Oh, hi...OHIO

I guess its time I get back on the wagon of blogging. I've been in Ohio officially for over two months now! That's crazy. But these first couple months probably don't count much since I went back up to Michigan (almost) every Sunday for church, editing work, family stuff etc. But WHATEVER, I'm here, infecting (at least one of) the children I live with with the spirit of the Wolverine and both of them with the love for The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

My teaching job is turning out very well, as my number of students doubled in size during the second round of sign ups, which was Summer I session, and usually one of the sessions that experiences low attendance. I'm teaching some pretty great kids this session, including a bad ass middle school girl with a(n epiphone) Les Paul. I've also managed to blow one kid's mind by introducing him to a certain band you may have heard of...I dunno, they're kinda small...Uh, THE WHO. The poor depraved young man had never listened to them before, but after giving him the "homework" of looking up their songs AND the assignment to youtube "pete townshend guitar smash" I think they won him over.

Working at the new store is good. Back to school time is upon us, so of course it's crazy, but I still love it. Today is my last day of work before my design gig and then TOUR. The shirts are printed, sunglasses should arrive soon, and I've got CDs on order, so at least by all outward appearances I'm pretty close to being ready to go. ha.

The most exciting thing that's been happening since moving to Ohio is I've been writing a lot of new music. I don't have a clear plan for any of it, but I'm pretty sure most of it is not for Tonks and the Aurors. At my current rate, by the end of the summer I could have an entire album of this material. It feels good to be able to write like this again, and the stuff I'm writing has a lot of promise. I've only played a few of the songs for some people (Monica, Jenna, Squibby, Beth, etc) but the response has been pretty good. Once I get back from tour, I think the plan is to find me some places to play around Cincinnati. Just an open mic or something.

I'm leaving soon to go up to Michigan for four days to design a show, and then I leave for TOUR on Monday! If you want to catch a show on tour check out the T&tA website!

Lessons Learned

It's been an insanely busy week, and I think sleep deprivation is starting to catch up with me, making working, talking, and just living in general fairly interesting. The last 24 hours in particular have taught me many valuable lessons, so here's a quick run-down of the ones I can mention...

1. If you sit ON a miniature can of spray paint (without the cap on), you will ruin your jeans. So, if you only own two pairs of jeans...I advise against doing that.

2. As I said on Twitter, "Late to bed, early to rise. It is a cruel cruel thing to have to wake up at 6am when your coffeemaker is broken."

3. I will never get tired of reading about Pete Townshend's guitar technique...even if I have to put up with the fact that every guy depicted in a guitar magazine advertisement looks like an asshole.


4. Sure, *I* am the one that set my last day in the Novi store...but hearing it announced out loud is surprisingly panic-inducing. AAAH! MOVING! IN A MONTH!


5. Apparently, I'm allergic to GAIN laundry detergent, as is evidenced by the horribly annoying hives I had ALL day. So, my interest in saving money by buying what was on sale has been foiled by having to buy a completely new bottle of detergent and having to rewash anything I washed with Gain. Anyone want a gently used bottle of Gain?


6. Sometimes you just deserve a Shamrock shake. And by sometimes...I mean ALL the time.

Those are the lessons I've collected. Learn from them, my friends. Especially that first one. While spraying paint all over your butt is an interesting experience...it's not really worth it in the end.




Also, I've got some shows coming up with my band Tonks and the Aurors:
April 11: Lebanon, OH w/Whompy, JFF, and Draco
April 12: Frankfort, KY w/Whompy, JFF, & Draco
April 21: Ann Arbor, MI w/Whompy, JFF, & Snidget --TBA
May 15: Ann Arbor, MI EXPEDITIOUS CONFERENCE (FULL BAND SHOW!)


Hope to see some of you there!

My "Other Musical Interests"

Today I've decided to not talk much about the move and all that craziness. Maybe it's the 3 giant garbage bags I've filled with clothes to get rid of, or the fact that I finally discussed what day I'll be leaving the Novi, MI store, or still having to sort out my lease etc, but lets just ignore that today! Let me pour you a large cup of denial.

Let's talk about one of my musical projects, the one that most people are probably not as familiar with (or as the Detroit Free Press called them in their article about me my "other musical interests") For over four years I've been playing with a church band in Plymouth, MI. I've had a lot of experience in church music, running programs, leading bands, and playing/singing as needed. The LifeTeen band I've been playing with is by far the best group of musicians I've ever worked with, and we produce some great sounding music every week at 5pm mass.

Recently, I've been working to find new music and even write new songs to expand our repertoire, which has been fairly successful. And last February, as we were preparing to go into Lent, I wrote a song called "If I Could". If anyone follows me on twitter, or has heard me talk about my church band, "If I Could" is The Mary Song. I always refer to it as such because that's what everyone else knows it as most of the time. Once the band got its hands on "If I Could" we could tell that this song wouldn't be just any song, it would be The Mary Song.


I love writing music from the point of view of someone specific, so when I set out to write something for Lent, I knew that Mary's POV would be fun to try...and I kind of wanted to make people cry. We recorded the version I'm posting here on Palm Sunday 2009, but my guitar was unknowingly broken, and something got messed up with the vocal levels on the recording, but we managed to salvage it. You can listen/download this rough version here: If I Could [LIVE 4.5.09] We will be recording again on Palm Sunday 2010, and I'll post that cleaner version on here when we get it.

Oh, and on that recorded version I'm on Guitar/Vocals, Piano/Vocals by Rick Nork, Harmonies by Beth Gault, Drums by Ed Haran, Bass by Carlyle Carvalho

"If I Could"

By Stephanie Anderson

There’s a ragged dirt road before you, my son
It was laid out before Your story had begun
And with every breath you take you move closer to your fate
But the tears that I will cry, cannot provide your escape…

If I could take this I would gladly place it on my shoulders…
If I could ease your path I would lead you there…
If I could change His mind I would gladly write a thousand letters
But I know…you have to go…my Son.

The sun is in the sky as they lead you to the hill
The people in the crowd are watching your blood spill
And with every step you take, I am with you at your side
You will not be alone, my son, when you die

CHORUS

I remember the time I first held you in my arms
I remember all the nights I protected you from harm
But I don’t think that  I can save you from this…
So put on your brave face and give your mother one last kiss..

CHORUS

Avoiding the cardboard box...

Yeah, I cliff hangered on that last post, but if I'm going to start a blog, I can't spill EVERYTHING all at once. I can't promise it will never happen again, but I CAN promise my stories will make more sense than LOST ever will.

I said it in my last post, but I honestly never planned to move out of Michigan at this point in my life, since have a partially finished master's degree, and have found fairly steady work in the Ann Arbor area. For two years I've worked for an arts advocacy organization at the University of Michigan. I adore the work I do there, the people I work with, and being on the campus I love. I always knew the job wouldn't last forever though. It's a student job, and I've been lucky to have it for as long as I have. I got official word that my work ends this April, and when that decision was made, I had two choices. I could go into another Michigan-based job search (something I just finished in December when I got a part time job in retail), or expand my horizons.

I don't know if you've heard, but the job market in Michigan sucks. Sure, the rest of the country is pretty bad too, but Michigan has a full time job in sucking lately. Also adding to the suckage is the fact that the state got rid of the department of History, Arts, and Libraries in winter of 2009. And lucky me, the most important things in my life right now involve art, and libraries. Sure, there's organizations within the state that took over the role of H.A.L. but it definitely hasn't made job hunting in the arts any easier. It's because of all this, coupled with the fact that I know a lot of people in Ohio, I decided to test the waters.

I have a strange and diverse background, and fall into that awkward over qualified for entry-level, but under qualified for corporate area that makes college graduates insane. I was burning up careerbuilder and craigslist with my resume but kept getting nowhere. Just as I was starting to get frustrated and come to terms with the fact that I was doomed to live in a box with nothing but my macbook to keep me warm... enter stage left, the YMCA.

I got the call to interview with a YMCA (located just outside of Cincinnati) extremely quickly after sending my resume, and was rushed into an interview. It took all of five minutes to know I was in the right place. The YMCA is an incredible organization, and their dedication to incorporating the arts into the lives of young people is inspiring. After hearing their mission and how their programs ran, I was totally smitten, and hallelujah, they were too! I accepted a part time position teaching music to all ages, offering group and private lessons in guitar and bass, and I start April 20.

Oh, wait. You noticed that I said part time position? Don't worry, I'm keeping my retail job, just transferring. If you're hoping to hear stories about my adventures selling computers, you will not find them here. I absolutely adore my work in retail, but have to respect everyone's privacy there.

...Unless it involves being accosted by a Buckeye fan, because that's DEFINITELY blog-worthy.

Where are we going?

I grew up learning geography by looking at my hand. Yes, I am a Michigander. I was born and raised in metro detroit and made Ann Arbor my adopted home sometime around 2000, when I started high school there.

I fell in love with Michigan pretty early. I've always loved the red winged blackbirds and robins that are all over our state. I am a huge Michigan history buff, particularly Detroit history, and the music produced by the state. The only sports I care about are Red Wings hockey and Tigers baseball. I love the Henry Ford Museum. I have a degree from my dream school and my dream program (The University of Michigan BFA in Theatre Design & Production). I'm pretty sure I chant "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine" in my sleep even two years after graduation.

But for anyone that knows me, this probably isn't new information, because I'm fairly vocal about where I'm from and how much I like it. So, despite all of these things and this long history of allegiance to the mitten, I took a job. A really good job. In an area near people I love. But away from my family. Away from home. Out of state.

I'm moving to Ohio.