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. =(