Cheevyjames’ Musical Roundhouse

Hullo! So last night while sitting on the balcony with Julie, listening to music and enjoying excellent locally-brewed Oktoberfest beer, we somehow emerged onto the conversation of all the goings-on from 10 years ago. It’s not on the exact day, as that was the 21st, but we were talking about an important day in our relationship. It’s interesting to me because all of this stuff is approaching the 10th year anniversary. Nearly everything important with Julie happened back in 1996 - meeting her, determining that I wanted to persue her, our first date, realising I wanted to marry her…all that.

The date was September 21, 1996. This was a good day. It started off pretty crappily since UT played Notre Dame that day (at home) and lost. It might’ve been a last-second field goal. Whatever it was, it HURT losing that game. It was an early game so I ended up getting a nice sunburn on my face. That night my band Echo Juliet was playing a frat party. If it hadn’t been for the party, I was planning on seeing Jimmy Buffett. I’d always prefer to play. The frat party was for Delta Upsilon and they liked to do a “swamp party” every year. They flooded the house essentially. It’s not surprising that in a couple of years they had to get a whole new frat house. Echo Juliet was the entertainment for the night and I think we played pretty well. I had a blast, even though that house was the most humid place I’ve ever been. It literally felt like a swamp inside the house. Thankfully the sandbags kept the water off of the band and our equipment.

I had first met Julie the previous March at a gig her best friend Jenny brought her to. I think we talked a little bit more at a party a few weeks before the swamp party (that’s when I thought, “damn, Jenny’s friend is freakin’ hot!”). It was a nice surprise to me that after we finished our first set at the swamp party that Julie came up to me and we started talking for a few minutes. Evidently she had to have some “liquid courage” before she could get up the nerve to talk to me. She didn’t think I’d remember her (I did), and even though she was clearly nervous as hell, it was still a good conversation. It was a bit weird for me to actually be talking to someone at a show…talking to a female who I liked, I mean…since that was a rare thing. I didn’t ask her out that night (since after that I didn’t see her again) and it was another month before we finally had our first date. Still, it was a great night and one of the formulative nights in our relationship.

I think it’s awesome that we’ve been together for almost 10 years. I can’t wait until we hit her birthday next month (we’ll spend it in Madrid) and then our anniversary a few days later.

Current Location: work

Current Mood: happy

Current Music: Jimmy Buffett - Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads

Hi! I am currently enjoying the new Iron Maiden album. It came out Tuesday here in the States and I found for only $9.99. Amazingly cool. What to say about it so far? I’ve gone through 2 or 3 listens and I definitely enjoy it. It’s pretty “thick” so it’s not like it all just sinks in on one listen. What I’m really happy about is how there are no outright *bad* songs on it. The last 2 albums have had some absolute clunkers on them, so it’s nice to be able to listen to the album all the way through. Most of the songs deal with war, even though it’s not a “concept album” about war or anything. It’s on a lot of people’s minds ya know. So far, I’m not completely knocked over by any one track (like Journeyman, from the last album), but there are a LOT of sections that make me go “damn! that’s awesome!”. The guitar solos on here are uniformly great. The song I’m currently on, Out of the Shadows is VERY cool, as is the previous track. If I had to pick one that I like the most it’s the last track, The Legacy. Sweet ass song. Actually, Out of the Shadows may be replacing it. This is good stuff.

I’ll speak more about it later, but I just had to say that it makes me happy.

I started a new job at UNC this week so that’s cool. I really like it so far.

Texas takes on OSU on Saturday. I can not wait.

Hook ‘em Horns!

Current Location: home!

Current Mood: happy

Current Music: Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death

It’s cold outside and I love it. It’ll get warm again in a day or two, but thanks to the not-quite-hurricane it’s very cool outside right now. Summer is overrated.

This is probably my last diary entry from work, as I’ll be switching jobs and I’m willing to bet I won’t have NEAR as much free time as I do now. That’s fine with me, since I actually like being busy. I guess that means that I’ll actually have to do these from home, like I used to. Fun!

Practice on Weds was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot, and that’s always a good thing. I said some incredibly random things, like, “I’m having difficulty splitting my brain”. Indeed I was. I didn’t get too much practice time in for the past week, and Jenn got even less…but I still think it was a productive practice. We worked a TON on my vocals for Surrounded, a bit too much for Jenn I think. She seemed very tired of working on it. More for me to do on my own. I’m getting better at it though.

On Monday I did my critique of Shades of Winter (Jenn’s other band) while listening to them run-through their set. I hope my comments help them get even better. They’ve improved a lot since their last show and all of the songs are getting even more tight. They do some really good stuff, so I was more than happy to give them some advice and such.

Football starts tomorrow. Well, it officially started last night, but LONGHORN football starts tomorrow. We get to play the Fighting Mean Green from the (collegiate) University of North Texas. Yay! We’re playing against a music school! I’ll be concerned if we win by less than 50.

Hook ‘em Horns!

Current Location: work

Current Mood: good

Current Music: Phish - Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It