you say it's your birthday...

it's my birthday too.....

so indeed, as i look at the lower right hand corner of my screen, where the date is displayed, i see that i am officially another year older. i hope to keep having these for some time.

i am still working the job which i was so happy about getting some while back. it's going well. the early morning conference calls continue, but i can deal with them, since they are about the only indication that i actually work for a company, as opposed to being self employed. i enjoy a level freedom in this job which is either wonderful, or terrible, depending on how i use it. so far, i am using it fairly well. things are picking up.

of the promised musical projects, one is near completion, one is nearing starting. i am quite happy with the way the one nearing completion has progessed. it will be finished next week. have i ever mentioned how much i hate hearing my recorded voice? yes....i understand the physiology on why it sounds so different.....but i don't like it at all.....hopefully you will like it more than i do. more info to come, on all counts.

i will make some effort to update more often in coming weeks......

until then.....

so let it be written, so let it be done.

i should be asleep

so tomorrow is the first day of my new job....a conference call at 730AM. man...i can't wait. that is followed by anotehr conference call. o well. it beats having to go to the office for a meeting. i'm just glad to be employed again.

as i said, i should be asleep, but i wanted to post a few thoughts here.

i am now officially working with the youth at my church here in griffin. not sure what all i will be doing yet, but i know i will be helping with their worship team/praise band. they are a good group of talented kids, who need some direction. hopefully i will be able to guide them, without coming off as the old guy telling them how to play rock music. i will probably have to bite my tongue some......but i look forward to doing it.

secondly, i am working on an idea to get some local concerts happening here in good old griffin, ga. i have a meeting scheduled this week towards that end, and hopefully the ball will start rolling fairly quickly. it's going to be a challenge, as i want to keep the local churches involved, without stepping on toes, or making anyone feel left out. i will say more about this as time goes on.

i should be getting together with hugh this week to record the first real tracks for our songs for this lost dogs tribute. it's going to be fun doing music with him again. he has a great studio, and puts out fantastic music. these tracks should be something i can be proud of....in a good way, of course.

that said. i am going to bed, so i can get up at a way-too-early hour for this morning call, in 7 hours.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

a job....one more time

so i think i have a job, finally.....

with a real company, doing outside sales. i think it will be a very cool thing. it should allow me the free time to do the things i enjoy, along with paying me enough to support my musical habits. i will be selling merchant services (credit card type) and payroll services to businesses.....my territory includes the area here where i live, and enough of the surrounding area that i should never run out of people to see. so there's that.

now....on to other matters.

it has come to my attention that my ex and apparently, some of her friends, drop by to read this when they are bored beyond belief. apparently i have made some disparaging comments that did not go over so well in that particular circle of friends. let me be clear : my ex is pretty cool person, and for the most part we get along just fine. i get to see my son pretty much whenever i want to, and without a lot of hassle. this past weekend, for example, much to my surprise, i didn't even have to leave the house, she brought him, and picked him up. we actually get along better now than we did when we were married.

so, that's out of the way. nothing has been very funny for me to tell you about lately. sitting at home all the time will do that to you. i feel certain that being on the road all day will bring lot's of humour to my life in the very near future.

also, please go buy the new johnny cash record. it will floor you. it's that good. i said so.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

ethics can be a real drag

so i went to my first day at the life insurance company. i had asked some very specific questions about things like lead generation, sales pitches, whether or not i would be going door-to-door, etc in my interview. the answers i received were satisfactory. the reality when i started training monday were quite different. in fact, they were basically the opposite of what i had been told.

i let the fine people there know that i would not be going to work for them. if they have a decent product, no deception should be needed. ever. i feel good about the decision, but now i really must find a job post haste.

i have an interview tomorrow that looks very promising. a real outside sales job. i will keep you, my loyal reader, up to date.

until then, don't call me for life insurance. and if you need me, i will be laying by the pool.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

a job...again

OK. so i mentioned i was taking one of two jobs. here's the deal.

i have decided to take a job selling life insurance. yea. life insurance. not what i always dreamed i would be doing, but after looking into it, there are some definite benefits, and i am pretty excited about it.

1. it's outside sales again. i get to be out and about all day, talking to people. big fun.
2. this also means i can largely set my own hours. this is something i have sorely missed while working for corporate america.
3. the money looks pretty dang good. i need more guitars, and someone has to pay for them!!

hopefully this will also leave me un-stressed enough to get back into a few other musical endeavors i have worked on in the past. look for something to come of that this summer, i hope.

i'm recording rough versions of the two songs hugh and i are doing, this week. i doubt these will be fit for public consumption, but they will be evidence of progress.

that's all for now. if you need life insurance, let me know.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

yea..so it's not winter

my sister reminded me that i haven't posted here since i said i hated winter, and it is now quite obviously summer, as evidenced by the over 90 degree heat we have here, coupled with over 90% humidity.

so since then, not a lot has happened, i promise.

wait....a few small things:

i moved home to griffin, ga. i am taking one of two jobs here. i will make a decision soon. i promise. this move was mainly to be closer to my son, who i do not see enough. this should make my ex-wife happy as well, but i assure you, it will not. she will find a reason to be unhappy if it kills her. ...and have no fear, i will be a part of that reason.

so anyway...yea....a new job. still in sales, since that's all i know how to do. pondering the idea of going back to school, and maybe teaching one day. time will tell.

music....i promised some music from me, didn't i? well here's where we are with that:

i just recorded a guitar part for a song for a guy i know. i thought it sucked. he liked it. it's his song, and if he posts it online, i will put a link here.

i am working on two songs with my old friend hugh cooper, for a tribute album for one of my favorite bands, the lost dogs. they should be really cool. samples will be online eventually. other tributes from the same group of people can be found here : www.bigdork.org please be sure to go to .org, not .com...the guy has called himself big dork for years, but apparently the term has other meanings, other places.

and finally, this fall, hopefully, i will be recording an album of hymns with my good friend, dylan higgins. (i wanted to put more commas in that sentence, but couldn't find anywhere to put them.) i am really looking forward to this project. it will be a ton of fun, will be some great music, and will let me work with dylan, who i have wanted to do something with for some time. check him out at : http://www.myspace.com/higginsmusic

is that enough for now? i will try to get here more often this summer. there may actually be something funny....i am living at my parent's house for about 2 more weeks....surely that will result in some fun stories.

until then......

so let it be written, so let it be done.

i hate winter

as i sit here listening to the lost dogs most recent album, "island dreams", a nice little bit of island dream-y intrumental bliss, i realize that around this time every year, i yearn to move to the islands.....several days into spring, and no sign of a warming trend....infact, it is colder now than last week. it has been cold for long enough. i need spring.....summer would be nice in fact.

so who's in for moving to the islands with me? here's my thought: where do people always wish they could go on vacation, if they only had the money? the islands, the beach, somewhere warm. so if we lived at the beach, we could make do with much less money, since we would have no need to go to there.

sounds good to me.

so if you need me, i will be strumming my guita, running a little t-shirt stand somewhere in the carribbean. i will give you a discount.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

kids are funny....

the following conversation took place before school the other day..

promise : daddy, i need a $20 bill
me: for what?
promise : i want a pop-tart with my breakfast at school
me: promise....pop-tarts do not cost 20 dollars
promise: noooooo daddy..they're not 20 dollars, they are a 20 dollar bill

apparently the lunch lady told her she needed to bring a $20 bill to get extra food after her breakfast at school......now i don't know how much they charge for pop-tarts at school, and i'm sure it's high....but $20? i must be missing something somewhere....

speaking of kids.....people without kids don't seem to understand how the whole "having kids" thing affects your life. my musician friends apparently thing i can just get a sitter with 5 minutes notice, and come hang out. of course, they also think it odd that i go to bed at around 10 during the week.....they have all quit their jobs to play music full time....they don't have paying shows lined up, they just play all day....must be nice...

that's it for right now...just some random thoughts i had this weekend..

so let it be written, so let it be done.

drivers ed

so i have a long commute to work now, meaning i see lot's of things on the road. i have come up with a few things that should be taught to anyone wishing to drive.

1. if you are in a lane that ends, please merge as soon as possible. turn on your blinker, look for someone to let you in, and get the heck over. DO NOT drive in that lane until it is tapering off, and force your way in......

which brings me to point 2...

2. if you are in the lane that doesn't end, and you see someone trying to merge ahead of time, let them. it's polite. it encourages their good driving. HOWEVER.....if they have driven right to the end, and are trying to force their way in, tailgate the car ahead of you, and DO NOT, under any circumstances, let them in.

3. on a multi-lane, divided highway, there are very few reasons to ever slow down. i will list a few for you.
a. there is a wreck ahead. obviously you should slow down.
b. someone/thing runs out in front of you. please do not hit the animal/moron pedestrian.
c. weather demands it.

that's about it......but here are some things that do NOT require you to slow down
a. a wreck on the other side. this is none of your business. go home and watch it on the news.
b. getting close to your exit....most exit ramps are long enough to slow down. that is why they are so long.
c. someone is trying to merge, in normal traffic. do NOT slow down. they are speeding up to merge. if you slow down, you mess up the entire process, and confuse them.
d. you are talking on your cell phone. if you can't drive and talk, stop talking. or pull over. don't slow down.


another thing........why, WHY i say, does a 6 lane, divided highway EVER come to a complete stop? and why, when you get to the point where it moves again, there is no apparent reason for the slow down? if anyone can answer this, i will send you an autographed copy of a tape i played on many years ago.

that is all.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

parenting 101

begin rant.......

i am sick of hearing people talk about changing things to protect children. they say myspace shoould be shut down, kids are getting hurt. chat rooms are dangerous. the simpsons are corrupting our kids. too much sex and violence on TV. too much sex and violence in music.

i have a novel concept : how about you take responsibility for your kids? how about you monitor what they watch? what they listen to? what web-sites they visit? how about there is no good reason for a 14 yr old to have a web-cam on their computer in their bedroom. be involved. be a part of their life.

a friend of mine's 10 yr old daughter had a myspace page. he saw special on the news about myspace, and kids being approached by pedophiles. they mentioned you have to be 14 to even be on myspace. "how is she on there?" he asked. well.......her profile said she was 26. not too hard, huh? she sits beside him on the sofa, playing on myspace, but he never took the time to look at what she was doing. her page is now gone. good for him. he quickly told her the dangers, and she and all of her friends shut their pages down. that's what a parent does. he didn't e-mail myspace and complain. he didn't call the news to raise a fuss. he dealt with the issue with his daughter. how amazing, huh?

it is not the job of the schools, the government, the internet, or anyone else to raise and teach your children. it is your's. stop blaming everything else, and be a parent. don't change the world because some things can be used for evil purposes. change yourself. change your kids.

end rant.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

i'm too old....life is too short

so i have come to a realization.

i just don't get most new rock music. indie rock. you know. the stuff all the "cool kids" listen to. i buy CD's, i listen to them, because people "in the know" tell me they are great. i try to like them, i really do....but i don't. i think they suck. but i keep listening, hoping i will see what all the fuss is about. usually, i never do.

so i have come to this......i just don't care. i don't give a crap what the "cool kids" think is good music. i don't want to hear some melodramatic middle-class kid from the 'burbs sing off-pitch about his sad life, over a poorly strummed guitar. i don't want to try to decipher some inane lyrics that turn out to be about basically nothing. i am not interested in 50 albums, one for each state. i don't want to listen to music i have to try to like.

maybe i am just getting old, but life is too short to not have music around you that you enjoy. so if you are one of those cool kids, and you get near my desk, or car, you will probably hear something that sounds like it came from from before you were born. it might have. or it may be some newer artist who makes music i like. i won't try to convert you to listening to waylon, or son volt, or ben harper, or cross canadian ragweed (though you really should check them out). so don't bother me with the white stripes, killers, gorillaz, or that uber-annoying sufjan stevens. i don't want to hear them.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

where have i been????

wow...it's been a whole month. maybe i should come here more often, yes?

in all honesty, it HAS been a busy month...i moved, i now have a 45 minute commute to work. this means i get up at 530am, meaning also, that i am very tired at night. also, i have been preparing for the arrival of my daughter.....she is here now, bringing mirth and merriment to my house. maybe i will have funny stories like Kelly again, soon.

it snowed here this weekend, meaning everything is closed, the grocery stores are sold out of bread, milk, water, and soup, and people everywhere are driving like morons. i love the south, that is well known, but people here do not have a clue how to drive.

my friend rob has a date this weekend with a girl he met through one of those online dating things...e-harmony i think is the one he used. i am just not so sure about that method. not that my current method is working real well......anyone have a suggestion? comment? snide remark?

ahh that's it for now. i may even come back later today......we will see.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

what have i started?

that's the most comments ever seen in this place. wow. what fun!! i am still not sure exactly how i feel about it all, but it IS fun. please continue. noone has yet convinced me marriage is any better than wal-mart at noon on the friday after thanksgiving(which is how i imagine hell), but they are welcome to present their arguments.

so an update on the housing situation.....we are moving around the end of this month....probably late next week. my roommate has purchased a very nice house in beautiful hendersonville, tn...about 150 yards from the lake, in a great school disctrict, and about 4 miles from the former house of johnny cash (now owned by barry gibb; which i think bothers me). i am quite happy to be getting out of this apartment. when we pulled in the yard last week to look at some stuff, 4 deer ran out of the yard. i will feel right at home!

just a short update, since you have all been so kind as to visit, i felt i should leave you something.

more later.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

it's 2006......

how the heck did that happen? wow.......

so i don't really make resolutions, since they seem pointless, but here are a few things i plan to accomplish this year. feel free to ask me how i am doing with them, throughout the year.

spend at least one hour per day with my guitar or mandolin (which i should be doing now, instead of typing here)
become more active in church
sleep more
watch less tv
record this freaking CD i keep promising everyone.....

o yea.....and find out who that anonymous person is wanting to convince me marriage is better than shopping the day after t-giving (i'd rather have an ingrown toe-nail cut out than do either..but shopping is less painful, and costs less)

yes..i have a mandolin now. maybe i will figure out how to put a picture here, and show you all my fine collection of musical instruments.

so there it is, an actual post of some substance, enjoy.

maybe i should resolve to post here more often. but it would not help. see you all later.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

myspace

myspace.com is one crazy place......i joined to see some pics of a band i am a fan of, and have now discovered people i never thought i would run into on the goofy ol' internet.....something i suspect started as a dating site, has turned into a place to connect with new folks who share common interests, and find one's you have lost contact with......i now get to chat with people i haven't talked to in years, and it's really cool.......good stuff.

you can find me there at www.myspace.com/larryl

christmas is here........for the first time ever, i will spend it without my beautiful daughter....she will be with her mom for the entire weekend, which will be quite weird for me. but it does give me an extra day to buy gifts for her, which is good, since i haven't done much of that yet....

christmas also means a week at home with my parents.......man i hope that goes well......those of you who know me, and my relationship with my dad know what i mean by that....

but at least i get a week off work....that will be nice, though not too relaxing.....i'd rather be home, resting on my sofa, sipping a nice rum drink, watching law and order re-runs.....o well....


i hope you all have a merry christmas, festivus, hanukkah, feast of the nativity, or whatever you celebrate. i personally hope to be able to focus on why I celebrate....the birth of my savior....and i hope i can use it as i time to redirect some of my attention in a direction it is too seldom directed.....may you all do the same.....with all the hub-bub about holiday trees, happy holidays, and such, let's let it go........celebrate however we see fit....i will celebrate christmas....not the actual birthday of Jesus, neccesarily, but the day we choose to celebrate it.

so....merry christmas.

and if need be......festivus for the rest of us......

so let it be written, so let it be done.

and so it goes....

so i haven't been here in a while...here is the brief version.

my roommate and i are moving into a house at the first of the year. this means my wonderful daughter will be coming back to live with me. i have never been away from her this long, and i don't think either of us are taking it very well. i am quite excited for her to be here. it will mean a more normal routine, as mandated by having a school age child in the house.....and the house.....i can't freaking wait to be in a house again. i hate apartments. hate them.

i am inundating myself in some great music, determined to start work on the album i have promised several people. i am playing daily again, and learning some stuff, remembering some stuff, and in general having fun, which is what music is all about for me.

christmas is upon us, and i think i have all my gift buying done, what little i must do. online shopping is a godsend to someone who is as terrified of crowds as i am. seriously..i have been known to leave a full cart of groceries and walk out of a store, not being able to deal with the crowd. perhaps i need therapy. what would hank hill say about that? probably that i should have a wife to do that.... i think i would rather go to the mall the day after thanksgiving......

well i think that is all. i promise i shall try to be more witty, or at least have something to say next time i am here.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

even more random than usual

i wouldn't write anything today, because i have no anecdotes about my life to share, and i am too tired to get into any deep subjects....but i know some of you become concerned for my well being when i don't post often enough....

i will say that my brother-in-law is currently supposedly in the departure phase of his tour in iraq. that is good news. why do they call it a tour anyway? aren't tours supposed to be fun? and from what i hear, he stayed in the same place almost the whole time. i don't get it......but either way, he will be home soon.

it is cold as crap here, and i am very unhappy about it. 20's at night.....my doors were frozen shut yesterday morning.....and they are predicting snow next week....rain this weekend....which means we will probably have a blizzard this weekend, and 70's next week, but i digress......i HATE cold. hate it. see no point to it. it's one of those pressing questions i want to ask God someday....why did we need cold? i am sure someone will give me a biological/ecological answer, but i won't buy it......God could have created the whole thing to work a different way; one which would not have not required cold. i live in the south partially because i hate cold. but we still get it......i suppose it's better than the hurricanes i would have if i lived in those wonderful places where it doesn't get cold...not sure.....may have to think on that.....

that's all for today.

yes, carrie, i feel fine.

i see we have a new reader. welcome rob.

so let it be written, so let it be done.

chri$tma$

so here we are......thanksgiving is upon us, when we will eat too much, without really being thankful that we have so much to eat.....we will fellowship with family....without really being thankful that they are here to fellowship with....at least this is the usual way.....maybe this will remind us all to be thankful.......

which brings us to christmas......happy times, right? then why is there that statistic about more suicides at christmas than any other time of the year? maybe it's the $1000's spent on it? the maxed out credit cards? the pain of NOT being able to get something someone wants? i don't know, but it seems awfully screwed up to me.....my sister is about to go spend $150 (on sale) for a plastic tree....people are spending $2500 on ebay for the new xbox.... does anyone else see something wrong here?

don't get me wrong....i am not AGAINST trees, or gifts, or eating (lord knows), what i am against is that that is all it is about now. look at the name......christmas....literally, christ mass, or mass for christ.....a time to celebrate the birth of christ......even for those to whom, that is not as important (not many of my readers, i know) i wish it could be a time of being with, and loving our friends and family... i am just sick of it all.....

on a slightly different note, while i am still pretty much pro- the war in iraq, i am very anti- my brother-in-law being there. i know that's weird, coming from me....he is doing his duty, and i love him for doing it (and would if he hadn't)....but i am ready for him to be home with my sister and their beautiful children.....that's all i want for christmas this year......

so let it be written, so let it be done

random rambling.......

ok.......here we go..........

i am addicted to coffee. i don't care what some lady allegedly found in her folgers. i drink at least 5 cups per day, 2 of which ore 20 ouncers from work....what?!? you don't think that makes me an addict? i have 2 pounds of fresh roasted coffee delivered to my house monthly. still not convinced? i have a freakin' $200 coffee pot with a timer, and built in grinder. ......starbucks, by the way, is mediocre at best.

while we are speaking of addictions.....limes. they are wonderful, and make almost everything better.....here is a simple test to see if something can be improved with lime: ask yourself "would chocolate syrup make this better?" if the answer is no, then lime will work, and help. (some breakfast foods are an exception).

o yea...chocolate. let me explain something to you cooks out there. desert means chocolate. if it claims to be desert, and does not either contain chocolate, or offer it as a topping, it is simply an after dinner snack.

i am NOT addicted to alcohol....i prove this, because i spend far more on coffee each week than i do alcohol.

christmas is upon us. please do not buy me a gift. i am not buying you one. feel free to buy yourself something, and pretend it is from me. i will likely buy myself something, and if you would like, i will pretend it is from you (yes...i stole this from my sister, but i think we agreed mutually on it several years ago). better yet, give something to someone who actually needs it. i know most of the folks who read this, and we need very little. my children needs no toys. do not buy them any. anyone who thinks my children needs toys, especially noisy ones, will be rewarded with drums and/or bb guns for their son. carrie....you will have kids some day.....the exception is my dear son, who i think might need both drums AND a bb gun for mommy's house.

football....well....the mighty have all fallen in the SEC.

that is all.

(the spell check had several strange suggestions for me tonight...... "freakin'" , it felt should be "foreskin" this is very disconcerting. "mommy's" should be changed to "mummy's", it informed me.....very odd)

so let it be written, so let it be done.

my name is earl.....

i suggest you all check out this show. 30 minutes of highly entertaining, redneck humour. ok...so it's a stupid show; but i love it. and it has jaime pressley in it, which is worth 30 minutes of my time any day. so yes....watch this show....what else do you have to do on tuesday night? turn your brain off, and sit back and relax. ......

so this rant i promised....it is going to have to wait. i know you were all waiting anxiously for my thoughts on christianity, the modern evangelical church, televangelists, mega-churches, rock music, pastors, and how they all make people want nothing to do with God. well....you will have to wait. i just don't feel like it tonight.

as to my post about the bulldogs, let me make it clear, i am not, nor have i ever been, since the time i actually gave a crap about football, a georgia bulldog fan. i have been a loyal fan of the university of tennesee volunteers for 10 years. my comments about rooting for bama were related to the fact that while i would love to see UT undefeated, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards, so i need to pick someone to root for in the championship picture (at least the SEC title, since the devil BCS doesn't think being undefeated in the toughest conference in the NCAA is good enough to get you to the nat'l title game). that could have been georgia for me.....but not anymore. there are two things that us tennessee fans hate.....the university of florida, and steve spurrier. georgia lost to florida. that is unacceptable to me. roll tide. (they already beat us, and i am over that.) whatever it takes to put an SEC team at the top is all good by me. some day the sweet strains of "rocky top" will be heard between the hedges, again.

for those of you who might be interested, i drug my trusty telecaster guitar out this weekend, plugged it in, and discovered to my amazement that i still know how to play. i promise i will work on this album i have been talking about for almost 2 years.......there are songs, there will be a record. well, probably a CD, but you get the idea. no robi, you will probably not really dig it. yes, michael, there will be mandolin on it. no, kelly, there will be no beatles covers. yes, if anyone famous is reading, you may submit your demo for consideration to play on my project.

that is all.

so let it be written, so let it be done.