Gotta be honest

I kinda miss that girl. She was cool. I have to examine my emotions and realize I barely know her and spending one day with someone is nothing.

but she had a great energy about her. And something tells me she doesn't want to persue anything beyond this weekend (and I dont know if the long-distance thing is worth attempting anyway so I cant blame her.)

The one thing I am going to take from it is the fact that I grew a pair and approached her. I remember the moment before I did. I almost talked myself out of it but took a sip of beer, quietly muttered "fuck it" and went for it.

Next thing you know were watching stars' set at ACL, dancing around and making out. And she was gorgeous. she was smart. she was fun.

sigh. "fuck it"

and in completely unrelated news....the dow just tanked today. the bailout was rejected. And Im probably not going to be getting a new, used car anytime soon. I checked my retirement fund and only lost a bit. No telling what tomorrow will bring.

I'm no economist but I bet losing over 700 points in the stock market in one day is bad for everyone.

Now thats a weekend...

Saturday we recorded our piano parts on a giant piano. It was great. Once again my skills came into question as I recorded and rerecorded the same thing over and over, continually screwing up. At one point I had to step away and collect myself. I was completely psyched out.

But I think it turned out fine and we are moving forward with the little things like xylophone, horns and vocals. Of course those aren't little things but 80% of the EP is done. Daniel (ONOM) is doing us a huge favor and we are very thankful for this opportunity. Its sounding better and better.

I met a girl from Houston on Saturday night. I was with Jessica and Jay and some other people. I got the green light eye contact and manned up and said something. Jessica got pissed but it was worth it.

I ended up hanging out Sunday at ACL with her and her friends. She's an awesome girl. Beautiful, bouncy, vibrant. But shes a houstonian. Damn the luck. Keep on truckin. Still it was a great time. Now I need to repeat this with girls who live here.

ACL was nice. Stars, Racauntours (sp?), Foo Fighters, all did what they did well.

I smoked too many cigarettes again. I think Im going to go 2 weeks without another.

And thats it. Thank you for your attention. =)

did anyone see

Pakistan's president mentally (and verbally) undress Sarah Palin?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/palin.pakistan/index.html#cnnSTCText

historic shit

Interesting times. Im thinking these last few days are going to be in our children's history books.

"Remember when overpaid CEOs and overzealous lending nearly caused the destruction of America grandpa?"

"I sure do. I was trying to decide between McCain and Obama at the time, what with the election being about a month away. Palin had just given a series of excruciatingly painful and nonsensical interviews with Katy Couric (which helped seal the deal for me), I just turned 30 years old, I had a band at the time and your grandma was still married to Ryan Reynolds."

ignoring people

I saw this girl I used to work with in the convenience store across town today. I had to go to round rock and pay a ticket.

She was younger (adorable) and we had a good connection insofar as a work relationship goes. Yet I am certain she noticed me today and completely pretended she didn't see me.

She hovered in the same area for too long as I paid and kept her gaze in one place as I walked out. You can always tell that sort of thing, like a sixth sense.

Of course I have been guilty of that as well, which is why it didn't really hurt my feelings. But it got me thinking, why we do that? Especially people we got along with.

It's like seeing someone out of the social context we knew weirds us out. Maybe its just that we don't want to expend the energy in small talk. Whatever it is, its always has more to do with me and never the other person.

I tell myself she felt like she looked like crap and didn't want me to see her that way. And that is obviously the situation... because I say it is. =)

One time I saw a guy I see practically every other weekend out in Austin. He was beside me in his car during traffic. I looked over and noticed him and could tell that he was trying hard to appear casually looking forward or changing the radio, looking to the right excessively etc. (I have done that to people and I know whoever reads this has too)

The funny thing was we were constantly pulling up beside each other as the flow of each lane shifted with traffic. It must have been excruciating for him to keep pretending he didn't see me. I found the whole thing absurd and very very funny.

He texted me the next day and asked if I have any shows coming up. People are weird.

Iran and Larry King

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/23/ahmadinejad.us/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Complain about the times we live in all you want, but I find it fascinating that we live in an age where we can see an interview with one of our biggest "Threats" with Larry King.

amazing.

sometimes songs write themselves

I woke up today and had the following line in my head...

"it was a bad day for the movies"

I have since began playing with lyrics for it. We have this really fun quirky song we have been building for awhile and I think it would go perfect with it. Daniel might be against it because he
has already began singing to it. But this song will be a departure from both of our writing...less "I" based and more imagery based. The potential for cool concepts and imagery are limitless...

loaded up on pleasantries
counted out hyperbole
making friends with enemies

it was a bad day for the movies

here we are...

as I stand here and view the landscape as an official 30 year old I notice something...

I don't feel different than I did yesterday.

=)

I'm just glad I didn't pour a lot of money into the stocks recently. That would have really pissed me off.

Had drinks with Natalie and Sam last night. I hoped to get home and clean up a bit but happy hour lasted until about 11 pm and then i was drunk and ready to hear the magnetic fields so I just spent the next hour laying on my floor marveling at how badass stephen merritt is.

Got lots of nice text messages wishing me the best. Calls from family singing to me and a pack of cigarettes with a bow on it. heh. Help me celebrate my getting older with something that will surely shorten my life.

ACL this weekend. I'm going to miss it. We have all day Saturday blocked out to record pianos so that's more exciting to me anyway.

Been sleeping weird. Part old mattress that needs replacing and part racing mind. I dreamed I was on a date with a woman and her face started contorting and shifting into horrible disfigurement and then back again. and then she went crazy on me and started getting all hysterical in my face. I woke up disturbed.

And I think I have been buzzed for about a week straight. Stupid. I need to take it easy for awhile.

Oil

Check out Kevin's blog about a coming crisis. Damn him for making me think about it.

http://thatbirdhouse.blogspot.com/

birthday shenanigans

Great weekend. Kevin and Demetria came down to help me celebrate. The party went well. Lots of folks, lots of beer etc.

Several musician friends of ours were there so we all had some really fun impromptu jamming where I basically just sat on the floor and screamed my lungs out while everyone just riffed off of each other.

It was great having Kevin make it. It meant a hell of a lot to me.

The actual day is tomorrow. First day of fall. First day of 30. Everyone keeps telling me I'm going to love this decade. I believe them.

my humor is out of touch...

I thought the new Microsoft ads with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates were brilliant. I guess that's why they have been pulled. It would seem that TV bigwigs think American's are a bunch of slack jawed yokels who need to be spoon fed our information...I guess most people do...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/19/microsoft.seinfeld.ap/index.html

I am aware that its an advertisement so its inherently evil, of course. =)

But it was funny stuff. Viva Seinfeld.

Yikes

"Wall Street emerged from the weekend in crisis mode and with a completely reshaped financial sector. At the forefront of the crisis is Lehman Brothers (LEH: 0.21, -3.44, -94.24%), which after 158 years in business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it becomes the latest victim of the credit crisis. Valued at $639 billion, Lehman's is the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history -- easily surpassing the collapses of Enron and WorldCom combined."

Hurricane and bye bye house

Hurricane Ike hit Houston and flooded the hell out of it. Mom and Grandma are safe but without power so they are heading to Dallas until things get back to normal.

Im curious to see how the house in Channelview is holding up. Speaking of...

Grandma will sign the papers to sell it soon. She found a buyer and things are moving forward. Looks like a final trip to see the house is in order for me. I need to buy another camera because I lost mine. I have most of the rooms already with my old camera but the backyard needs to be photographed. Ill just have to do it with whatever damage the hurricane caused in the pics.

Politics is usually not my bag....

but I completely agree with this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk

If McCain dies (which is a very good statistical possibility) then we will have a creationist, book banning, politically inexperienced person as the commander in chief. A hockey mom with her finger on the button. Scary stuff.

And yes actors don't have the answers to politics, this is simply Mr. Damon's opinion but one I completely agree with. I'm glad someone with his star power said this.

Hells Kitchen

So one of my goals is to learn to cook well. Last night I finally got off my ass and got started.

my first seasoned meal ever. 30 years in the making...

chicken breast w/

Herb de Provence
Red Wine Vinegar
minced garlic
olive oil
celery salt

I basically put the chicken on and added what I thought was a good amount of each.

Through in some mixed vegetables on the side and viola!

I would love to say I was genius enough to pick out these spices myself but my co-worker Elizabeth told me what to buy. It was surprisingly good and I look forward to getting good enough to kick some serious ass in the kitchen.

wow this post is probably the most boring post yet. screw you voice in my head.

A man's last words

I like to watch Ultimate Fighting. The days of the almost unwatchable brutality have been replaced with graceful mixed martial arts and stringent rules keeping the fighters safe. Dont get me wrong, it makes boxing look tame. Its really the only "sport" that I can watch and not lose my attention after a few minutes.

You would think the guys who do it would be total meat head morons. Quite the contrary, they are some of the most honorable, disciplined men in sports in my opinion.

I just read about a UFC fighter who recently died and was pretty touched/fascinated by it. He was found in the desert today. Apparently he liked to go on adventures of self discovery and this one was too much for him. I related to one of his final blog posts about his decision to take this trip. Its a terrible thing and he even contemplates the risk of death in his blog. I don't even know how long this blog post will be up before someone pulls it down. I had to do some searching to find it....

Here is the late UFC champion Evan Tanner's suprisingly eloquent blog post entitled Treasure Hunting in the Desert.

"It's Saturday night. I'm not out on the town socializing, not hanging out with friends, not chillin, watchin movies. I'm sitting on my couch beside a stack of books, listening to some Eddie Vedder, reading about the Southern California desert.

I'm hoping that very soon I'll be sitting out in the quiet of the desert beneath a deep blue midnight sky, listening to the calm desert breeze. The idea going into the desert came to me soon after I moved to Oceanside. It was motivated by my friend Sara's talk of treasure hunting and lost gold, and my own insatiable appetite for adventure and exploration. I began to imagine what might be found in the deep reaches of the untracked desert. It became an obsession of sorts.

"Treasure" doesn't necessarily refer to something material.

Today, I ran to the store to pick up a few things, and with the lonesome, quiet desert thoughts on my mind, I couldn't help but be struck with their brutally stark contrast to my current surroundings, the amazing congestion in which we exist day to day. The landscape as far as I could see, crowded, choked, with me and the rest of the species, an almost writhing mass of organisms, fighting over space and resources,....on the highways, in the parking lots, on the sidewalks, and in the ailse of the stores. And to think, there are still places in the world where man has not been, where he has left no footprints, where the mysteries stand secure, untouched by human eyes. I want to go to these places, the quiet, timeless, ageless places, and sit, letting silence and solitude be my teachers.

I've been gathering my gear for this adventure for over a month, not a long time by most standards, but far too long for my impatient nature. Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment. I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life. I've been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I'm going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.

One more week. I think one more week, and I'll be ready to go."

Around the Bend

so all my fun goals for my 30th are falling through.

No Europe.

No Big show at the children's museum.

I could be unhappy but I'm not. We are going to have a party an Daniel's house on the 20th. No music but plenty of fun

And we'll have a show sometime around the 2nd week of October.

I'm actually looking forward to this "milestone". I live in one of the greatest cities in America. I am finally making ok money in a job I actually like and the women around here are ridiculously hot. Our EP is going to open a lot of new doors that have been previously unopened for us.

I tend to battle with contentment and optimism from time to time but thats only because I'm pushing myself (both consciously and unconsciously) to live the life I know I deserve.

I want a kickass band that develops a decent following

I want a beautiful, smart, sexy woman who I am crazy about

I want a decent income that allows me to save and do cool things

I want a group of friends that are positive and fun to be around

I want excellent health so I have the energy necessary to have this life

Now what can I do to make these things a reality? Sometimes it seems impossible but tonight it seems very very simple.

I used to dread leaving my 20s. But I never had this kind of clarity. The world felt like it was controlling me, rather than my controlling it. But in these last few months Ive gone from a job I hated, no creative outlet and no confidence.....to the polar opposite of these things. And none of it happened purely by chance. It was a perfect combination of effort, following up with opportunities that presented themselves, and an honest belief I was on the right track.

My thirties are going to kick some ass.

good mojo

the recordings are still moving along...

Last night was something I had been dreading for weeks.

We have a part in one of our songs where I wail on the electric (as much as I can wail) and when we do it live its something that sort of just hits me and I nail it, but in the studio I felt stilted/psyched out, the tone wasn't right, and it was all around crappy sounding.

Well our super talented engineer Daniel found a guitar effect in his computer that sounded amazingly similar to our live sound. This of course is amazing to me because believe it or not guitar tone is mind-numbingly complex, but within minutes Daniel found something that was damn close.

A few takes and I nailed it. I was sweating balls too. I had to do it right. I hope it sounds good after going back and listening to it. Either way everything is still moving forward bit by bit. We have some shows coming up soon as well. We havent played since late July. =(