Last Transmission from the 10

I doubt very much that I will blog again from 2010. It's been a fine transitory year, but other than the "fine" part I could call any year transitory. I will take a look back at my new years predictions next week and report how I did. Reporting live from the 30th of December though I can say that I'm pleased with my personal progress. I can say with certainty that I am a better person than when I started the year, I have had experiences and I have incorporated them into myself in a worth while manner.

It wasn't always easy, it wasn't always fair...

I get down on myself for not getting done with everything I want to get done, and it's really silly to do that, but I can't help myself at times. Trying to balance happiness with accomplishment is a trick indeed. Enough about that, lets talk about Yuletide in Kansas.

Last Wednesday evening I rushed home from work at 5pm and started doing laundry and helping Angie clean. We wanted to leave a clean place for our bunny sitters to relax in. In addition to Devin and Dylan our old roommate Adrienne stayed at our place and looked after our pets, this was very sweet of them. We returned to super happy, sane and relaxed pets. The absence of mommy Angie can be tough on them but this time our sitters really came through.

We finished the grueling job of packing and cleaning just after 10pm and loaded up my truck to drive to Devin and Dylan's. Since D&D live close to the airport and inside the city of West Hollywood we planned to sleep there and then take a flat rate taxi to the airport. Instead, and once again Proving that having a brother is worth all the trouble Devin offered to wake up at 4:30 am and drive us.
We watched the always sunny in philly xmas special with the boys before going to bed a bit on the late side. After some banging around from our hosts the house fell silent just after 1am. I feared I would not sleep before the flight. My alarm bleated me awake with enough force to let me know that I had slept.
While making coffee in the kitchen to rouse Angela I was shocked to see Devin walk in. Devin has never been one to wake up with out a fight, and he is much less inclined to do so at 4:30 am. Amazingly though he came through.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:55 and we got to the airport at just after 5am. As everyone I know does when leaving LAX before the rooster makes a peep we had breakfast at the airport McDonalds, some how it feels less sinful to eat that crap before a flight. We boarded our plane to find that there were no two open seats together, it would be a long companion-less flight. Once the plain achieved flight i felt the pull of sleep. I dozed off and on for the entire trip, waking up just in time to read a bit before decent. I was trying to read Ulysses, it really wasn't working.
As the plane taxied towards the terminal I texted everyone to let them know we had arrived.
We were nearly the last people out of the plane by the time we deboarded. Mom and dad met us with warm hugs and big smiles. Dad had been at the airport waiting so long that he'd even grown a beard.

Travelling back to Mom and Dad's house in Olathe, I kept trying to read Angies face to see what she thought of my beloved Kansas, her face didn't tell me much.
When we reached mom and dad's house I rushed in too hug my sister and say hello to my Dog/Brother Royal. Adrienne's dog Maddie came right up to me and gave me a sniff. I had never met Maddie, so seeing her black little face was a nice feeling.

Adrienne had been cooking while mom and dad went to retrieve us. we sat down to a beautiful meas of Butternut Squash Ravioli and Wine. An excellent meal to start our visit. After lunch we unpacked in what would be our bedroom for the extent of the visit and then sat down in the family room to relax.

My friend Jason called to let me know that they would be changing their plans due to the impending weather and would be leaving sooner than they had thought. I really wanted to see Jason on this visit so I convinced Angela and Adrienne to come with me to Jason and Ginger's house.

We had a short but nice visit with Jason and Ginger and their cats. Bee bop being the star of the show.

Jason and Ginger needed to get on the Road so we left them and went to a liquor store, which happened to be next door to a thrift store I used to shop at when I lived in KC. Angie loves a thrift store more than anyone so we decided to pop in. Not much had changed since I had last shopped there 8 years ago, in fact I think I recognized some of the shirts.
While Angie shopped Adrienne and I went to buy Sparks from the store next door. The two clerks were certainly strange and most likely drunk.
Angie bought a little sweater and we headed over to my sisters new house, another things that I had yet to see.

I was so proud of my little sister when we pulled into her Driveway. She's certainly grown up, being the first of us tree kids to have the type of life that allows her to own her own home. Her neighborhood is adorable and her house fits right in. We drank our sparks and waited for mom and dad to join us. I was glad to see that the classical guitar which I had given Adrienne long ago sat proudly in the living room with a pick. Adrienne has been learning to play and she sounds like she has what it takes to be rather good.

Mom and dad arrived just as my sparks was waking me up and blurring the edges. We were treated to a drive around Kansas City, to look at lights and other sites but the day of travel and lack of sleep rapidly got a hold of both Angie and myself.
We stopped at a new place called smashburger on the way home and got food to go back to mom and dads.

Shortly after we returned home people started to go to bed. I was the last to lay down, sometime after midnight, and honey dipped sleep came over me for the next 10 hours.

Dad cooked breakfast for us this morning. His famous Spicy Elmo sandwiches were this time converted to wraps with sausage. They were wonderful, dad has his recipe down.

After breakfast Angela and I got a nice treat, Snow~! There was no accumulation but some nice big flakes did fall. We went out front to take pictures and play until we got cold, that took about 5 minutes.


Being that it was yuletide eve I knew that I needed to get out and purchase the gift I wanted to get mom and dad. They don't need much, but I know that they don't spend money on going out to dinner without a bit of a push so Adrienne drove us to a nice place to buy them a gift certificate. We chose a place called "Bonefish" which Adrienne said they had been to once and really enjoyed.
Next we went to a Costco since Angela needed to get new glasses before the end of the year. We had searched all over LA to find frames she would like to no avail. This time we lucked out and she bought a really cute pair.

When we returned home mom had snacks set out and all of us dug in. After the snacks we played some mario cart on the wii and worked up a new apatite for yuletide eve dinner.

The Strecker family traditional yuletide eve meal is Oyster Stew, it dates back to before my Grandpa even I believe. Somehow, despite how gross they could have seemed to us children we have always loved Oyster Stew. This year dad really perked up the recipe and it was enjoyed by all. Angela doesn't care for the oysters but she loved the broth. Adrienne and I were kind enough to take the oysters from her.

After the meal I retired to the back patio to smoke a cigar with my dad. As always we had a nice conversation. It's never too cold outside to smoke with dad and hear what everyone in the family is up to.

After dinner we played a bit more mario cart, this time mom and dad joined in the tournament. Dad must have been practicing because he some how beat everyone.

When we grew tired of mario cart dad flicked on the DVR to play a program he had recorded. It was a biography of Warren Buffet which dad had wanted to watch with me. Dad knows that he and I share a deep admiration for the Oracle of Omaha. We all watched the program and enjoyed it. Angie was very impressed with Warren which made me quite happy for some reason.

Shortly after the program people began to drop off to their respective beds. Angie and Adrienne and I stayed up last watching a horrid movie who's name I can't remember. Soon we were all in bed.

Yuletide morning came and presents were passed out. I was told I had ot open mine in a particular order. The first present I opened nearly made me faint. Angela had gone in with my parents to get me an Ipad. I must admit that when it comes to new technology I am in love with material things, and this material thing took the taco. I really did not expect to receive such a gift, and It has yet to be more than 15 feet away from me since I received it. For my part I had showered Angela with clothing and accessories from an online wishlist she had created. There were many more gifts given and much love spread around.

After the gift giving we had breakfast, adreinne had prepared it, and it was good, but sadly I don't recall the name of it.

After the meal people went their separate ways to enjoy their new gifts. I played some Wii with dad and then initialized the Ipad.

We lazed around throughout the day and then had a gourmet meal prepared by Adrienne, Dad and Mom. It was the same meal we had in 2008, and it was even better this time. The best part was a gravy Adrienne prepared with Wine and Whiskey and other fun stuffs.

We lingered at the table and had many bottles of wine. We talked of yuletide past and future. When dad and I stepped out to smoke Angela joined us, though she grew cold faster than we did.

We played a game of cranium next, parents vs. kids. We kids did win. There is a section in Cranium where you have to hum or whistle a melody and get your team mates to guess it. We enjoyed that section so much that on the spot we adapted it into it's own game. Surprisingly Dad and I were the last two still in the game and I narrowly squeezed him out, losing to dad at a game that requires musical skill would have been too much to handle.

It was out last night in town and so Adrienne and Angie and I gave our best effort to get drunk. Sadly it was not in the cards. Drinking for too long in the day can do that. Eventually we all gave up and laid down to sleep for Angie and I's last night.

I woke up as early as I could the next day and played with the Ipad while having coffee. When Angie woke up she was kind enough to pack for us.

We loaded up around 11:30 and drove to houlihan's to have one last meal. It was good food but already I found myself a bit blue to be leaving my family so soon.

Mom and dad dropped us off at the airport and Angie and I sat down to wait for the plane. As we boarded the plane I found myself a but bluer than usual. This was perhaps the hardest it has ever been for me to leave my family.

I'm not back at my work desk, about to put this year of work to bed.

I'll see you next year.

Homeward bound

Such a short visit to kansas. Our plane pictured behind us is ready to take us home.

Days of rain

Work is almost done. Time to pack and get frantic. Tonight we will sleep at devin and dylans and then devin will drive us to the airport super early. Kansas awaits.
This rain has been impressive.

The street by my work is now a river!

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Dead Ringer

Dead man Rambling (sample plate) by S no S

Go ahead and click play on the clip while you read along. It sounds a little muffled and you can tell it was recorded on a tape. This is an exerpt from a half hour of guitar driven ambient experimentation that I made when I was 19. It's loose and ruff and pretty silly, but I had fun with making it, then I had more fun getting stoned and listening to it in the dark. I had the tape for years and used to listen to it more than it deserved but I've always liked strange noises. I found it a while back and wanted to digitize it so I did.

I've been pretty busy. We had an acoustic holiday show for Devin Tait and the Traitors, I enjoyed that. There will be some media on the web from that soon I would imagine.
Okay fine... have one now.
Paper Sea(Live @ Cafe Muse) by S no S

So there it is, the very first time I have ever played an S no S live in an official capacity. I fucked up a bit and the recording quality is not perfect, but I really had fun doing it. My brother Devin has always been a fan of this song and he forced me to do it live as a part of his show. I can't thank him enough for that. Also to Elene for playing the piano and Angie for all the support. It was momentous.

I've been running a fair amount this month. I'm always happier when I do that.

This time next week I will be in Kansas City. How wonderful that will be.

Work is pretty crazy for me lately. I'm busier than I would like to be and it's stressful.

I like sitting in the hot tub in the evenings during the "winter". It's funny how it's too cold for most people that live in our apartment complex to consider doing that.

Anyway, enjoy the songs and I'll try and blog more. I've been sort of quiet lately internally. I have not felt much like writing about myself, even though there have been things that have happened that I will want to remember. Perhaps I'll fill in some gaps next week.

oh, here are the lyrics to paper sea.

crazy in the dark, at a loss about a name, finishing the start of the friendlier remains, and I wonder for your thoughts, about the peace i had in mind, paying for the winter dreams, hiding from sunshine

I'd rather be floating in a warm paper sea, spreading rumors of trouble in the land of make believe
than lying to the tv, on a disconnected phone, a formula for living, while never leaving home

Stubborn forcing reason and plastic set in glass, waiting for the future but hoping it's the past, hoping that the light blinks or maybe a change in tone, looking for a new view through the things you own

I'd rather be floating in a warm paper sea, spreading rumors of trouble in a land of make believe, than lying to the tv, on a disconnected phone, a formula for living, while never leaving home.

hoo hooo hoo ooo
hoo hooo hoo ooo

Silly worth protecting, cranky comes of age, born again construction, buried treasure in the grave,
set your watch and time sinks while bigger grows the hole, measuring the reasons with a bandage on your soul

I'd rather be floating in a warm paper sea, spreading rumors of trouble in a land of make believe, than lying to the tv, on a disconnected phone, a formula for living, while never leaving home.

hoo hooo hoo ooo
hoo hooo hoo ooo

Ronnie at the red lion.

This is Ronnie's last night in town. He was kind enough to take Angela and I out to dinner to celebrate. We went to the Red Lion in Silver Lake and had a grand time. It's fun to go to a German place with Ronnie, it's like a second home for him. We had a nice dinner, I made Ronnie tell a lot of his stories to Angie which is always fun for me. After dinner we went back to our place and had a bit of a party. Devin and Dylan came over and we all soaked in the hot tub.

At 5am I woke up to see Ronnie off. It was wonderful having him out in Malibu with the Seamonster. Much work was done and much fun was had.

I have more and better pictures from the last night I should share soon.

When a job gets frustrating

Since I began work at 16 I've always had days at work that I were awful. I have always hated working in a pretty big way. I see it's value, but some days the value seems to be hiding and the bullshit is all that makes itself known. On those days I've always had a little place where I could go to shut off for a second and get away from it. Here is a brief list of those places over the years.

1. Dillon's Grocery store in Hays, KS - I used to go in the employee bathroom in the back room and turn off all the lights. There were no windows there so I would then shut my eyes and pretend I was floating in space. That was fun. There was also a small 4 inch square window in the loading dock door where I would peak out. I would look at a far off grove of trees and pretend to be pick nicking there.

2. Ralph's Grocery Store in Chattsworth, CA - I would sit on a bench in the parking lot and stare at a hotel across the street. I would pretend it was years in the future and I had come back to rent a room in the hotel and that from the hotel I would stare at the bench where I was sitting and that my future self would realize that it had all worked out okay. I still need to go rent that stupid room and keep that promise to myself.

3. Good Sam Center for the old people in Olathe, KS - I would walk to a door at the end of one of the units and stare outside at nothing in particular and just try to remember that I was getting older every moment and if I were lucky one day I'd be stressing out an activities assistant.

4. The picture above. I stare at the grove of trees and picture sitting in a hammock thinking about nothing. It's nice.

The placing of the final touch

Peacock treetop

So my new blogging method, of snapping a picture and commenting on it could be an evolution in my personal journalism. I notice that some times it's easier to speak in pictures, but later the words do come. There will never be a set method, but I like to think about the act on occasion. I decided that before the end of the year I will again undertake the task of re-reading my entire blog. Perhaps I will come to a startling revelation of the self. Perhaps I will just bore me.

Ruby slipper

Peacock so crazy

When I couldn't sleep as a child I used to go and lay on the couch in the living room when our tree was up. I would turn on the lights and feel fuzzy.

Dolly decorations

I had no idea but Ms. Dolly Dagger had a pretty impressive collection of Yuletide decorations. I guess I don't look in cabinets very often. I always find it nice when single people living alone will get a tree and decorate it, as Dolly would do nearly every year. Now I get to reap the benefits of her collections.

Freddy yuletide tree!

Here is our naked tree. He shivers here because he has no lights to keep him warm.

Freddy comes home.

This is my year to be more of a holiday grown up, which really just makes you a child. Still as I stated in a previous post I'm giving tradition a chance, even if the traditions are kind of stupid. I had a recurring argument with an ex that went something like this:

it would say: "How can you not hate christmas?"
I would say: "Because it's the one day a year that everyone I know is off work."

I see value though where I didn't before, but I know that it comes at a cost. I suppose someone could dig me up a fascinating read on Yuletide tree farms and how horrid the industry is. Still though I like anything that breaks from the day to day and having a big blinking purple tree in your house feels pretty different.

So here is the tree, Freddy, on top of my truck in our apartment garage. First tree I've ever bought in my life.

Get better creature

An artist we recently worked with on the Alien Nation video was sick on his birthday so I sent him this little creature as a get well message. Seems everyone I know has just been sick, is currently sick or just plain asking for it.

I was laid out most of the weekend and the first two days of this week. I'm feeling slothy, I need to run.

IMG00072-20101128-1904.jpg

Hollywood xmas parade

Christmas parade

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Part 2

Ronnie electronic

Dylan plant

Frankie finished.

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Kitchen lady.

Thanks people.

Desert line.

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Frank

Franklin

Death hag

Hard to believe.

So here we go about to embark on the adventure of making a thanks giving meal. It's sort of stupid, what the tradition has evolved into and where it came from but ultimately I'd rather have stupid tradition than none at all. So gander at my horn of plenty above and consider that this is the first time Angela and I have ever attempted to host a thanksgiving meal. And that we will have out of town family present to boot. I'm nervous to try and cook the turkey but everyone assures me it's easier than it seems.
Today at work Craig gave me a pecan pie and ham. Now I have something else I need to learn to cook.

Ronnie guitar

Ronnie sea monster.

Ronnie California

Last weekend kicked off with a big surprise. I had a rehearsal Friday evening with Devin Tait & the Traitors. After which we went to our keyboard player, Elene's place. Saturday Morning I woke up around 9:00 am, my plan was to get Angela on the road to San Diego and then go put in a day of work Craig's house. At 9:15 my phone rang and it the caller ID proclaimed that my front gate wanted to speak with me. Well this is unexpected. I knew my uncle would be ringing me sometime Sunday morning, but this Saturday business was totally unexpected. Let me just put my failed attempt at building suspense to rest, as you already guessed or know, it was in fact Ronnie at the gate. He drove from Kansas to California in about 26 hours. With a 5 hour nap in his car in Kingman Arizona.
I brewed Ronnie a pot of Coffee, since he hadn't had any on the road. I then took Angela to the gas station to check her oil, water and fill up her car for her trip. She can do all these things herself, but we've found that a girl opening her hood in a gas station is like a beacon for creepy.
Angie dropped me off back home on her way out of town and Ronnie and I had breakfast together. It was great to see my friend again, and I was a bit sad that I had to go work. Work was fast and proved to be a very good thing. Craig sent me home after only 2 hours with more cash than I deserved and some of California's finest medical plant products.
Ronnie and I then began a day of adventuring.

Here we are enjoying the old zoo in Griffith Park. I drug Ronnie all around the park and drove him through much of the east side of Los Angeles. I have a feeling my driving was giving him a minor heart attacks here and there but he rode it out like a champ.
Our day of seeing the sites had left us hungry so we stopped off for a burrito. We then went to the store for beer and coffee for the morning.
We returned home and decided to kick our feet up.
We enjoyed our beers, worked on my guitars. I recorded some basic tracks for a new version of a new song, "I'm a mutation". Try as I might I could not get Ronnie to lay down a guitar track. He won't escape me completely though.

Devin was busy with theatre tickets when I called him, but Dylan was free and excited to see Ronnie so he came over. The three of us took a delightful dip in the hot tub and had a good chat. Soon Dylan left and Ronnie and I called it a night.

Sunday morning we woke up around 9:15 and had the coffee we bought the day before. I ventured out and picked up some bagels. I made sure all the pets were cared for and we then made our way out to Malibu. Ronnie followed me on the trip, I was a bit nervous for him, there are 3 freeways on the way to Malibu from my place and they can be harrowing when you drive them everyday, Ronnie did fine though and soon we were at K's place in Malibu looking over the pacific ocean.

K gave Ronnie a tour of the grounds, letting him get acquainted with his new temporary living situation. Soon that was over and we were mixing up concrete and getting to work. We worked away the afternoon and into the evening. IN the end the concrete pour had gone very well and seemed to set up nicely.
Just as we were finishing Devin showed up with food and beer! What a hero. We ate and talked and soon we ventured to the patio with instruments for a jam. It was cool to look around and see everyone playing at once. By default we ended up playing songs I wrote or know. I felt a bit like a dominator, but I'd rather be playing then not so someone has to make that happen. I had a total blast dusting off many of my old tunes. Devin and I even played a few Singe songs, which was a total trip.

Eventually we called it a night and I drove home to see Angela, freshly back from San Diego. We had a few beers and unwound together. And then I began a week of running without my head.

Uncle Rambler

I suppose yesterdays veterans day post comes off a touch disrespectful. I happened to come across the quote yesterday while reading about Iain Banks and I just couldn't resist. It was just too coincidental to pass up posting.

I have varied my morning routine somewhat. Rather than staying in bed until the very last second, popping out of bed and pulling on my clothes, brushing my teeth and washing my face and running out the door 5 minutes after I wake up, I've actually been getting up and having a cup of coffee or two on the couch. It's been nice to have a little time with Angela and the pets before starting my day.

I'm very excited. Uncle Ronnie is loaded up and on the road to California. I've been helping good friend and ultra producer Hoagie "K" rebuild his studio in Malibu. I have only been able to get out to Malibu about once a week since the project began, which simply isn't enough extra help, so my recently retired uncle has made the big step to load up and drive out to assist. He'll be waking up every morning overlooking the pacific ocean for the next three weeks to a month. I'm over the moon.

He should arrive here ready for rest after a long haul sometime Sunday morning.

The Use of Weapons

"In all the human societies we have ever reviewed, in every age and in every state, there has seldom if ever been a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call heroism is just an expression of this fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots." - Iain M. Banks

Happy Veterans Day.

Fresh Flash

Wake up the instigator
Call out the inebriator
it's as good a day as any just to have a while

got my start in axes, blessed be the fascist, that make it all make sense, if only for a while

Stood together cheering, nodding then repairing
I have milk to last for days,
or until it sours

Yummy

Until the end a perspective

I found me interesting today

Occasionally I look back at my blog, to see what I wrote about on this very day some years back. Five years ago on this day I wrote this, and I still like it today:

Dear Friends,
I find myself wanting to write down all the things you've done. I want to copy paste your entire life into multiple formats in the case of fires and floods. I know this is not possible or logical but I'm amazed and feeling alive with all of you, I see other people who don't feel their lives like this, and I don't want to find myself within their ranks.
Are all these memories only possible because we are willing to pay for them with forgetting?
I know that a precious item held close to the heart is a joy to have, but I must keep in mind that if my arms are full of too many precious items I will never have free hands with which to pick new ones up.
I rely on this blog as a means of recording things that are important to me, they don't all fit here, and the most inspiring items can not be expressed in word form. Our minds are big. Friends, lets all remember to listen to each other and to talk to one another, you never know when your going to need know something your friends have already learned.
Thanks

I Have an Extra Set of Arms

I am a firm believer in taking naps. I was talking with a friend last night about how it is basically the equivalent of hitting 'reset' on a piece of electronic gear which has ceased to function normally. When it comes to naps, I am blessed. I can benefit from a very short nap. I can lay down feeling beat for just eight minutes and get up feeling new. The result isn't one hundred percent, but it's in the seventies for certain. And considering I play hard an fast with a night's sleep it's understandable that I would occasionally be so far overdrawn from the sheep bank that I nothing short of death would lead me back to rest.
This isn't what I meant to say about naps at all. I wanted to talk about my extra set of arms. I think naps are great for more than the rest/reset reason. There is something to our sleeping life that is mystical. Yet in the course of a long sleep we go so far that most of it never travels back, least of all the body sensation of how it felt to be there, or when we are deep in it, the sensation of our physical body at rest is forgotten.
At work on my breaks I will lay down on some chairs I have pushed together in the warehouse and set my alarm for 12 minutes. I will then pull my hoodie down over my eyes, but not my nose, as I cannot sleep while I can't breath. I will cross my arms over my chest and shut my eyes. I don't try and fall asleep, I just sink into the dark. Soon my thoughts completely drift and I am on the edge of a dream. What I've noticed lately is that very often my mind comes around to encountering an object, I seldom know or remember what the object is, it's usually something mundane. What I find striking though is that I am physically manipulating the object with my hands, yet at the same time I can feel my arms and hands folded across my chest.
Today when I awoke from my nap I thought to myself, is this how it feels to be an amputee? Obviously not, because rather than a lack of limbs I have an abundance. It is a very powerful feeling to have four arms and I now look forward to the sensation as much as the resting.

Late night dinner.

Malibu sunset.

Goals

I'm going to have a good week. I tell myself this and I'm aware that such notions disolve rapidly sometimes. This time I have it on good authority. Yesterday I did good work at work, which felt nice. Then I went home, had a puff and went for a run. I ran along the LA river, doing interaval sprints. My lungs were burnin, it felt great. It was a clear winter sky laying over top of me, and I had the familiar feeling of this season. A reminder of long walks I once took in Hays, Kansas to watch the sunset in the winter sky.
After the run Angela and I ate a fine meal which she prepared while I ran. We then went to two different home depots in order to find more protective coverings to bunny proof the wires ran here and there about the apartment. We then went to another store and picked up a few more supplies, and took a short drive to check the progress of some crazy fellas halloween display in glendale. He has a lot of work to do, but he was out front working by shop light at 9:30 when we drove by, so I have faith he can get it done.
We returned home and I started moving the furniture around. We've decided to add a desk in the corner of the living room where Angela will work on her projects, while I work at the other desk on mine. I moved the heavy ass television and it's lardo cousin the book shelf. Then it was time to re-wrap many of the wires, while I was at it I decided to splice out a section of the cable. I had doubts about it's continuity, since Bettina had chewed through it rather well.
Finalaly around 11:30 I finished my tasks, this is when I meant to start working on finishing the mix of Devin's song "sleepytown", but I was beat so I just joined Angela in bed and watched a few episodes of "It's Always Sunny".

Tonight I'm headed to Malibu after work to help revamp Seamonster Sounds.

Buddy and I headed to the bank

I'm clearing my phone of pics and dumping them here

I moved from a farm to los angeles

And still when I walk out my apartment door this is what I see 50 feet from my door.

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Heard You Call Me Radio Frequency

Friday Night I Angela and I went with Marc, Devin and Dylan to see the Electric Six. It was such a great show. They are one of my all time favorite bands and nothing is more fun than watching them do their thing. So many of their songs are absolute classics in my personal history that I can't help but feel totally overjoyed to stand ten feet in front of them and bop around. It was a super fun show and a great night had by all.
We slept in a bit the day after the show and then headed over to hang out with Devin and Dylan while Devin worked on his costume for the "Alien Nation" video shoot the next day. We watched some television and chatted. Eventually the boys needed to leave to go see Spencer day and Angela and I headed home early to eat pizza in bed and crash out since we had to wake up really early the next day.

Sunday was a day of magnificent adventure. The alarm went off at 6:30 am and I damn near threw it across the room. Angela was calmer than I, and rose from bed and began to work preparing herself to be filmed. I slept another half hour and then joined her in preparations. We selected outfits, applied some make up and teased our hair, it was then off to Santa Clarita. We left the house a bit after 8 and as soon as I walked out the door I was glad the alarm had allowed me to wake up.



We met the video director, Shawn at a Starbucks in Santa Clarita and then headed out to Vasquez Rocks to shoot our scenes. We didn't shoot long before a ranger came down and pointed out that perhaps our live music and skimpy outfits might be offensive to some people and that she should perhaps call the sheriff and have a deputy come work it out. We took a quick poll of the people gathered about and it was deemed the only thing offensive was the noise. We agreed to accommodate the other people at the rocks then and moved further out and used a quiet cell phone to sync the performance.
We only shot for about half an hour, and then we climbed the rocks for kicks. It was a very painless video shoot.
After leaving the rocks we took a scenic drive back into Santa Clarita to meet up with our cars and have some lunch. It is so nice to be in a band minus ego, such a rare and wonderful thing. Lunch was fun and laid back, we laughed and enjoyed each others company.
After lunch Devin and Elene left to head back to LA but Angela and I went with Shawn to flea market. We found a wine decanter, socks, a hat, a ring, two tennis rackets and a machines of loving grace album that I've been looking to find for a very long time.

Later in the day we drove back and watched the Social Network at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences theater. I enjoyed it very much.

Back at home we did laundry and paid deep attention to our pets. Angela made a terrific meal and we ate and then slept.

I'm back at work, listening to the score of the Social Network, loving it.

while I blink

Last week went by and there wasn't so much as a blurt and nary a blog. It was a pretty decent week it seems.

The show I blogged about went well last Saturday. I recorded the entire thing and spent sunday mixing it and running a few errands. Devin put on of my recordings to the video and we came up with this.

Monday was spent I presume in some sort of resting capacity. I recall working and getting home from work. I then went for a run. I wanted to go for a run through the Corralitas Red Car Property which I had recently discovered while reading the internet. It's a beautiful patch of nature in the middle of the city and I was suprised that I'd never heard more about it. The run was uneventful but very pretty. On this night I explored the area south of fletcher ave and west of riverside drive.

Tuesday I went to Malibu and worked on the studio rebuild with Hoagie and Ben. We poured concrete in an effort to level one section of the floor. The work went pretty quick and I found myself home faster then I expected to be.

Wedenesday we had a spur of the day invite to join Devin and Dylan at the TV Academy theatre for a viewing of "Let Me In". I was cautious, because I loved the original film and the remake seemed a bit too soon, and shortening the title scared me. It was well done though and I enjoyed it and have no complaints.

Thursday after work I went for another run to go explore some more of the redcar right of way. This time I ran down the LA river again taking a look at where it used to cross the river, and then went north of fletcher up the public stair case to waverly. Fun run!

Friday I stopped off on my way home and got my oil changed. I always feel lighter after performing this task. I then picked up a few supplies and sundries and headed home for a night in with my significant. She made Mahi Mahi tacos and we watched some television.

Saturday I woke up early and went to Craig's house to work. We trimmed trees and raked the yard. Saturday night Angela and I went to the scream awards at the Greek Theatre. We followed it up with a late dinner at the house of pies. It was soo much fun.

Sunday We woke up and worked around the house.

Now I'm back at work.

Demented Disney

Sitting out front of the palms, waiting to set up and then play with Devin Tait & the Traitors. I'm nervous about the set up and a tad buzzed, its one of those emotional combinations that feels like life.
I'm not so nervous about the performance, separate from the sound, I have practiced many times this week and even though the band is only a week old I feel prepared.
I love to play my guitar.

First Rays of the New Rising Sun

Invisible Material - Grown Man Cries from Richard Skrip on Vimeo.

Wednesday night was great. We had a premier party for the new Invisible Material video, which we filmed back in March. The premier was at Fubar, and it was well attended, which felt nice. People seemed to relaly enjoy the video which also felt nice. It was a bit odd to be going to the premier part for a band I'm no longer playing in, but it also felt nice that I could meet my old band mates with a hug and smile and not have any bad feelings. I sometimes feel like an adult, an always surprising sensation.
After the video party was over our friend Myles was spinning at the Plams. It was his electro night, and the playlist was on fucking fire. There were only about 8 people in the bar total, 4 of which I didn't know, and by all accounts one of those lucky people left with my phone. So it goes...
So the absense of my phone made it really inconvienient when I blew a tire on the 5 freeway the next morning, while nursing a hangover. UG.
I handled it, it was a bit stressful. Today is way better. I feel great. I got home last night and Angie had cleaned the entire house top to bottom. We made a short trip to Devin and Dylans for a quick visit then came home, watched some tube and crashed like the dead.
We have a rehearsal tomorrow night for Devin Tait and the Traitors. I'm so excited that we have 2 gigs next week! More on that as it happens.

Back to work.

Keep Blogging Weird.

Thinking My Way Out of Hell

It's 109 degrees outside. I'm sandwiching these words about the weather between 2 pictures of Angela and I which a fellow snapped of us at Mission Bay, on a day and time which was much cooler. One avoids the heat however they can.

Longing

It's been a long week. I keep staying up way to late and my job starts at the same time every day, regardless of how late I stay up. I'm ready for a bit of R& R this weekend, though there is a strong possibility that I'll end up working tomorrow for one of my bosses. I Like physical labor money, even more than I like sleeping.

I've been getting a little harder to be around lately. I'm getting so close to being able to do the things I wish to do musically that I have trouble turning my mind off and paying attention. When I used to get this way, back when I was working on my own music in Kansas City I was single. Now I find myself being less able to pay attention to the people around me because I'm thinking about music a lot. Much of it is not even productive thought, it's just spinning possibilities which I am currently not finding the time to make realities. These things can really do a number on me, there is truth to the analogy that ideas are viruses.

I realized last night that I owed my girlfriend an apology, for not being as present in my life as I desire to be. Writing, recording and performing music takes an incredible amount of time, unfortunately so does my life. Live for me will forever be a delicate balance of work, hedonistic desires and the simple pleasure of stillness. I've never believed in moderation in anything, I want all of everything.

I've learned throughout the years that it is important to streamline my methods for accomplishing anything. I sleep until the last minute possible to still get to work on time. I attempt always to simplify the set up of recording gear, so that I may be playing and recording within minutes of making the decision to do so. It's a strategy for dealing with this problem of limited time.

This battle I'm fighting against the clock is one we all lose in the end. We artists try to leave something behind us, that lays claim to the time we put in by existing as a consumable piece. In this manner what we create takes the time from the people who ultimately end up experiencing, observing or consuming our art.

I've lost my thread, I shall stop with the taking of your time, but I'll return to try another day.

New Project

Monday night Ben and I drove out to Malibu with a load of drywall to meet with Hoagie and discuss plans for his studio build. Seamonster Sounds is going to be stepping up in the world! It's going to be a a very interesting project. Hoagie has already got a lot of the planning and preparation done. I'm super excited to see it evolve. I wish I had thought to take a camera out for some before pics.

Next month Devin will be playing a five song set at the palms and I am going to play with him. Angela is even going to lend some back ups live. I'm excited to get to play again.

The Difference

I've been doing a bit of dieting and it's doing wonders. I've been at it about 13 days now and I'm down about 19 pounds. I had taken a week off running during this process since it's hard to find the energy when I'm restricting my carbohydrate in take. I went for my first run since droping some wieght the other night and my it felt great. At first I thought it was all just because I was lighter, that I was able to run faster, then I realized it also had to do with that I've been eating so much better. Also there is probably an added measure of confidence that comes from feeling slimmer. Whatever the reason it rocks. I was starting to think that I was getting older now and that I'd always feel a bit slugish on a run, not the case this week. A very nice feeling.

I've been working on my reverb nation page a bit, keeping myself motivated to get more work done. It's working.

Have some recording scheduled tonight to have Angela do some more vocals on one of Devin's Tunes. I'm excited to get to it!

Backyard Blogger

Angie and I are at her grandmother's house in san diego this weekend. I'm enjoying a moment to myself in the back yard, alternating between reading "as I lay dying" and making notes to myself.

In my jottings I have listed songs that I have found in going through my archives and songs I am currently working on that I might not care to use for Turbo Sunshine. In making the list it occurs to me that it is rather long. Thinking now that I will split them into 2 different s no s albums. The more polished and accessible will be "Albino Elephant" and the rougher, rawer often older tracks will be a sort of out take album called "the odds".
This plan is sitting well with me on a peaceful sunday afternoon. This will could put a tidy bow on top of the last 10 years of my creative life at just the right time too. New burners are beginning to boil.

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S No S Revives