not a ton of new information to report. the end of another work week is fast approaching. things seem to be manageable around here, at least for the time being.
spring seems to be creeping towords us very slowly. we will still, no doubt, get at least some more snow before it's all over but there are signs. it's been above freezing all week, it's just a little lighter out in the morning and in the afternoon. i heard birds outside this morning, (perhaps they were lost?). but it's coming! lent, spring training, girlscout cookies, march madness...it's all lined up.
i've been making some serious progress with regards to loading music on my ipod. i got a good head start, but i have been chipping away at my rather sizeable cd collection and am now getting close to the end. that will be quite a milestone.
that's probably it til next week, unless i run across something extremely blog-worthy.

well, i survived the weekend! the wedding was really nice and all went as well as could be expected. i feel like i, (and the pianist) did a reasonably good job with our part of it. a couple of more practice runs would have been desirable but all things considered, i'm pleased. i have to admit, i felt like a rockstar walking into the hotel with my gear. it's the first time anyone's ever asked me, "are you with the band?". yeah, dude. now, a ceromonial burning of my "white flag" sheet music and dido cd...
there was a bit of unplanned stress before the wedding when the company (total music, i think?) dropped off the keyboard. the understanding was that they would set it up where it was supposed to go, and presumably make sure it was working. well, i walked in and saw to huge storage cases and immediately realized it was pretty much up to me to set it up and get it working. bench, stand, keyboard (very heavy) huge amp, cables and cords everywhere. anyway, in the end, with the help of an extension cord we had to borrow from the hotel, it worked out fine. i was glad i showed up 3 hours early!
i had to fire up the first song at the reception, frank sinatra, "the way you look tonight". after that my responsibilities were done and i could relax a little. had a good time hanging with my old printovation pals.
more later...

a very busy week work-wise. doesn't stop me from making a quick post here however.
first off, happy birthday to my sister yesterday (19th), i know you read this. hope you had a good one. we did send a card and i emailed you yesterday so i think we're square.this proves to be a busy weekend as i have the groom's dinner tonight and the wedding tomorrow. suit pressed, shirt ironed, shoes...still need polishing. i'm excited and a little nervous about the guitar playing part. i'm looking forward to it though! wish me luck.
that's it til next week...

had intended on making a post this weekend. didn't get around to it. seemed like a sort weekend but crammed a lot into it. hit "joe's crab shack" with the folks on friday night. sort of a last get-together before their vacation to arizona this week. also on friday night, changed my guitar strings, or as i like to say, " laid down a fresh set of crunchy bronze honeys". it is amazing what a difference in sound it makes. i have figured this out after going literally years on the same set of strings. never again. also in preperation of my first ever gig (wedding this saturday) i bought a new leather strap. this adds a dramatic improvement to the appearance as well. here i've been with an $800 guitar and an $8 dollar vinyl strap. i think i've got the song down (white flag - dido) as good as it's going to get. if i had to pick a song as my first one played in public, it probably wouldn't be this one (d minors, b flats, etc..) but i think i'll be fine. and then i hope to never hear that song again :-)
picked up a roof rake on saturday as ice dams continue to be a threat. we've taken in a little slushy water in the porch area, so i'm doing all i can to nake sure that the moisture stays outside the house.
watched "my big fat greek wedding" with the wife on valentines day night. we may be the last 2 people on earth to have seen this flick. it was cutesy, but no big whoop.
in sticking with my recent wwII kick, i'm currently reading the book "ghost soldiers".
that about gets us caught up...more later

not a whole lot going on as we ease into tuesday. tuesday usually means meetings and today is no different.
i just finished up the hbo mini-series "band of brothers" last night on dvd. what an unbelieveable story! if you've never heard of it, it's about a group of army paratroopers (easy company) who jumped into normandy on "d-day", on june 6th, 1944. i think it's a good reminder every once in awhile to know what some of these men went through and the sacrifices that were made for the benefit of all americans and the rest of the world. catch it if you can, i think you can rent it at your local video store.
looks like my days as webmaster of chamber music minnesota could be coming to an end. to continue on, i need broadband access at home, seeing as i can't really work on the site at work anymore. broadband access at home is sort of a hurdle right now since qwest can't set me up with dsl and cable is so freakin spendy. who knows, we'll see what happens.
that's it for right now...

the end of another work week - yay! not much on the docket this weekend, a good thing. i have 3 sick kids and a sick wife at home. probably a sick me by monday.
probably try to catch some of the nhl all-star game on sunday, since it's being played right here in st. paul.
plan on wrapping up the mini-series "band of brothers" on dvd tonight, than maybe play a couple of rounds of ea sports tiger woods golf. practice my guitar song for my upcoming wedding gig, clean house, and play with my kids.
that's it in a nutshell...more later

i went off on a tirade on monday (see empty post below) and then thought better of it and took it off-line. suffice it to say, it had to do with the moronic events of sunday afternoon which had nothing to do with football, and the "media" force-feeding us pop-culture (among other things) that we don't necessarily want beemed into our living rooms. we have children...we would like some warning. i'm bored with the whole thing actually, so i won't go into it further.
braved the arctic temps at the st. paul winter carnival and ice palace. it is very cool to see, especially at night, but it was a little too cold to stay long. besides, i found that once you saw it and snapped a couple pics, there really wasn't that much to do. it took a night under my electric blanket, cranked up to 5, to actually fully thaw out.
a qwest customer service rep called and left me a message. no can do on the dsl. this is disappointing on several fronts, a. it took them exactly 23 days to get back to me to tell me something i already knew, but thought they could "fix". b., the csr sounded a little too chipper for my liking, unfortunately, dsl is not available at your residence at this time, however, we will contact you when such a time"...blah blah blah. and c, no dsl!!!. i'm now stuck with shelling out big dough for cable internet access (not likely) or puttering along with dial-up until qwest get's off thier butts and gets me access. life's unkind.
that's all for now...more next time.

.