Employees Must Wipe Hands on Pants

Well, my bonus from work came in, and allowed me to make a major dent in my CC debt. As a result, I decided it was appropriate to set aside a small amount for myself (about $200) to get something nice.

Then my boss decided to give me an extra bonus on TOP of that, for some extra work I put in last week.

As a result of all this, take a look at my new guitar.

No, I didn’t buy this one from Guitar Center. They didn’t have it in stock. Portland Music Co. did, however, and I’m quite pleased with this. Good, solid, nice looking, incredibly good sounding.

I was a bit surprised that an Ibanez could sound as warm and rich as this one does. Usually they’re very cold-sounding metal guitars, but this one is NOT one of the models that include active pickups. This makes it sound warmer and fuller, in my opinion. This incidentally made it cheaper, meaning I got a hardshell case to go with it, and still spent less on it than I was preparred to. Not bad.

I think I’ll do some recording this week and see how it sounds. Time to get practicing…

I’ve got some really fun things planned for later this year. First, a trip to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend with a bunch of my friends. Later in the summer, another long vacation when I take my annual beach trip with most of the same friends.

In between, I’ve just got work. This is not nearly so stressful anymore, but I don’t think most people really enjoy what they do for a living to the point that they would do it if there wasn’t a paycheck involved.

So, it’s just somewhat monotonous. I really am looking forward to getting some recording done with Shawn, who finally called me back, to ease my ennui.

So, I’ve begun practicing with the new band lineup, and even picked up a few books on how to run a band business in a local music market.

I’m going to try to be a bit more serious about it this time, and see if  we can’t turn this into a viable money-making enterprise, which, given the people I’m playing with this time, seems a lot more likely than some of the bands I’ve been in previously.

It’s actually pretty satisfying to look back and see how far I’ve progressed in my experience playing in a performing band. 7 years ago, I looked at it with nervousness, and as nothing more than a hobby.  Now it’s become something I’m considering getting into as at least a semi-professional basis. And who knows? If the money is there perhaps someday It’ll be a way to make my whole living.

But don’t worry, I’m not quitting my day job anytime soon.

So, having just gotten my bonus from work, I realized the other day (just before an audition to play keyboards with a local band) that my second MIDI keyboard no longer powered on. At all. Even with batteries. Really, it’s completely dead. Kaputski, finito, no power for you anymore buster.

So, I went online and looked for deals on a replacement, and the result is My new toy. This thing is really neat. It’s an analog modeling synthesizer, and it can double as a MIDI controller for my Roland JV-1010 sound module (which is what I used my old keyboard to do). I’ve never had anything like an analog synth before, so this one has been a lot of fun to play with, and lets me make all sorts of cool sounds from those great 70’s rock bands like Pink Floyd and Steve Miller.

Best of all, I got it used (but in perfect shape) so it only cost $399. Not bad for a unit that normally goes for $595 at Guitar Center (and that they “claim” lists for $700, though I know those prices are always artificially inflated).