Selling Stuff on Craigslist

Boy, this can be addicting, let me tell you... Over the past six weeks, I've sold off the parts of my old Macintosh G4 tower computer. It was a single processor 1.25 GHz. Boy, I loved that thing. It has been hard for me to sell - to see the tower go, then the components - one by one. Alas, today I sold off the second to last component - the 17" Apple LCD Studio Monitor - for 70 whoppers.

Over these six weeks, I've found Craigslist to be an essential resource - nay, the only resource - in selling my stuff. I'd check to see what other people are trying to get for their used stuff, think about what I'd be willing to pay for it - a fair price, and create my ad. Magic. Days later I'd end up with a friendly email from a buyer. The person would come and pick it up at my apartment, and that would be the end of that.

So, I have to say, I have really enjoyed listing stuff on CL, negotiating a price, and selling stuff. There are at least three more things now that I'm going to be listing in the next week or so: two, old laptops and a Wurlitzer organ - stuff that my family just has lying around and doesn't use any more.

I think I'm hooked.

Have you ever sold anything on Craigslist?

On a Cooking Kick

I've been on a cooking kick for the last few days. I love to cook, but it's rare for me to do it - and even rarer to do it for three days in a row! Main courses are really what excite me. Here's what was on the menu the last three nights:

Monday: Drunken Steak ala Steve Raichlen (replete with Jim Beam)
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday: BBQ Meat Loaf

And here's what's ahead:

Thursday: Baked Chicken Tenders
Friday: Grilled Tilapia
Saturday: (I'm out of town, so I can't cook!)
Sunday: Baked Mostaccioli

I even have some ideas for next week already... chili, turkey balls, beef and broccoli...

Yeah, okay, so this is kinda weird. I'm just sort of spouting out food stuff like this. It almost feels like I'm tweeting (but with a much higher character count). But there is a method to my madness:

Preparing dinner is like writing a song - "preparing" a song, if you will. You need to have all of the right ingredients (inspiration, a pen and paper, an instrument) and you have to add everything together at the proper time and place (time to sit down and write, a quiet place to work).

You can't force a good meal just like you can't force out a good song. When I force a dish, I usually under- or over-cook it. When I force a song, I blunder it - and it ends up in the trash.

And, of course, if any of you are interested in getting recipes from me, I can get them to you...

Busting Buns, No DSL, and Performing at Columbia

The past six days have been awesome. I've worked my butt off, rehearsing for a concert I had yesterday, writing a song for this week's vlog, and practiced several instruments. I can't believe that my last post was two weeks ago! Seriously, unbelievable. I don't know where two weeks went.

This past week, Monday through Thursday, I moved my live show rig into a secret, secluded location, away from the chaos of my small apartment. (Actually, it was my parents' basement. They graciously opened their home to me for the week.) I started my nights at around 4:30 PM, and rehearsed and recorded until about 11:15 PM. They were long nights, but rewarding ones. Plus, I was fed well (although I never expected to be fed at all).

Another big factor in my lack of posting was the fact that, until this afternoon, I haven't had internet service at the apartment since last Saturday - eight days ago. To make a long story short, I screwed up. I canceled Comcast service, then ordered AT&T service, then AT&T screwed up and it took them an extra four days to get us online. Phew! We're good now, though.

My concert at Columbia College, as a part of Manifest, the school's end-of-the-year urban arts festival, was awesome. I met a ton of really cool people, made a few friends, and was able to share - if only a part of - my new, live show, incorporating piano, triggered effects and drums, and my new computer. I'd like to give a special thanks to Cynthia Vargas for inviting me to perform. It was a blast, and I'd love to do it again next year!

I'll be posting pictures from the show some time this week, when I get pictures from a few student photographers who were covering the event.

When Plans Change

I was supposed to be here this weekend:














Doing this:













Instead, I was here:














Putting these pictures together.

...On Setting Oil in the Ocean on Fire

Photo courtesy of NASA













Does anybody else think this is a bad idea?

I have another bad idea: let's continue to use oil to power our world.

Question: are oil companies truly seeking the best interests of us all or are they ultimately, simply, just trying to protect their bottom line?

Final question (back to my original topic): If you set the oil on fire, will the fire spread all the way back to the off-shore well, consequently blowing up the offending broken pipe itself, along with the very oil source this company has tapped?

Okay, I lied. One more question: who foots the bill for this clean-up - the oil company or taxpayers?

Good overview article about this thing here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63O27L20100426

It turns out that BP owns the well, and they're responsible for the clean-up bill. Hardly enough, if you ask me.

One final comment: I *think* I *barely* remember when this other spill happened, about twenty years ago: https://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=exxon-valdez-20-years-later-oil-spill-prevention

Remembering Music Theory

Today, for the first time in a couple of years, probably, I sat down at the piano with my music advanced music theory book in hand. I opened it. I read. I played a few chords. I can't believe how much has slipped away of these past few years. All composers should never forget - and the best do - that there is a myriad of tools at our disposal.

Today, I needed a refresher on augmented 6th chords. Don't worry if you have no idea what I'm talking about. This is just a group of three chords that composers use to move a piece of music to a new key.

It was awesome. It's the first time in a long time that I've been excited about composing non-popular music (unpopular music?) like orchestral stuff and jazz. Anyway, it made me want to go back to school to study music as a grad student.

I doubt that will happen.

Anyway, if you've been thinking about going back to school, I'd love to hear from you about what you'd like to study and what school you think you'd like to go to.

A Poem for 1 AM

Zombie brain started just about an hour ago
That means all decisions are indecisions
Or at least that's what should be so

No man is as productive at 1 AM as at 10
I struggle to think clearly now
Though I swear I'm focused on the task at hand

Just minutes more til I break the omnipotence barrier
We all seem to know more about everything
Temptations become a blare in your ear

Your muscles have stiffened up, you discover
As you adjust in your seat, in front of your monitor
You now feel uncertain, and shudder:

Should I have gone to bed hours ago and chosen sleep over an exam, a paper, my ego, straining for that higher grade - or any grade at all?