Did you know that I'm a geek?

It's true, I am.

I've been coding my own website. I coulda done something, I dunno, easy, such as gett'n a wordpress or something like that.

But I didn't wanna.

So, today I mastered CSS stylesheets. This is a real basic affair - it's gonna be really simple HTML, maybe a little javascript, maybe. I just can't hop on the bandwagon with this wordpress stuff. I prefer clean and simple, plus I don't need a giant website that takes forever to load. A website for me is going to be a cross between a brochure and a place where I can link all my social media together.

Right now, I'm going for functionality. I know it looks a little basic, which is, again, the intent, but I have a few ideas for decoratin' once it's formatted the way I want. Plus, I think Bets is still working on some things as far as design - she got the visual arts genes in the family, true story.



In all honesty, this is REALLY fun! I can just sit here and code for hours and all of a sudden it's 9:15 PM and I didn't eat any dinner. I love it.

Here, have a gander... I'll be updating this link as I go. (I should mention this is obviously hosted on my comcast space... I WILL purchase real webspace as soon as I figure out what my URL should probably be... I can't decide between emkeevmusic, emkeev, emmckeever, etc.)

My objective was to have this finished by the end of October, and I could have a rough rough sketch of it done by then, BUT. I need to brush up on my Halloween stories for Friday at Lums Pond, practice, all that good stuff - I'm essentially planning on not having personal time between now and October 31, when I will curl up in a ball in my room. Not because it's Halloween. Because I will be tired from pulling off the Hoot again. Oh, anyway. Just go look at the website already and give me some critiques, yo.

Album. Title. Theme. Something.

It's becoming more apparent that the album has to do with feathers/wings/birds/flight. I can't pin it down, though. I'm supposed to figure out what's tying these things together so that my sis can start thinking about what the album art's gonna be.

Well, I know what ties them together, I just can't figure out how to express it in just a few words. It bothers me a bit that I can't get it because I love poetry and poetry is all about cramming words full of meaning.

I wanted to call it "Peregrine," but several other musical entities have already done it and... this also really bothers me.

So I'm back to... at least a generic idea.

It'll come to me.

I hope.

Where did my goals go? Oh yeah, recording.

Things got nebulous for a second. They always do that when I don’t bother to set goals. The only thing that’s been keeping me focused is this recording thing. I sat down last night, though, and came up with 8 main goals to accomplish by the end of December. Then I taped them to my fridge so I can cross them off when I accomplish them. ^^

And, yes, recording is one of them. 4 tracks pretty well stabbed at, now. “Half-Decent” is hard to record because I alternately yell, then don’t. >.< That’s the price of having a personality.

Another main one is this website. I was investigating everything... thinking about how I could just do wordpress, like everyone else... but, you know, I hate doing what everyone else does. So I might just try to make my own site and learn some CSS, XML, and javascript as I go (I already have HTML skilllllz, yes, beyond the b, i, and u tags, thankyaverymuch).

It’ll probably take a bunch of time to learn, but honestly, any time you can invest in bolstering your computa skills is time well spent, if every job I’ve held has taught me anything...

Christmas in October

There are always, always, always, excuses. Mary Oliver probably puts it best in her poem, Kookaburras: "In every heart there is a coward and a procrastinator." She goes on to say, though, "In every heart there is a god of flowers, just waiting / to stride out of a cloud and lift its wings."

Her poem has a strong and stern message: Do not choose the former of the two, if you can possibly avoid it.

See, there are things in life, balances to be struck, bargains to be made. People answer this question - what's more important today? - while ignoring this question - what's more important for my life?

Yesterday, a group of us (incl. Battleshy Youths, Paper Janes, and various folks) chose to answer the second question in complete and utter defiance of the first.

And it was rockin'.

A lot of what's real and good in life makes no sense on the surface. Looking from the outside, you'd have seen a group of young people who have homework and school and jobs and obligations; you'd have seen them temporarily discard most of their obligations, including the forfeit of sleep; one of them has a recording studio in the basement, for some reason; his folks are somehow okay with about 20 people making use of all but a few rooms in the house for practicing, collaborating, eating, and hanging out; the house, by midnight, is littered with coffee mugs and bowls of chili; musicians climb in and out of the studio with a menagerie of instruments, some loud and obnoxious; and the last few stragglers finally leave the house at 3 AM to dodge herds of deer as they navigate through rural Pennsylvania to capture a few precious hours of sleep.

I know a number of people who would NOT be okay with this happening in or around their house.

So what's under the surface that makes it all worth it?

Friends, new ones and old ones. The practicing of creativity and generosity. Giving help, accepting help, asking for help. Encouragement to make full use of the special and unique gifts given to each of us.

Also, we possibly recorded some sweet tunes somewhere in there.

What a day.

Something's in the details and it's actually good.

I kinda like that this setup totally trumps the TV. (Come to think of it, I should probably make up a dust cover for it, since I use it like, once a week, maybe?)

I always underestimate the value of having a nice workspace. And I always kid myself into thinking that music isn't work. I know, inherently, that it is work, and I do take it as seriously as I take any other job I've had. I just make stupid decisions, like, having a workspace doesn't do that much for ya.

Um, yes, it does. baka!!

I'll be the first to admit that I am in a learning process. I mean, shoot. Despite years of classical training, I hardly ever played in front of a mic before I started pursuing singer-songwritership. That takes getting used to; it's a whole crazy world of understanding how to play and sing into microphones, why feedback happens, how sound system setups work (for the longest time I wasn't even sure I knew what a "monitor" was). But the learning is fun and I don't mind admitting I'm an idiot if it means I also get to talk about having fun.

I've been selecting, detailing, preparing songs. Ditching songs that don't resonate with me (cos why should I record songs I'm not 300% in love with?). Printing out lyrics sheets to my own songs, getting into the nitty-gritty of how and why I want to express certain elements of them, questioning and editing chord choices... I freakin' love it. Details, details, details, I love them. An ounce of detail can convey pounds of meaning, even if unperceived by the majority of listeners. They matter, and I love making them matter ^^

Zeal, and Pre-chickens

There has been a lot of this in my life lately.

It's a terrific thing.


In case you can't tell what "it" is, it's musicing. Musicing with people randomly, awesomely, at odd hours of the day and night. Running around water fountains, instruments in hand, yelling the lyrics to a minutes-old song (aptly named, I think, the "one chord song"). Improvising a song on Main Street in the rain about how we weren't busking. Guitaring on the beach with four friends and ten-foot breakers. Referring a new friend to a store that sells balalaikas.

You know how when you leave a place for a long time, you come back and it feels wrong? The doorknobs aren't at the right height, you can't remember the little tricks to all the sticky locks, the faucets turn the wrong way? This is like the opposite. This is like arriving at a place where all the little things actually feel familiar, even though you've never lived there before.

Honestly, there is so much freedom in my life right now, and if somebody saw me running around in the rain singing Puff the Magic Dragon in vocal harmony with my friends, they would seriously doubt my sanity, they would say something disparaging about how kids these days should get a job and become contributing members of society. And, you know what? I wouldn't care. Because I am contributing, just not in one person's narrow mindview. I'm really happy just being crazy. If this is the only life I ever live, I hope I've done it well and much to the consternation of narrow-minded people.

Lately I have been doing a lot of networking, though, and some playing out (most recently, the Queen's open mic). Things are happening, things have been scheduled, mulled over, talked about, collaborated and elaborated upon.

However, I do not count my chickens before they hatch. Ideas are not actual things. So expect updates when the actual things happen, but feel free to ask me in person about ideas, if you want to get your head talked off.

There's a lot of excitement. A lot of potential and energy (potential energy!!) and I hope the momentum doesn't get lost, I hope crazy new things start happening, I hope I will have the courage to take some steps and leaps and bounds when they start manifesting in real life.

And the rest of August went something like this.

Strawberry ice cream flat root beer float.

Both ingredients are remnants of social gatherings I've had here at my bachelorette pad, and there's no decent way to get rid of them... so I've merely deferred to the indecent methods.

Speaking of indecent, hellooooooooooo not updating my blog for a month.

Here, before you read on, click "play" on this song I wrote. Then you can listen and read at once. It'll be magical.

Click here for lyrics and stuff

What happened in that time?

• First paying gig since May! Or so I believe, since I haven't yet received a check. If I don't, I guess I volunteered to play background music for a dinner party. (I guess it's not really in good form to report publicly that I haven't been paid yet, but, that's just the thing... here's a transparent look at how I'm growing from my experiences. /tangent)
  
• Played for the Delaware Friends of Folk coffeehouse. It was their second round of performers for the Delmarva Folk Hero contest. Michael said I should do it, so I did, and I did my darndest and I just didn't make it. Reasons I'm not disappointed: there's a lot of good performers in the area, I can't win everyone over, and I planned and played my absolute best. Anyway, I ran into my fellow FAWMer and songwriter Aaron Nathans, which was kinda cool, and I got a taste of how the open mics are run by the Delaware Friends of Folk. Plus I met a ton of cool folks, which I always try to do wherever I am and it's always a good time. Michael & Erin's duo, the Honey Badgers, were finalists from the first round so they'll be playing at the Delmarva Folk Festival in October. Yay!
  
• Played at Mojo Main's open mic a couple of times, which was snazzy. One night I brought the dulcimer onstage, which was pretty fun. ^^ Oh, my snapshot was also in the local paper... it's not in the online version, but they wrote an article about some of Delaware's open mics, and Mojo Main was featured (of course!). In my own humble estimation - this is one great open mic. I've played/run a few in my time...
  
• I lost all my guitar students. Yep. So. There's that. I know my role as a guitar teacher, and if I've got beginners I generally expect that they will discover more of their musical identity while studying with me; once they know who they are, they might find another teacher or program that fits better, or they might decide that a little bit is enough for now. As long as the decision's what's best for the student and the student's family (and as long as it's not because I stink), I'm a happy teacher.
  
• The timing of it, though, is impeccable... which is to say, I'm not sorry to have a little of my time back to focus on what I'm doing, at least for now. Looking into the fall is like looking into a smoke-filled room. Fragments and bits of opportunity are drifting around and it's hard to say what's going to happen. Some exciting and new stuff's over the horizon, though.
  
• Also I finally joined ReverbNation. Michael told me to do it at the end of July and I told him I'd look into doing it the next week. Better late than never!! I don't know how the rankings work but somehow I shot up to #19 for Newark, which is quite strange.
  

So, yep. Ready for September. The end of summer means fewer hours at work which means greater hours for music!! :)