Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Coming up for air, but just for a second

And not because I enjoy being negligent or anything. I've just been busy... you know.... like a crazy person. I have the CD now, but I haven't had a chance to promote it because I've been running this conference, and now the conference is done, so now I can get to work on the rest of my school work, along with a possible presentation at another conference in about a month. But yeah, I'll get to promoting those CDs in just a sec. Honest.

I really need to, of course. They're just sitting in the hallway of my apartment, boxes stacked on boxes of them, and the top one is open with a few CDs missing. Lovely... what progress I'm making! All this time, all this work, all this saving up money and struggling to bring this project together, and what comes of it? Boxes stacked in my hallway???? Apparently, yes. No matter... I'll crank it up this summer, devoting most all my time to promotion of the album. Besides, what kind of an idiot would I be if I let my schoolwork falter as a result of this thing? No, I'll get to it, believe me. And I'm just as serious about it as I ever was. Just really busy, that's all.

My mom came to visit for the first time since I've been here, and she seemed to have a pretty good time. She was on her way to the Phillipines, and she's stoping by again on her way back to Texas next Monday, so I'll get a chance to show her around a little (which I didn't get to do last time, what with it being easter and all). Nothing much to report there beyond that.

Ugh. I'm lame.

No, I'm bored. Okay, and that makes me lame, I suppose. But seriously, what can I possibly do to liven things up a bit? I'll be going back to the open mic circuit in two weeks, I've been writing new music, my predoc thesis work is almost done, I finished my conference and didn't die in the process, I've completed the choir season and didn't choke on my solo, My CDs are finally complete, I haven't gained any weight back, and I've only been sick once this semester. What more could I possibly want?

Well, for starters, I have no social life whatsoever. Naturally, I blame John. Not because it's his fault on a personal level, but because it's his faul on every other level. When I'm done with my day, I want to go home to be with him. Nothing wrong with that, right? Okay, so the problem arises when we spend our time together AT HOME. It's no big secret that I like to be out and about, and he actually does, too, but our days are so long and we're so often in different parts of the city that home seems the most logical place to meet up. Ocassionally, we have dinner, or we do a little shoping, but that's about all we have time or money for. Besides, John has virtually no friends out here, and that saddens me. It's not that he's anti-social or anything. His problem is his field of study. He's a classicist. Classicists are freakishly boring and nerdy and a complete drag. Broad generalization, I know, but most classicists would agree with me on this one. At any rate, there's you're garden variety classicist, and then there's John. 'Nuff said. Anyway, he spends all his time around these people, has no interest in socializing with them, and then goes to the gym before going home. That's his world these days, in a nutshell. He says he still loves being in New York, and that he's perfectly happy with just me and some of my friends to hang out with. Still, I feel terrible about talking shop with folks from psychology or philosophy whenever he's there, becasue I don't want him to feel like the third wheel in the conversation (not that he doesn't follow what we talk about... he just finds it incredibly boring, like most living, breathing humans). Also, there are times when I go out with friends after class for a quick drink or dinner, and I know John's got nothing like that. It irks me because there's nothing to be done about it. Maybe, in time, there'll be someone cool that comes into his department. I doubt it, but I guess it doesn't hurt to hope.

Don't get me wrong... I don't feel too sorry for him. He still lives a charmed life. He teaches the classes he wants, he kicks ass in his coursework, and he stumbles onto one ridiculous oportunity after another as if he's trying to rub it in. Maybe this is nature's way of striking a balance... he gets no social life, but he does get everything else. Hmmm... that's not so bad, really. Still, I'm the sort that wants both, and I know he's the same way. Give us a month or so to work on it. Meanwhile, we'll just get through this semester before planing out our social calendar.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

THE CD IS IN!!!!!

That's right. So buy one. Hell, buy ten.

They arrived this evening, and they're awesome. All five hunderd of them. And I intend to sell as many of these as possible, so don't leave me hangin' , people! I'm selling them for $10.00 each, which I'm hoping won't break anybody's bank. I'll be posting more information on how to buy it as soon as I figure out the best way to distribute and market the album. For now, I'm going to set up a PayPal thing on my music website (I'll spread the word when that's done), and then we'll see how it goes. I mean, yeah, my mom is going to buy a bunch, but let's face it, that's the same thing she did back when I was a kid selling candy bars for school. (Gee... whatever happened to all those candy bars? Yeah... all you have to do is look at some of my school pictures to answer that one.)

Anyway, buy my cd.

Meanwhile, something to think about... what's with al the white people moving into my neighborhood? I'm starting to get worried about the racial climate around here, man. I mean, I get off the subway to go home at night, and moabout half of the people getting off the subway at my stop with me are WHITE??? What gives? I thought this wasn't going to be... well... THAT kind of neighborhood. This is a primarily hispanic part of town, and our area in particular is exceptionally diverse, given our proximity to the hospital, so we live around all kinds of folks from just about everywhere. But WHITE PEOPLE??? Wow... didn't see that coming. I figured I'd brought John in under the radar, but I guess somebody caught wind of it, because now it seems like there are white people out here in droves. Fine. Whatever. Let them come. It's just a little creepy, that's all. And weird. It's as if they suddenly appeared, and not just a couple, but several, in singles and pairs. Weird. John finds it a little disturbing, too, by the way. I think this makes it harder for him to feel cool and special, or to build up that much coveted street cred we all strive for. He'll make it somehow, though. I believe in him.

Buy my cd.