Entry One Hundred Seven.
Friday, 2009.10.02, 5:26 AM CST.
Life changes happen every day.
Current Mood:  A bit on the excited side.  Current Scent:  None.

"Life changes happen every day."

So sang the brilliant Rose Smith in the single "Life Changes" from her (shamefully little-known) album DawnRaiding.

If you're not familiar with the album, buy it immediately.  It's tremendously good, even if it is a few years old.

I'm not so sure that my life has really been "changed" each day - perhaps in some small amount - but there are definitely some changes that have come about recently about which I want to speak.

The way I have sometimes seen it, my life is kind of like a book, and it's divided into sections, which are in turn divided into chapters.  Some chapters have been rather mundane, some have been tragic, and some have been exciting.

Last Saturday, during the daytime, I sensed very strongly that my life was moving into another chapter.  I wasn't doing anything particularly exciting at the time; it just felt like a revelation.

I can definitely tell that the chapter has changed, and I'm going to do what I can to bring about even more change.

ASSIMILATION
On Saturday night, I attended Assimilation - Tulsa's monthly industrial/electronic/goth event - and for reasons whose details I won't discuss here at this time, I had a significant disagreement with the actions of one of the staff of Assimilation.  My disagreement was so severe that I actually considered cancelling my appearance and performance at the Assimilation Depeche Mode Tribute Night in November.  I am happy to report that I have talked things over with the gentleman who runs Assimilation and I have been assured that the situation will not happen again.

Hence, my plans to perform at their Depeche Mode Night on 11-14-2009 have not been cancelled after all.

GYPSY
As many of you know...  I have been a major supporter of the Gypsy Coffee House for years upon years.  I love the Gypsy; it has stuck around (surprisingly) as an independent business for over a decade, and my experiences there since I first started going in 2002 have definitely changed the course of some parts of my life.

As a lot of you also know, I have been a performer at the Gypsy Open Mic Night since the summer of 2003, performing (mainly) comedic poetry and writings.  I've had gaps, off and on, mainly due to issues on my part.

Well, here's a big change for you:  I am tired of Open Mic Night.  I don't like the direction it's gone, and I'm not going to perform there for a while.  The current host is a really nice guy (and I mean that - I think he's got a good heart), and I know he enjoys hosting, but he's got issues, and the open mic night is suffering for it.  An open mic night host can't just "walk away" while a performer goes on for way past their time limit, nor should the host allow them to blatantly break the open mic rules.

On top of that, one of the current Gypsy staff members takes pride in being hateful.  It's like a sport to him.  I try to get along with him, and even I'll admit that sometimes his attitude can be comedic.  But, he takes it too far, and often comes across as way too mean-spirited.  Plus, if I try to have a conversation with people (in particular, females) he feels that it's his mission to come by and derail our conversation, usually acting like a complete douche in the process and hanging around in the conversation as long as he pleases (which usually seems to mean until he feels he has a shot of "hooking up" with said females).

Hence, this is the first time since I started going to the Gypsy that I have found myself not liking the direction Open Mic Night was going as well as the direction the Gypsy itself was going.  That's really saddening.  I love the Gypsy like an old friend, but sometimes even old friends have major issues.  I hope that the Gypsy can turn itself around, but I can't just keep going there and hoping that "things will get better."  I'm going to start actively seeking out other independent Tulsa coffee shoppes to see what they have to offer.

(If Bradley, the owner of the Gypsy, is reading this, I'm sorry... but you need to make some changes there, and soon.)

WRITING
As far as my poetry and comedic short writings have gone, to be honest, my motivation has gone south and I've had a massive bout with writer's block.  (This is not a "new" issue with me.)  So, since I'm no longer going to Gypsy Open Mic Night for a while, I'm going to concentrate more on music production.  I'm still working on a few writing projects (such as this Journal), but I'm tired of trying to come up with a new "funny poem" and finding my inspiration's well run dry.

TEETH
Yesterday, I went to the dentist for the first time in... um... over ten years.  Probably over fifteen years.  Although I really have made an effort to have "pretty" teeth, I knew that I had developed a few cavities over the last several years, and one of them had produced a toothache which had been killing me as of late.

Thus, yesterday, I went to the dentist.  That was fun!

I have what I would consider to be an embarrassing number of cavities that I didn't even know about.  I'm not as bad as, say, a meth addict or Shane McGowan.  However, my mouth has a lot of issues that need to be taken care of.

I have my first root canal next week.  Gahhhhhhhhhhh.   Wish me luck.

MUSIC
I've gotten back into the swing of purchasing "new" remixes of old music for my collection, usually on vinyl.  I managed to score a full eight-record set of rare Miami Bass Classics remixes - the first seven still sealed in shrinkwrap, the eighth one still in great condition - for an amazingly reasonable price.  I've also discovered that one of my favourite online old-school remix service retailers has come back into business, so I've been doing some more business with her.

I have even been doing a bit more equipment upgrading.  I'll probably post a bit more about that later, but I've been concentrating on the sound equipment - getting better CD players for better mixing, and reconfiguring the layout of my DJ "coffin" to accomodate the new setup.  I'll have more information and pictures soon.

On the production side, it's difficult to produce any new music or remixes when I have an almost-two-and-a-half-year-old to chase around, and then when I take him to bed I tend to pass out along with him.  However, I have recently acquired (legally licensed) thousands of new sound loops and samples to manipulate, hack apart, and otherwise incorporate into my music.  I have at least two new productions that I need to finish up within a little over a month's time (more details very soon).

DAD
My dad, who is in his late 70s, had some surgery done this week have a pacemaker and an internal defibrillator installed.  So, if you're the type to pray, please feel free to do so.

BODY
Finally, I think it's important that I talk about my weight.  I don't normally discuss that here, but I figure that it's my site and I can pretty much do what I want, so here goes.

I need to lose some weight and get myself into better shape.  Currently, I've been well over 200 pounds for a while, and for a guy who's barely 5'9" tall, that's not good.  I would like to knock that down to around 180-ish, or perhaps even lower if I can.  Plus, I want to build up some muscle (which, I'm aware, will put some weight back on, but that'll be "good" weight, as opposed to "fatass" weight).

Wish me luck.  More later.

Badger