red chord... no dice (and seattle)

The Red Chord has found a new guitar player... and it isn't me. Oh well. I can honestly say that I gave it my all and that I am very proud of myself for even being a possible candidate. Five hours a day of guitar playing per day for a straight week is something to be happy about, even if the fruits of my labor aren't particularly as glamourous as I'd hoped for.

My vacation with Candace to Seattle was a smash success. Aside from the fact that she was having a rather unpleasant week, we made the best of it. I ate some of the best sushi that money can buy. Todai. 25$ per buffet. Every kind of sushi imagineable. Yeah, it was good. We ate lots of phad tai, too. It's funny, she kept mentioning how funny it was that our whole vacation was planned out around what we were going to eat. Downtown: Todai. Pike Place Market: 1st Starbucks. Highline Community College: Chicken Teriyaki place. Plus, the bubble tea was remarkable. It was neat to put images to some of the places that she'd mentioned andfaces to the people. The little old lady at the bubble tea place was very sweet. Flying on the airplane was sweet too. First time. I couldn't stop giggling. The fairy ride to Poulsbo was sweet. I ate some phenomenal clam chowder and saw some cool viking stuff. Oh, I also went up into the space needle and ate some chocolate-covered sushi for 25$.

The Experience Music Project gets it's own paragraph. It was awesome. They had tons of old Jimi Hendrix stuff. They had the entire live setup (guitars, bass, amps, drums) that he and his band used at woodstock. That was pretty amazing to see. It's like looking at a piece of history. I saw a tornado made of guitars. There was a guitar room that showed the progression of electric guitar, like a timeline, only using real guitars instead of pictures. Let me recall, all original '52 les paul with the funky bridge, '57? flying v prototype, old strats, original Fender Broadcaster, '64 rickenbacher 12-string elec., all kindsashit.

Attached to the EMP was the SFM (science-fiction museum). That was pretty badass, too. I saw the queen alien from alienS. They had T-101. Honestly, there aren't enough blog-entries in the world to describe how sweet that shit was.

good night.

lazer tag, the red chord, etc.

sometimes, i really feel that my intuitions speak louder than my actual words. i don't know. maybe after so many conversations with candace about metaphysics/signs/karma/all of the above, some of it may be starting to sink in. here's what's on my mind:

i'll start back in early-mid november. i've started to question where my life is going. i'm engaged to the girl of my dreams. i've been at my job for about two years. i love the people i work with, especially my boss, Mike Ward. Amanda and I can finally stand being in the same room without wanting to rip each other's eyeballs out. my roomates suck more than anything and i'd love nothing more than to move out.

November 12, 2006. my boss and close friend Michael Travis Ward is killed in a car accident in the early morning on s.r. 267 in Brownsburg. i had spent nearly every day in the same office as this man for a year and a half straight. this single moment had shown me the fragility of solidarity. what we percieve as indistructible can sometimes be the most fragile things in life.

life goes on. christmas comes and goes. i still think about mike every day. i start spending more time with my dad. my roomates finally pull the last straw, so i move out and start staying with my dad again. the notion of having a full time, well-paying job with no rent starts to become very appealing.

jan. 12, 2007. teleservices direct (my place of employment) decides to shut the doors and fire the entire staff (about 150 people).

this is when i really start putting a solid amount of thought into these "signs" candace is always telling me about. basically, i'm working with no job, no rent, (practically) no band, just candace. i thought that this was life's way of telling me to get off my ass and do the things that i've always been meaning to do, (find out more about going to college, write my book/comic, travel, etc). well, out of the blue, the red chord announces that they are having open auditions for a guitarist. they need someone with touring experience and can play their material. this is it. this is where the signs have been pointing. i established contact today via email and gave them the link to ishia's page. this could be it. basically, my life is about to take a huge turn, and i don't necessarily know where it's going to go. i guess i'll know when i get there.

it's been over a month...

it's been more than a month since my last post. sorry bout that, lonely ol' blog.

where to start... MY BEARD IS BACK thank god.

i've been writing a lot (on paper) (with a pen). i'm having some trouble deciding what to write about.

i'm listening to some different shit that is expanding my way of thinking about music (Nine Inch Nails is pumping into my brain right now. and, stevie wonder is amazing. Fiona Apple has a sexy voice).

still jobless. it's kinda sweet though. i can't say that i really mind it at all. i'm scheduled to ride in an airplane for the first time in about 9 days. candace and i are going to seattle. I'm thinking about making my one carry-on bag a parachute.

photobucket won't post my cell phone images anymore. that sucks.

i'm becoming more and more confident about my writing skills. you can't teach creativity, which i think i have lots of. i just need to formulate an idea and see it through.

that's it for now.