Now I Want to Ride a Bike

Now that my son is riding the bike like an up and coming Evil Knievel, I have got the bug worse than ever. You can’t really tell by looking at you (very frustrating) but I’ve been working out like crazy trying to trim down and prepare for some insane 150 mile charity ride some of the guys from church have got me all worked up about being a part of. Problem is, I don’t have a bike. Well, I do have a bike, but it is cheap and broken, and not something you ride in a road race unless you beggin’ for pain, discomfort and a guaranteed last place finish. So I’m trying to find something like the picture above but in the $300-it’s-just-sitting-in-my-garage-but-i-paid-a-fortune-for-it kind of range.

Anyone know anyone who’s looking to get rid of a nice road bike to a broke broke?

Giftedness…

God has been taking me a rollercoaster ride for about a week now.

Life changing, but it is still difficult. I haven’t even talked to my wife about it (though I guess I’ll be getting some questions after she reads this – I love you).

The question I keep asking myself…”How long?“

Studio Day #18

Final mixes were finished tonight and next week it will be mastered and printed. That could take 2-3 weeks. Just a little more patience and it will be here. But then you’ll have to wait a bit more. The official release will be this summer when it is posted on iTunes, amazon.com, independentbands.com and other music distribution sites online.

We’ll have a CD release concert and announce the date soon, so keep checking back.

From Should to Must

Time for me to lose some weight!

I’ve admitted for years that I am addicted to food. It is without a doubt my biggest weakness – food is my drug. People who defend smoking and alcohol consumption often use the amazingly bad-for-you foods most people eat as a counterargument. And they should. The majority of the foods Americans eat are not healthy. Even some of the foods labeled healthy are not healthy. Let’s face it, the food giants are in the business to make money and they have done and will continue to do a lot of dirty tricks to try and convince you to buy their products. I for one have fallen for it hook line and sinker far to long

So what am I doing about it? I have decided to take some advice I heard recently that had nothing to do with dieting and apply it to all my habits – change “should” to “must.” Every time I think, “I should do that,” I am going to train myself to believe “I MUST do that.” A should is weak. A must is much stronger. For years I’ve told myself I should lose weight or I should get in shape and now I am saying I MUST. And I am.

I’ve been in a heavy duty workout routine for about two months now and I am about to start and very difficult diet to try and rid my body of 25 years of toxins and water retention. Pray for me. This is obviously not an easy decision. I love food. But I believe I can not give God all of me until I am willing to let go of the one thing I know is still holding me down.

I Lost Almost One Liter of Blood

Originally I was told I only lost about 750-1000 cc’s of blood and not near a liter. However, after doing some calculations based on the estimations they gave me at “ground-zero” and then later at the ER, the numbers say I lost almost a liter of blood. Considering the human body only has 6 liters total, that is a pretty significant amount.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, let me recap in short form since people hate long blog posts.

1. I scratched what looked like a black zit on my leg. It bled a little.
2. A week later, I scratched the scab formed from above scratch and a stream of blood shot out of my leg like a tiny faucet being turned on full blast.
3. Hundreds of napkins later among 10-15 onlookers at a local gas station, the EMT guys showed up, put on some goggles (because it was still spraying – but now more like a pin hole in a coke can), bandaged me up, and sent me to the ER.
4. Doctor told me I had ruptured a varicose vein (i.e. all the blood above my shin was spitting out a hole the size of a ballpoint pen) that had surfaced on my leg (NOTE: don’t scratch black zits on skin).
5. Nurse cleaned my leg up, put on a band-aid, and sent me on my way.
6. Stood up and it ruptured again (the blood in the picture came out in about 3 seconds).
7. Nurse held the hole in my leg for 30 minutes so blood would clot.
8. Got more than a band-aid and was finally allowed to go home

Pretty crazy, huh? I never got woozy or passed out, but my wife sure came close. She probably will not even read this post.

Are You Still There?

I know I’m not in the same blog-league as this guy or this guy or even this guy but I hope the few of you out there who check in on me from time to time have not abandoned me completely. I’ve been on a very relaxing vacation and instead of performing my usual fill-in-the-dates blogging method, I’m just going to pick up today and get back on pace. I’ve got so much to talk about. God has shown me some really neat things and you’d be suprised how much spiritual application I learned on the Disney cruise. Here is what you can look forward to in the coming days:

• yes, I went on a Disney cruise with my family and I’ll tell you all about it.
• album update – days from being finished
• the wellness triangle and how it can apply to just about everything in life
• the crazy story of the vein that busted in my leg (I’ve got pictures)
• what is this detox thing I’m putting my body through?
• Kevin Max, United, Tree 63 and several other new albums get reviewed
• what I’m learning from the sermon on the mount
• 142 tough questions for Christians from a self-proclaimed witch that I’d like to answer
• tidbits from some books I’m reading
• family news (as always – but maybe something unexpected )

Studio Day #17

That’s it! We are done in the studio. It is late and I will do my best to stay awake on the way home. Good news is, all the mixing is done. We’ll “live with” the tracks for about a week, take one more day to polish any minor tweaks we find between now and then, finalize the best order of songs as well as finish up the artwork, and then we’ll send it off to be mastered and printed. Worst case scenario, it should be in my hands end of May.

So…should I start planning a CD release party?

Studio Day #16

Well, it has been a long time coming, but we are putting down final mixes the next few days at Steve Thomason’s studio in Cumming. Killer place. We’re working with Russ Fowler. He mixed my last studio project and won out as our favorite again in a bid battle from two other mixers. It is a long way out here from my humble abode. Maybe I’ll stop by the Premier Outlets on the way home and by me some bargain clothes. Or not.

My Son Has Got The Bicycle Beat!

After a Franklin episode where the little whiny turtle conquered his fears and the eager hand from his father (i.e. me) who was getting impatient, my oldest finally took to his own and beat the Bicycle. Now, let’s see how long before he is building ramps.

For One Day Only!

I really looked creepy before I shaved my head. If I had grown my hair out, I would look just like my dad on the first five Newsong album covers. Seriously, I wonder how many child-molester jokes I’ll hear in the morning.

UPDATE: yes, it is real.