Doesn’t quite have the same ring as “Summer of ‘69” but you get the idea.

So, when I graduated high school and was trying to decide what to do with myself next, I got this this crazy idea that instead of going to college and studying for yet another four long, hard years I could trick my parents into letting me move all the way across the country, hang out with a bunch of weird musicians, drink beer and play my guitar. In other words, go to MUSIC college. We weren’t exactly rolling in cash and the place I got accepted to was pretty expensive so I applied for a merit based scholarship. Basically I had to submit a tape of my playing to earn a shot at a live audition which could ultimately result in some financial assistance.

Also, at the time there was no such thing as Garage Band for your Mac. Heck, when I took typing in high school we were still using Apple //e’s. Anyway, I set about making my recording using a Tascam cassette tape based 4 track, a sequencing Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard that I borrowed from a friend, my guitar rig, and 1 microphone.

Anyway here are the tunes. I’m sure I gave them quite ridiculous and appropriate titles, none of which I can remember now:

Song the first – Typical mid 90’s guitar gunslinger fare. I think I was trying to channel Joe Satriani or Steve Vai w/ a little Eddie Van Halen finger tapping and dual melody lines thrown in there while playing as many notes as possible in 4 minutes.

Song The First by Aaron Bendickson
Download now or listen on posterous

Song the First.mp3 (5325 KB)

Song the second – I knew I needed at least one song without distortion, so what do you do if you can’t use distortion… why delay of course! This is a white kid from Montana’s attempt at playing Latin.

Song The Second by Aaron Bendickson
Download now or listen on posterous

Song the Second.mp3 (3274 KB)

Song the third – So cheesy but SO AWESOME. The first 2 minutes are kind of a snooze but it sets you up for the STADIUM ROCK GUITAR SOLO complete with PIPE ORGAN at the end! Strong Bad would have been so proud.

Song The Third by Aaron Bendickson
Download now or listen on posterous

Song the Third.mp3 (4772 KB)

The thing I remember most about recording these songs is how FRACKING picky I was. I would play the solo sections over and over and OVER until I felt I had nailed every note. There was really no way to splice or edit the tracks so you had to get it all in one take. I’m sure it drove my poor parents out of their minds hearing me play the same part repeatedly for hours on end (without the context of the rest of the song since I had the playback in my headphones). I can only hope I’m as patient and supportive with my kids’ creative endeavors.

Tune in next week for the story of my live audition in Anaheim, CA and the rainiest day in the history of Disneyland.

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The thing I’ve noticed most over the last couple days is exactly how “busy” these boys are. While I will fully admit to liberal use of Curious George as a diversion, in those moments when I’m cleaning up from a meal or doing dishes or something I’ll hear Joel in the other room playing make believe with his trains. He’ll be acting out a scene from one of the books or movies, or just making up his own dialog. It’s really cute, and a good reminder to me that while I do enjoy rough-housing with him it’s important for him to have his OWN playtime too.

Isaac is all about the business of developing his 9 month old skill set. And he is SERIOUS too. If he’s pulled himself up to stand next to Joel’s train table and discovered a new toy (which we have an abundance of these post-Christmas days) you’d be well advised not to try and take it away from him because he’ll let you know how unhappy that makes him. It’s as if every single new trinket he finds is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen… and in some ways that may be true. He’s so determined about it too. It’s like the second he’s done eating he’s scanning the room, ready to start exploring. Look out Dad, I gotta PLAY!

We’re heading to Tacoma today to spend a little time with Grandma & Grandpa and then Sarah should be home by dinnertime. I’ll be nice to have her home with us, but I’ve also really enjoyed this special time with my boys.

The dynamic duo at yesterday’s Mobile Chowdown.

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Not this year.

This year was interesting for me because I did just that. I set myself just one specific goal and set about the task of getting there. It was to ride the High Pass Challenge, a very strenuous ambitious bike ride this past September. The act of setting and attaining that simple goal this year reminded me of the fact that I do have a say in how to to go about this whole life thing, so next year I’m setting some more.

Specifics:
- Learn to play steel guitar. That’s right, good old school country gospel twangy pedal steel.
- Author at least one iPhone or Mac application. I work at a flipping software development company for crying out loud, time to move past scripting and unix hackery onto something more elegant.
- Lose these last 10 pounds. I already dropped 30 this summer while training for the bike ride, but I’ve picked up 5 or 6 again in the last couple months.
- Find a church home. This is an aspect of our family’s spiritual and social life that is sorely absent.
- Take my wife on an extended getaway, somewhere new and fun. At least 4 days.

Things to do more of:
- Writing, both music and otherwise (blogging, letters, etc).
- Projects at home, like paining, home improvement stuff. I’m way more capable of that stuff than I give myself credit for and it always feels good to have it done.
- Traveling, both with and without the kids.

Things to do less of:
- Drinking & eating junk food. Not talking about an absolute ban here, but definitely need to get this back into balance.
- Watching TV, waste of time.
- Twitter / Facebook / RSS reading, basically all forms of digital ADD. It’s a time-suck and also impedes my ability to focus.
- Making excuses for not starting things.

All things considered 2009 was a really great year. I’m looking forward to the 2010’s (or whatever the heck this next decade is supposed to be called). I hope it is a blessed one for y’all!

PS> Just for fun I poked around in my old photo box (before the advent of digital cameras & iPhoto) and found this picture of me and my brother Jason at a “Dress Like The Future” party from New Year’s Eve, 1999.

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Also, going thru these pictures I came across this video of Joel reading. It doesn’t seem like he changes that much from day to day anymore, but looking back it’s pretty remarkable (insert some “they grow up so fast” platitude here). I think he was fighting a cold or was all stuffed up from being outside or something. The result is even that much more adorable.

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Joel: “Daddy, I want to tell you a joke”
Me: “OK”
Joel: “Knock, knock”
Me: “Who’s there?”
Joel: “Goat”
Me: “Goat who?”
Joel: “Goat to the door and find out!”

I just about fell off my chair. I dunno why it caught me as so funny, I mean it’s a cute joke but definitely not in the comedic genius category or anything. I think it was the idea that he, in his own little 3 year old way, was pulling one over on me. I hadn’t heard that particular joke before (or if I had I’d long since forgotten the punch line) so when he delivered, slightly bumbling and trying to remember exactly how it went I was at once surprised, proud and completely tickled. Brilliant!

Just wait ’till Uncle Sean comes over…

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We did have a few people comment about his little “sister” dressed up as Piglet.

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I love the crisp air and the fact that there’s still an acceptable amount of daylight. You get those brisk sunny days where the shadows are all slanty because the sun is scooting along the horizon instead of straight overhead and there are great picture opportunities. This is precisely why God invented the pumpkin patch! Let’s face it, it’s not really about pumpkins (since those can be had much less expensively at the Fred Meyer on the corner) but it’s about the urban novelty of tramping through a muddy field and snapping vibrant colorful pictures of your kids.

It’s as close to hunting and gathering as we city-folk get.

More pictures here.

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Isaac, Week 27

Joel, Week 32

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