Reached 500 hour milestone! 5% mastery!

Today started out very good, I just found $2.25 in my purse in quarters so I can get my laundry done.

500 Hour Practice Trophy

Purchased from Boogie Man Music Store

Yesterday I spent a little of my money on something fun. I recently reached my first 500 hour practice milestone. I can't say I've absolutely had my first "click" yet, but I can certainly say it's become much easier to play in front of people and play without tabs. Like I can turn on a track and play it with decent accuracy without an immense amount of warmup anymore. I'm still doing about 20 minutes a day of warmup on average. This week I've made it a point to practice at least an hour.

My time balance for this week has been near perfect, I've been following the weekly schedule that I set up and I've gotten a solid five hours of midterm study done for my legal class. Today I plan to do a couple more if I can, the midterm itself is happening tomorrow. I'm also going to get my chapter 9/10 quiz done. My legal class has honestly become my favorite class; simply because it's the most interesting to me of the three.. But more than anything because of it's consistent. Even if I originally thought Metiner was slow we've actually been perfectly on schedule this entire quarter. He keeps the class very interesting, I like his lectures. And I've learned a ton about the legal system!

I got my strings reset on my guitar yesterday. My friend Adam came over, we hung out for a bit and we ran my Ibanez over to Boogie man where he we got the Floyd Rose fixed and restrung in no time. The shop owner actually told me that he wasn't charging me for it. I was so flattered that I literally said, "Well now I want to buy something!"  hahaha. I didn't actually have the intention of buying something besides the new string but then I'd realized I still had a bit of money from that $160 I'd gotten for my birthday. I spent about $50 of it on groceries the other day.

I had a hard time picking out a strap. I typically have a hard time making decisions in general but there were hundreds of straps there and I wanted to get the perfect one. There were some leather straps that I thought were cool, they're a bit more comfortable then the current material I purchased but I was really turned on by the design of this one and thought I'd look perfect on my Ibanez. Adam agreed so we purchased it.

Originally I thought I shouldn't have spent that money so quickly but then I realized this morning that I hadn't really awarded myself for reaching 500 hours. I think that is how I'll determine when I'll purchase music equipment so that it doesn't get out of hand...

Because seriously you guys, music equipment is the most expensive shit ever. This is an expensive hobby if you let it become more of a... "consumer" project than a creative one. I mean I see people that spend thousands of dollars on their guitar equipment before they even really learn to play. And you can see why, guitar equipment is cool. It can feel exhilarating just holding a fancy guitar but if you can't play anything, well...

So I let myself buy things periodically. For instance, I think I was at about 250 hours when I purchased the Ibanez RGT 42 itself. I've been using Sheridan M.'s old bass strap that she used when she played in band back in middle school. I always admired Sheridan for being the only female bass player, she inspired me and that was a really good strap. So for the last 500 hours I used that one, and today I'm going to try and figure out how to unlock the strap locks and retire it for this new one. I think I'll try to buy myself something cool at every 250 hour milestone.

Of course when I reach the 1000 hour milestone I'm going to get myself a new guitar! At every 1,000 hour milestone I'm going to get a new guitar... That way when I'm finally a master I'll have 10 guitars, that's practically a collection. But I would earn all of them, so instead of being a consumerist thing it's more of a trophy for the amount of work I'd done for each.

Today I've got quite a bit of work to do. Let's see...

-Laundry

-Read Accounting Chapter 13

-Accounting Chapter 13 homework.

-Legal midterm study one hour...

-Quiz Chapter 9/10 for legal

-Finish Hw 8 in math if at all possible... (I don't really understand the material yet)

-Install strap....

Wish me luck. Still feeling a little pain in my chest when I breath but I talked to Katelynn about it and she said she thinks it might be my reaction to an immense amount of stress lately. She said she sometimes has that too where it almost feels like your heart hurts and you feel like you can't breath.. It's all due to the amount of stress I've been putting myself though and probably my high amounts of caffeine consumption. I don't believe I'm significantly worse than most people but I'm thinking this chest pain is somewhat due to that. 

I sent Jed a couple pictures I'd taken around yesterday. We hadn't talked for 2 days so I figured it'd be fine. He hasn't texted back, it's been three days since we've talked. I'm having a feeling he probably partied last night, whatever that's his business. 

peace. 

Last time in the cbc library....

Ah, the CBC library. This might be the last time I ever sit in here.

Actually, I'd bet money that it is. This has never really been productive place for me, I usually just come in here and blog until I get so hungry that I have to leave. Today will be different though, I have come to do some major Japanese studying and get as much done as I can so I can be FINISHED with most of this  chapter and have this stress be relieved. This Thursday I have my last oral exam, so it'll really be my last day of class. It's a sad thought, but it's nice that I'll be moving on with my life. Sayounara! Wish you all the best. <3

Yesterday I was pretty sad about Jack flaking on some plans. I was beating myself up over it for no reason because I was extremely tired after not getting any sleep, working all day, and then having him bitch out after being excited about it. I didn't want to let myself get excited, as I'd asked him like four times when we were on the phone if he was SURE he would want me to drive there. But he was a little tipsy which made his confidence in the plans more than they should've been. He said he had to flake because it's finals week. I ended up throwing a bit of a fit to my mom about it, who told me it was okay and to go take a nap. The nap did help a lot, but I woke up sort of frantically at 10:20 when I realized I hadn't played guitar all day (yes, my practicing does mean this much to me, it's silly but I really want to get good).

Jacob has not replyed to my message about buying the Ibanez. I'm considering calling him today. I really want that guitar and it's an awesome deal. I could pretty much pay it out of pocket today and my parents could pay me back later, I don't care. I'm just so fucking tired of that guitar that I'm using now, the neck is too thick and it's hindering my progress. I'll get Jacob's number off yelp and call him today if I can find my phone.

I'm having a feeling that guy isn't even selling the guitar anymore... he probably already sold it to someone else. It makes me sad, that guitar is usually $700 and I would be getting such a good deal on it. I guess I can only hope not, my parents aren't going to want to spend that much on it, they've got a whole bunch of other stuff to worry about. They promissed me they'd get me a new guitar as a graduation present though, but I need to make sure I tell them specifically what I want so my Dad doesn't show up at home with some guitar from Carl's or something.

I could see him doing that. He has randomly purchased instruments for me because he thinks it's what I'd want. No, he has no idea what I want because my playing style is so specific to thin necked guitars-- a lot of which my parents would think are ugly. My cell bill needs to be paid,but I'd rather postpone that this month for a week or so if I can get my guitar a little earlier than two weeks from now. More than likely that's what I'll have to do.

People keep on talking about drinking and getting drunk to me and it cracks me up because I cannot relate to it at all. I have absolutely no intention of drinking when I get up to college because I don't want to get fat. Girls that drink a lot always seem to have that weird poochy belly. Pot doesn't make you fat. Well, that is unless you get the munchies all the time which I don't. Actually I think it decreases my hunger because I'm so focused on something else. With my head the way it's been this last weekend, I really need to distract myself all I can.

Shoot, I just remembered I need to get a haircut. I'm going to go to Wal mart and get that taken care of, but I'm still going to make an effort to study later tonight after I get the kitchen cleaned up.

peace.

Well, this weekend was pretty productive I suppose.

Tyler D. came over last night and we uploaded some games onto my computer. He uploaded over 600 classic video games, they're all really retro 64' games that I can run on with my keyboard. Should be pretty entertaining to mess with one of these days. We had a nice visit. He came over randomly when he had to pick up Julie from a party. He had to sort of sneak in the house because my parents were sleeping. I don't feel Tyler like *that* anymore, and it's funny to think of a time that I did. We're really just good friends now, and ironically of all those guys I talk to him more than anyone. We might be going to see this movie next week with the guy from Borat.

Work today sort of sucked. I am so tired of kissing people's asses all day, but that's retail for you. After this whole weekend of working 20 hours, imagining going to work again on Tuesday is pretty icky. It's okay though, I'm just going to try and relax for tonight and tomorrow. Gotta try to memorize this damn Japanese vocabulary tonight but I really don't want too. I'm just so tired of all of it. I will never regret taking Japanese for as long as I did because I made a lot of friends in the process but God damn I'm ready for it to be over.

I made myself some chicken and boiled potatos. It's bland but healthy and I was so hungry it didn't even matter. I was tempted to have a slice of pizza, which of course my mom and Dad brought home a ton of. There's hardly any actual groceries that can be easily prepared (I'm not saying instant food, but relatively easy things that just require boiling, microwaving or baking. I usually cook for myself once or twice a day, especially when I've got the house to myself. I like to eat food that contains only what I choose to put in it; my own cooking never makes me feel nauseous after I eat it like a lot of other food does. I imagine when I go off to college I'm going to be eating very healthy, but I need to be careful not to starve myself.

Literally, I have a bit of a problem... I'll often go long periods of time throughout the day where I'll barely eat anything. I'll usually graze on healthy snacks, like fruit, boiled veggies, granola, bowls of cereal, etc. I'm not anorexic or anything, but so much food just doesn't look appetizing to me, and it's been like this for awhile now. I don't like eating anything that I think is unhealthy, so if I cave in and eat something that I deem "unhealthy," I'll often take a few bites and throw it away. Like I just caved and ate half a piece of pizza and threw the other half away. Because I know that if I eat the whole piece of pizza I'll feel too full, thus unmotivated to get work and practice done.

So for tonight my goals are (it's 4:00 pm)

-3 hours of guitar

-Write up Japanese flash cards

-Make bed

-Clean kitchen

I'm not going to work out tonight because I was running back and forth today at work the whole time.

Yesterday evening I called Connor because I felt lonely but he didn't pick up, thus making me feel even lonelier. I told him that I'd called to ask to borrow his guitar, but really that's not true.. I just wanted to see him. I just don't want him to think I have any suspicion that I *need* him, because he'll bolt. Fast. And right now he's my.. errm, rock, I guess you could say. He unknowingly keeps me from doing stupid stuff because he's that tiny bit of contact with the opposite sex that I need to keep from making mistakes again. Of course, even if Connor wasn't there, I still wouldn't do anything, but I would get more and more pent up over time and eventually snap and do something stupid. This keeps me align. He respects me, treats me with courtesy for the most part (I mean we joke around, but he never tries to hurt me), and we enjoy spending time together. As I've said before though, all on his time... so I feel like crap when I call him-- which I hardly ever do, last night was a rarity. I had thought about it for about five minutes before I actually did it because I was too afraid too. How very pathetic.

Jessika told me that I find specific excuses that I don't like EVERY guy. This might be true, sort of.. I mean I have ruled out a LOT of guys for one reason or another. But that's just because I don't want to be with someone that's either:

1. A loser. Doesn't drive, has no money, has no car, has no job. You'd be surprised how common this is. I'm fine with just one or even two strikes here if it's a temporary thing, but it seems like lately it's all four! Since when is a guy my age held so highly if he only has ONE of these things?

2. Way, way less attractive than I am. Now, this varies a lot because personality can make a huge difference. Like if a guy has an ego and has his own life going on, I'll find an average looking guy much more attractive than say an even better looking guy that has all these emotional issues and baggage. I don't know what it is, I've always had a thing for cocky guys. Insecurities are very unattractive to me because I've dealt with so many.

3. Unclean. Feeling as if he might have herpes or something because of his history. There's no way to tell for sure of course, but if I know a guy has been with a ton of girls, I will not touch him with a ten foot pole now. I've made mistakes and came out of my partying stage disease free, I do NOT want to get some sketchy ass STD now.

4. Way older than me. I'm talking 25+. I do get older guys that'll try to hit on me once and awhile, and unless they REALLY have their shit together. I can't date someone that's over 25 because I don't want kids for five years at least.

So yeah,  I guess I've got standards.

Here's a picture I took this morning. It's uneditted aside from the contrast. I was pretty ready to work this morning, even though I had a handful of stale goldfish and strawberries for breakfast.  

I'm gonna get going, gonna practice.

peace.



Shredneck?

Apparently the guitar I picked out yesterday isn't appropriete for the genre of music that learning. Jacob told me that he'd help me pick one online and send me links and stuff of ones that would be good options. I couldn't remember the specific type that I wanted, but I told him that the design of the instrument would be similar to that of the one that I have now (Special II model Epiphone).

He was like, "WHY?! That thing is like for if you're playing..." and then he played some Soundgarden type song. "You need an Ibanez..."

Ibanez RG7321 7-String Electric Guitar

Around $500.

Gibson, Fender, and most other top brands apparently suck for metal, as does pretty much anything else except for a brand called Jackson. I look forward to having a guitar with a thin neck because it will allow me to do a lot more than I'm doing now. Still have a month or so to train on this hunk of junk though.

This is the guitar I have now, cherry sunburst Epiphone special II.

They advertise this thing pretty highly, regardless of it being a beginner guitar that falls apart if you play it to much like mine is. I don't know, maybe I just take crummy care of it and that's why the paint is coming off.

I want to buy a shredneck. This is basically a portable neck that you can whip out and practice with anywhere. I could practice on breaks at work (sort of, without the right side of the guitar it sort of limits what you can and can't do obviously) or in my car when I'm bored waiting for something or whatever.

They cost $50. I just got paid and put some of my money in the bank so that I just have $300 in my checking. I have $2000 total now, and I've been doing a pretty good job at saving. Maybe this would be worth the investment. I get a lot of joy out of this. Maybe I'll just skip on buying the Jane for a couple weeks.

Alrighty well, gonna get going!

peace.