New Hobbies

So, my dad died over a year ago and one of the items I inherited was a 1983 Fender Stratocaster. I had initially planned to have it encased in a box with some of his other items and make a glass coffee table or something, but I had a tugging feeling not to. A guitar, especially a 1983 Fender Strat, isn't meant to be stared at behind a pane of tempered glass.

Over the Independence weekend of 2009, we had a family reunion from his side. One particular detail about the reunion that had a major impact on the decision I'm about to let you in on was the full-blown family band that played every night. This wasn't singing songs around the campfire. There were microphones, guitars everywhere, stacks of speakers and amps, keyboards, as well as a box full of other miscellaneous instruments, like tambourines, maracas, and a bunch of stuff I've seen but never heard the name of. Everyone was musically gifted it seemed. One person was missing though, obviously, both literally and metaphorically.

That was the weekend I decided to take up guitar. To honor my Dad, and hopefully, I can be come as gifted a guitar player as he was.

So, I've also recently purchased a not-so-used Ibanez acoustic guitar. Now I have two guitars and no skill. I can at least say I know the main chords. I'm still waiting for that epiphany where suddenly, it all comes together.

Still Employed, School is Long, Summer Come Soon

I'm still employed. Everyday, fellow employees joke about how long I have until I'm fired/laid off. I swear, theres a fucking office pool going around.

Currently, I'm in the middle of a project that no other employee in my department is capable of handling. The remaining hardware can't be ordered until May, so the installation can't happen until then. Which means, I won't be let go until it's complete. A wise worker once said, "make yourself indispensible." So, I'm employeed until at least the end of May. After that, who knows.

The end of Spring semester is approaching. Right now, I have too much homework I should be working on, instead, I opt to write here. My communication class is going great! I'm at a steady 102%. No kidding. Top of my class. We just have one more group project then the final test(s). Two more weeks, then that class is finished. I really liked it. I really liked Psychology, too. Scored an "A" there.

My Calculus class is kicking my ass. I estimate a low "C" right now. The math is getting so complicated, I'm 80% sure I'm going to change majors. I mentioned this to my professor and, of course, she had intent to change my mind. The words of encouragement failed to take hold, especially considering that I'm 7 chapters behind and I'm more inspired to write on my site than pull out my book.

I can't wait for summer. I don't intend to take any summer classes. Spring semester is always bad for me because I'm hyper and can't stay focues on school that long.

My A.D.D. is kicking in again and need to change out of my work clothes for school.

Oh yeah, and I think I want a motorcycle.

NIN - Trent Reznor - Creative Commons

If you can't beat em' join em'.  I'm referring to the music industries proprietary grip on the music industry.  But some artists are getting a clue.  Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is incredible.

A few months ago, he adopted a "pay what you like" strategy to his instrumental album "Ghosts".  On it, you could download 9 tracks for free and additional tracks for $5.  If you were really dedicated, you could have gone for the grand prize, one of the 2500 of his limited edition album for $300.  Unfortunately, he sold out of those, but the statement was made.  A true sign that people will pay for music they like.

People support their artists, despite the underground bootleg downloading done throughout the nets.  Now, he's done it again.  NIN is releasing a new album "The Slip" one-hundred percent FREE.  On the band's web site, Reznor has this to say:

"thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me"

Clicking through the site, the band offers several different types of downloads, MP3, FLAC lossless, M4A and the professional WAVE formats.  Aaaand you can download all of them if you want.

"the slip is licensed under a creative commons attribution non-commercial share alike license.

we encourage you to
remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc."

So, here I am.  Posting it to my blog.  You can download the entire MP3 album here, FREE and LEGAL!  Enjoy!

EPIC-FU - art+tech+music for geeks

This is the cool new site called EPIC-FU. I found it while watching one of the YouTube videos from my blog.  I was hooked.  It's a truely informative video blog site. They pretty much scour the internet for you to find some really cool and interesting stuff. From free LEGAL music downloads to the latest tech gadgetry and web sites, this is a collection of the cool shit they've found so far. Check out  the "Everyday Normal Guy" video by comedian Jon Lajoie. I thought it was pretty funny.

They've also got the entire list of links they blog about in that episode so you don't have to remember all the neat links or try writing all them down to visit later. 

So, the next time you've got nothing much to do but surf, check it out.

EPIC-FU - art+tech+music for geeks