Have been working on a song all day.
Still not finished.
Am exhausted.
Skirmish in 7 min.
Hopefully that will do it, can finish the other thing later.
Am waking up from a nap, having trouble putting subjects in my sentences.
Hopefully my next note will be that I'm done...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
FAWM. Day 27. Three More.
I'm at 11. Three more.
I'm hungry, but I just ate.
I think my body is balking at the effort that this evening will require.
I have been in worse positions, though.
Perhaps more caffeine is required.
Spent some quality time in the chat room this afternoon. I should have done more of that this month.
Okay, enough stalling. Off I go.
I'm hungry, but I just ate.
I think my body is balking at the effort that this evening will require.
I have been in worse positions, though.
Perhaps more caffeine is required.
Spent some quality time in the chat room this afternoon. I should have done more of that this month.
Okay, enough stalling. Off I go.
FAWM. Day 27. SO MUCH to do today.
It's just gone 10am here.
Just made myself a healthy breakfast. SO much to do today.
Five songs left. TWO collabs in the works.
I'll check in later. Want to achieve a few things before the songskirmish. It was my goal to do two, I suppose I should get at least one in. I haven't traditionally been good at doing things in a short amount of time.
Bringing it on home.
Just made myself a healthy breakfast. SO much to do today.
Five songs left. TWO collabs in the works.
I'll check in later. Want to achieve a few things before the songskirmish. It was my goal to do two, I suppose I should get at least one in. I haven't traditionally been good at doing things in a short amount of time.
Bringing it on home.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
FAWM. Day 26. Technical Difficulties.
Last night I was beset by technical difficulties that prevented me from finishing the song I was working on.
A friend tried to help me out. My poor friend. I send him tracks and am constantly exposing the "not rightness" of my recording methods.
(At least I'm using the colors now, friend. I learned from the last time you had to help me.)
Anyway, he pointed out a few things and now things seem to be okay.
No sleep until I'm done with the next four.
A friend tried to help me out. My poor friend. I send him tracks and am constantly exposing the "not rightness" of my recording methods.
(At least I'm using the colors now, friend. I learned from the last time you had to help me.)
Anyway, he pointed out a few things and now things seem to be okay.
No sleep until I'm done with the next four.
Friday, February 25, 2011
FAWM. Day 25. Strong Words. Weak Words.
Today is a day when words are flying in out of nowhere to stab me in the spine. Here are just a few.
From Middlemarch:
From Jonathan Carroll's blog:
(I don't know *where* Jonathan Carroll finds his gems; at least twice a month I find myself sobbing from the beauty of the things he posts.)
These beautiful words make me sad that I'm going to have to say "okay" to some weak lyrics. There are only a few days left to FAWM, and I'm going to have to start finishing, no matter how unhappy I am with the words.
Breathe in, breathe out. Get on with it.
I got rejected today. It's a little twinge, not a big one.
There are still many, many things to be done. Going to practice saying hello to strangers.
From Middlemarch:
"Marriage is so unlike everything else.
There’s something awful in the nearness it brings.
Even if we loved someone else better than
Those we were married to
It would be no use.
I know it may be very dear,
But it murders our marriage.
And then our marriage always stays with us
Like a murder.
And we are weak."
From Jonathan Carroll's blog:
CUTTING LOOSE
Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason,
you sing. For no reason, you accept
the way of being lost, cutting loose from all else and electing a world where you go
where you want to.
Arbitrary, sound comes, a reminder
that a steady center is holding
all else. If you listen, that sound will tell where it is, and you can slide your way past trouble.
Certain twisted monsters
always bar the path—but that’s when you get going best, glad to be lost, learning how real it is
here on the earth, again and again.
~William Stafford
(I don't know *where* Jonathan Carroll finds his gems; at least twice a month I find myself sobbing from the beauty of the things he posts.)
These beautiful words make me sad that I'm going to have to say "okay" to some weak lyrics. There are only a few days left to FAWM, and I'm going to have to start finishing, no matter how unhappy I am with the words.
Breathe in, breathe out. Get on with it.
I got rejected today. It's a little twinge, not a big one.
There are still many, many things to be done. Going to practice saying hello to strangers.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
FAWM. Day 24. Crap.
Argh.
Drat.
Frig.
There's this one song, see. I have two verses that I'm really happy with. But it needs a prechorus/chorusy refrainy bit. Something to tie it all together.
I was most worried about getting the percussion right (this song is closely modeled on another that has SLAMMIN' percussion). After three hours tinkering around with drums, the percussion is just about there.
Now I just need a *song* now to sing over it.
This is so frustrating.
There are still SEVEN to go!!!!
And I might be called in to work tomorrow.
Today it started to bother me that I haven't written a strummy song at all this year. I don't write strummy songs usually, I must admit. I get a little strummy song envy when I hear people's well-executed strummy songs.
Walked around all day with words written on my arm, a particularly insightful piece of criticism posted on the boards that I wanted to have with me at all times. I wrote it in Sharpie over most of my forearm.
Heh heh, work will be interesting tomorrow.
Drat.
Frig.
There's this one song, see. I have two verses that I'm really happy with. But it needs a prechorus/chorusy refrainy bit. Something to tie it all together.
I was most worried about getting the percussion right (this song is closely modeled on another that has SLAMMIN' percussion). After three hours tinkering around with drums, the percussion is just about there.
Now I just need a *song* now to sing over it.
This is so frustrating.
There are still SEVEN to go!!!!
And I might be called in to work tomorrow.
Today it started to bother me that I haven't written a strummy song at all this year. I don't write strummy songs usually, I must admit. I get a little strummy song envy when I hear people's well-executed strummy songs.
Walked around all day with words written on my arm, a particularly insightful piece of criticism posted on the boards that I wanted to have with me at all times. I wrote it in Sharpie over most of my forearm.
Heh heh, work will be interesting tomorrow.
FAWM. Day 24. Preamble.
It's 5am.
I am too restless to sleep. Too groggy to get up and do something.
Listening to hysterical British women in a BBC drama.
There was a battle at a mill!
And an envoy with a note at the door...
A good friend of mine is completing her first album project. I am so, so proud of her.
So, so proud.
I am too restless to sleep. Too groggy to get up and do something.
Listening to hysterical British women in a BBC drama.
There was a battle at a mill!
And an envoy with a note at the door...
A good friend of mine is completing her first album project. I am so, so proud of her.
So, so proud.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
FAWM. Day 23. Unhemmed.
Somehow, I am at work.
This time yesterday I was not expecting to be here.
I am sleep deprived. It's way past lunch time and I am nothing like hungry; it's weird when I don't want to eat food.
Last night I called in to the radio show and spoke with Errol. There are people like warm summer breezes, and then there's Errol. It's amazing to me that I've never *actually* met him.
Listened to my FAWM 08 stuff. 2008 was a great year, a fun year. I wrote some of my favorite FAWM songs ever that year, even though I barely knew how to use my equipment. Other songs I had no memory of writing or recording, some of that stuff came off surprisingly well.
Talked to a friend yesterday for the first time in *ages*. Did me good.
I think I'm finally ready to get out of the strange little boat I've been in, on the choppy seas of Trying To Figure Out People and Things That Don't Want To Be Figured Out. Got shit to do. Those who want to be around, will be around. And those who don't want to be around can Fuck. Right. Off.
I got a wonderful note from a major-writer-author-woman. A Badass. I wrote her so long ago I had forgotten about it. Among other things, she said to me:
Yes.
Thank you.
Message received.
Maybe some collabs in these last few days?
Right now I'm feeling that FAWM is a lovely gift from the universe.
This time yesterday I was not expecting to be here.
I am sleep deprived. It's way past lunch time and I am nothing like hungry; it's weird when I don't want to eat food.
Last night I called in to the radio show and spoke with Errol. There are people like warm summer breezes, and then there's Errol. It's amazing to me that I've never *actually* met him.
Listened to my FAWM 08 stuff. 2008 was a great year, a fun year. I wrote some of my favorite FAWM songs ever that year, even though I barely knew how to use my equipment. Other songs I had no memory of writing or recording, some of that stuff came off surprisingly well.
Talked to a friend yesterday for the first time in *ages*. Did me good.
I think I'm finally ready to get out of the strange little boat I've been in, on the choppy seas of Trying To Figure Out People and Things That Don't Want To Be Figured Out. Got shit to do. Those who want to be around, will be around. And those who don't want to be around can Fuck. Right. Off.
I got a wonderful note from a major-writer-author-woman. A Badass. I wrote her so long ago I had forgotten about it. Among other things, she said to me:
Think big, and don't let the world hem you in. If you can make it work, then it will work!
Yes.
Thank you.
Message received.
Maybe some collabs in these last few days?
Right now I'm feeling that FAWM is a lovely gift from the universe.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
FAWM. Day 22. All Nighter.
I pulled my first allnighter last night for FAWM. Track #7 took way longer than I wanted or expected it to. I blame Drums on Demand. I found the perfect group of samples and then used, like, ten of them, wanting the tension to build all the way through. I even played fake bass. There are definitely some wrong notes in there.
But when you have drums, bass feels good.
It's still a weird time. I will, at intervals, make a decision to snap out of it, but bad news keeps *finding* me, in the most unexpected places.
Finished the track around 7am, but couldn't sleep in this morning. Had to go to the city and fill out a timesheet for work. I sat in a cafe and had lunch. Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" played over the loudspeaker and I wept into a tuna sandwich.
Fuck, I love music.
And, Holy Shit, February's almost over!
Better put some speed on. I WILL get to fourteen.
But when you have drums, bass feels good.
It's still a weird time. I will, at intervals, make a decision to snap out of it, but bad news keeps *finding* me, in the most unexpected places.
Finished the track around 7am, but couldn't sleep in this morning. Had to go to the city and fill out a timesheet for work. I sat in a cafe and had lunch. Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" played over the loudspeaker and I wept into a tuna sandwich.
Fuck, I love music.
And, Holy Shit, February's almost over!
Better put some speed on. I WILL get to fourteen.
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