Yep.

Hello again. Some good stuff has happened since my last post. And then some bad stuff. Not really bad, but...well, let me explain. Remember me saying I was in the process of ordering Pro Tools 9 finally? Well, I did, and I got it for a steal on Amazon. But it seemed sketchy, so I made sure I was familiar with Amazon's return policies, and then proceeded to order it. It got it here (the day after my daughter was born - which by the way, that's weird saying...daughter) and I immediately inspected it. And before I even took it out of the box, I saw on the outer package "For Institutional Use Only" - what that basically means is that if you are faculty or teacher working at a school, you can use the software because it came at a discounted 'educational' price. I cannot in good conscience use a copy of Pro Tools in a legitimate way when the software itself is not. Then on top of that, the thing that makes it all work together, the iLok, was missing. There was an iLok package with serial number, but no iLok. Cheap. So I sent it back. Hopefully I'll be given my $300 back. And then put that toward the purchase of the $700 program I wanted to avoid spending that much on. It was bound to happen anyway. Interestingly enough, I did discover that via this cool tool called ReWire, you can run a sequencing software (Sibelius) in conjunction with a mastering software (Pro Tools) so basically they become one program (it does help that those two programs are under the same Avid umbrella). It's really cool and I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before. Unfortunately, when I tried to make that happen, it was a fail with GarageBand as an experiment. I'll get it someday. So, the good stuff. I've been revamping one of my earlier pieces Beyond the Sun. I was one my first in fact, and looking back at it, it was very messy. Plus I wasn't feeling the flow anymore. I was actually given some insight into how my pieces sound purely from an audience (of one) perspective. No score analysis or theory. Just purely the effect of the piece. Of course, this was reviews from one of the most honest individuals I know, my former teacher and current mentor, Mr. Mike German. He gave a lot of constructive criticism, which is awesome. I'm also going to progress myself to writing some different stuff. I've been on the concert band kick for a while now, but I think it's time to start exploring my commercial possibilities in terms of musical effect. Need to try some different avenues. Ah yes, and I now have a Behance.net profile, which is a work in progress. And I will also make greater use of my Facebook Fan Page as well as my Twitter...and the other million social/business networking sites I maintain. Hopefully I can hold true to that. What else? I've been talking to some connections in Oregon and Texas schools to get some stuff moving. Still a work in progress. Georgia and Florida too. Maybe even right here in Virginia. Speaking on which I need to send another email...