well, i finally got a place of my own here in la-la land. because of the move and the stupid monopoly on cable internet 
i have had no internet of my own for the last few weeks. so to those of you who i read religiously, i’ll be back to visit again very soon. and to the rest of my loyal (and random) readers, i’m back posting again. 
so here’s a quick recap of the last few weeks in case anyone really wanted to know
- had a great christmas time with my family back in texas. convinced my boss i should have the time off and he actually let me have it. which was great because he was being a total dick for that whole week so i desperately needed the vacation time away from that place. it’s too bad that i can’t just take a week off whenever i want to…. 
- the job still sucks, but at least i know what it is they expect of me. unfortunately for them i have a slightly better paying offer from the job i left to come here, plus they’ll give me benefits for coming back — something they didn’t have when i left or else i would’ve probably stayed there. so now i have to weigh my options and find the right course for me. going back to the old job means having the free time to do what i want with my life instead of being married to my career, plus it was a lot of fun. staying with the current job means being incredibly close to the position i have said i wanted to be in for my career, but it also means a lot of stress and constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure nobody is keeping tabs on me (which i just know there are a couple of people reporting back to my boss about my every move, and i’m not being paranoid about this).
from a personal standpoint, i much prefer the old job and i am leaning towards going back because of the level of freedom. not to mention that they give me a level of trust and confidence in my abilities which my current position does not. the only thing that holds me back on the current job is the fact that i can probably milk them for a lot of perks, and they should be able to accommodate my salary wishes better than the old job. but there are a few big “what-if’s” floating around here and it’ll take me a little while to make sure i’m making the right move for me.
- as always, i’m meeting new people to hang out with all the time. my old group of friends has been phasing me out since the week before christmas and i’m not sure why, but it’s their loss if they don’t want me to be around anymore. it will always bother me when people do this to me without telling me why, but such is life. as the old adage goes: “there’s plenty of fish in the ocean”. and in a town with a metro population of well over 14 million people, i’m living in quite a large ocean indeed
- and for those of you in the los angeles area, be sure to check out the following bands and musicians. some of these are friends and the rest are just really cool people that you should support because they are just that awesome
dave yaden — this guy is a great songwriter and a friend who plays some killer piano. he plays in a band called the weight which is on the verge of breaking into the “big time”. for now you can still see them at some small venues around town but i would count on that changing over the next year. oh, they also go through drummers faster than spinal tap, but don’t let that stop you from going to see them play
ashleigh haney — another very talented songwriter who also works with dave yaden a lot. her songs are all well crafted and she has a great voice.
laura jansen — the little girl with the big voice. her songs are all straight from the soul and her voice has an amazing range. i actually just saw her for the first time last night and she was phenomenal.
skyler stonestreet — i’ve mentioned her here before and she is another talented songwriter with a very smooth voice, even when she’s rocking out
ernie halter — ernie is one of those guys who just blows you away with his voice and his musical abilities. he’s also a great performer on stage and so far has never disappointed. oh, and he’s releasing a new CD next month which has some great songs on it, so definitely go check him out if you get a chance!
amy kuney — she’s another talented songwriter who has somewhat of a cynical side to some of her songs. but her voice is so smooth and rich that it’s easy to just get caught up in her music without even realizing it.
well, that’s it for the locals for now. i’m sure i’ll be filling these pages up with more good music as always. and since i didn’t post for a few weeks let me take this time to say happy new year and welcome to all the folks who come here looking for buddhist chants. i appreciate your patronage, even if you don’t stay for very long i’m hoping 2007 proves to be even better than 2006, but really, who doesn’t want things to get better every year?