Month: July 2024

Fourth of July Weekend

Slice of Life

Monday           July 8, 2024                08:31

Last night before going to sleep I couldn’t help but think that I had wasted the whole four-day weekend.  I didn’t do anything different from a normal weekend.  I didn’t do anything extraordinary for fun.  I didn’t go to the beach, watch fireworks, or visit a casino.  I stayed home.  The focus of my weekend was not to relax, but to work on personal projects.  I made a new recording where I used what I learned in a recent training class.  I took a cool photograph of a tomato, I went to a thrift store, I listed some items for sale online.

I enjoy doing those things, but maybe I shouldn’t try so hard.  There is a whole lot of struggle and not a lot of moving forward.  A large part of me wishes I could do this stuff for a living.  I think it is possible, but right now I don’t see much money from it.  I enjoy the fluid lifestyle these activities could provide.  I enjoy the thrill of a good secondhand find.  I enjoy putting media together.  If I focus on how much money I made this weekend, it wasn’t really a great weekend.

            I did have some fun though.  I went out and got a coffee milkshake one morning.  I bought a copy of “Dazed and Confused” from Barnes and Nobel.  They are having a 50% off Criterion sale, I think for the whole month of July.  I had never seen this movie before, but now that I have, I understand a few more pop culture references.  If you haven’t seen this movie, it’d be a lot cooler if you did.

On the Fourth, my mom made a delicious salad.  It had cabbage, vinegar, blue cheese, grapes, and pistachios.  Another day she made juicy breaded chicken cutlets.   Then again, she made Uncle Johnny’s tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes from the garden and made a Ratatouille with it.  My sister also made some fresh salsa with tomatoes from the garden.

In reflection, the worst part of my weekend was that it had to be over.

Monday           July 15, 2024              23:01

It’s funny I wrote that I try too hard.  I bought a book last week at the Goodwill thrift store called: “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff.  Folded in between the pages were some relics of a previous owner: A Mega Millions ticket from the September 07, 2010 and a yellowed with age notecard with a handwritten note on it that reads:

“The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard-one that thinks too much.  I think, therefore I am confused.”

I believe these are two separate quotes from the book determined to be valuable by a previous owner.  This card now has a place on my bookshelf.  This time help came from this chance encounter with a book.  It’s one thing to hear advice and it’s another thing to take it to heart.  For me, the idea that it is ok and likely beneficial to not try so hard kind of gives me the stamina to try harder.

Music and Me

Note: I’d like to thank everyone who liked and commented on my first post.  I wasn’t expecting so much engagement right from the start and I am grateful to you all.

Part I: Music and What it Means to Me

I don’t remember many nursery rhymes or the first music I ever heard, but I do remember the first music that I was a fan of that wasn’t a theme on a television show or at church.  I was around eight years old, and I loved the Backstreet Boys.  I’d never heard anything that sounded like that before.  That is what started me on recorded music.

Eventually, I tied a large part of my identity to the music I chose to listen to.  I still do.  I’d like to think that I’ve grown and become more sophisticated.  A distinguished arbiter of taste.  These days I feel I explore music more openly than I have in the past.  Im less concerned with wanting specific music to be a part of my identity.  However, there is no getting around it, the music you love becomes a part of you.

Discovery

I won’t love some music the first time I hear it.  As I become more familiar to certain tunes, I warm up to them.  I need to be in the right mood to receive new music.  Sometimes the most amazing piece of music shuffles on while I’m driving and it is perfect, but I might skip that same piece while listening at home.

Observation

One thing I noticed about myself was that I connected certain music to oddly specific situations based on other types of media or even their uses in the real world.  For example: I had never listened to Mariachi music outside of a Mexican restaurant.  I’d only listen to jazz at the airport, or the William Tell: Overture in a movie.  Today I try not to put music into a box, but juxtaposition is one of my favorite ways music can be used.

Live Music

I don’t go to shows.  I should probably get out more.  I’ve never been to a symphony orchestra, and I would really like to go.  My viewpoint on music mostly has to do with recordings, but the live music I have heard has impacted me. From buskers to national acts those moments are special to me.

Part II: Creating My Own Music

I received my first electric guitar as a gift from my parents for my 15th birthday.  I played because my friends played.  I learned parts to a few songs.  I stopped playing for a few years and picked it up again.  I would record a few things here and there with my computer’s built in microphone.  I took some classical guitar lessons and some theory which turned into and intro to jazz.   I didn’t stay for very long, but I did have some awesome teachers.

I always thought I could produce something great.  I had the music in me, but I couldn’t get it out.  This has proven to be a very difficult thing for me to do.  I got really into music gear a few years ago.  I began reading books and watching countless online tutorials about studio design, engineering, mixing, mastering.  In reflection, I haven’t put nearly as much effort into learning composition.  Which is the foundation to my original intention.

Conclusion:  Where It’s Going

There is so much music to be discovered and I have an appetite for new and exciting sound.  Making music is a worthwhile thing to do.  Right now, I feel a little bit burnt out creatively, but music is a part of my life’s journey.  Sometimes inspiration flows and other times it is calm.  In both states, it is exactly where it needs to be.