check it out

I just finished a sketch of the ronsong "seasons of your soul" written way back when. Check it out when you have a moment. Let me know what you think.


SEASONS OF YOUR SOUL
© Ron Schulz

Roses for the springtime
she sacrificed her own and took his name
Promising to never love another more
Planting seeds in fertile seasons
was agreed would be reason
to keep love alive
to help prolong the family tribe
She bartered wealth for peace
according to that western bible's bribe

When the summer lures you
away into the arms of feeling proud
Unaware, this is where the past begins
Then in loving's vague endeavor
Summer loses you forever
to the charms
of a richer bounty's arms
Denying shelter in the safety of
that western bible's bribe

Fall-
the harvest is taken in
The cold winter wind begins to loom
while naked in the moon
bare trees are natures tombstones in
the seasons of your soul

Now the frozen river
skaters skim the surace while below
prisoners gaze through empty eyes of soorow
Campfires blaze, still bodies shiver
Hell is just a frozen river
and it will remain
till springtime comes around and then
She'll plant her seeds again according to
that western bible's bribe

time gone again

Now a whole week has passed almost since I have last blogged. I prefer to keep current with my updates, but it was a crazy week with the holidays and mom being in the hospital and coming home.

Black Friday I worked 16 hours and then Saturday I worked 11. I have to confess also, that since I got my new toys, I have been spending all my free time playing with them.

So soon I should have a new song ready soon: "Season of Your Soul". Not really a new song, but just a recently recorded song, written, as most of my songs were about the age of 20, but really timeless.

Also, at work, we all have to put in 6 day weeks as we approach the holiday.

How life go from being so simple and pensive to being so full to urgency in a such a short time?

.....

I was many people, many places yesterday

Yesterday I found myself in many mansions.

I got out of work at 3pm and revisited Ya Fei chinese restaurant while waiting for Suze to come and pick me up.

Before that I stopped into CompUSA to grab some memory for my 'old' imac17. It seems the imac needs at least 512MB to run the new synthesis software, so now I have the macbook pro and the imac, which is nice, because what one can't do the other one can...and besides the macbook is portable.

So Suze picked me up, and it was right around the start of rush hour and I had to stop at the bank and deposit all the funds I had accrued for the past couple of weeks. Then after that we had to go pick up Tom and head over to the hospital to visit mom in the North Hills side of town. It was like trying to run in mud, trying to get to the hospital, but we made it.

It was a very nice visit...... our Joe is in town for Thanksgiving as well, and that was really good to see him, and extra good because he gave me a check for half of the money I loaned him a couple of years back when he was moving. It was unexpected, but very welcome, and now I feel good that I'll be able to soon pay off the new toys I got recently and move on to saving for phase 3 of my dental work. Yea!

Quick review

So yesterday was a pretty awesome day....I had some new experiences and made some new acquaintances.

The gig at Emmanuel Methodist was fun, and they want me to come and help with their cantata on 12/9.

I took a pic of St Phil's church, the church my grandfather, mother and I went to school in:



It sure is a beautiful church.

After that I went to hook-up with my son Xian and his girl, Angela and here they are:

So we went and had a meal at this place called Aladdin's. The food was a bit mid-eastern and quite delicious. We actually had a feast. It was really great to catch up with Xian and we're going to get together soon for some recording. Sounds like fun. I love him and really have missed sharing his life on deeper levels while I was lost in the midwest for the last 8 years.

craezee bizzie daze

Yes, today will be one of them.

Mom went in to have the knee replacement surgery for BOTH knees on thursday last. However, because they were both in such bad shape the Dr only had time to do the one. So she woke up to the news that she would have to turn around and do it again in 6 months. This 79 y/o woman has been the paces with pain. And she has developed a high tolerance for it. Talked with her last night and everyone is just amazed at how well she is doing already with her therapy. Go Mom!

Today I have 4 services to play at various churches in the area:

8:30am
10:30am
12pm
6:30pm

In between all that I am going to have lunch with my son Xian and his girl Angela (pictures to be provided.

Then after the days chores are finished I'll shoot over to the hospital for a visit to see mom.

Geez I am one busy guy......

On other fronts, I ordered some new musical toys and as it turns out the one audio interface does not work with Leopard.......yet! Oh well, they'll eventually iron things out.....just in time for me to start working on my next symphony, and not a moment too soon. LOL.

Gotta go, catch you later with the update.

....

Last Night's Concert

Well, I went with Donna and Mary Alice to the Sanctus Real Concert last night, which was really a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. SR only sang 5 songs! They were on stage for about 20+ minutes. Bummer! It is a good thing Wendy did not fly over here to hear/see them. There would have been grave disappointment. The one good thing going for the experience is that the last (and only other) time I heard them live, they were so loud that it was really hard to enjoy them. This time the music was at hearing level.


So regarding the suggestion that I say 'hi' to the band, it was kinda tough with a blind lady in tow. You kinda have to move at her speed and of course there was a huge crowd, and it was hard enough just to navigate through that...at any rate, the boys were nowhere to be found by the time we made our way to the door. It would have been nice to make a personal video message from them to you, but all I ended up with was this crappy one from the balcony. Oh, BTW, I loved our seats.

Shins 'Sleeping Lessons'

Here you go: the guys make this available on their 'myspace' page

Rage-oholism

Child Abuse Sux

Well we're goin....

Talked with Donna B last night and we are definitely going to Sanctus Real. Actually, Steven Curtis Chapman will be performing too, but, I won't complain about that; however, he would most likely see himself as the main attraction. It was a fluke that I remembered, but remember, I did. It was during a telephone chat that as we were setting up a day into the weeke when we could get together to share a meal. Then as we were planning and I was checking the wee's work schedule which had just come out that day, it turned out that I was off on Wednesday the 14th, and lo and behold, the angels within tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that the boys would be a Orchard Hill Church on the bill with Steven CC, so in a moment of 'aha!!!' we decided that we would hit a restaurant then attend the concert. Donna has not experienced SR, but she knows SCC from our days when I was music minister at St Phil's and we would do weddings....we would often do SCC's "I Will Be Here". After making the plan I got off the phone and immediately called Janet (she was not home) to see if she wanted to join in the festivities. I went ahead and ordered a ticket for her anyway; if she can't get out of 'choir practice', then I will just try to sell the third ticket under cost when I get there, or maybe find someone else in the meantime to go with us.

So that's that.

On other fronts, next Sunday will be a very busy day, because I got 2 more church gigs to play. The amazing things is that they both fit into the schedule: one of them is a 10:30am at Emmanuel Lutheran in Elliot, then a nooner at St Phil's (yes, the new guy for some reason felt a nudge to ask for my sub services.) Well, so much for a day of rest.

Now I am getting ready to drive Sue to work, and I'll be off to Mary Alice's to help her out this morning till 10:30am. My work schedule starts at noon today, which is a bit earlier than the usual 2pm starting time. You never know with that work schedule what's going to happen.

Ciao for now.....

New Day

So we've arrived at Sunday once again.

Work went well yesterday. There were a few moments of calm.....not like last week when I couldn't get out the door. Acutally stayed an hour later than I was supposed to yesterday. There is this really interesting thing that happens in this work, and all the sales guys seem to fall into it. It's about the scheduling: you may be scheduled to work a certain on a certain day, but nobody cares if you come in and start early or stay later. As long as you are fading your pay that is. So people come in and just hang out ...well, not exactly hang out, but hang around trying to 'get' the next customer. The reason why this is important is because of the intense competition among people in the department, and in between all the departments. Everyone is striving to be top dawg in sales for the day, trying to trump the top of the deck. And you always know exactly where you are at any givin point in the day.

So of course, I am feeling a bit diminished in the shadows of some these giants who have been doing this kind of work for years. Don't get me wrong, it is noble work, and consumers are truly being served a product that is good and necessary for the fulfillment of their personal dreams. But the competition among associates is tremendous. So very different from my former vocation where I was the central hub of activity. Now I just another molecule in the swirl of electrons and protons frenetically orbiting around some nucleus.

SInce it's Sunday I have to leave so I can play for the service at the church in south hills, and immediately after that I will go to GC for the mandatory Sunday morning training session. Even though I am off, I will stay and 'hang out' a bit today, because I had talked with so many customers over the last couple of days who called to inquire about products, and said they would be in on Sunday to buy them. That sux, but that's sales.

Many of the people who came in yesterday were merely in the store at all because they were begining to check out their options for xmas gifts, browsing, getting ideas. After all it is only 6 weeks away. So, with all the other sales guys, I will spend a lot of time at the job, waiting for the next opportunity to sell sell sell.

There's something incredibly enthralling about this whole thing. It certainly ain't the money....prostitutes get paid a helluva lot more. Just goes to show that sex is so overrated.

....

Got a new phone today

Yea, I'm moving on up! Got my new phone and fo# which I'll have to send you in an email when I have a moment of lucidity.

Other than that, received my first paycheck from GC and truthfully, its pretty grim, but then again I was used to making bigger bucks in the midwest. I am begining to think along other lines suddenly.....hmmmmm.

Well, gotta get to work. Today being Saturday will, hopefully be encouraging.

I'll write more later when I'm off.

Interesting day at work

Had an interesting day at work yesterday. Actually, arrived there much earlier than anticipated because the busses were on time and I made good connections. Since I got there early I spent some time doing my 'A' level Keyboard/Recording certification and I passed. I am officially certified! Haha! Now I move on to my Pro Audio certs, which will be much more difficult, and will take a long time to do.

Beyond that, it was a slower day; we have been mechandising for the past week getting ready for the xmas rush, and the department has been in disarray --- make that squalor --- but now things are coming together nicely. I sold a Yamaha piano YPG625 with peripherals, and had a couple of other sales too. Got someone into a MPC Drum machine, which was really cool. So all in all I had a great day.... a long day.... but great.

Oh yea, I connected with Mandy finally yesterday and asked her to send me Xian's fo#; she emailed me back saying her phone had been out of commission and that the batteries needed revived, and his number was in the dead phone, so I will get it as soon as it revives. I am anxious to reconnect with X as well, so I can go see and hear his band.

Oh yea, it was very difficult, but I stayed up til Jay Leno was over last night. I turned him on to watch his monologue, then I was going to go to sleep, but he announced that the Shins would be be performing; of course they always put bands on in the last 5 minutes....argh!.... but I love James Mercer, no, make that double love James Mercer. Anyway they performed 'Sea Legs' from Wincing the Night Away. Oh James, why are you so nervous in front of TV cameras? His songs, when he sings on TV always start out so badly, out of tune, but then he gets into about half-way thru the song. Also, this show was a repeat broadcast because Jay mentioned something about their upcoming performance in October.

So off to work today... I go in at 2pm and work til close. Friday. Payday. It will be very different than the paychecks I used to get. Oh well, that's OK. I am loving my new life. It's an even trade.

Walking my talk

Ok, I am always preaching to everyone else about the responsibility they have to keep all of us who care abreast of the current drama in their lives; however over the past week I find that
I myself have sorely lacked in taking my own advice, and that is due to a myriad of factors mainly those beyond my control. Since having become employed, I have no time for anything like blogging, it seems!

Just a quick run down on where I have been over the past week:

for the last two Sundays I have playing two Sunday services at Resurrection in Brookline, one early morning and one later inthe evening. It works out so when I have to go to work, I am able to squeeze it all in. Also, last week was a holy day, and so I had two to play on Thursday. My free time is becoming more and more costly, more a premium, it seems.


Now I am officially off 'training' status, and a regular employee. I am not quite sure what that means for now, but I have been having Wednesday off and Sunday off and it's kinda cool to just have to go when I am scheduled.

When I think of the mid-Novembers of the last 30 years and how I would have been compulsively preoccupied with getting ready for Advent and Xmas, I breathe such a sigh of relief to wake up in the morning and just have to deal with the tasks of the day. No long range crap, just here and now. Sweeeeeet.

Other than that, I had a very successful day on Saturday when I was top salesperson for about an hour, then closed at #3. Haha! That was Saturday after all, but I am coming to understand that sales is both technique and providence. Especially in the keyboard department.

Take for example the guys who are in the guitar department. I mean the name of the business IS 'Guitar Center" after all, not "Keyboard Center'. If someone comes to buy a guitar, they are coming in to invest in a status symbol. You spend 300 clams for an electric guitar, now you have just increased your coolness factor exponentially. On the other hand, come in and pluck down the same amount of change for a keyboard, well, you have not necessarily increased your date-ability factor, nor widened your circle of cool dudes and dudettes (re" groupies). I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that a man in a seated position gets less respect than one in a power stance with a mighty electric guitar strapped to their person, jutting out like a huge phallus.

Anyway, so people are not necessarily coming to the store to buy a keyboard/synth as much as they are a guitar or drums, so that makes this job more challenging.

Still all in all, I am learning a whole lot about it, and love interacting with people, especially love putting into their hands the things that, until they walked in the door only existed in their imaginations. A noble thing.

Well, I had better go and pay attention to my other responsibility, such as, 'what time do I need to be at the bus stop', so I am not late for work.

Ciao for now all you lovelies.........

Look what I found!

I opened my old iWeb folder which I thought I had deleted, and found this picture. Ah, the posterity of it all!