Monday, January 28, 2008

Eucalyptus

Just wanted to share this newer tune I recorded in my closet this last weekend. Click on the play button below to listen

Do me and yourself a favor by plugging in some headphones or turn up some decent speakers. It needs all the help it can get.

Artist insights: Keep an ear out for Princess Bride and home-turf San Francisco references.

Author's note (5.30.08): This is unmastered version. The final mastered version can her heard on my website now.


I guess i'm arrogant, but I'm working on that.


I read this article in Ad Age today (Daily advertising industry pub). Although I'm not a perfect fit in every category Mindset Media gauged Mac owners, I fit in most of them pretty snugly.

Perception is an interesting animal. It would be nice to be the likable, humble guy without having to change much else in my tastes and interests. Take a look at the results of the research.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Baby Practice?


No, not a weekend of practicing making babies. Jaime's in Utah visiting friends this weekend. Meanwhile, it's just me and Annie-the-dog chilling like ice cream filling at home all weekend. When people say that having a dog is good practice for the responsibility of having children i usually laugh. Jaime put it well last week, "You can't just give your baby a bone, walk out the door and say "K, be good! We'll be back in 8 hours!" True that.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding...Annie gave me my first dose of sleepless parental madness last night, bless her little canine heart. Like a true lonely bachelor slob, I stayed up pretty late playing guitar, watching movies and eating burritos. Annie was an awesome man's best friend all day - until her incessant whining and whimpering by my bed finally dragged me out of a fresh REM cycle at 3:30 a.m. Which is not normal for her, so I figured something was wrong. On the rare occasion that she does bark us out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn (which is a blessing compared to 3:30 a.m.), my subconscious usually remembers who's boss and registers the "keep your eyes shut tight and Jaime will take care of her" reflex. But last night I was the only human home. And really sleepy. So, living in a third floor apartment in the Colorado winter I have to put on shoes and socks, coat and hat and take her out. She was jumpy like a caffeinated kid whose been holding in a pee all day and sure enough, let loose some stinky doggy diarrhea on the first patch of grass she could reach.

At that point, i was no longer annoyed. I was proud that she was so well house trained that she held that mess inside of her while I laid in bed for 30 minutes hoping she'd give up on me and go back to sleep. Good girl.

I stumbled back in and went right back to sleep. Until about 45 minutes later when I woke up from Annie's hacking as she threw up on my carpet. I got up again and cleaned that up, but couldn't go right back to bed because I had to wait for the carpet stain remover stuff do it's magic (Instructions: Let sit for 10 minutes while you cry on the floor and wish you were sleeping).

Then of course, she pulled the 3:30 a.m. thing again at 6:30 a.m. and it was official: my night was over. At that point it was obvious she was a sick puppy. I put my warm clothes back on and took her out to feed the grass another batch of butt soup.

It was then that I thought "maybe this is good baby practice." Now I'm typing and thinking that changing a diaper in the comfort of my own home or sitting in a rocking chair with my offspring listening to Miles Davis ballads softly playing in the dark can't be that bad. (And yes, I do plan on having Miles in the stereo at all times for just such an occasion.)

I'm sure in a few years I'll be writing a new blog as a dad (by then they'll be called "star logs") in neo-retrospect typing "Annie is piece of cake." But at least Jaime will be home. I miss Jaime. And Annie's a good dog. I think she's feeling better now.

She better. I'm off to bed soon, hopefully for the whole night. Daddy's gotta work tomorrow.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Formal Fridays


It's "Formal Friday" here at the agency today. Alex Bogusky recently initiated "Formal Fridays" as a tongue-in-cheek "privilege" to dress up while the the rest of the corporate world was dressing down on business casual Fridays. His one warning in his all-agency e-mail a couple Thursday's ago:

Remember that this is a privilege, not a right. If people abuse it by dressing overly formal we will go right back to jeans and t-shirts every day. Please no top hats. No tails. No opera gloves under any circumstances. Don't make me regret Formal Fridays.

I somehow woke up on the couch this morning, wearing my glasses (a great way to start the day). Needless to say I wasn't thinking about Formal Friday until I got in today and noticed people embracing the opportunity to spiff up instead of the normal casual garb we run around in. It's ironic: I probably own more neckties than most anyone at this agency, but I find it hard to muster the will to dress up at work when it's not expected of me and actually won't help me be taken any more seriously in my work.

I mean, c'mon, I got a haircut last night. I respect my appearance. (Editor's note: The author was wearing etnies, frayed jeans, a free t-shirt and his most comforting American Apparel hoodie at the time of drafting.)

Maybe next Friday i'll bust out my opera gloves just to stir things up.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Jumping on the ol' blogwagon



Eric and I have started off 2008 with a kablam! After Christmas vacation (spent with the whole awesome Falke fam in Santa Cruz, CA), we both got right back to work. I am still doing the aftercare program at Boulder Country Day and substituting a few times a week. Eric is still working at CP+B on VW, but has just gotten changed to a new team. He is now working on the VW field team, focusing on the retail specifics of selling VWs and assisting dealers with their advertising. Since he has been working so hard this past week, Eric's boss gave him this Friday off. We are planning on going up to Rexburg (aka The Berg), to spend some time with our friends and for Eric to spend some time snowboarding in the Tetons. We'll keep you posted.