"The State Of My Modern Music" or "Technology, Bitches!"

I began DJing in 1998. By 2004 I'd amassed a pretty sizable music collection, most of it in CDs, but plenty of vinyl and mp3s too. Katrina wiped that clean except for the mp3s.

I slowly began collecting tunes again through various channels, but buying CDs and vinyl was quickly becoming bulky and too expensive. I was moving toward digital.

When I lost my job last year and decided to move in with Jen, I got rid of my old desktop. I saved numerous large playlists to Spotify and decided in the spirit of trimming my possessions a bit, that I'd go even mp3 free and try to subsist entirely through Spotify. But Spotify doesn't have everything and once I started considering DJing again, I saw the flaw in that plan.

So, a few months and a lot of research later, I have this stuff MASTERED. My music collection isn't just back, it's dynamic, accurate, accessible and so 21st century that it should glow Tron blue. It is full on bad ass. This is how I did it:

An Amazing Photo

So, this picture is definitely Not Safe For Work. It's also probably not for those easily offended, although I think it's beautiful.

With that warning, let's proceed:

One Year...Of Unemployment

Tomorrow marks one year of unemployment for me. It's the longest stretch I've ever gone without work as an adult and it's had a profound impact on me. Just go look at a few of my previous blog posts.

Sitting here a year later, still uninsured, using up the last of my super-extended federal unemployment insurance, I'm amazed at what I have and haven't done.

It's surprising that I haven't found a job, that's for sure. I did get a wonderful $5 gift card from Pagliacci's Pizza included with my letter from them telling me they'd gone with someone else for their PR/marketing position. I even got a few dozen 'thanks, but we're going with someone else' emails. All very kind.

On the other end of the spectrum though, I've written not one, but two books. And I'm damn near finished with a third. They aren't going to give Hemmingway a run for his money, but I'm proud of them and I've seen my writing drastically improve in the last 365. What's more is that I've gotten an amazing sense of satisfaction that I've gotten to feel a few other times in my life. When I opened my nightclub, when I got my degree, when I shot and created my TV pilot, I felt the same sense of accomplishment.

I expect to finish a third book this year and start on a fourth. I don't know if I'll be able to convert my career into being a working author, probably not. But if I can keep writing and find a way to pay my bills, I think I'm going to make it through okay.

Back to writing.