11.29.03
I guess I can check at least one thing off the list I posted in my last entry, as I recently finished up the track that I was working on for the as-of-yet unnamed website. Because the track isn't going to be posted until the 1st of December, I'll wait until then before I talk about it more.

The last few days have been busy as usual, but going quite well too. TG and I had three family dinners over the course of the past three days for the holidays and tonight we worked even more on the master bedroom project that seems to inch towards completion. Our new goal is to have it done by the end of the year, and that may just happen. We're actually taking progress pictures this time, so we should have something to show at the end of the whole ordeal. I've actually been kicking around the idea of starting a new section on the site to detail the little improvement projects that we do with the place, so maybe that will be something I can put on my list as well (as if I need something else).

11.23.03
The easiest way to figure out whether I've been busy or not is to look at my face. If it looks like I haven't shaved in awhile, you can bet that I have been. Basically, the more facial hair I have, the busier I've been. It's a nice, quick gauge.

Right now, I look like I belong in the Swiss Family Robinson, so it's true that I have indeed been busy. I have a huge slate of things that I want to get done by the end of the year (or at least by early next year) and slowly things are being done and checked off the list or at the very least started to give a bit more breathing room. Some of the projects I've been working on include:

• mixing the newest track by Marianas
• working on a solo track for a as-of-yet unnamed website
• conceptualizing ideas for a website for my mom
• working on a design for a local record compilation
• usual stuff (writing reviews, band practice, life in general)
• secret stuff

I guess I've become good at being vague, but I'd rather keep things a secret in case they don't end up coming to fruition rather than talking about them a bunch on this site and have them go nowhere. That way, nobody gets to feel let-down other than myself. Aren't I considerate?

The big snowstorm that was supposed to hit was sort of a bust, although it did bring some rather blustery temperatures along with it. My office temperature has dropped significantly in the last two days, and the puppy lapwarmer than I have right now (Zoey) is quite welcome, as always. The below picture is of me catching a catnap and the two puppies curling up next to me on the living room floor.

11.18.03
Yesterday afternoon at work, an instant message window popped up on my screen from a friend saying, "hey, did you know there's a tornado warning for Lincoln?" I shot back a quick reply and went into the next room to look out the window only to see that everything was bathed with that weird greenish tint that usually means some messed-up weather is about to take place. Just as I got back to my desk, the alarms at work started going off meaning I should grab my stuff and head to the basement. I shut down my computer (it was about 5 until 5), grabbed my coat, and went downstairs by the back door to check things out for myself. There were lots of people standing around looking up into the sky, and thunder was cracking off about every 5 seconds as cloud-to-cloud lighting lit things up and rain came in intermittent sheets. I started to worry about the puppies at home and decided I'd make a dash for it since I could actually see blue sky in places, but just as I was getting ready, a huge sheet of rain came through and only lasted for about 30 seconds. Watching it come in, it was literally like a movie special effect, as everything was slowly enveloped by it as it got closer to me. We all ducked under the overhang and let it pass, then I pulled my coat on tight and made a sprint for home. The pups were a bit scared of all the thunder, but they were happy to see me and only 30 minutes later the sun was peeking through again. Weird.

Apparently, a tornado actually touched down on the ground near my hometown, but nobody was hurt and I don't think it did any damage. With the odd weather we've been having lately (it's supposed to be almost 70 on Thursday before a chance of snow several days this weekend), something like that was bound to happen, but it was still unexpected. Speaking of the puppies, I got a good picture of each of them. Cuteness abounds!

11.13.03
Wow. Another week has almost passed and I have about 10 things on my plate that I want to either start and/or finish by the end of the year. Some of them are bigger and some of them are smaller and some of them are known to others and some of them are secret. Basically, I've got way too much going on, but I sort of like having the full court press on me. It's fun for me to figure out a way to bob and weave through the openings and hopefully accomplish everything that I've told myself in the back of my head that I want to do. I'm being purposefully vague, I suppose. Hopefully I can unveil some interesting things in the next month and a half. Whew.

Oh yeah, and new reviews.

11.11.03
I feel like I'm still sort of recovering from my lack of sleep that took place when we were out on the mini-tour, but I'm getting back into the groove of things and the week is rolling along nicely now. I almost feel cheesy mentioning it, but it's my birthday tomorrow. It will be my final year under the age of three decades, so I guess I'd better enjoy it. (Warning: Whoring ahead) If for some reason you feel like getting me something, here's a link to my shizlist.

I know that most of you only read this site to see cute puppy pictures, and I aim to please...

11.08.03
The Marianas Magical Mini Tour is now officially over and I'm just about shredded up. Fortunately, I have another day left in the weekend to alternately sit around and get things done. I'm going to write up little reviews/memories from each show at some point in the near future, but until then I will simply say that the whole thing went off really well and I think that everyone in the band had a blast. The highlight of the whole thing was easily on Thursday night, when we played on a big, fat soundsystem in front of a lot of people when we opened for The Twilight Singers, but even the Lawrence gig (where we packed in and played in the basement of a house and I found myself sitting on a cinder block) was a hell of a blast. We have audio and video recordings of the Omaha show, as well as a one-mic recording of the Lawrence show that came out surprisingly well. If you couldn't make it to the shows and still want to get an idea of our live sound, swing over to the Marianas site in the near future for new downloads...

I'm running on between 5 and 6 hours of sleep for the past 4 nights, so I think that the pillow will hit my face hard tonight and I probably won't get up for awhile after that happens. I'm slowly pulling things back together that I haven't been able to keep up on while being gone so much, and enjoying all the attention from the puppies that missed me while I was gone. Thanks to everyone who came to the shows and said hello.

11.02.03
First off, I want to wish a belated birthday to my brother Dan. He turned a quarter of a century on the 1st.

This was another weekend that absolutely flew by. Once again, managed to get a lot of things done, and made substantial progress in the master bedroom project, including starting to stain the woodwork. As it turns out, it's going to be an even bigger project than we even thought earlier in the evening. The wood upstairs (most likely pine, which was never meant to be anything other than painted) is so soft that paint has soaked in almost completely in places, making it so that the stain doesn't soak in at all. After the first coat of stain, it sort of looks like crap, but on the bright side we'll at least know where we have to do some more sanding before the second coat.

Tomorrow is the start of a rather band-oriented week, and I'm looking forward to it. We have practice tomorrow night, then a show on Wednesday (in Lincoln at Knickerbockers with The Holy Ghost), Thursday (in Omaha at Sokol Underground with the Twilight Singers!) and Friday (in Lawrence at The Kremlin with Timonium). We're excited to get our name out there and play some great shows. If you come to any of the above performances, introduce yourself to us afterwards. We should have some pins left over, as well as stickers and the ubiquitous debut CD release Onward+Upward.

Enough outta me. I know you want puppy pictures! Here's one of Elsa sleeping.