I must be crazy. I actually started writing not one but two books last night after returning from NYC.

I got to thinking about what I could do with all the notes I've put together on my study of Colossians chapter 2 with the youth group, and I just sat down and started writing the preface and chapter titles of a book on it. There's a lot of meat in that there chapter.

Then Tara called (she's still down there) and said she's ready to start writing the screenplay version of a story I still hadn't begun to write, having been inspired by the screenplays she'd been highlighting for our producer friends. I had an outline, so I came up with the main character's name and wrote the opening dialogue. It will probably be a novella. It's the story of an automobile entrepreneur in the early 20th Century and his dealings with customers and government forces over safety issues.

All this was after teaching the youth group and then recording two guitar parts for one of our album's songs. Whew! Apparently I had a lot of energy last night. And it's easier when the wife's out of town. I mean, I miss her of course, but it's just a fact. Can't wait to see her tomorrow, though.

The Morning Music Show

Well, I've found that I mostly enjoy broadcasting on justin.tv in the mornings before work, so you can now catch the Morning Music Show on Goodface Radio most weekday mornings from 7:30 to 8:30 EST.

I don't sit there for the whole hour; I'm taking a shower, shaving, getting dressed, etc., for most of the show, and Tara sleeps through at least half of it most days. But you can usually catch a glimpse of us here and there, and I even tell you what you're hearing once in a while. You have to turn up the volume quite a bit to hear the show, unfortunately, but it's the best I can do (the quality is much better than other justin.tv channels, but I had to sacrifice volume to get good quality), and when you hear it, I think you'll dig it.

Oh, and if you register with the site, you can even chat with us during the show.

We broadcast some evenings and weekends, too, but it's more sporadic. You can always hear music on the site, though, and you can see some pretty cool videos, too.

guest comic

I was honored this week to have a comic published online as part of Unicellular's guest comic week. I haven't met webcomic author "Schneau" in person, but we are WCBs (webcomic buddies) (I made that up just now). His comic is all about a group of friends who happen to mostly be single-cell organisms of various types. My guest comic focused on an E. coli and a nanobot, both of which were created by Schneau. And here it is.

Our first anniversary

Well, since this blog is all about Tara and me, I guess I should write something about our awesome first wedding anniversary. Tara planned the whole thing. On Sunday we went to the Smuckers Stars on Ice show in Albany. It was a neat show (Tara will tell you it was awesomely amazing), and her favorite skater, John Zimmerman, skated right up to her at the end, shook her hand and asked her if she was having a good time. Here's the expression on her face for the following half hour:



Then we got to meet Mr. Zimmerman as well as my favorite skater, Sasha Cohen. I was excited to meet her, and I clumsily told her that I had been a fan for years and that I loved her "work". Well, I had to say something. And I couldn't let Tara have a whole conversation with her hot dream skater without making an attempt at one with mine. Tara was especially excited that John's first ice skating experience was on the same rink as her own in Montgomery, Alabama.

Tara and I had an awful dinner when we got back to Saratoga (we'll never go to Brindisi's again), and then we checked into the historical Gideon Putnam Hotel, as seen in the film Billy Bathgate, a mere five-minute walk in the park from our condo (No, we didn't walk. It was dark and raining). We partook of some delicious port wine given to us at Christmastime, using flutes from our wedding day (which the cleaning ladies took from us the next day. We're still working on that).

The next morning we were delivered to the famous Roosevelt Baths for a special mineral soak and an hour-long couples massage. In the afternoon we had lunch at the Cantina (sort of a hangout of ours now, especially since we know the owner) and walked around Saratoga a bit. It was a very blustery day, and many places were closed, being a Monday. We had planned to go to a museum and found it closed. Then we decided to go to the movies, but we forgot our movie coupons, and by the time we got home to get them, it was too late to go to a movie before dinner. So we went back to our hotel room and read books for a while and then went to a delicious dinner at the hotel. The evening ended with a few bites of our wedding cake (a few bites was all we needed) and little more port. This morning we checked out and went back to our normal routine, which is actually not too bad at all. We're one happy couple. :)

The End

Last night I started falling in love with recording again. I went for a couple of months of just programming some percussion for half an hour on weekends and practicing guitar parts a few times a week. I've been pretty busy, but I also just wasn't into working on the album for a while. Every artist needs a vacation from his art, and this helped.

It didn't help when the software I was using crashed last night and I hadn't saved a couple of guitar parts that I was happy with. Oh well, maybe next time I'll play them even better. And I'll be sure to save more often!

I wasn't really sure how all this was going to sound with the electronic drumming, but so far everything is sounding really great. A careful ear will be able to tell the drums aren't real, but it still sounds pretty rocking to me. I plan to do a little bit of "organic beating" on tambourine, paint cans, etc., on most of the tracks, too. I'll get Tara to play some tambourine, too.

I'm anticipating being finished by Christmas, but we all know by now how those plans go. Right now I'm just going to focus on recording the songs and making them sound as good as I possibly can. Once that's done I'll figure out what to do next.

There's this one track...oh my gosh...wait 'til you hear it! Someday...

What to do with justin.tv? The experiment continues

I made some small changes to my justin.tv site, though they're not showing up just yet for some reason. I'm changing it over from a radio station to more of a social page, sort of like an extension to Facebook with live video. It'll still be called "Goodface Radio", though, just because I like the name.

You might be thinking, "You're in your thirties, Scott; why are you doing this?" And I'm not even sure. I like the fact that Tara and I suddenly have a way to broadcast ourselves on live video whenever we feel like it, but I'm not sure how to use it, whether for good...or for evil. Just kidding.

Anyway, if you have any ideas or suggestions for us, let me know. I plan to be on this evening, hanging out and playing music, though I'll be turning the volume down this time so I can actually talk to people if they come by and use the chat box. I'm not gonna be a deejay anymore because folks just don't seem to be interested, so I'll try being more of a "host". We'll see how that goes.

So, uh...party tonight at my place! You don't have to bring anything. I'll be on around 7. The link is justin.tv/josta59.

Last night's live broadcast went...ok

Well, my first live radio/video broadcast was a lot of fun last night. I watched some clips this morning, and the audio is pretty rough. I think I can do better next time. I have a good microphone that I decided not to use, and I regret that now. At least now I know I can pull this thing off. My best man Jeff joined me for the second half of the show, and we had a good time. His kids even got some requests in. Tara made an appearance, too.

I'm thinking about doing this every Wednesday. If you'd like to see the clips from last night, head over to justin.tv/josta59, scroll down and click on "More From: Goodface Radio" right under the video box.

First live broadcast on Goodface Radio this Wednesday night

Goodface Radio?

It's a very hip, very mod radio show featuring vintage rock and pop, R&B, soul, jazz, funk, reggae, and yes, even a sprinkling of more modern-type music.

It's been churning out tunes since October, and this Wednesday night at 7:30 it goes live for a two-hour video webcast (watch me sit in my chair and play music for two hours, woo!) including a chat box, where I'll be taking your requests! Yep! Should be all kinds-o' fun! Bring your dancin' shoes!

Here's the link: justin.tv/josta59, or just Google "Goodface Radio".

Not sure what music to request? Here are some guidelines, though I'm pretty flexible, and if it's a '60s group or anything related to soul, R&B or jazz, I'll probably play it.

'60s pop and beat: The Kinks, The Who, The Zombies, The Small Faces

Soul and R&B: The Impressions, The Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations

Garage rock, psychedelic rock, freakbeat: The Birds, The Yardbirds, The Creation, The Primitives

Mod jazz, acid jazz, Latin: Georgie Fame, James Taylor Quartet, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock

Funk: James Brown, Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield

Reggae and ska: Desmond Dekker, The Israelites, The Skatalites, The Specials

Mod revivalist bands: The Jam, Secret Affair, The Lambrettas, Purple Hearts

Modern artists: Duffy, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene, Blur