Posted on January 2nd, 2010%
As is usual, I find myself sitting in front of a computer in the late evening. This evening is, of course, different than most. It is January 1, 2010, the first day of a new year, and the first day of a new decade. (In reality it is January 2, 2010, because it’s after midnight, but in my world the day doesn’t change until I go to sleep, which is often well after midnight.)
With an empty beer bottle in front of me, I find myself thinking back on the year that ended, and the highlights and lowlights it brought me…
Not changing jobs in the course of a calendar year for the first time since 2004. It’s hard to believe to most people, but it is true: 2009 was the first time in the past five years that I didn’t change jobs during the calendar year. As of today, I have been employed by the same . . .
→ Read More: 2009: A personal retrospective
Posted on December 10th, 2009%
This is the third in a series of posts about my past life as an amateur musician. Other posts include A brief history of an amateur musician, Part I: The Early Years, and A brief history of an amateur musician, Part II: The Hardcore Years and Kulturkampf.
Both during and after my time with the hardcore punk band Kulturkampf, I spent a fair amount of time writing music. In the beginning, both the lyrics and music were woefully amateurish. However, I was maturing quickly as a musician, studying classical guitar under Ed Brown, and maturing quickly as a young adult; as a result, the music I wrote quickly improved.
The Home Recordings
As is common with me, most of the songs I wrote were never completed. What few I did finish writing, I recorded in my makeshift home studio, playing guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards; scripting simple drum tracks (on an Alesis HR-16 drum machine); and recording it . . .
→ Read More: A brief history of an amateur musician, Part III: Assorted Recordings and Dirt Man’s King
Posted on December 9th, 2009%
From Productivity501.com:
Personally, I am not interested in working more. I am very interested in accomplishing more. Trying to accomplish more just by working more is the brute force “assembly line” method. It doesn’t scale. Eventually, you will reach a point where you can’t do any more without having harmful side effects.
Honorable mention to Mark Shead’s comment on that statement:
There are a lot of things in business (and government) that could be simplified if people would simply ask “what would happen if we just stopped doing this?”
Thinking of that, I wonder what would happen if I just stopped writing on my blog? Hmm…
. . .
→ Read More: Quote: Work less, accomplish more
Posted on November 25th, 2009%
Being the father of a 4-year old has reminded me of the difficulty we all have with the concept of waiting. It’s hard enough for adults; it’s nearly impossible for kids.
In their defense, kids have the deck stacked against them. Patience is learned; some kids take a long time to learn it, and some never do. Kids have a poor concept of time, and of time differences. Worst of all, kids often seek instant gratification, the yang to waiting’s yin.
The actions of kids, and the language of their parents, has come to reflect the difficulty of waiting. Consider the following quotes, which every parent can relate to:
“Can you wait until you get home before opening that?”
“Please wait for your sister to finish before leaving the table.”
“Wait ’till your father gets home…“
As adults, waiting doesn’t get easier. We spend an incredible amount of time waiting. We wait for doctors, traffic signals, and commercials to . . .
→ Read More: The waiting is the hardest part
Posted on October 27th, 2009%
This is the second in a series of posts about my past life as an amateur musician. Other posts include A brief history of an amateur musician, Part I: The Early Years, and A brief history of an amateur musician, Part III: Assorted Recordings and Dirt Man’s King.
The musical experiment that was Overnight Delivery would survive no longer than two rehearsal sessions. From its shattered dreams would arise a new band: Kültürkampf(footnote 1).
The driving force behind Kulturkampf was the same two behind Overnight Delivery: drummer Scott (“Scotty Stapes”) and bassist Vito (“Vito Smegma”). I tagged along on guitar (“Brian Kampf”), having nothing much else to do with my time. John was replaced on vocals with Mike (“Mike Edge”), a decent musician in his own right who had a coarse singing style that fit our music well.
Kulturkampf gained quite a following of fans who . . .
→ Read More: A brief history of an amateur musician, Part II: The Hardcore Years and Kulturkampf
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