The minor problem No. 1

Did I tell you I go running almost four times a week?
There is always this problem: You know when you are walking or running and someone comes to you from the opposite direction and you want to be nice and say hi or just give her/him a smile but you don't know when is the right time? It's been a problem for me since my childhood.
I just can't find the exact time to do this. Sometimes I don't look at all but it's mean and I don't like it. Sometimes I look at the person so early that she/he can't recognize my hi or smile. Sometimes, I do it so late when the person has already looked away!
It's a weird, I don't know how to deal with this situation.

Shaken, and Dilbert

I was shaken today! Don't get me wrong, it was an earthquake. It reminded me of Iran's earthquakes, where people were not even trained to deal with them. So many people would die if a 5.4 earthquake would happen in Iran. But here, no one got heart, I mean no one, really.
By the way, I attended the rehearsal of the rock band I told you before, but they were no good for me. I was surprised to be the youngest person in the band. They were good players though. I don't like to cover other people's work. Even if you try your best, you would be a cover band that can play as good as the records. There is no creativity. The good thing was that I didn't know I did't like cover bands because I sometimes play the songs that I like on the piano and enjoy them. I find the chords (usually from the internet, 'cause I'm too lazy to do find them myself) and arrange the song for the piano or some vintage sounds like Hammond or electronic piano. Anyways, it was a good experience. Hope they find a good keyboardist.
There was this hippie-like guy who was playing the rhythm guitar and wearing some middle eastern type shirt and necklace. He went in Bahrain, Dubai and Egypt few month ago. I amaze how some people are interested in other cultures. He also wanted to visit Persepolis and asked me about how to get Iran's visa. As usual, I said there is almost no chance he could get a visa!
Another thing I saw in this band was the extreme messiness! They did not have any sheets of music or even a chord arrangement of their songs. They all memorized the songs and were comfortable with it. The drummer had some problem with the beginnings and the endings in almost every song but he didn't even bother writing a note so that he wouldn't hear complains from his fellow band members again. And as a matter of fact, they did not give me any thing for the songs. They just started playing and expected me to follow them or improvise for them. So, imagine how hard a new member can fit in this band. While I was speaking with the Basist he mentioned that lots of people call him to play keyboards with them but I was the only one who really decided to attend a rehearsal. I would say, they were smarter than me!
3 years ago me and three of my friends formed a rock band in Tehran and I thought we were so messy but these guys toped us by all means. This messiness is very usual between musicians, may be this is a way to creativity. I don't know but what I know is that the more I am organized the more I can be creative because I'm an engineer!
Now that I mentioned engineer listen to this: if you are an engineer like me and you feel you're a geek who's always stock in his cubical in front of a computer, you need to check Dilbert comics. There is also a TV show based on it. It's so funny but you need to be an engineer or have engineers around you to really enjoy it. My favorite character is Waly. He is a disinterested engineer who used to be a geek but now he just doesn't care about his job. He likes to work at his company because he likes the coffee there. One of the ambitions of Dilbert himself is to have an office rather that a cubical! He also has this mean dog who always manipulates Dilbert for his own good because in Dilbert's world there is no room to utilize his ideas for his own advantage.
You can go to www.hulu.com to watch it for free with few commercial interruptions (no illegal downloads or torrent search necessary!)
OK, sorry for the long post!

The music project

I've been working on a new song for a while. I have the lyrics and the idea but they don't match. Whatever I do doesn't matter. I change the drums, massage the lyrics to make it more rock-like but it doesn't work. I even left it for a while to see if anything new came along, a new idea, a new ingredient , something that made the whole project different. The song is good right now but I expect more.
Sometime I think that's because I listen to so many kinds of music. It makes a chaos of your musical ideas. That's all because I love to listen to music and since I have listened to all songs that I really loved, I've started listening to some new styles. Take trip-hop for instance. Two weeks ago I picked up a free music magazine from a boutique in Costa Mesa. I was waiting for my sister to try on some clothes that the magazine's cover caught my eyes. There was a picture of the band "Portishead"(pronounce" Portis-head", it took me a Google search to find the right pronunciation!). I didn't actually read their interview which was the main part of the magazine but their unique look remained in my head. After a week I ran into their name in one of my friend's profile in facebook. So, I became curious. Since the curiosity was not that high I decided to find more about them at work to waste while I'm sneakingly surf the net.
And again the same old story. I liked the music, I listened to their songs for about a week permanently and the chaos happened again. Now, I can't make music anymore. I'm fascinated with their style which is far from my taste. 'Guess I need to give my mind a time-out to get rid of the impression. I even arranged this new song in a trip-hop-like style but I don't like it either. Anyways, I need to stop for now. But don't forget: their music is goooo0d!
By the way, I found some new bands here. I'm gonna see them tomorrow. Hopefully I find a good band these days to jam with. It's really hard to compose on your own. There's always something missing or unsatisfying.
You know what I'm gonna do now? I'm going to leave this music project and read the new book I bought recently. I'm gonna sit out side that coffee shop and enjoy the California's sunshine while I'm reading. You think I'm spoiled, O.K, I'm spoiled, so what?
P.S. the book is an engineering textbook!

Life Browser

As I stand in the middle of the road

I look back and browse the past

Remember when I had the highest hopes

The dreams were so doable and close

As the years pass by,

The reality calms down the desires

And corrode the ambitions

Like the water cooling down the fire

Your heart becomes quiet

And you want to be happy with what you have

But there are times when you look back

And see the vague lights of your hopes

Still dreaming and hunting for them

remember when you sold them to the world

To do a living it wants from you

To suck up the blood of your dreams

Now that you feel empty inside

Your time’s passed long time ago

Didn’t give you a chance to think twice

On what you have to enjoy the ride

What has become of you, you know

Did you think you’d end up like this?

And there’s a voice deep inside

Still knocking at your cranium

You were the one who wanted to win

Your small hands wanted to catch the sun

And now all you do is to run

To have what you have to win what you won