RickSumchin’s blog

Friday night “babysitting” Terri turned out to be rather uneventful. I have to confess I was anxious about it all day. I worried about her getting bored, or what if we just didn’t get along for some reason. Suppose she went Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde on me and turned out to the spoiled brat teenage girl from hell. What if she insisted on not listening to me or ignoring her mom’s instructions and slipped out after dark while I was in the bathroom.

 

My overactive imagination was in hyper-drive most of the day.

 

Carol dropped Terri off on time. Terri had her laptop and some other stuff in a dark blue Friends of KHPR canvas bag. I later found out the bag contained her iPod and a couple of books, along with hand lotion and a small bag of “girl things’, like cosmetics and small grooming implements.

 

Although this was suggested by Carol as a “get acquainted” visit, Terri and I talked very little. She kept herself entertained doing homework, or whatever on her laptop, which had no problem picking up an internet signal from my DSL modem.

 

She seemed content being quiet and staying busy, and I was glad to play along. If she was happy, I was happy.

 

She had brought rice crackers, or arare to snack on. She offered to share, but I opted for my own wheat crackers and cheddar cheese instead. Typical local kid and typical haole (Caucasian) man. I like arare, but prefer flavored rice cracker covered peanuts, called iso peanuts better than the more plain crackers she had brought. Carol had fed Terri dinner prior to dropping her off.

 

At some point during the day, my gut had told me all my worrying was for naught, and everything would be just fine. Like most people, I don’t usually listen to my gut even though it’s always right. Go figure.

 

Carol picked Terri up around 10:30, right in the middle of the agreed upon window. So far, Carol has been very prompt, very polite and Terri has been very nice. Why do I still feel like the other shoe is going to drop at some point?

 

Carol came in for a couple of minutes when she picked Terri up, but our conversation was pretty much just Carol and Terri thanking me, and me assuring both of them it was no trouble, and I’d be glad to have Terri over anytime. Everyone showing off their best manners and social skills.

 

We didn’t discuss when, or if Terri would return. However, I’m pretty sure we all assumed it would indeed happen again…soon.

 

On Saturday morning my cell phone chirped and vibrated to life around 11:00 AM.

 

Nobody ever calls me on the weekend, especially in the morning, so my immediate thought was, “who the…?” Before I could unleash the expletive on the tip of my tongue, I saw it was Carol.

 

“Hello?”, I answered pleasantly, instantly changing gears.

 

“Good morning Rick. Carol. How are you?”, she answered in her now familiar business-like manner.

 

“I’m good, thanks”, I replied, purposely speaking slower than normal. My way of having some one-sided fun with someone in too much of a hurry to have fun otherwise.

 

“Just wanted to say thanks again for watching out for Terri last night. She had a really nice time.”, was mom’s report after apparently debriefing Terri about her initial visit.

 

“No worries. It was nice for me too, although I have to admit she was very low maintenance and seemed perfectly content to self-entertain pretty much the whole evening.”, I replied truthfully.

 

“She’s really good that way.”, said the proud mom.

 

Before I could reply, Carol continued, “so it’s so far, so good?”

 

“Absolutely”, I said trying to make sure I genuinely sounded positive and sincere.

 

“I think she’s planning on Monday after school again if that’s okay. I told her to call you tomorrow to confirm.”, came the ever efficient business woman.

 

“Works for me”, I confirmed.

 

“I’ll send some money with her for you guys to eat on”, Carol let me know.

 

“Great. Thanks, Carol”, I told her.

 

“Okay. Thanks again. Talk to you next week.”, Carol said ending the conversation.

 

“Bye”, I said as the phone went dead.

 

The rest of the day consisted mostly of a little shopping. I needed a few household things for some extra cleaning up around The Crib. If I’m gonna be having Terri over some more, I should probably upgrade the environment in the apartment.

 

The apartment is always fairly clean and neat, but it’s old-man-bachelor-who-lives-alone clean and neat, not necessarily young-teenage girl-and-her-mom clean and neat. I’m not really sure exactly what that means, but I wanted both of the women to be comfortable when they come over.

 

My mom was a meticulous housekeeper and I’m pretty sure I’ll never be that good, but I do have some reasonable room for improvement. Who knows, I might even dust the tops of the tall bookcases.

 

I was somewhat proud of myself that despite not having lived with a woman for over 14 years, I managed to keep the toilet seat down while Terri was over. When I’m alone, I hardly think about it. Mostly I need the seat to be up when I use the bathroom and on the off occasion when I do need to sit, I never, ever, ever, ever sit my naked butt down anywhere without looking first, so accidentally sitting on the cold slippery rim of the toilet has never been an issue for me.

 

Girls…

 

After a good day shopping and getting my one hour of exercise walking in, I decided to take in a DVD to pass the evening.

 

The feature for the evening was a compilation of Johnny Winter concert performances from the 70’s that I discovered on Netflix pretty much by accident. I typed in Johnny Wi looking for old Tarzan movies and up popped Johnny Winter. Although I’ve become quite fond of and even create, modern electronic music, particularly soulful House music, I still love the kick-ass stuff from the 70’s. Once a rocker…

 

The high energy level is one of the things I like most about some of the electronic music, especially Trance music. The incessant, hard throbbing bass drum beat and the myriad of synthesizers and faux explosions gets me pumped. It ain’t Johnny Winter, or Blackfoot, or The Allman Brothers, but then again, it ain’t 1975 anymore either.

 

Just as I crack open an ice cold Tsing Dao beer imported from China, my cell phone goes off again. A cuckoo clock announcing no particular time. It’s the tone I assigned to Terri’s cell phone. Don’t want to miss her calls.

 

“Terri”, I answered as friendly sounding as possible considering she’s interrupting cold beer and a concert on Saturday night. A nearly unforgivable transgression for almost anyone else.

 

“Hey Rick”, she said in a soft but cheery voice. I like that she chooses not to use the “uncle” honorific when she addresses me. Despite our rather wide difference in age, it’s a little more comfortable to try to think of her as just another friend, although she’s anything but.

 

“Everything okay?”, I wanted to know, always close to paranoia.

 

“Everything’s fine. Are you busy?”, she replied, wondering if she had interrupted.

 

“Not busy at all. Just getting ready to watch a DVD. But no rush on that.”, I told her truthfully.

 

“You talked to mom this morning?”, she wanted to confirm.

 

“Yeah. She was just checking in and thanking me for last night.”, I told Terri.

 

“Well, thanks from me too. It was nice.”, she said and after a short pause, added, “and comfortable”.

 

“Comfortable matters. I’m happy to hear you say that”,  I told her honestly.

 

“Mom’s out for a while tonight, so I thought I’d check in and thank you, too ”, she confessed, sounding a little lonely…or something.

 

I took a sip of the cold beer as I listened to her, then replied, “that’s very sweet of you. Keep in mind though, you really don’t need an excuse to call. I’m usually here by myself, and it’s always nice to have someone to talk to.”

 

“I will keep that in mind. Thanks. Is Monday after school okay for me to hang out again?”, she wanted to know.

 

“It’s just fine. Your mom said you’d call to confirm. Is this that call?”, I wanted to know.

 

“Yeah, this is that call.”, she giggled.

 

“So what’d you do today?”, I asked sensing she might want some company for a bit.

 

We talked about her day, my DVD choice for the evening and some other non-topic kinds of stuff for about half of my beer, which was almost 30 minutes.

 

She didn’t sound sad, or anything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling she might be a little bored, or lonely, or something. I didn’t mention it since I don’t really know her well enough yet to judge such things. I didn’t want to embarrass her, if I was right.

 

She had already spent time on the phone with her friend, Karen, so I guess she was working her way down her phone list to pass the time. I felt good she called. It’s always nice when people think enough to call and chat without any particular reason. This call could certainly have waited had Terri not been in the mood for some casual chatting.

 

After we hung up, I finished the beer, got a fresh one and some kim chee tako poke to munch on during the concert. Had someone told me in 1975, I’d be in Hawaii today drinking Chinese beer and eating a hot, spicy mixture of Korean kim chee flavored nearly raw octopus, I would have been sure their destiny was a quick to trip to a padded room guarded by men in little white jackets, but here I am.

 

Johnny rocked as only he can (can/could?…whatever) and the refreshments were a perfect companion. I finished the beer and poke just as Johnny finished the last song on the DVD. A legendary song about aging rockers penned by one of Johnny’s partners in crime, Rick Derringer, entitled, “Still Alive and Well”. True dat!

Chopping is term for taking musical loops and pulling bits and pieces out and reassembling them. Enjoy!

It’s been a couple of days since I met Carol, and I’ve managed to think about little else since. One of the problems with not working, or having much structure in my life is I have way too much time on my hands, sometimes.

 

Almost all of my thoughts about our evening together are good ones. She does seem a little more high-strung than I might prefer, but then again, we did tank up on coffee pretty heavily. I think it’s only fair to give her the benefit of the doubt on that one, for now.

 

I’ve been tempted to call her, but have been saved by Carol twice. Both times we had long chats about all kinds of things. Each time we talked over an hour and covered almost every imaginable subject. It was more interesting than just playing 20 questions and Carol and I managed to learn quite a bit about each other.

 

It’s apparent Carol has conducted her share of interviews. Probably at work, but regardless, she’s a very skilled interviewer. Skilled enough it came off like really good conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed both talks with her. Plus, she gave up as much information as she sought out.

 

Of course, I still had a few questions, but I prefer to let the answers come as they will in the course of spending time together.

 

As I’m making sure I remember everything I want to pick up at Wal-mart, I feel my cell phone vibrating in my pocket. I’m outside without my reading glasses, or a magnifier, so I haven’t much idea who is calling. I answer anyway.

 

“Hello”, I answer, less than friendly. Friends almost never call, and I hate those solicitation calls and don’t want to encourage them.

 

“Rick, it’s Carol. How are you?”, came the voice on the other end.

 

“Carol. I’m good. How are you?”, the requisite answer.

 

“Sorry for the short notice, but are you free this evening for a quick dinner and some talking?”, she asked sounding as if in a hurry.

 

“I’m okay for that. What do you have in mind?”, I inquire.

 

“How about I pick up Chinese and bring it to your place. Since I’m imposing and being so last minute, it’s my treat, if that’s okay.”. she said sounding like she’s been hitting the coffee again.

 

“Perfect. What time?”, I ask trying to help her keep the conversation short and sweet.

 

“Would 7:00 be okay?”, she suggested.

 

“Works for me”, I confirmed.

 

“What should I get for you?”, she asked.

 

“No bones, less sugar is better with chow fun, or noodles”, I reply.

 

“Got it. Talk to you closer to 7:00”, she spit out.

 

“Thanks. See ya’”, I retuned. The phone went dead.

 

I had paused outside Wal-mart to have my conversation with Carol, and now had to regroup and make sure I’m not going to forget anything. I remember the names of people I went to elementary school with, but sometimes only hit 3 out of 4 from my shopping list. Of course, actually taking the shopping list with me might improve those odds. Who knew?

 

Free dinner is always good, I’m thinking. Obviously, she has something specific on her mind, other than treating me to Chinese fast food. Even if all she wants to do is see me again, and buy me dinner, I’m okay with that too, but I have a feeling this busy, complex woman is probably up to something.

 

Walking back from Wal-mart, with everything I went for, my cell phone vibrates again. Luckily I have only one bag and am able to fish the phone out of my pocket. Best I can tell, it looks like Carol again.

 

“Hello?”

 

“One more thing. Can I bring my daughter?”, she wanted to know.

 

“Of course. Just don’t forget to get food for her too.”, I answer.

 

She laughed before saying, “Thanks. Talk to you later.”

 

Interesting twist. I had envisioned meeting the daughter might take a while, and might be a bit more of a “formal” affair. Oh well, it’s too close to 7:00 to spend much time contemplating such things. I’ll know soon enough.

 

In the mean time, I need to do a little “touching up” around The Crib. My place is usually pretty close to “guest ready”, but I still want to tidy up a little bit.

 

I have some time left after my cleaning up, so I head off to Don Quijote and grab a bag of Chinese black tea to serve with dinner. I know it’s only Chinese fast food, but I should contribute something to the evening, and Chinese tea seems to be a reasonable choice. I don’t do ice cream or desserts, so tea is as good as it gets.

 

I figure out the portions for the tea and take a shower by about 6:15. I hate being late. There’s nothing on TV, so I just check e-mail and messages on my web sites. Of course, it’s a quiet day and I still have almost a half an hour to kill, if Carol is to actually be on time.

 

My phone goes off at 6:43. It’s Carol.

 

“Hello?”

 

“On my way. We’ll be there in about 10 minutes”, she announced.

 

“Great, I’ll find a place for all of us to sit.”, I reply. The phone went dead. Not much on niceties, this one. Habits of a busy woman, I suppose.

 

I buzz them into the building and wait by the front door for them to get off the lift. Momentarily, here comes Carol and a very tall, very beautiful young girl. Both laden with bags of wonderful smelling food.

 

I reached out and took the bags Carol had as she kissed me on the cheek and said, “Hi. Thanks. This is my daughter, Terri. Terri, this is my friend, Rick”.

 

“Hi”, said the young girl in a pleasant and confident tone.

 

“Nice to meet you”, I replied. Terri’s smile broadened in response.

 

“Come on in. Follow me and we’ll take those packages off your hands.”, I told Terri. Carol had come in, slipped off her shoes and put her purse down.

 

We all ended up at my kitchen counter. Carol and Terri unpacked and separated the food. It smelled wonderful.

 

“We got this near our house. It’s always good. I got you black bean chicken and shrimp with vegetables over chow fun. Hope that’s okay.”, she said as she handed me my dinner and smiled.

 

“Sounds great. Smells great. You sure you don’t want me to help you pay for all this?”> I asked to be polite.

 

“No thanks. My party, my treat”, she said.

 

Terri had the cat that swallowed the canary grin going on, making me feel for the first time that dinner might not exactly be free.

 

Terri was lovely. She stood a full 5’11”, with a slim athletic build and jet black Asian girl hair tossed up and clipped to the back of her head. Seemed like a lot of hair clipped together. Carol is Chinese, and Terri also looks Chinese, although I have no idea what her dad’s background is. She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt with no printing, or logo. She seemed very pleasant and comfortable. A similar self confidence to Carol’s, although much more subtle and understated.

 

Dinner was excellent and we mostly ate with a little small talk thrown in. Everyone was hungry, so eating was the immediate priority.

 

I put on the water for the tea as we gathered up the rubbish. Carol thought the tea was a nice touch. Terri and I took the rubbish around the hallway to the rubbish chute and returned to find Carol had poured cups of tea for all of us. I have a really nice Japanese tea service I had never used until tonight.

 

“Love the tea pot and cups”, Carol said.

 

“Wedding present. Not sure how I came to keep it, but I like it.”, I replied.

 

“Nice tea”, Carol added.

 

“Good. Glad you like it. Terri, are you okay?”, I said.

 

“I’m good”, the young girl replied politely.

 

Carol had said she was 16. She gives the first impression of being fairly mature for 16, although I’m getting the feeling Carol wouldn’t put up with less. Seems like a nice kid, but then most kids are nice when sitting within arms length of their parent.

 

Carol chuckles to herself as she says, “I guess you are all wondering why I’ve called you together here tonight”.

 

Terri blushes slightly as if almost embarrassed at her mom being more than a little corny.

 

I looked at Terri and asked, “you don’t know why we’re all here?”

 

“No clue”, she said smiling and shaking her head.

 

Looking at Carol, I ask, “so you grab Terri by the arm and tell her that you’re picking up Chinese and we’re going to a strange man’s house for dinner?”

 

“Pretty much”, Carol confesses with a blush of her own.

 

Looking at Terri, with my eyebrows raised in astonishment, I ask, “she do this to you often?”

 

“Never.”

 

“Okay, then. I guess I should shut up and let you clue us in.”, I say looking directly at Carol.

 

“Terri is a wonderful young girl and a very loving, considerate daughter. Not because she’s my daughter, but just because that’s the way she is. I’d love to take all the credit for it, but some of it comes from her dad and some of it comes from goodness knows where.

 

“It’s the goodness knows where part that has me a little concerned. As you know, I’m a single mom and because of that I do everything possible to provide the best I can for Terri and myself. I have turned myself into an over achieving workaholic. I work very hard and work lots of hours, and therefore I’m not always sure where Terri learns the things she knows about life.

 

“Don’t get me wrong. We’ve had the requisite mother-daughter talks about the birds and bees and men and the like, but we really haven’t had nearly enough time together for me to have taught her all the qualities she has that make her a very special girl.

 

Terri is squirming on the couch next to Carol, not completely comfortable hearing all this true confession from her mom.

 

I’m loving every minute of it. I love when people wear their heart on their sleeve. Eliminates the guess work. More to the point, Carol seems very sincere.

 

“My concern is, no matter how good Terri is, she may find herself in, well, bad situations if left to her own devices all the time. I don’t think she’d ever go looking for trouble, but it seems that trouble often finds teenagers with too much time on their hands, despite everyone’s good intentions.

 

“I’ve seen lots of articles and TV shows on latch key kids, and don’t want anything bad to happen to Terri just because she spends a lot of time at home, usually alone and unsupervised.

 

Terri’s look turns a bit more serious. She doesn’t seem upset, but she is definitely paying close attention.

 

I have no idea where Carol is going with this train of thought.

 

“I’d like both of you to think about something for me. I know Terri is too old for a babysitter, per se, but Rick, I’d like it if she could call you, or even come over from time to time. I’d like her to have a person to talk to, or to be with that could offer some adult supervision, or adult influence.

 

“I have a sister, but she’s as busy as I am and her kids are all grown and moved out of the house. I think from the time we’ve spent together, and the time we’ve spent talking, and from all the nice things AC said about you, you’d be a good resource for Terri. And for me.

 

Carol settled back into the couch and took another sip of her tea, indicating she had said her peace.

 

Terri and I looked at each other. Deer meets deer in the headlights.

 

“No clue, huh?”

 

Slowly shaking her head from side to side, she replied, “None.”

 

“I’m guessing that for the cost of dinner, you’d like some instant gratification in the form of a pretty quick answer.”, I suggest to Carol.

 

“If you can, sure. If you need to think about it, please do. We are talking about the welfare of my daughter here.”, Carol said very businesslike.

 

“Certainly, if there’s anything I can do to help either of you out, I’m happy to oblige. However, I’d like to hear how Terri feels about all this. I don’t want her to have to be dragged over here kicking and screaming.”, I answer

 

Carol nods, and looks at Terri, then says, “do you need some time to think about this, honey?”

 

Terri starts shaking her head, slowly back and forth, her brow furrowing in the process, then says, “I actually think it’s a good idea. I know you work hard, so we can have stuff and live in a nice place and all that and I really appreciate it, but it would be nice to have someone around more often. I also know you really love what you do almost as much as you love providing for us, so I can’t ask you to let go of any of that.

 

“I’m okay to give it a try. I think Uncle Rick and I need to spend some time getting to know each other before we can say for sure it’s a good thing, but I’m willing to try it out and see.” Terri said.

 

What a kid. I’m wondering if there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Has something happened? I hope not. This could become very interesting. Hell, it’s already very interesting.

 

“If you’re okay to try it, I’m okay to try it. I agree we need to spend a little time together to see how this might work, or not, but I’m okay to give a shot.”, I reply.

 

“How can I compensate you?”, Carol asked.

 

“I don’t care about money, or anything for my time, but if I’m gonna feed Terri, it’d be nice to get a little help with buying food. I have limited means, as I’ve told you before.”, I respond.

 

“No problem, at all. Of course, I’ll take care of any expenses you incur on her behalf, especially food.”, Carol replied with relief in her voice.

 

“Do you have a specific schedule in mind at all?”, I ask Carol.

 

“Not really. After school is probably the most obvious time. Sometimes, I work Saturday’s and even Sunday’s, but we can play the schedule by ear as you two get to know each other and we all figure out how this is working and so on. Is that okay for now?”, Carol wanted to know.

 

As Terri sits nodding in agreement, I answer, “sounds good to start with. I guess Terri and I can work out the schedule as we go.”

 

Looking at Terri, I suggest, “I’ll give you my e-mail address and cell phone number. Use either anytime, okay?”

 

“Thanks.”, came her sincere sounding reply.

 

“I know I’m going to be working late tomorrow night, so would that be a good time for you guys to spend some time getting to know each other?”, Carol asks.

 

“Fine with me”, I answer.

 

“After school okay?”, Terri asks.

 

“Sure, what time would that be?”, I ask.

 

“Between 3:30 and 4:00?”, Terri says.

 

“No worries. Just call when you’re downstairs.”, I reply.

 

“I know I need to talk to you, Carol about ground rules and such, but I’d like to say one thing out loud in front of both of you before we start.

 

“I don’t care about making a regular schedule, but can we agree that if we plan on a time for Terri to be here and something happens, please let me know as soon as you can.”

 

I look at Terri, as I continue, “You are a teen age girl, after all, and more importantly, not my teen age girl, so nothing is more important than your safety.”

 

Terri and Carol both nod as I continue, “And one more thing. I think two rules are probably enough for now. That one and Terri, if Mom says no, the answer is no. Okay?”

 

“Two good rules. I totally agree.”, Carol stated.

 

“Sure.”, Terri added.

 

“As far as other rules go. I don’t have many rules for Terri. Of course, no drugs, no smoking and no roaming around with friends in cars without prior approval from me.

 

“If she’s here with you, she shouldn’t be out at night alone. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to let her girlfriend, Karen come over. Karen is a very sweet girl and she and Terri are very close. I trust them together, but they shouldn’t be out at night without you either. Karen’s mom is also very nice”, Carol added.

 

“Terri, anything you wanna ask, or say?”, I ask the attentive young girl.

 

“Do you have internet I can use? I need it for homework, and stuff,” she wanted to know.

 

“Sure. I have DSL. It ain’t Roadrunner, but it’s okay enough and you’re welcome to share.”, I tell her.

 

“Mom, any rules about online?” I ask Carol.

 

“She knows way more about that stuff than I do. It’s one of those things where I have to trust her.” Carol replied.

 

“Cool. For now, my computer is off limits. I’ll do a couple of things so that we can share if necessary, but not right away, okay?”, I ask Terri.

 

Terri smiled as she said, “Sure. I have a laptop I’ll bring over.”

 

“Anything else?”, I ask Terri.

 

“I don’t think so. At least not for now.” She said, then after a short pause added, “and thanks”.

 

“Happy to help out”, I added.

 

“Of course, I have complete bathroom facilities if you need to shower, or whatever. And, I’ll try to remember to keep the toilet lid closed.”, I said laughing.

 

Terri laughed as Carol said, “Thank you so much.”

 

“So, you’ll pick her up sometime tomorrow night?”, I asked Carol.

 

“Should be around 10:00, or hopefully not later than 11:00 if that’s okay.”, Carol answered.

 

“Well, I’m not gonna kick her out, so as long as I have an idea, it’s no problem.”, I respond.

 

Carol looked at Terri and asked, “you okay, sweetie? Should we get going?”

 

“I’m good”, Terri replied.

 

“Rick, thank you again. And thanks for letting us have dinner here. I hope you liked the food”. Carol said.

 

“Happy to help out. The food was great. You can bring, or send dinner anytime.”, I said with a smile.

 

Terri and I sort of looked at each other. She was smiling pleasantly when I said, “The Uncle thing is optional. Whatever you’re comfortable with is okay with me.”

 

“Cool”, she replied.

 

Carol smiled and gave me another quick peck on the cheek as we all exchanged good-bye’s.

 

I packed them off into the elevator and returned to my apartment wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

 

The premise for the whole thing is certainly legitimate enough, I’m just wondering why I was picked for the job. What about Karen’s mom? Maybe Carol thinks Terri could use some kind of male influence. Time will tell.

 

Oh well, if Terri turns out to be as nice as she seems, all of this should be just fine.

Something a little less electronic sounding this time. Enjoy.

Recently, I've been test-driving music creation software. A couple of weeks ago, I made a decision to actually spend money on one of the packages. The other two songs posted here were created with Sony's ACID Studio. The good folks at Sony give you 30 days to "kick the tires" and totally check out the program. The trial version isn't crippled in any way, you just don't get the large library of loops and sounds you get when you actually "throw down" for it.

Ever since I started playing with my music, my writing (such as it is) has kinda taken a back seat. I do plan on having more chapters of "Girls Night Out", and certainly some other stuff at some point. To my most loyal fan, patience, my dear, patience.

I first started doing computers for a living in 1989. I first started playing music in the 6th grade. (A little before 1989.) Except for collecting MP3 music files, I've never done the two together. Recently, I thought since I'm now retired and have way too much time on my hands, it might be fun to do something musical again.

 

I used to play clarinet and saxophone. Since I live in an apartment and since playing sax is not a quiet endeavor, I haven’t been doing anything musical for a number of years. Well, except for some karaoke singing from time to time, but I usually go out to do that. I do have some karaoke song files purchased from Amazon.com’s MP3 download section, but this is mostly for practice.

 

At first, I thought it’d be fun to start learning how to play guitar again since I can do this over my headphone and not alienate my neighbors. Then, knowing a little about MIDI, I thought having a keyboard would be useful, as well. I’m familiar with both guitar and keyboard, and can work out parts and such, but don’t really play either one.

 

All of this pondering led me to explore multi-track recording/music creation software. I’ve been well aware of digital/computer recording for a long time, but have never really checked it out for myself. I’ve also been aware of music composition software, but again, haven’t bothered to get my feet wet in that end of the pool yet.

 

As I began to check out different programs, and learn more about such things as MIDI and digital recording, I also became aware of how computer music is put together.

 

I’ve been enjoying trance and ambient music for years, and fully understood it was a lot of computer music, but had never researched just how the nuts and bolts of putting it together worked.

 

Along with the software I was test-driving came sample files for the sake of tutorials and to give one something to play with and of course, as something to tempt, or tease one into wanting to purchase the full version of the software.

 

After checking out a couple of these programs and almost instantly understanding what was going on, I realized this is something I could do. Between what I know about computers and what I know about music, it was all quite familiar.

 

Although almost immediately familiar, it’s like most musical and computer endeavors, there’s no end to what you can do, and how much you can learn.

 

This was starting to look like a great way for me to self-entertain.

 

I’m still test driving software and having a great time. I’ve mashed up a couple of songs without using any actual musical instruments, but I have used some of my musical knowledge.

 

Since I haven’t yet “thrown down” for a fully functional program with lots of loops and sounds, I have a very limited library of sounds and loops, but have been able to have some fun and make some music.

 

I thought it’d be fun to share some of what I’ve been doing here. I’ll spare everyone the software reviews and the technical stuff, but if anyone wants to get into that stuff, please leave me a comment, or send me a message.

 

For now, an early effort called, “Erhu”. Enjoy.

 

 

Below is an e-mail message I tried to send through the George Foreman web site relay my experience with one of their products. The message came back as undelierable. I'll try one of their other web sites, but found the irony of getting this back yumerous.

After only one or two games each, ESPN is talking about who will be the NBA Rookie of the year. You can't be serious!!! After one or two games??? Maybe this would be something to talk about at the All-Star break, but after one or two games. It must really be a slow news day as I can't think of a more inappropriate, untimely story. Over dramatizing of every possible story is really getting old. The news services do the same thing. Had I not been watching the NBA game, I wouldn't have noticed, but I couldn't help sounding off after hearing this would be their top story on Sport Center. ESPN, please.