Monday, January 30, 2006
Sigh of Relief
The Festival Association conference is now officially over, and it was a huge success!
I'd had it up to here preparing-so now I can get on to bigger and brighter things.
I was a little nervous at first, when I saw some of the other vendors and got a glimpse of some of the other bands, but after we played (quite well, actually!) and finally heard the bands, I didn't feel quite so bad. We were just as good, if not better. And to pat myself on the back, I was the only female performer who played an instrument. ( I also thought I was one of the better female singers...) The other bands were very good-and we were more in our element. We fit in with them, playing a lot of the same kind of stuff, and weren't such a standout to what we're in competition with down here in the musical wasteland. superlow was kinda fun-they play a lot of hair band stuff, but I really think we're better!
What was nice was that people were truly interested in booking us. We may have picked up a festival in Fordyce and Lee Ann Dilbeck wants us for Lum & Abner Days. Wow, playing my old home town. What a big deal! The whole event was a step in the right direction. The sound company was also really good to us, very pro. The highlight of the evening was Ben Zephyr, this band out of Denton. They were more than awesome. I hadn't seen a band do choreography since about 1989. Not cheezy Warrant choreography, they just would all jump in the air at one time. Damn, they were good. Nice guys and lots of fun.
I downloaded my application for Rock Star: The Series. That should be a riot. Don't know who the band is yet, or if they're even doing a particular lead singer search, but I'll send it in for giggles. We'll see what happens there.
I haven't worked on the book-I'm still stalling on Jon and Season's argument. Maybe now that AFA is over and we'll just be gigging from here on out and working on the new album, I'll get on that. I'm anxious to finish, so I can start bothering publishers. I did talk to a lady from the Arkansas Literary Festival over the weekend-she thought it was cool I was finishing a novel and thought it would be neat to present it one of these days-probably in about 80 years. No, hopefully not that long! Pretty soon I should have some pictures, or at least the one good one that we got, from the showcase to post here. I'm thinking about buying a digital camera with my birthday money then I'll have pictures everywhere! Oh, no!
I'd had it up to here preparing-so now I can get on to bigger and brighter things.
I was a little nervous at first, when I saw some of the other vendors and got a glimpse of some of the other bands, but after we played (quite well, actually!) and finally heard the bands, I didn't feel quite so bad. We were just as good, if not better. And to pat myself on the back, I was the only female performer who played an instrument. ( I also thought I was one of the better female singers...) The other bands were very good-and we were more in our element. We fit in with them, playing a lot of the same kind of stuff, and weren't such a standout to what we're in competition with down here in the musical wasteland. superlow was kinda fun-they play a lot of hair band stuff, but I really think we're better!
What was nice was that people were truly interested in booking us. We may have picked up a festival in Fordyce and Lee Ann Dilbeck wants us for Lum & Abner Days. Wow, playing my old home town. What a big deal! The whole event was a step in the right direction. The sound company was also really good to us, very pro. The highlight of the evening was Ben Zephyr, this band out of Denton. They were more than awesome. I hadn't seen a band do choreography since about 1989. Not cheezy Warrant choreography, they just would all jump in the air at one time. Damn, they were good. Nice guys and lots of fun.
I downloaded my application for Rock Star: The Series. That should be a riot. Don't know who the band is yet, or if they're even doing a particular lead singer search, but I'll send it in for giggles. We'll see what happens there.
I haven't worked on the book-I'm still stalling on Jon and Season's argument. Maybe now that AFA is over and we'll just be gigging from here on out and working on the new album, I'll get on that. I'm anxious to finish, so I can start bothering publishers. I did talk to a lady from the Arkansas Literary Festival over the weekend-she thought it was cool I was finishing a novel and thought it would be neat to present it one of these days-probably in about 80 years. No, hopefully not that long! Pretty soon I should have some pictures, or at least the one good one that we got, from the showcase to post here. I'm thinking about buying a digital camera with my birthday money then I'll have pictures everywhere! Oh, no!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Another Day!
It seems to be the beginning of another eventful semester! But I did actually received some assignments in the mail today. Thrilling! I've also been busy administering the Spanish Challenge Exam-all have passed. That makes it so much easier for my native speakers. It also means less stuff I have to grade and fewer people I have to deal with!
I'll be so glad when Festival Association is done after this weekend. I think the band will do quite well at the showcase. It should lead to more gigs, and we're getting a lot of those! Our new pictures look really good, even if they are just of me. At least I didn't look as fat as I thought I would.
I'm stuck at the same place on the book. Things are on such an even keel in real life it's hard to write an argument. I'd rather write one when things are absolutely perfect, then the tension in the story doesn't seem quite so draining. I'm sure once I finally jump in and do it, it will all fall directly into place. It's just been tough, because I need space and quiet to get it done, with no possibility of interruption-and I've had a lot of those lately. They will die down as soon as the semester gets to really rolling and our work for the Festival Association is done.
Noël has been reading the manuscript-she seemed to like what little bit she's read. Tony said she was reading it yesterday while she was eating her lunch. It's just a bummer she doesn't have the better version of the first part, which I haven't printed yet, although she does have the revised first chapter. I just hope she doesn't think it's too cheesy-the last half is turning out so much better.
I've also been struggling with what I can do short story-wise. I want to enter some more competitions, but I just can't write short stories. I have to much else to tell. I started an essay on why I struggle with shorts, maybe that would be worth something. I want to send something in to the next big Writers' Digest competition-but it has to be 4000 words or less. The last short story I finished is at 4,432. It's about a girl who enters a karaoke contest to win some money, loses, but gets discovered by a big rock star. It's not too bad I guess. It's just too long!!!
I'll be so glad when Festival Association is done after this weekend. I think the band will do quite well at the showcase. It should lead to more gigs, and we're getting a lot of those! Our new pictures look really good, even if they are just of me. At least I didn't look as fat as I thought I would.
I'm stuck at the same place on the book. Things are on such an even keel in real life it's hard to write an argument. I'd rather write one when things are absolutely perfect, then the tension in the story doesn't seem quite so draining. I'm sure once I finally jump in and do it, it will all fall directly into place. It's just been tough, because I need space and quiet to get it done, with no possibility of interruption-and I've had a lot of those lately. They will die down as soon as the semester gets to really rolling and our work for the Festival Association is done.
Noël has been reading the manuscript-she seemed to like what little bit she's read. Tony said she was reading it yesterday while she was eating her lunch. It's just a bummer she doesn't have the better version of the first part, which I haven't printed yet, although she does have the revised first chapter. I just hope she doesn't think it's too cheesy-the last half is turning out so much better.
I've also been struggling with what I can do short story-wise. I want to enter some more competitions, but I just can't write short stories. I have to much else to tell. I started an essay on why I struggle with shorts, maybe that would be worth something. I want to send something in to the next big Writers' Digest competition-but it has to be 4000 words or less. The last short story I finished is at 4,432. It's about a girl who enters a karaoke contest to win some money, loses, but gets discovered by a big rock star. It's not too bad I guess. It's just too long!!!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Feeling blue...
Or should we do the Holly Golightly thing and call it the mean reds?
I don't know if it's the planets in retrograde, the little sniffle of a cold I have, or just what...but I've got the blahs. I should be happy-we played a small benefit in Ruston over the weekend that went very well, and I saw my good friend Heather and we got to kick back and drink tequila and laugh all night...
But I feel sad and heavily burdened. Could be that the school year is kicking in again, but that's just the same old stuff. Maybe that's it-I'm dying of boredom! But it's a job-a pretty decent one, at that. I even got a raise in the middle of the year. What a surprise. What I do now is compensation after paying my dues-sacking groceries, working retail...blah, blah, blah. I have a cool office and lots of downtime between classes.
Work really isn't my problem. I know exactly what the problem is but I can' t seem to do anything about it without taking a really big risk. But then again, maybe that's not the solution either. I'm probably just going through some sort of phase.
I want to finish the book-I'm very close. I want to start looking for publishers. I want the band to do well, and it is. We're practically booked every weekend for the entire month of February. Things could get pretty exciting for us. Maybe someone will see us and we could at least pick up a booking agent. Anything so Don wouldn't have to worry so much. The festival association thing should open up some door for us. I knew it would pick up after the first of the year.
My only concern is being able to do it all and not be worn down too badly. I hate biting off more than I can chew-I've tried not to do it for years because it wears me down terribly.
Anyway, I think we'll still have a good time-it's always fun to play, and even more fun when we don't have to bring PA. In the meantime, I'll try to find time to do some extra writing and I really hope I can get back into my...spiritual interests? If that's what I can call them?
I don't know if it's the planets in retrograde, the little sniffle of a cold I have, or just what...but I've got the blahs. I should be happy-we played a small benefit in Ruston over the weekend that went very well, and I saw my good friend Heather and we got to kick back and drink tequila and laugh all night...
But I feel sad and heavily burdened. Could be that the school year is kicking in again, but that's just the same old stuff. Maybe that's it-I'm dying of boredom! But it's a job-a pretty decent one, at that. I even got a raise in the middle of the year. What a surprise. What I do now is compensation after paying my dues-sacking groceries, working retail...blah, blah, blah. I have a cool office and lots of downtime between classes.
Work really isn't my problem. I know exactly what the problem is but I can' t seem to do anything about it without taking a really big risk. But then again, maybe that's not the solution either. I'm probably just going through some sort of phase.
I want to finish the book-I'm very close. I want to start looking for publishers. I want the band to do well, and it is. We're practically booked every weekend for the entire month of February. Things could get pretty exciting for us. Maybe someone will see us and we could at least pick up a booking agent. Anything so Don wouldn't have to worry so much. The festival association thing should open up some door for us. I knew it would pick up after the first of the year.
My only concern is being able to do it all and not be worn down too badly. I hate biting off more than I can chew-I've tried not to do it for years because it wears me down terribly.
Anyway, I think we'll still have a good time-it's always fun to play, and even more fun when we don't have to bring PA. In the meantime, I'll try to find time to do some extra writing and I really hope I can get back into my...spiritual interests? If that's what I can call them?
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Back at it
I'm at registration again. Spring semester is here!
It's good to be back actually. I feel a little bit better because I'm doing something and I'm out of the house. I'm free! More or less.
The manuscript is not done. I know I'd planned on finishing it before the end of December but I hit a slump. I didn't have a quiet enough place to work at home, and I tried the library one day...I ended up having to do things...
I'm also at a point where I need to write a crucial argument scene between my hero and his girlfriend, and I wasn't in the mood to write an argument, if that makes sense. I wanted my personal surroundings to be peaceful and secure over the holidays, and writing a big blowout was not going to be conducive to that. But...
I do have scenes written here and there, so all I have to do is start stringing them together. It's getting there though, really. Once the semester is really rolling again I'll probably be able to take the time.
It's good to be back actually. I feel a little bit better because I'm doing something and I'm out of the house. I'm free! More or less.
The manuscript is not done. I know I'd planned on finishing it before the end of December but I hit a slump. I didn't have a quiet enough place to work at home, and I tried the library one day...I ended up having to do things...
I'm also at a point where I need to write a crucial argument scene between my hero and his girlfriend, and I wasn't in the mood to write an argument, if that makes sense. I wanted my personal surroundings to be peaceful and secure over the holidays, and writing a big blowout was not going to be conducive to that. But...
I do have scenes written here and there, so all I have to do is start stringing them together. It's getting there though, really. Once the semester is really rolling again I'll probably be able to take the time.
