they've been reading my blog posts. Mom said her food was way too salty though, so hop on it Zaxby's employees.
After dinner we came home and I finished wrapping a few presents while I watched football. I also took some pictures of the Christmas tree, but I'll post those maybe tomorrow.
I spent the rest of the evening reading about different audio/music stuff. One of the small studio guys on one of my favorite forums who I hadn't heard anything from in a while posted some demo songs he recorded for a guy named David Ramirez. The songs are awesome, way better than his myspace stuff. I don't really know if I'm supposed to post them around the internet though, so I'll just leave you with the myspace.
I also tried to find more info about Blackheart amps. My only hope for getting to play one is a place in Spartanburg, or driving to the SamAsh in Charlotte. Apparently Guitar Center sells them, but not in the stores, only online. Explain how that works to me, 'cause I don't get it. Tomorrow I'm going to call the Spartanburg place to see if they have some so that I can hopefully go try them out. I'm hoping they sound bad, because it will make my decision easier. I definitely am still leaning towards the Blues Junior Tweed. It's a Fender, which I am a fan of, it's got a nice Celestion speaker, it's got all the controls I want, and it looks sweet. The thing that really pulls me with the Blackhearts is the lower wattage idea. They have less tubes though, I don't know if that affects anything. I also get the sense from reading around the web that they are cool practice amps but it doesn't seem like there's alot of good guitarists singing their praises. On the other hand I am easily able to find very positive reviews of the Fender by good guitarists. Alot to think about, but the other reality is there is no way I would buy one without being able to play it.
I have been a little discouraged about my musical ability in general lately, and am thinking about taking some lessons for a little while to see how it goes. I feel like I'm fairly solid at everything I play, but not great at anything, and I would really like to be great at one of them. I'm not really sure if that is drums or guitar though...hard decision.
Tomorrow should be fun. I don't really have any required things I have to do, so I think I'm going to run a bunch of errands. I may go sell books, go try out some amps, and other various things. One of the few pluses of being in school is definitely the holiday breaks. Lets be honest though, I would much rather just not be in school. Pick your major wisely the first time, kids.
It was nice to sit with Kristi again in church today. I don't usually get to just sing, so that was nice too. I said hi to some tech guys afterwards and then we went to lunch at Moe's. I actually hadn't been to Moe's in a little while, and I'm thinking I may be going there less in the future because I will probably go to Oriental House anytime someone will go with me. After lunch Kristi and I did some quick grocery shopping and then came home.
I got some deodorant at Wal-Mart, which is important because I ran out earlier this week. Today I wore some of Kristi's Dove deodorant, and while it worked wonderfully, it did feel funny smelling like flowers all day.
Once we got home I spent some time playing the drums and guitar, and then I took Lucy on a long walk. Something spooked her on the walk today, so the second half was a pain because she kept pulling on the leash. I have spent alot of time teaching Lucy to walk decently on a leash, which I find pretty impressive considering her high energy level and difficult personality.
When I got home I played guitar some more and then helped Kristi wrap some Christmas presents. We are going to go to Hilton Head for a few days before Christmas, so we need to have all that junk taken care of before we leave. I am excited about having a vacation. Hilton Head is fun in the winter because it's just old people and all there is to do is watch movies and eat at restaurants. I'm not a huge movie person, but throw some good food into the mix and I'm in. Plus it doesn't hurt that we stay in my parents' condo for free.
A little later in the evening my parents called to see if we wanted to eat, so around 7:30 we headed to the Simpsonville Zaxby's. My wings were hot and not drowned today, so apparently they've been reading my blog posts. Mom said her food was way too salty though, so hop on it Zaxby's employees.
After dinner we came home and I finished wrapping a few presents while I watched football. I also took some pictures of the Christmas tree, but I'll post those maybe tomorrow.
I spent the rest of the evening reading about different audio/music stuff. One of the small studio guys on one of my favorite forums who I hadn't heard anything from in a while posted some demo songs he recorded for a guy named David Ramirez. The songs are awesome, way better than his myspace stuff. I don't really know if I'm supposed to post them around the internet though, so I'll just leave you with the myspace.
I also tried to find more info about Blackheart amps. My only hope for getting to play one is a place in Spartanburg, or driving to the SamAsh in Charlotte. Apparently Guitar Center sells them, but not in the stores, only online. Explain how that works to me, 'cause I don't get it. Tomorrow I'm going to call the Spartanburg place to see if they have some so that I can hopefully go try them out. I'm hoping they sound bad, because it will make my decision easier. I definitely am still leaning towards the Blues Junior Tweed. It's a Fender, which I am a fan of, it's got a nice Celestion speaker, it's got all the controls I want, and it looks sweet. The thing that really pulls me with the Blackhearts is the lower wattage idea. They have less tubes though, I don't know if that affects anything. I also get the sense from reading around the web that they are cool practice amps but it doesn't seem like there's alot of good guitarists singing their praises. On the other hand I am easily able to find very positive reviews of the Fender by good guitarists. Alot to think about, but the other reality is there is no way I would buy one without being able to play it.
I have been a little discouraged about my musical ability in general lately, and am thinking about taking some lessons for a little while to see how it goes. I feel like I'm fairly solid at everything I play, but not great at anything, and I would really like to be great at one of them. I'm not really sure if that is drums or guitar though...hard decision.
Tomorrow should be fun. I don't really have any required things I have to do, so I think I'm going to run a bunch of errands. I may go sell books, go try out some amps, and other various things. One of the few pluses of being in school is definitely the holiday breaks. Lets be honest though, I would much rather just not be in school. Pick your major wisely the first time, kids.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
I guess it doesn't matter that they put the tire on backwards since it has a hole in it anyways...just sayin'
My sleep schedule is apparently a little out of whack. I didn't feel tired until 2:30 last night, which is late for me, and then I didn't wake up until 11 this morning (well except for 7 when Lucy woke me up to go out). I definitely need to get back to the usual, or I will start to feel lazy.
My first goal for today was to get Kristi's tire situation worked out. As you may remember, she went off the road and hit a huge pothole, completely destroying her rim. I found one on ebay for $35 dollars and thought that the tire on her old rim seemed alright. Today I took her car to Wal-Mart to get the tire put on the new rim. The lady there informed me that they are not allowed to switch used tires because of company policy...so I decided to drive down Main Street looking for a small tire shop. I figured I knew of one in Mauldin if I couldn't find one before then. Lo and behold, there are many tire shops on Main Street in Simpsonville; however, most of them close at 12 on Saturdays. No joke, I probably stopped at 3 or 4 before finding one that was open. They weren't busy and got right to working on the car, but sadly informed me that there was a hole in the sidewall. So much for that. I went home feeling a little discouraged that I had pretty much wasted my morning. I helped Kristi clean some, and then we left for a really late lunch so that I could go straight to work afterwards.
On the way I stopped at Sam's, where I got Kristi's tires. I wasn't sure that the road hazard warranty that comes with the tire was still going to work because Kristi actually had a bubble in the sidewall of the tire from the same spot on her car a month or two ago, so I had already used the road hazrd warranty once. The lady told me it was no big deal, and they ordered a new tire for me. Kristi and I had a talk about not hitting potholes, but at least BF Goodrich has good road hazard warranties.
After Sam's we went to Oriental House, my new favorite restaurant. I think Kristi liked her food OK, and my house fried rice was as delicious as last time. They are very nice there also, another plus to add to the list. We got done eating around 3:30 and I headed to work to get things ready for the last night of Jingle Jazz.
Tonight was a really good night. I'd say that while it probably wasn't the best night for the musicians, it was my favorite night overall. The sound was really good, the videos and live video were good, and the crowd was really responsive. The mess ups musically weren't that big of deal, so all in all it was a really fun night. The guest saxophone player came up and asked what EQ I used to make his saxophone sound so good, which is kind of funny because I really didn't EQ it at all. I did a normal hi-pass filter and then cut a little at 4.5 kHz, but in that room I cut almost everything at 4.5 kHz. Just goes to show if the source sounds good, you really don't have to do much. Just pick a good mic for the situation and put it in the right place. Props to Joe for the clip idea.
After the show I cleaned up as much as I knew how and then came home. Kristi was at a friends house, but got home a little later and we talked for a little bit before going to bed. I feel like I haven't been home in a week or two, so I am looking forward to having an easy week next week. After that it is time for Christmas...unbelievable...I guess time really does fly when you get older...
My first goal for today was to get Kristi's tire situation worked out. As you may remember, she went off the road and hit a huge pothole, completely destroying her rim. I found one on ebay for $35 dollars and thought that the tire on her old rim seemed alright. Today I took her car to Wal-Mart to get the tire put on the new rim. The lady there informed me that they are not allowed to switch used tires because of company policy...so I decided to drive down Main Street looking for a small tire shop. I figured I knew of one in Mauldin if I couldn't find one before then. Lo and behold, there are many tire shops on Main Street in Simpsonville; however, most of them close at 12 on Saturdays. No joke, I probably stopped at 3 or 4 before finding one that was open. They weren't busy and got right to working on the car, but sadly informed me that there was a hole in the sidewall. So much for that. I went home feeling a little discouraged that I had pretty much wasted my morning. I helped Kristi clean some, and then we left for a really late lunch so that I could go straight to work afterwards.
On the way I stopped at Sam's, where I got Kristi's tires. I wasn't sure that the road hazard warranty that comes with the tire was still going to work because Kristi actually had a bubble in the sidewall of the tire from the same spot on her car a month or two ago, so I had already used the road hazrd warranty once. The lady told me it was no big deal, and they ordered a new tire for me. Kristi and I had a talk about not hitting potholes, but at least BF Goodrich has good road hazard warranties.
After Sam's we went to Oriental House, my new favorite restaurant. I think Kristi liked her food OK, and my house fried rice was as delicious as last time. They are very nice there also, another plus to add to the list. We got done eating around 3:30 and I headed to work to get things ready for the last night of Jingle Jazz.
Tonight was a really good night. I'd say that while it probably wasn't the best night for the musicians, it was my favorite night overall. The sound was really good, the videos and live video were good, and the crowd was really responsive. The mess ups musically weren't that big of deal, so all in all it was a really fun night. The guest saxophone player came up and asked what EQ I used to make his saxophone sound so good, which is kind of funny because I really didn't EQ it at all. I did a normal hi-pass filter and then cut a little at 4.5 kHz, but in that room I cut almost everything at 4.5 kHz. Just goes to show if the source sounds good, you really don't have to do much. Just pick a good mic for the situation and put it in the right place. Props to Joe for the clip idea.
After the show I cleaned up as much as I knew how and then came home. Kristi was at a friends house, but got home a little later and we talked for a little bit before going to bed. I feel like I haven't been home in a week or two, so I am looking forward to having an easy week next week. After that it is time for Christmas...unbelievable...I guess time really does fly when you get older...
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