Friday, July 25, 2008

A Busted Nose Means...

A busted nose, apparently, means that it's time to buy new studio monitors. I was playing basketball during lunch, with a few guys I work with, and not five minutes in to the game, I got popped in the nose. Crunch. "Are you okay?!?" Blood.

Well that makes it sound a lot worse than it was. As it turns out, I didn't break it. But this was my first bloody nose ever, so it was quite an experience for me. I went inside, grabbed some paper towels and ice, and sat in a dark room for about a half hour. A day later, nothing is swollen, but my nose is a little sore, and tender to the touch.

Upon arriving home, I was faced with a decision - though unrelated to my early nose incident. I received an email from a friend of mine, who has graciously allowed me to borrow his JBL Control 1 monitors for the last six months.

Unfortunately, he needed them back about a week ago, and I found myself in a desperate situation: trying to finish up a new EP by mid-September without any speakers! So in a passionate moment of determination, carefully seasoned by a pinch of sense and reason, I went to Guitar Center, where my friends Brian, Melissa, and Karl hooked me up.

So what did I get!?!?! The speakers that I have longed for since first introduced on the market: JBL LSR 4328's. Mmmmmmmm....... Yeah....... I'll let you know what I think of them, once I've had a few days to play around with them.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Looking Forward to the Weekend

Vacation was great. But I knew I was going to be busy when I got home... Recording, writing, rehearsing, booking, working. I'm back in the full swing of it all. And thus the thought that has occupied me for the last few days:

There's nothing inherently wrong with looking forward to a* weekend. But I will argue that there is* something wrong with looking forward to the* (as in "every") weekend - maybe not because something is wrong with the person who thinks it, but because something is wrong with "the system" the person lives in.

Why do people look forward to the weekend? Because they are unhappy at work. Why are people unhappy at work? Because the industrial revolution has brought about company processes which do not require significant, challenging contributions the the company's success, in mid- and low-level positions. (Or if the positions do, those who hold them don't know or sense it.) So let's face it: most of us are just grunts doing the work of a few wealthy, grand planners at the top of our economic food chain.

And so we come to me. I have to ask myself "Am I unhappy?" Answer: no. But then I ask "Am I happy?" Well, now, that's a tricky one. Because there has always seemed to be this balance between thanksgiving and contentment, on the one hand, and a healthy longing and striving for better. Although I want people to think of me as a happy person, I think this has been, and continues to be, a real struggle for me. And I'm hoping that in these coming months, I get a real attitude adjustment.