Happy New Year. Merry Christmas. Yes, I know it's late. But I've been juuuust a bit busy resetting my life.
So, here's a refresher and quick update. My marriage ended on 9/11/19. I drove into Tempe on 10/19/19 and moved in with my best friend and his family. I will be eternally grateful for their help, generosity, and hospitality. I paid them weekly rent, but that was because of my pride and insistence. They would have let me stay for nothing.
I’ve also sort of reconnected with my mother, who lives about 2.5 hours away. That’s much closer than WI. We’ve always been pretty close, but the distance didn’t help our relationship. I’ve seen her three or four times since I came back, and it’s been good. Plus, she’s helped her son in the way mothers do when their children are in trouble. I’ll always be grateful to her too, for this, and many other reasons.
I started a new job on 12/2/19. So far, so good. It's a great company with wonderful people. I'm not going to name it because I do want to maintain some privacy, and while I'm not superstitious, I don't want to jinx it. I was actually hired about two weeks before I started, so I went apartment hunting. I found a great place and moved in on 11/30/19.
Take all that in for a second. In fact, let's break it down this way:
09/11/19 - marriage ends
10/14/19 - last day at my job in WI
10/19/19 - I move in with my best friend in Tempe, AZ
11/30/19 - I move into a new apartment
12/02/19 - I start a new job
That is a big, heaping load of change in less than three months. And here's the kicker.
I'm kind of happy. Probably happier than I have been in years, mainly because I've legitimately hated every job I've had for at least the last decade. That's a bitch. Yes, I had issues within my marriage, but I still loved my wife. She was much more good than bad. We just realized our marriage wasn't going to work.
I don't hate my current job. I kinda like going to work. I live about 6 miles from it, about 8 miles from my best friend, and 2 miles from my dojo. At the moment, life is pretty good.
New music is coming. I finished about 99% of the recording before I moved. I’ve made a few minor tweaks, but the major obstacle has been learning to properly mix and master the recordings. That seems a bit odd coming from someone who as previously released over 100 songs - all of which I recorded, mixed, and mastered on my own - but I’m trying to get these recordings to sound closer to what I hear when I listen to my favorite artists. It’s not easy. I thought I was there until I listened to the songs in my car, and discovered I didn’t like the mix and the vocals were way too loud in nearly every song. So, I had to remix and remaster. I think I’m done, but I want to leave the songs alone for a few days and then listen to them on a few different devices before I make a decision.
The album will be called “Words, Music, and Pain.” A friend here in Tempe is doing the cover, and I love his design. Very cool.
Once I’m done with the new music and the album has been released into the wild (world, whatever), I’ll get back to finishing my book. I want to record the audio version before I release the e-book, and while I do that, I’ll make any corrections and revisions I think are necessary. I don’t have a timeline in mind, but I will work consistently on it.
The next musical project will be kind of a video version of Twenty Aught Eight. In 2008, I wrote, recorded, and released a new song every week. This time, I’m going to post a video every week for a year. It will be just me playing and singing; live recorded video - no overdubs of any kind. I’ll be performing songs from my catalogue, a few covers, and maybe a new song or two. I’m tentatively calling this “One Man. One Voice. One Year.” One of my first thoughts for a name was “One Man. One Voice. One Guitar. One Year.” However, I think it’s too long, and my literal mind says it’s not accurate. Yes, I’ll be playing one guitar for each video, but I’l be using different guitars, depending on what I play. But, I haven’t committed to a name yet.
That’s where I am. Moving forward, I plan to start blogging on a weekly basis again.
Y’all take care.