that ringing in my ear is gone... er, ring.

i've made a life decision. i've decided that there comes a time in your life where you have to deal with past decisions, and no longer be apathetic about the future.

dramatic intro, i know, but it was a dramatic decision. i knew i wasn't going to keep it my whole life, but the question was: when do i get rid of it? how long is too long? when is it a force for me to still have this? when do i take out my earring?

you know how when you meet a dude, you have a first impression of him, but then if you notice that he has an earring, it's "ah ha.. hmmmm..." and your impression changes slightly somehow? well, i would do that, and then realize that i had an earring. that was a sure sign that it had to go at some point. that, and the fact that i didn't want to be an old guy with an earring. because the kids make fun of those kinds of people. well, i needed an excuse, and i had a job interview coming up, so what better excuse than "i need to look professional"? here are some before and after pics:

before

after

you can tell from this series of photos, the sheer emotional impact of this decision (clear happy to sad transition). and how i miss it already. i'm getting misty eyed just writing about it. i should go.

but first, we're playing a show over in chi-town. the embrace race charity event. apparently, they're trying to break the world record for number of different people hugged in 24 hours. the record is currently 4216. and then they're giving donations to Dreams for Kids. although now that i think of it, where is that money going to come from? well, most importantly, the point is that you'll see a much more professional looking, albeit emotional, guitar-player/singer in note to self if you're there. (that'll be me).

instrumental

i just had a dream last night that the copy of whiteout that i had was missing vocals on nothing can stop us now. and so i started recording vocals using my little home recording station (which is not much bigger than a coaster), but then starting thinking "i feel like these should get recorded in the studio too." and then ben began and the guy from new york that mastered our album showed up and were arguing about how to record it. i hope that doesn't mean anything. actually it probably just means that i just sang a song while playing the piano in jason's wedding on friday, and that's just residual stress. every time i see my piano keyboard, i think to myself "i should practice the wedding song."