DAY THIRTY (12/14/12)

The final day...

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Alarm goes off and like a kid on Christmas morning, Rachel was jumping on the bed before I could even get the alarm turned off.  My last day of this challenge; her last day of undergraduate school.  Pretty cool.  She took off to go take her last final right away and I went to go hit up my last brush teeth/workout routine.  The difference here is that hers is much more important than mine, but mine will continue on after this day.

2 - Scottish Shower

     TWENTY MINUTES IN FREEZING WATER!!  Going out with a bang.  I wasn't going to have some lame, tepid finale to this whole contrivance.  I stayed under that faucet 'til I was good and ready.  'Til I made for damn certain that I would remember this feeling if for some reason I didn't follow through with cold showers in the future.  I will probably take a hot shower tomorrow just to remember what they feel like, but I'll return to cold showers afterward.  Not ice-cold, but colder than most of you would enjoy.


3 - No Television

     I have so much work to do on the music side of things that I don't even have time to think about TV.  I did look at Redbox and Netflix the other night, just to see what was new.  There are a lot of new movies that I need to/want to see.  But I don't think I'll be wasting much time on programmed television anymore after this Challenge.

4 - Clean My Room

      The room is clean for the most part.  I have a lot musical instruments and workout equipment scattered around, but they're functional clutter.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I haven't written the day's song yet.  It is 11:00am as I'm typing this.  What's weighing the heaviest on my mind is the 24 songs that I have to record/mix/produce in the next proposed week.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do it.  I will forewarn you though...some of these songs are going to be shit.  Shit songs.  Simple writing for the sake of having to jot something down.


6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Lesson of the day:  There is some obscure muscle in my shoulder that has never been worked out before.  I'M REALLY SORE!  I've been doing jumping jacks the last few days.  Apparently this obscure shoulder muscle is not used in push-ups, presses or butterfly curls.  Only jumping jacks.  Pain is gain!  (It's a myth, but still fun to say)

I will be writing a conclusion/update/thoughts about the next challenge in about a week when I'm done posting all of the music.  Thanks to everyone for the continued support!!  God bless!

DAY TWENTY-NINE (12/13/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I'm getting the hang of this challenge.  I should.  It's DAY TWENTY-NINE!  I will definitely be making this an on-going habit, which was the point of this challenge in the first place.  I love getting up at 6:00am, working out and eating breakfast with the sunrise.  Even more so, I love not being rushed in the morning.  I've truly tapped an undiscoverd reservoir of peace and serenity.

2 - Scottish Shower

     Second to last day, I made this shower cold as heck and stayed in there for at least 10-12 minutes.  My hands were eerily purple when I got out.  I'm not sure if this is exactly healthy, but what-the-hay, it didn't kill me!

3 - No Television

     Rachel and I went over to her mother's house for supper.  Good roast!  After supper, they went downstairs to watch Survivor.  I went home to write/work on the "Day Twenty-Nine" song.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Nine" is quite a despairing ballad.  I really like half of it; the other half, not so much.  I'll probably re-work that half a bit when I go through the overwhelming process of producing this song.  (Along with the other 24 songs over the next week.  YIKES!)

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Wake up, brush teeth, workout.  What a great way to start the morning.  I've also been monitoring other radio stations' morning shows and commercials while working out.  Talking about killing a whole flock of birds with one stone.  This routine is staying around!

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT (12/12/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Only two more days of this nonsense!  Not really.  I'm getting the hang of this 6:00am business.  Finally in a healthy routine of getting up early, working out and eating breakfast.  I will not be switching back to waking up just in time to get to work. I will, however, be sleeping in later than 6:00 on the weekend.

2 - Scottish Shower

     In the last week or so I have been notching the shower knob a little to the warm side.  It's still ice-cold, but with the ground temp getting ridiculously low, it's just not sane to keep it on the coldest setting.  Today was different.  I turned on the HOT water and got the bathroom nice and steamy.  Then slapped that handle all the way "C"-ward.  It's the coldest water I've showered with yet.  And I stayed under the stream the whole time.  I want to go out with a bang on the last three days.  It was "bangin'" alright.

3 - No Television

     I watched about 10 minutes of Baseketball on DVD while I was eating lunch, then promply went up to the office to start writing day "Day Twenty-Eight".

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Eight" had its beginnings over the lunch hour.  It sounds very similar to a song I've heard before, but I can't put my finger on it.  Late 70's Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones-esque.  I don't know, but I don't want it to sound like I'm over-influenced or plagarizing.  I will possibly modify it later tonight.  I'll see if I can find the sound-alike song here at the radio station.  I'm really curious as to what I'm mimicking even though I don't know what it is that I'm mimicking.

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Today I added 100 jumping jacks to the mix.  I hope my bouncing around on the 2nd floor at 6:15am isn't too loud for my neighbors, but then again...they should be doing the same thing!!

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN (12/11/12)

Last night was....different.  Rachel got the flu.  A nasty one.  I got home at 5:00pm after work and her mom was already on the way to take her to the ER.  She's doing better, but I have to extol her for her persistence and resilience.  After two hours at the hospital, she returned home, sick as Hell, and went to sleep.  She got up at 11:00pm because she had a paper due at 10 this morning.  That's an exemplary student right there.  Even though she was walking around like a zombie who'd spun around 20 times with its forehead on a baseball bat being led by a drunk seeing-eye dog, she splashed onto the couch and started writing a term paper.  Her mom brought her some Gatorade at 4:00am and she kept on truckin'...still typing up the final draft when I went to work at 8:00 this morning.  The Nike motto ain't got shit on my Rachel.

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     Got up on time this morning.  Rachel was still downstairs pluggin' away on her paper, sippin' Gatorade.  Routine in full swing - Brush teeth, Work out.

2 - Scottish Shower

     It was really cold in the bathroom this morning so I ran hot water for a few minutes to steam things up.  I'm looking forward to taking a celebratory hot shower on Day 31.  Just being able to shower for more than 10 minutes might be nice.

3 - No Television

     TV really doesn't interest me much anymore.  The lack of snacking in front of the tube really opens up free time and I'm sure it's much healthier too.  Nowadays, I only eat because I have to, and I'm really enjoying eating as a means of survival, not entertainment.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

I started producing some songs last night.   I expect to spend some significant time recording material tonight as well.  I completed yesterday's song, "Day Twenty-Six".  I will publish it in yesterday's post as well as upload it to Facebook over my lunch break.  Like I said yesterday, it's weird.  Pretty much just hit some keys on the piano and went from there.

When I finish this Challenge on Friday, I will then start to record all of the songs.  I will most likely include a final post with all of the songs available in order with a little synopsis about the writing/production of each song.
     
6 - 30 Minute Workout

     This vague challenge has done something I didn't anticipate.  First off, my physical results are minimal.  I should have pushed myself harder and will in the future, but my mental results are extraordinary.  Not because "I look great, I feel great" or anything.  It's just helped me start the day right in a healthy way and has taught me that there is ALWAYS time in the day to better yourself. 

There are so many things we do everyday that are complete wastes of time.  Give up a half hour of junk and replace it with a half hour of something that will matter tomorrow.  Give up one TV show for a half hour of reading, playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, learning to juggle.  There are 24 hours in a day.  48 half hours.  That's 48 chances to improve yourself  EVERY DAY!  There's a time slot for improvement in your busy day.  No excuses. 

I've always said, "Do something today worth talking about tomorrow" but I guess my new motto is "Develop or decompose." 

Just 27 days ago, I was a bum.  Sleeping in 'til the last possible moment to rush to work, snacking in front of the TV the moment I got home from work, not learning anything, going through the same boring-as-f*** routine.  I'm no superman now, but I feel great because I've discovered something.  Life is short, death is inevitable, and my life is just a clock counting down.  BUT I have control of the clock.  And now it's a race.  Not to death, but to a finish line.  And I'm gonna run as hard as I can until I snap that ribbon.  The race will be over, but at least I can say I had a good run.

DAY TWENTY-SIX (12/10/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I did it!  I slapped the crap out of my alarm. "Get it off!!!!!"  Then turned to Rachel, who might have been dead she was sleeping so hard, and said, "Good morning!"  No reply.

2 - Scottish Shower

     Brushed teeth, worked out, took a cold shower.  I'm getting pretty good at this stuff.

3 - No Television

     Well...I was really starting to like today.  But then today had to go and suck balls.  One...it's really cold!  Two...so cold that the locks on my driver-side door froze.  I climbed in through the passenger side and managed to kick open the door, but the latch is still frozen.  I've tried everything I know (hot water, WD40, etc.) and nothing works.  Good news: I only need one arm to drive, thus I can hold my door shut.  Bad news:  It isn't going to be warm enough to thaw my door until Wednesdsay.

4 - Clean My Room

      Still loving the new configuration. 


5 - Write A Song Every Day

      I wrote today's song over lunch.  Or at least started it.  It's....weird.  I basically sat at the piano and used the first sequence of notes I randomly hit.  I worked them into some sort of melody and BAM!  Just kept playing it until it made sense.  I'll probably transpose it tonight in the key of G so I can easily mix in a banjo part or uke part.  Having fun with the keys!  Thanks again, Liz.  Here's the link: DAY 26 SONG


6 - 30 Minute Workout

Pretty good workout this morning before the whole day fell apart.  I can tell that certain exercises are getting easier as I'm building back those muscle groups.  I still look out-of-shape, but I feel really good.

Only FOUR more days to go.  I have recently been thinking about my next round of challenges and what I should do.  I'm not really sure what I'll be doing, but one lesson I have learned during this Challenge is that it's really hard to keep on track around the holidays.  I will probably wait 'til after New Years to start the next round.  Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE (12/9/12)

Home-stretch!  Last week of the Challenge.

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     I worked this morning at 8:30am.  I got up at 7:00am to fit in a workout and some breakfast.

2 - Scottish Shower

     The great benefits from taking cold showers have finally plateaued.  My face broke out today.  Badly.  I guess you can only have so much wonderful.  I'm still sticking with the cold showers after this Challenge though.  I really enjoy them now.

3 - No Television

     Rachel and I worked at Perkins this morning.  Afterwards, she went to a baby shower and I went home to write the "Day Twenty-Five" song.  Later, we decorated our Christmas tree, played some cards and ate a hugh supper.  I proceeded into a food coma and passed out on the couch again.

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean = Ethan is happy.

5 - Write A Song Every Day

      "Day Twenty-Five" is a straight-up 12-bar blues-esque shuffle, an obvious choice for ease of mixing piano and guitar together.  I haven't done too many blues-fueled songs for this Challenge, so I figured...why not!

6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Got 'er in this morning before work.  I was right yesterday when I said I was going to be sore from moving furniture.  I'm sore.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR (12/8/12)

1 - Wake Up @ 6:00am

     As I had mentioned in earlier posts, this challenge was not well-thought-out.  I really intended this challenge to get me up at 6:00am on weekdays, so I'm not rushed getting ready for work.  That being said, it's the weekend, and I slept in 'til 9:00am.  When I got up it felt like Noon.  It was strange being in bed with the sun up.  I always get up before the sun and go to bed after the sun goes down.  RED LIGHT it is!

2 - Scottish Shower

     I may have slept in three hours past my proposed wake-time, but this was one of the most productive days I've had since I started this Challenge.  I popped out of bed, worked out and took a freezing cold shower.  BOOM!  I was jolted into Productivity Mode.

3 - No Television

     No time for TV!  I cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and the junk closet.  I did what seemed like a year-supply of laundry.  I cleaned out my car and brought Rachel's old dresser up to my office.  I rearranged my office to accommodate my new 88-key electric piano; a most-gracious gift from Rachel's mom.  Thanks Liz!  I love the new arrangement of my office.  It took a long time to reconfigure all of my music equipment, but I really love the new setup.  Rachel came home from work in the afternoon.  We played a few games of cards, cooked a giant supper and both passed out on the couches.  Great day!

4 - Clean My Room

Room is clean and rearranged = Ethan is very happy.


5 - Write A Song Every Day

    "Day Twenty-Four" is (thanks to the new keyboard) a quirky, campy tune fueled by a super simple and cheesy piano melody.  I really wanted to produce it immediately, but was just too busy cleaning and rearranging furniture/equipment and organizing thousands of cords.


6 - 30 Minute Workout

     Got my workout in this morning, not to mention moving a lot of heavy furniture.  I'll be really sore tomorrow.