Finally! Recording is easy like when I had an analog 4-track.

I just bought a PreSonus Firebox. It's a little interface that feels pretty solid and does what it's supposed to do.

I haven’t had good luck with recording equipment in the past few years. My Fostex MR16 glitched out four months after I got it from musicians friend, Andrea’s interface (Tascam US-122) glitched out as well, a few years after she got it. I fought with both units for a while hoping to work through the glitches and finally caved a week ago. The Firebox works. Yay! I’m using the garageband that came with my mac 4 or 5 years ago. I’m recording the acoustic in the den near the snail bowl and I think I’ll do the vocals in the hallway.

Some of the basic tracks I recorded out in Petrolia came out good and will probably make the cut. A bunch of great artists have already agreed to work on this project. I’m so psyched.

I’ve been working on the first track for the past week. Most of the material on this release is new but the first track is two years old. This morning it gelled. My arm muscles are actually slightly sore. It can really be a challenge playing some things exactly the way I want them. I think this one will happen by Sunday.

We changed Amaryllis' name to Neil because she's like Neil from 'The Young Ones'. See?




This guy is in his mid to late teens or something and he makes great pop music.

Halloween 2009

This was Andrea's idea.  I quit my job three months ago and my last day was Friday.  I was a coordinator/ supervisor for an independent living program for five years.  It came with lots of responsibility, a sense of purpose and belonging, a nice paycheck and benefits.  I needed to pursue my music career so I let it go.  Anyhow, Andrea came up with this great idea.  I certainly didn't have time to prepare anything!

This guy (Matthew was his name) was awesome.  Jumped right in there, we didn't know him, he was just willing and cool.

Isn't she pretty...

Andrea rescued a Red Eared Slider from a local school.  It had been in a small fish tank with no basking lamp or place to dry off for two years.  We hooked it up with a nice habitat and I stared at it a lot for two weeks.  It’s alarming when she devours helpless goldfish.  The set up looks like it was easy to create but it was tricky.  She's actually too big for THIS tank but she's a lot happier.

By the time I was done obsessing over T-Rex, Dean Haakenson and his band visited for a few days.  This is Dean with his band, Be Brave Bold Robot.  Just kidding, that's Dean and a mural.

They just keep getting better.  Carly, Katie, Tommy and Tony are real people.  They're probably not part of a mural anywhere and they're fun to hang out with at breakfast.

Here's a fun game that you've probably played before: everyone writes down a well known name on a small piece of paper and hands it to someone else.  Everyone sticks their piece of paper, which they haven't looked at, on their forehead.  Everyone randomly asks yes or no questions and attempts to figure out what is written on their head before the food gets to the table.  I forgot to mention, you play this while waiting for your breakfast at a restaurant.  It isn't essential to the game but it passes the time nicely.