Anxiously Awaiting

Braces suck.

I have many new arrivals to my CD collection. Too many to honestly review one at a time, so I figure an execution of the “shotgun” approach, falling in line with my humble heritage, is appropriate. The List:

Chimaira - Resurrection
Opeth - Watershed
As I Lay Dying - Frail Words Collapse
As I Lay Dying - A Long March
As I Lay Dying - Shadows Are Security
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighers
Foo Fighers - There is Nothing Left to Lose

The Chimaira album is quite obnoxious–it seems they are very angry at something and I have yet to figure out exactly what it is. This type of music is perfect for power lifting at the gym when you need to psych yourself up about nothing in particular; normally I go for the rougher side of music–as indicated by the three As I Lay Dying albums on the list–but unfortunately the lyrical content of that entire album is void of anything positive. The Opeth album, however, is stellar. It’s dark and very well written. There are only seven tracks, but all of them flow and move about in elegant, symphonic ways. Overall, I’m very satisfied–though there are some lyrical problems with it as well. Why can’t someone with something good to say about the world and/or their condition come up with such artistic and engaging music?

Shadows Are Security is the best As I Lay Dying album I bought. The others are more or less older recordings of older songs (some of which are performed terribly) and I wish I had known that before I bought them. At the very least I can say I own all their albums save the original EP.

Of course, all the Foo Fighters albums are great. Dave Groel has to be one of the best musicians of our time.

I miss playing. I lead worship at CCM on the Sundays that I’m not sick or out of town–so it’s not like I don’t get to flex my musical muscles every now and again. What I really miss is playing with a group of well tuned friends who simply love the music. I have played in bands that wanted to simply “make it” and realized quickly that attitude is not me. I just love music. Period.

I have resurrected a couple of projects related to my musical creative endeavors and I’m going to attempt to finish them up so that I can share them with everyone. One is an untitled song that I have written some fun delay parts to, and  another is to finish carpeting my pedal-board so I can actually use it.

The guys down in the singles ministry at FBA said they want to use me occasionally on electric guitar. I’ll need a completed board to be able to do that. In any event, I’m excited some of my harem of beautiful guitars may see the light of stage during a performance sometime soon. Excuse me, I’d better start working on my windmill. No time for writing.

The weather is so incredibly nice this time of the year. Usually for about three weeks in September and October, Georgia becomes a west coast style paradise with cool breezes and temperatures around 70F. This is prime riding weather =). Unfortunately because of life’s obligations I have only been able to ride once in the past week. I would love to go every day. Riding is a great stress reliever, and it get’s my mind off the mundane routine of my day-to-day. I am going to try to ride at least twice this week. I would like to take advantage of this weather while I can.

Long time.

I have a good job. I am not lacking in anything material–as a matter of fact I have spent quite a bit of money on some things that I don’t need. Take a click at the gear section of my site and you can see what I’m talking about. Recently I realized that sometimes I spend in an unbridled way on the mundane. Is this a big problem? Actually, no. I can afford it and still have quite a bit of money left over–the balance on my savings account proves that to me. But what happens if I lose my job? Since it is in the realm of possibility that I go from eating out every week to living off PB&J in an instant, I think I need to soften that potential standard of living shock a bit. I am not in danger of losing my job, but I think I need to cut back a bit and get into the habit of living off a budget for my own future financial good.

Previously, my budget consisted of whatever I spent during the month. I am not a lavish liver. I don’t buy expensive clothes, I don’t spend money on partying, bars, alcohol, or other often worthless money sinks, and I am very careful about going into debt or making large purchases. Recently I considered buying a new car–a Toyota RAV4–but I eventually backed out because the car I have works just fine. Well other than the AC being broken, but hey, it’s winter now. I’m good ;). The point is, I could be content with the car I have or go into debt to live more comfortably. I chose no debt.

My point is to underscore that even though one can be well off and have decent spending habits in some areas there is still a need for universal financial discipline and self imposed limits. My standard of living has indeed been kicked up a notch in some areas; I eat out more and spend money on things that I really want or enjoy like my lovely Macbook Pro, my bike, guitar toys, good concerts, and my friends. Nevertheless, I believe I should pay more attention to the budget I have established and get into the habit of enforcing it. Yodlee has an awesome budgeting tool (among other great features) that tracks how much you have spent during the month versus your goals in an intuitive graphical way. It’s a great tool for visual people like me to use to get a handle on how much money I have left in the monthly budget. I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, it looks like I am really close to my limit on eating out (which is a problem area according to my transaction history), so please excuse me while I go to the store and buy some PB&J. Hooray for self imposed discipline!