Weekend Getaways?

Friday's here after another September week flies by. How is it that October is a mere 4 days away? I am looking forward to it of course. October is the best time of year (after Octember.) Fall is in full effect, the days can still be relatively nice, Halloween is on it's way and everything is pumpkin flavored. Speaking of which, I am getting a bit nervous about the 31 day Pumpkin challenge. Can I maintain that many, projects, posts etc? We will see. I probably need to go ingredient hunting this weekend.

But, how about instead of that we take a mini-vacation instead? We had debated whether or not we should go camping this weekend. Are plan is (was?) to visit Conneaut Lake Park on Saturday, camp somewhere and then go to the Geneva Grape Jamboree on Sunday. Sarah is convinced that 2 hours there (we can't do more) will be enough. I am not so sure. That is something we will have to figure out.

I've been wanting to go to Conneaut for the last couple of years. It's something we did at least once when I was younger and I want to go to see if anything jogs my memory. Also, it is potentially a tad run-down/old so it may offer some cool/creepy visuals. Or it just may look sad. You never know. The thing is, it appears that this is the last weekend of the season for Conneaut. (though there is a Pumpkin Show that I don't think we can make it to in October) Also, rumor has it, that the Park might be Auctioned off next year. Would it ever reopen?

 

We have gone to the Geneva Grape Jamboree for a long time now. It's almost like the traditional start of Autumn for us. We love street festivals, especially ones where we get Purple Cows.

Can we somehow do both? I hope so.

Purpose

I am looking at the past three previous entries and am realizing that they are all about music and are directly related to what I was listening to at the time. That's fine, as I love listening to music. However, after publishing the last post I realize I am sounding like an advertisement for rdio. It made me feel weird. Going forward I am going to try to avoid being an unpaid sponsor.

I guess the questions are what do I want to write about here? What should this space be for? What are my musings?

These are hard questions for me to answer because in general I tend to be reserved in my interests.

I like photography but I am not out daily or even weekly on personal photo assignments. (I have in the past though) I can think of the typs of photos I would like to take but I don't take the steps to take them. Most days it's just pictures of P and the things she is doing. Yeah, that gets me the Facebook love from friends and family, and yeah I think I take good pictures and she's super-cute, but it's not a creative endeavour. It's more like photojournalism or simple snapshotting. It's a good hobby, but I am afraid I am not much of a hobbyist.

I like movies, but I go to the movies maybe twice a year and maybe we see a movie once a week. The thing is movies don't seem to stay with me beyond the initial viewing. The next day I am not thinking about them so I am not writing about them. Plus it's not like I am a critical thinker in regards to films. I see them and I like them, or I see them and I don't like them. Move on.

TV can be a decent topic. With the fall season strarting soon that could be something. Though I am not a huge television watcher there are a few shows I want to catch. We will see if I get to watch them. Hold that thought I might come back to it.

"Musings and half-formed ideas. Music, Movies, Television and all the rest of the things we use to distract ourselves." Seems like an easy enough description, seems like a nice broad theme. So what is my issue? I've touched on music heavily in the past and I can keep that up in the future. There's no reason why I can't discuss movies. Am I worried about timeliness? Who cares about timeliness? As for television, well, I think I have a future post so I am ok. It's the musings and half-formed ideas I am getting stuck on. Is that too broad? Too general. No, I don't think so.

I know the reason.

It has to do with confidence and a lack of trust in my abilities; a lack of faith in myself to write something interesting, even if it is just to me.

So how do I gain confidence in my writings, in my ideas, in my photos, in my abilities?

My answer right now is just to keep on plugging away at this. If I think of something I should write it. Half-formed ideas. I gave myself permission for those in the descriptor. I should stop worrying and learn to accept my ideas for whatever they are.

I will refrain from writing some declarative statement here about getting back on track or getting better about this. Or saying "it all starts here." That seems to be a recipe for a complete disinterest and abandonment.

I'll just wrap this up and tell myself all those things.

Closing Credits

It's not often that I listen to full-on instrumental albums, but today I was checking of Lights & Motion's album Reanimation and found it absolutely breathtaking. (ok, not fully instrumental as the last song has lyrics)

I have been going through my rdio collection letter by letter and picking out music that I grabbed but don't recollect. It's quite easy to listen to something, like it, collect it and not listen to it again. I don't even know how I heard of this album in the first place. (More than likely an AV Club article) Anyways, it's good to take stock as you can be surprised by what you have.

Now, if I listened to this tomorrow I might not find it as captivating. Today could just be the right time and right mood for it.

P's and Queues

Most days at work are tolerable thanks to my rdio music queue. I love listening to music as opposed to listening to the myriad conversations that take place outside my cubicle. (I am right next to our department boss' office so it can get pretty busy and annoying over here.)

Tuesday's are the best as that is new release day. (for albums, Mondays see single releases and other days might have new to rdio releases or reissues) Today's slate is chockablock full of potentially good music.

• Sweden's Holograms released their sophomore effort Forever.
• The Stereophonics have Graffiti on the Train.
• Out of Scotland we have Glasvegas with Later...When the Tv Turns to Static.
• The 1975's self-titled debut has finally arrived.
• And rdio has finally gotten Clubfeet's Heirs and Graces back. ( it came out months ago but disappeared quickly)
• There's even a new Nine Inch Nails album that I will give a try, because why not? It's called Hesitation Marks.

My day is set and my queue grows longer.