Dogs: What's Really Wrong With The World

You want to know what's really wrong with the world?

Get a dog.

In just a few days, your dog will do things that make it stinkin' obvious as to why this world is so messed up…

You want to know what my dog did!?!

She Showed Me I'm Impatient

I want perfection, and I want it now…never mind that my 11 month old pup is behaving beyond my wildest expectations when we first got her…I still expect more. I don't like the pace of progress. Maybe it's not impatience...maybe it's just anger, or sadness. She's chewing away my day-time masks and revealing I'm quite unhappy...and my raw actions show it.

Hmm…being impatient at someone…or some thing...based on my own irrational expectations and placing blame on others for my lack of personal satisfaction? Ya, that's messed up.

She Reminded Me I'm Entitled

The running path has grass on the side of it for a REASON! It's so my pup can pee and poo without me having to stop my run. Heaven forbid I prepare for 27 seconds before the run so I can clean up after my dog.

Hmm…lack of preparation then asserting the world should pivot to accommodate me? Ya, that's messed up.

She Proved I Fear Judgement

Instead of just loving on this pup and understanding that when she sees another pup she's excited and wants to play like all young animals, I fear what the humans around me think of my training skills. So, I pop her leash…hard. She ends up laying down, but not out of a response to our flourishing relationship, but out of pain, or at least deference to strength.

Hmm…lashing out in anger in order to control others to do what I want? Ya, that's messed up.

She Revealed I Judge Others

Dogs are imperfect animals with instincts that can be hard to break, but that doesn't stop me from judging other owners when their dogs misbehave. I instantly judge that they are misguided, don't have a clue, or are lazy.

Hmm…judging others based on limited (or wrong) information? Ya, that's messed up.

She Showed I Don't Take Responsibility

Whether it's poo, keeping pup on-leash, or training her to come-when-called (with distraction), I can't blame everything on "well, it's just an animal". I took this responsibility to not only care for pup, but train her to be a reasonable member of the community.  If I can't handle the responsibility, then I shouldn't consume the benefits.

Hmm…not taking responsibility and assuming others will just have to clean up my irresponsibility? Ya, that's messed up.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep, want to know what's really wrong with the world today?

Just get a dog.

Life Behind The Master…My Latest Full-Length Album

After 3 years of recording, edit, and mastering, my next album, "Life Behind The Master", is now on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and streaming services like Spotify (coming soon). Interestingly they are all selling at different prices: $9.99, $8.99, and $5.99 respectively. My distributor is CDBaby.com and I simply love their service.

The album cover contains dozens of photos spanning all aspects of my life...

This collection of songs spans so many topics that I felt it really deserved the word "Life" in it. It ends with "…Behind the Master" because it's a rough translation of my last name…Hintermeister "master of the back lands" (actually, the literal translation is "Master of the behind", but that would result in ENTIRELY differnent kinds of songs and artwork...maybe a future album :-)   ).

I've always wanted to title an album with "...behind the master" not only for its connection to my last name, but also because it describes how I try (but mostly fail) to live my life of faith…following Jesus and having him guide me through most everything I do. You might see the ever-so-faint cross in the cover?

I love every song on here, and they range from hard rock to 'anthem' rock to pop to piano solo to acoustic guitar. Some of these songs I wrote for myself as a reflection of my own life...like "Sunset Chairs" and "Spiritual Honeymoon". Others I wrote to accompany live acting to further the emotion of the story...like "Gospel According To Me" and "Everything's Gold". The songs "Soundtrack to My Life" I wrote the music for based on awesome lyrics written by Tammy St. George reflecting how the music of Bon Jovi inspires her. I wrote "Pocket Man" for my then 3 year old who...well...loved pockets! He also guest-sings on that song.

I'm quite excited to have these available.

Take a listen, and if you like, share or buy.

~~~~~~  Details ~~~~~~

I recorded all songs in my Hint of Light recording studio. I recorded the audio through an old Soundscape hard disk recording unit, recorded MIDI through Cakewalk Sonar 4, and mixed it down through my Yamaha 01V digital mixer. Most of those are very old and through this project realized I need to upgrade my entire system.

Mastering was quite an ordeal. I really wanted to do this myself end-to-end, but just couldn't get these songs sounding great compared to other commercial CDs. I finally found a tutorial and a limiter plug-in that I adore…and found my way to the open-source tool "Reaper" that let me do all my final EQ, compression, limiting in real-time. Let me tell you, after doing most mastering using older open source like Audactiy, using a tool like Reaper with the plug-ins I found was simply revolutionary.

Technical specs:

For those that care, here's a summary of what I used to record this:

Drums: Roland XV-5080, Alesis DM-PRO

Guitars: PRS Hollow-body II electric; PRS Tonare Grand acoustic; Ovation acoustic

Bass: Fiama bass; Roland RD-500 fake bass; XV-5080

Piano: Roland RD-500

Synth: RD-500; XV-5080

Percussion: tambourine, egg, sticks

Vocals: Me singing through a Beta-58 mic

Experiencing Michigan Friendship

Last year we stopped by for a quick visit with our Michigan friends. It was magical. Their hospitality, along with the awesomeness of Lake Michigan made us instantly want to return.

Fast forward one year and we visited for a longer 4 day adventure. Since our first visit resulted in our son conjuring up the convincing arguments to get a puppy, this time we brought our 9 month old pup.

In those 4 days we burned stuff, shot stuff, drank stuff, drove stuff, balanced on stuff, explored stuff, and swam in stuff...all together...four adults, one teen, three girl tweens, two boys, and two pups. 

First, some photograhic evidence...

Campfire night and exploring...

Sand dunes...

Beach and lighthouse...

Currie-directed photo moments...

Looking into the future...

Crazy-loved creatures...

Fun exploding things...

Fun shooting things...

4th of July fun...

Creatures in love...

Second, here's what I learned...

We love Michigan…or At Least Michigan with These Friends In It

The woods, sand dunes, lake, fireworks, beer, and outdoorsy life were all awesome. But I wonder if it was that awesome because we had our friends as our guide?

Our Family Is Messy

We leave things around, we are into our 'screens', and with six of us we just take up a lot of space. I know we added some stress to their lives, but they invited us anyway, fed us, provided places to sleep, and were always hospitable. I wasn't even 'aware' of this until we left…I feel bad about how our kids disconnected from theirs and just left stuff around. But I suppose that's just the reality of different cultures…where every single family approaches life differently.

Much In Common, Little In Common

We love that we are quite comfortable talking the second we get there. We love participating in what they do: shooting, swimming, campfires, dune exploring, beach combing, beer tasting, cooking, salsa making, (and on and on). We love how we can talk about music, politics, religion, work, technology, etc, with no concern for fist fights (even the very touchy subject of not liking pale ale…another topic we agree on).

However, now that I'm home I realize that I don't actually do much of any of those things with my kids. Maybe what I don't have in common is the motivation to overcome the effort required to make these things happen at home (which makes me sad).

They mean the world to us

I don't see them much, and don't even really talk to them much outside of a few text chats. However, they hold such a fond place in our hearts…even our kids still talk about how much fun they had and what they loved about our visit. I eventually recognized what they sacrificed to have us there (food, vacation, comfort, peace, …) and am in awe of their friendship…it makes me wonder what they got in return?

I will always be grateful for our Michigan adventures...I miss you guys already.

Talk To Me, Goose

I'm still in the air, but many around me have been hit

So much chaos flying around it's impossible to focus

I'm so thankful I personally didn't get hit

...but I grieve for them

I'm grateful to be in the air

But the shards from those that did get hit are greatly affecting me

I'm spinning so fast I don't know which way is up

Somewhere inside I've got fuel that can propel me forward

But where are the thrusters?

I feel my wingmen are gone…

…some were great leaders who guided me

…some were informal mentors whom I emulated

…and some were peers who I fought-the-good-fight with

Now I feel alone

Spinning…

Lost my direction…my purpose…my peace

Talk to me, Goose…

I'm not asking for an easy ride…

Just a spark to re-ignite my thrusters

Or…

...I could eject…

…and watch all that I'm responsible for in life crumble.

Talk to me, Goose…

I need to engage…help me engage.