TimeWasted

Been a while

Well, it has been quite some time since I last posted. Life has kept me very, very busy. To catch up, the following has happened:

Hopefully I will get back on track to posting soon!

1 comment April 23rd, 2008

great weekend

I haven’t posted in a while, but it seems this is as good a time as any. It was a great weekend. Friday drum class went really well. I have a few new students and they are all doing really well. It is tough to start a new instrument and it takes some time to get used to the movements. I hope they all stick with it. The intermediate class is going extremely well. We are working on a new set for the hafla on March 1st. It uses mostly obscure rhythms, so I think it is going to be a blast to play.

Saturday was the Glen Velez workshop. A HUGE thanks goes out to Samford University for sponsoring (and picking up the bill) for this workshop. It was without a doubt one of the best workshops I have ever attended. I bought his Bodhran book in an effort to learn some of the South Indian vocalization that he does. Amazing stuff!

Sunday was the Alabama Dance Council. Devyani performed, so I got to go and see some of the great local world dance groups perform. Birmingham has a very vibrant world dance community. I hope to help expand that over the next few years and display the wonderful world music community we have as well.

Well, today I get to be the newbie again. I know next to nothing about guitar. My first lesson is at 5:30 this evening. Wish me luck!

Add comment January 21st, 2008

Glen Velez on frame

Here is a ridiculously cool video of Glen Velez on the frame drum. It appears to be a bodhran.

Add comment January 2nd, 2008

Zafir Malfuf with Karachi

Here is a drum loop of Zafir Malfuf and Karachi from Friday’s class.

Zafir Malfuf and Karachi

Add comment December 15th, 2007

Hobbies - levels of commitment

From How Hobbies Help Your Health
“Hobbies can be thought of on three levels,” Dr. Brickey says. “The first is as a diversion. Hobbies help us pass the time. The second is as a passion. When a hobby becomes a passion, we become truly engaged in doing something we love. It not only helps us pass time, it makes us unaware that time is passing. The third level is as something that creates a sense of purpose. We all need that.” The ideal hobby, he says, combines all three levels.

“Hobbies can become so important, especially if they are a way to connect with others, that they become part of who we are,” Dr. Brickey adds.

Things are really starting to come together with my drumming and my music. It has been an interesting few years and I’ve put countless hours into practicing and playing my drums. It is always interesting to look back and see how one decision has led to another, and so forth. The other day I wondered how different my musical life would be if I had stayed in the band when I went to college. Life would be drastically different, and that isn’t a good thing. I have a great life, a great wife, and a great situation. I found passion in middle eastern music that I never thought would have happened a few years ago and certainly wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for my wonderful wife and her passion for belly dancing.

Right now, my music is somewhere in stage 2, a passion. It is part of who I am, but I don’t think I would necessarily have identified myself by my music. I’m ready to take it to the next level. I’ve been so lazy and haven’t been practicing every day. My excuse has always been that it is just a hobby. This has to change, it isn’t just a hobby anymore. I realize that I can’t have 10 hobbies and be good at anything. I have to decide what is important to me and really devote myself to becoming great at it. I love music. I especially love middle eastern music. I have a niche, I have friends with interest in the same things. What does the future hold? I have no idea. As long as I keep on playing, I don’t think it matters. I think it is about time I put the effort into learning to read musical notation and music theory and really commit myself to the study. It is time to take this passion to the next level.

Add comment December 10th, 2007

The new kitty - pics

Here are a couple of pictures of the new kitty. He is too cute.

Add comment November 19th, 2007

New Kitty

It appears we will be taking in a new kitty, even if just for a short while. Deanna left for work this morning to find a 6 week old, malnourished kitten in her engine. With a little help, she was able to get the cat out and took it to the vet. It is under weight, has flees, and dirt as hell. The vet is going to get it cleaned up and we will be picking it up this evening. I will take some pictures and get them this evening, time permitting.

In other news, I have decided to get a little more serious about my writing. I’ve been writing on rpol (roleplay online) for a couple of months and really enjoy it. I hope to start with some short pieces and get them submitted to the smaller sci-fi magazines. Now I just have to find the motivation to stop reading about writing and actually do it.

1 comment November 19th, 2007

What makes one want to be a secular activist?

I’ve been listening to (and watching/reading) a lot of atheist and humanist material lately. I’ve become more and more of a skeptic and freethinker over the past few years. It is amazing how much of religion is utter bunk when you step back from the indoctrination and start looking at things from a new perspective. One of my favorite authors and activist is Richard Dawkins. He is a secular activist and scientist from the UK, most recently popularized for his work “The God Delusion.” I am currently listening to the audio book. He has gotten me thinking…what makes one want to become a secular activist? That is a question I have really been asking lately as I realize there just aren’t that many things I care enough about to want to argue with anyone. Dawkins’ perspective is that not only is the idea of god and religion a delusion, but that religious belief is actually dangerous. You don’t have to look very hard to determine just why that is a true statement.

I couldn’t quite get the grasp of why anyone would care so much as to try to convince others, until today. Today is the Day of the Dead, All Souls day. Tonight we head to the Bare Hands Gallery to see their celebration. I am wearing a Dia de los Muertos shirt that Deanna brought me back from the Alamo (aesthetically speaking, I love the day of the dead imagery). Someone asked about it and I explained what day of the dead was. I explained that it was like many Christian holidays in that it was an existing religious holiday of indigenous people that the Christians absorbed when they took over Mexico. I got a strange look. I tried to explain by giving the example that many Christian holidays were set around existing holidays, like Christmas, etc… Again, I got a strange look and the statement, “If that is what you want to believe, than ok.” That moment I realize just how widespread religious ignorance is, even amongst people I would otherwise consider intelligent. I think I understand where Dawkins is coming from. People really don’t think for themselves when it comes to this stuff. They just accept whatever they are told. This has tremendous social implications and isn’t just dangerous when it comes to religion, but also politics, and a host of other subjects that we take as part of what we believe. It is more than religion, it is the search for truth in all things and the lack of people questioning what they are told. This is truly dangerous. To make it even worse, our considering some things sacred and not speaking out against them, even if to be politically correct, is assisting in making it this way.

4 comments November 2nd, 2007

This past week

This past week I attended the funeral of a friends mother. She was killed suddenly in a car accident. It brought back memories of the death of my step-father and how that was a changing point in my life. This site was built out of that change. “Timewasted” was a way of expressing how I think we spend so much time worried about the future and about the past, at the expense of the present. We are so worried about the things that just don’t matter. I’ve come to discover that art and living is what matters. The things that make us more than the everyday animal are the things that seem important. I’ve started to pay more attention to the present. Colors are brighter, music sounds sweeter, my love for my wife seems even stronger (which I never thought possible), life is better. I’ve come a long way in this past couple of years. I would urge you to take a moment and look at right now, this very moment. Now, keep your attention there and enjoy it. Here was a poem that was read at my friends funeral; it means so much to me.

The Dash Poem
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

Add comment October 28th, 2007

Sunday, OCtober 21st - Magic City Blues Society presents…

Todd Simpson and Mojo Child
Sunday October 21, 2007
3:00 pm
Phelan Park
Southside Birmingham, AL

Bring your lawn chair and cooler and relax to the sounds of the Blues band voted #1 in Birmingham. We will have a 50/50 raffle and will have the merchandise/membership table set up for you to join up and take home some great Blues schwag. The park is located at the corner of 14th Ave and 15th Street South. The show is FREE to the public and is sponsored by the 5 Points Neighborhood Association and the Magic City Blues Society.

Add comment October 17th, 2007