New Song, One Month Late

This would have been my Record Every Month submission from May, had I not completely dropped the ball and failed to finish it.

I like everything about this song except the mix, the vocals, the lyrics, the melody, the guitar leads, the rhythm guitar tracks, the overall guitar tones, the bass line, and the bass tone.

So… Disney World… Again

Yeah, I know we spent two weeks in Disney World about six months ago. I know that. It was a great trip.

However, the minute we got home, Jen and the kids started fantasizing/planning the next trip. Initially I had talked them into going to Disneyland in California for the next trip. That was tentatively scheduled for mid-September, and it was going to be another huge two week deal. We never booked anything, but we did get far enough to put in vacation time requests at work. Harry wasn’t going to be able to go with us due to school, but Bellana was planning to go. Unfortunately some work issues arose, mostly pertaining to the amount of time we were asking for, and we decided to scrap the plan.

Then a few days ago Jen was on a Disney World forum and she read posts from people who live in the Philadelphia area taking weekend trips to Disney World. They jump on a plane after work on Friday, fly for a couple of hours, then fly home on Sunday night. That’s insane, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

Now Philly is a whole ton closer to Orlando than Boston. We are a little too far away to pull off a trip that short. Having said that though… what about a three day weekend? What about a four day weekend? What if we fly after work on a Thursday and then fly home on a Monday? We could have a long weekend at Disney World and only take two days off from work.

What if we planned a trip to Orlando in September and stayed at a mid-level resort? Say the Port Orleans Riverside? What if it were just me and Jen because the kids can’t quite make it work with their schedules. We’re a lot farther away than Philly, and the kids are a lot farther away than we are. Also, what if the day after we got there, the Friday, there was a Magic Kingdom after hours event similar to the after hours events we have gone to on our last couple of trips?

I guess there are only two questions left then. First, what new wider angle lens do I buy for my Z5 to use on this trip, and do I bring a film camera too? A third question would be, how many times do we ride Rise of the Resistance? What’s the over/under on the maximum number of times we could ride it in one four day weekend?

One more question could be, are we serious? That one I can answer… Yes. Yes we are.

10 Days, Babie!

10 days in a row. I have played my guitar on 10 consecutive days. Glorious!

Now one of these days I am going to have to shift the musical focus from guitar to vocals-in-the-car and that will likely kill the streak, but for now? TEN DAYS.

Are you sick of the daily guitar pictures yet? I am not. It’s making my photo-a-day-challenge really super easy.

290/365
290/365
DSC_1441

I had another pic of the cute little Vox Nutube amp as well but it was a little on the blurry side and I deleted it.

I currently have nine songs that are ready for lyrics and melody. I should really get cracking on that, right?

Long Exposure Test

I don’t know why I thought my neutral density filter didn’t fit on the Z 40mm f2 lens I bought for my Z5. I knew it was the right size, but for some reason I thought the threads were backwards or something. I actually tried using it today and much to my glee it fits perfectly. What was I thinking?

Anyway, I popped it into shutter priority mode and set the speed to 30 seconds and took my first mirrorless long exposure.

Testing: 30 Second Exposure with an ND Filter

Now if we can just find a weekend day that isn’t cloudy and rainy, I’ll be able to take some long exposures at the ocean. Someday. Hopefully.

Couch to 5K?

When we went to Disney World* back in January we were there for the Disney Marathon weekend. The weekend ends with a marathon, but in the days leading up to it there was a half marathon, a 10K, and a 5K. Jen suggested that next year I should run the 5K.

I was thinking about it last night. I fake run more than 5K pretty much every day. At the pace I go when I jog in place in the cellar (pronounced “yog” with a soft J) I run for 32 minutes, which is enough to close my 30 minute exercise ring while also rounding off to the nearest mile, which is four miles. 5 kilometers is 3.1 miles, so my watch congratulates me for running a 5K every day.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that my faux running is about as far removed from actual running as you can get. I don’t actually run 5K, I just pretend. We are all in agreement on that, right? If I were to actually take up actual running, I would need help and I would need to carefully build up stamina before running any notable distance.

That brought me to YouTube last night when I should have been sleeping. I searched for “couch to 5k” and started watching. A few minutes ago I installed a Couch to 5K app on my iPhone. I promptly deleted it after it took all of my information and then prompted me for the $40/month subscription. Fuck you.

I have an idea of how to start based on a video series I watched last night. Now the question is, do I actually do it? Am I seriously thinking about taking up running? It would be pretty cool to run the Disney World 5K next year. Pretty cool indeed. It might even impress my wife a little, which is more or less my goal for everything I do.

We’ll see.

*More on Disney World coming soon. You have been warned.

I Missed It

A few minutes ago, as I was typing up the last post, Jen called out to me to come upstairs quick. There was a baby deer in the yard!

I grabbed my Z5 and dashed upstairs, all dramatic-like. I got into Harry’s room just in time to watch the baby deer and it’s mom walk into the wood, completely out of view.

Damn. I missed them.

Oh well. I stuck my camera out the window and took a pic of some birds. Just so it wouldn’t be a waste of time, right?

DSC_1437