Category: Life As I Know It

13

Aug

2003

13:28

And so the adventure begins.

At 5:00Pm CST today, I become unemployed. Tomorrow we begin the move to Austin, finishing up on Friday. Scary.
On another front, Just as I finally put the foot down and stomp out the few computer bugs I’ve been trying to track down at home, my computer took a complete and utter nosedive. Long story short, I had to completely reinstall my operating system, and basically start from scratch like it was a new computer. Luckily I was able to retrieve my documents and bookmarks and vital things like that.
Spent about 13 hours yesterday getting my machine back up and running. Still have a lot of programs to install and testing to do to make sure what the problem was so it’s not repeated. Ugh. It made me utterly sick, and frustrated and I wanted to cry, and go to bed and never get up. Bad, bad day.
Things look on the up and up though, except for the scary moving and not having a job thing. However, while it’s scary, it’s also all very exciting. Many good opportunities lie ahead. Hopefully you find me on the streets of Austin holding a cardboard sign.
All engines ahead! The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.
P.S. and for anyone who might not have noticed, and who would actually care, if you put your email in the little field up top, you can get an email telling you when I’ve made a new entry. Don’t all rush for your keyboards!

31

Jul

2003

8:33

I’m somebody!

*Title gratuitously borrowed from Steve Martin’s “The Jerk”*
Looky here!
Aside from that, we’re just preparing for the big move to Austin in two weeks. I’ve found a job that I REALLY want yet have about as much chance of getting as I do of winning the lottery. It’s working for the Austin branch of Sony Online Entertainment who run Star Wars Galaxies. The application process is one of those nameless, faceless “cut and paste you resume in this online form” processes which sucks. I also mailed a hard copy to their San Diego headquarters just for the hell of it. Man, that would be too cool, but I’ll be shocked if I even hear back from them.
In an effort to not repeat the financial fiasco of having 6 overdrawn fees of $32 (one of which was on a $.09 copy, thus becoming a $32.09 copy) I have downloaded a totally kick arse, and FREE program for my Palm Vx called Ma Tirelire, which apparently is French for “My Piggy Bank”. Last weekend I searched through all the freeware financial programs for the palm, and this was literally the last one there was that I hadn’t tried. As it turned out, it was also by far the absolute best. The functionality and features of this program are just outstanding. Far more than you’d get from most commercial programs. I never thought I could get excited about a financial management program, but this one has got the goods. If you use a palm device, I highly recommend it.

24

Jul

2003

15:10

Anyone still here?

I really need to update more if I want to keep the three readers I have.
So I’ve been pretty busy with preparing for the move to Austin. I’ve been searching for jobs, but with no luck yet. It didn’t help morale any when I asked one of my work contacts who was here helping with an upgrade if he knew of any jobs in Austin, to which he burst out laughing and said “You’re joking, right?” Apparently it’s a bad time to be looking for jobs in Austin. I’ve been wondering if maybe I could teach guitar out of my apartment and get enough students to make it work.
On the “jobs I want to be doing” front, I have new headhots (as decided by votes from many of you!) I sent my resume, headshot and voice demo (all of which have been updated and can be found in the “actor” section) to two agencies in hopes of getting an agent in Austin.
Random Note:
I was planning on putting together a costume as one of the aliens from “V” for Halloween. I had done much research and collected pictures of the red jumpsuits, guns, props, etc. I had also found a few places online where you could supposedly get some replica props and costume pieces, but they never returned my email. It looks like it’s highly unlikely I’ll get it put together, especially since it would take some finances. Not a lot, but at least some.
Another costume I wanted to put together, but is just about as unlikely is Captain Jack Sparrow!
Let’s end with a link. If you haven’t already seen it, check out The Incredible Hulk’s Blog.
Byt the way, the first time I typed this whole thing out, we lost internet for about 10 seconds…right when I clicked “save” so I lost the whole thing and had to do it all again from scratch. grrr. arrrgh.

08

Jul

2003

9:30

Eep! Brave or just stupid?

So we got the call today that we are officially approved for our apartment in Austin. I then went and told my boss that my last day will be August 14. So now, in just over a month, I will be quitting my job and moving to Austin with no job lined up.
Hopefully my lovely wife can get a good job since she has a degree and then I can pursue this acting, music thing. [wink]
I also have a possible lead with Craig Davis concerning writing jingles, which could also be a cool job. Many opportunities, yet nothing solid. It’s exciting and scary as a mofo. And mofos are really, really scary.

03

Jul

2003

8:58

I’m a renegade of funk.

Yes that’s right, we’re off for another weekend in Austin! We’ll be going out for Jess’s birthday tonight, and then just enjoying the fourth of july festivities all weekend with some possible geocaching in there too.
Random point #1:
I have found new inspiration to practice my guitar playing in the form of Guitarport. Line 6 decided to make my Pod XT compatible with their Guitarport software which was a genius move. Now us Pod XT users can make use of one of the coolest tools I’ve ever seen for guitar players, and Line 6 get a bunch of new Guitarport subscribers. Basically it’s a program where I can backup all the amps, effects etc, that I’ve tweaked in my Pod XT, and for a subscription price, I can access tons of online tones, lessons, and tracks to jam along too. For example, Eddie Kramer, who produced Jimi Hendrix, has remixed some original Hendrix tracks minus the guitar, so it’s like you’re actually jamming with Hendrix’s band on your computer. You can also load up any song on your hard drive if you want to jam along with that. Plus the interface and functionality are just incredible. I’ve found new inspiration to actually sit around the house and play! Words can not express how cool this is.
Random point #2:
In other geeky joy, I also have a new version of my geoaching program for my Palm Vx (which I use as my GPS unit by attaching it to an external GPS attachment). The program is Geoniche and the new version rocks. I easily downloaded 10 geocache waypoints yesterday and loaded them into my unit with complete descriptions and all thanks to the new java applet. Much better than entering in all the coordinates and such by hand.
So now that most of you have most likely stopped reading long ago thanks to my ramblings on things that probably sound like gibberish to you unless you’re into guitar playing or geocaching, I leave those of you who made it all the way through with an amusing mondegreen (misheard lyric) of my own. Before I knew what Rage Against The Machine were actually saying in “Renegades Of Funk” I thought it sounded like “Random Case Of Funk”. This came up because after a shower this morning, I commented to Jess that the bruise on my knee from toooooooooooobing last weekend had turned “lovely shades of funk”. After a pause we both looked at each other and started singing “lovely shades of funk” to the afore mentioned RATM song. Ever since then I’ve been singing to myself “With a random case of funk! With a random case of funk!” That, and Weird Al’s “Hardware Store” which has been stuck in my head since I bought the album.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Miss us!

01

Jul

2003

9:53

Fun, fun, fun! Ow.

Tally of injuries from last weekend: 1 highly bruised knee, 1 slightly jammed finger, super full body soreness.
We all met up at TGI Fridays on Friday night (how apropos!) Jess and I drove into Austin from College Station, Esteban came from Dallas, and my cousin Casey, who lives in Austin, came from indoor rock climbing with some friends. Not much else happened Friday night. We all went back to Casey’s house and they decided to watch Cowboy Bebop (the movie) which I had no interest at all in watching, so I surfed the net on a mac on a slow dial up connection until I just decided to lay down on our air mattress and maybe drift into a bored sleep.
Saturday we all hit the Comal river for tooooooooooooobin! It was about a 2 hour trip down the river so we did it twice. Inevitably you end up doing a lot of paddling to keep up with each other and such, so your paddling muscles get quite sore. It was a nice relaxing day (and Esteban’s birthday) with good friends and a cooler full of snacks. It was on this trip that there is a section, after a fun man made tube chute, where you get out and walk down a few hundred feet before getting back in the river. While exiting, I couldn’t see the metal stairs very well so I proceeded to smack my knee into the side of them. It hurt. A lot. Afterward it looked as if I had a small hamster implanted in my knee. Never the less, twas a fun day.
That night we went to the Alamo Drafthouse where we had more good food and the better-than-crack Root Beer Float made with Amy’s ice cream while watching Hulk, which was alright. It was definitely worth the free tickets which we had procured.
Sunday it was Schlitterbahn time! America’s #1 water park as rated by the travel channel! Esteban bailed on us to go back to Dallas, which while his company was missed, I was glad that I would no longer have to have every free moment filled with some anim� DVD being put on the TV.
We were supposed to meet Dave and Misty at 9:30, but due to a never ending chain of circumstances we were about an hour late. I’ve determined that as a group increases in number so does the amount of time you are inevitably going to be late. I think the next trip is going to be every carload for themselves. Meet at 9:30 and if you’re not there we’re going on without you and will meet you at a predesignated location at noon. Hardcore, man!
It was during a tube ride that I jammed my finger. Also, my water shoes were rubbing me in an annoying way so went half the day barefoot. Lots of walking uphill and up stairs, and more paddling added to my full body soreness (particularly my calves). We were there from about 10:30 am until 7:30 pm. We had Dippin’ Dots, the ice cream of the future! It was good. We went back to my cousin’s had pizza and collapsed.
Monday Jess and I went to check out a potential apartment, which we both really liked and will most likely be our new home in Austin. It was nice AND cheap! They also had a great move in deal which eases finance worries quite a bit. $99 application fee to move in, no deposit, and first month’s rent free! Score! When we got home, we played a bit of SWG, and recreated our characters on a new server since the original server we were on was full and non of our friends could join us. We then watched the next disc of “24” from netflix, and went to bed.
Thursday after work, it’s back to Austin for Jess’s birthday and the Fourth of July weekend! Ahh, if only every week could be a 3 day work week.

30

May

2003

12:34

Off to Austin…again!

We’re heading to Austin again this weekend to go tooooooobin down the Guadalupe river. Last year I went and the river flow was so low, that it totally sucked. Half the time our asses were dragging across rocks and occasionally we had to get up and walk across some precarious rocky bits because we certainly couldn’t float over them. Ironically, while we were toooobin last year, it started to rain. That rain continued for weeks and completely flooded the river pretty much wiping out everything that was along it’s banks including all the toooooooberies.
My friend, Esteban, had kept his car key on him instead of leaving it with the toooooooobin office who had a special place just to keep people’s keys. Consequently, we got back to his car only to realize we couldn’t get in. He called some number for the Volkswagen place since he had a road-side service deal or something, and then we waited for like an hour and a half in the pouring torrential rain for the guy to come open the car up. Once the guy actually got there, he had a really hard time getting it open too. Ah, good times!
So hopefully this year will be more fun. The flow looks much better than last year, and I have my wife with me this year too! Esteban’s birthday is at the end of June so we’re all going to back again in a month to go tooooooooooooobin down the Comal (which we also did last year and found it much better than the Guadalupe) and go to Schlitterbahn, the #1 water park in the country according to the travel channel! See you all Monday!

23

May

2003

13:15

House sitting was not to be

Unfortunately, they had already found someone. We’re pretty bummed, but I’m sure things will work out just fine. They always do.

23

May

2003

8:53

We’re off for a 3 day weekend!

Random lyrics from Weird Al’s new album, “Poodle Hat” that I’ve been singing all damn day:
There just aren’t enough O’s in “smooth”
To describe how smooth I am
Maybe you’ve seen my picture
It’s in the dictionary under “Kablaam!” Go buy it now.
So we’re off to Austin for the weekend to hang with my cousin, and go to the Natural Bridge Caverns, and a drive through wildlife park. Pictures will be forthcoming. We’ll probably check out Matrix:Reloaded again, and attempt to gain a better understanding of the twisted Mobius Strip that is the plot. Have a good Memorial Day Weekend, and remember, never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

22

May

2003

9:38

Wow. Where to start…

So as some of you may have read on my wife’s page, ahead lies potential life upheaval, but in a good, adventurous, yet crap your pants kind of way.
We were planning to move to Austin in August. Then I get this email about these people who are in Hong Kong for the next 6 months, and need a house sitter because their current sitter can’t do it anymore. This house is in Roundrock (which is practically part of Austin. North Austin just merges into Roundrock). So they need someone, pronto.
Now this is just the largest in a series of events that seem to just be custom tailored and handed to us. We’ve known for some time that we wanted to probably move to Austin, and then I emt Craig Davis who has become one of my best friends, and musical collaborators, and who lives in Austin. So already musical things were lining themselves up in the big A. Now this house sitting possibility, which is just perfect. Six months of rent free living in a 2400 square foot house. We would pay the utilities. Since we have our apartment here through August, this would allow us to just slowly and casually move all our stuff in stead of having to do it all in one big go. I still have lots of band gigs here, so I figure every weekend we come down to play, we’ll also do some more packing and moving.
In addition, I could actually pursue acting, film crew, and music opportunities in Austin, because there actually ARE opportunities. Craig, who has never worked any “normal” jobs, but only done jingles and musically related things like that, thinks I could definitely find tons of work as a musician. There’s one particular guy who Craig has worked with over the years who owns the company which Craig has written many jingles for. We’re talking pretty big stuff like major beer companies and such. The company has several in house studio facilities, and Craig thinks that I could probably start picking up work there as a musician, jingle writer, voice actor, etc. All my various talents could probably be put to use there. We’ll see how that pans out. Additionally this same guy is also really good friends with my uncle.
Not to mention Craig and I are recording a new CD, which will probably come out under the band name “The Toreadors”, and we’re working on a project of his called “Mr. Hobs the 3 legged cat” which will be a children’s story, with an bunch of original songs, and possible voice acting tasks for me. He already has some parties interested in it. Not sure what form it will take yet possibly a book/cd combo with the book voiced on the CD along with the songs for the book.
He also, nonchalantly, told me how he met with a guy from Maverick records (Madonna’s label) and this guy is trying to get 3 of his songs recorded by another artist.
So now I’m waiting on the email back from the house sitting people. If they haven’t already found someone, then I will be putting in my job notice immediately and in a week or two we will be living in Roundrock, unemployed with the world on a platter before us. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.