The Wacky Misadventures of a Struggling Musician

2005-11-22T23:49:00.000-05:00

This one is called "Shattered Veins".

2005-11-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's been a while as always. So, the car has been broken down for the last month or so and I've been taking the bus. Yes, the bus, but don't knock it. I get to work on time every single day. I haven't been focused on music lately. What I've been focused on is a forgotten artform from my past. Paiting and drawing. I've posted a coulple of things that I've been working on for the last month. I have some more to put on there later, too. Just to give you an idea of size, the one called Dancing Sunset is 40" X 30", A School of Circles is 24" X 48" and Medusa is 24" X 30". Anyway, I'm off to buy more canvas and make many more. I've felt so inspired lately to construct physical artwork, whereas with music lately, I have not felt at all inspired. Who knows, maybe it's just a phase, but I'm going to exploit it as much as I can! I promise I will post more! Ta Ta!

2005-11-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

This one is called "Dancing Sunset".

2005-11-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

"Medusa"

2005-11-22T12:31:00.000-05:00

I call this one "A School of Circles".

2005-10-15T08:48:00.000-04:00

So now I have the glorious internet! Cable interenet even! I don't have cable TV, but I've at least got the internet and yesterday I went out and bought an antenna for local channels. It worked like a charm! Last night I went and wathced Our Lady Peace over at the Hard Rock Live at Universal and it was awesome, although I was dissappointed in some respects because they only played one song from my favorite album Spiritual Machines. Oh well, what can you do? That was the first time I've ever been able to see them in concert because they haven't played Orlando in like 4 or 5 years which is a damn shame!

In other news, I hopped on the myspace wagon and have now started down the path of addiction. I'm still getting my house together, but it looks a helluva lot better now. It's actually got some stuff in it. Too much stuff really. I've been downsizing my boxes and donating unwanted stuff to Good Will. I think I've gotten rid of like 4 boxes already! Anyway, I've got to go to work, but now I'll be able to update a lot more! Allrighty, buh bye.

2005-09-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

I don't have cable, internet or even a computer desk yet, so I'm posting from my Mom's computer. It's so weird having an empty bedroom. I'm here to pick up as much of the rest of my stuff as possible. I'll hopefully have my own internet soon! My Aunt is moving into my old room *sniff* but that's okay. I'll get over it eventually. Anyway, we helped Christian move his crazy boxes into his supernice apartment. One day we'll be able to hang out. Natalie isn't feeling too great today so I don't know if she'll want to out anywhere. Sorry for the short messege...talk to you soon.

2005-09-04T08:40:00.000-04:00

So I've been moving over the weekend. Boy do I have a lot of shit! I'm definately going to donate a few items. Mostly old toys and stuff. They say that if you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it. If that we're true, I'd probably get rid of most of my stuff, since I'm such a friggin' packrat. I'm doing my best to get over that. I stayed the last couple of nights in my new house; the first on a futon and last night on a bed that we strapped to the top of my car. That's right, I decided to forget about using a moving truck and save myself a few bucks. Technically, I really don't need one because I'm not really moving any furniture since there are about 8 billion cabinets with built in shelving. So far everything has been going cool. I think we eliminated the bug problem, I'm purchasing a home security system (burglars listen up!) so that I may protect my new home. It feels so weird because I've been living at home for so long and I've been living in the same house for like 13 years! But I think it's about damn time. I need to go and buy a new computer desk as well as a new entertainment stand; one that will fit better in our living room. We managed to fit the futon in the back of my Mitsubishi Expo perfectly! Anyway, I've gotta move so more stuff. Bye Bye for now.

2005-08-27T01:01:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a damn thing in months! Work has been absolutely insane! Our George's Music location in Downtown Disney is now closed and all of the inventory ( and employees ) have moved into my store on International Drive. We built a brand new wall of "floating" guitars with the wall hangers from the store in Disney. It actually looks great, but it's all been very frustrating lately.

I've sort of put the music on hold for the last couple of months, mostly because I had a hurt wrist, then I was sick for 2 or 3 weeks and couldn't sing. What I have been doing is search for a place for me to live. I really wanted to find either a duplex or a house, but I had some major troubles finding something in my pricerange. Also, I don't have a lick of credit to my name; just a $1200 hospital bill that was never paid. Miraculously, those 3 weeks or so of searching have finally come to an end and I am now moving into a 2 bedroom/1 bath HOUSE right near downtown Orlando. It's crazy, I know. And the kicker is that they didn't need to do a credit check. They went by if they like you or not! I was already declined at one duplex near Winter Park ( where I want to be ) and that was very, very frustrating. Credit has got to be one of the most evil things ever invented; and everyone in the business world seems to think its the best thing to judge people by, so I'm screwed until I can get someone to co-sign for me. Anyway, Natalie and I have been rigorously cleaning and spraying the house for little "friends" before we start bringing any stuff inside.

Also, I went to UCF yesterday to be on what may end up being a local TV show called Acoustic Spotlight where I played 4 songs and did a short interview! It was cool, although I screwed up on the end of one of the songs, but who cares. Well that's all for now, I'll definately be posting more when I get my own internet set up in the house. Ta ta for now!

2005-08-27T00:46:00.000-04:00

I took a pic of a gigumbus monarch butterfly. It let me get inches away from it.

2005-08-27T00:45:00.001-04:00

My huge-ass backyard. What a task it will be to mow this thing.

2005-08-27T00:45:00.000-04:00

Old air conditioning unit.

2005-08-27T00:44:00.001-04:00

Bathroom.

2005-08-27T00:44:00.000-04:00

Weird little nook.

2005-08-27T00:43:00.000-04:00

Living room...I have no idea how I'm going to arrange this.

2005-08-27T00:42:00.000-04:00

Bonus room...I'll probably make this a dining room of sorts.

2005-08-27T00:41:00.000-04:00

This is obviously a kitchen.

2005-08-27T00:40:00.000-04:00

My new house!

2005-06-22T21:34:00.000-04:00

A snake by my front door!

2005-06-22T21:33:00.000-04:00

It's a blurry dancer with fire on her head!

2005-06-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Can we say LAME?

2005-06-17T15:13:00.000-04:00

Stardust Video in Winter Park

A lot of things have been happening recently. As you can see from the picture, Robert and I played at Stardust Video the other night. We have a kick-ass time! I started out the show with a short 4 song acoustic set, and then Robert joined me on the stage for some rocking tunes with bass! I decided to bust out a song I wrote at least 4 or 5 years ago called Parasite, and it seemed to be a crowd pleaser. Props to Robbie Rob for learning the bass line in one night for both Parasite and Butterflies in Winter. In the audience there were lots of twenty-somethings chilling out with their laptops, so right before I played Butterflies in Winter, I gave a shout out to my homeboy Christian Stella for writing the story that inspired the song and also plugged his writing website www.ribcage.org. That show was sort of thrown together, but my truly loyal friends came out to see me play and then watched Batman Begins (which I'm going to see tonight with my girl!).

In other happenings, I recently switched music store locations. For the last 3 years, I've worked at George's Music's Guitar Gallery in Downtown Disney, but now I'm working at the regular George's Music on International Drive. It's turned out to be quite the change. First of all, the prices are a lot different (of course) and second there are a lot more elements to deal with like Keyboards, Drums (which is ironically my department) and lessons, but I have the honor of continuing my work relationship with my manager Michael from the Guitar Gallery because switched stores with me! Also, the other manager at I-drive used to work at the Guitar Gallery too, so I already feel right at home. My new co-workers are awesome, but I do miss the time I spent at the Gallery, not to mention the fact that I got Disney benefits and my girlfriend worked right next door at the Virgin Megastore. But there are certain monetary and mental benefits from changing stores and I definately welcome them.

I just recorded a couple of songs at Full Sail again and I'll be sending them to Christian as soon as I've worked on them a bit and maybe added a few things. Other than that, I'm off to go take a shower. Mmmm...shampoo.

2005-05-24T01:49:00.000-04:00

I'd just like to say that Natalie and I are having a great time together. She is super awesome! I feel that we've hit a rough patch in recent history, because Natalie has really only dated guys that rarely give her any attention. Apparently, that's how it is out in California where she originated. I, being perpetually starved for attention, have found it difficult only getting to see her only one day out of the week (for more than 1/2 an hour at a time). I'm trying to be an understanding boyfriend and not give her grief about it because I know that she has things that she needs to do at home, ect, ect. But I also don't think that I should bottle up my feelings on matters that concern me. I've discovered over the years that I have a tendency to do so, and I'm making an effort to remedy the problem.

I don't want to turn into my ex-girlfriend, whom is still trying to contact me.

A co-worker of mine has concerned me somewhat because he's very flirtatious with the ladies, including Natalie. Now, I totally trust that nothing will EVER happen between this co-worker and my girlfriend, but it's nonetheless unsettling to witness. I might have to punch him in the face.

Anyway, I think we've sorted some things out. Today we spent a little time together after work. We ate at a new restaurant called Moe's, which is a southwestern grille. It was kinda like a slightly less-classy version of Chipotle with not-very-good salsa and guacamole, but they did have a tofu meat substitute which was a plus! Yes, I'm still vegetarian and damn proud of it!

I've just found out that Natasha is now in Tampa at USF in a dorm room! That's craziness! Surprisingly, I hung out with Natasha about a week and a half ago with my sister and her boyfriend. We talked about a lot of things, and I sort of feel like I had a bit of closure. Natalie is not crazy jealous like Cindy was, so it was OK to hang out with my ex, because I'm actually trusted. That's one thing in myself that I have to make sure never falters with Natalie. My trust in her, and hers in me. She's truly an awesome person and I'm not afraid to say that I'm totally in love with her. I expect this relationship to last a long, long time. In other news, I'm really trying to focus on getting some new music recorded. By the way, I've decided that I want to be very straight forward in this blog from here on out. I was looking at past posts, and found them to be painfully vague. Also, how could anyone really catch up with what's going on with me if I never really post? Here's what aI want to do: I want to post more often, get my music on track, play out more (with Robert on the bass), and I want to exercise more so that I can get rid of this unwanted flab. There it is; all laid out on the table. That's kind of like Natalie and I's relationship. It's very open and honest. Isn't that what a relationship should be?

2005-05-22T01:15:00.000-04:00

My new glasses!

2005-05-22T01:14:00.001-04:00

My new crazy shirt!

2005-05-22T01:14:00.000-04:00

Back of my crazy shirt.

2005-05-22T01:13:00.000-04:00

Obviously taken at Disney.

2005-05-22T01:10:00.000-04:00

Natalie!

2005-05-21T23:26:00.000-04:00

I finally got a new pair of glasses and I'm fucking pissed.

Why, oh why, must I pay an arm and a leg for a stupid pair of glasses? Why not just an arm? Or perhaps just one leg? But both? Seriously now...

I am at least partially happy because I finally got my signature specs back...you know, the ones with the style that I stole from my favorite local artist Steve Burry way back in the late nineties. Anyway, I like them.

I saw Episode III and I liked it. Finally! A decent film directed by George Lucas. I thought it was kick-ass, and definately worth twiddling my thumbs through the first and second episodes. It was worth the $27 (that I paid to see all 3 films).

In other news, I cancelled two gigs. First off, this is going to sound stupid. I sort of cancelled one of them because of Star Wars. I figured that not a single damn person I know would have come to the show because they were all in line to see how Darth Vader becomes Darth Vader at 12:01 AM. Boy was it true. The lines started creeping around the building that I work at in Downtown Disney (I'm right next to AMC Theatres) at 8:00AM on May 18th. Is that not ridiculous?! The way I figure, they could have all saved themselves from crisping in the hot Florida sun if they all just got together and decided to show up at the theatre two hours before the movie started. My co-worker Johnny busted out with some Star Wars themes on the electric guitar for the poor nerds in line. *Ahem* I'm sorry...I meant my poor friends and family in line. I cancelled my other gig because it just plain sucked. I was supposed to play at 11:15pm on a farm that's an 1 hour and 45 minutes away from my house. I'm sorry, but it just ain't worth it, especially since I'm not even getting paid anything, and because of the fact that no one wants to drive out into the middle of hickville to see me play.

Here's an email entiteld "PREPARE FOR THE WORSE" that I received from the director of the fest I was supposed to be playing at:

We are preparing for the worst case scenario for the fest however we will stand by our mission as a music organization and for the mission of the fest. The main problem we are up against are the neighboring houses complaining. We know neighbors are already calling the county officials every day and we expect that their phones are now ringing more then ours. We expect the authorities will be at the fest within the first 2 hours of the fest start time in response to complaints. I can only guess/theorize on how we will have to comply to the complaints. The authorities could come in from the very beginning and give us little or no flexibility for us to try to remedy the complaints. Their legal jumbo could be something like based on complaints from the neighbors in accordance to Noise Ordinance section 50-498 You must cease and resist all event activities or you could face fines of up to 1,000-2,000 dollars a day. If they come in with that approach then it will leave us very little room to work with. At that point we must face up to the fact that we have been railroaded by the neighbors and the county official. Where to we go from there........ What does that actually mean? What if we just sat around, cooked out, drank beer, played an acoustic guitar, played horseshoes or softball, watched Pergos light show in a picnic like setting, would that be acceptable? With that said fill up your coolers and bring your softball glove just in case. We will be attempting to be as creative as we can to make this event work. If we canceled Fridays activities so to speak or just scaled down this night then we might be able to get off on the right foot. if we can put the neighbors at ease from the beginning, hypnotize the snake so to speak, then we will be off to a good start. If we approached the neighbors (were only talking about 6-12 neighbors within the 1/2 mile radius) and convinced them that everything will be ok then we have a better chance as well. By doing this we can also find out what they are worried about and tell them that we mean no harm. Invite them to come over and "join the fun".anything to get them on our side. In the next few days we will be doing this to try to make peace with them. In any event I want you all to expect the worst at the same time know that we will be looking for solutions to stick with our mission.

Now don't get me wrong because I'm all for fighting the Man and freedom of expression and all that jazz, but come on! This fest is not at all professional! Anyway, the deed is done. There is good news, though! I've rescheduled my other gig for June 14th at Stardust in Winter Park! It's a cozy little place that sells coffee and rents videos! Who could ask for more? Another good thing; at least Robert practiced bass with me and we now have two more songs added to the repetoire! Well, I guess that's all for now. Goodbye.

2005-05-01T13:26:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, I made a flyer for my upcoming gig at the AKA Lounge downtown! I went to put up flyers at CD Warehouse, Park Ave CD's, Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Stardust Video, and Austin Coffee and Film. Hopefully I'll get some people to come out and watch me play! I also booked another gig at Stardust, which is a cool little place with a small stage where I can belt out my sorrowful music for a good 45 minutes.

I also went to Austin's on Thursday for the open mic, where I met Amy Steinberg for the first time. She said that she liked my stuff and that we should do a show together sometime. That would be awesome since Amy is somewhat of a local legend.

In other news, I saw a midnight showing of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I thought it was entertaining. Maybe as a complete and fulfilling MOVIE it needed a little work, but I thought it was funny as hell; especially Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox (did I spell that right?). Anyway, it was enjoyable.

Now, I'm just preparing to play. I got a little bit of practice at my friend Robert's birthday the other night. I went to the party after I got off of work at midnight on Friday and played some tunes for him. He was totally fucked up. As I played, I just kept watching his friends bring him tall red drink after tall red drink, which was filled with 98% vodka and 2% cranberry juice; just enough to make the drink turn red. Needless to say, Robert puked. A lot.

But it was all in good fun.

Hope to see everyone at the AKA Lounge on Tuesday! I must go exercise now.

2005-04-24T03:28:00.000-04:00

It's late. I know. I've just returned home from my new friend Brian's apartment. He's in a band called In Regards To, and he was having a little house-warming party. I met Brian when he came to the Guitar Gallery, and I just so happened to run into him at a bar where his band was playing! So we'll probably be getting together to jam sometime this week, and I may be possibly hooking up with his band...hmmm....interesting huh? He plays sort of punky emo in the likes of Something Corporate...except without the piano. He's pretty damn good if you ask me, and it could be a good opportunity to get out there and play more, even if it isn't my music. Speaking of my music, I worked on the recording for I Don't Love You. I recorded a pretty kick-ass solo! Also, I've decided to set a deadline for the completion of my new album. July 31st. I want to be finished before I move out! Yes, I've decided to do that too. I'm saving up for the next 3 months so that I can get my ass outa here! Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but everyone needs their own space. I've just outgrown my current space. All in all things are going well. I've got a show coming up on May 3rd at the AKA Lounge in Downtown Orlando, Natalie is awesome as always, I'm still a vegetarian, and I'm still exercising. What more could I possibly ask for in life. Ok, maybe a million dollars.

2005-04-19T12:25:00.000-04:00

I've just been scheduled to play at the Orange Blossom Music Festival taking place in Deland, FL. I got an email confirming my playing time at 11:20 PM! Yes, 11:20 in the pitch black of night, on a FARM in Deland. Another thing, they said that they're promoting it more like a party than a music festival. Is that strange?

Sounds like a hippie haven if you ask me.

But, it's still an opportunity to get my music out there. Robert and I practiced for a few hours yesterday. I think we made some real progress. We've been working on the bass parts for Light at the End of the Hall and End of the World Celebration. Both are coming out excellent! Once my computer stops acting like a bitch, I should be able to get recording again. What a pain in the ass it's been! Anyway, more updates in the near future. I haven't forgotten about you!

2005-03-29T01:31:00.000-05:00

I've got some kick-ass news! I've just been asked to play an acoustic show at the AKA Lounge in Downtown Orlando! One of those nights when Robert and I attempted to play an open mic and discovered that it had been cancelled for several weeks, I gave the gal that books the shows a demo, and today she called back! It's as simple as that. I'll know more details in the coming weeks, but I know it's going to take place on May 3rd, and there will be a $5 cover to get in. For those of you that haven't been to AKA, it is simply awesome! They have a really cool, large open space with contemporary art on the walls. You have to come and check it out! That's all for now, and I hope to see you there!

2005-03-26T01:22:00.000-05:00

I wrote a new song the other day called I Don't Love You. It's very sad...and definitely about Cindy. I started recording it, but I'm not sure that I like how it's coming out. I'm not very good at keeping time with a drum track for some reason. Also, my computer continues to fuck up every other day! ARG! Will the madness never end.

In other sad news, I thought I was going to be picking up a fixed car today, but it turns out that there's another minor problem with it and I have to wait until Monday now. What a bunch of crap! This is so agonizing! I just hope that I have the car by Tuesday so that Natalie and I can hang out for an entire day for a change. She's great, by the way!

I've been pre-approved to play at the Orange Blossom Music Festival in Deland. That should be cool, although I don't really know anything about it. Another random thing happened; I got a call from this guy that's an artist manager. His name's Jason, and he's seems cool. He told me that he's giving my number to a guy that's putting together a TV show that showcases singer/songwriters, so maybe I'll have a shot at playing. That would rock! I got mixed vibes from Jason, though. He didn't really talk that much, and we had a sort of awkward conversation, and I didn't really get the impression that he wanted to actually handle me as an artist, but instead let me know about a good opportunity every once in a while. Very strange indeed. Hopefully it will all turn out for the best.

I'm really itching to play out again. Damn car. In the words of Jason, "Well, that's all I have for you right now."

2005-03-14T08:52:00.000-05:00

So, after a month of being away from Cindy, I've found another girl that I'm WAY into. I've mentioned her before. Her name is Natalie. Actually it's Natalia Viviana Trelles. Isn't that gorgeous? We've gone out a couple of times, and I really think we're hitting it off!

By the way, don't go see Cursed or The Jacket, unless you plan on not paying attention to the movie.

In other news, I am a vegetarian.

2005-03-05T02:43:00.000-05:00

I went to see my friend Marcus's band Fire At Will play yesterday at the Backbooth in beautiful, rainy downtown Orlando. They rocked the fuckin' house! It's some sort of battle of the bands, where you play, and if you do well, you move to the next level, playing bigger and better clubs. I hope it works out for them. You can check out their site at www.fireatwillmusic.com. I went and bought everyone a round of drinks and then crashed at Robert's house.

Today I had a strange day. I helped Robert remove tape X's from his windows. He's had them up since August! His apartment complex said they'd evict him if he didn't remove it, so we got out the old razor blades and scraped the crap outa his windows till the tape was gone. Very interesting, I know. Then we went to a field next to where a Fujifilm blimp was parked and played with a 3 foot in diameter flying disc. It's a great workout when you're running around like idiots with a large, bright orange flying object. Robert dropped me off at downtown Disney, where I was able to go and talk to Natalie, a girl that works in Virgin Megastore's Coka Moka Cafe. She's super cool.

Later in the evening on my way home, I met up with my friend Catherine. She picked me up so we could go catch a bite to eat at Chevy's, where I had a vegetarian dish. I had spinach, artichoke and mushroom enchiladas and they were damn good! For some reason I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian. I don't know why! Something in my gut tells me it might be good for me. Anyway, I just got home a short bit ago. I'm really gonna have to get up tomorrow and run off that dinner and ice-cream sundae that Catherine just had to make. I'm so weak. I'm planning on doing some recording in the next couple of days. I swear! Okay, goodnight.

2005-02-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

It took fucking forever to get home today. I got off at 6:00 pm, and didn't get home till just NOW at 10:00 pm. ARG! The damn gas pedal cable keeps coming loose in the only car that my family has operational at the moment, so it's quite nerve racking. I don't know what the hell we would do without at least one car. Speaking of cars, I'm checking tomorrow to see how much it will be to swap out the engine in my car. I plan on putting the whole of my paycheck towards fixing it! Then it's gig time! I wrote lyrics to an instrumental song that I wrote a long while back. I'm really digging them! The song is called Fifth Wheel. I also wrote a completely different new song called Reinvention, which I think might make a good album title as well. I'm not sure. Anyway, I will be doing some recording in the next few days. Maybe I'll record Fifth Wheel, because it's one that I can actually finish on my own without enlisting the help of other musicians. I'll post if I finish it. Oh, one more thing; was anyone else in complete and utter shock about Million Dollar Baby taking Best Picture and Clint Eastwood taking best director?

2005-02-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

I went to go see Jenn perform with another band: Stranger Than Fiction (pay no attention to the weird blurry overlapping of the pictures; I accidentally took long exposures in utter darkness). Paul with the crazy hair (like me) is the lead singer. It was an interesting setting at Austin Coffee and Film last night. A couple of ska bands were playing after Stranger Than Fiction, so there were all these highschool kids.

A whole shitload of 'em.

I felt like the only person with a beer in my hand. After Jenn played, she invited me to go and see laser Pink Floyd over at the planetarium, but it turned out that it wasn't till tomorrow, so we chilled at her kick-ass place and then went to a bar called The Blue Room instead.

I got a little buzzed.

After that, Vince (Jenn's boyfriend) and Jenn drove me back to my house. If you knew where I live, you'd know that it's really fucking far from where we were last night. I feel so bad about letting them drive me home last night, but at least I gave Vince a $5 bill for gas.

I feel like such a loser for not having a car AND living with my parents. I must rectify this situation.

At the insistent advice of Christian, I went and bought Ben Lee's new album Awake is the New Sleep. What I've heard so far has been nothing short of superb. I also really dig the new album from The Frames too. I've had a bit of computer hell for a few days, but I've finally got it up and running again. There was some problem with Windows where it wouldn't let me log on because of a licensing problem or some shit, so I just reinstalled it and now I'm rockin' and rollin' once again.

I think I'm going to the movies today. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up a little bit before the Oscars tomorrow. Woo hoo! Go Thomas Hayden Church!

As my co-worker Jose would say, "Behave and stay nice!"

2005-02-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

Stranger Than Fiction

2005-02-26T12:02:00.001-05:00

2005-02-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

2005-02-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

I did some exercise today. That makes two days in a row!

I did some crunches, some pushups, and ran around the block. It's actually quite exhilarating; I've really missed the indorphine rush.

I also started writing another song this morning. It's sort of about exercise and change and all that jazz. I think that I've come up with a theme for this new album: make the best of the time that you have on this Earth.

Well, I'll chat with you later.

2005-02-20T04:21:00.000-05:00

I took a trip to Miami today. Robert was dropping off two of his friends at the Port of Miami so that they could go on a cruise, and since I had a whole lotta nuthin to do today, I decided to accept his invitation to go with him. That way, he wouldn't be all by his lonesome on the ride back.

If you couldn't already tell, I've finally managed to catch up to technology a little bit. I've got DSL (oooh...), a connection to the internet in my room now, and I have figured out how to post some damn pictures on my blog; although I'm still working on it a little bit.

Today was a gorgeous sunny Florida day, so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of it with my digital camera. I love that thing! It works great for me because I screw up a lot when I take pictures. Anyway, enjoy!

2005-02-20T04:14:00.001-05:00

A neat little beachside cafe.

2005-02-20T04:14:00.000-05:00

Robert, Sonny, Cindy (a different one) and I.

2005-02-20T04:13:00.000-05:00

Ewwww....a jellyfish! It looks like someone blew up a colorful condom.

2005-02-20T04:12:00.001-05:00

Apparently I have a thing for umbrellas that are lined up on a beach.

2005-02-20T04:12:00.000-05:00

A guy with a fishing rod.

2005-02-20T04:11:00.000-05:00

Robert on a beach.

2005-02-20T04:10:00.000-05:00

Our state tree.

2005-02-20T04:09:00.000-05:00

Me on a beach.

2005-02-19T01:51:00.000-05:00

CINDY AND I ARE DONE.

2005-02-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Last night I played the open mic at Austin's Coffee and Film on Fairbanks. Robert played the bass with me on 3 songs: St. Augustine, Open Door, and Come Back Home, then I played solo for End of the World Celebration. It was so much fun! I've really missed playing, and I'm doing my best to get my ass back in gear. Robert had to pick me up from work so we could go, and then I just crashed at his house. His friends from Arizona are in town and are big fans of my music, so it was great that we were able to play for them last night. Soon Robert will be learning more songs and we'll be able to play out a lot more. Oh lord, I'm such a ditz! When I left my house yesterday morning, I walked right out of my house without my guitar! I had to borrow Robert's guitar, and when we tried to plug it in at his house, it didn't work, so we ended up having to mic it on stage. You know what was cool, though? Robert's girlfriend Andie filmed the show! I'm going to try and get a copy of it. It's weird watching yourself on stage.

In other news, I've set a deadline for myself, and it is today. I'm supposed to figure out how I can play at the social. The conclusion that I've come to is that you need to send them press kit through email. I have no idea how to do that. I'm assuming that it's pretty much the same thing as sending them a physical press kit, with a way to download a song or two, so I'm going to have to devise some version of my press kit online and send it to them. It shouldn't be that hard. I'll update later about that. Don't wait up.

2005-02-14T07:40:00.000-05:00

Aloha! Well...yesterday I played a small show at Langford Park near downtown Orlando, thanks to my good friend Michael Barry. He invited me to come out and open for him, though I didn't actually end up opening for him. My mom and I got very lost on the way.

Of course we got lost...this is me we're talking about.

First off, we went the totally wrong way on Mills avenue, then we went the totally wrong way on Central Blvd and ended up near the Citrus Bowl right smack-dab in the middle of what I like to call SCARY-TOWN, but that's okay. Michael started the show instead and took a break so that I could play in the middle so it worked out. He put on an excellent show, with the assistance of Mike on the Djimbe ( I probably spelled that wrong ) and Jenn on the wind instruments and some rhythm instruments.

After I got home, I actually got some things done. I recorded the second guitar track on my electric guitar and the main vocal and lots of back-up vocal for my new song End of the World Celebration. I'll tell you one thing:

Christian is going to have a heart-attack (sorry Natasha).

When this song is done, he's never going to want to mix another song again, but he's gonna love it! There's something else that I'm working on too. I've decided to make what I call a Gig Follow-up Book. It will be a basic 3-ring binder with a special sheet that is going to be designed for following up with venues about shows. It'll have a spaces for: venue name, owner of venue, venue phone number and email, slots for dates that I've called, who I talked to, and a schedule of when I will call them back. That should keep my ass in gear! It's going to be just like my follow-up book that I have at work, and it will constantly stare me in the face!

So, anyway, I just want everyone to know that I'm actually making an effort to work on my music, even though I still have no car.

Also, my blog is obviously not dead. So, what am I going to tomorrow?

Whatever I feel like! Gosh!

2005-02-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hello. Yes, it's been a long time. I'm going to try and get back on top of things. It's just that I've literally done nothing musically in 3 or 4 months. Until now. On Sunday Feb 6th, I played a show at the Mount Dora Arts Festival. It was fantastic! I played some old songs and some new songs, but I didn't sell a single damn CD! Oh well, I still have the CD's at least. I just came back from a trip in Connecticut to visit my ex-Florida friends. While I was there, I played an open mic at the Acoustic Cafe (that place pissed me off because Lisa Loeb played there on Feb 4th, and I was leaving on Jan 27th...damn!), met Jeremy's and Anthony's new friends, and Christian and I wrote and recorded a new song called Butterflies in Winter, with Elise playing the flute! I still have no car, but I've decided to say fuck it and try to play out anyway by bumming rides off of my friends and family. I've also decided that I'm going to record a song today, and make this the start of hardcore recording, because I now have enough songs for a new album! Rock on! I promise that I'll be updating my blog frequently. I really need to vent sometimes. Oh, and I playing an open mic at Devaney's tomorrow and I'm opening a show for this guy Michael Barry this coming Sunday. I don't remember where it is, but when I find out, I will let everyone know. Ta ta for now.

2004-10-29T21:06:00.000-04:00

THE BAD NEWS: I've got a wicked nasty cough. THE GOOD NEWS: I've just finished recording the first song off of my new album. Robbie Rob played the bass for me this morning and I emailed it to Christian. God, I love technology. He should be mixing it right now...I hope that I'll have a version of it soon. It's called Living Hell. Nice huh? I aslo finished writing a song the other day called Light at the End of the Hall. GIG NEWS: I'll be playing a show at Sharky's over on 192 November 12th at about 10:30 pm. I also just found out that I'll be playing at the Mt. Dora Arts Festival on February 6th at 12:30 pm. Thanks to the assistance of my friend Joe and his presskit knowledge. I'll be making some more so that I can try and get some more gigs. I'd really like to try and make some money at it. LIFE NEWS: N/A

2004-09-04T23:46:00.000-04:00

Hello Bloggers! Yes, it's been a while! But, do you expect any less from me? Basically, I'm trying to soak up as much electricity as possible before the hurrican hits. Hurrican Frances. What a pain in the ass it is dealing with these hurricanes. Today I spent 7 hours preparing my home for the onslaught of Mother Nature. Oh, I did all kinda shit like: drilling holes in concrete so that I could put boards on the windows, cleaning out the gutters on the sides of my house so water wouldn't get clogged in them, and making sandbags from walmart plastic bags and sand from the construction site next door (hey, everyone was doing it, ok!). All in all, I'm tired. This damn storm is just creeping along the coast right now. We still have power, but we might as well not, because the choices on TV are terrible; it's either endless weather forecasts or The English Patient (which I wouldn't mind seeing when there isn't a hurricane approaching), so here I am looking up tornadoes for a painting that I want to do! I love art. Hopefully I'll be able to put up another post next week or so. I wanted to put pictures up from the aftermath of Charley, but I was too lazy to resize the pictures, so that went undone. What IS getting done is a song that I've been writing. I've been taking my time with this one, really focusing on the lyrics, so hopefully, when the power goes off and then back on in a week or so, I'll be able to start recording. My computer is packed inside a box right now, and inside a garbage back, in case a tornado rips my window out. Hey, you never know! I hope to talk to you all later! Good night!

2004-07-28T09:54:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning with weirdness all up in my head? I had some crazy-ass dreams about Back to the Future and soda (0r pop to some people). Those are the only two things I'm sure that I dreamt about.

I tried to call Christian this morning, but then remembered stupidly that he's HERE in FLORIDA. *smacks own head* I talked to George for a few minutes about the craziness of all things. I couldn't talk to Anthony or Jeremy because they were up all night playing Battleship or something. Sounds like fun.

I got to spend my day off yesterday, sitting at home. Wanna know why? My car is dead. Yes, it broke down the other night when I was on my way to drip off Cindy. No, it will not be easily fixed. When an engine breaks, you're pretty much fucked. I don't know what happened exactly, but it was probably my own dumbass negligence. The car ran out of oil; perhaps from a leak, or perhaps from stupid, stupid, stupid me. Either way, I'm out of a car right now. I sincerely hope that I'll have one by Sunday; or at least have the ability to borrow one, since Christian and I are supposed to hang out on that day.

Things are so weird right now.

Cindy and I are trying to get through some enormous obstacles. I'd really like her to meet *Natasha* because I don't want her out of my life, but I don't know how to plan something like that without pissing Cindy off. All I know is that I'm still not very happy right now. And I feel like such a retard all the time. I feel...like an outsider. I've been incredibly lazy lately, which is stupid. I'm never going to go anywhere by being lazy, and that makes me mad at myself. I'm trying to work things out in my head, which is full of all kind crazy relationship thoughts. I've discovered nothing concrete. I want to talk to someone about all of this, but I know that my friends are absolutely fed up with all of my problems and would probably like to focus on their own for a change.

I'd like to write a song, but nothing comes out, so I just play the same old tired chord progression over and over. Hopefully I'll get some inspiration during this time of mindnumbing situations.

2004-07-20T19:45:00.000-04:00

I'm over here at my friend Robert's house! This is a different Robert than the one that plays bass for me. This is a friend from film school! We're going to go see the M. Knight Shyamalan thingamajig tonight. Robert cooked some tasty chili and rice that I'm sure will come back and see us later.

Things in my life have been very different. I've been in a sort of transitional period lately. Natasha and I, if you haven't already noticed have separated, but we are still good friends. I'm now dating a cute girl named Cindy that I met through the guitar gallery. She's learning to play guitar and she's a super-sweet person.

I haven't been giving my music enough attention lately. My dad's theme park project seems to be coming through, and soon they'll have the funding, which means that soon I'll be moving into my own house somewhere between Kissimmee and Orlando. I was thinking like in the Hunter's Creek area or Seaworld (where Cindy lives). I'd like to get a 3 bedroom 2 bath house so that I can have some space for recording and all that jazz, so hopefully that'll all work out for me. In a nutshell, I've been a helluva lot happier than I've been in recent history.

For now, I'll leave you these words that don't make sense.

"Dragon soup and onion pie equals all the pain in the world."

2004-07-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry, blog...I've neglected you for a month.

Here's a quote to make you feel better:

"Standing in the street cleaning up your ripped garbage bag is like reliving all your bad memories."

-Ryan's brain

2004-06-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

I took Natasha out for her birthday yesterday. We went and saw Harry Potter and went out for some tasty Chevy's lunch. God, I love Americanized Mexican food.

I thought the film was excellent. The cinematography was great with some truly Zemeckis moments in there. There was one shot in particulr involving a mirror that was very reminescent of that amazing shot in Contact.

All in all, it was a fun day. I had to drive my parents to the airport after lunch so that they could pick up a rental car, since my dad's car broke down again. It was the damn timing belt. Add that to the two other vehicles sitting in our driveway right fucking now.

Monday, Side Out (my friend Marcus's band) will be opening for the Riddlin' Kids at the Social. You know I'll be there! On Wednesday, I'm planning on going to some clubs with my CD. I'm itchin' to play some shows!

Well, gotta go practice with Robert.

2004-06-16T12:38:00.000-04:00

Wassup? Long time, no talk to, peoples. I'm sorry that I've neglected my blog, but I've been pretty busy lately. How's everyone doing? Fine! Wonderful! Great! The show at Caffe Capri went awesome! I sold seven CD's at the full $10 price! All in all, it was a great experience. Malcolm was a litte eccentric to say the least, but a damn good guitar player. The last couple of weeks I've been playing open mics again with Robert. We found this great new place called the AKA lounge in downtown. It's a really artsy sort of place with lots of room and very ecclectic tastes. They have DJs performing, poets, singer/songwriters, and even rappers and celtic pianists. It's a very interesting mix. So far, it's been going pretty good, but now we're ready to expand and start actively looking for a drummer, so maybe we can get some real gigs.

I've also been recording. I spent a good two hours the other night just working on a solo. Isn't that ridiculous? And it still wasn't played that great...oh well, it'll sound good when it's all put togheter. I'll just have to grown Stevie Ray Vaughn's fingers.

Christian is coming down to visit! Yay! I haven't seen him in six months...maybe we'll record a song together like old times...but I don't think he'll have the patience to wait two hours for me to get a solo almost right.

Anyway...I will be posting pictures as soon as I figure out my mom's camera. It shouldn't be that hard...ta ta for now!

2004-06-05T11:57:00.000-04:00

A hole must have opened up in the sky with me falling out of it, because I'm back with a new post! I'm really psyched because tonight I'll be traveling to Eustis (for those of you who know Kissimmee, it's near Mt. Dora) which is about 2 hours away to open up for Mr. Malcolm Holcombe. I got a call out of the blue because the guy who runs sound for this venue told the guy who books shows about me and showed him some of my CD!

This is a paid gig ya'll!

I'm gonna get about 20-25 minutes of original music time, so I've been trying to figure out what to play. I think I've got it figured out, though. I'm going to play some songs geared toward my current CD Too Delicate to be Thrown so that maybe I'll sell a couple of copies at the show.

Here's a quick note to Adam Bolduc in Mass, I decided not to play Kiss the Plane, but I'll dedicate another song to you, with Tony as my witness. Say hello to Jeremy and Christian for me.

Anyways, I've had a lot of shit going on in my life as of late, and I haven't felt much inclined to post, but I felt it necessary knowing that this show is a career leap for me. In other news I started recording again the other night. I was inspired after I bought The Elected at Christian's advice. I put aside Kiss the Plane's recording to work on Something More, a different new song. Surprisingly, the first track was done with my electric guitar. I think I'm gonna have to work on the main track a little bit, since Christian has claimed to be a nut for perfection, and I realize more and more that I care less and less about perfection in my recordings. Who knew I had it in me?

Here's a picture of Malcolm.

2004-05-20T13:22:00.000-04:00

Today I was watching the news, and saw something I thought was sort of funny, even though it's at the expense of something serious. They were talking about the terrible rape of a motorist by a man that stopped to help. It occurred right before the eyes of hundreds of drivers-by (it's a sick world, indeed). After they showed the sketch of the suspect, they then went out to a roving reporter on the scene. Here's the funny part: the suspect had an uncanny resemblence to the reporter on the scene. Take a look.

Wouldn't it be weird if a reporter on television telling the world how a man got away with rape right in front of hundreds of cars was actually the rapist himself getting away with it in front of thousands of viewers? Yes, it would.

Let me just slip right into a serious subject about me. I have been lying to myself. I've been telling myself that everything is okay, but it isn't. I'm still really fucking depressed. I just want to apologize to all of my friends for bringing them down. Lord knows that I don't want to drag my closest friends into the swirling vortex that is my unhappiness. I feel as though I've been dancing on the edge of reality as I know it, but this actually IS my reality and I don't want to face it. I know this all sounds very vague, but for good reason. The truth is I'm still in a constant state of trying to find myself, and I think I may have revealed a small part of it, but it really scares the hell out of me. I need to do something about it. That's all I have to say.

2004-05-16T10:20:00.000-04:00

After days and days of a seemingly endless struggle with my computer, I have triumphed! I kept having a stupid, stupid message appear saying that I have a bad image file or something. It popped up every time I turned on my computer, and when I would hit my control/alt/delete combo of buttons. I have not been able to record new songs with my new mic for the last few days.

No one really understands why.

I had to whine to Christian since he is our resident computer technology genius/wizard. He thought that it was the exact same message that he had coming up on his computer, but it turns out that it was COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I guess I should have thoroughly read the message to him and had him write it down; that way there'd have been less confusion.

Once my frustration had reached its head, I finally acted upon my initial inclination to simply delete the god-forsaken file!

Low and behold, it worked.

The second after I deleted it, the message stopped coming up when I hit my control/alt/delete, AND the programs that were previously not working together and keeping me from my recording, immediately started working again. *SIGH* Computers suck.

So, in conclusion, I started recording Kiss the Plane last night! Yay! On track for a new record, baby!

2004-05-13T08:50:00.000-04:00

I feel as though I can relate to at least 1/10th of a crack addict. Last night as my low-calorie day was winding down, I had an incredible desire for some candy or chocolate; both of which were readily available to me. I thought I was gonna go insane. My mind was saying "NO NO NO!! Chocolate BAD!!!!" and my devil of a stomach said..."Awww, what's one little piece gonna hurt?"
I was practically tearing my hair out! But, in the end good triumphed, and finished out the day just under my calorie limit. Damn, that was a close one.

2004-05-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

I have emerged from my self-induced state of down-heartedness. After 2 weeks of insanity, I think I'm doing a lot better. Thank you to those that called me during those two weeks. I've declared today...room-cleaning day! Afterward, I will reward myself with trying out my brand new condenser mic! Here's a picture of it with specs. I'm going to attempt to record one of my new songs waiting to be immortalized in sound. However, I must concentrate on the task at hand. Cleaning up the horrible pile of clothing that I live upon. Film at eleven.

2004-05-09T05:49:00.000-04:00

Hey, I'm comin' to ya live from really drunkville! I'm at Adam's house right now, and I'm on like my 6th beer or somethin like that! Anthony and Adam are watching a Saturday Night Live spoof on the last Friend's episode, which I still have not had the opportunity to watch, but I will because Adam has saved it on his blessed Brighthouse. So here I am in another room yet again. Will the madness ever end????? I'm drunk.

2004-04-29T01:21:00.000-04:00

I'm in a sad state of depression right now.

2004-04-24T14:19:00.000-04:00

Hello, ya'll.

I'll just start off by saying that work sucks. I'm just getting sick of it. When do I get kick-started into my career? I haven't received any contact from Trampoline Records except for the email stating that they received my material. That's good, I guess. I met some guy named Raymond at an open mic on Monday night. I'm going to give him a call, and we'll see what he's all about. Also, there was this crazy dude with Raymond that referred to himself as an "eccentric millionaire". Well, he's got the eccentric part down to a science, and in addition, a hint of creepiness. But hey you never know...

Recently, I've immersed myself in a project that I'm doing for Natasha, since Tuesday will mark our four-year anniversary! Four years! Can you believe it? On Monday, I'm gonna cook up some tasty lunch at her house, then, we'll sit down and watch The Pianist since we can't really go out anywhere. I'm happy that we can at least hang out together.

Tuesday night, I'm going to host an open mic for my good friend Open Mike, since he's on vacation. That will take place at the Faribanks Tavern...on Fairbanks. It's not the first time I've ever hosted an event, but definately my first open mic, so I hope to have a decent crowd. I think it will be an awesome time!

I have to leave in a half hour to go to my dreaded workplace. It's not that I don't like my job, really, because I love my job. It's just that forever in the back of my mind is the knowledge that I won't be doing it for the rest of my life, so I get this sort of anxious feeling.

It's just a day job.

I have to find a way to start turning my music into a job so that I can make some money out of it, without having to play Jimmy Buffet tunes for old drunken bastards. Blech! The last thing I want is to become a cover player. Blech again!

In other news, I wrote a new song. A totally different song than the one I was working on about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is a different one about...work. What a surprise! A song comes out of the thing causing me the most grief! I'm going to record it as soon as I get my new Reason Soundbanks CD, which should be arriving soon, I expect.

Well, anyway...off to the ol' nine to five. Well, more like four to midnight.

2004-04-17T08:02:00.000-04:00

An actual email I received:

bag night store hand bite industry bulb straight but thunder parcel fire monkey station first condition when to dirty music sudden living middle sail green
G3t a D3gree Today.

reason dry the brick soup voice out slow sleep where experience plate meat by send horn chest lock future wind day morning gold bucket cook thunder why bite step bright land up gun serious army parcel regular authority son though judge blow meat walk power rat fruit sneeze on bridge copy smooth potato necessary foot division key safe foolish regular stitch sky plant plow waste between private position by language war wool wheel last under paste neck request high building sort or force tail but purpose mountain word hate surprise rate pot balance round edge account so fork

2004-04-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

I saw Kill Bill: Volume 2 last night at midnight, and I must say that it was FUCKING FANTASTIC (even though I think Volume 1 was superior, I still loved it). Feelings of cinematic bliss poured over me as I sat in the darkened theater, waiting to see how Uma Thurman was gonna kick some Deadly Viper Assassanation Squad ass. Unfortunately, I had to decline going to an open mic yesterday in order receive my Tarantino injection, but that's okay because I'll make up for it tonight. To kill time beforehand, I played some basketball with Walter down on Oak Street...ghetto style. It was a lot of fun, and I've never felt so dead in my life after a workout (partially because I hadn't eaten anything since 1pm earlier that day, and I still didn't eat anything until after watching the movie). It was awesome! I had a strange experience...I ran into someone that I hadn't seen in a long time on the b-ball court (that's some ghetto slang for basketball court). I knew him back in middle school/high school, and he was someone that I remember I really didn't get along with. But now after several years of real life I had no problem playing on the same team with him. Very strange indeed. I leave you know with some lyrics from the Format. Jeremy and I talked about them before.

old classmates please drop all your pens
dont write a word cause i wont reply
and im not bitter
no its just ive passed that point in my life

Good day!

2004-04-15T00:40:00.000-04:00

I'm in super-duper-fuckin-happy mode right now! Natasha, after being marooned in the hospital for the last 3 and 1/2 months has finally returned home! Yeah! I hung out with her today and watched Kill Bill: Volume 1 on DVD.

On Monday night Robert and I played another open mic over at Central Station Bar. It was awesome. We might be getting hooked up with a show at Underground Bluz cause this awesome chick, Emily Stine, who runs the open mic may be doing the booking for them, so that would be awesome. That open mic also marked the first test run of my new pickup. It sounded fantastic! It was definately a worthwhile investment for me.

My next big purchase will be a condensor microphone that I can use for recording. It should make the recordings ever so much better. I should be sending out some new recordings for Christian to mix very soon. I've got a song that I'm working on that I will be finishing sometime when the ol' inspirado kicks in. Anyway...I hope everyone has a good night. Especially Adam Bolduc, whom I miss dearly.

2004-04-12T15:37:00.000-04:00

Yo, yo, yo! I had an awesome Easter? How about ya'll? The Format, one of my favorite bands right now came into my guitar shop at Downtown Disney. It was fantastic! Sam, the guitar player, put me on the guest list for their sold-out show. I was going to buy my ticket, but I had all that car bullshit happen and the show was already sold out before I could get over there to buy one. They were awesome! They had a short set cause they were openers, but they played two of my favorites on their CD: Tie the Rope, and Sore Thumb. I bought a cool T-shirt and a poster. On stage, they played some kazoos they had bought earlier in my store.

Oh, I also sold some drumsticks to the drummer of Something Corporate. Speaking of Something Corporate, what's with all of these poplular bands busting out in the middle of their sets with Outkast's Hey Ya? It's getting absolutely ridiculous! At another show Better than Ezra starting playing it, but it wasn't technically the whole song, just a little snippet, but then I went and saw Pennywise, and they did a full-on punk version of the song! Jesus! It doesn't even matter what genre of music your band plays in, the audience will love you if you play Hey Ya. Hmm, maybe I should do a slow acoustic version of it? Apparantly, Saves the Day did a cover of it as well, but I wasn't at that show.

Ridiculous.

2004-04-11T01:18:00.000-04:00

Hooray! Jim Caviezel has risen from the dead! Rock on! Happy Easter! Let's all eat bad, fatteningly awesome chocolate!

I worked out this morning, even though I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep because I was watching a midnight showing of Dawn of the Dead. I finally saw it. Generally I liked it. I agree with Jeremy about the beauty of the sign relationship between the gunstore guy and Vingh Rames. It was very touching.

In other news, I did what I said I'd do and sent out a CD to Trampoline Records. There ya go, Christian. That's ONE. Now I need to send out a million more to a million other record labels. What am I saying? I should get a record contract right away from this one submission, right? Maybe I should go and wait by the phone.

Forgive my jumpiness, but a lot of different but good things are going on. I bought a pickup for my acoustic guitar, and Robert put it in my guitar. He's a regular luthier! It was scary because we had to make the whole where the button goes in big enough to fit the pickup jack, and that required drilling. It's like waiting for you grandmother to get out of surgery (I'm sorry to those of you with a grandmother in surgery, I wish her all the best). Anyway, there were some initial problems last night. We went to plug it in and it was all fucked up. Crazy low hum for no reason. Well, it turns out Robert just soldered the wires into the wrong spots. Now, it sounds fucking brilliant, but it still needs a little work to get the action back the way it was. I think I'll test it out at an open mic on Monday. I can't wait to rock their faces off! Ya'll have a good Easter!

2004-04-09T01:20:00.000-04:00

I worked out today! I was proud of myself for being able to run for 10 minutes straight on the tredmill (is that how you spell it?). I've been keeping a pretty steady routine on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'm gonna be going again on Saturday. It's gonna be good.

Tonight at work, I met a guy that says he's the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. I can't remember what his name was, but it may have been Bob Sheets. I also met the guitar and bass players for Melissa Etheridges back-up band. Melissa played tonight, and will be playing again tomorrow night. Maybe tomorrow she'll actually come in. I imagine her coming in and I ask her "What brings you in tonight?" like I do to everyone,
and she replies by immediately grabbing her signature guitar and singing "I wanna come over..."

Okay, so that's a bad joke.

Seriously though, I really hope that The Format come in on Sunday. They're opening for Yellow Card, and the damn show sold out before I was able to get tickets. It really pisses me off! Maybe they could hook me up with tickets for the show...that would rock! But it probably won't happen...oh well. I'll just listen to the CD. Speaking of CDs, I still have yet to send out mine to Trampoline Records, but I SWEAR I will send it tomorrow. This is my pledge to all who read this. Blog as my witness.

2004-04-07T03:18:00.000-04:00

Godamn, I'm tired! After going to the beach yesterday (where my friend Walter and I dug a very large hole for no reason) and working out this morning my leg muscles are extremely sore. Tonight Robert (my bass player and manager) and I played two different open mics! It was awesome! Luke Baily invited me to come out and open for him at a show on May 8th. I gave him my number so he can call me with the details later, but it looks like I'll be playing another show! This time, I'll have Robert backing me up on the bass, and on the guitar for some songs. I plan on sending out a CD with Need You to Trampoine Records tomorrow. Who knows, maybe Pete Yorn will hear my music? Anyway, I'd like to do some recording tomorrow, maybe throw a little bass in there sometime next week. Robert was supposed to come over tonight, but he's godamn tired too. I'll tell you one thing; I certainly ain't doin no cardio tomorrow. BLARG. Goodnight.

2004-04-05T01:32:00.000-04:00

So, I've recently dissappeared for days on end. But now I'm back...and I present to you a list of things that I did.

1. Left on Monday to spend three days in Ft. Lauderdale, with my sister and her roomate Mel, J.C. (no, not Jesus) and Kelton.
2. Bought 2 cool jackets, 1 cool hawaiian shirt, and 1 cool pair of pants from a thrift store.
3. Got really drunk one night...and really naked (in a house folks).
4. Ate at Taco Bell.
5. Saw a comedy show at a comedy club called Uncle Funnys.
6. Won 500+ tickets at an arcade and spent them on a cool yo-yo in the shape of a hamburger.
7. Saw PART of Trainspotting for the first time.
8. Got a tattoo on my right shoulder with a homemade tattoo gun! Insane isn't it?
9. Oh yeah, I came back home and worked.

There you go ya'll. That's my week in a very tightly closed nutshell. Yes, the Ryan who is afraid of needles; the Ryan who said that he'd probably never get a tattoo...got a damn tattoo, and he feels good about it.

I decided to go with a treble clef since I couldn't think of much else that I'd want to permanantly place on my body. It's starting to get all scabby. So, there you have it. Now I must go and do some recording!

Goodnight!

2004-03-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here's the lowdown of the last two days. It turns out there was an electrical short in my car that caused the headlight switch to go bad. The damn switch cost me $200! That's JUST the switch! ARG...but it's okay. The pain is that I had to wait two days before they could put the damn thing in. Both days I sat in the waiting room for several hours before I had to go to work, hoping to take my car that day. Finally, they put it in this morning. All in all, the total job cost me $430! ARG! But...there's a happy ending to this story. It turns out that the switch I had in the car wasn't really bad at all...it was just a bad wire and they put it in for no reason! So, I'm getting back my $200 for the part! Hooray for getting back money! This is better than a tax return!

2004-03-22T19:52:00.000-05:00

Just take today's plans and throw them out the window. That's what my mind says to me when it comes to the realization that my car isn't going to take me anywhere. I had three things on my list that I wanted to do today.

1. Do some cardio at the YMCA.
2. Go movie hopping with my co-worker Tyler.
3. Go play at an open mic.

8:30 AM. My dad wakes me up to show me the problem with the car. See, the past couple of days I've battled the connector on my car's battery. A big fat pain in the ass. The last fourteen times of starting my car required a little push down on the terminal before I turned the ignition key. I asked my dad last night if he would look at it before going to work to try and figure out the problem. I listen with a sleepy head as he says, I was tightening down the terminal and it broke.

Oh shit, my mind says.

He tells me I simply have to go over to the autoparts store, buy a new one, slap it on and I'll be fine. With thoughts of automobile mechanics, I trudge back into the bedroom and go to sleep.

10:30 AM. I finally decide to turn the alarm off instead of hitting the snooze button for the eighth time. I waddle over to the kitchen and whip up some tasty protein-filled tuna to prepare for a little cardio before I go meet Tyler at the movies. Around 11:30 AM, I'm driving down the road with a wrench clamping the battery terminal onto my car.

12:00 PM. Getting on the new terminal is not that big of a deal, so I call up my dad and tell him that the car started fine and everything is going okay. Not two seconds after hanging up the phone, all the power cuts out of my car. Oh shit. Christian remembers when that happened. A long friggin' time ago the 100 Amp Alternator fuse burnt out in my car and cut out all the power. Not even my turn signals work.

It's 12:45 PM and I'm about a mile away from the YMCA that costs me $55 per month. I won't be able to work out if I want to meet Tyler by 2:00 PM, so I sadly cross number one off of my list and call my dad back. He suggests that I go over to his workplace to take a look at the car again. What a superdad!

It's 2:00 PM and I'm on a search for more fuses. I call Tyler and we agree to meet at Downtown Disney to see Dawn of the Dead at 2:45 PM. I really want to see this movie. I go to Wal-mart; no dice. The guy in the automotive section tells me where to find a Discount Auto parts, so I jet over there, get the fuse and hurry back to my dad's work. Oh, and I also buy some headlights cause they burnt out last night.

I help my dad slap the damn thing in the car. I'll worry about the headlights later. When I'm finally underway, I stop at the 7-11 to buy some snacks for the movies. 2:40 PM. I pull out of the station and call Tyler to tell him I'll be a little late and that I'll meet him in the theatre.

Oh shit. The goddamn fuse burns out again. I sadly cross number two off of my list.

I drive my car over to the repair place that closes at 6:00 PM. It's 5:55 PM. My mechanic Hadi (Hah-dee), one of the nicest dudes I've ever met, drops the car keys he's holding to help out one more customer. He even kindly gives me a ride back to my dad's office, since I won't be driving my vehicle home tonight.

I obviously cross number three off of my list.

A belly full of comforting Taco Bell, I sit in my dad's office typing this epic post of utter sadness. I hope the damn car costs less than $350 to fix this time.

So, how's everyone else doing? I know, I know. These problems sound minute in comparison to the problems facing our nation and the world everyday, but dammit, are my requests so extremely unreasonable? Why does a vehicle have to cause so much stress and heartache? Are these the proverbial dues that I must pay as an artist? No matter how trivial, they still qualify as problems. My problems.

On a lighter note, I'm extremely happy with the knowledge that Natasha will be returning home with a fresh new immune system in roughly three weeks! Nothing can punch holes in that happiness.

2004-03-22T00:43:00.000-05:00

Last night was interesting. I went over to Adam's to hang out with him, Anthony and Kelly at around midnight. Anthony cooked some damn fine lemon-pepper chicken and we immersed ourselves in discussion. As usual, it was the subjects of weight-loss, Jeremy and Christian, and politics.

I'll just say that Adam is extremely passionate during political discussions. He expresses this passion with increasingly loud vocals;so much that Anthony actually seemed pissed off about it as he was leaving.

We've got to stop talking about politics at 2:00 AM because someone's eventually gonna get pissed. I always feel stupid during these discussions anyway because I really don't know a whole lot about the issues, except for what I sometimes pick up watching George Stephanopolous (did I spell that right?). But I always do my best to give some personal insight. Maybe I should do some research on the internet. Naw, I'll go play video games.

Tomorrow, I'm having a busy day. First, my ass is hittin' the gym. I ain't payin' $55 per month to sit at home and do nothin'. Must get rid of those last 15 lbs. Then I'm going to the movies with Tyler. This will make the third time this week! Why do I love film so much? Then, I will be hitting a different open mic; I'm not usually off on Mondays, so this will be an interesting change. I could use some change these days.

2004-03-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

I know that I just went to the movies on Thursday, but I remembered that Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was coming out, so I had to go. It was great! Jim Carrey's performance was very reminiscent of Bill Murray in Lost in Translation; very restrained in comparison to his previous works. Kate Winslet was totally out of character, sporting crazy weird-colored hair and a wacked-out, except-me-for-who-I-am personality.

Overall, it was VERY Charlie Kaufman, and that could never be wrong.

Let me just say how much I love Kirsten Dunst. I don't know why. I guess I'll just accept it.

2004-03-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

So, I went to see The Passion of the Christ...and The Butterfly Effect. It was an interesting combo.

I'm not a very religious person, but I really wanted to know what all the hype was about...and I love Jim Caviezel. I was faced with a strange moral dilemma...at AMC we jump into a second movie. I usually have no problem with this, but the plan was for my mother and I to watch wacky adventures through time with Ashton Kutcher and then sneak into the Passion, but I made my mother switch the order. Something just didn't seem right about sneaking into a film about Jesus.

The Butterfly Effect was one of those weird movies that I don't necessarily want to see when it first comes out, but then everyone says, "You know, it was actually pretty good." So then I'm curious. I'll tell you one thing, Ashton Kutcher is hilarious when he's trying to be serious.

They were both very good films in my opinion. Although, some of the Jesus beating and slowmotion falling was a little bit drawn out, it was at least tolerable. I was just like, "Ok, I get that He suffered, but Jesus!"

Butterfly was what Jeremy refers to as a good popcorn movie. So all in all, I was happy. I feel bad for eating some of that popcorn while I'm trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Oh well...at least I'll be able to lay the burden of my sins on Jim Caviezel.

2004-03-16T05:42:00.000-05:00

Ok, so after waiting for about 30 minutes to get munchie food for the road, we finally get underway.

Fast forward to two hours later, and we're there...at 5:00 AM. I'm so fucking tired. Goodnight.

2004-03-16T02:02:00.000-05:00

Good evening! I wanted to take this opportune time as I wait for Adam Bolduc to get out of the shower to introduce myself. My name is Ryan Winford and I'm a struggling musician.

Like so many other artists whose CDs line the shelves at the local record store, I, too, am attempting to reach an audience through musical expression. For the last three weeks I have been playing at open mics around the Orlando area and I must say I've met some very interesting people: some maybe even transexual.

Anyway, my intention for this blog is to keep myself in check, and all the while have a chronicle of my endeavours.

Right now, Adam and I are planning to make the hour and a half trip to Gainesville to visit Anthony and Kelly in their own habitat. A habitat that also contains strange creatures called sugargliders. They are strange sort of marsupial flying-squirrel...things, and damn they're fun.

So, we're off! Good evening! Expect some more details of our trip in the near, near future.

2004-03-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

Hello. My name is Ryan. I am a musician/singer/songwriter.