May the best woman win!
I made myself get up at 6:30 and get ready for boot camp. While I was getting ready, I woke Carrie up accidentally but she didn't seem to mind. Robin worked us out hard; when he's sick and doesn't do the exercises himself, I get much more self conscious because he can see how badly I do. I have never been good at working out and I seem to get worn out before others do, but I am trying. At least I didn't throw up.
When I got home, Carrie and Dylan were both up and around, and Carrie had done all the dishes! I laid down for a little bit and then got ready for work; Carrie and I left at the same time. She was taking the bus to the subway to the airport.
Encouraged by the two recent reviews of "Open For Business" (one in Frontiers in LA and the other in Edge Boston, both of which I had contacted myself), I mailed out 5 CD's to various radio stations. I don't know if radio stations (even college stations) actually play random CD's they get in the mail, and even more importantly I'm not sure who listens to the radio anymore, but I thought I'd give it a try.
You know, as a musician trying to find a way to make a living solely off music, it scares me how quickly people's attitudes have changed about music, and how quickly tastes change. Just a few years ago, people still bought music at stores like Virgin Megastore or Tower Records. Now, those stores are long gone, and when you tell someone you just bought so-and-so's new CD, they just look at you blankly as if you just called them on a rotary telephone. And what's worse is that it's not just the CD issue that people think is outdated, it's actually paying money for music. Lots of folks have rationalized their illegal downloading of music by the false thought that "bands make their money touring now, and I buy concert tickets" so that makes stealing the music OK. Well, I have never made any money touring (I've barely broken even at best) and as is the case for most small bands, you won't ever get a chance to go on tour if you're not selling CD's or downloads. As of now, I only make 'money' when someone buys our CD or downloads our songs, and I'm sure even some of your more well-known artists are in the same boat.
Dylan made dinner for me, which was just leftovers from the past few days, but it was nice of him to prepare it for me and I told him it was the first time I could actually really enjoy all those foods I had made because at the time I was too busy worrying about cooking or making sure everyone at the table was OK. I truly do have some of my Grandma Strecker in me!
Anyway, tonight was the premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race, so after a really quick nap and putting laundry in, we walked over to Viktor's just around the corner to watch it with him, Marc, Amy, and Justin. It was so much fun, and I loved many of the new 'girls.' Of course, I am really disappointed that they didn't use our band in the show; I had exchanged several e-mails and phone calls with one of the people in charge about having us on to be the backing band for a singing competition for one of the episodes. For whatever reason, they decided against the idea, but it's friggen Drag Race so I'm not gonna be bitter about it. I can only imagine all the drag queens who wanted on the show and haven't made it (yet) and how they feel. However, the ones who DID make it on this season are all pretty 'fierce' and I can't wait to see the drama unfold!
Back home, I just finished the laundry and went to bed. I hate going to bed early, but for the first time in awhile I actually went right to sleep as soon as I laid down.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 32
Yay! Finally the log entry number isn't also the date! That means we're in the 2nd month of my resolution log. For those of you just joining, my New Year's resolution was to discard one item from my home each day, with the goal of reducing clutter and minimizing the possibility of me ending up on A&E's "Hoarders" one day. I recently went through my large collection of vinyl records and selected a whole batch to trade in at Amoeba (or donate to Out of the Closet if there are some that Amoeba doesn't want, which is common). I was going to just write about a few of them, but I've actually been having so much fun with it that I think I'll write down all of them and use them on days when I'm too lazy to dig something else up to get rid of.
Today's entry is "Here's To Future Days" by The Thompson Twins, a vinyl album. Now, if you know me well, you might think I'm going crazy if I'm getting rid of a Thompson Twins album since I collect anything Thompson Twins related and have for the better part of my life. However, you must not know me that well, because obviously I am only getting rid of this one because it's a duplicate. Not only do I have a better copy which includes a bonus 12" of remixes, but I also have the album on cassette and CD, the CD being a 2008 Remastered edition. This used to be one of my favorite albums as a kid, I think someone got it for me for Christmas many years after it was actually released, but the hits "Lay Your Hands On Me" and "King For a Day" still got airplay here and there, so I liked that. I remember once my dad was driving all three of us kids to Great Bend and back and this tape was playing on repeat for at least three times all the way through. Now, however, I still look fondly upon this album but I'm not sure it's withheld the test of time as several of the songs seem pretty weak now, and it's obvious that the band was wearing thin from constant touring and promotion of their previous two albums... this was back in those days when a band had to put out an album every year and tour non-stop all over the world to support it. Still a great album, but ranks pretty low down the list of my favorite TT albums now.
When I got home, Carrie and Dylan were both up and around, and Carrie had done all the dishes! I laid down for a little bit and then got ready for work; Carrie and I left at the same time. She was taking the bus to the subway to the airport.
Encouraged by the two recent reviews of "Open For Business" (one in Frontiers in LA and the other in Edge Boston, both of which I had contacted myself), I mailed out 5 CD's to various radio stations. I don't know if radio stations (even college stations) actually play random CD's they get in the mail, and even more importantly I'm not sure who listens to the radio anymore, but I thought I'd give it a try.
You know, as a musician trying to find a way to make a living solely off music, it scares me how quickly people's attitudes have changed about music, and how quickly tastes change. Just a few years ago, people still bought music at stores like Virgin Megastore or Tower Records. Now, those stores are long gone, and when you tell someone you just bought so-and-so's new CD, they just look at you blankly as if you just called them on a rotary telephone. And what's worse is that it's not just the CD issue that people think is outdated, it's actually paying money for music. Lots of folks have rationalized their illegal downloading of music by the false thought that "bands make their money touring now, and I buy concert tickets" so that makes stealing the music OK. Well, I have never made any money touring (I've barely broken even at best) and as is the case for most small bands, you won't ever get a chance to go on tour if you're not selling CD's or downloads. As of now, I only make 'money' when someone buys our CD or downloads our songs, and I'm sure even some of your more well-known artists are in the same boat.
Dylan made dinner for me, which was just leftovers from the past few days, but it was nice of him to prepare it for me and I told him it was the first time I could actually really enjoy all those foods I had made because at the time I was too busy worrying about cooking or making sure everyone at the table was OK. I truly do have some of my Grandma Strecker in me!
Anyway, tonight was the premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race, so after a really quick nap and putting laundry in, we walked over to Viktor's just around the corner to watch it with him, Marc, Amy, and Justin. It was so much fun, and I loved many of the new 'girls.' Of course, I am really disappointed that they didn't use our band in the show; I had exchanged several e-mails and phone calls with one of the people in charge about having us on to be the backing band for a singing competition for one of the episodes. For whatever reason, they decided against the idea, but it's friggen Drag Race so I'm not gonna be bitter about it. I can only imagine all the drag queens who wanted on the show and haven't made it (yet) and how they feel. However, the ones who DID make it on this season are all pretty 'fierce' and I can't wait to see the drama unfold!
Back home, I just finished the laundry and went to bed. I hate going to bed early, but for the first time in awhile I actually went right to sleep as soon as I laid down.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 32
Yay! Finally the log entry number isn't also the date! That means we're in the 2nd month of my resolution log. For those of you just joining, my New Year's resolution was to discard one item from my home each day, with the goal of reducing clutter and minimizing the possibility of me ending up on A&E's "Hoarders" one day. I recently went through my large collection of vinyl records and selected a whole batch to trade in at Amoeba (or donate to Out of the Closet if there are some that Amoeba doesn't want, which is common). I was going to just write about a few of them, but I've actually been having so much fun with it that I think I'll write down all of them and use them on days when I'm too lazy to dig something else up to get rid of.
Today's entry is "Here's To Future Days" by The Thompson Twins, a vinyl album. Now, if you know me well, you might think I'm going crazy if I'm getting rid of a Thompson Twins album since I collect anything Thompson Twins related and have for the better part of my life. However, you must not know me that well, because obviously I am only getting rid of this one because it's a duplicate. Not only do I have a better copy which includes a bonus 12" of remixes, but I also have the album on cassette and CD, the CD being a 2008 Remastered edition. This used to be one of my favorite albums as a kid, I think someone got it for me for Christmas many years after it was actually released, but the hits "Lay Your Hands On Me" and "King For a Day" still got airplay here and there, so I liked that. I remember once my dad was driving all three of us kids to Great Bend and back and this tape was playing on repeat for at least three times all the way through. Now, however, I still look fondly upon this album but I'm not sure it's withheld the test of time as several of the songs seem pretty weak now, and it's obvious that the band was wearing thin from constant touring and promotion of their previous two albums... this was back in those days when a band had to put out an album every year and tour non-stop all over the world to support it. Still a great album, but ranks pretty low down the list of my favorite TT albums now.
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