I know, I know. Over a month without posting? How the hell do I expect to keep any sort of readership ( Read more... )

Let's catch up, shall we ( Read more... )

I picked up one of the coolest things ever at the first upcycled market this past weekend. I got a stereo system that's built into a vintage 1950s suitcase. What? I know. It's amazing. You plug in your iPod (or whatever) and play awesome tunes. Of course, Motown music goes particularly well with such a creation. They're called StereOtypes ( Read more... )

Even though I've been off, I continue to struggle with my feelings surrounding work. I thought with being off that I could avoid thinking or talking about what's going on there, but that's been impossible. Between people calling and asking me about what's going on (not that I mind answering, don't get me wrong) and my brain being unable to stop ( Read more... )

Apologies for the near month of lack of public postings. Things have been incredibly stressful in my professional life and that has really worn me down. It's a constant struggle for me not to feel completely down and out about it. Then there's the self-defeat conversation I seem to have with myself a lot lately over this. Not a good combination ( Read more... )

Ukulele practice is going along well, I think. It's hard to gauge when you don't have an instructor telling you if you're doing things correctly or not. I can't play a song yet, short of little tunes I make up on the fly. Maybe I should be giving that more credit than I am. Still, I'm a ways away from being able to play any heavy metal on it ( Read more... )

Just over a week ago, I thought to myself that it would be fun to learn to play the acoustic guitar. I would then take rap and heavy metal songs and turn them into acoustic beauty, like so:

Click to view

I pondered this concept and, let's face it, guitars are expensive. Then I thought of ukuleles and how funny THAT would be to do rap and heavy metal on. So, ( Read more... )

Today marks 6 months since Aunty C passed away. It's still hard for everyone, obviously much more for my cousins, Mom, and Papa (grandpa). A few months ago, I had my first dream of Aunty C. She looked happy, vibrant, and full of life as she was smiling and laughing. When I woke up, the song Ain't No Mountain High Enough was stuck in my head. ( Read more... )

23rd book of 2012 completed. The Wisdom of No Escape: And The Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chödrön.

Likelihood of me recommending this book to anyone (out of 5) - 5. I realized I hadn't read much Buddhist text for awhile now so I'm rectifying that. I'm quite fond of Pema Chödrön and I think the average person would be. She speaks like a ( Read more... )

FINALLY! 16th book of 2012 completed. My goodness, that took a long time. Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White.

Likelihood of me recommending this book to anyone (out of 5) - 3.5 out of 5. I hate to give it a lower review, but allow me to explain. This book has a lot of what I consider to be useless filler/unnecessarily heavy ( Read more... )