Song 006 01-16-23

I recorded the Bass and Guitar parts for a new song I started writing the other day.  I gave a copy to Connor to check out so that we can work on it the next time he comes over.  I decided to mess around on the drums a little today since I haven't for quite some time.  I want more practice at recording the drums and mixing them, so I figured I might as well record some simple drum tracks to what I wrote.

SWOLA 118

Here is my entry for Sunday With Ola SWOLA118

01-03-23 5 Songs

Here is a video of my son Brandon, my friend Connor, and I playing 5 of the songs we have written.  We have been able to get together once a week and work on some stuff.  This is what we have so far.  Hopefully we can find a singer soon.  It would be fun to play a show sometime.  I have a ton of song ideas that we haven't event touched yet.  Right now we are at 18ish mins of material, so we are close to being able to play a 30 min set.

Pretty soon we plan on live streaming all our practice sessions on my YouTube channel.  It's been fun writing and playing music with other people again.  I took such a long time off from playing.  I am very happy that I decided to start playing and writing again.

Weight Loss (Gain)

 I haven't been running much since around August.  I dropped out of Headlands Hundred at mile 25 because I simply didn't feel like running that day.  Since then I've ran just a handful of times.  Right now running just isn't as appealing as it use to be.

In the meantime I have been playing and writing a lot of music and focusing a little more on Jiu Jitsu.  We recently moved our gym from an industrial area to a new commercial area.  It's an exciting move that is bringing in more students, and the little gym that I helped my friend Bernard start is growing into something larger than we expected.

Last week I got on the scale for the first time in a long time.  I was a little surprised to see my weight at 205 pounds on Christmas day, and then at 209 pounds today on New Year's Day.  My issue is that I really enjoy food, and I still eat like I'm running ultramarathons.

This is not a New Years Resolution to get back down to 185 pounds, and I was actually going to write this last week, but my laptop got damaged last week so I was unable to sit down and write anything.  I don't like posting from my phone because I would rather compose my thoughts on a laptop or desktop computer.

My plan is to get back down to 185 pounds, not because it's a New Year, but because I feel healthier at that weight.  I'm going to mainly cut back on soda and use portion control for my meals.  My plan is to check in on here every Sunday and post about where my weight is and how my week has gone.

I plan on taking at another month off from running, so I'm going to have to really kick up my Jiu Jitsu and cross training Steel Club and Steel Mace workouts.

Hopefully next week I'm under 209 pounds.

SWOLA 116

SWOLA 116

SWOLA 115

Here is my entry for SWOLA 115

Merry Christmas!!

12-20-22 Band Practice

A long time ago I played guitar in a couple different bands, and it never really went anywhere, but I had a ton of fun writing music.  I eventually stopped playing and gave away most of my gear.  A few years ago I decided to pick up my guitar again and start fooling around a little.  

I started watching Ola Englund on YouTube and doing his weekly Sunday With Ola (SWOLA) riff challenges.  This got me to start playing and writing again.  This would lead to me wanting to play and write music a lot more.  After a bit of playing, and buying more gear to replace what I have given away, I decided I really wanted to write some songs again and put a band together.

On of the guys I train Jiu Jitsu with plays the drums, and when I suggested that we get together and play he was interested.  My son has been playing guitar, drums, and now bass guitar as well.  Now with Connor playing drums, my son Brandon playing bass, and myself on guitar we are able to almost have a full band.  We have the frame work for 5 songs and just need to find a singer.  We try to get together once a week and play, and it's a ton of fun.  We have a goal of finding someone to sing, get 3 more songs down, and then hopefully play somewhere by this coming summer.

Running has taken a backseat for now in my life, but I'm happy to be playing and writing music again.