Progress report, what's next, etc etc

Well, I had to take my monthly trip to visit the family this weekend. Just got back an hour or so ago. Finished unpacking, and doing all the post-trip stuff one does. Atari has settled back down into his routine, sleeping now on his new heating pad. Like me he doesn't dig traveling.

I'm scheduled for surgery next week and while it's minor surgery I will still be laid up a few days. Since I'm exactly half way through Cold Iron I think I'll wait until after the surgery to begin tracking the next song, "The Crawl." I won't be able to lift anything heavier than ten pounds for a few days after the surgery--which means no guitar--and I doubt I'll be able to sit or stand for very long while I recover, so that means no tracking. I'd hate to leave a song half done for that long and then come back to it--I know I'll just erase what I've done and start over. So I'm not going to bother.

I will be able to write, however, and I think I'll finish the lyrics for the remaining songs while I'm laid up.

I've also been thinking about the next musical project and I think I'll be doing some longer instrumental work. Maybe five or six really long, sort of symphonic pieces. Stuff like you'd hear on a movie soundtrack. Heavy synth work but with guitars and the like, too--symphonies for a modern ear, let's say. Though I'm sure the word symphonies sort of lends an air of dignity to what I'l be doing beyond what these songs will require.

I also want to do a drastic rewrite of my screenplay, Mythophobia. Unfortunately, what I want to do, the character and plot line I want to add, won't fit in with it as it exists now, but it'll make it much better, so the rewrite is necessary. It'll be fun. Once I dive in I usually find myself enjoying the process of writing--I can see it in my head as I write it down.

I'm also thinking about doing something drastic in my personal life, though at this point I don't think it's something that's actually possible. I'd love to go to college and get a degree in art history. Considering all the other crap I've got going on in my life right now that's probably just a pipe dream, and I wouldn't know where to start if I did decide to go through with it. I'd have to start from the very beginning, too--all the core curricula. It'd be years before I got into anything I found remotely interesting. I'd also have to sacrifice my limited time for my music and writing, which these days is all I look forward to. Unlike a lot of people I can't stay up until 1 a.m. or later doing homework or research or whatever. I needs my beauty sleep. So, while it'd be nice, it's one of those things that'll have to wait.

Anyways, that's the plan, such as it is. We'll see how well I can execute it!