Tag: music

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Goats of Music Past

Summer left the house super early this morning to run up Mt. Magazine. She decided to start extra early so she could join some other ladies, and let me stay home to sleep. I didn’t really sleep in much though, and got around to shower pretty early so we could have the day together. Eaddie left fairly early as well, to prepare for the celebration of life concert for Cooper and Shepherd. I had an anxiety attack after my shower, but fortunately it was super quick without any haze afterward.

When Summer made it home, she cleaned up and we went to La Huerta for lunch. Muad’Dib got to hang out on the porch with us, and it was just on the hot end of comfortable. The humidity had me sweating, so I wasn’t super thrilled to learn that we would be rushing to get to the concert. We ended up leaving Muad’Dib at the house, and barely made it to our seats as they played their tuning note.

It was a very long event, with four speakers sharing stories between multiple guest conductors. I didn’t realize that it was a community concert either, or I would have suggested we sit it out. Summer enjoyed it though, and then we waved Chance down as we were leaving, just to say, “hello.”

Muad’Dib was in bed when we got back, but he was excited to see us. Summer spent the rest of the day in bed while I cleaned up a bit around the house. It felt a bit late, so I took Muad’Dib out for a run. It was still bright and hot, and then my parents weren’t home, so we came back home for the evening.

I continued to clean and tinker, and then Dad asked me to come help unload some groceries pretty late, so I took Muad’Dib out for a quick run straight to their house where they had already unloaded. We came back, I tinkered some more, and then went to bed.

And I didn’t even get to meet Corey!

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Are You In, or Are You Out?

I took the Model Y to work today so Summer could keep the Model 3 in town without burning the battery before our evening trip to Fayetteville. It was frustrating how junky her car is on the inside, but I’ve just had to turn a blind eye to it. It was quiet at the office, so I spent all day fighting the firewall and setting up more restrictive policies for devices in the plant.

I forgot my cheese sandwich, so I had my banana alone for breakfast. My iron left my stomach a bit unsettled all day, but we persevered. I skipped a proper lunch, but picked up a couple order of mozzarella sticks from Sonic and then came back to the office.

I basically completed what I had set out to do, which was get the new maintenance computer ready for deployment. We left close to 3:30 and raced home to get ready for the Coheed and Cambria concert. I swapped cars with Summer at Superfast, then headed home to change. That was when I learned that Eaddie had taken my earplugs some time ago, and left them in her old flute case that was on loan to Jenny. She said I gave them to her for marching season, but that had to be a lie because I had already given her a completely different set of her own. I tried to get her to retrieve them, but she got an attitude to the point that I nearly left her at home.

We dropped Muad’Dib off with Dad for the hour until Summer got off work, and then I chauffeured Eaddie and Eli to Fayetteville. Eaddie started fussing as we came up to Ozark and wanted food. I told her I wouldn’t stop, but then I did anyway. We ate some food at the picnic table outside, then continued to the Ozark Music Hall. I was pretty frustrated that all of the EV spots were taken by gas vehicles, and would have keyed them if my Tesla key wasn’t a plastic card.

The line stretched down the sidewalk, but we made it inside without any trouble. We had plenty of time before the music started, but of course the mob was already at the center of the floor and on up to the stage. We found a winding merch line and I picked up a shirt. The guy was too busy trying to serve the next person, so he didn’t hear me ask for a bag of coffee beans they had, but they were overpriced anyway.

The concert started with an Arkansas band called Little Towns, which were very good, but didn’t really speak to me in that special kind of way. I would have considered their merch if it didn’t have a big razorback on it. They played quite a few songs, and then the set change took a while, but Coheed eventually came out and rocked. It was a good show, but I would have liked to get there as early as I had planned before Eaddie dragged behind.

As they played their last song, Welcome Home, Claudio came out with a double-necked guitar that was tuned incorrectly. They had to stop, adjust, and then restart, but did so with a laugh. It was a good time. Afterward we headed home, having to stop in Ozark to charge again since we couldn’t during the concert. We picked up a ton of food again because the lady said it was all half-off. We shared a couple sandwiches and a bunch of other fried snacks before making it the rest of the way home for bed.

Bye bye, beautiful. Don’t bother to write.

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Reedy or Not

I slept in pretty well today, and hoped that would help my recent concerns. Summer and I ate some leftovers and Eaddie left to get ready for Jenny’s recital in the afternoon. The whole day went by pretty quickly, but I tried to stay useful and productive. Summer took some time to get out her old laptop and play Torchlight II, which seemed like a good mental health break.

I got showered and we barely made it out of the house in time to drop Muad’Dib off with Dad before making it to the recital. Eaddie was only playing in one of the songs, but it was a nice, quiet show with just a bunch of the band kids and families. The kids did great, and then afterwards I saw Russ and talked to him for a moment before heading out.

Summer really wanted ice cream, so we went to Las Delicias where she got a cone and I got a mangonada. I didn’t think it was as good as Bocadillos, and I didn’t much care for the atmosphere being dark and loud, so we left and headed back to my parents’ house to get Muad’Dib. We visited there for a while before I really wanted to find dinner.

I wanted to try and find something with a bit more nutrition than the leftover Ridgewood nachos that were in the refrigerator, so we drove across town looking. We turned around at the old Valley Park Center where they had a whole lot of construction finishing up. Then we stopped at Aldi’s to see what aldi fuss was about. It was surprisingly cold and quiet in there, with a pretty limited selection. It didn’t seem worth the drive to me.

I got a box of salad, and we headed home to eat the last of the spaghetti squash casserole that Summer made. Then she cleaned the kitchen while I picked up around the house. She eventually went back to Torchlight and I took Muad’Dib on a run to take some old shirts to Dad before his surgery in the morning.

We wound down a bit more, then I did my best to get to bed on time.

DRINK MORE!

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Amerykahn Graffiti

I made us some egg and Petit Jean summer sausage pitas for breakfast this morning. Eaddie left early for sound check and such before her afternoon concert. Summer went to the gym while I cleaned up a bit, and we had just enough time to cool down before heading to Witherspoon. Dad wasn’t feeling well and wanted to sit out, so we left Muad’Dib with him for those few hours.

The first half of the concert was typical stuff, but with a good amount of end-of-year fluff. I didn’t realize it, but the second half was a doctoral dissertation symphony by Katahj Copley, and every minute of it was an absolute banger. It was a great show.

The kids carried on with their lives, so I took Summer to New China for dinner. The food was pretty good, but our server was pretty awful. I begrudgingly tipped at all for the one time she meaningfully visited our table, and then we headed home.

Muad’Dib was wound up pretty tight when we got there, so I let him run home alongside the car. Then Summer had to do some work on her laptop, so I started a load of laundry and sat on the couch with her until bedtime.

Halcyon later!

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Raise the Roofing!

Summer got up for her run this morning, and I got up for my company picnic. I got out a little later than I intended, but there wasn’t any real rush. We stopped by to get Dad and loaded up all of the bubble stuff he made. The longest bamboo sticks he had wouldn’t fit completely in the car, so I just let them stick out the back window and we made it to Morrilton, stopping at Wendy’s for breakfast before landing at work.

There were quite a few people already there helping out, so my job was relatively simple to get the sound system going. I got it together and started a random 80s rock station just to test, and in spite of my hours of working on a curated playlist, that random station was what played for the rest of the day.

It was a little hard to tell when the party began officially, since everyone that was helping was also there for the event. It was a good turnout though, and it seemed like everyone had a good time. I didn’t get down to the cornhole tournament much, but Dad’s bubbles were a big hit. Summer enjoyed the petting zoo, and Muad’Dib enjoyed running around and getting tons of pets.

Scott gave a great tour of the plant, and it was interesting to hear more about their process out there. All in all, I rolled about three miles on the Onewheel just back and forth in the parking lot. Of all people, David’s wife and Rhonda were the two adults that actually tried riding it, and they both did surprisingly well. Later on, one of the smaller kids tried too. The only issue I had with my sound system was a dead wireless receiver that wouldn’t charge with anything I had out there.

It was a fun and pretty exhausting day, but luckily the cleanup was pretty quick with that many hands. Summer had driven separately after her race, so I took Dad home and then met her back at the house where she had most everything unloaded already. I took a quick shower, and then we crashed on the couch where Muad’Dib passed out at our feet. I eventually got hungry and warmed up the leftover steak for us, and then we watched some TV before bed.

Ten more to go!

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Bubblicious

Today was another quiet day for me upstairs. I continued my tinkering and juggling a couple different projects throughout the day. Thinking about the upcoming picnic, I’ve been worried about having enough activities for the kids, so I thought back to the tulip festival and all the free activities they had sitting around. I asked Dad about rope to make a giant bubble wand, and he jumped right into making some out of fresh bamboo. I asked Teisha about having him come photograph the event since they didn’t want to hire a photographer, so now he’ll join us for the fun.

Lunch time hit out of nowhere, so Muad’Dib and I went to Sonic just on a whim. It was super nice outside, and he did a great job of sitting on the bench with me. We got a few smiles while we sat and ate, and then I let him have a really good run back to work.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, and I spent a little more time trying to refine the playlist. Janice called the mayor earlier in the morning to confirm his attendance, and he may opt to say a few words, so I guess the pressure is really on for me to have the sound system working!

Summer still wasn’t feeling well and had gone home early. She was already in bed when we got home, so I took Muad’Dib for an early jaunt. He was not highly motivated, but we eventually made it to my parents’ house. Mom said she had more eggplant soup, so I waited and tried to help warm that up, throwing more in to replenish the pot.

We ate, then made it home just before dark. Summer was asleep shortly after that. I did a load of laundry that I had been threatening since last week, and then it was early to bed.

Curated ’til the final moment.

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Hey Mister Deejay

I took my S21 to work today so I could continue updates and eventually load it up with some tunes for Saturday. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a rollup update, and continued doing monthly updates for what felt like forever. I spent the entire day tinkering with that and trying to figure out why an Autopilot laptop wasn’t getting the proper deployment profile.

I had a relatively short anxiety attack right around noon, and then Subway actually had a fair deal for lunch. I picked up some fries from McDonald’s for Muad’Dib first, then grabbed the sandwich and went back to the breakroom to eat with Amanda, Elizabeth, and eventually Janice just as I was finishing up. It was a short break, and then I got back to the music.

I learned that Spotify had some new features that would improve our experience, and I spent a while trying to prompt their AI playlist builder. I think I finally came up with something I liked, and at least now I’ll have enough backup songs saved that I can mix things up if necessary.

We made it home a while before Summer. The kids were watching TV, but then Eli had to leave for a concert. I cleaned up and then took Muad’Dib for a run so we could try and get back when Summer got home. He did pretty well as we encountered several other dogs. We visited my parents, and then it was a slow trot the rest of the way home.

Eaddie left to watch Eli, so I made Summer come out and eat some leftovers with me. Then she went to bed while I cleaned up. Everything wrapped up pretty quickly, so I took the opportunity to get to bed really early.

CATCH PHRASE!

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Road Dog

We got up fairly early this morning and got ready for our long drive to Dallas. I did all my packing and we got on the road right about when we wanted. Our first stop was Alma for a charge and some early lunch at Sonic. As soon as we walked up, one of the carhops offered us a pup cup of some whipped cream, which Muad’Dib loved. It was probably the busiest either of us had ever seen a Sonic, so the food was hot and fresh.

We continued on to our next two charge stops at Henryetta and Denison before finally making it to our hotel in Dallas. We barely had time to get changed before we had to head up to Denton, stopping one more time at the nearby Buccee’s for some more charge and a quick dinner. Summer said Muad’Dib found and killed a baby rabbit while I was inside getting food, which was particularly frustrating because she had his e-collar ready to go.

We arrived at the Murchison Performing Arts Center just in time to find Eli’s family and then got our pick of seats. I figured Tech was the last band to play after a long day of music, and there were still quite a few people there, but there were a lot of empty seats. We just happened to sit behind a composer of one of the pieces they played, and I convinced the girls to get their programs signed between sets.

After the show, there was a brief reception with some hors d’oeuvres. The kids eventually came out and we chatted for a little bit, but then Summer and I had to get back to Dallas. Luckily traffic was much more manageable at night. We got up to the room and crashed.

King size!

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Waffle Music Time

I woke up fairly hungry, so I decided to make some waffles. Summer got up and left for the gym just as I was messing up the recipe, so I had to figure out how to adjust and correct. We didn’t have much milk, but I substituted eggnog, heavy cream, and water, and they turned out great. Eaddie got up and we ate some chicken wings with them before Summer got home.

Eaddie had a concert in the afternoon, so she left early to rehearse. Summer got home and we didn’t waste much time cleaning up to go. We picked Dad up and left Muad’Dib in the car for what ended up being about two hours. I felt bad for him, but I guess it was good practice for our Denton trip.

Afterward, we dropped Dad back off and then tried to figure out dinner. We thought we’d try Buffalo Wild Wings because it was nice out, but by the time we walked out the door, it had already gotten cold. We ended up at Point Remove instead, and played Battleship over a couple of beers, then ate more chicken wings and a pizza. Muad’Dib got lots of pets from curious patrons, and we had a good time before coming home for an early night to bed.

Crunch!

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Technically, It Was Great

I got up and made eggs on toast again for breakfast, and it turned out a little better than last time, though we were short on eggs. The day went by quickly, and we had to get to Witherspoon for Eaddie’s concert. I didn’t want to leave Muad’Dib in the house, nor did I want to put him back outside after his bath, so we took him along to get Dad and then went to the concert. Summer wouldn’t let me dress him up in a trench coat to sneak him in, so he had to sit in the car for nearly two hours. He hated it, but was well behaved when he came out.

We dropped Dad off and then I took him for a quick run while it was still light out. Summer baked a frozen pizza for dinner, and then we took Muad’Dib to the other house to try and fetch my other slow cooker. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in because the internet was out and I couldn’t open the garage.

From there, we went to Walmart to do some quick shopping. Summer got a bunch of stuff to make chili for work and home, but we had to stop at the Neighborhood Market to get some missing ingredients. I waited outside and ran around with Muad’Dib while she ran in, and then we got back home where I tried to pound out some reviews before bed.

Definitely not snoozeworthy though.