the state's newest notary public

*(Ok, possibly not THE newest, but in the top 50 newest, at least)

Today I officially became a notary public. I sort of had to do it for my job. I don't know why anyone would bother with it if they didn't have a job that required/benefited from the position. The maximum fees you can charge are $2.00, so it's not like you could have this fabulous business as a career notary.

I leave tonight for Cincinnati. I have 3 days of "development" training for work. This whole month is crazy with travel and other commitments - I cannot wait until March.

music vs. ticketmaster

SBT and I have a couple concerts to attend on our horizon. In February we're seeing New Edition and Carbon Leaf. In April we're seeing Joe Firstman.

Unfortunately, for two $10 tickets to Joe Firstman, we just paid a total of $34.05. That's a little steep for a concert in what is essentially a slightly-larger-than-your-typical-bar-venue. Did we pay so much because we bought our tickets from some shady guy on the street? Nope, just everyone's favorite Ticketmaster. Because I'm pretty sure the venue wasn't open at 10:00 am today for me to go buy tickets directly from them.

Remember when Pearl Jam was aggressively fighting Ticketmaster? And how just about no one joined forces with them? Back then, I think the service fees & ordering fees were around $4-$5 per ticket. That seemed pretty reasonable to fund their services and turn a profit (consider that just about every venue and every artist uses them).

I get that Ticketmaster has to make a profit. And they have that slick website, and phone service, and probably some customer sales reps in India or China they pay $50/week to answer the phones. So charging a service fee is reasonable. But I just paid almost 2x what the tickets cost, and that extra money isn't going anywhere near the actual artists, so I'm still a little bitter.

The good news is, we haven't seen either Carbon Leaf or Joe Firstman for a long while and therefore I'm very much looking forward to both shows. I'm hoping Joe Firstman has the same bass player he had last time we saw him, Darwin Johnson - that cat can play.

And speaking of concerts, if anyone has experience ripping audio tracks from a (homemade) DVD I could use some knowledge. My dixieland band has a DVD of one of their summer performances, and I'm trying to upload some songs to our MySpace page. I was trying to use the vcl media player, but it's just not working...

state of the union par-tay

I'm as bummed as anyone that I can't view a new episode of House M.D. tonight. El Presidente has a speech to make, and I'm going to be annoyed listening to it. This little drinking game should take some of the edge off.

Enjoy!

of cars & cell phones

of cars...

Today turned into Basic Car Maintenance Day (TM).

I have a birthday in a few weeks. In the Great State of Ohio, as a birthday present, you get to renew your vehicle registration ($54.50).

As I fired up the engine to visit the BMV I thought "Man, I'm overdue for an oil change, better add that to my list". I'm almost never overdue for an oil change, so being at 5,000+ miles since my last one is very, very bad. (Did I mention I drive a vehicle with 114,000 miles on it currently)? Then, as I peered out the windshield, I had another thought, "How did all that salt get on my car!? Did they seriously salt the roads for the 2 centimeters of snow? Guess I'd better wash that off after the oil change."

So, sparing you the details of the FasLube with the weird water problems (they were arguing with the city inspector when I arrived), my car is again, to my standards, fully roadworthy (well, except for the giant smashed in front thanks to that old lady that ran a stop sign a few years ago...).

Next time I go outside I'm taking the ArmorAll and a rag, because the inside of the car is covered in gross dust and other mystery particles. The dust & mystery particles were just creeping up on me, until I washed the outside of the car, and now they are just right there, gloating at the nearly 1/4" thick hold they have on my entire dashboard and steering column.

and cell phones

My wireless carrier is Virgin Mobile. I feel weird admitting it - it conjurs up pictures of:

1)stupid high school kids paying $.18 per minute for cell phones, because their parents won't buy them one on their plan

2)ghettofabulous individuals who can't keep their cell phones on for more than a month

3)crafty criminals who use these magic prepaid cell phones to dodge the hardworking law enforcement officers trying to track them down (ok, maybe that just happens on Law & Order)

It started a few years ago, about 5 minutes before everyone, even your grandma, had a cell phone. STB and I were in Best Buy (as often is the case with our shopping habits). The Virgin Mobile display was right there in the door. I started wondering if maybe I should get one in case of car trouble or other emergency. I figured it would be one of those things I used now and then. I chose a little phone - which turned out to be indestructible. That thing was dropped on cement, in puddles, whatever, and it never died.

Within a year, STB had also purchased his own phone and was using Virgin Mobile, and we disconnected our land line entirely.

You're probably thinking we pay an insane amount of money for our phones. STB actually still does the prepaid minutes, and spends $20-$40 month. I am on a monthly plan, and spend $40-$50 a month.

With my promotion, I can expense my business phone calls on my cell phone. "Crap," I started thinking, "I'm going to have to change carriers."

I've looked into other carries in the past, because it's weird that we're grown adults using these hip "kids & criminals" cell phones. But I never found a service that would save us any money.

I started reluctantly looking again, for work. I had narrowed it down to Spring vs. Cingular, but I hear about how Sprint nickels and dimes every little detail. So I was thinking Cingular (and I've spared you a geek post about Apple's iPhone. I will just say it's freakin' PRETTY and I have to keep reminding myself I don't need one and don't want the contract. But that would be my #1 reason for switching- that pretty phone) or T-Mobile, because, hello sim cards! (You can SAVE all of the crap you downloaded to your phone and SWITCH to another phone and KEEP it! Whey are these the only two companies using them?).

But today I discovered, with a little help from Virgin Mobile's incredibly friendly and useful customer service, that I CAN get monthly transaction statements. I don't have to switch to a "real" phone company. And I can access it all right online. Did I mention I LOVE MY PHONE COMPANY?

If you're thinking I'm just posting this to pimp Virgin Mobile, well, I am. They have the absolute best (and consistently best) service of any company I do business with. And also to tell you - and me - it's okay to go through life without a contract. You just have to use the awesomest company.

life updates

Despite all of my recent discontent with my job, last week I accepted a promotion with my company. There will be a little more responsibility and occassional stress, but it's not really that much more than I have now. And yay! for a raise and small bonus. I'll have a lot of preparation - there's actually a 10-week plan to get me ready, and I'll be out of town a total of 2 weeks for training Once I get into the new position, it should be a welcome change. (And what do I have to lose? If I end up hating it, I'll just resume my job search...)

While I'm excited about the promotion, I'm still more excited about music stuff.

The dixieland band had our first rehearsal since November, (we had a little holiday hiatus) and it was fun as always. We've got a gig next weekend, with a guest keyboard player. He joined us for practice and was terrific. The caliber of all of the players in that band sometimes still surprises me; they are so casual about their talent, they pinpoint issues and work on them if necessary, but often everyone is just right on top of things.

The quintet is progressing; there's a big emphasis on perfecting the musicality of some 'simple' pieces. At times the horn player and I really want to move on (we've had a few conversations along those lines- mainly because our parts tend to be the ones most simplified), but it's really good to focus on those basics, and sometimes eye-opening to realize that it's still difficult to play 100% consistent half notes, or match the articulation between 4 other players. And when we ended Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral last week, one of our trumpet players actually cheered because it was so majestic and beautiful and exciting.

My biggest concern with my promotion at the day job is that it may sometimes interfere with the music stuff.

word, buddha

Today's Daily Buddhist meditation:

But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest.

- Buddha

lists...catalogs...organization...and the best albums all in one post

I can have moments of OCDness. I really like certain things to stay very, very organized. I think one of the reasons I like web design is that I get to organize things, and they don't get messed up when I'm done.

In my quest for online organization, I have my:

online photo collection

online catalog of live music

online catalog of books

online catalog of DVDs

Now I'm looking for something similar to catalog my CDs. I realize that with itunes, etc. all of my digital playlists can be available, but I'd still like easy online access to those old fashioned CDs.

I was actually looking for a CD cataloging system when I found the DVD site. I'm on a big(ger than usual) music kick right now, and someone on one of my geeky music boards posted a list of Rollings Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and then listed the albums they own. I don't think Rolling Stone is the authority on music, but they sometimes are interesting, and I'm kind of bored, so here's my list of the albums I own that appear on the list (play along in your own blog or journal if you wish): *This only includes actual CDs I own; not, for example, the numerous downloads of Hendrix songs, greatest hits albums that contain most of the same material, or compilations that may include a lot of the songs, etc.:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
8. London Calling, The Clash
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
17. Nevermind, Nirvana
37. Hotel California, The Eagles
81. Graceland, Paul Simon
87. The Wall, Pink Floyd
131. Saturday Night Fever, Various Artists
187. So, Peter Gabriel
197. Murmur, R.E.M.
207. Ten, Pearl Jam
217. Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys
247. Automatic for the People, R.E.M.
261. Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
315. Surfer Rosa, Pixies
326. Disintegration, The Cure
293. Greatest Hits, Simon and Garfunkel
327. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
341. Play, Moby
376. (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis
377. CrazySexyCool, TLC
455. Synchronicity, The Police
473. A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay

And stuff that I need want to get. In some cases I previously owned the albums, but they wandered off to CDville and never returned. And some I'll probably eventually just download. Anyways, this can be a reference list for me when I'm not in the mood for new music:

2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
26. The Joshua Tree, U2
41. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, The Sex Pistols
43. The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
154. The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest
157. Closer, Joy Division
193. Dookie, Green Day
45. The Band, The Band
120. Raising Hell, Run-DMC
147. Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology, Otis Redding
49. At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers Band
94. Bitches Brew, Miles Davis
207. Ten, Pearl Jam
216. The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths
252. Metallica, Metallica
258. American Beauty, Grateful Dead
290. Talking Heads: 77, Talking Heads
295. Meat Is Murder, The Smiths
303. Grace, Jeff Buckley
305. Odelay, Beck
310. BloodSugarSexMagik, Red Hot Chili Peppers
311. Unplugged in New York, Nirvana
314. The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground
329. Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth
336. Superunknown, Soundgarden
338. Cheap Thrills, Big Brother and the Holding Company
345. Stop Making Sense, Talking Heads
360. Siamese Dream, The Smashing Pumpkins
368. Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine
437. All Things Must Pass, George Harrison
478. Radio, LL Cool J
480. Faith, George Michael
481. The Smiths, The Smiths
487. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Smashing Pumpkins