Two Days' Update
I've been remiss . . . I got so wrapped up in what I was doing at work (whether that was particularly useful is a separate matter) that I haven't updated in a couple of days, despite having taken two rather nice walks to give myself a little easy filler. I did not walk today. I was out until one o'clock for band practice, and slept in as much as I could.
The band had an energetic practice last night, our second-to-last before the 25th Anniversary company party, at which we'll be supplying the intro music "bumpers" as the various guests are introduced and make their way on stage. We had one song that we hadn't had a chance to work on yet, and the remaining five or six that we had practiced last week sans drummer, plus four or five songs to play in their entirety as the audience is finding their seats before the show and filing out afterwards. I think we're set; this should be a good showcase of our ability to add some fun to what could otherwise be a pretty dreary meeting.
We've also had a cancellation of one of our potential upcoming summer gigs, as the only weekend that worked for everyone in the band was no good for the block party host. If you've followed Code Blue for very long, you already know that we have at least one cancellation for every appearance that actually comes to fruition.
That leaves our "9-8-7" party as the next, and most public, performance on the horizon. On September 8th (09/08/07), we'll be playing a full three set show at a party hosted by one of our co-workers at her annual(?) summer blowout. We've got a rough set list banged out, with strong starters and closers for each set, danceable stuff stacked towards the later sets, a couple of slow numbers, and some attention paid to distributing the vocals so that nobody's voice is completely burned out by the middle of the night.
By the end of this month, our practice time will be focused less on individual songs and more on playing a nice, tight set. That's sixteen or eighteen songs, more than we've ever performed at one time. And by September we're expecting to string three together in one night! What the hell was I thinking . . .
Project Kickoff Today
As if all that wasn't exciting enough, today my next project at work kicked off. Tomorrow, we'll get a formal introduction to Subversion, the source control system we're switching to. (Up until now, we've used Microsoft SourceSafe, which sucks ass.) At some point next week, we'll get our first real look at the new development procedures to support our foray into Agile development.
Finally it feels like things are moving around here again.
Soundtrack from My Morning Walk - 07/10/2007
The little black dog came out of his garage to bark at me a little, then politely declined an offer to join my walk. Oh, well. On the way back, the bigger black dog was out in his driveway, but he's not much of a barker (and barely acknowledged me).
When I got home, I took a few minutes to continue decluttering the garage. It just seems wrong, somehow, to put out a half-filled dumpster when I've still got so much crap. This week's former treasures included three canteens that have been rusting, quietly forgotten, for at least as long as we've owned the garage, a gas can nozzle that leaked badly, a baby gate that never worked for the purpose we had intended, and the bottom of a cage that we've long since gotten rid of.
Title Artist Time I Shall Believe Sheryl Crow 5:38 In a soon-to-be-repeated theme, the walk starts out with some very slow stuff Last Song Poison 4:21 Tomorrow Silverchair 4:27 Hazy Shade of Winter The Bangles 2:41 Got the Life Korn 3:48 If You Could Touch Her at All Willie Nelson 3:29 This is the sort of harp music I would love to play more often Rough-Housin' [Live] .38 Special 4:09 Soundtrack from My Morning Walk - 07/11/2007
As it has grown warmer, a small but persistent cadre of deerflies has added a note of misery to what has otherwise been a thoroughly enjoyable morning ritual. I know they are out for my blood, so I can't help but have a sort of grudging admiration for their dedication to the pursuit of a quiet landing place on my scalp. I just don't much enjoy slapping myself repeatedly in the back of the head as I walk past the neighbours' houses.
Today it was a little cooler, and the flies stayed home. A very nice day for a walk, indeed.
Title Artist Time Brand New Man Brooks & Dunn 3:00 Nothing much left today with a real walking tempo Overcome Live 4:15 Exhibit A: Ponderously slow With Arms Wide Open Creed 4:38 Exhibit B: People who write dirges think this is slow Goodbye Night Ranger 4:19 Exhibit C: Manages to rock out in an 80s kinda way . . . but slowly Vacation The Go-Go's 3:00 And they're off! Innuendo Queen 6:27 Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) Janis Joplin 3:57 The only Janis Joplin tune I can think of with backing vocals
Nerd Skills Update
Typing speed (Dvorak layout): 203 cpm (1.6% error rate)
Quote of the Day
The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money. -- David Richerby