I was just reading the LA Times and there is a photo shoot of Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howards’s daughter. She was in, “The Village.”

My God she’s stunning. Here’s the link:

http://www.latimes.com/features/magazine/west/la-tm-brycedallas9feb26,0,2109022.story?coll=la-home-magazine

Recently I heard a Feng Shui expert talking about how the practice can enrich your life.  Being a Cancer, I’m deeply affected by my surroundings so the practice interested me.  As I read about it I identified with a lot of the beliefs and practices.

One of the biggest rules is removing clutter from your life.  This is material, spiritual and mental in nature.  I looked around and saw that my house was filled with clutter.  Then I realized I could sell this stuff!

I recently sold my busted IPod on Ebay for $75.  I knew that if I could sell that then this other stuff I had sitting around would sell as easily.  I had a lot of music gear that I never used sitting around.  This week 4 auctions ended with netted me about $300.

Fueled with this new found experience and money, I went through my old books and DVDs and listed them on Amazon.com.  A co-worker told me he’d listed numerous books there.

Already today I’ve sold 2 DVDs and I’ve listed more stuff on Ebay.  I gotta say the Internet is a beautiful thing.

For Christmas I got an XM satellite radio. I had quit listening to terrestrial radio for the most part, save Album 88 from time to time.

This morning I scanned through the FM stations and it’s dreadful. The quality of radio is so horrible. The songs, the commercials, the awful DJ’s and the steel grip of Clear Channel have killed radio.

After listening to XM for a while you notice certain similarities to FM. They do have a regular rotation of songs and some channels have DJs. However the diversity and genre breakdown give XM its distinctive quality.

If you can’t find a channel with your taste in music then you may be from another planet. Go to the XM web site and check it out yourself.

No I’m not a paid endorser for XM. I haven’t heard Sirius so for all I know it could be better. They do have Howard Stern.

The deal is terrestrial radio is on the way out. If you have to get your music from there then God help you.

It’s no secret I’m a huge Prince fan. The man is one of the baddest guitarists ever. I was wasting time at work looking for some new music when I found this song on Pitchfork. Holy Crap!! For the last few years he’s been putting nothing but stinkers. The only reason I got, “Musicology,” is because they gave it you at the show.

After hearing this song and seeing his performance on SNL a few weeks ago, looks like I’ll be purchasing his new record.

Good for him. I’m so glad he’s making music that is freakin’ jammin’ again!!

Go here to hear the song:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/tracks/06-02-17.shtml

The idea here is I’m a country-western singer. Another idea is that old tune from Paul Davis, “On A Cool Night.” Hey it’s a guilty pleasure but still a great song IMO. So when you see this photo you should think, “Gettin’ cozy by the fire with Jam.”

Happiness

n 1: state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy [syn: felicity] [ant: unhappiness] 2: emotions experienced when in a state of well-being [ant: sadness]

Is happiness what everyone’s after? Are people in our modern world truly happy? I wonder what percentage would say yes, they are happy.

I was thinking if I’m happy. So I decided to see what Dictionary.com said happiness was. I agree with the state of well-being part.

Christ was human so I’ll wager he wasn’t happy all the time. Well we know he wasn’t, remember when he thew over the money changers’ tables in the temple?

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” Then again John Lennon said, “Happiness is a warm gun.”

The more I think about it the more it comes down to perspective. Happiness is up to the individual. Happiness is completely internal, not external. If I get angry it’s because I choose to.

Abraham Lincoln sums it up, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Well done Abe. Well done.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Whenever folks talk about sleep I think, “Ah, my old friend.” I’ve never, ever had any problems sleeping. In fact, my issue is sleeping too much. I really love working in the morning but with the cold I’ve it’s as if there are 2000 lbs. of weights holding me bed.

If I didn’t have to get up for work I’d stay there. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not lazy, I’m simply a night person. I could stay up all night, writing, working on music or working on the house. Since I have a day job that’s impossible.

Recently I saw this watch that monitors your heart rate. It picks the best possible time for the alarm to go off based on your sleep patterns. The watch wakes you up at the best possible time so you don’t feel tired. I want to get one but it’s $150.

If you’ve read the above post then you know my money is going to gear right now.

I’m surrounded by recording gear all day long. When Apple released the new Intel computers last night I got bit by the fever. Having “new gear fever” is not good when you don’t have the cash. I salivate over Brent Averill preamps, 414 matched pairs, G5s and lots of other awesome toys.

Good news is I have a plan now. I’m going to sell everything I have that I’m not using either on Ebay or here at the store. I’m going to get a new Intel IMac, get Logic and probably get the new Apogee Ensemble firewire interface. I will be set!

I have so many songs in my head that I want to get out. I think I’ll have the cash for all of this by summer. Until then I’ll be stuck in PC land. That’s OK, it’s served me well but you know what? A PC can eat one!