My First Photo Shoot....

Mckay, originally uploaded by Living with giants.

Thanks to my good friend, Ryan Mannie, I now have some really sexy pictures of my newly refinished drums. this is just one of the pics he took.

I really enjoy Hookah. If more people decide to follow my blog, I will suggest that we have hookah night if you happen to be local to San Jose.

Careful and Honest Contemplation, Pt. II

Cuddling, originally uploaded by anotherdrummer242.

The internets have failed me. I can no longer find anything that is remotely interesting. Xbox, you too have failed me. I can no longer while away a listless hour with on a game of shoot 'em up while listening to "double kill" repeat so often it becomes a chant. My mind has failed me. I am the most faithful boyfriend in the world, and yet in my infinite boredom I ponder the "what if" that will ultimately lead me down a path very much as dark as the bottom of the sea. I want more than anything to spend time with my wonderful girlfriend and see her smile. I think that will repair me.

In the lengthening weeks that I am without a car, I am more and more spending my time atop my solid frame 21 speed bike. Yesterday I rode for 3.5 hours at a constant pace of about 10/12 miles an hour. Nothing record breaking, but definitely a work out. Today I went on an hour long ride, and supplemented the remaining 2 hours with several reps of both pull ups and chin ups. Overall, since the end of May I have lost 15 lbs, and am now a respectable 145 pounds. oh yeah, I am 5'10.5" tomorrow I am going to ride to davis and back, probably at 9:00 am. I think I will get some Jamba Juice as a treat once I get to Davis, and then head back after a short rest.

I am also in the process of designing a tattoo for my self. it will be a full sleeve down my right arm. The basic design is a squid, on my upper arm, reaching with it's tentacles down and around my arm to end on my wrist. there are still some kinks worked out, like what the tentacles should look like. The squid itself is going to be dark and evil looking. totally emotionless eyes, and very true to life. the tentacles though I think need to be kinda "gross." An earlier tattoo design I had was one of a heart, draw in a rough "paint brush" style, on my inner right forearm. If there is a way to combine the two, that's what will happen.


OK ladies and gents, you know what I am up against. I shall bid you all farewell for the night, and reconvene tomorrow for a recitation of my day.

Riding the Train

Today I am headed back to woodland after spending my weekend in San Jose with my girlfriend. I have never ridden this particular train before, and I must admit, I am nervous as to whether or not I will get off in Davis. I must assume that I will, because the guy sitting next to me is also getting off at the Davis stop, and unless we are two of a kind, he is not mistaken. Tomorrow I will post some new pictures.

I drink too much soda

0708092218-00, originally uploaded by anotherdrummer242.

but this is what comes of it. my drums, which once looked like the ashes of a dying moon, are restored to a beauty they have never known

Failure in Miniature

I am constantly worrying about details. When I drum, I get so preoccupied about the small, minute nuances that could make everything better, that sometimes I forget why I love drumming. I'm the same with everything else. I am in the middle of a LEGO build for my county Fair, and I spent so much time on the Details of my project that I forgot to turn in my registration on time. So no I have upwards of 50 hours and 100s of dollars spent on something that people won't get to see. It's frustrating. Perhaps I will finish it and put pictures here, as well as on Moc pages.


I have taken an interest in Siberian Huskies. I really want one as a pet. I hear they need to be really active, maybe that would be an incentive to run more myself.

Careful and Honest Contemplation

Today billy struck me a serious mental blow with this phrase: "I saw the moon tonight, his light held supremacy over the sky, as if he was the only being in existence. He gazed upon the world blankly, for there was no one to watch him shine. Tonight I was his witness, whether he realized it or not. The dreamer was not alone."  It struck me that we are like the moon, always reaching for something greater than we are.  Simple hunter-gatherers discovering fire, Columbus sailing to the Americas, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.  In these attempts, we are to be rewarded for our success.  But in our triumph do we loose our sense of innocence?  When so much is at our finger tips, we forget where we come from and how far we have traveled for the things we take for granted.  With city lights holding captive the night sky, we forget all about the simple things nature tells us are marvels.  One of my favorite things to do is to take a weekend and go camping in a place remote from all that is civilization.  Somewhere that I can hear everything, and nothing, where I can see for miles without the steel of city and town.  At night, watching the stars arc overhead, I remember, and get lost in what it's like to be alive. I am rejuvenated with a childlike view of things, something that should not be discounted.  Children are unhindered by beliefs and bias. They see clearly what grown men cannot.  They feel deeply what does not shake us.  

Why can we not see unclouded, and live carefree like children?  We get bogged down in our day-to-day and forget to look up at the sky, or to see the beauty as we walk to and from.  Keep this in mind, as you do your daily tasks, and maybe we can feel a sense of what Billy felt.  Though we may be like the moon, reaching for the sun, let us not get burned by the very thing keeping us alive.

Me as a Musician Part III: High School & College

Today I am writing as I sit in on a concert praising the works of Robert Schuman.  Schuman's music is remarkably peace full to listen too.  It's definitely music to listen to while napping or reading a book.

Part III:

High school was rather eventful for me.  my freshman year I attended the the newly built Pioneer High.  The band instructor was a cook.  Imagine Mr. Barry, then imagine him trying to strangle you with that horror film nose hair.   That was this guy.  I can't even remember his name.   I broke my hand during the fall, and couldn't play music for about 2 months.  In the spring, I got in a fight and was taken out of public school by my parents.  I continued music in the form of piano, and going to see Mr. Holck every couple of days and filling in the holes in his percussion section.  My sophomore year is when things got hairy.  I was doing home school, and my mom took me to the well established Woodland Sr. High School in search of  the musical mythology surrounding the should be legendary John Abigana.  Nothing but good can be said about the man, however I was terrified upon first arriving at the school.  band with Mr. A changed my life.  I made my longest lasting friends ships in his band classes, and had the best fun and learning experience.  In his class, I got to play in many well remembered pieces.  We played Mars and Jupiter from Gustav Holst's  "The Planets"   we also playing a five movement piece called "The Sorcerers Suite"  it is a composition based on the prominent characters of the Harry Potter books.  Because Warner Bros own the copyrights to all things Harry or Potter, the movements were titled as vague analogues to the story line.  I can't remember any f the ridiculous names, perhaps I will look for them in my music books.  My most favorite works are the Gustav Holst's Military Suites for Band.  The first suite is simply title "First Suite in Eb for Military Band."  The three movements are "Chaconne," "Intermezzo." and "March."  The Second suite is titled similarly: "Second Suite in F for Military Band."  The four movements are: "March," "Song Without Words," "Song of the Blacksmith," and "Fantasia on the Dargason."  Another magnum opus we performed was "Hobbits" from the "Lord of the Rings Suite."  I do not mean the movie score.  this music was written by Johan de Meij.  The Suite consists of five movements  "Gandalf," "Lothlorien,"Gollum," "Journey in the Dark," and "Hobbits."

During High school, I auditioned for the Nor Cal Honor Band, as well as the All State Honor Band. I got 

into nor cal, no such luck on the all state.I got into several music schools during my senior year. During the

2007 band trip, I auditioned at Fresno State and Chapman University. Both places said they would have

me, but something was not right. Upon my audition for Galen Lemmon, and SJSU. I knew I was in the

right place. The entire campus felt right to me. College. College has me on the edge. Whether that edge is

despair or success, I cannot tell. All I know is that I am a much better musician than ever before, and I have

only the wish to get better. I wish that I didn't have to take the GE courses required to get a degree. I need

to just focus on becoming an excellent musician, and to focus on learning what life means for me.