Random Ramblings

I've been in a great mood lately. I feel at peace a lot of the time.

I'm glad to hear that XL!

With it being a rainy day, today is a good day to pay bills and write lyrics.  DONE!

Today's a good day for a birthday

Bought a hard case and a replacement string for the mandolin. It's glad to have things in shape. Now I just need to find a good light strap that'll fit in the case.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Today's a good day for a birthday

Glad you had a great birthday....seems like we forgot to make you your very own special happy birthday thread here at CHM.
Happy belated birthday old-timer!

How did we miss your birthday?

Happy Birthday!

Xid wrote:

How did we miss your birthday?

Happy Birthday!

The only person here who is good enough to catch almost everybody's birthday is our sister RockerVu2 (Yvonne).  For some reason she has been absent from the board for the last two weeks.  
Now I am a little worried about her, hopefully she is just too busy enjoying her grandchildren to waste time with us.

Have you ever had the keyboard of your computer just die?  We've had this desktop for a few years now and it was a refurbished model.  The keyboard that came with it just quit working.  I had noticed it would be slow sometimes when I was on Facebook, but I thought that was just something that happened due to a glitch in their system.  I had noticed it nowhere else.

So, my wife was using it last night and it just stopped working.  I won't do a thing.

So, I bought a wireless keyboard from Walmart.  I already had a wireless mouse, but this had a new one with it and both ran off the same little doohickey that plugs into the USB port on the computer.  So, now we have a sexy new wireless keyboard with matching mouse.

I've had keyboards die quickly while others have died a slow, painful death.

Well. this new one is working when it wants to which makes me believe that there might be something else going on.  I am going to do a full virus and malware scan just to be safe.  Then, I will try to update my keyboard drivers.  Restarting the computer should also help after all that.

I want to go walking and then mow my grass.  However, it looks like it is going to storm any time now. I guess both will have to wait!

It has been a wonderfully cool month of June and now July, for the most part. I say that because I work in a factory without air conditioning (except for break rooms).

Also, I got to play my mandolin through a friend's guitar amp. It has an effect that doubles everything an octave lower, thus bringing it into low-mid guitar range. It sounds AMAZING!!! I need to get writing and recording, but I've been telling myself that about music for the past 7 or 8 years at least… still nothing to show for it

You have to make yourself get started recording, Andre.  You hesitate out of fear that A) your project will stink and B) that no one will appreciate it.  That is my experience, anyway.  You must create the art or the artist inside will die.  As I work on this 2nd blues album, I still have songs I haven't used and now have riffs started for 3 more songs.  

Even Jesus told the parable of the talents.  While the story is about money, it is more than coincidence that the word translated into English for the unit of money was a "talent".  In the story, the ones that used their talents for their master were rewarded with more.  The one that hid his had his talent removed.  Have you ever met someone that had great talent but squandered it away?  They lose it.  I know a lady at church who used to play organs at professional baseball games.  She won't play for people these days and uses her arthritis as a reason.  She does just about anything else she wants to do with that arthritis.  She can't play a lick anymore.  My mom with piano was the same way.  If you don't use that talent, then it will dry up.  Let those creative juices flow into a creativity waterfall, man.

We watched our town's fireworks display while standing in the parking lot of our local Dollar General last night.  You gotta love small town living sometimes.

We watched our neighbors' from our driveway.  Some of theirs were pretty impressive.

Xid wrote:

We watched our neighbors' from our driveway.  Some of theirs were pretty impressive.

We sat in our backyard and lit off about $100 dollars worth of fireworks we bought....then we watched our neighbors in the surrounding few blocks of our very red-neck little town light off what had to be well over $12,000.00 worth of fireworks (I'm probably way under estimating).  So loud and long that often times there would be no lull at all between the explosions.

Quote :

We sat in our backyard and lit off about $100 dollars worth of fireworks we bought....

Three bottle rockets and a pack of firecrackers???    Hey, those things can get pricey quick!

alldatndensum wrote:

You have to make yourself get started recording, Andre.  You hesitate out of fear that A) your project will stink and B) that no one will appreciate it.  That is my experience, anyway.  You must create the art or the artist inside will die.  As I work on this 2nd blues album, I still have songs I haven't used and now have riffs started for 3 more songs.  

Even Jesus told the parable of the talents.  While the story is about money, it is more than coincidence that the word translated into English for the unit of money was a "talent".  In the story, the ones that used their talents for their master were rewarded with more.  The one that hid his had his talent removed.  Have you ever met someone that had great talent but squandered it away?  They lose it.  I know a lady at church who used to play organs at professional baseball games.  She won't play for people these days and uses her arthritis as a reason.  She does just about anything else she wants to do with that arthritis.  She can't play a lick anymore.  My mom with piano was the same way.  If you don't use that talent, then it will dry up.  Let those creative juices flow into a creativity waterfall, man.

I need to find me some like-minded musicians. I have a few friends who dig my mandolin. Through distortion, it is a wonderful alternative guitar that's distinctive and that gives you fifth intervals when played open (or the power chord precious to rock and metal), apt for solos and riffs and chords alike. Played with or without simple amplification, it adds high frequency chords that stand above guitar chords. I just need to get into a good artistic headspace, and jam with some friends. I was reading through some of the lyrics I've written before, and they aren't half bad, some of them.

If any musician on here wants any guest mandolin solos, though, I'm open

Dude, you cannot let not knowing musicians keep you from making music.  I have no one except a couple of drummers.  Is that stopping me from making art I love? Nope.  I will adapt and do what I can.

Get you some recording software and get thise ideas going.  You can network with other musicians for help when you need it.  You have access to Xid, myself, and Pastor Brad here that could help.  Fundy can help with lyrics.  Staybrite can help with moral support.  You have a team already started!!!

I let not having other musicians stall me for years.  Aside from vocals, I started doing it on my own.  I now have a couple of others to help out where I'm weak.

Monday I've my last bass lesson.
To quit is so double.
I love playing bass.
But caring two days for my grandsons make it a bit harder to practise.
I can't do both things.

You'll have to be sure to keep on playing bass. What songs have you been playing lately?

After 8 years, I think that my old trusty laptop has gone to be with the Lord.

Man, you have got to love immature Christians.  I had a guy at church, whom has stirred up trouble for me in the past, jump my case this morning for giving a job to someone else that he wanted for VBS.  First of all, my wife is overseeing VBS, so I haven't given anyone anything.  Second, if he wanted the job, are we supposed to have to chase him down to give it to him?  We haven't seen the guy at church since he stated he was interested.  What were we supposed to do?  We prefer for volunteers to come to us and even tell people such.

You can't win for losing sometimes.

Regardless, this week must be going to be amazing.  Every time something great happens at church it seems like the Devil sets it up to tear you down beforehand.  So, regardless of someone flinging poop at us at church, we are just going to throw ourselves into making our VBS the best it can be.

We are doing Hero Central.  It is a vacation Bible school curriculum that is based around super heroes.  The point this week is to become a hero for God.  We've mixed in decorations that go with this set and added other banners and such that have Capt. America, Batman, etc. that the kids will instantly connect with.  I think it is going to be a cape.

Regardless of what Edna Mole said, I WILL be wearing a cape.  LOL