Archive for July, 2007

First Impressions: Harp

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

So earlier today, I finally received my harp. Tuning it was an interesting experience and taught me that plucking strings can wear on the fingers. I’ve also somewhat learned how to use an electric tuner. Regardless, the first tuning attempt took probably close to two hours. I hope from this point forward, it will not take me quite as long. After getting it relatively in tune, I tried experimenting with it a little. Even though the tuning wasn’t perfect, the instrument still sounded good.  I hope with both practice and persistence, I can start doing something useful. Otherwise, if nothing else, I will probably become rather proficient at tuning the harp since I need to do this once a day for a month.

Protected: Daring to Dream

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

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Protected: Projected Reality

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

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Restlessly Recovered

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

Talk about a completely unproductive day. A cycle of eating, napping, and listening to music pretty much sums up the entire day. I try to generally conserve energy, but sometimes I think I go a little overboard. If nothing else, at least I am sure that I am ready to start doing stuff again. Too much rest leads to atrophy.

I need to slow down on learning music theory until I get my instrument. Going through some general theory is very slow and painful right now. I can already feel it sucking the life out of me. I think it will become much more interesting once I am able to get some hands-on time and play while learning. I find it a little strange that I am so hands-on now with most of my projects. I remember when I was much younger and in school, I used to always go through manuals and go over theory first before ever touching anything. I guess maybe I’ve learned enough theory that I feel confident that I can pick up the theory as I progress through reality.

I am so ready to start experimenting. Even though I have no official ETA, it should arrive at some point this week. I pretty much have just about everything that I think I will need to get started. However, I am missing a stand. So, that is something I will have to rectify soon. The anticipation will only continue to grow as the week goes on. I can’t wait to get cracking! There will be pain involved; but what doesn’t kill me only serves to make me stronger.

Soothing Recovery

Saturday, July 21st, 2007

The past few days have calmed my slightly frayed mind and body. It’s been nicely quiet and without any major jolts. I’ve been able to keep any strenuous activity to a minimum, and so my senses have had time to rest and recuperate from all of the activities earlier in the week.

It makes me wonder if the remainder of my weekend will also be this relaxed, or if there will be more physical and mental tests applied to the body and mind. If so, I will have to make sure I have enough energy in my system to appropriately handle it without getting tired. For sure though, I will make sure that I am able to get some rest Sunday evening so that I can be properly ready for the upcoming week.

I’ve definitely been more disciplined this past week about feeding myself than the latest couple of weeks. This is a positive sign and will only help reinforce my ability to continue this trend once I need to re-focus again. This should serve as a reminder to myself that, despite all things, some personal time is a necessity for the overall health of the numerous goals that I am trying to achieve.

The upcoming week will temporarily be the last of having plenty of time to spare. I believe that in the following week, I will be very busy with training and work. I am also sure that soon after training is completed, I will be expected to push through a new implementation of the ticketing system at work. I can already tell that it probably won’t be much fun, and potentially very tedious, but it will probably make the system more tolerable to use. I still actually have to prepare for it this upcoming week by going through the rest of the user manual first. Ugh. Work really does never stop.

Overall, it has been a rather interesting summer so far. There has been progress on many major fronts, and I believe that things appear to generally be headed in a positive direction. Even though it is not over yet, I am confident that once it has passed, and I am able to reflect upon the memories, this summer will be seen as a period of time that I succeeded in finally getting the ball rolling where I wanted it to go.

Protected: Balance

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

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Active Lifestyles

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

I’ve probably done a whole lot more running around in the past month than I have in a good while. I suppose that it can’t entirely be a bad thing to get out more and move around. The only real concern I have with it is that I need to make sure I keep my body filled with energy when I decide to go running around. A higher degree of discipline is needed to ensure that I continually stuff food into my system, even if I’m not hungry, so that I don’t end up getting exhausted.

One thing in particular that I’ve had a difficult time doing lately is trying to get back into reading. I’ve had a couple of books that I’d like to read that are just largely sitting around gathering dust. I’ll have to make sure I find time eventually to go through them. I used to enjoy reading a lot, but I think ever since I started working, I’ve largely stayed away from leisurely reading. It seems like the only thing I read nowandays are boring technical manuals. Reading is just one of those things that shouldn’t be such a chore all the time.

Protected: Restless Night

Monday, July 16th, 2007

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Protected: L2: Glimpse Ahead

Sunday, July 15th, 2007

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Glimpse Ahead

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

After plowing full steam ahead for a while, I’ve finally managed to find some time to slow down and reflect a little bit over what has happened recently. I am in an interesting place; one that I do not think I have really been in for a very long time. While I think the physical body has suffered (but survived) lately, I think that my overall mental and spiritual health are in a very good state.

There are still many things that need to get done at work, but compared to recent events, they are not anywhere near the same level of scale as my previous project. I am sure that I can go ahead and get those hammered out eventually. I will be taking on additional responsibility in the future though, so perhaps my thoughts on things will change.

I am still waiting for my harp to arrive. I believe that it will come either closer to the end of this upcoming week, or the week after at the latest. I still need to buy some training materials and other things, but I will hopefully be able to get those ordered soon before the harp arrives.  I did already get a basic book on music theory, so I will have to try and read some of that as time permits.