Works for me.

It's been a week to scream about.   (and to write a blog about, since I've not done so in six months.)

I have many reasons to celebrate. I got my hard drive to work last night and boot Windows, so I no longer have to worry that I've lost all of my hard drive data.

I got photos from my Bearapalooza set at Sawmill Campground. They're brilliant and in my MySpace photo album. Thanks a million, Jay.

I got to have lunch today with my old boss, Anne, who is visiting from Montréal.

After five years of enduring various coworkers bringing their babies to the office to coo over, someone finally brought in their puppy!! :-))

And, to put it mildly, I am pleased with this week's election results. Some are not, like a dear friend of mine from back home:
 

> Well, election time is over...better start packing up and
> heading for high ground because we are screwed now.
 

Aw, sweetie, that's a hell of an attitude. But I, for one, will not step up to help you pack your bags.

It is my firm belief at this time, from the bottom of my heart, that the mandate set forth yesterday will work to the benefit of all, including those who did not vote for Barack Obama. This is not because I or anyone else thinks Mr. Obama is a savior for the masses, and has nothing to do with taxes or money.

It is because, unlike our sitting president (and I mean that literally), Mr. Obama can foster an attitude of cooperation and responsibility among all people, not only those who voted for him. All are welcome to participate in the change for better, and those who do not are free to be dormant and stationary by their own choosing.

An example set forth by one of my favorite books, Conversations With God (paraphrasing in my own words): The lesson of Jesus was not the miracles he performed, but what goodness he has inspired others to perform. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father” (John 14). The lesson of Hitler was not the he caused great suffering, but that he mobilized millions of his fellow countrymen to enact his cause. Hitler is the face we put on the Nazi movement and Holocaust, but it could not have been carried out without the millions who really thought they were doing the right thing for their country at the time.

People are so quickly willing to give all the credit/blame to one person, without ever believing in their own power to create/destroy.

To paraphrase another of my favorite authors, Caroline Myss: most people think that the power of love is the most powerful force on earth, and it is not. It is the power of choice that is the most powerful. It is choice that dictates how you love, or choose not to love. To choose how to act, or not to act.

Choice is what yesterday was all about in our country, and is the how and why this country was founded two hundred thirty-two years ago.

As for the divisiveness of the last eight years, I present the following, excerpts written in 2006, and choose not to credit the author here, as it would be a distraction from the message, which is far more important than the author.

Dear Conservatives and Republicans,

I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:


We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.

We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it with you.

When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.

Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.

When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.

We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.

We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.


So, in light of my friend's comment about being screwed now: are we really, or are you just going to screw yourself?


I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

John McCain
November 4, 2008
 

Last night , I started the daunting task of beginning to mix the songs I've recorded over the last few months.  Daunting, because I have to put it all down again and get ready for vacation, and 1½ weeks away from the project.  But at least I can say, "I've started, I've started!"  

For anyone who ever wants to work with audio and has little or no experience, I highly recommend HowAudio.com and Home Recording Connection for a few pointers and places to start.  Thankfully, I started two years ago, so I'm almost to the level of amateur now. 

Vacation for me tends to mean going back to where I grew up:  Orlando.  It's the last place my dad was stationed in the US Navy before he retired, and decided it was a good place to settle down.  That was 1984, and Orlando was an abundantly different place then.  

Google Maps, in the satellite view, has been an amazing place for spotting out the places where I grew up.  Considering that I grew up on three or four different Navy bases, they're places that I can no longer visit because either 1) I cannot access government property, or 2) the bases have been closed/rebuilt into civilian areas.  It used to be quite an oddity for me to relate to other people who've had "friends that they'd known since kindergarden."  I couldn't imagine such a thing.  I count (first time I ever tried...) eight schools attended from K-12.  

However, no sweat.  No scars.  I even had the pleasure of knowing that someone I was friends with for all of one school year in the 70's thought enough of me to write to me through Classmates.  Nice!

Enough about memory lane, have to get back to forging the forward path.

Cheers!

Here's something funny... to me... but isn't that who this entry is for anyway?

Of course, at this point in my journey, I couldn't care less who KNOWS that I'm a gay man.  I'm sometimes even shocked when I find out that someone I've known for years doesn't know.   In this case, by "know", I really mean "work with."  

There's not a particular issue with anyone, I do enjoy where I work and the people with whom I do.  But it's sometimes a curiosity to me who knows and who doesn't, on the basis of what they make of it all.  I'm a quiet but pleasent worker, it seems that I'm well liked (my team quietly refers to me as "The Chosen One.")  But the atmosphere outside of my team can sometimes be conservative; not in the realm of politics, but in the sense that everyone has a degree; everyone has either a wife and 2.5 kids, or a knock-out girlfriend; everyone has a condo downtown or a 3000 ft² house; everyone vacations in Greece or Portugal or BVI.

In this climate, I can't fathom what the reaction would be if/when they saw the teaser clip for my upcoming song, "Ode To A Fine Ass Man"  (if you've seen it before, worry not, it hasn't changed.)  I've certainly not advertised it around the office, but it's not hidden from anyone with the desire to seek it out.  

What just amuses me to no end is that if anyone did find it, watched it, and was appalled to the point of changing their perception of what they think of me, they'd never come tell me.  I might hear about it second-hand, but they'd never have the nads to look me in the eye and say, "That's just wrong!"  And that truly delights me, because it's power that I didn't even ask for.  People just give it away!  Isn't that something?  I'm tickled pink!

....pink.

 

It's funny to me how you... I.. forget things so easily.   We're expecting tonight about two inches of snow:  the first of the season.  I'm feeling an odd trepidation, as if maybe I've somehow forgotten how to drive, or see or breathe in the stuff... this being my eleventh winter in the Midwest.  

I have a similar irrational and uncatagorized fear about revisiting Los Angeles, as my third trip there approaches (in +/- 90 days).  

And really, what's not to fear?

 OK, so after yesterday's post, I admit it:  I'm a big rock and roll geek.  I get verclempt listening to bootlegs of shows I've been to, and some that I haven't.  I've paid brokers to the point of earning their titles to see KISS again and again, flown cross-country to see a once-in-a-lifetime show (more than once), done extensive internet searches to find "thee perfect shot" of a stage set or lighting truss configuration, researched to find the proper name for a "kabuki curtain drop."  

I don't see my enthusiasm as being any different than someone who holds season tickets for a particular football team, or who flies to a far-off city to attend the Superbowl, or an Oprah taping.  I chuckle to myself when someone is amused (or even put off) by my enthusiasm for music, but then shows the same devotion to a football team, brand of automobile, or (dear god!) a computer operating system!

 So, to each their own.  What's my point?  Trying to make good use of LJ.  

I enjoy researching the concert and entertainment technology, as I like to ponder, "If I was putting on a show, what would I do, and how could it be done?"   I play guitar, but I feel much more an entertainer than a musician (so, of course, I can't  wait to play my first show!  ahhh.. the happy amateur!).  A rock icon of mine likes to say, "people listen with their eyes."  Indeed, and why not?  If not, you could just as well sit in your favorite chair and listen to CD's (so sayeth said icon.)

That being said, Dwight Yoakam is my favorite country singer, and he's not terribly animated on stage, so I just turn gaze to Pete Anderson (at which point it rarely turns back.)

I'm joining this service to better keep in touch with a few people. 

krikenekt is my bud, treat him well!  

Earlier I viewed the promotional video posted on IronMaiden.com for the upcoming DVD, "Live After Death."  I'm quite excited, that's a great show.  The solo in "Powerslave" just about makes me run off the road it's so fluid and fun, and I've nearly worn out my grainy VHS copy that was taped from television twenty years ago.  The extras look great too, including their appearance at 1985 Rock In Rio (those yellow leather pants make me sweat....) 

... and it's all in anticipation for the "Somewhere Back In Time '08" tour, for which I cannot wait, but will have to.  The thought of getting to hear "Powerslave" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" live makes me verclempt.  I will, however, miss "Fear of the Dark", but I did get to hear that on the previous tour when they passed through Chicago.  So glad I found other musical outlets since KISS is now, for all practical purposes, musically inert. 

For those who've asked, "When I do I get to hear something from your recording sessions?" I say, "When it's finished!"  Sure, maybe I'll find a teaser here or there.  In the meantime, look for it in early 2008.

Cheers!