I'm such a music nerd...
Well here I am, finally updating. Wow, I wonder how many times I've said *that*. While I could probably go and count, it'll just serve to distract me even more. You see, I'm determined to get back in the habit of writing, and writing regularly in here should help that substantially.
Right now I'm kinda at a low period in my life. Everything pretty much sucks. I'm not sure who else is out there who *doesn't* know this, but my truck died a few months back, and I've been bothering everyone for rides ever since. I take the bus *sometimes* but gimme a break, I hate this cold, and the prospect of waiting out 10+ minutes for a late bus doesn't exactly excite me.
So what's keeping me from getting a new one, or even fixing the old one? Basically it's just me being lazy. Well, I can't just go out and get a new one because of a *heavy* lack of money, but I *could* fix the old one. The only thing involved in that is getting a new motor, which my dad said he'd pay for (or at least loan me the money for), and then taking out the old engine and putting in the new one. In actuality, I could probably get the job done in about a week's time, if I didn't do anything else (read: no going out and avoiding coming home). The thing is, I'm extremely nervous and apprehensive about that option because I know very little about auto-repair. The little I do know is because I've had to replace various parts on my truck and my dad's truck. Ugh... truth be told, it's a huge hassle just replacing some little part, but taking out an entire engine?? I hope you can understand how reluctant I am to start *that*.
Things at my job aren't exactly going too swell either. It's not only been myself whose hours have been cut, but also several other employees, who are none too happy about the situation. Yeah, I know... ordinarily I'd take the lack of hours as a blatant message saying, "Okay, you can quit now," but I've asked my boss at least three times if there's anything he wants to tell me or if he still wants me working there. And every time, he tells me that we're just short on hours, and everyone is getting their hours cut.
Now *that's* something I can take care of! I've accepted the fact that I need either a second job or a whole new job (therefore quitting Petco). I *really* don't want to quit Petco, because I actually enjoy working there! Well, that, and when an employee has been working for one whole calendar year, their paid time off jumps through the roof. There was this one guy who finally took his paid time all in one lump after he quit, and I swear, he was coming back to pick up checks for nearly a month afterwards!
I have some idea about where I want to work too. Or rather, I should say I have some leads; Leorio (The Guy Formally Known As Pedro) has told me about this site where I can fill out a single resume (albeit, a rather *long* resume) and have it sent out to all open positions in a hospital... or someplace like that. I can't remember the details, but he still has to show me that site too. Another job lead was actually a real fortunate stroke of good luck; Andi called to wish me a happy birthday on 12:01 AM, January 18th. We talked for a couple of hours, and when I got around to telling her about my horrible lack of hours, she told me that I should apply at AT&T, whether at a call center or a store. She mentioned that she'd been promoted at some AT&T place up in Austin where she works, and so I could put her down as a reference.
I'm also going to school. Good god, it's been a looooong time since I've been in class! On one hand, it's good knowing that I'm getting my life together, but on the other hand, it's made me realize just how much I hate going to school. Well, hopefully I'll be able to actually discipline myself to the point I can focus, not get distracted, and FINISH.
Besides that, there are a couple of other things that are pretty cool. By the way, sorry if this post is a bit disjointed, but I'm just catching up to myself; mapping out my life, in a way. Dana and I are working on a comic together. I hope Neemo doesn't get upset at this, but it's the comic involving Gabe and Madison. I'm feeling some heavy pressure to put out something of quality, but then again, that's why I'm doing this, to sharpen my edge. I'm also practicing my guitar in earnest. Seriously, I'm so earnest my fingertips have these nifty shiny callous! Chris Tchou is learning songs straight out of the box, using guitar tabs, but my plan, tedious and frustrating as it is, is to learn guitar theory like a mofo before actually attempting to play any songs. So far it's working out well. I can spend anywhere from one to two hours working on a single scale. My practice routine for the C scale is something like this...
Single scale: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C
Chords: C, C7, Cmaj7, Csus; I'm debating about learning 6th and 9th chords, but those aren't used nearly as often.
Grand scale: The grand scale covers every note on the fret board, according to the scale I'm practicing. So for the C scale, I'd start out with an open-6th string (E), then continue playing every note until I hit the note of the scale I'm working on (in this case, C) three octaves up. So practicing it should look a little something like this:
EFGA - sixth string
BCD - fifth string
EFG - fourth string
AB - third string
CDE - second string
FGABC - first string
Wow, it sure doesn't sound like a lot, does it? But I have this nasty perfectionist streak in me, so I have to get everything right! That's why it takes so long, alright? Alright?!
Oh! Something neat I've been doing has been playing the Chrono Cross soundtrack on my stereo system, and playing the accompaniment chords on my guitar. Man, that's tough! Even on slow songs I start thinking, "Dude, why don't you slow down a bit??" Like I said earlier, I'm something of a perfectionist, but in this case I try to focus on just keeping up with the beat.
So there you have it!! That's my life! I'd like to go on about music theory A LOT more, but I don't think anyone wants to hear much more of that, heh.
Oh, I'm sick too. :P
Right now I'm kinda at a low period in my life. Everything pretty much sucks. I'm not sure who else is out there who *doesn't* know this, but my truck died a few months back, and I've been bothering everyone for rides ever since. I take the bus *sometimes* but gimme a break, I hate this cold, and the prospect of waiting out 10+ minutes for a late bus doesn't exactly excite me.
So what's keeping me from getting a new one, or even fixing the old one? Basically it's just me being lazy. Well, I can't just go out and get a new one because of a *heavy* lack of money, but I *could* fix the old one. The only thing involved in that is getting a new motor, which my dad said he'd pay for (or at least loan me the money for), and then taking out the old engine and putting in the new one. In actuality, I could probably get the job done in about a week's time, if I didn't do anything else (read: no going out and avoiding coming home). The thing is, I'm extremely nervous and apprehensive about that option because I know very little about auto-repair. The little I do know is because I've had to replace various parts on my truck and my dad's truck. Ugh... truth be told, it's a huge hassle just replacing some little part, but taking out an entire engine?? I hope you can understand how reluctant I am to start *that*.
Things at my job aren't exactly going too swell either. It's not only been myself whose hours have been cut, but also several other employees, who are none too happy about the situation. Yeah, I know... ordinarily I'd take the lack of hours as a blatant message saying, "Okay, you can quit now," but I've asked my boss at least three times if there's anything he wants to tell me or if he still wants me working there. And every time, he tells me that we're just short on hours, and everyone is getting their hours cut.
Now *that's* something I can take care of! I've accepted the fact that I need either a second job or a whole new job (therefore quitting Petco). I *really* don't want to quit Petco, because I actually enjoy working there! Well, that, and when an employee has been working for one whole calendar year, their paid time off jumps through the roof. There was this one guy who finally took his paid time all in one lump after he quit, and I swear, he was coming back to pick up checks for nearly a month afterwards!
I have some idea about where I want to work too. Or rather, I should say I have some leads; Leorio (The Guy Formally Known As Pedro) has told me about this site where I can fill out a single resume (albeit, a rather *long* resume) and have it sent out to all open positions in a hospital... or someplace like that. I can't remember the details, but he still has to show me that site too. Another job lead was actually a real fortunate stroke of good luck; Andi called to wish me a happy birthday on 12:01 AM, January 18th. We talked for a couple of hours, and when I got around to telling her about my horrible lack of hours, she told me that I should apply at AT&T, whether at a call center or a store. She mentioned that she'd been promoted at some AT&T place up in Austin where she works, and so I could put her down as a reference.
I'm also going to school. Good god, it's been a looooong time since I've been in class! On one hand, it's good knowing that I'm getting my life together, but on the other hand, it's made me realize just how much I hate going to school. Well, hopefully I'll be able to actually discipline myself to the point I can focus, not get distracted, and FINISH.
Besides that, there are a couple of other things that are pretty cool. By the way, sorry if this post is a bit disjointed, but I'm just catching up to myself; mapping out my life, in a way. Dana and I are working on a comic together. I hope Neemo doesn't get upset at this, but it's the comic involving Gabe and Madison. I'm feeling some heavy pressure to put out something of quality, but then again, that's why I'm doing this, to sharpen my edge. I'm also practicing my guitar in earnest. Seriously, I'm so earnest my fingertips have these nifty shiny callous! Chris Tchou is learning songs straight out of the box, using guitar tabs, but my plan, tedious and frustrating as it is, is to learn guitar theory like a mofo before actually attempting to play any songs. So far it's working out well. I can spend anywhere from one to two hours working on a single scale. My practice routine for the C scale is something like this...
Single scale: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C
Chords: C, C7, Cmaj7, Csus; I'm debating about learning 6th and 9th chords, but those aren't used nearly as often.
Grand scale: The grand scale covers every note on the fret board, according to the scale I'm practicing. So for the C scale, I'd start out with an open-6th string (E), then continue playing every note until I hit the note of the scale I'm working on (in this case, C) three octaves up. So practicing it should look a little something like this:
EFGA - sixth string
BCD - fifth string
EFG - fourth string
AB - third string
CDE - second string
FGABC - first string
Wow, it sure doesn't sound like a lot, does it? But I have this nasty perfectionist streak in me, so I have to get everything right! That's why it takes so long, alright? Alright?!
Oh! Something neat I've been doing has been playing the Chrono Cross soundtrack on my stereo system, and playing the accompaniment chords on my guitar. Man, that's tough! Even on slow songs I start thinking, "Dude, why don't you slow down a bit??" Like I said earlier, I'm something of a perfectionist, but in this case I try to focus on just keeping up with the beat.
So there you have it!! That's my life! I'd like to go on about music theory A LOT more, but I don't think anyone wants to hear much more of that, heh.
Oh, I'm sick too. :P