The Hills are Alive...With the Sound of Music:
3 songs completed
1 song on the way
Lindsay and I are on a roll!
I'd mentioned that I wanted to practice playing guitar with others...not just strumming by myself. She was inspired by this, and came back from Christmas break with a harmonica. And so it begun.
The first song was made after work one day. I decided to play guitar. She decided against a nap and brought her harmonica out to meet me. Song number one, her lyrical baby, was based off of a text message in her inbox. I threw some chords together that fit in the key of her harmonica, and the rest just fell into place.
Well, it fell into place with a lot of late-night coffee and an inspirational setting that helped us. We decided that going out into the forsest to write our music was a good thing for two reasons: 1) inspiration 2) we would hopefully not drive the rest of our team crazy this way.
We decided partway through writing this song that we needed to get more coffee. Also, we were a tad bit freaked out listening to the wolves not too far off on our left. As we started walking down, guitar in hand, we heard an animal barking/howling back on our right. This was not okay. Naturally, we took off running. Let me say that it is not easy to run with a half cup of coffee in one hand and a guitar in the other. If I'm being honest, I'll admit to the fact that I almost peed my pants, as I imagined the spectacle of us trying to run in this state, screeching and hollering all the way, terrified of our impending doom.
Song #2:
Song number two branched out of the key of G. One could say it was a slightly more joint effort on the lyrical side. Partway through making this one, we once again decided that it was necessary to make another pot of coffee. We went back to the cabin, made another pot, warmed up our cold hands, and then started to head back to where we left our instruments and notebook. It's much scarier walking into a dark forest, than sitting in it as the sun set. Well, we found our spot again, and lasted about another 20 minutes until we got too freaked out. We decided to head to a spot infront of an unused cabin that had a flood light out front. As we worked a little longer in this location, a mysterious car pulled up directly infront of us. It then backed up next to another cabin, and a man emerged. Now, it's late at night. He had to have seen us, but didn't greet us in any way whatsoever. Thus, once again, we were freaked out.
We decided to run (more gracefully this time) back to our cabin. Then we got curious. We decided that spying on him was a good idea. Unfortunately, we're not very good spies. He spotted us, most likely heard us laughing, and then watched us run away from the trees we were hiding behind. We decided to end our night in the music hall, with only socks on our feet, sliding on the wooden floor. The windows we skidded towards reflected our jittery, caffeinated excitement. There's nothing like feeling like you're in middle school again.
Song #3:
The third song was a much more somber activity. We decided that since we've both been to Ireland, we needed a song that reflected our time there. I'm not quite sure that the storyline behind behind the song has anything to do with our experiences there, but it does have an Irish feel to it. A bit of a haunting, Irish feel.
Last But Not Least:
Our next creation will hopefully be more nature-related. We're thinking that living in a cabin in the woods, and doing our detox will help us tap more into our natural/earthy side. We'll see.
The Excitement Spreads:
My teammate, Lauren, has jumped on the proverbial bandwagon of music as well, and decided to buy a banjo. Yep. No experience with one, but don't worry - the banjo she bought off ebay comes with an instructional dvd. I need to tune it for her soon... The goal is that by April 16th we will have a few songs put together for the whole team to play. April 16th is the date of the local "Fiddle and Barn Dance Competition." Once we heard about this, there was no turning back. We have people on the banjo, harmonica, vocals, guitar, and spoons currently.
The Cherry on Top:
Orpheus, one of the guys we work for, is a composer. As of recently, he is the composer of music for video games. Over the years, however, he has done just about everything. He caught wind that we are a musical team. And just what does he have at his house...the house that we're visiting this weekend? A recording studio. Yep. And he's gonna record our music. Haha. We're kinda excited.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Becoming One With Nature
So, things are getting a little crazy in SoCal...
Yes, two of my teammates and I have decided to do a detox. A 3 week long detox. More or less, we've gone vegan on steroids. Unfortunately, we decided to do this the day after we went grocery shopping. Thus, there isn't much to eat.
There is a signed agreement on our cabin wall. You see, this is no ordinary detox. This is a bet. If anybody cheats, we will end up doing the other people's chores (cooking and cleaning) for the last two weeks of this project. If all of us bail out, we will be doing the cooking and cleaning for the only guy on our team...motivation enough.
Today is day two. There are 19 more days. Currently, I miss showers the most. Food is a close second.
The Rules of the Game:
no smoking
no alcohol
no coffee
no meat
no dairy
no saturated fat
no unnatural sugar
no deoderant
no shampoo
no conditioner
(of course no makeup, no perfume, ...nothing.)
Yes, two of my teammates and I have decided to do a detox. A 3 week long detox. More or less, we've gone vegan on steroids. Unfortunately, we decided to do this the day after we went grocery shopping. Thus, there isn't much to eat.
There is a signed agreement on our cabin wall. You see, this is no ordinary detox. This is a bet. If anybody cheats, we will end up doing the other people's chores (cooking and cleaning) for the last two weeks of this project. If all of us bail out, we will be doing the cooking and cleaning for the only guy on our team...motivation enough.
Not wanting to be too negative, we did add a section onto the agreement of things that we could, and should, partake in. Alicia, the maker of this agreement, and googler of the detox plan, has entitled this the "Life Enhancement Section." As suggested in this portion, we are to:
exercise for an additional 45 minutes a day
meditate for 10 minutes
write
think positive thoughts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Camp Cedar Glen
The Drive:
The drive, which was supposed to be a nine hour commute, turned into a 15 hour ordeal. This is because we had not only our 15 passenger van, but we also had a cargo van...that we shared with three other teams. Those other teams were not going to the same camp, by the way. Americorps law says that we have to stop every 2 hours to switch drivers. So, during one of the transitions, my teammate, Ali, and I decided that we would take the cargo van for a shift. We got into the van, set the mirrors right, and then looked around the gas station parking lot to find that the other vans had already left us. Great. We looked down and saw a pile of directions, containing about four different packets with varying destinations. With not much else to go on, we assumed that we would be following the directions that were on the top. Why not, right?
So, we take of on our little joyride, and everything goes as planned. About an hour and a half into it, I get a text from one of my teammates asking which exit we're by. Um...exit? We left the highway about a half hour ago, and are currently going about 15 mph down a winding mountain road. I quickly call her and ask where she is. They're still on the highway. I asked where exactly we were supposed to be going, because we were just about to Ramona, CA. Turns out, we were doing just fine. But the rest of my team took about a 30 mile detour because they missed their exit. So Ali and I had some time to wander around this lovely little town. We found a music shop with all sorts of fun intstruments, and a pet store with rabbits, turtles, and turantulas! Eventually we found an Americorps van at a gas station. Not our team, but one of the vans we were supposed to be caravaning with. We went over to the grocery store quick, and eventually met up with our team and made it safe and sound to camp.
Our sponsor, Jason, seems like an nice guy. I was liking what he had to say about the camp until he got to the wildlife aspect. Turns out there are black bears, mountian lions (a momma with two babies), wolves, coyotes, turantulas, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ticks, and of course the black widow spider. This wouldn't be quite as unwelcome for me if it hadn't been for a dream I had three nights ago that involved me being mauled by a mountain lion, bear, and wolf. Actually, in my dream, there was also a tiger. And I was in Alaska. And I hid from the wolves in a mini fridge. It was obviously the only safe place to go.
First Day of Work:
Right off the bat, I was on a chainsaw. And apparently will be for the next two weeks, minimum. Wow. So...by the time I made it to lunch, I was already able to feel my arm and back muscles every time I attempted to bring my sandwich up to my mouth. All I have to say is that I'm going to be ripped by the time this is done! Or maybe just incredibly sore. I'm already rocking a sunburn on the back of my neck. And the camp is built into the side of the Vulcan Mountain Range. This means that everything uphill. My cardio system will also be rather impressive by the time I leave here two months from now. I am quite excited to go to bed.
But it's not all bad. It's a major step up from Catalina Island, infact. First, we have a heated cabin, with an indoor kitchen (no more cooking dinners over a campfire!), and showers. And, in my opinion, it's prettier! I enjoy greenery and trees...two things Catalina did not have much of, that Camp Cedar Glen does. We even have a little babbling brook running right down through the middle of camp!
The drive, which was supposed to be a nine hour commute, turned into a 15 hour ordeal. This is because we had not only our 15 passenger van, but we also had a cargo van...that we shared with three other teams. Those other teams were not going to the same camp, by the way. Americorps law says that we have to stop every 2 hours to switch drivers. So, during one of the transitions, my teammate, Ali, and I decided that we would take the cargo van for a shift. We got into the van, set the mirrors right, and then looked around the gas station parking lot to find that the other vans had already left us. Great. We looked down and saw a pile of directions, containing about four different packets with varying destinations. With not much else to go on, we assumed that we would be following the directions that were on the top. Why not, right?
So, we take of on our little joyride, and everything goes as planned. About an hour and a half into it, I get a text from one of my teammates asking which exit we're by. Um...exit? We left the highway about a half hour ago, and are currently going about 15 mph down a winding mountain road. I quickly call her and ask where she is. They're still on the highway. I asked where exactly we were supposed to be going, because we were just about to Ramona, CA. Turns out, we were doing just fine. But the rest of my team took about a 30 mile detour because they missed their exit. So Ali and I had some time to wander around this lovely little town. We found a music shop with all sorts of fun intstruments, and a pet store with rabbits, turtles, and turantulas! Eventually we found an Americorps van at a gas station. Not our team, but one of the vans we were supposed to be caravaning with. We went over to the grocery store quick, and eventually met up with our team and made it safe and sound to camp.
 |
| The little bunny at the pet store in Ramona. |
The First Night:
Our sponsor, Jason, seems like an nice guy. I was liking what he had to say about the camp until he got to the wildlife aspect. Turns out there are black bears, mountian lions (a momma with two babies), wolves, coyotes, turantulas, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ticks, and of course the black widow spider. This wouldn't be quite as unwelcome for me if it hadn't been for a dream I had three nights ago that involved me being mauled by a mountain lion, bear, and wolf. Actually, in my dream, there was also a tiger. And I was in Alaska. And I hid from the wolves in a mini fridge. It was obviously the only safe place to go.
First Day of Work:
Right off the bat, I was on a chainsaw. And apparently will be for the next two weeks, minimum. Wow. So...by the time I made it to lunch, I was already able to feel my arm and back muscles every time I attempted to bring my sandwich up to my mouth. All I have to say is that I'm going to be ripped by the time this is done! Or maybe just incredibly sore. I'm already rocking a sunburn on the back of my neck. And the camp is built into the side of the Vulcan Mountain Range. This means that everything uphill. My cardio system will also be rather impressive by the time I leave here two months from now. I am quite excited to go to bed.
But it's not all bad. It's a major step up from Catalina Island, infact. First, we have a heated cabin, with an indoor kitchen (no more cooking dinners over a campfire!), and showers. And, in my opinion, it's prettier! I enjoy greenery and trees...two things Catalina did not have much of, that Camp Cedar Glen does. We even have a little babbling brook running right down through the middle of camp!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)