curvyplant, originally uploaded by Michael7070.

Taken the other day…with a little P-shop manipulation

magicking 058, originally uploaded by Michael7070.

On my way to Tibet, you know.

Looking for the thread to unravel the magic carpet that is creativity can sometimes be a difficult and painful process. Fear can control and guide a hand, it can also be the fuel for the fire, I choose the latter. So here we go, into the unknown again.

After a difficult year (boy, they sure seem to get harder…isn’t it all supposed to get easier?) I lost my thread, my muse, my motivation. After much thought (maybe too much, as I’ve often been told) I decided to start over, or more importantly, go back to the beginning. Hang around, seriously.

Berries, originally uploaded by Michael7070.

There always comes a time when an idea is ripe for the picking. Pick it too soon, and it’s unpleasant and bitter, pick it too late and it’s dried and withering. Taking things for what they are, ideas are coming in to season and harvest is around the bend.

I took a long walk tonight with my littlest one, down one of those pictureque midwest roads, where the trees hang over and the beer cans reflect like little diamonds from the roadside, and we had a great time….like I said, the ideas are ripe. Muy bueno.

Columbia Gorge • Cape Horn Viewpoint, originally uploaded by victorvonsalza.

Location matters. There was a point in my life when I knew this…then life happened and I thought, well, maybe not. I was wrong, it does. Maybe a more accurate description is geography matters, well for that matter so does geology, at least for me. I’ve done my best to make due in this flat land of boredom, but I’ve reached my limit. Changes come and go, and for me the one constant in my life has been change and when it goes away and stasis settles in, or what other people would call “normal”, I feel the need to throw the chains. Looking at the future is unsettling, though it makes more sense now then it has in a while.

Ship Graveyard, originally uploaded by pedro vidigal.

Exploring the reasons why we do the things we do is sometimes a horrible and thankless endeavor. Struggling with why’s and how come’s is part and parcel of the human condition, but recently I’ve wondered how to meld the images in my noggin with the music that I’ve been wanting to record….and not that succesfully, I might add.

Filling the hole in your life can be a destuctive process, or a positive, life changing process….I choose the latter, because the former didn’t work.

That ship, it’s rusted carcass heaved upon a broken shore, waiting for time to drip, drip….drip on by is a good metaphor for where things go…though that sky looks hopeful.

The fog of war is lifting, and I didn’t realize I was smack dab in the middle of it. So with a light heart and new eyes, I work. For those precious few that read this, those I know, used to know, or have never met, I thank you.

Carry on.

After 3 hours of messing around with these wonderful computers I give up. Truth is I’ve been trying to get old hardware to work on a newer computer…a Windows laptop, but it’s a no go. I was hoping to use the newer one, but thanks to Bill Gates and the myriad of vendors, most of which are Chinese, nothing works together.

What happens when I plug into my 7 year old iBook? Magic, it works…it’s slow, but it works.

Cheapnnasty, originally uploaded by Michael7070.

After years of pursing the elusive gods of guitar tone, drum thunder, and bass sounds to bring on the apocolypse, I finally found it. A $99 electric, $99 acoustic, and $99 amp, recording on a vintage Mac. Take that Consumerism….hah.

AncientEquipment, originally uploaded by Michael7070.

So here I am, trying to record some music on my ancient Mac. Why? well, because my other ‘puter is a pc, and well, honestly, I can’t get the darn thing to record right. So there’s the lesson for the day Mac: Good, PC: Not Good.