Sunday, August 25, 2013

Getty

Fun surprise:

About 10 months ago, there was an option through Soundcloud (a website where I have uploaded some of my songs to share with random people) to license the songs through Getty (which is the company that licenses pictures and stuff for public use.  They do music, too.)

So I licensed the songs, which consisted of clicking a mouse a few times and sending off a tax form to Getty.  Pretty much on a lark.  It doesn't cost me anything but a stamp, so why not? 

Then I promptly forgot about it.  Completely forgot that I ever did it. 

Then on Friday I got an e-mail from Getty that said I should update my contact information and view any royalty reports that I might have, and I was like, "Oh yeah, I remember doing that.  Let me go to that site and see what it looks like."  And I went to the site and the first report that I looked at said what most reports of that nature that I've looked at say:  "No data for the specified time period."  But then the second report said that I've got royalties of $228 coming my way.  So I looked a little more in depth, and it seems that since February, 4 of my songs have been licensed (2 in the USA, 2 in France) to the tune of 650 bucks, and my 35% cut is $228.  So now I have made exactly $228 more than I ever thought I would off of those recordings.  And now I want to license everything I've ever done, cause who knows? 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Trouble Will Find Me

The Jeanners is up at the YMCA for a late-night gym session.  i was supposed to go outside and sand some trim tonight, but she convinced me not to.  Instead I have spent my evening reading old blog posts from 2009.  2009 was a good year for us, I think.  It was the year we bought the house and we got off our asses and started to move things forward a little bit.   Although if I knew then that the house still wouldn't be done in good ol' 2013 I probably would have shot myself in the head.

My blog posts were funnier in 2009, I think.  I think I'm getting progressively less funny with each passing year.  I think the "with each passing year" in that last sentence was redundant.  "Progressively" pretty much covers it.

I've been thinking about my life lately and how different it is now than how it used to be.  The main difference, I think, being having a kid.  I remember days when I used to not have anything to do.  And really, my days are still kind of like that except that there's a kid here who gets pissed if I look at the internet all day.  Oh, and he would also probably get sick and die because I wouldn't be feeding him and de-pooping him if I was looking at the Internet all day.  But anyway, he demands attention.   Much like every kid, I suppose.  And he's cute and funny and fun.  But some days I wish I could sit and write an e-mail without someone banging on the number pad.

Got an e-mail about a production  meeting for 'Dracula' next week.  I'm really looking forward to working on that show.  Outdoor, autumn, good people.  And getting paid!  All good things in my book.

I continue to binge on this album by The National.  It doesn't help that I've discovered that it's a good album to run and/or workout to.  Now I listen to it exercising, in the car, and at night.  Which is pretty much the major times of day that I listen to music.  During the day Sam and I listen to the mix of music that he likes, which consists of Iron & Wine, The Samples, Mavis Staples, The Band, Josh Rouse, Lord Huron, Daft Punk, U2, and Bonnie Raitt.

I miss my friends!  For awhile now it's felt kinda like Jeannie and I have been living in a vacuum.  Is everybody OK out there?

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Vole in the Hole

What's been going on?

I'm down to 2 weeks left of no-job.  I am both ready to go back to work and not ready to go back to work.

I had a birthday somewhere in there.  I'm now 36.  Jeannie got me candy for my birthday, which was awesome, and some of the ugliest coasters you've ever seen, which was less-than awesome.  And a big ol', double-burner, cast-iron griddle, which was way awesome.  Now I can cook up mass quantities of bacon and/or eggs.  I can also make 2 (maybe even 3!) pancakes at once.

"Vole in the Hole" is going to be the title of my autobiography (if it's not already taken).  It came to me today, as Jeannie and Sam and I were on a lovely nature walk, and we saw a hole in the ground, and I postulated that there might, perhaps, be a vole in the hole.

I just looked up 'postulate.'  Turns out it's not quite the word I was looking for.  What's a better word?  Hypothesized?  Posited?

Anyway, the nature walk was lovely, somewhere we'd never been before, and it culminated in what was described in the description of the hike as an "idyllic pool and rock formation."  I think it was a pretty good description.  The pool was pretty cool, and perhaps made more idyllic by the fact that it was kind of an overcast day and we were the only ones there.  Probably less than idyllic when there are a handful of teenagers around pooping on everything good.  Or whatever it is that the teenagers do these days.

Monday, August 12, 2013

A Young Congregation

My parents were here visiting over the weekend.  It went OK, although the visit was probably about a day too long and we had to struggle a little bit to find something to keep my mom occupied.  Keeping her occupied keeps her from continually suggesting that we work on our house.  In addition to that suggestion, she also suggested we:

1.  Send our child to a Catholic grade school that she knows nothing about. 
2.  Put a stick on our curtains so they're easier to close.
3.  Put our vincas in the sun, where they would thrive. 

But, aside from those suggestions getting a little annoying, it wasn't too bad.  Coulda been a lot worse.  And the visit was otherwise enjoyable.  It was fun watching my Mom and Dad play with Sam, and also fun that we were able to get a semi-major job scratched off our house-list with the help of my Mom and Dad. 

But they left this morning, and Jeannie and I are looking forward to life getting back to normal.  We had a meeting this morning with a woman who will probably be watching Sam for a couple of days a week when I go back to work in September.  We both liked her, and she's in the neighborhood, and relatively inexpensive, and Sam immediately started playing in her house and didn't really want to leave, so we'll probably end up using her.  It feels good to have a solution for that particular problem. 

Ok, gotta go.  Gotta take a car to the shop for a recall of the passenger airbag and other minor repairs. 

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Big Brass Lamp Kinda Girl

What life looks like right now:

Sitting in this room drinking a G&T, listening to The National's latest album (Trouble Will Find Me) while the Jeanners works in the back bedroom and Sam sleeps the night away.  





Also:  I have rediscovered my love of hand-held electronic bathroom Yahtzee.  Although now I don't do any reading at all.  

Monday, August 05, 2013

Bubble Cocks

I must write fast because I must go clean up toys and books and pine cones out of the living room while J-Dog puts the Samsonite to bed. 

Over the weekend we went on a 24-hour vacation to stunning and tropical Frederick, MD.  We spent Friday night at a suite at the Courtyard by Marriott and ate Mexican food at a perfect Mexican restaurant and listened to Sam as he tried to go to sleep in an unfamiliar place.  He had a little trouble.  But once he fell asleep he slept through the night and Jeannie and I had a chance to watch "Orange is the New Black" and eat Newman's Own brand microwave popcorn.  Then on Saturday we hiked on Sugarloaf Mountain.  The highlight (for me) was singing a 45 minute long version of "Old McDonald" in the rain while we hiked down the mountain and pretended we were in the south of France. 

Speaking of "OitNB", J-Dog and I were in bed the other night and were almost asleep, and we were talking about "OitNB" and whether it was a book before it was a TV show, and who wrote it, and blah, blah, blah, and I told her that one day they were going to make a TV show out of my blog and did she know what they were going to call it? And she said, "Bubble Cocks."  Or maybe it was "Bubblecocks."  Anyway, I found it funny.  Why would they call a TV show made from my blog "Bubblecocks"?  You'd have to ask Jeannie.  She mostly didn't remember the conversation the next day. 

I went and helped with the strike for the summer shows today.  It's become quite a large operation.  Good to see how it's done so I can hopefully figure out how to do it next year. 

My folks are coming to visit this week.  Must straighten up the house.  And porch.  And yard.