November 2007
Saturday, Nov 24
The Thanksgiving holiday came and went. Personal concerns are overshadowing gratitude. Large props to my sister for hosting and cooking.
I'm currently working on two music pieces, and I like them - a rare occasion. Piano will be prominent, thereby demanding the wonders of modern technology: digital audio samples as opposed to wood and wire, much repetition, repeated recording passes, some editing. At this time, I'm working out arrangements.
I've started a Pro Tools project folder called "Drum Loop Factory", wherein I'm building my own drum and percussion loops. It is a source to use in conjunction with the latest development in Pro Tools software, Elastic Time. Rather than attempting to explain it here, this series of short videos (scroll down a bit) is far more entertaining and explanatory. Trust me - it's damned cool.
I've recently been advocating the Richland Creek greenway, taking people on walks who have never been there. You can read about Nashville's greenway system here, but the actual maps are either a Mapquest link or a downloadable PDF file - booooo, hisssss. I guess that's good for people who want to print them out and be able to check their bearings every three minutes. Just tell me how to get there, and I'll discover the thing for myself.
The R.C. path is an excellent example of civic money well-spent, on something that anyone can enjoy. It traverses the Richland Creek watershed, and parts of land that lie between long-standing development and have never been built upon. In some city planning circles, these are referred to as "linear parks." If you've lived in Nashville for a long time (or not) and are curious about the area, I highly recommend it.
When looking in the mirror, I now notice two distinct indented lines on either side of my forehead, as though my skull is slowly separating. I wake up every day feeling hungover, although I haven't had any alcohol in three months.
Tuesday, Nov 6
As most cities in the United States just went off of Daylight Saving Time, and it's November in the Central Time Zone, it now gets dark around five o'clock. This has begun to depress the living hell out of me, more and more each year. Probably when (if) I get to a much happier place in life, it will give me positive feelings, relative to the change of season. As it is, it only serves to remind me of every negative aspect of the not-warm months.
It's been dark for about thirty-five minutes now, and it feels like it's about eight o'clock. But it's only five-thirty. Just a few short weeks ago at this time, the sun was high and the weather was warm, and the day was long. Now it''s cold and dark, and will be for many, many hours.
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