Status Quo is SORELY Underrated...

For years, I have been frustrated whenever my life has stagnated. Taking the next step, earning more money, becoming more professionally respected, trying to reach the presumed level of my peers, meeting what I assume are the expectations of those I love and respect, these have all kept me moving forward. What I've realized lately, is that these have been the most significant sources of stress in my life. In today's society, everyone's looking for the BBD (Bigger Better Deal). Acquiring more things, gaining more friends, making more money, looking better, have made life SO hectic and fast-paced that we take no time to appreciate what we have. By the time we do, we want the NEXT big thing. What ISN'T appreciated, it the contented status quo.

I was going to entitle this "contented stagnation", but the word 'stagnation' just has a negative connotation to it. 'Stagnation' implies ennui, malaise, and an inability to emerge from a given situation. That's not what I'm talking about. If a situation is frustrating, intolerable, or even just plain boring, it needs to be changed. What I'm talking about is looking at what you have, realizing that it's not only enough, but you're happy with it, and pausing for a while to enjoy what you have achieved.

Working at (a popular and busy coffee place), I see perfect examples of the victims of this kind of "BBD" thinking. Uptight, irritable, over-stressed, overbooked yuppies, zooming from place to place in their $50k+ automobiles, needing their over-priced triple lattes for the energy to maintain their overblown lifestyles, usually with the goal being to simply 'keep up with the Joneses'. They rarely take the time to get off their cell phones to even acknowledge a smile from another human being, let alone the luxuries they worked so hard to attain. Even their vacations are so booked to the rim and often interrupted or cut short by work or catastrophes of their own making, they don't take the time to enjoy them - just finish task A so they can get to task B, C, and D.

They come in a self-deluded swarm through the morning drive-thru on a daily basis, in a constant fog of their own existence, created by observing the same fog surrounding other people they wish to emulate or outdo. They become so obsessed with having the respect and approval of others for what they have, or for their perceived status, rather than who they are, all they know is improving their surroundings rather than their lives. The budding executive, trying to set himself up for that VP position and the extra $10k/yr with it, the stay-at-home mom in the Cadillac SUV with the Prada bag taking Johnny to karate practice, then a soccer game, then piano lessons in the hopes that she can pin her pride on him to supplant her disappointment in herself, the medical intern working like hell to finish so he can move into his specialty and get that BMW he's been dreaming of, while paying off his student loans for the next 30 years - they parade by me on a daily basis, like marathon runners grabbing a cup of water en route, heading toward a finish line they keep extending. Not every one of them, of course, but enough on a regular basis for me to be relatively certain I can recognize them when I see them.

Now, by no means am I perfectly content with my current income, the shape my house is in, or even several other parts of my life. I'm FAMOUS for trying to fit more than 24 hours into a day between 4-5 jobs at a time, surviving on 4 hours sleep for several days of the week, and burning my candle at several ends in hopes to make this repair to my home, that improvement, get my kids what they want for Christmas, or more often, just to make sure by cell phone doesn't get shut off. I'm every bit as much a victim of the Rat Race as anyone in today's society, and I won't make excuses that it's always "just to survive". It's just as much to maintain the lifestyle I'm accustomed to as the ad exec in the Jaguar yelling through his cell phone at his assistant while he snatches his large quad-shot French vanilla latte from my hand without a word and speeds off. We all like a certain level of comfort, and work like Hell and do whatever we can to maintain it, and I'm not the one to say one lifestyle is any better than the other.

What I have learned over the past several years, however, is that while moving forward and making progress toward a goal is necessary for us to grow as human beings, affording us the opportunity to succeed or fail and learn from both experiences, pausing the rat race for a while and stopping to appreciate the progress you've made is even more important. Now, I don't have the luxury of taking a week's or even a few consecutive days' vacation, but I have intentionally taken a day off each of the past 2 weeks where I don't have a major commitment (well, at least not for most of the day), sacrificing some financial stability for more emotional contentment.

What I've realized in my moments of calm, is that I really have it pretty good. Oh, I know I've praised my wonderful friends and family a lot here, and rightfully so, but what I realized this time was what I've created for myself: I have a house, a working car that is comfortable and practical, furnishings that not only are comfortable and (mostly) clean, but fit my style and personality, two computers with accessories that do exactly what I need them to, two wonderful and brilliant children who are making great progress in all areas of their lives, a wonderful girlfriend that appreciates and understands me, I'm keeping my bills under control, not digging myself further in debt, and most importantly, clearing the fog once in a while to see it all in perspective and those around me that help make it happen. Much of this is through the help of friends and family, yes, but not without my own hard work, as well. Because I realize this, I'm happy and contended most of the time. Yes, I work A LOT, but I work to live. I don't live to work.

This started out with a clear purpose, but I've once again gotten long-winded and redundant. Suffice it to say, that despite my current humble professional and financial status, I'd like to offer what little advice may be valuable to the rich, successful, and powerful: take the time to step back, breathe, and appreciate it. For a while - be it 5 weeks, 5 days, or even 5 minutes - stop trying to get more, be more, or do more. For a brief time, block out some time in your iPhone planner to live.

That's what I just did, and I'm a lot happier for it.

...and now, back to the Rat Race...

Summertime, and the livin' is...CRAZY!

Well, the main reason I haven't posted in a while is that shortly after my last blog, we lost a few people at Starbucks and I was working 40 hours there, 12 hours at Blockbuster, 2 hours (plus 1.5 hours in commute) directing a chorus, 1/2 hour giving a trombone lesson, 2 hours at quartet rehearsal, and 3 hours (plus 2 hours commute) for my weekly dinner with my kids. That's 63 hours out of my week, plus household chores, miscellany, and trying to see my girlfriend in there, somewhere!

Oh, did I mention? I'M A CHORUS DIRECTOR!!!! I can't believe I haven't mentioned it yet, but about 3 months ago, I got the position of Director for the Livingston Lamplighters Barbershop Chorus! The pay's not much (basically enough to justify the 2 hours and pay for the gas there and back), but then again, barbershop chorus directing gigs rarely pad the wallet. Mostly, this scratches my professional itch - and does it EVER!

As a music educator, I appreciate a challenge. That's not to say the chorus is bad - far from it! They are, however, small in numbers, varied in musical background, and have not had a lot of exposure to the nuances of the style, its traditions, or its evolution over the past several decades. That's where I come in.

I have always most enjoyed coming to a group with room for improvement, connecting with them, and getting them to understand what I'm looking for. From there spawns an avalanche of progress. I've always said that with a directing job, I'd rather take a small, budding program and build it, rather than a huge successful program and try to maintain it. It's more fun, more satisfying, and let's face it, MUCH less pressure. When there's no where to go but up, there's nothing to look but good.

What I liked best about the Lamplighters after visiting their rehearsal for the first time, was the camaraderie and brotherhood they shared. That's the benefit of a small group. Beyond that, they all had a visible passion for singing. They may not have had the guidance to fine-tune it or the background to interpret it, but it's much easier to refine passion than to try and create it. As I listened, I heard things I liked and things I didn't. Some chords would ring beautifully, some vowels would line up wonderfully, while certain phrasing and tempos were awkward and lyrical meaning lost. The entire time, I sat back and thought, "I can FIX this! I have the ability! I can make them better...stronger...MORE MUSICAL!"

As I began directing them, I started to realize more the responsibilities and work that would go into this job. The first month or so, I stumbled a few times: I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, I allowed too much talking during rehearsal, my conducting left MUCH to be desired, etc. Thankfully, after a few tips from the baritone of my quartet and one of the members (and former director), I started to find my footing.

My debut as director was for the senior living complex that offers us the rehearsal space. My girlfriend made it a point to drive 45 minutes from home to be there for me, showing enthusiastic support for my endeavor, which meant the WORLD to me. The song selection was a bit awkward, random, and dated, and the script was full of groan-worthy puns, but for a mid-season barbershop show with a brand new director, that's par for the course. We sounded solid, with few noticeable gaffes. I was pleased.

Since then, things have only gotten better. They're ringing chords more often, they're working on the parts on their own more diligently, and they're starting to sound more like a solid barbershop chorus, rather than just a group of guys singing barbershop songs fairly well. They're learning my conducting style, even as I refine my own technique to match their response. They're watching more closely, emoting more, expanding dynamics, and starting to FEEL what they sing. It's truly beautiful to watch their progress week to week.

I wish I could make a living out of this and make it full-time, but sadly, I gotta pay the bills otherwise. Enter: a new job opportunity!

A regular at my Starbucks was so pleased with my demeanor, she asked for my resume! After researching the company, I find out she's the president! I've had 2 interviews and am awaiting a final decision, which should be along within a week or so. I don't want to say too much at the risk of jinxing it, but I truly hope this comes through. My current employment situation has me barely hanging on, and all it takes is one catastrophe with the car or some other unexpected bill to have me running to family for help. I just can't have that any longer. I'm beyond grateful to know that my family is willing to catch me when I stumble, but I'm 36, and shouldn't need the help. I love my jobs (usually), but they simply aren't enough to live on with any financial certainty.

So, as always, I'm on the financial precipice, but have enough good things going for me to keep me chipper. Life's all about balance. :)

Coming up: Fall district contest - Chorus? Quartet? Both? Neither? and a potential West Coast vacation!

X-mess 2009...

Fair warning: The following blog is an epic-length tome of chaos & woe, but not with a self-pitying, whiny intent. This simply documents the past month leading up to a scrumbled & frantic Holiday season. After all you are about to read, rest assured that I am not nearly as panicked and downtrodden as the story may lead you to believe...

"Holidays are joyful. There's always something new..."

Well, that Karen Carpenter lyric is HALF true, anyway.

The Holiday Season is ALWAYS a flurry of activity, mad dashes to the store, unexpected catastrophes, scurrying from gathering to gathering, and financial frustration, but this year has been a DOOZY! This doesn't even come CLOSE to the car wreck of two Christmas Eves ago, of course, but rather than being a single, terrifying event like the one that etched that year as "The Worst Christmas Ever", this has been a Chinese Water torture of hits that, at first glance, could plunge me into the depth of despair. However, upon reflection, each maddening setback has had its own silver lining. Still, just when I think I'm about to catch up..."there's always something new."

First off, to catch up on the last blog, I did manage to cobble together the back door threshold of the house and plug up some of the holes in the house, just in time for the cold weather to set in. With the help of the reciprocating saw my sister left behind when she moved to L.A., I got to explore my mechanical, manly side by doing some work with nails, screws & wood to make a sturdy foundation for the threshold, replaced some rotted wood, and allay some of my self-consciousness about home repair. All the bending, kneeling, and physical exertion left me PLENTY sore for a few days, but the good, productive kind of sore. In the end, it ain't pretty, but it'll do until I research some county home improvement loans and will save me a LOT on my heating bill.

I mentioned unexpected car repairs in my last blog. Well, I shouldn't have jinxed myself. The main cause of my holiday woes this year has been based on my car. My heat's always been a bit weak in my 98 Cavalier, and the temp gauge rarely goes into the "normal" range. I thought little of this, but the guys at my oil change place suggested a radiator flush should do the trick, as there was a TON of gunk in the coolant system.

Now, I bought this from a fairly green grease monkey, who obviously bought it as junk and fixed it up. The body was in great shape, but other than a good repair on the head gasket, he seemed to skimp a bit on or totally ignore the other repairs. The trunk latch was tricky from the get-go, and is now stuck shut (better than open, I suppose), some of the gauges would flip out on occasion, the check engine light was on more than off, the suspension left MUCH to be desired (especially on the near lunar, crater-filled surface of Detroit area roads), and the "theft deterrent system" didn't always like my key and would shut off the fuel for a few minutes from time to time when I'd try to start it, among other things, but the engine sounded strong and it got from A to B quite well...until I got the radiator flush.

First off, since my car was recommended for the more expensive (yet completely overrated & unnecessary) DEXcool fluid, it cost me $30 more than the standard flush. They then charged me $30 MORE to flush my heater core, which I found out later was ridiculous, as the standard flush should do that. After $90, the heat was little, if any, better. I then started talking to a friend and customer at Blockbuster.

This guy has worked at the Murray's Discount Auto Parts store next to my Blockbuster for years. He's tricked out his own show car, which is a late-90s Cavie, as well. He's certified up the wazoo in all sorts of repairs and diagnostics for cars and knows my car model inside and out, top to bottom - literally. I had him look at it.

Apparently, the flush broke the nub off the thermostat. We replaced it, as well as a bent piece that housed it (likely something the seller didn't bother to replace - just added more gaskets), and hoped that would be the end off it. After a VERY minimal charge for labor, and a lot of headaches getting the parts, after a week or so, it was done and we hoped for the best that that would be all.

At this point, I was feeling okay. Working around his schedule to get the car to him, bumming rides from people while it was there, & driving to Hell & gone to find the parts on the dirt cheap was a hassle, but I had just sold my precious F-rotor trombone to pay for my kids' Christmas presents, and so far, the extra money was covering it. Even when I was presented with a $200 shut-off notice for my water bill (which I haven't been receiving), the trombone money was just enough to cover it all. I drove the car for a day for a day, did some holiday shopping, got my son's Wii and some other odds & ends, figuring the car was fine to get me through the holidays now.

No such luck.

It stared to overheat. Thankfully, my ex was willing to drive my kids down to me for their weekend with me, and I told her I would MAKE a way to get them back, so she wouldn't have to make the hour drive here and back again for them. My repair guy's tight schedule forbade my leaving the car with him, and as it did okay for short jaunts of 10 minutes or so at a time, I made plans. My uncle was in from California, so the kids and I met him for lunch on Sat and he agreed to drive us all up. That way, we could all have a pleasant time catching up on the drive up, and he and I could have some grown-up talk on the way back.

Well, on the way to meet up with my uncle, the car overheated again, and the only way to get the parts in time for me to get the car back in time for my next shift was for me to get them while my uncle drove the kids home to Flint. So much for pleasant grown-up catching up. Nonetheless, my uncle agreed to get them home to Flint, while I picked up a new radiator, water pump, coolant, and other necessities to basically replace the WHOLE FUCKING COOLANT SYSTEM, as the nub of the thermostat that came loose in the radiator flush apparently ripped apart the water pump and got wedged in the radiator.

Thankfully, I had already bought my kids' presents, paid the overdue water bill, and after a loan from my mother, I was able to cover the cost. He did the repair and after a couple days of being stranded without a car (thankfully, during my days off), all was fine...for all of a day.

The day after getting my car back, I was running a few errands, stopped to pay my cell phone bill and was hit buy an older lady trying to pass me on the left - IN THE PARKING LOT! We get out and I assess the damage. She tries to convince me that there we 3 lanes in the parking lot (which is ridiculous, and even if there was, STILL doesn't explain passing on the left in a 'no parking zone'), and as I duck my head into the cell phone store to have them call the Hazel Park Police so we can make a report, she drives off!

My hub cap is shattered, my wheels misaligned, and a new leak has started under my car. I thought (hoped) it was just some of the coolant from the previous repair that had been shaken loose from pooling somewhere after the repair, so after talking with the cop for a minute, I continued to run my errands. The car seems fine for the remainder of my runs.

Later that night, I headed out to visit my old friend Jason and his family and pick up the last present for my little girl - a Zhu-Zhu pet, which Jason's BRILLIANT wife had the forethought to buy several of on Black Friday. About half way there, the temperature gauge started to spike and hit the danger zone. I exit the freeway in a panic. I only afforded myself a few minutes to visit before I was due at work. If my car is rendered immobile out in East Warren, I'll never make it to work on time! I let it cool down and started off again, hoping it was a glitch in the gauge I could get checked out later, but after 1/2 mile, it spiked again. I limped it as close as a mile and a half from Jason's house before I gave up, calling Jason to come rescue me. I called my work 5 times in the hour this all took, to say I'd be late, but no one would answer. Now I was fearing that not only would I not have a reliable means to GET to work, but I may not have the job AT ALL!

Jason pulled up about 10 minutes later, bought me McD's for dinner, and took me to his home, where I was cheerfully greeted by his wife and kids (my Godkids). After FINALLY reaching my place of employ on the phone and negotiating the night off to deal with this mess, I was able to spend a wonderful evening decompressing a bit with my oldest, dearest friend, his wife, my Godkids, a cold beer, and a movie.

The next day, I had to bus to 12 Mile & Schoenherr to try and coax my car closer to my repair guy - hopefully at LEAST to my Blockbuster, where it can cool down while I'm working and finish the trek to get repaired. While waiting for my connecting bus, I met an elderly lady who was having numerous health problems, was estranged from her family, laid off of work, and had lost faith in much of humanity. We talked for about an hour in the freezing cold, waiting for the bus. I was my usual, upbeat self and was more than willing to let her vent about her woes. We discussed, family, the rich, morals, values, religion - you name it. By the time the bus arrived, her mournful scowl had turned into a rejuvenated smile. She thanked me for the talk and restoring her faith that there are good people out there, after all. It really helped me put things in perspective amongst all the insanity and pitfalls I'd been facing and warmed my heart to bring some faith back to someone who was in a much more dire spot than myself. I bid her a merry Christmas, got off the bus, and thanked God for that opportunity.

After waiting in the cold 50 minutes for my connecting bus and 2 20-minute layovers too let my engine cool, I got to work just a bit late. After work, I dropped it at my repair guy's house and my ever vigilant and compassionate girlfriend drove me home.

At this point, it's December 23rd, and I'm not going to ask my repair guy to give up that kind of time with his wife and 2-year-old boy on Christmas for my sake. I tell him to get back to me after the holiday with a time line. This, of course, leaves me with no car for Christmas travel. The PLAN was to get the kids about 3pm on Christmas Eve, drive to my family's gathering in Monroe for the evening, and drive the kids back up to Flint for bed. I'd sleep on the ex's couch, spend the morning in Flint with her & the kids, and drive home. It SEEMED such a simple plan! As it was, the ex was, thankfully, generous enough to pick me up and have me and the kids spend Christmas Eve with her. I spent a nice (if at times awkward) evening with the kids & the ex and we put the gifts under the tree after the kids hit the hay.

The next morning was a flurry of of wrapping paper. We all played Wii Bowling & Star Wars - Force Unleashed on Liam's new Wii system, watched Courtney's Zhu-Zhu pet scurry and chirp around the living room, and had an enjoyable morning.

I'm a planner. When I'm confronted with obstacles, I don't whine, I overcome (okay, sometimes I whine THEN overcome). I wasn't going to ask the ex or any of her family to sacrifice 2 hours of their Christmas to cart my pedestrian ass from Flint to Hazel Park, so I booked a non-refundable Greyhound Bus ticket online from Flint to Pontiac for that afternoon. The online instructions said that the actual ticket was supposed to be printed at the ticket desk upon my arrival there. The ex dropped me at the Flint bus station, and as I approached the ticket counter, where they were supposed to print my ticket, I noticed it was closed for the holiday. I figured this was a formality, and the bus driver would have my info on some sort of manifest. When I asked, however, he said I could not board without a ticket. I explained my predicament and he coldly said there was nothing he could do. After several minutes of pleading, I opened my laptop and showed him my confirmation, which I had the forethought to print to a PDF on my desktop. Reluctantly, he let me board (whew!).

When I got to the Pontiac station, I figured I'd just catch a local bus down Woodward Ave to either my grandfather's house or Blockbuster for my shift at work. As I had no idea when the next bus was due (but assuming it would be within the hour) I plugged in my earbuds and started walking South toward my grandfather's, looking over my shoulder on occasion to be ready for a bus. After nearly 4 miles of walking in the cold, ice & rain, with my overnight bag in hand and computer bag on my shoulder, I approached my grandfather's, and as I'm about to cross Woodward to my grandfather's subdivision - you guessed it - the bus drove by. I laughed as I sloshed my way through the slush for the last block. I just got a nice 4-mile walk in, was bundled appropriately for the weather & had my blood pumping so I wasn't freezing, and got one last dose of my Christmas music on my MP3 player. Silver lining. :)

As I walked up to my grandfather's door, my uncle greeted me with a hug and a ham sandwich made from leftovers from the Christmas Eve gathering I had to miss. I had a lovely visit with my uncle, mom, & grandfather before my uncle offered to drive me to work. I had a nice, if busy, shift at Blockbuster and my coworker offered to drive me home.

My friend and repair guy called me the next day after looking at my car. The prognosis? Cracked heater core. Not an expensive part, but entails ripping apart the ENTIRE dash and much of the front seat to install. EASILY $500 in labor at any repair shop. He agrees to do it in exchange for a Wii. Thankfully, only a $200 cost, but still more than I have. The following day, I bus to work at Starbucks. My dear friend and duly crowned "Queen of Awesome", Marney, agrees to loan me the money to buy the Wii, as buying it myself would mean no house payment this month. She meets me at Starbucks on my lunch break to drive me to Target to get it.

A couple days later, repair guy calls me and says it's all done. He also cleaned off my dash before reinstalling it and aligned my wheels to the best of his ability. He also agreed to replace my wheel bearing, letting me pay for that repair after I got my paycheck that weekend. By New Year's Eve, I had my car fully operational, my mortgage paid, some of my chaos-related personal debts paid, and life mostly restored to some semblance of normal. I'll post pictures on my Flickr page when I can afford to restore my Pro account.

Throughout all of this, there were SEVERAL bright spots that helped keep me sane and brought several moments of joy to an otherwise crazy holiday season. The Flint Holiday Walk gig with my quartet, making my family's traditional fudge, visiting Santa, and decorating the tree with my kids, Christmas shopping with my girlfriend, driving with the Christmas music on the radio (when the car worked, anyway), all helped bring periods of serenity, peace, and normality to the season.

I didn't get much by way of tangible, wrapped gifts this holiday, but I DID get a couple. My girlfriend gave me a couple Detroit t-shirts she designed (awesomely talented graphic designer, BTW), a simple white T that says "Bazinga" (if you get it, kudos!), and coolest of all, a cigarette case with a Star Trek logo on it with a built-in lighter! She couldn't have hit the nail on the head better. Not a THING I asked for, yet so completely DEAD-NUTS-ON-THE-MONEY-PERFECT for me! She absolutely floored me.

It wasn't a huge material haul for me this Christmas, yet I am in NO way disappointed with that. My friends and family have bent over backward to see that I survived through this ordeal, as they have for the past 9 months or so. I don't need much. Most of what I need, I have. Everything else is just fluff. What I was given this Christmas was far better than any DVD, electronic gizmo, or toy. I was given the opportunity to see what wonderful friends and family I have, sacrifice to make my kids smile at Christmas, bring hope and faith to someone less fortunate by simply listening, revel in some off the simpler traditions of the season, and gain my perspective on how great my life truly is.

I'm George Bailey, and I'm the richest guy in town.

SCARY busy lately!

Well, another month goes by without a blog post. I've just been so busy lately I've barely had time to catch my own reflection, let alone sit down and write a blog!

Okay, the recent topics are:

Cleaned and moved into my old house, with a few noticeable "gaps".
New job is going well overall
Socializing more
Barbershop convention was awesome
Staying above the drama
Quartet gigs are slow and steady
School's on track to see me back in January
HALLOWEEN COSTUME!

Okay, let's tackle these one by one, shall we?

I am officially back in my old house! I spent the last 3 weeks cleaning the place. Between washing the walls, cleaning the carpets, taming the jungle of a yard, and assessing my next home improvement steps, it's been a daunting task. Especially with no gas in the place to make hot water to clean with! I spent most of the time either boiling water on the charcoal grill or filling buckets one coffee pot at a time, slowing the process dramatically. The depressing part was when I rented a carpet cleaner, intending on getting the 4-hour rate, and getting it home only to realize it's a model that DOESN'T heat the water on its own. Back to the slow process of one coffee pot at a time to fill the enormous tank. Grr...

Finally, though, last Saturday, I managed to get the worst of it up and make the carpet a little less "guugh". With the assistance of my best friends Jason & Lou, I got all of my stuff and the furniture generously donated to me by my super-heroine sister moved in. There is still the matter of turning the gas on (which I hope to hear about today), so I can have a hot shower (a PRESSING need of mine within the first 5 minutes of waking up), and a fridge to store the perishable food I'd like to cook once the gas stove is usable. Still, I have a space heater for now and the rest of the place is very homey again. There are a few repairs that need to be done rather immediately and several I plan to do over the years as the funds become available. Bottom line: this is MAH HOUSE! My cat, Tassie, is buried in the back garden, my daughter was born in it, I bought it, and I intend to keep it. It may be small, it may be run-down, but it's mine.

I plan to have a housewarming party in the next couple weeks and hope to get a few small housewarming gifts that will fill in the odds-and-ends gaps (house plants, oven mitts, etc.). Hint, hint....

The new job at Starbucks is going well. It's uncomplicated - I like that. I go in, put in my time, I go home (or to my next job). Yea, the pay sucks, but it's a job. I'm surrounded by 20-somethings, each with their own drama. Thankfully, I'm able to converse and maintain friendships with these folks without getting sucked into the drama. One of the advantages of being a decade older, I guess. Just enough of a generation gap.

Meanwhile, Blockbuster's the same as always. My hours have been a bit skimpy lately, but that's being resolved.

I'm finding new ways to socialize on the cheap, too! Tuesday Trivia nights have become a regular thing for me and several friends at Rosie O'Grady's in Ferndale. $2 domestic beers and good company keep the costs low, so I can have a fun night out nursing 2 beers and picking at friends' leftover fries over the 3 hours or so. We still need to find a jock to join the team, though, to help us in our weakest category: sports. Isn't it funny - when you NEED a jock... Anyway, I'm getting out a time or two a week and seeing some long lost friends and meeting new ones. It's a good thing. :)

Barbershop convention was completely awesome! Most of it was filled with the typical stuff: a good contest performance for the chorus, nice lunch afterward, ducking in and oout of the quartet finals, singing tags in the lobby, free food & beer in the hospitality rooms, a a bunch of great friends I don't get to see very often. The added plus was having my friend, Jenn along for the festivities! She says she enjoyed it, but the mere fact she was able to even TOLERATE 24 hours of barbershop says loads about her! She gets the bronze star for courage for that alone!

Everywhere I look, there seems to be increasing amounts of drama. All of my friends seem to be going through a rough time, but thankfully, I seem to be maintaining a position of being a good friend and sounding board without getting sucked into any of it too deeply. I have a tendency to genuinely offer my assistance and thus stretching myself a bit thin. I'm still offering my assistance genuinely, but have just managed to not be needed or called upon. It's been refreshing, given my insanely busy schedule lately. Being available to my friends is a big part of who I am and where I derive a lot of my self-worth. It's a trait I'm very proud of. Still, it's nice to have a bit of 'me' time now and again.

Quartet rehearsals have been kind off tricky to organiize laately, what with all the stuff going on with me, and now with Lou being in a play rehearsal on our usual Wednesday night, gearing up for our holiday gigs will be kind of tough. Lou, Dave & I should have no problem brushing up our holiday stuff as we rehearse it in chorus and have sung the same songs every year forever. Big Dave may be a bit slower on the uptake for a few, though. We have 2 or 3 gigs in the next couple months. We'll see how it goes. Next up is prepping for April's contest. We had too skkip this one due to budgetary woes for 3/4 of the quartet, but now that we've tracked down the arranger for one of the tunes in our Sinatra set, we're set to put it on the contest stage!

I spoke with my wonderful and generous father the other day and my Christmas gift will be thhe remaining balance on my WSU bill. All will be set for me to rejoin the studious multitudes in January and get the f'ing degree the hell done. If all goes REALLY well, I could be done by next December. More realistically, though, I'm looking to finally graduate in May 2011 and (God willing) find a job by that fall.

Well, it's that time again! The Geek's Christmas! HALLOWEEN! I've had my costume planned for months and only started on it the past week. Jor-El. Marlon Brando from the 1978 Superman. Geek-tastic, as always. Got a couple parties I'll probably hit with Jenn tomorrow to show it off. Pics to come!!

Whew! I'm usually a lot more flowery with my phrasing, but just getting a month's worth of the basic updates has taken up a lot of space! I'll try to keep up on here a bit better once my internet is set up at my new (old) place.

Peace out, y'all!

Since You've Been Gone...

It was recently brought to my attention that it's been well over a month since my last blog post and some of you (I can only imagine a handful, to be honest) may be wondering what's been up with me lately. Well, SO much has been happening and my schedule has been so crazy tight, that I doubt I could even BEGIN to cover what's happened in the same kind of detail that I usually do (which likely bores most of you anyway). However, I'll endeavor to recap the last month to the best of my ability.

I started my new job at Starbucks a few weeks ago. It's a good job. Yes, the pay sucks and it's another barely-minimum-wage service industry job, but the company seems to have its business ethics in good order, they have a GREAT benefits package (which I become eligible for in about 2 months), and the people are great. It's becoming similar to Blockbuster, in that I like who I work with, I am getting to know my regulars, and the schedule has some flexibility so I can get personal business done during normal hours on occasion and work around seeing my kids a bit easier. The area where it's BETTER than Blockbuster is in the actual job itself. Being food service, there's always something to do or clean, so the shifts seem to fly by pretty quickly. - no twiddling of thumbs, trying to look 'busy'. The downside is that once I finally stop moving, I realize how exhausting it is! But, it beats flipping burgers. I 'd rather go home smelling like coffee than burgers any day.

Also, I'm back in the marching band game! A buddy of mine contacted me, saying he had a colleague that may be in need of a drill writer. Being this was mid-August when he contacted me, I was a bit suspicious...and concerned. Turns out it was him that needed the help. His drill writer was having trouble getting the drill to him on schedule and he was wondering if I could write a good competitive drill rather quickly. I was MORE than happy to help out a friend AND get back to doing what I love, so I agreed. The music's solid, the show concept is cool, and the staff are great. I think I made a good impression with the quality of my work, and particularly my prompt and open communication with him and his staff. I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing it on the field, and even more excited to finally have a MCBA staff pass to add to my collection after a 3 year gap! Oh, and the money's a good thing, too!

The back-to-school thing for me has hit a speed bump of sorts. I went to WSU, met with my adviser (who's a WONDERFUL lady) and we figured out just what I need under the new degree requirements. Some classes were dropped, others added, but all-in-all, it adds up to about the same class load I expected. We mapped out what I need to take and when, caught up a bit, and then it was off to face the massive bureaucracy that is Wayne State's Accounts Receivable department. After flitting between the cashier's office and Accounts Receivable office several times, I managed to pay my old balance. After waiting in line for a half hour to finally get my holds released, I get to the desk and am informed that the FIRST person I met with there (and the 3 others I spoke with on the phone beforehand to be SURE I knew the EXACT balance I owed) neglected to tell me about a near $300 collections fee assessed to my account! I would have to pay that before I could register...and this was the last day of final registration.

So much for starting classes this Fall. To be honest, I was a bit concerned that with the divorce still in process, a new commute to see my kids, moving back to my house, new job, drill writing, quartet gigs, and the plethora of other things on my plate that adding classes into the mix would have my brain exploding, a la Scanners. Still, the groundwork is laid to get me back in school and on track to finish my degree starting in January... and get me the Hell OUT of Fucking Wayne State, FINALLY!!!!

The divorce is progressing in some ways and not in others. Again, I don't want to get too heavy into details out of respect for the other parties involved. Suffice it to say that the ex and I are communicating amicably and while the finalization of the papers seems to have been put off for a while, we are working together to continue to make sure the kids continue to feel secure and loved by both of us, and working the logistics to enable both of us to establish and live our own lives with respect for each other. In short, we're figuring this out well for ourselves, slowly, and will re-involve the courts as soon as soon as we figure out some specifics, get a few bills and insurance issues resolved, and settle into a more predictable routine. We're both eager to have this over with, but also are NOT thrilled with the idea of lawyers charging us an arm and a leg to instigate us into arguments over property & money, or the courts pressuring us to adhere to THEIR time line. "We'll figure it out like adults and call you when we're ready for you, thankyouverymuch."

My quartet had an audition for voice-over roles for a kid's movie recently. My sister and a friend sent me the audition info, as the casting director was looking for an established quartet in the area. I sent some info to the contact listed, but was contacted directly by the casting director before it was even read! We went there and saw one of our other chapter quartets exiting the building as we entered. After exchanging pleasantries, they informed us that another established local group of much more renown had auditioned just before them. Kinda put a damper on our hopes, but we went and did our best, anyway. We sounded good, read well, and left with satisfaction of a good attempt, but not much hope of getting a call-back. No word from the casting director yet, so our impression was probably accurate. Oh well. At least I won't have to rent a tux for some red-carpet debut!

Other than that, my reintegration into the general populace is moving kind of slow. It's tough re-learning how to be social with the kind of time and financial constraints I have. I'm socializing via my laptop fine and reconnecting with a LOT of old friends there and on the phone that I've had trouble communicating with over the years, but getting OUT and meeting new people is tricky. "ya got no money and ya got no (good) car, and ya got no woman...and there you are," as the poet says. It gets a bit lonely at times.

But, thankfully, I'm keeping as busy as ever, reconnecting with old friends, and still losing a bit of weight. I went into Wal*Mart yesterday (generally against my principles, but one can't always afford one's principles), and found a couple pair of $8 jeans in the smallest waist size I've owned in over a decade! I haven't been this thin since before I got married! I still have a ways to go before I'm anywhere near where I'd LIKE to be (it'd be nice to get under 200lbs again), but it's nice to know I'm still getting there. I may start walking again to boost the momentum...maybe.

Anyway, that's the recap of the bigger news as of late. I'll try and keep up with this a bit more now, since inquiring minds seem to want to know!

Holiday...Celebrate!

Well, while this weekend certainly wasn't the nice big bag o' lazy I was hoping for, it was gorgeous weather, productive, and fun!

Saturday, I did manage to sleep in until 10am, which is very good for me lately. I recently managed to get my grandmother's mantle clock back from the ex and decided to wind it up and let 'er rip! However, as the living room is still a bit Spartan in its decor, there's no place to put it in there yet. So, I decided to just set it on the dresser in my bedroom. Only trouble is, I forgot which crank turns the clock and which turns the chime - so I turned both. Now I get the chime every hour and half hour. Not enough to disturb my sleep the whole night, but as daylight creeps in my room, it's enough to get my up at a reasonable hour, whether I want to or not.

Anyway, I got up at 10am Saturday, took some 'me' time to check the e-mail and Facebook, and proceeded to do the dishes, clean the laundry, mow the lawn, wash the car by hand, and scrubbed the kitchen walls down with TSP in preparation to paint them this week.

Later, my sister popped by with her roommate, Nadia, and we went to see the Hard Lessons play at the Lager House in Detroit. We got there a bit early, hung out with some of Nadia's friends, and I got to meet and talk with Korin, the singer/keyboardist from the band. Korin's a great gal! Between her having a barbershop lineage and a quartet of her own, we had plenty to chat about. Turns out her new quartet just got a gig at Cranbrook for a fund raiser my quartet had to turn down! Small world!

The band did a great show! Their music is very original, with a complex, yet radio-friendlly sound I REALY appreciate. Lots of good harmony, clever use of effects pedals, and interspersed with audience participation. It was an early show, but Val & Nadia were exhaused and Val's voice was destroyed from screaming, alergies, and bar smoke, so they dropped me off for the evening.

I had hoped to be home early enough to have my old friend Ryan stop by for some barbecue, but he was already at the Royal Kubo in Clawson, ready to get his karaoke on. He invited me along and I eagerly accepted. I hung out there with him and his friends from Go! Comedy! (a comedy/improv club in Ferndale club similar to Second City). I had fun catching up with my old friend, meeting some new ones, and rolling my eyes at the bachelorette party that invaded the place, rockin' out their 80's themed evening (big hair, neon spandex, and all). I was starting to feel the weight of my busy day, so after waiting for my songs to come up in the queue for what seemed like forever, I called it a night before getting a chance to strut my stuff and went home.

Sunday, I did a bit of lazing around, a bunch of chores, and went to have lunch with my mom, grandfather, and sister. We had a great visit and caught up. Monday,I was looking forward to seeing my kids march in the Hazel Park Memorial Day Parade. As the ex had booked them long in advance for 2 weekends in a row, despite us agreeing to alternate weekends, it was going to be the only chance I had to see them this weekend. They were supposed to go to the ex's cottage in Canada for the weekend, and return for the parade to march with their respective Scout troops. As the group approached, I notice neither one was with them. Slightly disappointed at not at least SEEING my kids, I enjoyed the parade with my friend Lou, who had crashed at my place after a late night of arguing with his girlfriend with me as the mediator (can you say 'irony'?).

The rest of the day was all about gittin' shit done. My sister Valerie, my roommate Paulie and I spent the lion's share of the day laying the new floor in the living room. I was dubbed "the Master of the Mechanical Stuff" and bequeathed the power tools for cutting and shaping the planks. After about 8 hours of some solid, heavy work, the living room has a MUCH brighter and cleaner look and feel. I did the mandatory Footloose skid across the floor in my socks (pants on) and we had some great BBQ chicken, some burgers, and beer to celebrate, before my crew departed for the evening.

So, all-in-all, not the lazy, laid back weekend I had envisioned, but very fun, VERY productive, and extremely enjoyable! I know, not the heavy, philosophical shit I usually blog about (especially at this length, but hey, it WAS a 3-day weekend), but damn it - IT'S MT BLOG! :)

Ubergeek's Alter Ego: SUPERDAD!

Yesterday, I dropped the kids at school, worked 9 hours, came home, tidied up the living room, did several days worth of dishes (by hand - we have no dishwasher) while simultaneously making a nutritious dinner for my family, then did all of THOSE dishes, cleaned the cat box, transferred the laundry, returned a DVD to Blockbuster, returned the deposit bottles, went grocery shopping, refilled the cat box, and took out the garbage.

All without the slightest prompting.

That's right, ladies. Fantasize away...

Fact is, I almost never just walk in after work and plop on the couch. I walk in and immediately start putting things away, gathering the dishes and clothing scattered throughout the house by the younglings, making dinner and/or putting away ingredients and food items left on the counter, throwing away wrappers and junk mail... I simply cannot relax in a cluttered environment, and in my tiny 752 sq. ft. house with 4 people in it...the clutter never ends.

I've tried to do great purges of unused stuff to the Salvation Army, but it's difficult in a family of packrats. Granted, I'm no angel, in that regard. I have a record collection I haven't listened to in years, books I haven't read, a drawer full of small odds-n-ends, etc., but I keep my clutter contained. My stuff has places to go. If it doesn't, I make room by clearing out stuff I don't need.

Also, I generally don't hold on to things that "may be useful, someday" - at least, not for long. I avoid starting optional projects I don't think I'll finish, to avoid more clutter. I keep 'mementos' to a minimum. I regularly go through my drawers and closet to evaluate if I actually wear what's in there and donate what I don't. I have a collection of old band/drum corps/barbershop t-shirts and 1 small box of keepsakes from my youth in the shed - that's about it. Anything else I need, I keep in my car to avoid cluttering the house. Hell, I even keep my guitar at work because there's no room for it at home!

I've often been considered by many of those close to me as lazy and disorganized. I beg to differ. Between 2 jobs, freelance learning tracks, chorus, quartet gigs & rehearsals, Cub Scouts, and keeping the house kept up as best I can, sloth & disorganization is something I just don't hve time for.

Next plan it to reverse the spin of the Earth and turn back time to fit it all in.

Giggidy-Goo and Thanksgiving, too!

So we had the gig at Goldfish Tea. Not or best venture. 7-9pm on a Sunday isn't exactly "tea time", I guess. Probably why the owner wanted some entertainment - to draw people in. She may have broken even...almost. We had about 10 people of ours show up, and that was almost the entire clientele for the evening.

We sang...okay. It's been a while since we've been in the groove of real practicing, so there were plenty of brain farts - forgotten lyrics, mixed up verses, couple of sour notes, etc. The past few rehearsals were mostly spent on learning our next chapter show feature song, which we are to debut for the chorus tonight. It's long, complicated, wordy, and fun as hell. KILLER tag to it!

This week is going to be interesting. We're going to the in-laws' in Flint for Thankgiving dinner with the family. Sonya's making rumblings of trying to hit the parade downtown. I love the parade, but am not so keen on getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to stand in the cold for 3 hours. I have a few friends (band directors, mostly) in the parade, but I'm just as happy to wave at them through the tv screen while snuggled under a warm blanket.

Black Friday will be NO picnic. The office is open, but all are welcome to take the day off. However, you must use vacation time to do it. As I will need to use 1.5 days of vacation time for Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas (office is closed both days, but as a newbie, I'm forced to use vacation time), that leaves me only one vacation day left. I want to use that the Monday after Christmas for a 5-day weekend. So Black Friday, I work from 9-6 at the office and 6:30-11 at Blockbuster - a 14 hour day with no time to shop...yay.

Other than that, no big news from me this week. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Special shout-out to the Mays. You'll be in my prayers, as always, guys.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

The first noticeable snowfall of the season! I headed out last night to pick up some milk & pop, and I could hear Suzie Snowflake tapping on my window. Pellets of good ol' Michigan "snain" were tap dancing on the hood of my car. When I awoke this morning, it had changed to full-fledged snow. Not much, mind you, but enough to add a festive canvas for colored lights and holiday music on the radio.

Thankfully, I don't have far to commute to work, and it's all surface streets, so I was more fortunate than many of the other commuters on the roads today. I started out listening to the local "All Christmas, All Season Long" station, but switched to my usual "All News, All The Time" station to see what what's up with the world this morning and heard the longest traffic report in a long time. Seems we Michiganians are a bit rusty with the winter driving. Be safe out there, folks. Better late than dead.

The quartet had a rehearsal last Thursday. It used to be, I would look forward to quartet rehearsals, but with some trepidation. I enjoyed singing and harmonizing, but much of the rehearsal was spent bemoaning personal lives, arguing over repertoire and interp, rehashing tips from chorus coaches (which rarely applied to quartet), going over boring standards, and fixing wrong notes (or cringing and ignoring them) in one or more parts. These days, with this new(er) configuation of the quartet, the repertoire is more challenging, the chords ring a LOT more, the songs MUCH more fun, and we can pick up new ones VERY quickly. I LOVE rehearsals again! We can easily start around 7pm, and the next thing you know, it's 11pm and we have to force ourselves to break it up.

Lately I've been introducing songs I've recorded for my client quartet in Nevada. I've always been a Sinatra fan, and their quartet - aptly named Rat Paq - focuses on tunes of that ilke. With our next chorus show focusing on songs of the 50's, there were a few tunes I recorded for them that fit squarely in that box. Being cool songs, with great arrangements and with learning tracks provided by yours truly, I though this would be a good idea.

It wasn't a good idea, it was a GREAT idea! We tried a tune called the "Flying Sinatra Medley", utilizing "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Come Fly With Me". After MUCH convincing of our lead (who wanted to do something rock n' roll), we tried it out and it sounded promising. Rough, but promising. This week, at the behest of our bass, we gave "In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning" a try and it RAAAAANG! There are some great chords, wonderful room for interp and dynamics, and it's just a sweet balad. After 2 runs through, we found ourselves talking about a new contest set.

It's going to be a busy season for the quartet. We have a gig performing with the chorus at Henry Ford Village this sunday, another at the Goldfish Tea in Royal Oak on Sunday the 23rd (7pm-9pm), and the Hazel Park City Hall on December 13th (6pm-8pm) for a neighborhood enrichment event. We're brushing up our Holiday tunes for these and sounding good. I'm hoping this may lead to a few more gigs, so I have to print up some more business cards. I'm realy looking forward to getting out and performing with these guys again. It's been over a month and I'm jonezing.

Work is getting a bit...discouraging. Sales is not a good line of work to be in at this point in our economic history. The family budget is getting strained, bills are piling up, and our savings is getting tapped more than I'd like before the Holiday season. Hopefully, the Christmas shopping rush will hit soon and things will pick up. It would help to be given the tools to be able to compete, but that's a rant for other venues (non public). I may need to look for a 4th job. I'm not sure where I'll fit it into my 55 hour work week, plus family commitments, recording tracks, and quartet gigs, but I'll do what I gotta do. There's still the potential of the directing gig in Lansing, but that won't even be decided for a few months.

Okay, time to head to work and hit the phones. Gotta keep the heat on and food on the table.

Convention Recap, Part 1: "I Can't Get Started With You"

BOY what a weekend!! The weekend that almost wasn't.

I thought I had it all set. My dues were paid, my shift was covered for Saturday night, Sonya and Liam were heading to a weekend camp out with the Cub Scout troop, Courtney was going to be picked up by her grandma, I had a place to crash for the night, and there was enough money in the account to cover gas and meals...

...then it all started to dissolve before my eyes.

I took off work a bit early on Friday to drop some stuff with Lou and get a haircut. I stopped by the Blockbuster where my former manager, Bill (who owes me a LIFETIME of favors), was working. He had said he had someone who could cover my shift - no problem. He was a good salesman, which my current manager would be happy about. I popped in to say hi, verify things were all set, and thank him. I hang in the office door way and he says that he hadn't asked the guy yet, but it shouldn't be a problem, and I should call that evening from my shift to confirm as they were both working that shift. Somewhat reassured, I go about my errands.

When I get to work, I call up Bill's store and Jason, the guy who's supposed to cover me, answers. He tells me he's working his other job that night and can't cover me. This, plus being understaffed on my current shift and RIDICULOUSLY busy, set me in a foul mood all night. Hearing all this, my current manager, Kelly, started hitting the phones to find me a replacement, while I handled the never-ending, mile-long line at the register.

By 10:30, no one had been available. After I get let go for the evening, I call another half-dozen stores in the area to finally find one LOVELY, WONDERFUL, GOD-SENT gal - Monica from the Warren store - who would cover my shift. I nearly collapsed from exhaustion & relief right there. Content that the weekend was once again on schedule, I head home, expecting Sonya and Liam to be off at their Cub Scout camp out, Courtney with grandma, and the house empty.

After a mentally draining shift, I come home to find Sonya and the kids still there, and Jeremy, Leigh, and Jeremy's 2 high-strung dogs over for a visit. Apparently, Grandma's acquisition of my youngest wasn't as eminent as I was led to believe. I hit the phones once again and pray that my sister's offer to take Courtney early in the morning still stands. However, I had no clue how to hand off Courtney later on. Overnight at Aunt Val's isn't something we've done yet and I wasn't about to pop that on generous and accomodating sister unexpectedly. Thankfully, Jeremy offers to pick up Courtney and take her to her grandparent's in the afternoon. After working out logistics and making sure Val & Jeremy have each other's cell numbers (a mistake I made recently I'm not about to repeat), all is settled there.

This means I have to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, shower, shave, get on my tux and make-up, get Courtney up and dressed and out to my sister's, then pray the Traffic Gods smile on me so I can get to Battle Creek before my chorus steps on stage at 11:30.

Coming Up Next... Part 2: "Damn, damn, DAMN!"

GREAT weekend...

A flurry of activity, as usual, but not the usual gotta-get-it-done kinda stuff.

Friday afternoon, my dad drove into town. After a semi-business trip (just enough to make the trip deductible) she decided to head back to Kansas from Jersey via Michigan. Makes perfect sense (?!?!??). Anyway, she pulled unto town Friday about my lunch break. We headed out to National Coney Island for a bite and catching up, since I was working both jobs that day.

After working the Blockbuster evening shift, I went home via AJ's Coffee Shop in Ferndale to catch an old high school friend Amy (Smith) Petty perform for a few minutes. This gal is an absolutely AMAZING talent! Her live version of her song "Broken Record" is positively jaw-dropping. She has a fantastic wit and raport with her audience and a voice so beautiful it'll make you weep. Her style is basicaly modern acoustic folk, a la Indigo Girls, if one were to draw similarities. I could only stay for a couple songs, but I am in awe of her abilities and was pleased to see so many faces from my high school days that I hadn't come across in years. I only wish I had the time to stay and chat with some of them.

Unfortunately, I had a BIIIG day ahead on Saturday. Sonya & Leigh were heading out at the crack of dawn for a breakfast with their garden club and to set up the end-of-the-season festival at the community garden. I was expected to be in Flint at 11:30am for a gig at the Applewood Fall Festival with my quartet, and needed to make some progress on the house before I left, as we had a family birthday party for Courtney on Sunday.

So the morning was a whirlwind of getting the kids up, dressed and fed, living room tidied, cat box cleaned (yeech), meeting with my dad, dropping the kids, and then heading to Flint with my dad in her car. All of this, plus the never-ending construction that ALWAYS seems to be at its worst on Saturday afternoon, meant we got there JUST in time for the gig, but no warm up.

The gig was wonderful, as always. Wonderful weather, beautiful scenery, friendly people, appreciative audiences, and some GREAT cider. We sounded great with our substitute bass, Jack Day. Again, he's no Dave Conrad, but he's by far the best second we could hope for. I have a few pictures (courtesy of Lou's finace, Linda, and my dad) on my Flickr page. I'll have a couple video clips up on my YouTube page soon.

From there, we all headed to the local Red Robin for lunch and had a great time talking barbershop, the financial market, retirement (a foreign word to me), and stuff. It was a great end to a great afternoon. Then my dad drove me home and I headed to Blockbuster for another shift.

The party on Sunday went off without much of a hitch. We just had a simple barbecue in the backyard, and a fire in the fire bowl to let the kids roast their own veggie dogs. All of my close family came: my mom, dad, sister, grandfather, and Courtney's Auntie Leigh. It's a once-every-several-year occurrance to have my mom and dad in the same locale, so it was nice to have the family back together, if briefly. Courtney loved seeing her Nana, Grandma Paula, and Grandpa O, and, cof course, her gifts. She got a Disney Princess Sing-a-long toy from Grandma Paula, a sparkley rainbow rump rope from Grandpa O, and a My Little Pony from Nana. She also got a Bratz doll, but the wife and I aren't keen on that line of toys, so we may convince her to exchange it for something else - maybe another Barbie (not that she needs 10th Barbie, but better that than a Bratz doll).

I was able to meet with my dad for coffee before she left on Monday morning. It was such a joy to see her. Throughout my life, my dad has been my most consistent, honest, and non-judgemental supporter. We can have coversations is few words and know that we both understand. This was a great weekend, and my dad was a huge part of that.

(for those of you confused about my pronoun usage in this entry, my dad is transgendered. Let the curious questions begin...)

Sharing my Fortress of Solitude...

I'm mostly just writing this one because I have the time (all of about 20 minutes) before work.

Kids are doing well in school. Courtney loves Kindergarten. Liam's getting a much better handle on his behavior so far this year in 3rd grade. Let's hope he can keep it up.

Sonya saw her parents off on their European vacation yesterday, meaning that we get to borrow their car while they're gone. Since Sonya's car is still stranded in Rondeau Park in Canada, the extra vehicle will be nice. I'm very picky about my car and lending it out. It's my Fortress of Solitude, where I can listen to MY music, think MY thoughts, keep MY stuff, and just be ME. Lending it out to anyone is difficult for me, no matter what pile of rusted-out junk I drive. Conversely, I don't like borrowing other people's cars, either. I hate imposing and get fidgity about making sure everything is EXACTLY as it was when I got it - from the pennies in the ashtray, to the seat and mirror positions, to the gas level in the tank (to be fair, I'm not as careful about the minutea when I'm forced to drive Sonya's car). That's how I am when I have to impose myself on anyone. I believe in imposing as little as possible and leaving as little a footprint as possible.

The past few days, I've had to share my car with Sonya. Not fun. Sonya's car is usually a flurry of stuff of varying degrees of importance, from dishes left behind from a hurried rush out the door with food in hand, to toys and changes of clothes left from visits to Grandma & Grandpa's house, to supplies and important forms for the Cub Scouts and school. Her trunk is...I don't even want to get into that...

I let her borrow my car for 2 days to run errands and get the kids from school while I was at work, and my car quickly became similarly cluttered. Not as bad, but noticable. After one day I came home from work to find it scattered with some of the kids stuff (I usually clear it out after every trip), 3 umbrellas (none of them mine), and 2 baby gates Sonya picked up for her brother to coral his dogs. Now, I'm no Mr. Belvedere. Being my portable locker and home-away-from-home, it gets its fair share of clutter, but it's usually minimal, garbage is contained to a single garbage bag, and non-essentials are kept to a minimum in the "wayback" of my station wagon. There's rarely more back there than an emergency tool kit, blanket, bag of barbershop music, empty deposit cans from my journeys (excised once a week), and some reading material. Mind you, I don't feel she was inconsiderate or disrespectful. It's not like the car was suddenly a garbage dump. She was just being herself. I don't fault her for it, but I'll just say I'm glad to have my car to myself again. I'm just that picky about my Fortress of Solitude.

The quartet was supposed to have another gig this Sunday with our fill-in bass, Jack Day. I got an e-mail from the organizer yesterday canceling our participation. I'm dissapointed, and yet relieved, because we're going to try and have a garage sale this weekend and prepping for that with a quartet rehearsal in there somewhere to prep for the gig was going to be a real hassle. On the other hand, I like the idea of getting $65/hr to do something I truly enjoy. I should develop a cancelation fee policy. Oh well...

Work's getting better. Ups and downs, but I'm slowly building my client base by "resurrecting the dead" and contacting a bunch of former customers who haven't ordered in years. Still a very gray...gray office and a bit isolating, but not bad. At least it's climate-controlled, clean, and there's no one there I dislike. Even made a friend in one of the warehouse workers - a fellow 30something geek who happens to live real close by. He was gracious enough to play chaufeur for me the past couple days so Sonya wouldn't have to load the kids up in the car to get me.

Well, 10 minutes to get to work. Better skee-daddle.

GARAGE SALE THIS WEEKEND! COME BUY MY CRAP!!!

LABOR Day...

Ah, Labor Day. The official end of summer. One last chance to relive the fun and frivolity of youth by spending some time playing in the sun before the stress and obligations of the day-to-day catch up to you after a well deserved holiday...

...or so it SHOULD be.

Friday was my typical day of working both jobs. I managed to get let go a bit early, but it was still a 12 hour work day. Saturday I managed to take Courtney to the comic book store and grab a few "necessities", before spending the entire afternoon disassembling the final piece of a HUGE playscape Sonya found on Craig's List. I hiked out to Clinton Twp., took it apart, loaded it up, brought it home, went to Home Depot for a few replacement screws and bolts, put it back together, and headed for work at the video store again. On the upside, it was great weather for it.

Sunday, Sonya and the kids were to head up to the cottage so I could have some time to work on my backlog of learning tracks for my adopted quartet in Nevada. I was going to knock out the tracks that evening and follow them up later that evening or the following morning. I planned to bring the laptop with me to the cottage to do some tweaking between dips in Lake Erie and a beer or two. They didn't manage to leave until about 5:30, leaving me little time to work in the evening, other than learning the parts a bit. This left me working on them on Labor Day...ALL DAY Labor Day.

Sonya borrowed my bank card to get some gas for her car on the way to the cottage, leaving me with $10 and a couple bags of deposit bottles. Just enough to pay the toll for the bridge or tunnel on my way up. What I didn't consider was that *I* didn't have enough gas to make it to there, myself. No problem, I'll just carpool with her brother, Jeremy, and save on gas and tolls. Well, he decided to be in the Hamtramck parade with the unicycle club, then spent the remainder of the day hunting down his cat to bring with him. Needless to say, I didn't manage to get to the cottage for my last dose of summer "maxin' an' relaxin'" (not that I've had a single dose of such all summer).

So while waiting to get in touch with Jeremy (who NEVER answers his phone, apparently), I worked on my learning tracks. I started at 10am and before I knew it, it was 7:30pm. I spent the entire GORGEOUS day, cooped inside infront of my computer. No e-mail, no chatting, no TV, no video games - just work. The buggar of it all was that the piece wasn't even that difficult! I should have been able to crank this one out in a few hours, but between my perfectionist nature and a computer crash or two (figurative AND literal) it ended up taking the whole friggin' day! Much of that was likely due to my lack of distraction and tendency to nit-pick my work to death, but still, it would have been nice to enjoy a BIT of the holiday weekend!

About 7:30, I realized I hadn't eaten all day, so I did manage to duck out to return some videos and stop by my friend Jack's place for a barbecue. I spent about an hour there munching on the remains of the now mostly deserted soire and chatting with Jack. That was nice. Then I headed home to finish my final mixdowns. I forced myself to watch some Comedy Central while I did the final steps on the job, just so I could pretend to have done some fun stuff on the weekend.

Only 11, 238 day until retirement!! Woo-hoo!

Oh wait, I'm a GenX'er. We don't HAVE retirement...

Pedal to the Metal...

I've been running on all cylinders lately. I've had something going on most every minute of every day for the past couple weeks...and I'm exhausted!!! Days are filled with work or household chores, nights are filled with rehearsals, gigs, or working on these learning tracks. Last week, abut the only 'Me' time I managed to grab was 2 hours to sit and watch Undercover Brother on Comedy Central on Saturday afternoon. Even most of that was spent helping (or trying to help, anyway) a friend through a difficult time via IM. Oh, how I long for some time to just sit and do nothing for a while.

Not that It's been entirely unpleasant, mind you. I love rehearsals and gigs with my quartet. Doing learning tracks can be a lot of fun, especially when I'm proud of the end result (and paycheck). I just wish I could find some time that isn't scheduled or where I could look around the house and say, "that can wait".

Work's looking up lately. The summer slump seems to be waning and my long-dormant clients seem to be warming up to me nicely. I know I needed an adjustment period to get things flowing, but the past month has been a bit scary. Couple more obstacles to overcome, but they're only temporary (I hope). The economy still sucks and it's still tough to sell musical instruments when folks are wondering how they'll fill their tanks to get to work, but I believe the worst is over (in my little sector of the business world, anyway). Gonna need to do some financial planning for next summer, though.

Meanwhile, I'm getting a lot of nice compliments on my learning tracks lately. The quartet that hired me seems impressed with my work. That last arrangement was a REAL buggar and took me about twice the time I expected it to, but they liked the result and sent a nice first installment of my fee. 2 down, 9 to go, and the rest seem like cake in comparison to the last one (a 4-minute medley with 2 standard key changes and one that was a bitch). While I love that my tracks are appreciated, I only wish I didn't have to rely so heavily on my software to fix things. I love how adept I'm getting at using it (which is a talent in itself), but I wish I had better control and intonation without it. I shouldn't get down on myself too much, though. Even Van Gogh didn't create in just fingerpaint - he had tools, too.

Sonya and the kids are running every bit as much as I lately. Between camps, vacation Bible school, trips to the in-laws' cottage in Canada, and other summer activities, they don't sit still for very long, either. They've been out of the house more than I lately, but most of that is by choice. Seems everything I do these days is in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar in one way or another.

This week:
Monday - 9-6 work, 7-7:30 Loving Memory quartet rehearsal, 7:30-10 chorus rehearsal
Tuesday - 9-6 work, 6:30 make & consume dinner, 7:30-11 work on learning tracks
Wednesday - 9-6 work, 7-10:30 quartet rehearsal
Thursday - 9-6 work, 6:30 make & consume dinner, 7:30-11 work on learning tracks
Friday - 9-6 work, 6:30-10:30 work video store, 11-2 work on learning tracks
Saturday - 9-12 chores, 1:30-5:30 benefit gig w/Coda Honor, 6-10:30 work video store
Sunday - Likely chores, grocery shopping, and lots of work on learning tracks.

Monday should be fun, though. I plan to head out with my sister and her boyfriend to a DCI show in Toledo. This is against my better judgment, as after the last DCI Big Screen event, I vowed not to give ANY money to DCI again. However, the prospect of hanging with my sister and several old drum corps buddies was too much to turn down. There will be at least half a dozen folks I KNOW will be there, and likely a dozen more I haven't seen in a long time that I'm fairly sure will be there, and the inevitable handful of folks I haven't even though of in years.

It's been a good 5 years since I've been to a live drum corps show. Barbershop as pretty much replaced my drum corps addiction. LOTS of similarities: music, competition, lots of "WOW" moments, similar planning and pacing of competition sets, internal bickering between the "old guard" and "progressives", lots of inside jokes and history. The big difference is that I don't tend to carry a bell-front baritone in my pocket to whip out and play an arrangement with other drum corps vets when 4 of us happen to convene. Getting older, the other nice difference is that you don't "age out" of barbershop, you actually more often "age INTO" it.

Anyway, better close the 'ol laptop and get to work. I'll see you at the checkerd flag...

Summer so full....

It seems there's never enough hours in the day to do all the stuff I want to, but summers especially are particularly full. Inevitably, there are scads of concerts, events, gatherings and such that I want to go to, but I end up having to pick and choose.

This week's a perfect example. I entered a drawing at Comics & More for free tickets to see the new Batman movie, but the date landed on the same night as a performance with my quartet and chorus. I didn't win anyway, which was a bit of a relief, but still... Tonight, Weird Al is at Meadowbrook and I had access to $10 tickets. Nope, gotta work the video store so I can have Saturday off to go to the annual Harmony Hideaway barbershop picnic. I hate having to rank and prioritize the fun stuff.

The task is even more difficult this summer as I am now TRIPLE employed again. There's the video store and the new job, of course, but this freelance job doing the learning tracks is taking up more time than I had expected. Well okay, not necessarily the gig as a whole, but one song in particular. The first one, "In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning" was simple enough and I was able to knock that out in a few hours last week. The next song they want done is a medley of "Flying Sinatra" songs ("Come Fly With Me" and "Fly Me To The Moon"). A very cool arrangement, but the Finale file I got had some errors with lyric notation, is replete with awkwardly notated syncopation that doesn't follow exactly what I'm used to doing at the karaoke bar, and the lead is in my horribly awkward break range. I'm getting through it, but being the detail-oriented nit-picker I am, I've re-recorded the lead and bass lines about a billion times to get it to a point I feel is at least 'okay' to my standards. I haven't even gotten to the oddly chromatic bari part or the tenor yet. So that's adding about an extra 8-10 hours minimum to my 55 hour work week. That's not including chorus and quartet rehearsals and performances at 3-10 hours a week on average, so you'll understand why I haven't blogged much lately. This leaves little time for other extra-curricular activities - even those I would LOVE to do.

Wednesday night was a performance with the chorus and quartet at Nardin Park UMC. We go there about every other years and do our full Annual Show to a completely packed house (being a free concert, as opposed to $17 a ticket). The chorus did okay, as did my quartet. Not our best, but good enough for the price. We have a bunch of performances coming up, so we need to get some more rehearsal in and tighten things up, not to mention get our contest set together for October's contest.

Still, I'm not overly stressed or unhappy. The learning track thing is something I love to do (despite having to turn off the fan & AC to avoid ambient noise during the hottest part of the year), and I'm able to fit in a few fun things now and again. The few nights a week I'm home, I get to spend some quality time with my family, barbecuing in the back yard and talking over dinner under the gazebo, watching cartoons with the kids, and last night I was in our 12' inflatable pool with them for about an hour playing games, splashing, and just having a TON of fun with my 2 wonderful children. True summer fun with my kids and some great Kodak moments. I needed that.

Tomorrow is the Harmony Hideaway barbershop picnic at the Slamka's in Riley Twp (that's about as BFE as you can get in SE Michigan). I always take the kids with me. Liam has a blast playing with other kids and participating in the games and the talent show. Courtney is a bit more withdrawn from the crowd and kinda clingy, but she usually has fun and as she's getting bigger, I think she'll have more fun this year. The weather report isn't terribly promising, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and the umbrella in the car, just in case).

Sunday, the kids head to the cottage, Sonya and I may go to see Sugar Ray & Spin Doctors at Freedom Hill, courtesty of a couple free tix from a coworker, so it's gonna be a fun-filled weekend, if a bit hectic.

...oh yea, and a TON of work on these learning tracks every spare minute inbetween.

Not a bad weekend…

My 4th wasn't too bad. Had the day off the new job, but had to work Blockbuster in the evening. In the morning, Sonya and Liam had a parade to do in Huntington Woods (big houses, winding roads, for you non-Detroiters) with the Unicycle group. I packed up Courtney after they left and headed to find a spot to watch the festivities. The parade winded down the residential streets of the tiny community. Nice shade and lots of room to find a spot, given the small nature of the parade. Courtney and I had a lot of fun. Being the picture of the adorable, toe-headed baby-doll, she got a HUGE haul of candy from the passing groups, which she split with her brother. Sonya and Liam did great and Liam impressed the crowd, as usual.

After a nice afternoon barbecue with Sonya, the kids, Leigh, and Sonya's brother Jeremy, I head to work. It was INCREDIBLY slow. Sonya and the kids headed to her parents' cottage in Canada that night, so once again, having to work Friday & Saturday at the video store, I had to stay home all by my lonesome.

You’d think this would either lead to a weekend of boredom or debauchery, but it was a happy balance. Friday, I spent much of the day cleaning the living room and digging into the often ignored corners of the room putting away the lost treasures of the past several months. Sonya had me cancel her debit card Friday night because she couldn’t find it. The next day, I found it safely wrapped inside a receipt on the hutch. (Sigh).

Saturday, I did some more cleaning, hit the comic store, had a nice conversation with the kid Chris hired so he wouldn’t have to work 6 days a week, and visited my mother and grandfather. It was nice to be able to catch up with them. They only live about 15 minutes away, but somehow, I only get to visit them about once a month. After that, I went to work.

About 20 minutes before my shift ended, I notice my friend, Paulie B., wandering the aisles. We chat for a few and after work I head to hang with him, Sarah Bradley, and a few others at Sara’s place to watch Clerks II (which I had almost started while I was cleaning earlier).

Sunday, more cleaning, only now the stuff I despise: laundry, dishes, toilet, bathroom sink, etc.. After I come to a stopping point, I head to my sisters to drop off a volcanic rock from my grandfather’s garden that she wants to use in her own garden. I play with her dog, water her plants (as she was away with her boyfriend for the weekend), grab some Taco Bell, and head home to start on a new assignment.

The past week, I’ve been corresponding with a fellow barbershopper from Nevada that my chorus director put me in touch with. He has a quartet called the Rat Paq, and is in need of some learning tracks for the Rat Pack-esque songs his quartet will be doing. I found out that he doesn’t just need a couple, but ELEVEN! After exchanging e-mails, sending a sample of my work, and haggling the price – a LOT – we finally strike a deal. I’m giving him a HELL of a deal compared to the $150-$200 going rate for learning tracks from the pros. Being my first real gig doing such, and being that between the members of his quartet, they’re connected with 3 choruses with 9 other registered quartets between them to suggest my service to, it’ll likely bring in a LOT more business. Call it a promotional deal.

I have been contemplating trying to make a few extra bucks by doing learning tracks for quartets for a while, after doing a few gratis ones for my chorus. This will be my first REAL paid gig as such. Over the weekend we exchange e-mails and on Sunday morning I found all the songs he needed in Finale files in my e-mail box. I’m hired! I spent much of Sunday evening recording “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning”, and I must say, I’m pretty damned proud of how it turned out.

I e-mailed it out to him last night. I think he’ll be impressed with a 1-day turnaround. I may not see the money for a while, but I trust barbershoppers. We’re an absent-minded lot, sure, but not crooks.

By the way, if you could all send happy thoughts and prayers to my buddy, Chuck May and his darling wife, Molly, they could use it about now. Chuck & Molly are kindred spirits to me on many levels. Both are barbershoppers, music educators, and 10^th level geeks in their own right, and they’re raising their 10-month old son, David the same way (bless them!).

David was diagnosed a couple weeks ago with a Wilkes tumor. He had one of his kidneys removed and is undergoing chemo for the next 23 weeks to treat the remaining tumor on his other kidney. The prognosis is good so far and David is starting to act like his bubbly, happy, precocious self, but 24 weeks of chemo won’t be fun. Any positive thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

A New Professional Direction for my Creativity

I've always wanted to do something creative for a living that utilizes my talents, strengths, and passions. I suppose that goes without saying and is something everyone strives for. I've dabbled in it a bit from time to time, even succeeding to some degree. I've been a professional (by that definition, I mean getting paid at least once for my services) drill designer, singer, trombonist, web designer, arranger, and music teacher. Unfortunately, none of these endeavors have stuck to a point where I can make any reliable money out of it.

Oh the marching band instructor gig was a long-term thing, with 14 consecutive years working for at least one band a season, but that was only for 3 months of the year and the money was not exactly stellar or reliable. Professionally, if not financially rewarding. The quartet gets paying gigs now and again, but usually just enough to justify the hobby itself. Personally rewarding, but not lucrative by any means. Drill designing is something I've always wanted to do for a living, but to be honest, I haven't really marketed myself much or broken through to the "big time" as a noteworthy designer. Chicken and the egg: break through to make a name, or make a name to break through.

With no marching band gigs, designing OR teaching, for the past 2 years, I haven't had much opportunity to make a little extra scratch with my talents (aside from the occasional quartet gig). Now, however, it seems I have found a new outlet along similar lines to pull in a bit of extra cash now and again: part recordings.

For you non-barbershoppers out there, most barbershoppers can't read music (at least not well), and those who do can usually use a crutch of having the part sung correctly in their ear to help learn and memorize it. I have been recording multi-tracks of myself for years - ever since high school on my double deck tape recorder. I found it fun to play around with chords, learn multiple parts of any given song, and even try my hand at arranging with it. Most would turn out fairly decent after a few tries. Over the past couple years, I've refined my techniques a bit at a time, adding more high-tech equipment, utilizing the computer, getting better software and equipment, etc. Now, I finally have a set up that - while not ideal or particularly professional - works very well. I'll spend a while on each part, recording each attempt with my recording software until I learn it and get something I can work with. Then I do the same on each successive part, remove the noise with some of the nifty tools, refine the tuning with a cool plug-in I found for my program, move the balance around for a stereo sound, add reverb, and VOILA! I have a decent sounding track that - though not something I'd put on a CD and sell as an artist - sounds pretty cool and gives me a giggle. Meanwhile, I've expanded my own repertoire and made mself more effective to teach parts or fill in quartets on multiple parts.

Eventually, I started using this technique to help my own quartet to learn songs, starting with ones that I arranged. I shift the balance of one part to one side with the three remaining parts on the other side, allowing the listener to adjust the balance according to how much help they want. I later found that these kind of recordings are used frequently in choruses and quartets to learn songs. Once I got my tuning software, I offered my services to my chorus, noting that the learning tracks they did were often of poor sound quality, lacked precision at times, and were just plain time-consuming and difficult to coordinate with 4 different guys' schedules. The director was happy to not have to worry about the hassle and was pleased with the results.

I did this for free as a favor to the chorus, since we're always financially struggling as a chapter and I have fun with it anyway. Now as a form of compensation, the director and a couple other chorus members have been dropping my name whenever the need is mentioned for learning tracks!. I have a friend or two that do this for a living and make some decent money at it - like $200 per song sometimes. I don't plan to charge THAT much, as my stuff isn't quite as polished as theirs, though it's every bit as effective for the purposes. However, I've already been contacted by a couple guys who want my services in the past month! One was a chorus member I did 1 song on the cheap for. The other is a guy on the west coast who wants about 10 songs! I'm waiting on word from him as to how much I'll do and for what money.

This should be a LOT easier to break into than drill design, and may even lead to some arranging gigs! Regardless, it's a chance to use my knowledge of and talent for barbershop as well as my skills with my computer and be appreciated for it. Even if it only brings in a little extra cash for lunch money now and again, it's nice to be doing something I love, have it appreciated, and (being paid even NOMINALLY) be called a professional at it.

Guess it's time to add another service to my Keiser Pageantry website and maybe take it a bit of a different direction. There may be a bit more money in this "hobby" than I thought...

If you want a sample of what I do, you can contact me through Keiser Pageantry Productions. I'll be adding the learning tracks to my services on that site soon!

The Secret to Blogging: Location, Location, Location…

Ah… Familiar territory. Liam’s finally out of school and on summer vacation. This means I don’t have to cart him to school in the mornings anymore. With my new job starting an hour earlier than my old job and being 20 minutes more commute, this means my 2 hour morning constitutional at the Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak has shifted to about 30 minutes at the Burger King ½ mile from work – if I time it just right.

Aside from the GREATLY diminished time available and my laptop being on the Disabled List for the better part of the last month, my environment has changed. I can still get wireless at my new morning home, but the atmosphere is just less than ideal. Caribou has a cozy, but not crowded atmosphere, occasional friends dropping in, and some great jazz playing at a very soft level in the background. It’s perfect for thinking (aside from the occasional noise of the coffee grinder and milk frother).

Burger King is Spartan, austere, a bit corporate-crass, and has MSNBC playing on TVs in every corner. It’s hard to concentrate on peaceful thoughts when you have talking heads and pundits arguing the latest canned talking points in your ears. Plus, the coffee just isn’t good.

So now that Liam’s out of school, I took the first day of his vacation to get up a bit earlier and hit my favorite thinking spot again. It was like walking into Cheers and having everyone shout, “NORM!” I chatted up my favorite barista, Leanna, ordered “the usual” (mug of dark roast and a lemon-poppy seed bread), and opened the laptop to catch up on the mountain of blogs I subscribe to that had accumulated over the last month. I got through maybe 20% of it. Now, I have 35 minutes left to write a bit and get to work – which means about 10 minutes for actual writing.

I can’t do this terribly often, as the $3.50 or so for my “usual” can add up, and it’ll be nice to spend a few mornings with my family (even though Sonya & Courtney tend not to wake up before 9 voluntarily). I anticipate a couple mornings of eggs, coffee and toast around the kitchen table (if we ever get it cleared), and some nice shared morning breakfast time.

Still, I truly cherish this time and place. At the risk of sounding like a commercial, my mornings at Caribou are some of the few times I can sit, undistracted, and think clearly. I would love to spend a day here just writing, arranging, and catching up on …well…everything.

My time’s about up. You have no IDEA how tempted I am to skip work today and just enjoy the peace and nice weather, but responsibility beckons and I must heed the call. Well, off I go; from the comfy, peaceful atmosphere of a neighborhood coffee shop, to the gray…VERY gray, professional office.

I gotta get me a plant or something for that place…

BackBlogged...Again.

Forgive me, bloggers, for I have sinned. It's been over 4 weeks since my last blog.

And a whirlwind four weeks it's been too! An extremely fun and understated birthday, full-on geek immersion, successful adjustment to the new job, a couple days of semi-bachelorhood, and the resurrection of my beloved laptop (hence my return to blogging).

My birthday party on the 10th went very well. Maybe a dozen or so folks came by to help me celebrate. We sat around the fire bowl in the back yard, sang some songs, drank some beer, had cake, and caught each other up on life in general. It was a nice, relaxed, understated evening with friends. I like a big party, but given the late announcement and other peoples' prior commitments, this was just right. Not too big, not too small. I'd like to thank everyone who came by and made my birthday fun: Paulie, Sarah, Nyma, Todd, Jenn, Kirk, Leigh, Lou, Linda, and of course, my lovely wife Sonya. I know I'm forgetting one or two people. Forgive me. The last hour or two are a bit of a blur 3 weeks after the fact.

On the 17th, I went to my first Motor City ComiCon. I have never felt SOOOOO in my element...sadly, pathetically, embarrassingly in my element. I decided to go in my Greatest American Hero t-shirt rather than the full costume (first ComiCon and all, I wanted to tone down the geektitude a bit), figuring that was the ONE place it would be appreciated more than anywhere else (and it was). I ran into several friends I expected to see, and a few that surprised me. I was on the lookout for my friend Chris Brown, knowing he was closing his comic store to attend ("All my customers will be there anyway"). After maybe a half hour there, I spotted him. He was kinda hard to miss, being a 6'2" beanpole of a guy with a Mohawk and what can only be described as an entourage. I followed him for a while, and then got bored with the pace as he stopped to talk to virtually EVERBODY there like they're long lost cousins at a family reunion.

Later I spotted a former co-worker of mine, Jamin Fite, who runs a website, www.LeiasMetalBikini.com. After seeing the large representation of "Warsies" there, my surprise faded a bit, but as I walked up to say hi, I noticed he had his own entourage...of Slave Girl Leias. Resisting the urge to get my picture taken with hot girls in bikinis who will likely have to spend the day surrounded by enough overweight geeks as it is, I wandered off to check out the celebs. Not many of note, but I did manage to shake hands with Mickey Dolenz, Walter Koenig, and Anthony Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather on Enterprise), as well as stand close enough to breath the same air as Chase Masterson (Leeta on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Erik Estrada, Avery Brooks, and the ever-cool Billy Dee Williams. I also sat in on a talk with Anthony Montgomery later with several folks in Star Trek regalia, a Klingon or two and several others who looked like they haven't seen the sun since the Reagan administration.

Last Thursday was Courtney’s pre-school graduation. I took my lunch a bit late that day so I could attend. While I think the idea of a graduation ceremony for pre-school a bit much, it was nice to see my somewhat shy baby girl get up and perform some songs with her class so enthusiastically. They’re growing up so fast.

The past 2 weekends, I’ve had a brief taste of the bachelor life. On Memorial Day weekend, I stopped by Valerie’s place to borrow her mower again, and paid my usual price: free mowing for her double lot. It was nice, though, getting a bit of exercise on a nice day and being able to chat with my little sis. Memorial Day, Sonya, Courtney and I accompanied Liam and his Cub Scout troop in the parade, picking up Valerie and Rufus along the route. Liam decorated his bike and rode it along the route, Courtney had a ball being pulled in the wagon and throwing mini Tootsie Rolls at the kids, and we all enjoyed a nice 2-mile walk on a gorgeous day. Later, Sonya and the kids headed to the family cottage in Canada and I had the run of the house…to wash dishes, fold laundry, vacuum, mow the lawn… Not exactly exciting, but I was able to take some pride in my productivity and managed to spare a few moments to sit, relax, and enjoy the wonderful weather. After being productive, I decided to call up Paulie B., and he and Sarah Bradley came over to watch the Pistons game. A good time was had by all.

Last weekend, Sonya & Liam went to a Cub Scout “Mom & Me” campout, while Courtney went with grandma so I could do my shifts at Blockbuster. Once again, I did a few chores in my all-too-brief free time before work, fix a bug in the desktop computer, and tidied up the place. I did manage to fit in hitting the comic store and have my annual Monte Cristo sandwich at Bennigan’s. I usually have one of these heart-attack-on-a-plate sandwiches a year, usually around my birthday. Turkey & ham with Swiss and American cheeses, battered, deep-fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a side of raspberry preserves to dip it in. Sarah Bradley calls ‘em “Turkey Paczkis” - an apt moniker. I called up my best friend, Lou, and he and his girlfriend Linda joined me for some company at Bennigan’s. After my shift at Blockbuster that night, I stopped by my friend Bob Perye’s place for his weekly IPM (In Perpetual Motion – www.IPMradio.com) internet radio program/party and had a lot of fun chatting, playing Wii bowling, and trying pizza-flavored beer (I know, sounds gross, but it’s actually pretty damned good).

The new job is going VERY well. I had been a bit nervous about fitting in and “clicking” with the folks at my new place of business, but a couple weeks ago, one of the other salesmen actually made a point of stopping in my office to mention how well I had acclimated myself to the flow of the place. That really meant a lot to me, as I had still felt a bit awkward around everyone, being the new guy and having brought a plague of some upper respiratory infection to the entire staff my first week. The job has its periods of dull, slow times, filled with motivating myself to make cold calls to prospects and clients who haven’t heard from us in up to a year, but there are also days where I can’t seem to detach the phone from my ear as I’m punching in order after order. It makes me a bit nervous to work on commission and have my paychecks ebb and flow with the sales trends and economy, but on the whole (with some tenacity in sales and financial planning and budgeting), I know I’ll do better here than my former job.

We have a new guy starting today to take over the extra territory I had been covering in the interim. He has tons of experience in the field and I know he’ll do well. While I’m a bit sorry to see some of the clients I’ve been serving for the past month go to someone else, I knew it was coming. It’ll be nice not to be the “new guy” for a while and I look forward to meeting him. He’s stepping into a good territory and I’ve tried to “warm it up” a bit for him.

My laptop: I dropped it with my computer guru and old friend, Chris DeLaney on Thursday. It seemed to have a relapse of the problem I had before: staring up, quick flash of BlueScreen, citing a problem with the last shutdown, prompting for safe mode, lather, rinse, repeat. I feared another wipedown was in order – ugh. After not hearing anything over the weekend, I feared the worst, then Monday, Chris called me. Apparently, it was just a static shock to the computer initiated a restore to the default BIOS settings. As my computer doesn’t seem to like the default settings to read my hard drive, it was just a matter of disabling the SATA driver. VIOLA! Back to work!

He offered to refund me the cash I offered him, saying it was a simple fix and was probably the original problem when he re-installed Windows last time, but I made him keep half, if for nothing g else, being willing to deal with my needy self whilst I suffer laptop DTs.

Last night Sonya and I, through the gracious babysitting abilities of our good friend Leigh, were able to take a night to go on an anniversary date. We went to Bahama Breeze for a wonderful dinner and caught the new Indiana Jones flick. Star has apparently started a great weekday deal with $4.75 tickets and $5 pop/popcorn combos, so we even managed to save some money. We had a GREAT time and both loved the movie. Go see it!

That’s all I can recall for now. God willing, I’ll have the time to do a bit more blogging, now that my laptop is back. TTFN!