They have squirrel proof feeders, but really I don't mind feeding the squirrels too.

Fridays are turning out to be long days. Thankfully my mom said she would watch Lucy today, so I got up early to take Lucy over. She is always so excited to see Molly. I stopped at the bank on the way to work. I've been seeing alot of Wells Fargo info inside Wachovia lately, which has made me wonder if they will change the name eventually.

Work today consisted of alot of cleaning up. There was a bunch of lighting paraphernalia I had to put away and some things I had to clean up on the stage. I also finished writing the light cues. Lighting is just not as exciting as sound to me, but I think I'm going to try to start working on it throughout the week instead of just on Fridays.

On my lunch break I bought some drum accessories with some of my birthday money from musiciansfriend.com. I needed a new cymbal stand and I also bought some other small items like cymbal felts, sleeves, and some moon gels. I actually wasn't planning on getting the moon gels, but when I was originally ready to check out the top of the page said, "You only need to spend $0.83 more to get free shipping." It was a pain trying to figure out what 2-3$ item I could buy that would be useful, but settled on the moon gels, since my old ones are losing stickiness. I was thinking though...why couldn't they just charge me $0.83 for shipping? That makes a ton of sense to me...maybe I should write them and give them the idea.

After lunch I finished up more odd jobs and then left for tutoring. I have been enjoying meeting with Jake the past few times. He is a pretty bright kid and I think talking through the biology stuff has helped him understand it a good bit better. I am also amazed at how much biology info I still have floating around in my head...I guess all those ridiculous classes are doing me some good after all.

I stopped at the Tractor Supply store in Mauldin on my way home to get some bird seed. Kristi and I bought our first bird feeder yesterday at Lowes, and I am so excited about it. My mom told me I should just put black oil sunflower seeds in it and then also get a little finch feeder to put thistle in. So, I bought the thistle and sunflower seeds at the Tractor Supply place and then stopped at Lowes to get the finch feeder on my way home. Every time I run and take Lucy for walks I see tons of birds in the woods on our streets and I think, "these birds should be in our back yard eating out of a bird feeder." That and I think Oliver will really enjoy watching them from the back door. He already likes looking out the window, I can only imagine how much fun the birds will be for him. I am going to hang the bird feeders tomorrow and will be sure to post pictures.

I got home and then Kristi and I left right away to meet with a couple form Northhills. We are going through a series by Mark Driscoll on the Song of Solomon with them, and it has been a good time for Kristi and I. Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle.

Kristi and I stopped by my parents' house to get Lucy on the way home, and then got straight into bed from there. I am feeling pretty tired right now, but I hope I feel better tomorrow morning. I was planning on trying to bump up to 6.5 miles, but we'll see how that goes. I'm going to have some good pictures to post tomorrow too, so be sure to tune back in!

"Life is not what I thought it was, 24 hours ago"...

Well, I'm back. It's been quite a break, I know. You would think that there would be mass chaos when I stop writing about my life...but I guess not.

I usually stop blogging when I'm busy or feeling a little down, both of which have been true lately. Adding tutoring to my schedule, while it is only two days a week, has made me feel that much more like I am always doing something. That translates into feeling tired when I'm at home, which translates into going to bed early and not blogging. I haven't even been watching "The Daily Show" lately. Sometimes I make it through the first 5 minutes before my eyes start refusing to stay open.

I've felt a little down lately too. The period of my life I'm currently in just feels weird. I'm constantly confronted by the fact that I'm not really doing what I imagined myself doing, although at the same time I'm not exactly sure what I thought I would be doing. God is also showing me more and more that I am not at all the person He wants me to be. This seems like an obvious fact, but I think that in my mind I always have this hunch that deep down I'm not too bad of a guy. I think the new frustrations and responsibilities in my life have brought out the ugliest in me, and I don't like seeing it and dealing with it.

I realize this is a little abnormal for my blog, but since I know only a handful read it I'd go ahead and write down some of my thoughts. It's apparently pretty unanimous that I am better at expressing myself through written word anyways, plus I think writing things down in an organized manner helps me work through what I'm thinking and feeling. I remain encouraged by the fact that I know God is faithful and not only has me right where He wants me, but that He has promised to continue growing me to be more like Him.

So today was my birthday, in case you didn't know. I currently am listening to "Twenty Four," as I feel it is a very appropriate way to end my day today. I asked my parents for the Jesus Culture CD/DVD which I was very excited to receive. I watched most of the DVD after I got in bed tonight, and I can already tell it is going to be one of the most incredible CD's ever. How are these songs not all over the place? Anyways, there is this one song called "You Won't Relent" that really had an impact on me. I am still deciding how I feel about some of the words, but the song really affected me so I thought I'd leave you with the words to the bridge/chorus...here you go:

"I don't want to talk about You, like You're not in the room
I want to look right at You, I want to sing right to You

You won't relent until You have it all

My heart is Yours"

You'd think after 20 pages of stock photos there'd be a good one...

So I've been waking up earlier and earlier, which I think is good. I got up at 8:30 again today, although like usual I spent some time watching Sportscenter. Since it was an off day for running I got ready right away and took Lucy for a walk. The weather was amazing again today, but it reminded me how much it is going to really stink not having AC in my car this summer. I'll have to keep deodorant in my car or something. Just don't get too close to me on particularly hot days.

After the walk I spent some time working on some stuff for my sister's wedding. I am supposed to design a palm tree deal for a koozie as a gift for the guests, but all the stock photos of palm trees I found I didn't like...which was tons. I talked to Joe about it later, and he said if I draw one we can scan it, trace it in photoshop, and then convert it to a vector image in illustrator. I am pretty excited about that. I also made a monogram type deal of her and her fiance's initials. I think they are doing a big cupcake tree instead of cake, and the monogram will go on the cupcakes. That didn't take long, although I have to check and see if they like it.

I played drums for a little while after that. I have switched to just playing one crash for now and utilizing my ride more as a crash when I have to. I think using less stuff forces me to be more creative and incorporate hi-hat stuff more.

I made lunch next...have I mentioned I'm tired of eggwiches? After that it was time to leave for work, so I got the pets settled and took off. Work today was pretty tiring. I ended up getting some 2" black PVC pipe and running video cables through one and power cables through another in the control room. We've had issues with ground loops and interference and Joe thought this might help, which it did end up helping some I think. I had to drill some holes along the pipes as entry points and then run tons of cables and re-wire everything. I'm not sure why it wore me out, I think just all the thinking and crouching down on the desk in there. It looks pretty good, and I think Joe is going to put some pictures up on his blog, so go over there and check it out.

That took me most of the day, so after that I just ate dinner and then helped Dan with stage setup when he showed up. We didn't change much around this week so it only took a little bit, and most of that was cleaning up the closet. I love not having to move all those huge platforms, they are so incredibly heavy. Sometimes on weeks where I have to move most of them on or off the stage by myself my arms and back are sore the next day...sad I know.

I got home a little earlier than usual and was able to watch part of American Idol, which I always enjoy. Kristi had went to visit her grandmother so she didn't get home to a little later. Tuesday night just ends up being a big TV night because American Idol, Fringe, The Office reruns, and The Daily Show are all on back to back. Fringe really is such a good show. I was a little upset that I couldn't find the Clemson game anywhere on TV, but I'm following the score online and it looks like we're going to win, which should make us 20-3 I think. Amazing.

Tomorrow is my last relatively non-busy Wednesday for a while. Mrs. Ringger asked me if I was interested in tutoring someone in Biology a few weeks ago, and the details finally came together. I start on Friday and will be tutoring every Wednesday from 11-12:30 and Friday from 3-4:30. I feel bad for Lucy, I may have to take her over to play with Molly sometimes again. I guess that means I'll have to get up earlier to run also...bummer. Of course I could always move my run to Thursdays....hmmm....

Never before has Miyabi's had competition for the birthday dinner...but this year the decision will be tough!

What beautiful weather today! I woke up a little after 8, and after watching Sportscenter and facebooking went for a run. It keeps getting easier, but legs still feel really tired and tight alot of the time. My lungs are good, and I think it has to be all the huge hills. I know I repeat this alot, but it is just bugging me. Usually this far into running my legs would feel pretty good...but maybe it really has just been that long.

I took Lucy for a walk right after I got back and then took a shower and got ready. After that I debated whether I should eat hot dogs or an eggwich for lunch, but the eggwich ended up winning out. Does anyone have other good ideas for things I can make quickly at home? I am getting tired of them since I eat at home most days now. Other things I am tired of include pizza and frozen pot pies.

After lunch I spent some time working on the mastering of the song I recorded. I really don't know anything about mastering as it isn't something we covered in school too much, and pros are pretty nebulous about it on forums, so what I do is just trial and error. Today I used a multi-band compressor into an EQ into a limiter. I use a spectrum analyzer too which helps me see if I have any out of control frequencies. Here's a screenshot of my mastering setup, in which you can see all the different components I was talking about at work:

Another interesting note about this mix is that other than the multi-band in the mastering setup, I didn't use any compression on anything in the mix...only limiting. I read this interesting thread on http://www.gearslutz.com/ by a producer (sketchy name, but some of the biggest names hang out and post there) where he talked about seeing compression as changing the envelope and limiting as not changing the sound and just evening the waveform out. While that idea has some holes, because limiting is definitely changing the feel and sound, it also really makes sense, and ever since then I have used alot more limiting and alot less compression. You can listen to the newer version of the song here. It's alot better, so you really should.

Anyways, I had some extra time before class when I was done with that so I played drums for a while with Hillsong stuff. It has been awhile since I played along with some of the songs, and the fact that they were so much easier makes me think I must be getting better.

Around 1:40 I left for class. I had a really hard time paying attention today, and so I ended up drawing most of the time. I always wonder if my teachers think I am taking very detailed notes or if they can tell I'm doodling. I think I would go crazy if I couldn't doodle during class...that's probably why I never sit in the front.

After class I decided to run a few errands, and called Kristi to check in. She reminded me that she had a school function and wouldn't be home for dinner, which left me wondering what I should eat. I thought about just picking up Zaxby's, but since I had to stop at Petsmart at Greenridge anyways, I decided to call Joe and see if he wanted to eat at Oriental House. Sure enough he and Tim didn't have any plans, so we met around 5:30. I love Oriental House...pretty much everyone I have introduced it too loves it also, so if you haven't been you are missing out.

After that I came home, played with the pets, talked with Kristi, and then it was time for bed. I did eat my last piece of cheesecake tonight, which was a little sad. I think I am making in another in a few weeks for community group though, so hopefully there will be some extra.

That's it for today. Tomorrow should be pretty uneventful. Let's hope the weather is as nice as it was today!