Told my parents

I told my parents this weekend that J and I got engaged. Their reaction was not all that enthusiastic. I just wish they could be genuinely happy for both of us. *sigh*.

Worked out chord chart for Painted Smiles

I managed to squeeze in some time last night to work out the chord chart for Painted Smiles. It's in a minor key. A colleague of mine said to me recently that he noticed that I use a lot of minor chords when I write. I guess that's how I hear the music in my head. I'll work out an arrangement of Painted Smiles in a major key so that I can develop my major key inner ear.

Technically I should still have time to make a recording demo of Painted Smiles in time for the February Date With A Tape event. However, I haven't seen one scheduled for February yet.

There is a meeting scheduled for the Regional Writers Group, on Monday February 14. Their web site says "Share your material in workshop format. Bring your lyric sheets if you want constructive feedback. Interested in recording a compilation? Let's discuss some group goals!"

It sounds interesting, like it could be a good way to network with other people that have similar goals. I don't think my fiance would be too happy though, if that's the way I chose to spend my Valentine's Day.

Out of the hot water, into the electric frying pan

John Lennon said "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

A few weeks ago I was planning to buy a dvd burner for my pc. I was about to go to Best Buy, then put that off because I got a call about a problem with a rental property I have. The tenants had been complaining about dirty water coming out of the hot water taps, which made the hot water completely unusable. Well, I couldn't leave the tenants without usable hot water. After about a thousand phone calls, I got an appointment with Direct Energy to do an emergency replacement of the hot water tank.

The new water tank has cleared up the problem, and cleared up the water. The tenants were happy with my efforts and happy with the solution. But their happiness hasn't lasted long.

Now there's a new problem. There's no power in some of bedrooms. The tenants checked the circuit breakers, thinking one had tripped and needed to be reset, but the circuit breakers are all fine. There could be a problem with the electrical system.

Life is, indeed, happening.

Revising Friday Nights at The Wedge

After the Date With a Tape last week, I found it hard to revise the lyrics for Friday Nights at The Wedge. First, I just felt too attached to the song. Also, I thought if I changed the lyrics too much it would water down the meaning.

So I started revising another song I've written instead, Painted Smiles. It's funky, and somehow, it just seemed easier to trim out extra syllables. I had used a combination of time signatures in the original version, but I managed to rewrite it all in 4/4 time and still maintain its funkiness. If I can get a recorded demo done in time, I'll bring this one to the February Date With a Tape.

The process of revising Painted Smiles inspired me to revisit Friday Nights at The Wedge. It just hit me, that revising it won't necessarily water down the meaning, instead it would enhance it. Kind of like editting an essay. I managed to rewrite most of the first verse, but got stuck coming up with the last line of the verse. I'll just leave it for now until I get a chance to work on it later.

Confirmation from Song Assessment Service

I received a confirmation from the SAC that they have received the two songs I had submitted to the Song Assessment Service last month, Isabella and Detours.

I also received a flyer for Songposium 2005, which will be held in March. This event is a day-long seminar for songwriters. Working professionals will demontrate various aspects of the craft and business of songwriting. There will also be a demo evaluation, which is an opportunity for participants to have one of their songs heard. I'll have to mark this event on my calendar.

Date With A Tape - Friday Nights at The Wedge

Due to some disorganization on my part, I almost didn't make it to this month's Date With A Tape event. However, in the end (and with some encouragement from my fiance) I managed to pull my stuff together and get out there.

Date With A Tape is a songwriting evaluation workshop. Attendees bring a recording of a song that is played and critiqued by a panel of industry experts. I submitted the updated version of my song, Friday Nights at The Wedge (I reworked it last November).

There was a small turnout, only about six participants, plus the two panelists, and two of the event organizers. Because there was such a small turnout, we got to hear everyone's song entirely, rather than the norm which is to play just the first minute of each song. In fact, the discussions ended so early that some participants had a chance to have a second song critiqued.

The panelists were down to earth and delivered their feedback in a constructive, rather than critical way. I found their comments quite helpful. The comments that I got on Friday Nights at The Wedge were that it was "musically fine" and the criticisms were primarily about the lyrics; uneven cadence, the need to trim some wasted syllables, and the need for a chorus. Oh, and one of the panelists actually knew where The Wedge was!

"It's a nice box"

I gave my girlfriend the ring yesterday. We spent the evening home, a quiet night in, just the two of us. We had dinner and watched tv. She fell asleep while snuggling with me during Star Trek - Enterprise. I had the box in my pocket at the time, just waiting for an opportune moment to give it to her. I slipped the box out of my pocket and placed it in her hand, then waited for her to wake up.

The box slipped out of her hand a few times while she slept and I moved it back into position each time, careful not to wake her. Eventually she woke up. "What's this?" she asked as she noticed the box, all gift wrapped. She removed the wrapping paper and under that was a packing box. Inside that was the jewellery box. She looked at me expectantly as she opened the jewellery box, waiting for me to say something.

Meanwhile, I just could not say anything. A number of smart-ass remarks came to mind, as they usually do in serious moments, a defensive mechanism that protects me when I am feeling vulnerable. I swallowed the remarks though, and didn't say anything. Besides, I think my heart had stopped beating by then.

She took the ring out of the box and looked it over, then looked over the jewellery box it came in. She turned it over to where the tag was on the bottom - Made in China. "It's a nice box," she said.

"I'm glad you like the box!" I retorted, looking at the ring she held.

"So what does this mean?" she asked.

"It's an engagement ring," I told her. "Do you want to get married?" I asked. Then thinking I better be more specific, I added - "To me?"

She said yes and hugged me. The rest is history waiting to happen.

Lord of the Ring

My New Year's resolution in 2004 was to get engaged to my girlfriend. I missed my target, so I decided I would change that this week.

I went to the jeweller on Monday. He still had the two diamonds I looked at with my girlfriend when we went, some time back in November or early December - the 60pt and the 76pt. I took the 76pt. I couldn't remember my girlfriend's ring size so we went with a stock size 5. The jeweller said he would mount it and that it would be ready for pick up on Friday.

Well I just got home from the jeweller, with the ring. It is quite stunning. The lady at the jeweller's asked if it was going to be a surprise and if I had something planned out. I said yes, it's going to be a surprise but I don't know exactly when or how I will give it to her. I'm kind of playing it by ear.

The Quest for DVD

Since we had so much fun putting together our home videos and showing them over Christmas, I decided over the holidays that I would have to get a DVD burner for my computer. Then I'd be able to make copies for family and friends.

I went on Monday to MDG and got a price for a DVD burner - $150 for a 16x that has both -R and +R formats. According to the sales rep I talked to, it's the latest standard. However, I didn't feel all that comfortable at MDG and decided to I would check out Best Buy on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to Best Buy on Tuesday. I got sidetracked with a problem with the hot water tank at a rental property I have. I promised my tenant I would make this problem a top priority. Until that's resolved I'm putting the DVD burner on the back burner.

Cats we've lost; cats we've found

A friend of mine lost one of her cats this week. She had spent twenty Christmases with her cat, George. That's a lot of Christmases. She had adopted George and his twin sister from a farm and took them home with her, wondering how on earth she was going to take care of them both. Well it turns out she did alright, since they've been with her for twenty years.

It's ironic for me, because I lost a cat at this time last year. Smudge had been with me for seven or eight years. I think Smudge wasn't too happy that I was spending so much time at my girlfriend's house and wasn't around as much. I brought him to stay with me at my girlfriend's house over Christmas last year, and that's when we noticed that he was losing weight and not eating much. His condition deteriorated rapidly after New Year, and I had to put him to sleep.

Not long after losing Smudge, my girlfriend and I adopted another cat together. I moved in with my girlfriend and we have been able to take better care of Chandler together than I was able to take care of Smudge on my own.

Chandler likes to play on the stairs. He would sometimes roll around and fall down the stairs! The sight would remind me of how Smudge flopped around in his last few hours when he was too weak to stand up any more. Although the sight of Chandler playfully losing his balance and tumbling down the stairs is amusing, I feel fearful for him and wonder if he is actually having a seizure.

Chandler is a good cat - it took a little training but he learned not to climb onto the kitchen counter. When we are late with his feeding, he waits patiently by his bowl. He no longer roams around the kitchen looking for scraps of food - he knows he will get a regular feeding twice a day.