My Thoughts… A Designer's Blog

Little By Little

Hey folks… well, I thought I had the whole “adding pictures” thing figured out, but with my new upgrade to WordPress 2.5, everything is all effed up now. It’s probably not that bad, but what I had done before to add pictures isn’t possible with this version. I would like to go back and downgrade if possible, but I don’t know if I can.

I like a lot of the new features 2.5 has… it looks cleaner, simplified and it’s more fun to navigate. But like I said, I’m having issues with the images, which bothers me for some reason or another. I’m not impatient but I only have so much time to dedicate time to messing with that stuff. And now I tried it the way they set it up and I can’t get the images to show or be placed the way I could do it before. Same with the sizing/re-sizing. Before if it was too big, I could scale it down. I don’t know… maybe I did something wrong when moving the files to my FTP? psh… too tired to wanna think about it.

Not too much to talk about today. The past couple days I was playing catch-up with my own work and getting things organized for everyone and for the summer. I’m putting together contracts for everyone, setting up file folders and getting invoices made. The biggest pain of everything that I was doing was setting up a chart through Excel. If you don’t know how to use Excel and wanted to do what I was trying to do, it’d be better off finding someone that knows how to do it and pay them. I don’t know why it has to be so complex. shi*t dude! All their little “code” things and how it works is one crazy mess. Whoever came up with that must be a complete genius. Suffering through a couple online tutorials was kinda frustrating to say the least but it’s done!

Oh well… now I’m just exhausted. But awake enough to still write something….. keeping people up to date on what I’ve been up to.

…

Wow, I can’t think of anything to write! This is a first. Actually… I have things I wanna write about but my brain is so fried from the Excel stuff, working on the contracts and just going through a normal day. I just need to wait until I’m relaxed and more in the mood to write. I can promise fun stories will be back soon.

All I can say is that I’m so excited that it’s April. That means I get to start working full-time again and I’m really excited about the upcoming season.

Goodnight friends!

Get Off Of My Cloud

I know I’m going to get scolded for saying this but I am currently sitting at home… on the computer… writing a blog… and all the while, 2 miles away at Rice U. - Adolph “Bud” Herseth is giving a free master class.

Where did I go wrong? How is it that for some absurd reason I couldn’t sleep last night, was up until 7am finishing off season 6 of Scrubs and waking up at 1pm thinking “Nah… I’d rather stay home and get some more work done.”

The funny thing is the master class is close by and is only 2 hours. And instead of work… I’m writing this.

Is it because I feel “trapped” that I don’t have a car. (yeah I know… boo hoo, get over it already. I won’t talk about it anymore… just sayin’!) Or maybe that I feel like it’d be too much for me to go there and see everyone I know there. The latter is probably more the case than anything, which is kinda sad. I want to see all my friends… hang out with them and catch them up on my life and everything that’s been going on. Everything for me right now is great and I’m in a very good place. But why do I not want to be social? Why do I choose to seclude myself and sit behind the computer monitor and ramble about being someplace else right now?

It all basically comes down to this… I’m being selfish and a terrible friend. only worrying about myself and not wanting to be in that “social” atmosphere at the moment. This isn’t something that happens regularly… I believe only once in a blue moon. But it happened to happen today for some reason.

I was a little crushed when I couldn’t get a hold of anyone in my area that was going to TCGC today and could give me a ride. I even offered to pay for gas, but it was slim pick’ns. Then I found out about the master class and just folded on that opportunity. Listen to me right now… crabbing about this when I could just hop on my bike and trek up Greenbriar and catch the tail end of the masterclass. *sigh*

Wow! what is up with me lately? Emotions all over the place. I recently became conflicted with certain “feelings”… … Then there’s having so much excitement for the upcoming marching season that I’m getting way ahead of myself and writing sketches for shows that don’t even exist yet. I can’t seem to find my way out of this mental labyrinth! I need to worry about the things that have to be done right now and/or soon. I still have to do my taxes, but that’s because I’m still waiting on a lost tax form from PMHS as well as one other school (I think). Everything got all messed up when I moved last year, changed my address with the PO but I think that deal expires after 90 days?? Maybe? Either way, some people didn’t get the memo (even after I told them back in October) and they went ahead and still sent my stuff to the wrong addy. What can ya do?

Besides the few obvious things, I am waiting on a deposit that should help take care of my trip to Dayton in a couple weeks. I can never be sure exactly when a check will arrive. I’ve heard everything from “the check is in the mail” to “it’ll be about another month until we can pay you…” I make a really good amount of money for what I do, however there is really no consistency to the whole process and it makes my life hell during this time of year. Literally… hell!

I remember when I was a student and didn’t have a job. I would say that my life today is much simpler and more comfortable. But I suffer to do some of the more important things that I should be much better at right now but unfortunately have no choice but to openly admit my incompetence, and that is the ability and/or willingness to save money. My car is broke (okay I lied… I brought it up again) but why don’t I have a dime to put towards it when I had the money to even buy a brand new car last fall? I don’t know if regretting anything is worth the time to do… or even talk about in a blog, except to just get it off your chest. But when I went to Japan last fall, I spent entirely too much money. I don’t regret buying the tickets for Cirque du Soleil, because that was definitely worth the trip, but I do think that the excessive amounts of bottled “Aquarius” after rehearsals, the trips to 7-11 and voluntarily buying $50 worth of “beverages” every week for the crew, I seriously spent too much time in the clouds and not enough time on Earth. (but I do kinda wish I wouldn’t have done the trip to South Korea… the experience was a little less than stellar - but the food was amazing and hangin’ out with Chris, Steve and James was the best! But financially? *pbbt* )

*As a side note, those that are wondering why I would spend $50+ on “beverages”… If you have never been to Japan (or the part that I was in) it literally cost us about $15 for a 6-pack… no joke!

And many times, I would buy a bunch and stock up… not really make a fuss if other people took some or drank… I was being generous, which is my nature, I suppose. Sometimes I’m a little too generous, but I just wanna do what I can to help, sometimes. There’s nothing about that that I regret… nothing at all. But on the other side of the world… I still had bills and was paying them. I won’t specify the numbers on here, but for the months of October thru mid December - whilst I was in Japan - I paid my full portion of the rent, my portion of the utilities, my car insurance, my cell phone bill… I realize now that combining those 3 months of bills I was paying back here in the US with the money I spent in Japan - I really didn’t spend all that much money in Japan… I just failed to balance my checkbook and make myself aware of what I would have left in the end. That was kinda stupid on my part, and those that know me well (especially my roommates) know that I micromanage my finances to be absolutely sure that I can afford everything from bills to groceries to even gas when I need it. Then there are those extra events, like WGI, TCGC, BOA, etc. that I need to be able to afford to attend. I’m just rambling again.

Either way, I made a mistake this past fall. And it’s very hard to put a finger on exactly what that ‘mistake’ was. Was it more of a mistake to go to Japan and enjoy what was an unforgettable experience, not holding back and assuming that there was a chance I’d never get to do this again? Or was it more of a mistake that I jumped on a plane 4 days after finding out they were inviting me to perform with them, thus not being able to find someone to take my room/sublet, move my stuff to storage and pay less, call my cell phone company and try to get some deal done?

I feel kinda like that Ben Stiller character from “Along Came Polly”. (If you’ve seen the movie, this should make more sense). I think if I were that character, there’s no way I would have gotten on that plane, because I would have weighed the pros and cons of the whole “timing” issue of all this and would have likely seen that the risk would be greater on me financially, even though I knew I would be having the time of my life. But you know what? I’m not like that character and I don’t think I micromanage my life in that way… but this is the first time in my life I have ever encountered anything that significant. I’m a risk taker… and I love it. I’m one of those guys that goes “All-in” on the 7 J off-suit, just hoping for the chance that I’ll get lucky! I probably gamble too much, but it’s what makes life a little more interesting sometimes.

I don’t even want to think about what it would have been like had I not gone to Japan. I was there for a mere 2 months of my life and enjoyed it so much that thinking about it brings tears to my eyes because of how much i miss it. The people there were SO amazing and I don’t even care for a second that it was difficult to understand people at times. From the moment I got there and for the entire time, I felt “at home”. I said this before in another blog, but there was a comfort about being there… a freedom… an independence… a happiness… a lifted spirit. Whatever it was, it changed my life. I returned home with such a new perspective on life and living… and I think it changed me for the better.

Unfortunately I have to clean up my mess that was left before I went to Japan… and with the exception of what money was spent and/or wasn’t saved or budgeted properly, I am very happy today. The time without a car and struggling a bit right now is turning out to be an extremely minor inconvenience that doesn’t concern me as much as it probably used to or would most other people. I’ll get through this. I’ve been through a lot in my life, and if I could get through those things, I can get through this! I understand that things can come up… weird things happen all the time and new opportunities arise everyday. I’m probably going to be moving next year… to Austin? to Chicago? to San Francisco? It’s still very much up in the air. Either way, I’m going to be fine and I know that where I’m at now is just one of those times/places that everyone goes through in their lives. Some more than others, but still… it’s not fun, but I can honestly say I’m okay with it.

Well, I do wish I could have gone to that master class. But I’m glad I got to spend time rambling about stuff here. Probably some more personal information than I feel comfortable to share with the world… but really, it’s not that much. I need to go get some food, sit on the couch and watch some TV or somethin’. I haven’t had time for TV… lots of people who do what I do probably don’t. But I need it right now… It’s a weekend and I need the time to get my mind off work… off music… off flag designs… uniform catastrophes… funky drill moves… money… trumpet… … …pretty much everything I’ve been doing nothing but think about over the past few weeks. The only bad part about my job and working my own hours is that I never know when to give myself a break. I need to do a better job of that… and I’ll start with that now.

“George Hester is officially away from his computer for the next several hours… please check back later”

No Expectations

Not having a car really sucked today… not sure why. Just had a bit of cabin fever and I honestly didn’t feel good enough to ride my bike all around Houston. I need to get out of this city. I don’t hate it… I just need to be someplace a little less busy and more like where I used to live when I was in Friendswood 2 years ago. I needed to go to Wal-Mart and a couple other places but it was difficult to find a ride. Wal-Mart is a little too far to get to by bike, and even though there’s other places I could go, I needed a Wal-Mart and only a Wal-Mart. (This is because of my car battery, which was bought there and I was gonna get it replaced). It took me 2 hours of sifting through all of my receipts to find the one I needed. No biggie… I got it now… and all I need to do is get a ride to Wal-Mart. Boo!

The weather was great again today. A tad cloudy at times, but warm. I’ll take cloudy and warm over rain any day… and of course sunny over cloudy. I bring up the rain because it looks like it’ll be raining pretty hard core here starting this weekend and going on for days. The weather predictions are very right, but when they predict it as 80% or higher chance of rain in Houston, it’s damn sure gonna rain.

If there’s ever a chance for me to get out on my bike, it’d be while it’s still dry. But tomorrow will be another day of trying to find a ride to Wal-Mart. Maybe one of the roomies can help me?

So, today I did not get out of the apartment. It was actually a very productive day though. I spent some time working through music ideas for some bands I’m writing for this fall, and I wrote a movement of drill for my Malaysia band. On top of that, I went ahead and kept plugging away on Elsa’s Procession and got about 10 measures done vertically. This score is thick… and it’s like solving a Sudoku puzzle… seriously! But it’s a lot easier than Sudoku… I suck at those. I can barely get through the easy crossword puzzles.

I remember the Michigan Daily crosswords while I was at UofM. I would sit in the lounge on my breaks between theory and orchestra, or whatever my classes were, and I would kick ass on the Monday/Tuesday ones… but anything later in the week was seriously pathetic on my part. I could get maybe 4 words total and the rest were just blank. And chances were that at least one of those 4 words I solved was wrong.

I was talking in a different blog about how I heard that reading can enhance one’s vocabulary and even ability to write. (I think I said that… did I?) Anyway, maybe if I read more books, I won’t feel like all of my blogs read/sound exactly the same and I can perhaps add more inflection, emotion… maybe just some more appeal to what is written. I don’t know… maybe it all reads just fine? hmmm…

Something I remember about high school was the fact that I was actually a really good writer. At least my teachers thought I was. I remember my advanced comp class my sophomore year. Can’t remember the teacher’s name, but he was really cool. I thoroughly enjoyed every writing assignment we had and I did very well in the class. But thinking back it makes me wonder what has happened over the past 15 years since.

Back then, we didn’t really type papers on computer. We had computers and typewriters but you didn’t write a paper for class that was typed. It was always to be in blue or black ink and written in cursive. (boy, now that I think about it, what the hell was the point in writing in cursive?) So now, everyone types their papers… people even type notes while sitting in class. I never really thought about doing that when I was in school, but then again I never had my own computer at the time.

What I think is kinda neat is the fact that even though I don’t type correctly, I type fairly fast and fairly efficiently. I make a few mistakes here and there, but it’s nothing too terrible. But what I think is interesting about typing this out vs. writing in a home journal are both the facts that it’s less tiring or time consuming, and the fact that when you’re writing it by hand you can think about what you’re saying a little better. That’s just my thought on that.

Lets just say this. I don’t talk very fast, but if someone was here looking over my shoulder, it’s safe to say that I’m only a touch slower in my typing than if I was actually saying it out loud. I don’t think anyone can write by hand that fast, unless it’s some sick version of short hand. But in this case, my thoughts are literally spilling out onto the computer screen as I say them in my head. Pretty cool, huh? Well, I think it’s such a different thought process from what I did when I was in high school, or even when I wrote out blogs by hand.

But there’s also that problem of writing by hand so slow that you forget what you’re writing down mid-sentence. haha! Yeah, that’s happened to me a few times. I’ve also seriously turned in an in-class paper before with sentences that just stopped half-way through and never concluded. In fact, I have done that LOTS of times even on the computer. I don’t know why or how that happens. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about what to say… type it as I go and maybe I’ll make a mistake… fumble with the keys a bit… not sure… then I wrap up the sentence with what should have been the end of the NEXT sentence that I hadn’t actually typed out yet and there I have a sentence that starts talking about one thing, completely skips whatever you were thinking and ends with whatever would have been the next thought or point. (Does that even make a little sense?) I guess I’ll have to assume everyone understands because I don’t feel like explaining.

I’ve done it before with older blogs… at least I think I have. I don’t proof read or really go back and re-read much of what I say. A lot of my older blogs (especially from 2004) are a tad too painful to want to remember. So I just leave them. The only blogs I usually check up on are ones that are a little more fun… maybe the ones where I post videos. I don’t know… I guess the writing is there for others to read. I typed it and thought it so I don’t know if I need to go back and read it. *shrug* But it’s not like I think reading back is dumb. I think there’s just a time and a place to do it… but for me right now, not really that time or place yet. But these past few I’ve posted are so fresh in my mind that it’s not like I forgot and need to remind myself about what I said. I guess that’s not the point.

By the way, what am I talking about in this blog? Am I sticking to any particular topic? We’re basically talking about typing vs. writing by hand. Well, to conclude this topic, I’ll just say that I thank God for computers and the ease of typing… but damn all you that made me write 15-page papers on college ruled paper in cursive. And if you made a mistake, you either get yourself some white-out or you started that page all over again. I don’t miss that at all.

I was talking to several people about this over the past few months, and it’s just one of those things that puts me into some deep thoughts about my life. As most of you know, I’m basically a full-time visual designer emphasizing in drill design for marching groups and doing a little bit of web design on the side and looking forward to possibly making a career out of it. I majored in music performance in college and basically did little to nothing at the computer. My life was all about the trumpet and nothing else. If there was anything, it would be the piano that was in the practice room with me those 4-5 hours per day. A computer had little to no use in my life, and I was even bad at checking my e-mail. Seriously… it went from once a day to maybe once a week. I just never had a computer of my own and I never was able to get myself out of the practice rooms. Well, at least until around my 3rd year at Michigan.

I was 25 when I got my first computer… it was a laptop and the only reason I bought it was because I needed one to be able to write drill. I remember talking to Mitch about it and we agreed to work together and get me going in what I believed to be, at the time, just a ‘hobby’ that would assist me in my trumpet performance career. Up until that time, I had never really had any intentions on buying a computer, nor doing any sort of job that required one. Little did I know that I would eventually become not an ‘addict’ or anything, but eventually doing work that used a computer exclusively. Not only that, with my newly acquired Adobe CS3 suite, I’ve been going to town on this Flash stuff and I LOVE it!!!

What this makes me wonder though… had I had all of this at my disposal 13 or 14 years ago and technology was what it is today, would I still have majored in music?

Of course, we would have to assume I had the money for the computer, the Adobe suite, the internet service, etc. Even though money for us was very tight when I was in HS, assuming there was the slightest chance I had any or all of what I have now (just meaning the basics with the computer, software and internet services) I honestly believe I would have not majored in music. I may not have majored in design either, but with the ease of use of the computer, the transition to what is now somewhat of a “necessity” and the fact that I don’t even need to pick up and dial a phone number to order a pizza from papa johns - all that tells me is that I’m actually thankful I did NOT have any of this stuff 15 years ago.

I’ll admit… I’m kinda lazy now. Not sure it’s really “me” though. I mean, I’m not a lazy bum or anything… but I sure know how to bum out when I wanna. I know how to be productive and get shit done… but now that I’m working 90% of the time at the computer, I tend to get a “feeling” that I’m not doing enough.

So lets back up for a second. You would ask, “Well, are you happy doing what you’re doing?” Yes I am. I love my job more than I can express. I love listening to music and writing sketched ideas on Pyware, trying to figure out new tricks and new drill moves and do things that can actually be my own and not borrowed or copied from other designers. I love the whole process of designing a show around a theme… or even just a feeling or emotion or set of emotions. I enjoy the thrill of watching people perform shows I designed, no matter how clean or dirty it is. It’s an art and an expression of me and that’s what I love about this job. I get to bring out the best I can in my artistry and musicianship, and hopefully bring everything together into an exciting marching band show for the students and fans. Maybe in some other blog I’ll talk about growing up as an artist and how I transitioned away from that to become a full-blown musician. Now I am back to being an artist again, with a strength in music. I’ve pretty much come full circle.

So, bringing up that whole idea of “What if…” and all that with the computers and technology 14+ years ago… Even though it’s a useless discussion, I’m just thankful my life went the course and the direction it did. I’m very happy with where I am now and I enjoy being able to express myself in all the ways I can - both in my visual artistic skills as well as musical. I’ve found the perfect combination of those, and the best part about the path I’m on is that it’s a constant learning experience and I have had significant improvements every year. My hopes (as always) is to again improve this coming season, and I hope my prior 6 years of designing will help propel me into having another successful season.

Okay… what did I talk about in this blog. Rainy weather, car batteries, cursive writing and drill design. Hm, kinda random. Yeah, that’s how I work sometimes. Kinda just comes out as I think it.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I don’t really set a plan for what I’m gonna say or talk about. It’s completely random based on whatever comes to mind when I start and where it leads to from there. I sometimes wonder if I should in fact plan the blog around a particular subject and stick to that. That doesn’t seem to work for me, but whatever… maybe I’ve done that or do it already?? I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t usually go back and read my own blogs. hahaha!

Okay, I need to head to bed now. I’m going to see the movie “21? this weekend. I can’t wait. I don’t know why I’m so excited about seeing it except that it’s called “21?. Most people know that 21 is my favorite number and has been with me forever. (Forever 21… HA!) Oy, I’m so gay. Anyway, I love Kevin Spacey and I’m into card games, so I think I’ll totally dig this movie. But now I need to find a date. Er… well, not so much a date as much as a ride to the theater. haha. Geez, not having a car is a good thing right now with gas prices going up, but geez is it inconvenient if all you wanna do is go to the movies.

Wow, I sure know how to stall when I’m ending a blog.

It’s almost the end of the month… and it’s almost TCGC time. Geez… wtf? how am I gonna get out there for the show next weekend?? *sigh*

Well, goodnight for now. Take care!

George

Ruby Tuesday

It was another day… not a whole lot happened as I was actually stranded at my apartment and unfortunately did not find a ride to Joe’s recital. I’m bummed about that… I promised him I would go after all the help he gave me with picking me up at Chic-Fil-A that one time I was stranded… wow, that was a long time ago too. My car has been in bad shape for a while. Maybe even over a year?

Well, besides staying in all day, I got lots of work done on some Flash banners I’m designing and even took some time working on music. (yeah, I figured out a way to pry myself away from my Adobe suite). Anyway, I am continuing to work on my massive brass arrangement of Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession”… one of my favorite classical pieces of music. I played it in HS for my band director’s retirement concert. I’ll never forget how amazing that was, and also how tired my chops were at the end. (I couldn’t hit the high C… just wasn’t happening after already playing like 2 hours worth of music).

It was about 10 years ago that I starting thinking about arranging it on my own. I have heard numerous transcriptions and they’re all great. I’ve even heard some not-so-good ones. Eh, I might not do that much better than even the bad ones, but it’s a lot of fun and I think it might sound okay. But when I describe it as “massive”, that’s mostly pertaining to the demands of the ensemble itself. This ensemble is being treated as an actual ‘choir’, meaning there are parts that will include up to 4 or 5 people playing the same music. My vision of how this should be played or interpreted is that of a string ensemble or a chorus. When you hear a vocal piece, there are moments that are phrased in a way that the entire ensemble breathes in unison, yet many of the longer and stretched out phrases are easily done with the staggering of the individuals breathing. The way I’m composing this arrangement… or… I guess, just arranging it, is to actually write in places where the instruments enter/exit to give it it’s own stagger.

This might sound like a science fair project, but the way I’m doing it is simple. I’m just taking the part, splitting it 4 or 5 ways and then going through and finding the key areas that would make the most sense to have someone lay out for either a measure or multiple measures at a time and divide it as equally as I can, taking into account what I believe would make sense for the particular instrument to be able to play on one breath, the range they are in and make the music literally sound seamless, which is next to impossible with most brass ensemble pieces. (sorry for the run-on sentence).

I guess you would have to see it to understand what I’m doing and why I am doing it. This would obviously require some musicians that match sounds very well (or at least somewhat close - in tune would help also) and then simply having enough people to cover all of the parts. The way it is laid out at this point in time would require 12 trumpets, 2 flugelhorns, 12 french horns, 8 trombones, 6 euphoniums and (brace yourself) 8 tubas.

Before anyone cringes at the thought of having so many people, you should know that the way I am setting this arrangement up is with the full intention that the numbers are basically set to accommodate the seamlessness of the music and with the exception of the final 8+ measures, there would only be about 1/2 of the group playing at one time. There’s constant entrances and exits that I am incorporating directly into the music, giving people specific places to breath and specific places where all they are responsible for is to support or sustain the note or chord during a section that needs to be held out longer than a single brass player could on any breath.

In a way, this might seem kind of frustrating for the musicians performing. Trust me, I know… thinking about it, it almost seems like this is a waste of good music perhaps? Well, honestly I don’t see it that way… but some musicians would play their individual parts and not know why the heck all they do is play this note for 2 measures, rest a bit, play a few notes of a melody and stop halfway, etc. And what I’m being very careful I do and being aware of is the attention to detail regarding the notes the instruments enter on and making sure it’s not too exposed (in the event of an attack being too much) and not making people drop out during very loud sections, thus losing the “mass” of the sound when people trade off. Actually, when it gets louder at the end, I plan to set it so there’s about 3/4 of the ensemble playing and adding on little by little until the huge impact, having everyone playing together from there to the end. This “effect” I believe, if done correctly, could create such a nice emotional boost/impact to the music where the listener’s ears hear the constant volume and balance of the smaller ensemble of musicians, and as the music intensifies and more instruments add on it will add mass to the music as well as volume and with the more people playing together and at the same time, by the end it should leave the audience somewhat stunned by the shear ‘volume’ that ended the tune. (remember, they’re not sitting there waiting to play, they have been playing the whole time but trading off and playing supporting roles until the end when they play constantly).

So you see… the music (if you’re not familiar with it) is very much like Adagio for strings. Well, nothing is like Adagio… I don’t know if anything is as beautiful… well, that’s a discussion for another time. Anyway, where was I? Oh… so in Adagio, the music is slow, soft, stretched, somewhat moving yet not dirge-like… and it then starts a crescendo… and keeps getting louder… and more… and it peaks at this climactic moment that releases in the silence of the piece… ………. one of the most incredible moments in all of music. ahh… it’s giving me chills just thinking about it. and the piece then ends soft again.

But anyway, that’s kind of what Elsa’s Procession is like. It’s slow and soft and stretched out for the first 5 minutes of the tune. There’s definitely moments of dynamic contrast to be incorporated into the music, so it’s not completely monotone. And similar to Adagio, there’s a slow crescendo that builds and builds and peaks…. and rather than releasing and going to some silence, it will stay strong and finish off the music with an full ensemble mass sound that closes with an Eb major chord that will release and hopefully leave the audience in awe of what they just heard. (I somehow transitioned from explaining the original piece to explaining what I’m going for in it… haha! well, you get the idea).

My goals in this arrangement are:

1 - make sure it’s not choppy

2 - find 50 musicians that can play it (which would be a miracle)

3 - get the rights to it and possibly sell it/publish it… or whatever it is those people need to do.

I probably listed those in the wrong order, but whatever. I’m only about 1/3 of the way through, but it’s going well. I hope to be done with it by Christmas… but then it’ll probably be another 7 years before I find enough people to play it for me. haha!

Moving on… A good thing that happened this afternoon was I got a phone call from a couple band directors I’ve been talking with over the past couple weeks and we have basically come to an agreement on things and it looks like I got the job writing for Dripping Springs HS. This should be a lot of fun. Like I said in an earlier post, I lightened my load this year so I could give myself a better opportunity to write higher quality shows which is something I struggled with doing last year. Not that I was not pleased with what I wrote, but I wrote a little too much and had some rough times last summer dealing with things that I hope to not have to deal with this year. I’m basically set with those 7 bands that have signed on for sure at this point and if I can add one more that’d be awesome…. but if not I’ll be plenty comfortable regardless.

So, I’m really excited about writing for them this year and I hope they are happy with what I am able to do for them. They talked about flying me out for a meeting in May so I’ll be looking forward to that. I’ll have to look at my schedule for Spartans before I can commit to dates, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. We’ll probably meet during the week, which is easier for me.

I wonder if there’s any way I can write a blog that’s short and sweet… hmm? I didn’t expect to write this much, but look at me. only 5 blogs in and I’m halfway through a damn novel. (a fairly boring one, I’m sure). haha! I know I’m not really a writer. My vocab and word use and variety is somewhat sub-par in my opinion. They say that if you read a lot of books, you can usually write better. I feel like I could use more time away from working on Flash and music and read more. Alisa loaned me her favorite book ‘Middlesex’ and I have yet to read it. I think that if all works out tomorrow and I can get things organized enough, I might ditch the comp and sit out by the pool again and read some of that book. I would still like to finish 1984 also, which I haven’t touched in a couple days… mostly because of the car drama I had yesterday. And another thing I need to do is go on a little music search. A couple of my clients are in need of some ideas for music and I need to pull up my iTunes and listen away. This process is tedious, but a blast. I mean, who else gets paid to spend hours a day at the computer, putting together a list of songs that they think would work well for the show their designing? I mean, there’s a chance they might not like the selections I choose, however, 95% of the time I’ve done this, I’m able to find something we all dig. Tomorrow should be very fun and productive.

Okay, I need a snack and I’m off to sleep. I was too lazy to cook dinner tonight so I ordered a pizza from Villa Roma. They have specials on M-Tu of $5.99 Large/1-top. If I get a large pizza, I typically eat a few slices (usually half) and then bag the rest and save it for another day. Well, today I ate the WHOLE pizza. wtf? I’m a friggin’ fatty. How did I do that? I hope it’s not a bad thing. I mean, I can’t usually eat more than 4 slices on any day… I ate the whole thing.

Anywho, (that’s for Cathy) I’m signing off now.

Oh, and also… I woke up this morning to check my e-mail and found like SIX new comments on my blogs. I got SO excited you don’t even know. And then I went to check them and approve them - they were ALL spam. Dammit! I forgot to change the settings when I restarted my blog a few days ago. What is up with Spam? I don’t get it. Do people actually click on that shit and take it seriously. Besides that, do people PAY other people to Spam the world? If so, who’s paying the people that pay the spammers? If it’s the companies that the spammers are advertising, how do they make any money when all their mail is being filtered and trashed by default through most e-mail clients? Huge double-you, tee, eff!

g’night all!

George

Start Me Up

Happy Birthday to my brother Greg! He just turned 24!! woo hoo!!

So… today I woke up to one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever seen here in Houston. high 60’s and not a cloud in the sky. slight cool breeze that made it feel almost cold in the shade, but wonderfully comfortable in the sun. I was on my way out the door and thought that since the only place I had to go today was to the bank, I might as well take a trip to the park… rollerblade some… maybe just walk around and enjoy the weather.

I made it two blocks… and my car broke down as I was turning north onto Fannin from Holly Hall. (Thank goodness the rodeo was over or else this would have been a much worse day than usual).

I didn’t really panic when this happened… though I thought I would. I just sat there trying to start it, but what I was more concerned about were the people that were driving on Fannin that I was pretty much blocking. It was a little rough. There was a taxi cab right behind me as we approached the light… there was no-one in front of me. As soon as my car putzed out, I didn’t think at that very second to turn on my hazards. I did in about 2 seconds, but no more than 2 seconds after that did the cab driver honk like shit at me as if I was purposely trying to stall him. I went and got out of the car, since trying to start it was useless, and as I waved the cab to go around me (and in VERY light traffic too and no-one around him) the guy gives me some rude look and gave me some sort of inappropriate hand gesture, as if I purposely broke my car down and slowed the guy down by, what, 15 seconds?? Geez… I’m not one of those people who goes around big cities complaining like “boy, the people there were just rude…”. But this guy… oy! He ticked me off. But actually not at the time he screeched by… but later on while I was waiting for the tow truck and had nothing else better to do but reflect on the morning so far. At first when it happened, I just felt more embarrassed and less threatened. I just felt bad that I was blocking everyone and it happened so fast.

Eventually, after traffic had cleared some, I got a couple guys to help me back it up the road into a gated exit to an apartment complex that was about 100 yards back. The traffic was too busy and the road conditions are just not good enough in that area for me to try and push it back the two blocks to my apartment complex. So I just sat there at the exit waiting for my tow truck to arrive.

By the way… all the way back in August of 2006, I was signing up for my new cell phone through Verizon. Never before have I done this, but I noticed they offered a roadside assistance deal that was an add on for my plan at a rate of an extra $3/mo. I have to go back and check, but it’s really not much additional at all. I am very thankful I had my big wallet with me (with all my extra cards and things) and had the roadside assistance card. They offer free towing up to 10 miles, bring you gasoline, battery jump start, tire pump… basically anything that you desperately need if you’re stranded. I am just so thankful I had that service. 2 blocks or 20 blocks… I got a free tow out of it. Talk about lucky. The city rate in Houston is a around $140 flat rate, no matter what the distance. I talked to a guy on the phone who was going to charge me $125 and told me I wasn’t gonna find a better deal in Houston. Well, shit! I’m gonna have to ask all my Verizon wireless users out there to sign up for this service. You might not think you need it, and I only paid for it for 19 months before finally having to use it. Maybe it paid for itself after all this time, but who cares…. I signed a piece of paper when he took me home and never had to pull out my wallet.

It was a boring wait though as I waited for the tow truck guy. Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Cathy and she helped get me some numbers of other companies that were really no help in the end. But I’m glad she was there and actually able to answer her phone. I called at least 15 other people out of my contact list and no-one answered. (If I called and didn’t leave a msg, sorry about that). It was rough….. but I got through. I rolled up my sleeves, layed out on my trunk and made the most of it by turning the radio on and getting my tan on. ha! it was a unique was to “lay out” but what else was I gonna do?

Well… my car won’t start now. Which is okay with me, strange enough. I have a bike… I can get around on it just fine (if I can friggin’ fix my damn brakes, which are all a mess at the moment) and so long as I got good weather I’m fine. Another plus to this happening is that with gas prices rising, I’m gonna save a fortune on gas. I’m not saying I’d rather be stranded and limited to only my bike, but c’mon folks… seriously, are we gonna have to pay between $4 and $5 for gas soon? wow!

Something I have been contemplating lately is to just go for broke and buy a motorcycle. I have a few friends I told that to that jumped down my throat saying how ridiculous that idea was. Okay, I understand where they’re coming from, but buying a motorcycle is something I have dreamed of for about 8 years now. I remember being in NY and with Blast at the time… I was thinking of buying a bike there in NY and was actually in the process of saving cash to get one. Then I ended up leaving the show and that dream got shot down hard core. No biggie though… I ended up going back to Michigan, where having a motorcycle would kinda be a waste of space anyway… at least for 8-9 months out of the year. But in TX, I could get out every now and then and get places with less of a hassle and it would just be bad ass! I don’t know how or when this happened, but I am just fascinated with being a guy on a crotch rocket and tearin’ it up. Okay, okay… don’t worry, I’m not gonna be some dangerous freak like some people out there… I’ll be safe. Trust me… I’ll take it seriously and it’s not something I will take for granted and always assume I’ll be okay. But I will take whatever classes they offer (at Stubbs, perhaps) and make sure I don’t do anything stupid. But it sure would be fun, eh? I think I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna get a motorcycle!

But why the motorcycle if I don’t have a car? I don’t know… I’ll figure something out. The cycle may not happen of course… but I can dream, right?

Anyway, we’ll leave it at that for tonight. Tomorrow isn’t as much of a ‘busy’ day as it is just to make certain arrangements to get a few places on short notice. Joe Aicher has his senior recital tomorrow at UH and I really want to go. Well, I’ll make sure I make it out there but I just might have to work some magic. I could just bike all the way there… it’s only around 5 or 6 miles, I think? Yeah, I just looked it up on my iPod and it tells me 5.3 miles. That might change depending on the route I take by bike because I can’t necessarily get on 59 north on my mongoose! hahaha! It looks like Almeda to OST to Scott and I’m basically there. That works. I’ve never timed any of my trips by bike. I wonder how long it’ll take. Hmm? Oh well.

Okay, time to really go. I just wanted to end this by saying that talking to Cathy today really made my day and I’m just glad she was around to help me out. It’s been a rough couple days for me (for whatever reason) and I’m glad I have friends like her that are in my life.

1984

Happy Easter… again. It’s almost over but I’m in the mood to write more blogs, so two-a-day is a good start.

Today turned out to be quite nice. My gigs went about as well as I could have expected. It’s a little too obvious that I haven’t practiced a whole lot in the past months since returning home from Japan. In fact, I remember the Tuesday (Dec. 18) being my last full day in Japan and I was feeling somewhat sad about coming home and/or relieved at the same time. I was all packed and pretty much ready to go home but needed to kill some time. I went to the trumpet room and got out one of their Bach horns and jammed for a good 2 hours straight. I don’t think I’ve ever played so well in my life. It took me until 2 days after finals to get my chops back to what they were around the time I was in Blast! or even when I was at Michigan. It felt pretty damn sweet.

So, what did I do to celebrate that achievement?? Spent the next 2 1/2 months ignoring the trumpet all-together and having some really sucky endurance getting through two very simple Easter services today. I did “fake” practicing a few times here and there, when all I really did was pull the horn out and play through some music I had on my computer or read some etudes without really working on technique or warming up at all. A lot of people can play without a warm-up… but not me.

At the time I was in Blast! I was always the guy that got there about 30 minutes before everyone else and would go downstairs to the lower lobby and start my hour-long warm-up. I mean, seriously… I used to laugh at people who warmed up that much. But for me, it was something that I learned how to do and how to pace on my own and it made everything work for what I needed in that show. I had to be solid on so many things for that show that anything less than 100% for me was pretty bad. My articulation had to be nails, so when I played the first notes of the show, I’m playing the “Bolero” ostinato somewhere around 30 times in a row. Not only is it an articulation issue, but also solid breath support. Then I had to have the delicate approach to the mellophone to play “Split” and “Medea”. With “Appalacian Spring” also in the first act and when we were on Broadway playing “The Promise of Living”, that gave me a responsibility to have to play some exposed 1st parts in the middle/end of a very tough musical act for me. I was not really any kind of soloist, but I sure played a variety of parts and instruments that I needed to be nails on from start to finish.

The second act was always kind of a breeze… “Krupke” was always just the fun tune… and my part was pretty insignificant anyway. Well, no parts are actually insignificant, but in retrospect, if I didn’t play a note, only Donnie would have noticed. (that guy hears/notices everything!) Then we had the “Land of Make Believe” and my part there also wasn’t such a big deal… pretty much nothing serious or technical until “Malaguena”.

I guess all I’m saying is that back then I had to spend time working on so many things in my warm up to prepare me for so many factors that the show demanded of me. That was probably the best thing I’ve ever done because my endurance was incredible, I was always ready to play more by the end of the show and I was consistent from one show to the next, never really having even a mediocre show from the time I figured out that routine (which I think was sometime in Washington DC - Dec/Jan 2000/2001).

When I left the show and was on my own again and without anything to really work for or perform, I lost track of everything. It was that fall of 2001 that I pretty much decided that I was done with all that… yet I would “kid” myself into thinking I could just hack through and still get by. Most of us tend to do that when we put the horn away for days/weeks/months at a time. I know that feeling all too well. I would say I would play whenever I could, but that’s not the case… I’d only play when it came to a simple Easter gig or if I had to teach lessons. Well… when I taught lessons, I did in fact play a lot and regularly… but all I really worked on were the fundamentals and exercises that I used in my lessons. Most of my students were younger high schoolers or middle schoolers. Not a whole lot I can do to push myself since I was so busy. At one point, before I moved to Texas, I was teaching upwards of around 34 students per week at 3 different schools. That really didn’t leave a lot of room for me to work on my own stuff. Some people can do that… I was never meant to be a full-time teacher of that volume.

I do enjoy teaching… and now that I have temporarily resigned from that job, I am missing it slightly. I believe I did a good job with those students I worked with so at least it’s not like I miss it because I wish I could have done it better or whatever… I like to teach and help those that I can. There’s only so much I’m able to do, but I love being a musician and helping others enjoy it as well.

Those two semesters I spent at University of Houston, pretty much just being there to play again and take random classes, I finally started to get good again. I walked into that school with a pretty horrible audition - yet I made the wind ensemble. Politics involved because of who I am/was? maybe… but at the time, I was happy just to be playing again. Although my experience at that school really wasn’t great by the end, I loved playing in an ensemble again and taking lessons for the first time in over 5 years at that time. My favorite moments were playing with the brass ensemble and our sextet. Danny, Nick, Janice, Travis and Ali… you guys helped me enjoy performing again at such a high level and I can’t thank you guys enough.

So… that’s enough on that. Bottom line is that I feel bad that my chops died in the middle of the second service today and I could barely play stuff that was easy for me 15 years ago. What the hell did I do? Well, I know what I did… I stopped playing, moved on to become a full-time visual designer and don’t have time to practice. But the real question is - Why do I keep playing these gigs and go into them assuming I can just waltz in without working hard or practicing and expect to be able to perform like I did when I was at the peak of my abilities as a trumpet player/performer?

Wow… yeah, I have to stop beating myself up over it. haha! I have high standards when it comes to this stuff. If anyone was there, maybe no-one even noticed I had fatigue issues. I didn’t miss any notes though. Wait, that’s a lie. I missed maybe 3 in each service. None were that significant though.

Moving on…

Today was so nice, I decided to spend a good two hours out by the pool and getting a bit of sun. I actually managed to tan some. (and those who don’t really know me - yes I do tan!) I had just re-done a couple of new playlists on my iPod and decided to bring a book to read. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to bring, and since I am in the ‘creative’ mood right now as I go through and start putting together show designs, I decided to grab “1984? and read it. I haven’t read it in about 8 years and I think it’s about time I give it another go. I was supposed to read it while I was in Japan. I brought it with me but it just sat in my suitcase for two months. I do remember really enjoying the book, but it’s just that time to go through it again after I have experienced so much since the last read.

I got through the first chapter today and couldn’t help but wonder if someone could make this into a movie. I just looked it up on IMDB and apparently there was a movie based on the book made in 1956. I didn’t look through the details but apparently it scored a 7/10 on the IMDB review board. (that tends to be a good review). I think I need to find that movie and check it out.

Even though there is a movie out there already, I think this would make for a good re-make with use of today’s actors and digital technology. Well, I’m not really one to push for re-makes of older flicks because these are different times, and now-a-days people tend to be more interested in all the on-screen effects and plot twists, etc. etc. rather than the acting, which was the strength of all those older movies. Just look at Star Wars… the entire series. Lets get this out of the way right now… I’m a huge fan and at one point was so geeked out on it, I bought 8 force FX lightsaber collectibles, including 2 lightsaber (hilt) replicas and several miniatures. Spent way too much money on that and had to sell most of them on eBay to pay my bills. (it was fun while it lasted). Anyway… back to the point. Those movies, great flicks… kids love(d) them… and the acting and dialog is bad dreadful a lot of times. haha! But who cares really?? It’s entertainment…. and I don’t believe there’s a single person who’s seen the movies that hasn’t tried to “use the force” to magically move the TV remote control to your hand when it was laying on the floor 10 feet away when no-one was looking. c’mon… admit it. haha! well, maybe I’m the only one nerdy enough to have thought that… or I’m just brave enough to admit it.

Geez… what the hell does all this have to do with 1984? I don’t know. But I think that a movie (remake or not) would be VERY cool and probably something that would be accepted as a very entertaining movie. I know that there have been a lot of movies made in the past 10-20 years that have used bits and pieces of the main “theme” of the book, but I think a movie that was actually drawn up and produced for the big screen based solely on the George Orwell book, using today’s digital technology and actors - Directed by Peter Jackson or maybe even the Watchowski brothers - would be simply amazing! (I think).

I don’t know, man… I just dig the idea of bringing something like that to the big screen (albeit, again) so I’m just going to continue reading my book and possibly finish it over the next week.

I really do like to read… but I get too caught up with work to read a lot of books… heck, I only have about a dozen that I’ve actually started and finished. I wouldn’t classify myself as an avid reader, but I get too caught up reading tutorials and manuals for all the java script, HTML and flash that’s been occupying my free time (if any), that reading a book seems just exhausting. But since I’m taking a break from all that now and have to switch gears for marching band/drum corps season, I’ll be goin’ out and getting a few books this summer. It’ll be fun.

Well, I think that’s enough for this blog. Not much else to report except that I’m tired now but I know I’ll somehow find a way to fight sleep and manage to stay up until maybe 4am. (I don’t understand how I do it sometimes… I just get so caught up trying out new visual designs that it’s such a rush and I can’t stop… I love my job!).

Blogging from my iPhone…

…except I don’t have an iPhone, rather an iPod Touch. But I say iPhone since it sounds just a little less gay… Or whatever. I’m not ashamed of my beautiful iPod… I just wish I were cool enough to have an iPhone. (and rich enough)…

I’m laying in bed the night before Easter. I can’t sleep…. A lot is on my mind. I have to wake up in about 6 hours and I’m just not tired. I hate that.

But I am excited about the services I’m performing at tomorrow. I appreciate any chance I get to play. I just don’t get that many opportunities these days.

Rehearsal this morning went well, but I know I will struggle to make it through the 2nd service due to my lack of endurance. Oh well…. I’ll just need to play a few things down the octave. (that’s because I’m playing some crazy churchy arrangements where they think the range of the trumpet is the same as a clarinet. Ugh!)

Well…. I really need to try and sleep….

Happy Easter!

GH

George’s Blog, Take 2

Well, here we are… again. I had to start all over with this blog and delete the old one because I basically screwed it up pretty good which left it useless, for the most part. This will be rather short as all I really wanted to do was write something to get this thing started and go see if I can actually get this thing customized the way I originally wanted to before.

This is technically my first post since November 28, not including those I posted only on Myspace or Facebook, but I do plan to post more frequently. I definitely do enough during the day or experience enough that I should have more things to write about, but really it all comes down to the fact that I really haven’t been up to a whole lot in the past few months. I’ve been sorta in limbo since the start of the year, trying to get things organized for Spartans and finalizing my client list for the 2008 fall season.

This is my current client list for 2008 and only those that I know are official as of the time of writing this:

• Pasadena Memorial
• Stony Point
• Hanks
• West Carteret
• Seven Lakes
• Calloway County

Besides those schools, I’m currently waiting on a few others and that should wrap up my fall client list. I’m very happy with the bands I’m designing for this year and looking forward to getting things started. I just may be able to get started on drill within the next month for a few of those shows, and I’m also really hoping to hear back from a few more schools by sometime next week. I typically don’t add on any more bands after the 1st of April, but in the event I am able to get a head start on some shows this year (which it looks like I’ll be able to do that for at least 2 bands) I may be able to later on add at least one, maybe two more to my list. We’ll see!

I also wanted to mention that I just got back from a design meeting in Round Rock discussing Stony Point’s program of Key Poulan’s “The Firebird”, and I think it went really well. I had a blast hangin’ out with Cathy Benford and the rest of the crew and I hope we get to do more in the summer.

I’m looking forward to working with all of my schools this year, and since I have narrowed down the total number of schools I will be designing for this summer, I’m excited to see how things turn out with such a “light” schedule. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, I wrote 11 shows each year… but this year I will write no more than 8… maybe 9 if I get started/done with a show early enough.

Well, that should about do it for my fist blog entry (take 2).