Summer Goals

I've developed a plan for the summer and hope to complete each of my goals in a timely fashion. My first plan of action was to create a lovely, cozy home for myself. I have accomplished this and my place is as beautiful as I could have ever dreamed it to be. Now that I have successfully done so, I must work on the rest of my list.

Step two of my plan was to find a parrot in need and provide it with a loving home. This goal is well on its way to becoming a reality! I've been half-heartedly  working towards the rest of my summer goals, but I will have plenty of time on my hands soon and success looks promising.

The rest of my goals are as follows:

1. Finish reading Bass Guitar For Dummies. In order to become the best bassist that I can be I would like to educate myself further.  So far this book is really great and it is not only for beginners. It delves into music theory and has many exercises that are easy to follow.

2.  Complete 2-D art and graphic design aspects of the new Wake Up Bedhead album cover. It has actually been quite the struggle to complete this as my last version of the cover was destroyed thanks to a glitch in my computer's operating system. Damn you Ubuntu!

3. Start an exercise regimen in order to stay healthy and happy. I would also like to start myself on a healthier diet and eat as preservative free as possible. Eventually I would like to start using products that are natural and chemical free in hopes of eliminating some of my vision issues. This might sound easy, but over the years I have made attempts to eat gluten free diets, no sugar, and little preservatives and it was so incredibly difficult. I hope to start myself off on this goal this summer. I greatly admire Priscilla Priebe, a gorgeous MN musician from the band Maudlin. She was searching for a healthier way of living so she began a business {pirk}- soaps and whatnots for chemical free living. So far I have purchased her tea tree and buttermilk complexion soap and it made my skin feel great!

Maudlin

Chillin' at a Maudlin show

4. I would love to continue on with my art and feel that I've had quite a block going on for a while. I'm usually pretty busy with my birds, Wake Up Bedhead, and my job so I haven't had much time to do what I love the most. I plan to begin a painting or large scale drawing to get myself back into an art groove. I feel so calm and complete when I'm making art, so this is a must.


Well these are the plans, so we'll see how it all turns out!

Jason, Eli, Sherry, Josh

Messy Day

Today was a bit messy. I stayed up way past my bedtime last night and had quite the time attempting to keep myself awake at work. Luckily the majority of my work day consisted of cheering on developmentally disabled children while they went bowling. Thursdays we bowl, Tuesdays we swim.

After work Wake Up Bedhead had a scheduled band practice so I stopped by the nearest Kwik Trip, grabbed a chili dog, and headed up Garvin Heights to git-r-done. Practice started off disheveled from the get-go with a late start and some bass amp malfunctions. There were some problems with my bass amp attempting to transmit radio frequency messages to aliens or something. Josh wasn't having it and none of us were loving it, so we ended up stopping mid-song so our leader could give a good pounding to my new used amp. Unfortunately our attempts to solve the problem were unproductive and we planned to move forward with practice regardless of the terrible sounding amplifier.

As we continued to practice one of our newest songs I sat down, kicked my shoes off and dug my toes into the carpet. I picked my feet up quickly as I realized that the carpet was completely soaked! I instantly panicked as I thought of the possibility of electrocution with all of the cords, amps, guitars, pedals, and major wattage surrounding us. I told the guys to check out the floor and Eli, Josh, and I quickly put our guitars back in their stands and started to unplug all equipment.

What a mess! Eli shop vacuumed up water, while the rest of us moved equipment and sprayed bleach on toxic black mold that had begun to crawl up the basement walls. I'm still not entirely sure where the water was coming from, but it may have been from problems with the central air system. Needless to say we did not accomplish much as a band.

This is a video of one of our shows which was posted by someone on Youtube.  It doesn't have the best sound quality, but I thought I'd post it for shits'n'giggles.


So after all of that nonsense, Eli went out to his car to head to work and it wouldn't start! He worked on it for a while and luckily it finally started. Thank goodness for that!

Earlier when I was searching for the shop vacuum in the garage I noticed Pinky's coffin that Joshua and I had put her in after she died back in December. Pinky was Joshua's first parrotlet and Orchid's sister. Orchid and Pinky loved one another and it was incredibly sad when she suddenly died after a tragic accident.

Because she died in December when the ground was frozen, we were not able to give her a proper burial. Today we finally put her to rest in the forest behind Lauer's house. It was super sad but long overdue. Pinky I hope you're watching over us in birdie heaven.

After her death, Josh recorded this song for his beloved Pinky.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

This excessive heat advisory weather is really starting to put a damper on my spirits. I've been going on some lovely late night walks the past few weeks and the weather lately barely allows me to step outside of my house. I feel super bad for those without AC. Well hopefully the weather will return to some normalcy soon enough, if that's even possible in Minnesota!

Yesterday I received another call from the avian center adoption coordinator and I am officially approved to adopt a bird! Most avian rescue centers have very strict guidelines and an extensive application process for potential pet owners. This is obviously to ensure that the applicant is aware of what they are getting themselves into and that they are up for the responsibility of owning a bird that may outlive the owner. Many times birds are adopted, then surrendered back to the center because the individual had not taken the time to educate themselves of the trials and tribulations of bird ownership. It's really quite sad.

These are my tired birdies snuggling up with one another. 

On another note, I've been periodically working on the album art for Wake Up Bedhead's upcoming album (possibly self titled or titled More Than Friends- yet to be decided). Josh has been working away at recording, mixing and mastering all of the songs and we are hoping to have it ready to release to Winona and the rest of the world by the end of the summer.

This is a sneak peek of some album art.

I'm very excited for the album and I think that it will turn out wonderful! Josh is a magical wizard in the studio and I think that he has already created some great album hits. I can always tell when I'm listening to a Joshua Lauer production and someday I think the rest of the world will be able to as well!

Cold Feet

What am I up to today? Just sitting around listening to an internet oldies radio station. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. I grew up on classic oldies. When my family would leave the house and I was all by my lonesome the first thing I would do is pop a Beatles album onto the old record player and sing to myself like a rock star. I can still remember the scent of those old records and the excitement I felt when listening to each album.

One of my top 20 favorite Beatles songs.

From about age ten on I'd play my favorites over and over again; Otis Redding, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Everly Brothers, The Platters, The Four Seasons, and so on . It's really strange, but I always feel such a sense of nostalgia when I listen to music from the 50's and 60's. Such a bitter sweet sadness that sweeps over me, almost as if my soul is missing those good old days that I have never lived through. It's strange.

I've always been drawn to anything and everything from the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I spent a great deal of my childhood through my early adult years watching films on the Turner Classic Movie station ooohing and ahhing over the eternally beautiful silver screen starlets.
Here are some of my favorite ladies of those times: 


Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights

Katharine Hepburn in Bringing up Baby
....and of course Marilyn, Bardot, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, etc.

...ooops gotta run... guess I'll finish this post later......

OKay... I'm back. Had to run over to a birthday celebration for a bit where we cooled off in a freezing spring fed pond and had the pleasure of eating the best ribs ever! I also got a new fish, well actually Jonas got a new fish but I like to hang out with him. I wanted to name him Orangesicle but Jonas thought that it was a "dumb name" so instead he named him Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

This is Vince watching Hoarders with me.





So anyway, oldies, starlets, fishies, sparkles and shine... now on to bird news. Oh bird news. I'm getting a bit nervous about the whole "adding another bird to my life" thing. It's a huge decision to make and once done, there really is no turning back. We'll see how it goes though. Maybe I'll find another Orchid on my trip that is officially scheduled for July 30-31st. Orchid is the quietest, sweetest bird in the world and the breeder that I got her from mentioned that she had bred many birds and this bird in particular was very special.

Adopting Orchid is the best thing that I've ever done for myself. I was going through an incredibly hard time in my life and this little creature helped me to see some light at the end of a very long, dark and scary tunnel. It may sound super cheesy but she really did help me a lot during an incredibly difficult time. This led me to the somewhat misguided assumption; the more birds, the merrier! Though I love Orrin just as much as his girlfriend, he is a handful and a half and doesn't always make my life easy!

She doesn't even try to fly away from my big, scary lipstick covered lips!

Enough blogging for the night. I need to get back to reality. Big Birdie kisses to you all!

Bird Light

Last night I was sitting around surfing through the CARE center's blog and daydreaming about which bird would become my new baby when suddenly my phone rang. Guess who? It was the adoption coordinator for the avian center! We chatted away for half an hour about bird, bird, and more bird! She said that they have so many birds who are in need of good homes, many with special needs and overlooked because they are not the most beautiful birds in the hood. Poor babies.

She also gave me some good tips for my parrotlets and let me know that it is A-OK for Orchid and Orrin to hump like rabbits. I thought I'd have a flock of birdie spawn on my hands in the near future, but she informed me that my birds can live together in the same cage for many years and I won't necessarily become Grandma Birdo. So yay for that! I'm so not ready to be a granny.

So here's my big birdie plan. In about two weeks I'll be visiting the center on a Saturday and staying overnight in Milwaukee until Sunday to see which bird chooses me as its mom. Bird gets to choose me because that's just how it works. This isn't about looks...this is about love. Bird will bond to me and we will live happily ever after in my wonderful birdily decorated home. ( I have so many bird decorations in my home that lately I've been wondering if it may nauseate certain individuals. Those with ornithophobia would run away screaming i'm sure. It's pretty great! )

Today I've been scheming up ideas to make money to put towards my bird escapade. I think I'll try to sell some things on Ebay, then go home and work for the parents for a few days. It's all for a good cause! 

On another note, I went shopping with my wonderful friend Becky tonight. As usual, I found many cute things at Target and discovered the nightlight of the year. Powder blue and adorable- an LED bird nightlight!

This thing can really glow and in the dark it looks like a ghost bird hovering in mid-air. Pretty neat! What's not pretty neat is needing a night light at 27 years of age. Unfortunately it isn't only needed because of my actual fear of demons and evil night witches. I also have to use night lights because of my rare VS eye condition. Maybe I'll explain my view of the world some day.

New Family Member?

So I've decided to blog today because I'm pretty excited about a few plans that I have for the summer. First and foremost I've always got bird on the brain. It may be kind of weird, but it's so true. I love bird. I just can't help it and bird has turned into a bit of an obsession for me hence my newest nicknames Birdo and Birdie, curtesy of the wonderful gamer extraordinaire Jonas Schneider.

Anywho, I want another bird friend to add to my flock. Not just any bird friend but a bird that may really need my help and love, something that it may not have in its current situation. I have been searching through birds at a center called CARE or Center For Avian Rehabilitation and Education, Inc. located in Hubertus, WI near Milwaukee. I ran across a few birds who's situations hurt my heart and I am considering going to visit the center to find out more information about these birds.

This is Mork. He is a 30 year old elderly Patagonian Conure who's owner suddenly died after a loving 18 year friendship. Conures generally live between 15 and 30 years and Mork needs a loving home to live out his remaining years. He has a great home at the avian center, but they have so many birds that he does not get the one on one attention that he deserves. The poor bird plucked off all of his breast feathers too, but he is apparently very sweet. Maybe he'll be mine soon?

The other birds that I am considering also have special needs.

                                           A blind budgie

                                          Lovebird with broken leg

Frosty the lovebird survived a whole Wisconsin winter though he is a tropical bird. His feet are severely burned/damaged.

                                          Lily the blind cockatiel

Oh bird oh bird. My birds are hanging out on the table next to me right now while I type this. They love to eat eggs, kinda crazy huh? Anyway my male parrotlet Orrin loves to be the center of attention and though he has a ton of toys and egg food surrounding him he chooses to eat chunks of rubber off of my computer while I type instead. Oh Orrin! He drives me nuts, but I still love him.

Besides all this bird talk I just finished a 3 hour and 15 minute practice session with my band Wake Up Bedhead and it went pretty well. We started off practice with a nice meal of eggs and tomatoes thanks to Josh. We practiced a wonderful new song that Josh first wrote when he was 16. It is truly a beautiful song and I am very excited to play it at our next show. We are close to finishing our second album and my first album with the band. The first album was a short EP album titled Hook. This is the album art that I drew/designed myself. I'm pretty proud of myself. It took quite some time to complete.

 It isn't super high quality on here, but you can look it it closer on our website if you'd like.

 Random picture of Josh and I at my first show at Ed's (No Name) Bar in Winona, MN. It was sometime around December 2010.

Anyway, I'm sick of typing so I will have to share my life and thoughts some other time. Peace out.