Health and music -------> Week in Review, Day 195-201

~ had a facial. It's true - I have never had one before. I am now a believer - my skin looked so, so much better than it normally does. And it included a foot massage as well as an arm and hand massage. Heavenly. This will be a nice gift to myself every once in a while, a good prize for reaching a goal.

~ tried a skin cleanser juice from the local organic food place. A mix of watermelon, apple and other juices. Not sure how much it did for my skin, but it was delicious.

~ traded coffee for tea. Yes, I got myself off coffee, just to see how it feels to be caffeine-free. It feels great. I really don't even miss the coffee, and that's coming from someone who REALLY loved coffee. Been drinking a ton of herbal tea, which my favorite being the spicy ones. Yum. I have gotten off coffee before and always find my way back, but it was nice to really listen to my body this time and notice the difference.

~ went to the symphony. They were showing the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Psycho," accompanied by the orchestra's strings. To watch all the violins move sharply together during the famous shower scene was amazing. Symphony Hall in downtown SF is gorgeous - round building with all glass windows. It even has a balcony with a prime view of City Hall.


~ went to the Indie Mart street festival, where a bunch of independent designers, artists and other D.I.Y.ers were showcasing their wares. Very talented people. This party also included my very first visit to Thee Parkside, "San Francisco's premier dive venue." Great art and great music? Too much good stuff. So I couldn't resist:

Awesome necklace from Rene Kwong at Bliss Jewelry.

Chappo put on an amazing stage show with their feathers, euphoric drumming, passionate front man, and storytelling. Check them out right now.

Day 148 - Got published on McSweeney's

I am thrilled! My Open Letter made it into McSweeneys.net. If you are not familiar with this sarcastic literary magazine, please acquaint yourself. At the very least, read my post.

Day 111 - Trolled Craigslist for bands

Really, the new thing is that I actually found a band that sounds pretty awesome. But how to apply? Obviously have to send some mp3s of myself singing. Dug out some practice takes from earlier in the year. Not perfect, but good enough. How to send them? Just make a MySpace page. So there I am, getting somewhat professional about my music career. We'll see what happens, but I was excited to do it and glad I for once took the chance without hesitating.

Day 102 - Stumbled into stereotypes

My neighborhood is ripe with stereotypes. I'm sure your city/village/shire is like that, as well. People who just fit too perfectly into a mold that sprouted from the surroundings. I crossed into two today.

In downtown San Francisco, there is a Starbucks every block. I am not exaggerating. Sometimes, there is even two on one block which leads me to conclude that when it comes to 25 feet, people are really tired or think themselves too busy. The first group is a band of legitimate coffee drinkers, armed with a very, very large coffee to get them through the first hour of the day. I commiserate - I am not a morning person. The second group, however, are just poseurs. These people are always off to VERY important meetings, catching a sec with the VP of Whatever, on conference calls through lunch. They only way they could possibly survive such a day, such a week, is to get a coffee. And only the expensive kind because, you know, they get such a nice salary for being so important, they can only have the expensive stuff.

I don't know where I'm going with this - I just got fired up by poseurs and lost all direction.

Anyways, I did go to Starbucks today. In all my time working from cafes, I have come to appreciate and prefer the smaller shops, for both the handcrafted coffee and the support of mom-and-pop establishments. There I was, walking around the Financial District with my Starbucks, like I belonged there. I did for many years, but no longer. A poseur of a different kind, I guess.

By the time I got off the bus in my neighborhood, I was feeling ready for a snack. I returned to my newly-discovered frozen yogurt shop at 4th-grader rush hour. Never have I seen such chaos and a gaggle of moms who could not care any less. Boys were climbing on ledges. Girls were undecided and trying to out-do each other with toppings. One enterprising young girl was trying to convince the cashier to add a few extra punches to her frequent buyer card. I buy my yogurt, give my sympathies and thanks to the cashier, and stroll down the road.

About a block into my walk, I realize I have now crept into another role so rampant in this area. My neighborhood is filled with young 20-something girls walking around in workout clothes eating fro-yo. They are never sitting eating, they are never in normal clothing, and they never use full words where they can help it. So I found the nearest stoop, sat down in my jeans, and ate my frozen yogurt with no hurry. No stereotype, no poseur, just me.

Day 90 - Became an Angel

A Charlie's Angel. As a laugh for a sick co-worker, the folks at my old company were taping skits of old TV shows. I'm in. I got to be a Charlie's Angel - not sure which one, but one that runs in slow-motion and uses karate.

Day 62 - Revised an engineering document

Mr. Sound was drawing some flowcharts for work last night. There were lots of boxes and lines and figures.


It didn't look quite right to me so I added some of my own stuff. Much better.

Day 52 - Returned to basics

My other blog has changed a lot since the first post in April 2009.

April-June = essays on career, posted here and there
July-August = essays on any topic + playlists, posted once a week
September = nothing at all
October = essays, playlists and website suggestions, all in one post, three times a week
October-today = daily posts with each day dedicated to a new thing: website suggestions, creative writing, essays, local cafe reviews and music suggestions

But this hobby has been getting in the way of real work. I take time during the day to write about the great coffee at a place, when no one cares, especially me. When the writer doesn't care, the work is less than inspiring so the overall blog output was not satisfactory. I had this idea that people out there were waiting every day for my posts, when in reality, my four followers just want me to be happy. My passion is about music so I'm returning back to just that. Essays and music suggestions, with some silly creative writing thrown in for fun. I feel relived and uncluttered.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool ~ Richard Feynman, physicisct

Day 51 - Reached creative euphoria

Today was a uniquely successful day for me in creativity. First, I practiced singing for about an hour and a half, which is unprecedented. Warm-ups led to songs, and really, it was the best I've ever sounded. I recorded it to remind myself on a bad day that I actually do have talent and can sound great. It brought renewed hope and excitement to my singing path.

Later in the day. I sat down to write with only a half-hour to spare. Miraculously, the words flowed and I was pleased with the outcome. There was a moment there where I felt giddy, clear and fulfilled, like this was what I was meant to do. It sounds corny, I know. I've never felt that before - a physical reaction to writing. This, too, invigorated me.

Creativity comes and goes, strikes at inopportune times and sometimes hides when you need it. It is a ridiculous gift to get one good piece out of a day, nevermind two. It's worth the struggle and some pain for moments like this. I'm thankful.

Day 37 - Tried the 15 minute rule

It's a time management trick when you give yourself only 15 minutes on a task, like cleaning out your closet, so you don't get sidetracked for hours. It's also a productivity tip when a project seems overwhelming - just give it 15 minutes to start it, get some thoughts down, whatever, and it won't seem as daunting. My 15 minutes was more the second kind. With my other blog and a soon-to-be-released professional blog, there is a lot of writing to be done. I am sometimes scared of it, which causes me to put it off longer, and the cycle continues. I needed to take some kind of action.

SO I sat down with my computer and started pumping out anything that came to mind. A few ideas had been brewing up there but they didn't seem to have much direction. Taking a few minutes to get it out of my head helped a lot. My day was pretty open so I let myself continue to roam with a topic if it was working. If not, I moved on to another one. Soon I had the start of six solid ideas, all of which will need a lot more work but none of which felt so good only the day before. I doubt every attempt at this will be so successful, but it's a tip that always produces results.

Day 19 - Created a music binder

I have been singing all my life, but not well. So last year, I started going to a singing teacher to learn. At the end of 2009, we talked about what my goals might be for the new year. One of her suggestions, in my quest to get organized and focused, was to make a music binder. In it I can keep notes, the songs I'm practicing, ideas, etc. And I could decorate it with things that inspire me. Here it is:
It's true I am no artist, as mentioned before, but this was quite crafty for me. There are a two stickers on the bottom, one that says, "Too much rock for one hand." The upper corner has studs that I embedded into the cover. And I freehanded the bird and branch on a full-page sticker. I also included two quotes that I love.

On the bird: "A bird does not sing because it has an answer... it sings because it has a song." ~ Chinese proverb

On the branch: "To be nobody but myself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting..." ~ e.e. cummings

Day 5 – Created a logo

I am well aware that I am no artist. Drawing, pottery, most crafts = scary results. But I really wanted a new logo of sorts for my other blog. Not because my three followers demanded it, but I was looking for a change. As you can see, it is awesomely simple and did not require much skill. All of you graphic designers and talented artists are justified at laughing at it. But I am overwhelmingly happy with it due to my sad skills and proud that I gave it a shot. I will most likely change it in about a week.