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saturday, october 14
another night at the juke joint
Uptown Boys performed last night at the Juke Joint, and it was a very rewarding night. All of us on stage somehow felt truly inspired, and we inspired each other in our playing. The positive vibes and energy went back and forth on stage the whole time. It was great!
What more can I say... when jazz musicians have a really great night, the whole thing just comes together.
My family came last night too, and they had a great time. They dug the food, which is Southern-style and very Cajun-influenced. I always recommend the food at the Juke Joint. Anyway, Mom, Dad, my wife, my three sisters and their children were there, my two sons were there... almost the whole family except for my brother who had to work.
We had a decent turn out of swing dancers. Susan, an old friend back when I was with my previous band, was there with her dance partner. She gave me a big, warm hug at the front of the stage that left me a little embarrassed, being that my wife was there. And she told me that I'm still "the best drummer in San Diego", although I know she was just being nice. And she also reported that my former band isn't as good any more since I'd left that band. That made me feel very good!
Like I said, it was a great night at the Juke Joint last night!
1:53 PM
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friday, october 13
I really enjoy what she writes:
Have you ever held a tear on the tip of your finger and let the sun touch it? It glistens and shines. And it's like it holds a million secrets we never see.
2:56 PM
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the need and passion to write
I feel I'm at a crossroads with my writings. It's gotten to the point where I've realized that I don't want to quit, because writing and expressing myself in this fashion is good for my soul. But at the same time I DO feel the need to gain some focus as to what I actually want to do here.
I've already been compromised in being able to tell the whole story. My wife has asked me not to write too much about our family life... meaning... thoughts and occurences about her and the children shall be omitted.
And I respect that.
So that part of my life will remain somewhat of a mystery to my readers, despite the fact that a lot goes on in my family life that won't make it to these pages.
So, I'm reduced to things that occur in my musical life, as well as what goes on within my head; my thoughts, ideas and emotions. And this is fine with me. It still gives me much to write about.
Anyway, regardless of what develops here in the weeks to come, I will still continue to write to my heart's content, and continue to post sky photos and other things. The pages may go through a metamorphosis, but it will still be the same ME typing away and pushing pixels.
So, don't worry about me. I'll be in my own little corner of the Web, doing my own thing and enjoying it, as I've been doing so far. I'll carry on, pushing my own threshold of what my so-called "feng shui" designs should be.
It's okay. Life is basically good. No need to sweat the hills when there are mountains to be climbed later on.
I am simply searching for "virtual peace". And I feel I've found some of that peace here in my writings.
Virtual life is basically good.
2:58 AM
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thursday, october 12
Per Pat's suggestion, I took my digital camera with me today to take more photos on the run. But, I forgot to return my smartmedia card back into the camera! I missed some great shots out there. Yes, there are lots of clouds out there to photograph. I still have some time.
1:05 PM
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Somehow, I came across the site stats for Jessica Alba's offical site. She's the star in the new Dark Angel TV series.
I'm just in awe of the number of hits she's getting on her site. 14,000 hits in one day pretty much blows my mind. Yesterday I received 15 hits. But then again, I'm in a league of my own.
10:21 AM
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late afternoon skies
Yesterday seemed like a great day for taking more photos of the afternoon skies above. There's a point between the late afternoon and early evening, when the autumn sky yields hundreds of beautiful cloud formations as the cool winds begin to surround me. I took dozens of photos yesterday, and thus beginning page three of the sky photos project. Page two is now complete.
10:03 AM
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These jets are flying overhead!
I'm feeling rather perturbed because they are flying so close and the sound is thundering and screaming all at once.
The noise is quite deafening! And I'm wondering why are they doing this on a beautiful yet cold morning?
Although Scripps Ranch is very close to Miramar Naval Air Base, there's never been this type of air exercise going on before. Not even during the Persian Gulf War, nor whenever they've had the Blue Angels practice here for the air show every August. This is insane.
Logically, I'm thinking "crisis in the Middle East!"
Hmmm.... perhaps.
9:06 AM
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feeling: Wide awake!
wondering: Why did I wake up so early?
realizing: I need to get my ass back in bed!!!
5:28 AM
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wednesday, october 11
This is a way cool site. Featuring Japanese culture, anime, and a lot of other cool miscellaneous stuff. I found it while searching for japanese noodles on Google.
I met my wife for lunch today, and we trekked on down to Niban, a nice little Japanese restaurant in the Clairemont Mesa area. We both had Stamina Noodles which was quite good. I've been getting into eating noodles with soup lately. And that was my reason for searching the Internet for Japanese noodle dishes, so that I could whip something up at home.
Sometimes I wonder about eating out. My wife was feeling a little sluggish after lunch and we were thinking it may have been the MSG in our food. I was okay, but sometimes I wonder about the MSG content... next time I'll ask not to have MSG in my food next time.
4:27 PM
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A note to myself: BUY MILK!!!!!!!!
10:46 AM
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I want to be able to include a little ditty on how I'm feeling, or wondering, or what I'm realizing, just like on Cyn's and Cami's journals. But I'm still wondering how to work it into this page.
Hmmm...
Feeling: Like shit. No, worse!
Wondering: "Am I worthy?"
Realizing: That I need to get my ass down to the video place and have that HBO Featurette edited!
There... that's a start!
10:40 AM
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The Rice Bowl Journals burb is back online. This is a burb that was created on my old journal site, and now I've resurrected it here on Random Excess.
10:25 AM
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My friend Pat's blog is coming along nicely.
Yep, I noticed I was on Becky's recently visited list again. One of these days I'll get on her list of faves. But for now I'm honored to be in "France", if only for just a wee bit. Becky just became a Mom recently... congratulations!!!
10:05 AM
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still thoughts
As disciples of Buddha, we should imitate the spirit of
Buddha by helping others and sharing their happiness
and troubles. A successful, meaningful life can only be
realized if we are concerned with other people.
---Master Chen Yen
Well, a bit of an explanation is required with this entry.
I'm not really a devout Buddhist that goes to temple and all, but I enjoy these little pearls of wisdom when I chance upon them, and I do lean toward Zen Buddhism more as a philosophy rather than a religion.
So I joined this mailing list called Still Thoughts. And so I find one of these thought-for-the-day messages in my inbox every morning. It's kind of nice.
12:14 AM
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tuesday, october 10
the coolness of the night
Boy, it was rather cool and brisk tonight. I noticed the drastic change in climate again this late afternoon as I was setting up my drums in the garage for band rehearsal.
I took many photos of cloud formations this afternoon... lots. But I'd say half of them were throwaways, while the remainder of them I was fairly proud of. I've posted a few of them on page two of my sky photos project.
My co-leader completely forgot about rehearsal tonight. Either that, or it was some miscommunication there. Anyway, the band members that did show up got a lot of things done, three new songs for Friday.
After rehearsal us band members huddled around my tee-vee to watch the HBO featurette we did from back in May for the movie, Last Of The Blonde Bombshells. We were quite impressed with what they did. But because of me being the drummer in the back of the stage, I wasn't seen as much as our lead singer and our co-leader. Well, no big deal, at least I was seen for a split second!
Other than that, HBO did an excellent job! And it was flattering being on the same film footage as Oscar winners Judi Dench and Olympia Dukakis. If you want to check out the film featurette that the Uptown Boys were in, you can view it at the HBO web site. Just click on the "featurette" video clip link.
11:46 PM
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and the clouds burst into rain
It suddenly rained this morning as I was taking my younger son and his cousin to school. The combination of rain clouds and sunlight made for some interesting effects, which I took advantage of. I quickly took my digital camera along to capture what I could of various cloud formations, of which I'll be able to post later.
I made the trek to Starbucks, the one in that brand new shopping center in Mira Mesa. There was a long line, and I was laughing inside as I noticed everyone (including myself) looking like the living dead as we waited to get our next fix of caffeine. It was such a pathetic sight!
I overheard a man and woman behind me talking about how San Diego traffic is so tame compared to L.A. traffic. The internal dialog inside my head was saying, "Yeah, right! Just wait till you get on the northbound I-15 between 4 and 6pm. Can you say the word, SUCK!?"
After getting my tall Cafe Mocha from Starbucks, I did my morning errands... bank, post office, and then I noticed I was out of "Things To Do" pages in my personal planner. I haven't invested in one of those Palm Pilots yet, and haven't the slightest inclination to acquire one anyway. It's just that I enjoy writing, and so the need to jot things down on actual paper is still enjoyable for me. I've always had good penmanship, and so I love to write.
Because of the weather conditions, it looks like there'll be more opportunities to take pictures of some great cloud formations. And so I'm carrying my digital camera with me throughout the day just in case.
The band is rehearsing later on tonight, and so I'm looking forward to that. I'm getting psychologically geared up for our performance at the Juke Joint Cafe this coming Friday. Yes, of course, it'll be Friday the 13th. The thing is, I actually believe 13 is a lucky number instead of being an unlucky one. I've never really had a lousy Friday the 13th that I can remember. And my wife's birthday falls on October 13, so we'll be celebrating down at the Juke Joint!
10:02 AM
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Dark Angel had this to say about her day.
12:02 AM
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monday, october 9
where have all the flowers gone?
I think I'll place all my links back on the main page for now. It just seems a bit cumbersome. I had an all-time low of 16 hits yesterday, so I was thinking that I jinxed myself by making a pop-up window for the links. From 101 to 16 hits in a few days alone can be pretty depressing. Where did everyone go?
11:35 PM
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lighting a candle for kaycee
Kaycee has developed a fever due to an infection in her lungs, a result of post-operative complications. It has risen to 102.
I lit another candle today, this time for Kaycee, as she is suffering further complications due to a fever and an infection in her lungs which could lead to pneumonia. I will continue to pray for her and send positive thoughts her way.
4:43 PM
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tibetan monasteries
My wife and I rented a video, a semi-obscure film from Tibet called "The Cup". It was actually about a Tibetan monastery in northern India, and its struggles to maintain traditional and spiritual piety in a modern age.
It's interesting to note that we rented another video, "Falling Through", starring Roy Scheider and Peter Weller. Thinking that two big name stars would insure at least semi-decent movie faire. Well, imagine walking out of a movie in the privacy of your own home. The movie was so bad that we stopped it just one quarter of the way through! It was THAT bad.
So, back to our Tibetan film...
Despite the obvious low-budget feel, "The Cup" turned out to be a real Tibetan "jewel". And it's the case of a humble, well told story versus a bad one with all the Hollywood glitz. Of course, the modest yet well told story prevailed.
And "The Cup", based on a true story, had a very interesting plot. That of young monks scheming behind their abbotts' backs to get the opportunity to watch the World Cup soccer championships on the local tavern's television set, and making midnight escapades, while trying to avoid getting caught.
What struck me as being profound about the film, were the teachings the head abbott conveyed to his students near the end of the film:
Enemies will be as limitless as space,
therefore, all enemies can not be overcome,
yet if one were to just overcome hatred itself,
this would be equal to overcoming all enemies.
Hmm... this was a new twist to the old saying, "love your neighbors as thyself", or better yet, "love everyone impartially".
Then, there was the abbott's mention of DEATH and SUFFERING:
With all that is unsatisfactory in this world,
with all the fear and suffering that exists,
clinging to the "I" has created it!
What to do with this great demon?
In the words of the abbott:
Let me give myself away,
and love others as I love myself.
And with that, I walked away from the movie feeling all the more wiser, with a clearer understanding of what my purpose in life should be.
2:10 AM
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sunday, october 8
the shelter from the storm
Listening to the Romanza by Vaughn-Williams (such a soothing blend of sonic ether for a dark, autumn morning), it seems to herald the arrival of Sunday, so sweet and peaceful, as I sit, looking out the window into a brand new day.
It is a peaceful morning, but most importantly... the peace is felt from within, in a place of subtle clarity. In a place no one can touch.
Maybe I woke up, allowing myself to be free of certain things, and by releasing myself from these binds that have kept me, I had freed myself from the things that have misguided, and perhaps obstructed my view, as if lost in a forest of uncertainty.
A passage from the TAO TE CHING reads:
Accept disgrace willingly.
accept misfortune as the human condition.
Misfortune comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be misfortune?
Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things. Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.
In my humble shelter, I've embraced these words of enlightenment. I've accepted what is true, as if to find words written long ago and to finally discover their hidden meaning.
I lit a candle for today.
It is the arrival of Sunday, so sweet and peaceful, as I sit, looking out the window into a brand new day.
8:39 AM
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