A collage of life

Hello friends and future self!

Here are some portraits of what I've been up to, and what life has been like, for the past week and a half.

Last week I was in the Covenant Life offices all week, working with Dave W (tech stuff) and Ken (music-related projects). Now I'm trying to figure out how things will flow with Bob being back, and hopefully more going on down in Sovereign Grace (The two entities are separate, both organizationally and physically, though they're both in the same monster building complex. SGM is "downstairs."). Today is a decently demonstrative snapshot:
- Up at 7:20am. Shower, relatively hurried breakfast, and out the door.
- Came it at 8:30 to the SGM offices. Got somebody to let me in to the studio, and worked on video editing till 10.
- Met with Bob at 10 and hashed out what clips we want to pull from the WG09 interview. Worked on making that happen until noon.
- Packed up my laptop and walked the long course through halls and stairs and auditorium and lobby to get to the CLC offices. Thereat partook of lunch, which was leftovers from the previous night's singles meeting. One of the few tomato soups I have truly liked.
- Ate and worked at my unofficial desk, which is in an area with 3 admin-assistant girls. This has become the closest thing I have to a home base. It's right by the breakroom, so we see everybody, and there's rarely a dull moment.
- Worked on some low-level projects for Ken on my laptop, sorta twiddling my thumbs, so I rounded up one of the facilities guys (Felix, aka the man) and got him to let me into the infant care room and help me take down the monitor, which has had poor picture quality. Worked on that for a good while, and it looks like a 12dB RF amplifier and some de-sharpening fixed 'er up right purdy.
- Sat in on a webinar in the Luther Room (all the meeting rooms in the CLC offices are named after famous church dudes). It was about a new techy product for church meetings. (How would you like to answer a poll during a meeting, on your iPhone?) Got so hungry I was nauseous at points.
- 4:30pm: Did some reading/work at my "desk," and had some food. Granola bar, slices of Bel Giosso parmesan cheese, chocolate covered espresso beans, and dried cherries. Enjoyed sharing them all. Mm-mm good.
- Headed home about 5:15. Cooked up a dinner of grilled italian chicken, mac & cheese and veggies.
- Ate said dinner, chillaxed briefly on the back deck, and went to choir practice.
- Had a blast joining my voice with others', putting out that glorious rich sound that nothing but a choir can create. At the end Ken told us to sing "The Father's Love" one last time and not to worry about the notes but to focus on the truth of the words. The sound seemed all the richer and more unified, and I could feel God's presence there in that room as we sang. It was a great way to spend an evening.

That was today. Here are some other snippets:

Saturday night - rehearsal for the Sunday service. Dave W explained the lighting system in detail to me after practice was over, and I could feel my brain expanding and taking it all in. It was a great time of learning, and of hanging out with him.

Sunday - everything ran smoothly, so my job as assistant technical director was easy. Joined a big group for lunch, met a guy with a possible band/home recording connection, and returned home for pizza and football with Greg. Potomac Pizza also ranks in my top 10. Fantastic stuff.

Last Friday night Ben, the other full-time tech guy for CLC, invited me out to dinner with him, since neither of us had any plans for the evening. We had a great dinner at Macaroni Grill, affordable-ized by a giftcard he had, and I got to know him better, which was cool. Later that night I went to somebody's house for a theological discussion and some hanging out. Ended up with a small group super late, and played a couple songs of mine. One of those rare, rare times where a group of people is in a state to fully listen to something you play.

Greg is working on selling this place, while the rates are low and Obama is giving out free money for buying a house. He had some contractors in Saturday morning to estimate renovation costs, and this Saturday the countertop will get torn out. This makes me sad, 'cause I will be less able to cook food, and I need to save money chance I get.

I'm still listening to Owl City. It is a precious and rare thing when a song hits some nerve in you, and sends you to euphoria as it plays. I think it happens less frequently as you get older, and it always fades to some degree over time and listens. So I am enjoying it as much as I can while "Fireflies" continues to delight me deep down. Every other song of theirs is also delightful and enjoyable, and I'm so happy I know about them!

The subwoofer adjustment I made last week is blowing my mind. And NOT my ears! I always significantly notice the volume I play music at in my car. It used to be 3 windows closed, 4 open, 5 for rare super-rock-out mania. By the summer it had gotten to 4 min, 5 when I really wanted to listen to something, and 6 sometimes, especially to really kick it. That's when the sub really came into its own and the sound sounded balanced and full. At low volumes the sub was obnoxious and overwhelming and quite unpleasant. NOW, I'm listening at 3 all the time, and it sounds perfect - the low end is all there, and it's well-rounded and eminently pleasant. It makes me so happy I'm having to refrain from pouring more effervescent words into this paragraph!

The roads around here feel very isolated. There's a lot of woods and greenery everywhere - houses tucked back from the main roads, not tons of shopping centers... it just feels like you're out in the country, with not many friendly places around. Hard to describe, but it is very prominent to me. Perhaps later I'll come up with a fitting way to communicate it. It definitely feels different. Everything is pervaded with a different-ness here. I can't think of one thing that feels like it did "back home."

I have my little MicroKorg synth setup in front of a boombox in my room. I've been going through and playing with it, making good-sounding patches and learning the parameters. It's an example of the kind of thing I have always wanted to do, and now am in fact doing since I'm away from all the occupying things at home. I'm also starting to write some music, and I want to play along with a metronome regularly to try to get some good tempo beat into my brain.

There's more I could say, but plenty here. Much new, much to be happy with, and much being learned.