just a few more months and we'll be fine

This past week has been pretty eventful. Somewhere I forgot to mention I got an iPhone. Although I don't know how it slipped my mind. It's a solid investment. The first iTunes download on my phone was Jon Foreman's second EP - Winter. I downloaded that just after midnight when it came out. I also used the phone to listen to some rough mixes of some acoustic tracks we recorded to supplement the new record. And just tonight I used it to find the number to Red Robin and then proceeded to call an order in for a whiskey river bbq burger. So that's the phone sitch' (that's for you pete)

Right now I'm listening to some good friends of ours latest record - needtobreathe. Their unbelievably good. Scary good actually. Good music is hard to come by these days - at least I think. But what do I know. I was just thinking that I don't know who the jonas brothers are. What does that mean? I know that Tom Petty is doing a summer tour though. And I'm going to be there. I also had this funny thought the other night when I was listening to Jon's new EP. When we recorded our first record for the label we were in the studio one day and one of the label guys came by with a brand new disc. It was switchfoot's beautiful letdown. Yeah - I'm pretty sure he played us meant to live - this was like a year before it came out. He left and we proceeded to record a silly song like captain's chair or something. It was a humbling experience, but if it wasn't for truly good music there would be a lot of mediocre bands with no one to look to for inspiration. So thanks Jon, and thanks Tom for bearing with me.

A day to relax

So the past few weeks have been fairly hectic. I woke up late yesterday after a quick two day trip with Matt and Pete to visit some radio stations in Texas. I worked on some un-fun things for a while and then I happened to look outside and noticed that it was actually kind of nice out. Nice as in not cloudy or windy. It hit me then that I hadn't flown any of my rc airplanes since summer. I asked Dominique if we could go and she was in. So I charged up some batteries and we headed to the park....

happy new year!

Alot has been going on since the last post. We've had some time off the road to be home and that was super awesome. Although in the middle of it I found I had a terrible problem with my back. Turns out I have a slipped disc in my low back, the L5 - S1 disc to be exact. It's a pretty nasty little thing actually. It decided to make my leg feel crazy for the few weeks leading up to and after Christmas. After much rest and some Dr. prescribed medications I'm feeling much better and hope to avoid the all too serious fate of back surgery.

I did get to play a show with the guys on New Year's Eve in our hometown. We haven't played a show that allowed us more than 10 songs all year it feels like. Such a good feeling to play that much live again, although shows like that tend to be a blur. All the fog didn't help either. I think the lighting guy didn't know how to turn off the fog machine. My dad sent me a pic so here it is... We got to play some new songs and I got to finally mix some live tracks in stereo rather than mono, which is a very awesome thing. It's kind of hard to explain how cool it is, but let's compare it to having a PC then getting a mac. Hopefully to most of you that's a happy thought, but it's also like having a dodge neon then getting a decked out volvo SUV. Maybe that's more like it. I decided to buy the gizmos to make it all happen while I was home recovering from the back issues. I purchased pro tools m-powered, an m-audio 410, and a tranzport wireless remote control. It's ridiculous how nice it runs on my new macbook pro. I know... blah blah blah. Dan Gartley was excited about it though.

We also had our annual sanctus Christmas party the day after the New Years show. I got some sweet vinyl like the new Paul McCartney, old T.P., and some zeppelin. I got to hang out with my pals...
We all got really nice Christmas bonuses too!! O.k. that isn't true, but I consider it a bonus we made it through another year and things are great. We couldn't be more excited about our new record that releases in february and we're getting set to do some really cool things to promote it. I think that's all for now though - it's time to get some late night Big Boy ;)

My favorite dudes and I

Here's one of my fav videos caught by a 'fan.' It's old, but I love that you can actually hear Dan's bass, we seem to be in the pocket, and the off key sing along at the end ;)

Where does the time go?

For real, who isn't stressed this time of year? It's rather ridiculous I think to allow it to happen, but it never fails and it's ever increasing. Would I be ashamed to admit that I'm the guy who goes shopping for others and only comes home with new clothes for himself? Yeah, prettty much. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck. After all, how silly is the whole hub bub of the season in comparison to the real reason we're abe to celebrate. Yeah - enter my reality check. I thank God for the blessings of life and family, and I will try my hardest not to let the little things get to me this week ;) Not even that ticket I got today...

Ok, so here's the proof that I was in 88 degree weather the same weekend that I returned home to a car with its doors frozen completely shut. This is us at the Alamo. We had an amazing time with my aunt and uncle and I had a chance to see my grandmother for the first time in 12 years. She still doesn't speak much english and unfortunately I still can't speak a lick of spanish. It didn't really matter though, I sat and listened, trying to decipher a few words just like I would try when I was a kid. We all laughed a bunch and it was cool considering she's not in the best of health. I think I'll try posting some more pictures soon. Back to my car though... I poured hot water on the doors and they opened right up.

here goes

Today is a big deal. My family and I have not taken a vacation together since I was 16 years old. It's been 10 years in the making, and I've been around the country 10 times without them in the meantime. I never thought we would ever travel somewhere together just like we did way back when. We're in San Antonio visiting family we rarely ever see and I feel like I'm 16 again. All I need is my sony discman loaded with 'The Bends' and about 8 bucks in my wallet. Who has their own cell phone? How much for a gallon of gas? What are estimated taxes? What do I care?

So anyways, as I was saying today is a big deal. I started this page today and I'm excited. I also saw the Alamo today. Pretty cool. I saw one of Davy Crockett's guns and my dad bought some little army men. We walked around in the 75 degree weather and forgot all about the 3 inches of snow we left behind in Toledo. I think we saw a mexican soap opera being filmed too. Which reminds me, my aunt calls me Antonio Banderas, which is funny because my wife also calls me that but for different reasons. Either way I don't see any resemblance. I mean come on... zoro? I could only dream of having my own cologne.

Tonight's dinner was great. Dad paid. My Aunt and Uncle provided the entertainment. My sister ordered a steak and I had a sweet potato. I saw some great moustache's and thoroughly enjoyed the 90's mix of music. Oh, and who doesn't love the foam soap at Outback?