Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Happy Leap Day

Happy Leap Day, everyone! February 29th! IF today’s your birthday then you’ve been waiting four years for this day. Congratulations and make the most of it!

Leap Day means it’s the last day of February which means the RPM Challenge ends today. I have mixed two of the remaining six songs this morning but I have to put off the rest of them until after work tonight. I also have to finish cleaning out the kitchen so that everything is ready for kitchen demolition day tomorrow. I also also need to setup a little kitchen-esque space in our bed room, just in case we decide we need to cook something.

The mixes have been very quick and dirty and rough at best this year so I am sort of plowing through them with the minimum amount of time and effort. I’ll get the last four in tonight without too much of a problem. The question is whether any of them will be good enough to use on the final album.

I have 20 songs. I need 10 to submit an album to the RPM Challenge website. I will pick the best 10 songs and bundle them into something that resembles an album. I will take the remaining 10 pieces of dog shit and bundle them into something that resembles an outtake album. I’ll submit the 10 good songs and not submit the dog shit. Unfortunately, there are probably only four or five songs that I think are good enough to submit… so some shit is going to make it’s way into the submitted album. Oh well. That’s normal for me. I just have to decide what songs to include.

Here’s one I just finished. It will probably be included, though in a better year it would not have been. Oh well.

Four songs left to mix, then I need a cover image and a sequence. That’s all that remains for this year’s RPM Challenge. Almost there, folks. Almost there.

Happy Leap Day.

Workin’ For a Livin’

Daily writing prompt
Do you enjoy your job?
View all responses

This July I am going to reach the 20th anniversary of my first day with the company I work for. This past Sunday (four days ago) was the anniversary of my promotion that put me into my currect role within the company. That was 11 years ago.

Given all of that, I would say that I enjoy my job. I would not have stuck with it for all of these years if I didn’t enjoy it. I mean, it’s not as much fun as playing guitar for a living should be (theoretically at least) or taking pictures for a living should be (theoretically at least) but it’s a good job and I like it. I feel good doing it. I feel like I am able to indirectly help people who help people for a living. That’s rewarding in it’s way.

If I could make a living playing guitar though, I would drop my job in a heartbeat.

RPM Challenge Update

Here’s a quick update on the RPM Challenge as the penultimate* day comes to an end.

I mixed three songs tonight. All three of the songs are pigs and should never be listened to again.

14 songs finished. Six more to go. One day left. Almost there.

*I am such a pretentious hack.

Avalanche

Ikea Avalanche…

Ikeavalanche…

Ikevalanche…

I think I like that last one. Ikevalanche. That describes what happened to our house. Ikea exploded and it caused an avalanche in our living and dining rooms. Ikevalanche, babie.

The cats are oblivious.

Photo a Day for Today

I am in the office today and my schedule has been insanely hectic. Just crazy busy.

Fortunately I snuck in a photo for the photo a day challenge thing before I left the house this morning.

181/365
181/365

Got it in by the skin of my teeth. Whew!

It’s Just a Phase

Daily writing prompt
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.
View all responses

I’m having a tough time coming up with an answer to this question. I can’t think of any phase of my life that was difficult to say goodbye to. Every time some major life period ended, there was something better waiting in the wings to replace it.

High school was replaced with college and even though the first time around in college was a mess, it was so much better than high school.

College the first time ended long before I wanted it to and getting a full time job afterwards was anything but a positive experience, at that time though college was becoming a nightmare and it had to end. I couldn’t figure out how to move forward academically, apart from starting from scratch, so I put it aside for a few years… and then started from scratch.

Graduating from college and moving into a career… you’d think that would have been tough to say goodbye to, but really I was ready for it. I had been a student for a long time and I used to joke that I was really a career student. By the time I graduated though, I was ready for that phase to end and I welcomed what came next.

I was depressed when my 20’s ended and became my 30’s. I didn’t want them to end, but I was already so low that I wasn’t sad to see them go. I was, but at the same time, not really. You know? My 30’s started out bad but I was 36 when I met Jen and 38 when we got married. Once I had started a life with her I was ready for whatever the universe could throw at us. I looked forward to time passing and phases… phasing. I was sad to see my 40’s end, but only because I don’t want to be old. I accepted that I was already old though so it didn’t actually change anything.

So I guess the answer to this question is that I never really had a phase in my life end that I had a difficult time saying goodbye to. Sorry if that’s a lame answer. I guess I am just a super mature dude who is able to roll with the changes, as the song says. Maybe I should pat myself on the back for that.

Eleven Songs Down, Up to Nine to Go

I just did a quick and terrible mix of song number 11 for this year’s RPM Challenge. We’re officially into the second album’s worth of music. This one might make the final submission. It might not. I can’t decide yet.

Nine more songs left to mix and not enough time to get to it all. I’m pretty sure I’ll finish them all, I just won’t have much time for anything else.

Quick RPM Challenge Update

The goal for the RPM Challenge is to record either 10 songs or 35 minutes of music all within the month of February. For me, personally, I don’t consider a song finished until I have a decently listenable mix down.

Earlier tonight I finished mixing my 10th song of the month. I checked the running time for those 10 songs and it’s a smidge more then 37 minutes.

By the terms of both RPM Challenge goals, I have successfully completed the project once again. I’ve completed the challenge every year since 2012.

Of course this year I am shooting for two albums. That means I still have 10 songs left to finish and only two days remaining in the month. I betcha I get it done by the skin of my teeth. I might try to sneak another mix in tonight before I sleep, but it’s almost 10:30 and I am exhausted after dealing with the inventory of the 70,000 IKEA boxes that were delivered tonight. That figure is a slight exaggeration, but it sure feels accurate to my back.

Anyway… another year, another February album in a month. Cheerio, me maties.