What Are YOUUUU Doing?
I really should be going to sleep (had to get up early for work today and didn't want to get out bed, and was zombie all day), but -- meh -- I'll sleep when I'm dead. I have important things to blog about.
I spent this past weekend with my brother, his wife, and their lovely 3-month-old, Liliana. She is the cutest thing EVER. This picture is all the evidence necessary to support such a claim:
Okay. Here is another one for good measure.
Lily is a pretty unbelievable 3-month-old. She is incredibly active (when she is awake), moving her arms and legs, wiggling around in her parents' arms or in her bassinet. She is making little cooing noises and when she does it, she stops fussing or moving, looks you directly in the eyes, and "talks" to you. She is the most adorable little person I have ever seen. (*Note: there is a part of me -- the logical part -- that tries to tell the other part of me that I'm only saying such things because she is my niece and if she were just any regular baby I wouldn't give her a second look; but the logical part of me is currently sitting in the naughty corner after having a good talking to from the emotional part of me).
When Lily is put on her play center mat, she looks up at the little smiley face light that blinks on and off and plays music. With determination in her eyes, she wiggles and moves her arms and legs as if she is dancing to the music. It's truly priceless to watch! She enjoys it so much that she will "dance" herself past her nap time and then become cranky at the lack of sleep. (Sounds familiar...)
I have a lot of lovely pictures and video that I took of Lily. I intend to make a video collage sort of thing with movie maker at some point. I also want to print out some pics and put them on my cubicle wall at work. My god... I am so sappy...
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A week ago, I auditioned for a song/songwriter contest via timesunion.com put on by the College of St. Rose and the Times Union. Twenty songwriters/songs were chosen and were posted this morning on the Times' website. I discovered this morning by logging on that I am one of those twenty! I'm quite excited about this and got in touch with everyone I know, asking them to vote for my song (the top 10 "vote-getters" move on to the final round).
While I'm truly excited about the opportunity that this contest presents, I'm a disappointed that it is not what it could/should be.
When I went in to audition, I was directed into a performances space to warm up while I waited to be called in. The performances space was beautiful, modern, and had excellent acoustics. There was a spectacular sound system, stage lights, and instruments at the ready. I took my guitar out and began strumming and was impressed with the reverberation I received in the large room.
I was called shortly after and was lead down the hall. I was expecting to be lead into a studio or a another room with great acoustics. I was expecting a microphone and an instrument mic and a quick soundcheck before recording/filming. I thought there might even be two cameras. Instead, I was lead into a small classroom. There was a video camera on a tripod and a stool that was set in front of a white dry-erase board. The college age kid who lead me to the room gave me a quick run down of how he will begin filming me (a count down to three and a silent two and one). There was no microphone... just the mic on the video camera. The countdown began. In introduced myself into the camera, introduced the song, and started playing. I played "For the First Time."
This afternoon was the first time I got to see the video. The sound quality sucks. Then again, it sucks for everyone. I watched the other videos and there are some great songs.
One thing that is somewhat strange about this contest is that the only other songwriter I recognize from the entire group is Rebecca Angel. I have seen her at Caffe Lena's open mic and I have seen her name listed on lots of events listings. I have not seen any of the other songwriters' names anywhere before.
http://blog.timesunion.com/garagetoglory/ is the link to the voting. Have you voted yet?
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I have been posting and complaining in person to many people about being stressed and wanting/needing to take a vacation. Not an adventurous romp around the world trip. A restful, lay on the beach, do nothing, vacation! I have plenty of vacation time available at work, but I really don't have the money to buy a way to get to a relaxing beach-type place.
I'm considering doing a really cheapo resort... I don't care about the service... or the food (as long as there is some sort of food). I just need a beach to lay on... and a pool to swim in if the ocean is scary. Oh, and a bed... and shower... that's it.
Until I find someone to go with on one of these cheapo vacations, I plan adventures. I'm in the process of planning a road trip to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Niagara Falls. It will be another Hard Rock Cafe Pin Collecting Journey. Mapquest tells me that it's 1280 miles of driving that should take about 22 hours total. I haven't worked out the specifics yet, but there will be sleeping in my car and a possible one or two night hotel stay near Niagara Falls. I will busk on the streets of the cities (as I did last year) and attempt some songwriting. It will one of those soul-searching-type missions of which I will partake in alone. Unless someone pops up in the meantime that cares to join.
I spent this past weekend with my brother, his wife, and their lovely 3-month-old, Liliana. She is the cutest thing EVER. This picture is all the evidence necessary to support such a claim:
Okay. Here is another one for good measure.
Lily is a pretty unbelievable 3-month-old. She is incredibly active (when she is awake), moving her arms and legs, wiggling around in her parents' arms or in her bassinet. She is making little cooing noises and when she does it, she stops fussing or moving, looks you directly in the eyes, and "talks" to you. She is the most adorable little person I have ever seen. (*Note: there is a part of me -- the logical part -- that tries to tell the other part of me that I'm only saying such things because she is my niece and if she were just any regular baby I wouldn't give her a second look; but the logical part of me is currently sitting in the naughty corner after having a good talking to from the emotional part of me).
When Lily is put on her play center mat, she looks up at the little smiley face light that blinks on and off and plays music. With determination in her eyes, she wiggles and moves her arms and legs as if she is dancing to the music. It's truly priceless to watch! She enjoys it so much that she will "dance" herself past her nap time and then become cranky at the lack of sleep. (Sounds familiar...)
I have a lot of lovely pictures and video that I took of Lily. I intend to make a video collage sort of thing with movie maker at some point. I also want to print out some pics and put them on my cubicle wall at work. My god... I am so sappy...
--------
A week ago, I auditioned for a song/songwriter contest via timesunion.com put on by the College of St. Rose and the Times Union. Twenty songwriters/songs were chosen and were posted this morning on the Times' website. I discovered this morning by logging on that I am one of those twenty! I'm quite excited about this and got in touch with everyone I know, asking them to vote for my song (the top 10 "vote-getters" move on to the final round).
While I'm truly excited about the opportunity that this contest presents, I'm a disappointed that it is not what it could/should be.
When I went in to audition, I was directed into a performances space to warm up while I waited to be called in. The performances space was beautiful, modern, and had excellent acoustics. There was a spectacular sound system, stage lights, and instruments at the ready. I took my guitar out and began strumming and was impressed with the reverberation I received in the large room.
I was called shortly after and was lead down the hall. I was expecting to be lead into a studio or a another room with great acoustics. I was expecting a microphone and an instrument mic and a quick soundcheck before recording/filming. I thought there might even be two cameras. Instead, I was lead into a small classroom. There was a video camera on a tripod and a stool that was set in front of a white dry-erase board. The college age kid who lead me to the room gave me a quick run down of how he will begin filming me (a count down to three and a silent two and one). There was no microphone... just the mic on the video camera. The countdown began. In introduced myself into the camera, introduced the song, and started playing. I played "For the First Time."
This afternoon was the first time I got to see the video. The sound quality sucks. Then again, it sucks for everyone. I watched the other videos and there are some great songs.
One thing that is somewhat strange about this contest is that the only other songwriter I recognize from the entire group is Rebecca Angel. I have seen her at Caffe Lena's open mic and I have seen her name listed on lots of events listings. I have not seen any of the other songwriters' names anywhere before.
http://blog.timesunion.com/garagetoglory/ is the link to the voting. Have you voted yet?
-----------
I have been posting and complaining in person to many people about being stressed and wanting/needing to take a vacation. Not an adventurous romp around the world trip. A restful, lay on the beach, do nothing, vacation! I have plenty of vacation time available at work, but I really don't have the money to buy a way to get to a relaxing beach-type place.
I'm considering doing a really cheapo resort... I don't care about the service... or the food (as long as there is some sort of food). I just need a beach to lay on... and a pool to swim in if the ocean is scary. Oh, and a bed... and shower... that's it.
Until I find someone to go with on one of these cheapo vacations, I plan adventures. I'm in the process of planning a road trip to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Niagara Falls. It will be another Hard Rock Cafe Pin Collecting Journey. Mapquest tells me that it's 1280 miles of driving that should take about 22 hours total. I haven't worked out the specifics yet, but there will be sleeping in my car and a possible one or two night hotel stay near Niagara Falls. I will busk on the streets of the cities (as I did last year) and attempt some songwriting. It will one of those soul-searching-type missions of which I will partake in alone. Unless someone pops up in the meantime that cares to join.