I'd just like to report that the Starbucks show went well, with just a few minor drawbacks. I started to lose my voice a little over an hour into my two hour set. When that starts to happen I have to really pay attention to my voice and how to control it so that I dont hit too may sour notes. Since I haven't played with the PA outside of my basement, setting levels in the coffee shop was interesting. Luckily I had someone there to help me with that, but my voice sounded muddled through out the show, something I will try and fix at the next one.
Every one that came to see me said I was sounding pretty good. It's good to have friends in the audience. I'm looking forward to the next show, which is coming up in about 3 weeks.
Other than that, things are ok. I'll be traveling to New York within the next week or two, hopefully we wont be working in sub-freezing temperatures like the last New York job....that sucked.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Yes, I'm still allive....
I have been meaning to blog, I really have, but things have been a little crazy. You should all thank Bobbie for poking me and getting me to write! Thanks Bobbie!
I'll give you a brief summary of the last few months:
After the show in Denver, I booked another show at a local Starbucks the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That show was cool because that was the first show my family had seen me perform live (they came up to Colorado for Thanksgiving).
About a week after that, I travelled for a job in New York- I think I was gone a littel over a week. i came back to Colorado for a few days then went to Texas for a job. After that, I came back to Colorado for a few days then left for Texas again to see my family for the holidays. I came back to Colorado and had one day to clean up before my college roommate came to visit. She was here for a week and we were both sick which was kind of funny. We went to a cool New Years Eve thing in down town Fort Collins where you could go see a bunch of different shows then there were fire works around 10pm ish. The event was non-alcoholic and ended early so people could move on to other parties. My favorite show was a Cirque-de-sole (sp?)type thing where they played with fire and did ribbon dancing. Very cool.
The day my old roommate left my girl ferret Fiona had to have surgery because she ate foam and had an intestinal blockage. That wasn't fun. I was really exhausted from the stress of Fiona's surgery and being sick and the traveling for the next week or two.
In mid-November, my friend and I drove down to Phoenix, AZ to meet my parents and some of their friends for a rock hounding adventure. My dad really really likes green and blue rocks. He picked up a ton of them. My parents didn't check any bags, so I got to take all the rocks home in the Jeep and ship the rocks back to my parents. One box contained a 23 lb rock.
It was neat to share one of my hobbies with my parents and be outdoors with them. Normally when I go home we just sit around and they watch movies and TV and stuff. I normally find something else to do. It's not exactly quality time.
My parents are planning to come up to Colorado for a rock hounding trip in August or September which I'm looking forward to. We also talked about going to Nevada which has a lot of Turquoise which my dad really really likes.
After coming back from Arizona I wasn't in a good place. I was homesick after spending time with my old roommate and my parents, and I had no energy or motivation to do anything. The anxiety which I had effectivly dealt with through counsseling while completeing my Master's was starting to return.
Around that time I decided that maybe I should start seeing a counselor again for a few reasons:
One- to deal with the anxiety that was creeping back into my life
Two- I wasn't adjusting to the move as well as I thought. I told myself- oh I'll start doing _____ again when my schedule levels out. You know what I realized? My schedule won't ever level out due to my wierd travel shedule, which is fine, I just need to find a way to deal with it
Three- I have lost my "connection" to the universe. I would have a hard time explaining exactly what that is, but I am unplugged and unhappy about it
Four- I feel like I dont have anyone to talk to here, and so I keep a ton of things bottled up that I shouldn't. I know that I could call several people back in Texas, which can be helpful sometimes, but it's very different than having someone you can talk to in person
After the first counseling session, I went to Missouri for a job. The weather was freaking miserable. The only thing that shuts our work down is lightning. There was a lightning storm on the first day that caused us to only complete two surveys. The next day, we had to do four surveys in a 14 hour day, which included such annoyances as our trailer locks being frozen shut, snow, and general grumpiness.
I got back from Missouri two days ago.
This morning, I booked a show at Starbucks for next Saturday. I went to Office Max to get some card stock for flyer printing later today. I installed drivers for my scanner so that it will work with Windows Vista (hopefully, haven't tried to run the scanner yet). In about half an hour I'm meeting a friend for lunch at Raising Canes Chicken- mostly beacuse it reminds my of when my old roommate and I would go eat there.
It times to make new memories with the people and places here in Colorado. Although I think fondly of my time in Nacogdoches, I need to stop living in those memories.
I'm healing myself through action and self-appreciation, and I'll be fine.
I didn't spend any time checking this blog for spelling or grammar errors, please excuse them.
Love to you all!
~bb~
(Thanks again Bobbie :p)
I'll give you a brief summary of the last few months:
After the show in Denver, I booked another show at a local Starbucks the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That show was cool because that was the first show my family had seen me perform live (they came up to Colorado for Thanksgiving).
About a week after that, I travelled for a job in New York- I think I was gone a littel over a week. i came back to Colorado for a few days then went to Texas for a job. After that, I came back to Colorado for a few days then left for Texas again to see my family for the holidays. I came back to Colorado and had one day to clean up before my college roommate came to visit. She was here for a week and we were both sick which was kind of funny. We went to a cool New Years Eve thing in down town Fort Collins where you could go see a bunch of different shows then there were fire works around 10pm ish. The event was non-alcoholic and ended early so people could move on to other parties. My favorite show was a Cirque-de-sole (sp?)type thing where they played with fire and did ribbon dancing. Very cool.
The day my old roommate left my girl ferret Fiona had to have surgery because she ate foam and had an intestinal blockage. That wasn't fun. I was really exhausted from the stress of Fiona's surgery and being sick and the traveling for the next week or two.
In mid-November, my friend and I drove down to Phoenix, AZ to meet my parents and some of their friends for a rock hounding adventure. My dad really really likes green and blue rocks. He picked up a ton of them. My parents didn't check any bags, so I got to take all the rocks home in the Jeep and ship the rocks back to my parents. One box contained a 23 lb rock.
It was neat to share one of my hobbies with my parents and be outdoors with them. Normally when I go home we just sit around and they watch movies and TV and stuff. I normally find something else to do. It's not exactly quality time.
My parents are planning to come up to Colorado for a rock hounding trip in August or September which I'm looking forward to. We also talked about going to Nevada which has a lot of Turquoise which my dad really really likes.
After coming back from Arizona I wasn't in a good place. I was homesick after spending time with my old roommate and my parents, and I had no energy or motivation to do anything. The anxiety which I had effectivly dealt with through counsseling while completeing my Master's was starting to return.
Around that time I decided that maybe I should start seeing a counselor again for a few reasons:
One- to deal with the anxiety that was creeping back into my life
Two- I wasn't adjusting to the move as well as I thought. I told myself- oh I'll start doing _____ again when my schedule levels out. You know what I realized? My schedule won't ever level out due to my wierd travel shedule, which is fine, I just need to find a way to deal with it
Three- I have lost my "connection" to the universe. I would have a hard time explaining exactly what that is, but I am unplugged and unhappy about it
Four- I feel like I dont have anyone to talk to here, and so I keep a ton of things bottled up that I shouldn't. I know that I could call several people back in Texas, which can be helpful sometimes, but it's very different than having someone you can talk to in person
After the first counseling session, I went to Missouri for a job. The weather was freaking miserable. The only thing that shuts our work down is lightning. There was a lightning storm on the first day that caused us to only complete two surveys. The next day, we had to do four surveys in a 14 hour day, which included such annoyances as our trailer locks being frozen shut, snow, and general grumpiness.
I got back from Missouri two days ago.
This morning, I booked a show at Starbucks for next Saturday. I went to Office Max to get some card stock for flyer printing later today. I installed drivers for my scanner so that it will work with Windows Vista (hopefully, haven't tried to run the scanner yet). In about half an hour I'm meeting a friend for lunch at Raising Canes Chicken- mostly beacuse it reminds my of when my old roommate and I would go eat there.
It times to make new memories with the people and places here in Colorado. Although I think fondly of my time in Nacogdoches, I need to stop living in those memories.
I'm healing myself through action and self-appreciation, and I'll be fine.
I didn't spend any time checking this blog for spelling or grammar errors, please excuse them.
Love to you all!
~bb~
(Thanks again Bobbie :p)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Of all the things.....
So, my first paid gig is tonight in Denver. I went out to dinner last night and thought to myself "I'll just change the strings on my guitar real quick when I get home and go to sleep."
But then an argument ensued!
"I don't need to change the strings- they'll stay in tune better if I don't change them..."
"BUT...I haven't changed them in months....what if I break a string while I'm onstage?"
"Might as well leave everything alone...just go to sleep"
This went on for a while when the -whatifibreakastring- argument won out.
When I arrived home, I proceeded to change the strings on my acoustic guitar. When I got to the low A string, something bad happened.....I BROKE THE F***IN' TUNER PEG!!!!!!
Before I went to therapy, I would have literally freaked out.
However, the P.T. (post-therapy) version of me calmly called my musical friend R to see if he knew what to do. He did! He laughed at me, and I laughed too. I asked to borrow one of his guitars when it dawned on me (DUH) that I have 2 electric guitars to choose from down in my basement.
I made him listen to me while I rambled about the pro's and con's of image with an electric and sound difference with an electric. After determining that it really doesn't matter, I figured this would be a great story to tell the audience..." those of you that know me may wonder why I'm up here with an electric guitar....that's because I BROKE my other guitar last night changing strings- who does this happen to?!?!?" I imagine laughter will follow- this is how it works in my mind anyway.
In related news, all the people I have met that have bought tickets to my show are just utterly fabulous! They genuinely want to see me play and see me do well. I can't impart how encouraging that is or how much that means.
You know you missed it- here comes Stonecipher's random ramblings:
I had an epiphany a few weeks ago, you may have read about it, I was making a lot of excuses for things and wanted to change.
I went and talked to a bunch of coffee houses a week or two ago- I now have a gig next Saturday at a Starbucks in town. My parents will be here then- this will be the first time they have seen me perform my own music.
I ordered sound equipment for the Starbucks show AND future shows...frustration with learning the equipment will ensue.
This past Friday my landlord, who is an independent music promoter, called me around 5 and asked if I wanted to open for Jonathon Edwards at the Rialto Theater in town. Of course I said yes! I played a 20 minute opening set then rushed up to Fort Collins for a meetup event that I kind of pushed aside to sell tickets to my concert tonight.
There are so many signs telling me that I need to be playing music...I'm listening.
But then an argument ensued!
"I don't need to change the strings- they'll stay in tune better if I don't change them..."
"BUT...I haven't changed them in months....what if I break a string while I'm onstage?"
"Might as well leave everything alone...just go to sleep"
This went on for a while when the -whatifibreakastring- argument won out.
When I arrived home, I proceeded to change the strings on my acoustic guitar. When I got to the low A string, something bad happened.....I BROKE THE F***IN' TUNER PEG!!!!!!
Before I went to therapy, I would have literally freaked out.
However, the P.T. (post-therapy) version of me calmly called my musical friend R to see if he knew what to do. He did! He laughed at me, and I laughed too. I asked to borrow one of his guitars when it dawned on me (DUH) that I have 2 electric guitars to choose from down in my basement.
I made him listen to me while I rambled about the pro's and con's of image with an electric and sound difference with an electric. After determining that it really doesn't matter, I figured this would be a great story to tell the audience..." those of you that know me may wonder why I'm up here with an electric guitar....that's because I BROKE my other guitar last night changing strings- who does this happen to?!?!?" I imagine laughter will follow- this is how it works in my mind anyway.
In related news, all the people I have met that have bought tickets to my show are just utterly fabulous! They genuinely want to see me play and see me do well. I can't impart how encouraging that is or how much that means.
You know you missed it- here comes Stonecipher's random ramblings:
I had an epiphany a few weeks ago, you may have read about it, I was making a lot of excuses for things and wanted to change.
I went and talked to a bunch of coffee houses a week or two ago- I now have a gig next Saturday at a Starbucks in town. My parents will be here then- this will be the first time they have seen me perform my own music.
I ordered sound equipment for the Starbucks show AND future shows...frustration with learning the equipment will ensue.
This past Friday my landlord, who is an independent music promoter, called me around 5 and asked if I wanted to open for Jonathon Edwards at the Rialto Theater in town. Of course I said yes! I played a 20 minute opening set then rushed up to Fort Collins for a meetup event that I kind of pushed aside to sell tickets to my concert tonight.
There are so many signs telling me that I need to be playing music...I'm listening.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Random II
Welllllll...where to start?
The past two weeks have been crazy busy. I was pretty dang exhausted by the time I got back from Nacogdoches. I mistakenly thought I'd have some time to relax when I returned- it was not the case.
This week promises to be interseting- I had a wine induced conversation on Saturday night that made me realize that I had been making alot of excuses for not doing things. It's amazing how when you have dialouges with yourself you can rationalize ANYTHING and you don't even realize it. It was not until I was questioned about my lack of action that I woke up (this is funny because I fell asleep directly after the conversation).
One of the things I was making excuses for was my music. I had nearly decided to let music go to the background(again)when I really thought about things yesterday.
Writing and playing my own songs is something I have been working towards for 10 years now. I came to the conclusion that I'm a little bit afraid of my music, that it will be consuming and take over everything. Isn't that how good music comes about though?
I have not been writing much since I moved, and I didn't like the open mic I was playing at and I suppose I was discouraged by those things. I let those things become my excuse for not fighting for my art. Normally if I'm not happy with something I will take steps to change it- I attribute my inactivity in this matter to fear.
After I thought about everything that I have been making excuses for and distilled my reasons for inactivity, I found that in every instance that fear was the root cause- fear of consumption, fear of disappointing someone, fear of inadequacy...and I decided I don't want to be someone who is afraid. Fear can inhibit and destroy so much, do I have time to live my life with fear holding me back? I think not.
It was a revelation of sorts.
The first step in changing my reality- tonight I went to 4 or 5 coffee houses in town and asked if I could play periodically. Most of the managers weren't there so I left my new very cool music business card (thanks Rose!) with the employees that were there- we'll see if I get some calls back.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I had decided on two very important things a few weeks ago, one being that I WILL climb a 14er (14,000 + ft mountain), the second is that I WILL leaern how to ride a motorcylce.
I went hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park with a friend on Saturday, and I realize that I have a long way to go before I can climb a 14er- I can't freaking breath while hiking up inclines! I just have to get used to the elevation and I should be fine- I have great leg strength thanks to roller derby!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was dark by the time I left work today- that makes me sad:(
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a friend coming over tomorrow to play some music- I'm excited! We always have a lot of fun together and I could use some creative encouragment.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I feel like something is going to happen soon, like when you wait for the next thunder clap during a storm- you know the thunder will come you just don't know when. In this case, I don't know when or what my thunder will be......
That's probably enough random babbling for now!
The past two weeks have been crazy busy. I was pretty dang exhausted by the time I got back from Nacogdoches. I mistakenly thought I'd have some time to relax when I returned- it was not the case.
This week promises to be interseting- I had a wine induced conversation on Saturday night that made me realize that I had been making alot of excuses for not doing things. It's amazing how when you have dialouges with yourself you can rationalize ANYTHING and you don't even realize it. It was not until I was questioned about my lack of action that I woke up (this is funny because I fell asleep directly after the conversation).
One of the things I was making excuses for was my music. I had nearly decided to let music go to the background(again)when I really thought about things yesterday.
Writing and playing my own songs is something I have been working towards for 10 years now. I came to the conclusion that I'm a little bit afraid of my music, that it will be consuming and take over everything. Isn't that how good music comes about though?
I have not been writing much since I moved, and I didn't like the open mic I was playing at and I suppose I was discouraged by those things. I let those things become my excuse for not fighting for my art. Normally if I'm not happy with something I will take steps to change it- I attribute my inactivity in this matter to fear.
After I thought about everything that I have been making excuses for and distilled my reasons for inactivity, I found that in every instance that fear was the root cause- fear of consumption, fear of disappointing someone, fear of inadequacy...and I decided I don't want to be someone who is afraid. Fear can inhibit and destroy so much, do I have time to live my life with fear holding me back? I think not.
It was a revelation of sorts.
The first step in changing my reality- tonight I went to 4 or 5 coffee houses in town and asked if I could play periodically. Most of the managers weren't there so I left my new very cool music business card (thanks Rose!) with the employees that were there- we'll see if I get some calls back.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I had decided on two very important things a few weeks ago, one being that I WILL climb a 14er (14,000 + ft mountain), the second is that I WILL leaern how to ride a motorcylce.
I went hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park with a friend on Saturday, and I realize that I have a long way to go before I can climb a 14er- I can't freaking breath while hiking up inclines! I just have to get used to the elevation and I should be fine- I have great leg strength thanks to roller derby!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was dark by the time I left work today- that makes me sad:(
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a friend coming over tomorrow to play some music- I'm excited! We always have a lot of fun together and I could use some creative encouragment.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I feel like something is going to happen soon, like when you wait for the next thunder clap during a storm- you know the thunder will come you just don't know when. In this case, I don't know when or what my thunder will be......
That's probably enough random babbling for now!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
I'm going back to Nac!
Here's a heads up for all of you in Nacogdoches- I will be in town from October 26th to October 29th!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Ghost hunt
One of the meetup groups I'm in is a paranormal group. In order to keep my mind off of ferret surgery last Saturday, I went on a ghost hunt with the group. We took some EVP recordings and photos. One of the girls I was walking with got a good sound clip, which I will try and see if I can post. Overall, it was very intersting.
The first picture is of the 'man in the wall' Apparently the outline of the man has been painted over several times, but keeps appearing.
The second picture is of the first 'orb' I caught. The area along the railroad tracks is called the hobo trail because hobos would walk the tracks during the depression.
The third picture is by the old grain and feed building where lots of people good pictures of orbs, and at least 2 EVPS were caught and you can go listen to them here: www.paranormal.meetup.com/400/files
There's lots of history in downtown loveland, and apparently tons of paranormal activity!
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