11.05.06

We finished the music portion of the Guns Down posthumous CD yesterday. The music came out sounding great. Justin really knows his way around a mixing board. Vocals are today and Ryan and I are both sick, should be fun. I am really looking forward to completing this CD. I was pretty bummed about the break-up (still am) but I feel it's important to document the band and its place in the Reno scene.
In our short existence we played twenty-two shows give or take and really made a connection with a lot of people. Can't ask for much more than that I guess.

11.06.06

The Guns Down recording is done. Justin still needs to finish up the mixing. The rough mix alone sound great, it's a damn shame a band that could make an album that good is breaking up.

NameMeNoone is up next in Justin's studio. It’s been two years; I guess it's time to record haha. November 25th we are playing a Food not Bombs/Holland Project Benefit show. I am really looking forward to that.

11.07.06

So I got my copy of the Guns Down rough mix today. It really sounds good. We are supposed to listen to it and decide what order we want the songs to go in. The recording process was pretty cool. We did all the music live with zero overdubs, and then added the vocals later. Ryan was really sick and losing his voice. I think it made it sound really good. His voice sounds very gruff and dirty. It adds a lot to the music. I can't wait to hear the final mix. Ryan and Justin are doing that on Sunday.

11.13.06

Des' b-day was on Saturday. We spent the whole day together. I took her to breakfast in the morning which was really fun. We met up with Dave at Mimi's and had a nice breakfast and a very interesting conversation. I went with her and her core group of friends to lunch at Chili's. I hate the food there, but I was sort of a tag along, so I couldn't really say much. Jeff showed up and that was cool. He’s a good guy. In the evening we drove down to Carson so she could get her present, a new tattoo. She had planned to get a Viking ship with her dad's initials and "Daddy's Girl" underneath it. She got the outline and most of the black shading done, but had to quit. She has been sick this whole week. Mark says being sick makes it much more uncomfortable to get tattooed because your body is already jacked up and trying to heal. Introducing physical trauma to that scenario is apparently no bueno.

The wind is blowing so hard right now I am worried my roof will blow off. It does that from time to time. Well the shingles do anyway.

I am trying to type up the lyrics for the NameMeNoone songs. We are recording with Justin in December and I realized that even after two years, I have failed to write any concrete lyrics to our songs. Let alone write them down. So I am sitting alone in my room playing guitar and writing down the lyrics as I go. I have a basic outline of what I say in the songs, I just don't sing them the same way every time. I guess that stems from not wanting to be the singer. I'd much
rather find a singer and just sit back
and play guitar.

11.14.06

Got home from work today and had to climb right up on to the roof. We lost a large chunk of the shingles. It was getting dark and the wind was still blowing pretty hard. I got it all patched up. I hate this house.

Not sure what’s going on with Only from the Cold. We haven’t been practicing. We’re all pretty frustrated with Shannon. Maybe this project wasn’t meant to be.

11.19.06

Yesterday I met up with Dave and Chris to participate in a digital scavenger hunt for our friend Mary's birthday. The basic idea is you have a list of items or activities and you take a photo (with a digital camera) of a group member with the item or completing the action. It was a lot of fun. We all met up at Deux Gros Nez at noon on Saturday and headed out. Our journey took us to Carson City. Upon returning to the Deux at around 4pm I found my motorcycle had been knocked over. Near as I can tell someone backed into it, knocked it on its side and just
took off. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there are such shitty people in the world, but I sort of am. I took the bike to the shop and called my insurance company. The damage is mostly cosmetic, however the steering is off and will need to be fixed. Whatever happened to common decency? I understand accidents happen, but at the very least take responsibility for your mistakes.

Just after Guns down broke up I emailed Ian Makaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat etc.) to ask him how he got past his depression after Minor Threat broke up. He emailed me back this week and had some good advice. I think he really helped me put things in perspective. What a cool guy he is. Imagine how much mail he must get, and he actually took the time to answer me.