Tracking is Done!

Well, RPM Challenge fans, I hit a major milestone for this year’s project. As of about 8:30am today, tracking is done! I put lead guitars onto seven songs. SEVEN! My finger tips are chewed up messes right now and I could barely play at all by the time I was done, but all of my tracking for all 20 songs is new complete. Yikes!

Now I just have to mix 12 songs. Oh… there’s the reality of the situation coming in to ruin my buzz. Twelve (12) songs left to mix by the end of the day on Thursday, and tomorrow is both an in the office day and a drive halfway across New England to go to IKEA after work night. There won’t be much time for mixing tomorrow. I was hoping to finish four songs last night but I only did two. Tonight and Thursday are going to require a lot of RPM Challenge work.

Yikes, babie. Yikes.

180/365
180/365

Be Someone Else

Daily writing prompt
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
View all responses

I have a hard enough time being me, never mind temporarily being someone else. There is no one else I’d chose to be. I’ll throw out a few possibilities anyway, just for shits and giggles.

  • Neil deGrasse Tyson for two reasons. First, because it would be fun to be super smart for a day. Second, because it would be fun to have the single coolest voice on Earth for a day.
  • Some amazing guitar player. In the past I would say a 23-25 year old Eric Clapton, but the racism and the anti-vax have spoiled that idea for me. I’d probably go with Gary Clark, Jr because he’s amazing and he’s not elderly and he and I are both juniors so that would be cool.
  • That Nigerian prince who keeps emailing everyone. Just imagine how wonderful it would be to be able to share all of that money with so many people.
  • Some fourth line skater on whoever wins the next Stanley Cup on the day the Cup is won for two reasons. First, it would be cool to lift the Cup and second, because it would be nice to be able to ice skate for a day.
  • Someone who is in shape, just so I can know what that feels like for a few minutes. That would be fun.

Eight Songs Down

I have mixed two more songs so far tonight. I am hoping to get one more in, but my ears need a break.

This one is okay. I think it will make the final album even though I have probably written this exact song 100 times before. That’s sort of a theme with me these days.

Eight songs down and somewhere between two and 12 left to go. Three days left in this year’s RPM Challenge. Will I get all 20 songs in or will I run out of time? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.

Haiku for You #151

At some point today I will try to write a post that doesn’t have anything to do with stressing out over the kitchen remodeling project. Not this time though. Here’s a haiku for you, inspired by IKEA and friends.

It’s barely started.
Tomorrow will be crazy.
So much stuff to do.

What a Day

This morning has been the toughest month in years.

Tomorrow is going to be worse. A lot worse. Wednesday will be tough, though mostly after work. Same with Thursday. Friday and Saturday? Nuckin’ Futs!

I need a nap. I need to go to bed early tonight but we all know that won’t happen. I will get up ridiculously early tomorrow too. Same with the next day and the next day and the next day.

As crazy as it has been, and as crazy as it will continue to be in the near future, I am good with it. I am ready for all of it. It’s going to be rough, but it’s also going to be worth it.

Bring it on, babie! Bring it on!

Okay, Robert. Back to work with your bad self. You have stuff to do before the day ends!

Step One: Complete

The first baby step of the kitchen remodeling is complete. We had a plumber here who disconnected everything in the kitchen. Next step is the first of the IKEA deliveries. It’s only supposed to be a few boxes. The landslide/avalanche of IKEA stuff happens tomorrow.

The cats are hiding. Will they remain in hiding until the project is complete? Maybe.

Keep the Stress at Bay

I’m feeling the stress creeping in and trying to take over. Between work, the kitchen project, contractor schedules, a massively massive imminent delivery from IKEA (almost 200 boxes of stuff), and the RPM Challenge… yeah… it’s getting to me a little.

No! Keep the stressing out at bay! Say no to stress! You Will Not Pass! This Far, No Further!

Okay, I snuck in some guitar playing this morning. It was bad, but maybe better than some of the crap I recorded last week. I am down to just lead guitars being the only tracking left to do so those move pretty quickly. I got through four songs. That’s good.

I have six songs mixed and finished. I have seven songs ready to mix (yikes!). I have seven songs waiting for lead guitar tracks (Double Yikes!). After that all I need to do is pick out the songs that will make the final RPM Challenge album submission, set a running order, and make some cover art. I took some pictures to possibly use for the cover yesterday.

All of that on top of remodeling our kitchen. Yikes!

179/365
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Kitchen Crazy

Daily writing prompt
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
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I do a lot of musical DIY projects, but that isn’t my answer today. I’m right in the grip of my 17th RPM Challenge. I’ve done the 50 songs in 90 days challenge a bunch of times and have even succeeded on a few of them. That isn’t it though.

Our kitchen is about to be remodeled. The project starts today. It is not a DIY project though. We hired a contractor this time.

This time.

The last time though… We’ve been picking at the kitchen for a few years. The last couple of little changes were DIY. One of them was hanging a cabinet and counter top that we bought from IKEA. They have a neat system for hanging things. I thought it was going to be beyond us, but we pulled it off… mostly. It was a little crooked on one section. Just a little.

I am pretty sure that counter and cabinet are not going to survive the new project. We looked into having the contractor move it, but there doesn’t really seem to be enough room. That’s okay though. It was always meant to be a temporary thing until we figured out a way to do the real project. The real project being the sucker that sort of starts today.

Big changes coming to our house. We’re pretty excited to see how it goes. Wish us luck.

Five Songs Down

I have now completed five mixes for this year’s RPM Challenge. Five songs down and anywhere from five to 15 still to go.

When I get to this stage in an album-in-a-month project I start sorting the finished songs into three buckets. A-list, B-list, and Dropped. A-list songs are good enough to make the final album. B-list songs are on the fence. Dropped songs are too awful to use. Right now, with five songs finished, I have two in the A-list bucket, and three in the B-list. I suspect most of the remaining 15 songs will end up in the B-list or the Dropped list. I think this one is on the A-list.

Dynamics, right?