To A Wild Rose

What have I been up to?

After a long hiatus, I thought it'd be good to start blogging again.

So... a quick update.

• Passed my 6 month review at the job working at www.cybercityinc.com, and earned a raise.  Getting used to the routine, though it's starting to get busy again, since many of the art gallery clients are coming back into play after the summer slowdown.
• Still training at PMAA, though the job really cut into my training time.  But I still tried to make it whenever I can.   There is a new schedule coming up soon that will allow me to once again train for most of the week.
• I'm looking forward to being able to drive to the academy again instead of having to have rush rides with the assistance of my mother.  Many thanks to her for helping me get there to keep my training afloat.
• Speaking of the car, it's almost paid off!  Maybe 7 or 8 more payments to go.
• Speaking of debt, it's been severely cut down, as I've been really aggressive with the payments.   50% of each of my paychecks goes into clearing credit cards.   I've already paid off one credit card, and only have one remaining, about $3000 worth.
• Not to say I haven't been spending money at the same time. :P   Recent purchases in the past 7 or 8 months include a 32-inch 720p TV that I use as a giant monitor for a new system I built.  I bought Vista Ultimate like a fool, but it's not that bad an operating system actually.   Also bought an Acer Aspire One to use for work.
•  Also, lots of fish supplies including a 20 gallon tank.   There are 6 goldfish that are flourishing and have survived well now that I have a better understanding on how to keep the water in good condition.   I plan on starting a smaller 10 gallon tank full of Neon Tetras as a next project.
• Guinness is growing up fine and well...  he's very adventurous, and very difficult to get back in the house once he exits.
• Chabi is also doing fine.    He had a bad bout of matted fur that I had to cut off with scissors, so he looks a bit weird now, but it's growing back nice and smooth thanks to much more frequent brushings.

That's all for now... 

Hi again.

I don't post very often any more here, due to Facebook being the new place to store my cat photos, but I figured it'd be good to have pictures of Chabi, and the new kitten from last month, Guinness. :)

Hm.

What to say? Life has been very turbulent lately. There was a relationship that was nice while it lasted, but had to be cut short for the sake of being good to that person... I've lost a good chunk of my income from being laid off of my orchestra conducting job, and then resigning from said orchestra society. It's very sad, because I've been there for 7 years, all of them with unique challenges that the kids have always came through. But I guess moving on is the theme.

I've taken bartending courses to fall back upon, and I've taken A+ and Network+ certification courses in an effort to get a job in IT. I've always been comfortable with computers and putting them together and troubleshooting them, so it's worth a shot. I plan on taking the exams fairly soon.

Anyway, if there's anybody still out there looking at this page, swing by my facebook page. It's at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=555419993

I've been putting music on there lately, a bunch of duets and quartets that I've been recording via garageband. It's weird hearing 4 of me playing at a time, but it's been fun. I'll try to put some on this site as well...

Well, wish me luck on the exams!

RIP Luciano Pavarotti

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a3j97_WKXn0k&refer=home

He will be sorely missed.

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Neglect...

* blows the dust off the webpage *

Sorry! Been neglecting this page for quite a while! I blame... Facebook.

It's been a bit rough the past month... most of the students had gone into vacation mode, and that occasionally digs me into a financial hole. Consider that I made $975 in private lessons in June, and made $375 in July... and you get the picture.

I went to bartending school to have something to fall back on just in case... and now I'm looking at A+/Network+ certification courses to start an IT job. Suffice to say, these lessons are expensive, but I think they are a means towards a weekday and/or day job... I have debts to pay, training I want to add, and someone special that I want to work towards supporting, and the musician gig alone is not going to cut it anymore.

That said, I'll still be teaching the lessons, just most likely only on the weekends... I'll still be at COS doing the conducting thing...

Teaching the language of music is still what I do... it just won't be the only thing I'll have to do anymore.

Kawaiiiiii

Aerodynamic once again

Conducting the "Clock"

3rd and 4th movements of Haydn's Symphony #101, from yesterday's concert.

This is good for flute players too...

... particularly for some of my students...



http://www.wikihow.com/Increase-Your-Lung-Capacity

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Comic-Life silliness with Chabi

Who knew Chabi loves Sam Adams Black Lager? :)

Note to self: get Photoshop for improved photo mischief.

Classic Chabi

 

My new favorite song and video.

Post #150!

I have officially become a total Apple fanatic. :) I got an iPod, after years of resisting. 30GB and video capability was finally too much for me.

The interface took a bit of time to get used to, only because it was so simple! I'm used to pushing a ton of buttons. Once I got used to the wheel, everything became second nature.

Videos look surprisingly good, despite the screen being rather small. Colors look great on my martial arts podcasts.

I'm anxious to try putting it in my car and seeing how it sounds when I play stuff through the radio...

iPod rocks!

Cutest... Photoshopped.... Pic..... Ever....

Click on it... c'mon.

This is just so goofy...

pictures!

Hey everybody...

So tired! I spent all day moving and cleaning part of the garage to continue my goal of making it into a workshop. Lots of heavy machinery being lugged around!

Then, like a maniac high on endorphins, I went and trained for an hour at PMA. Whew!

Anyway, just thought I'd share some pictures! Here is Chabi, looking cute as ever.




And here are the fishies! Well... what's remaining of them...

Life gets in the way sometimes...

The weather is getting warmer and nicer, and as a result, I'm spending more time outside than inside. Therefore, less blogging. :)

We're now in the extremely slow process of finally clearing the garage, in the hopes of putting my power tools in there and creating a bonified workshop for me to work my creative side.

During my blogging hiatus I've managed to acquire an aquarium of goldfish, play in a small broadway-ish gig through COS at the Queens Theater in the Park, cheer my Mets who are not doing too bad for the start of the season, boo my Knicks for sucking yet again, and chuckle silently at the Yankees for having a $200 million payroll and still being in last place, muhahhaha!

Training continues apace, and with the completion of my blacksmithing class, my Tuesdays are once again free, and so I'll be back to helping out at the Phase 1 Kali classes as well as making Tuesday my "A Day" for JKD. I'm enjoying FMA a lot, and have pretty much made it my main focus at PMA.

My car battery is finally giving out after nearly 5 years... pretty impressive! I gave it a jumpstart this morning, and we'll see if it charges up for once last run.

Ok, pictures and video probably should be forthcoming in the next few days... uh, maybe weeks.... after all, it's getting nice outside. :)

Today we play... Compare and Contrast!

Props to Alanis with some nifty self-defense moves. :)

Myspace is crap

Attention Dear Friends:

I've cancelled my Myspace account. It's not that I don't love you all, it's that I hate Microsoft and their inability to control and protect their system from bots and spam.

Regards,

Ken