:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 ::

Looks like I still have time to eke out a birthday blog. Thanks to everybody who did or said the things that made this one a good one. Funny, last year was the big 4-0, and this one got more recognition [not that I'm big on recognition]....

Among all of the things and the sentiments, I find that it has been the time spent with people that has mattered most. Special thanks to mom for the "perspective."

And of course, after a year of talking about it, I finally went balls-out and ordered that acoustic bass guitar from Lark in the Morning. And it got here today-- perfect timing. I absolutely love it. It just feels so good in my arms. Sounds great, too.

Apologies for the brevity, but I'm tired from this being the third evening in a row of going out and having to work the next morning. One last kudos worth mentioning goes to Sheaf Stout, very close to edging Black Butte Porter out of my number one spot. Somehow, Sheaf is smooth and dark [chocolatey], but doesn't hit heavy in the morning. So, cheers and goodnight!

:: Anne 11:08 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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This is the most amazing video. This guy Noah supposedly took a photo of himself every day for about six years. It's a riveting series of juxtapositions, set to the perfect music.

I just stayed up half the night learning that chilling piano piece. It's pretty much Am/F/C/E for the basic structure, with some D-->G change-ups. The trick is keeping that steady tempo and playing with the dynamics. What a rush. Are you ready?

:: Anne 4:44 AM [smartass remarks] ::
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Anyone interested in their own recording projects should check out TapeOp. I stumbled upon it while researching Emitt Rhodes. It seems that, since I was able to score a bit of his stuff in analog form (vinyl & r2r) on eBay, much of the "re-releases" I then saw on Amazon have gone out of print again. I really wanted that Hawthorne album, but I think I'll wait to see if it comes back around again.

Meanwhile, I am working on setting up the recording gear in the living room again. It's high time. Last night, through pure dumb luck I'm sure, I learned to play the song posted below. I do it on the guitar, and capo 4, with a strange little minor 7th walkdown resolution that I thought I heard. Easier to do than to say. If I had to describe all of things I do on the guitar to anyone-- well, I'd just have to show you. It's not like the piano, which is so visible in a linear way; the guitar is on a much more intuitive level for me. I navigate by feel.

It sure is nice to have two days off in a row. And another on Wednesday. I feel my head coming back together slowly but surely. I had a nice long afternoon nap today, even after I got a solid eight hours' sleep last night. Guess I've been more fatigued than I thought. Well, for the next month, it's a straight 40-hour work week for me, no overtime. I'm hoping to finish up [and in some cases get started on!] some summer projects. I'm debating whether or not to release an EP once I've completed and mastered five or six studio songs. People say you use EP's to get gigs, which really doesn't interest me. Others say it's a teaser for an album, but I wonder if it's not just a lazy choice for the impatient? I'd much rather have a full album myself, but that seems so far down the road and people have asked me to release some stuff just to get it out there now. Then you have to change it up a bit, like having two of the songs on the EP not appear on the album, which adds to the length of the project [i.e., sheer number of songs to be completed in the studio]. Hmm, don't know yet. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

The "anne in the attic" MySpace page is here.

:: Anne 11:43 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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We come face to face with death every day in so many ways, but somehow it slips by unnoticed, camouflaged in the ways that we either make it into something beautiful or turn our faces away altogether. It's always there, ever the ultimate possibility. And one day it will be so, for all of us.

It was for one of my peers at work this week. We received a call Wednesday that he had been found at his computer that bright August morning and couldn't be roused. Such a deep sleep, they couldn't wake him. And suddenly, as it is with everyone, there is a hole in the universe where he used to live, breathe, act, love.

And by the end of the week, things continue on, as they always do, always will, without him. We recover our footing and step forward with the reminder that one day will be ours in just such a manner. We resolve to live better, more fiercely in the moment, to be better to our bodies, our families, our friends. We vow to make the world remember that we were ever here.



::: SUFJAN STEVENS : "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" :::

:: Anne 6:17 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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