EddieOlivas.com

Things have been in a big transition period for me lately. For the longest time playing music in the band I was in was at the center of my life’s focus. Kind of to the exclusion of just about everything else. But finally I realized it was time to move on and try to surround myself with more positive energies and expand my circle of friends. Also it was about time to start performing for people after all those years of practicing and practicing without ever getting out and making a show of it. In the last 3 or 4 weeks on my own I’ve played music on stage more times than I have in the last 3 whole years. I’ve met a bunch of new people and it’s been freaking awesome. Admittedly though the transition hasn’t always been so easy. Going from playing music with friends all the time to playing on a stage alone in front of a grip of people I don’t know has been pretty crazy. But now I find myself surrounded by a bunch of new friends and a renewed hopeful energy.

One thing I’ve realized in the last few weeks is that I love music, but I don’t want to do it alone. I need to keep connection with other musicians to help keep my music alive. So I’ve been playing open mics and busking at Saturday Market when I can. I even played at a singer/songwriter contest at the Willamette Music Festival (that was scary). About a week or so ago I hooked up with a bunch of new people to jam with at an open mic. We’ve jammed a bunch of times since then. I really like these people. Every one of them has really good vibes. Positive, chill energy and really good attitudes all around. Since quitting the band I had been telling myself I need some new friends. Not saying my friends aren’t awesome. You guys are awesome as hell But all of my friends have different interests mostly and I’ve been needing to find some people who like to do what I like to do. So I’ve kept getting myself out and doing things and it’s really good to finally see intentions becoming reality. I’ve hooked up with these new people to jam with, made a couple more friends to play footbag with, and just recently I even found some people to play Go with (which is a freakin miracle nobody plays Go). Anyway I’m just happy to be expanding my circle and stepping out of my boring little comfort zone.

Change can be pretty scary. I’ll admit I’ve been nervous as hell more times than I can count in various situations in the last few weeks, but that’s a good thing. I was in a rut, but I kept my head up and dug myself out of it. I’m dead set on not ever letting my life fall into a rut so bad that I lose sight of the life I intend to create. I refuse to lose sight of my dreams. I will prove to myself continuously that every single day brings with it the hope of what yesterday would have seemed only a crazy, fanciful dream. If I can go from a few years ago being afraid to sing in front of ANYONE to stepping up in front of the mic alone and playing for a crowd what can’t I do? If I can get out and make new friends after seeing the same people day in day out for years what couldn’t I shape my life to be? Whether we choose to recognize it or not, every single day of our lives is chalk full of possibility. Possibility that we could change it all, turn over a new leaf, go in a new direction, completely change our minds, find new friends, surprise the hell out of old ones, just do something completely out of character and turn it all around. Nothing in life is permanent save for death. But we are creatures of habit and most of the time it doesn’t feel that way. Things stay the same for so long it seems impossible that it could ever change. But it can. And it will. Change can be scary but it puts us back in touch with the creative power that’s infinite within each of us. And it’s well worth the discomfort of facing the great unknown.

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music-the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

-Henry Miller

I started reading a new book this week, The Artist’s Way – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I was looking around Craigslist a few weeks ago and found an interesting group listing called “Artist’s Way Group”. The listing said “Explore your creativity in a small group setting with guided exercises and fun activities. Needed: Bring the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, your inquisitive spirit, and a desire to be more creative.” I was intrigued that a group would get together and only require this particular book so I looked up the book, read some reviews, and promptly bought it on Amazon (used for a few bucks). If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last few years about myself it’s that I want to be a creative, productive artist. No getting around it. I get so much energy, enthusiasm, and hope from creating things and expressing myself. I’m not happy unless I’m being creative in some way.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from the book so far is on the topic of the fear of being wrong. We all want to improve, learn, and get better at our craft, but we also want to look good while doing it and that’s just not possible all the time. I’m gonna write songs that no one likes, draw pictures that I end up hating, get up on stage and completely screw it up, it’s all a part of the journey. We can’t let the fear of being wrong or imperfect stop us from moving forward and creating. In years to come when we’re further along the road, who the hell is gonna care how many times we screwed up getting there? As the book says “Progress, not perfection, is what we should be asking of ourselves.”, “Give yourself permission to be a beginner.”

There’s so much wisdom in these pages it amazes me. I can see why this book is so popular and why people teach classes based on it. I would recommend this book to any artist wishing to get over a block, be more creative or to any person who is looking to finally give themselves permission to be the artist they were meant to be.

I recently made the decision to stay 100% sober for the next 60 days. Today is day 10. A few months back I gave up alcohol for 30 days and it was awesome. I watched myself go from feeling ho hum each day to feeling awake, alive, creative, and inspired. I made my website during that time even. But since then I’ve watched myself slowly slip back into old habits, relying on external comforts to “take the edge off” and escape. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a raging alcoholic or drug user, not even close, but I really don’t think that matters. It’s easy to compare yourself to others and rationalize to yourself that what you’re doing is ok. I’m not falling for it. I think each and every one of us is born knowing exactly what is and isn’t good for us. Over time we just forget. Or we let the pain of life, boredom, or even our friends bully us into ignoring the loud and clear signs that our bodies and minds are constantly sending us. We’re bullied into ignoring and rationalizing our way into idle comfort and so far from the hopes and dreams we once had that eventually we can’t even recognize those dreams. Well I for one will not be bullied. This life is mine to create not hide from, drown out, or numb away. For me it’s a clear choice. I can either create or I can drink. I can either express myself and do something good or I can escape. I can either follow my dreams or I can reach for my “pacifier”. It’s one or the other and nobody’s going to tell me what to choose. Everyday the choice is mine and for the next 2 months at least, I choose to live my life consciously.

In my life it’s been impossible to ignore the catastrophic consequences of giving in to life’s pleasures. When I was a kid I would often go with my mom to Alcoholic’s and Narcotic’s Anonymous meetings. My dad was a heavy drug user and drinker in his younger days and died of liver disease 6 months before I was born. And I grew up going to Victory Outreach church, a place well known for welcoming with open arms people who have seen the depths of such absolute despair and desperation that most of us couldn’t possibly imagine because of drugs, alcohol, and gangs. I’ve grown up my whole life dead set against ending up that way, but life is long and I can see myself slowly slipping away sometimes. Time to reel it back in. I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for being such a great lighthouse!

I appreciate and respect you.
I am doing a forgiveness project.
I am asking everyone who is willing to help this happen to join in.
I want everyone to pick someone to forgive.

I saw a program on Nostradamus and it said the he had two ending scenarios. One would be that humans destroy one another and the second was that there was a global consciousness awareness awakening. I think the latter is happening. It is up to us to get people thinking about happy loving things and get their minds off of thinking about a doomsday or all the anger and negativity. I want to come up with a project or campaign and ask everyone to forgive someone. It could be big or small. It could be someone alive or someone who has passed on.

It could even be yourself.

You can forgive them face to face, with a letter or in your heart. If we could get people to do this and really feel the forgiveness with their heart, there would be another shift towards a new paradigm.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
~ Mark Twain

Lynette Alexander writes for an awesome website that I’m a big fan of called PanaceaRanch.com go check it out!

Me and Jessica recently stumbled upon a totally random idea for a toy for goldfish and also an ornament for an aquarium. They’re these growing gel balls. They’re made of super absorbent polymer that start out as small beads and slowly get bigger in water until they’re about marble sized. The fish seemed to love the balls right off the bat. They would swim in and out of them and burrow into them to find food at the bottom. It’s much more entertaining to have the fish now that they kind of have “something to do”. Plus the balls look really cool in the tank. They turn ghostly opaque in the water and all the different colors flowing around the tank looks pretty cool. I’ve been raising goldfish for about 10 years and I’ve never seen something so cool for them. I made a quick video and posted it on Youtube to spread the idea. Check it out.

**WARNING** -- IF YOU TRY THIS YOUR FISH MAY DIE!! All of my goldfish have died since posting this video, but not due to the gel balls. I just didn’t change the water often enough. If you try this and your fish DIE please don’t blame me. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!

So we’ve got 2 of the 5 demo songs for Upstate Trio mixed and mastered. Band practice on Tuesday was really good. Our first night playing the new amps with Bob there. I’ve still got some tweaking to do with my guitar tone, but it all sounds pretty damn awesome. We’re starting recording on our own songs this week too. It’s time to get this show on the road and get a demo laid down. It appears our plans for having a private party have fallen through so we’re working on getting a new venue for this gathering of ours. It’s definitely still happening one way or another. We’re all ready to start playing shows and mixing things up and it’s time to take action. Lots to look forward to.

I’ve been pretty tired this week. With guitar lessons, band practice, and trying to get these songs mixed by the weekend it hasn’t left a lot room for a good night’s sleep. Naps only help to an extent. You can’t really replace a good solid night’s sleep. More mixing and possibly recording to do tonight. Should be cool. Here’s hoping I can make the time to get a full night’s sleep some time soon *yawn*

We just finished recording the demo for Upstate Trio this afternoon. Everything went really well during recording and the sound is already good. I’m excited to see how it comes out once it’s mixed and mastered. They mentioned possibly sending a Bluegrass band our way which would be pretty awesome. Now I’ve got about a week to mix and master everything. I’m excited about this project and I’m really looking forward to recording more bands and helping them on their way.

We got a new car yesterday. A 1998 Saab 900S. This thing moves. It’s the fastest car I’ve ever owned easily. It’s got heated leather seats, power everything, a moon roof, get 28mpg, huge hatchback trunk with fold down back seats, cruise control, 4 wheel ABS, etc. etc. It’s amazing and we only paid $2500 for it. The guy we bought it from was the coolest dude ever. He’s even a Saab mechanic and offered to help us fix it if anything ever breaks. Pretty much the most awesome deal ever, we want to send that guy a fruit basket or something and we’re soooo stoked. After 2 years of bum luck and no car, taking the bus, and walking a lot this is a very welcome lucky break.

Since we’ve got this awesome car we decided to take an impromptu trip to Portland to check out the zoo tomorrow. We’re chillin in a hotel tonight and we’ll hit the zoo and maybe the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry tomorrow. Should be fun Things are good. Have a good night!

Today is the one weekday that I get to come home and just relax. No band, no recording, no lessons, just chillaxin. Every other day this week including Saturday we’re recording Upstate Trio. It’s so awesome that we’re finally getting this recording service up off the ground and Upstate Trio is awesome. But let me tell you, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for sleeping. Crazy what your body will do if you want something bad enough. I’m grateful for the day of rest.

I found out today that I will need to get myself a liquor license in order to throw this party in a legal fashion. A legal fashion is definitely the only way I’m doing this so it’s a must have. It looks like some paper work and a trip to the Permit and Planning office. May have to have an inspector come out. Possibly might have to get myself a food handler’s license, who knows what else. I have to call them again tomorrow to clarify some things. If it’s at all possible for me to get this license and do this legally, it will happen. This town needs more places for bands to play that aren’t a seedy bar that pays peanuts or a huge venue that costs hundreds of dollars to rent. All we need is somewhere to play, good local bands, some people who wanna hear good live music, and some people to run things and make sure everyone has a good time. We’ve got all that so it’s time to put it to good use and start spreading the music. I’m tired of sitting on my couch or behind my desk hiding everyday. It’s time to start doing some good with this life of mine. It’s time to stand up and play some music. I’ll keep you updated on my quest.

Anyhow although I should be taking the night off, I need to get to mixing this song. It’s gonna sound awesome! Goodnight

It’s been non-stop since Monday morning. We’ve been recording a band called Upstate Trio for their 5 song demo all this week. I’m pretty damn impressed with their skills and how tight they are together. These guys can play, I’m honored to be recording them and I’m excited to see how it all comes out. I’ve had to leave my computer at the studio to record on so no blogs this week. No recording tomorrow though so I can take a nice break for one night. Then Friday and Saturday it’s back to it. Then I’ll start the mixing and mastering process. I sent out the invitations for the party on March 19th. Definitely excited about that and I’ve got plenty of work to do on a lot of fronts. Things are going real good. Now if I could just more bloody sleep! Goodnight

Had the girls over this weekend plus Kaiah. It was fun having all 4 of them over. We hung out and played Wii, went on some walks here and there, and played games. It’s been a relaxing weekend.

I just bought a Carvin Legacy II half stack guitar amp. I have a solid state combo amp right now, but I’ve really been wanting a tube amp. I hear this one is amazing and from my research it seems to stand up to the hype. Man I can’t wait til it gets here

I also bought some new goldfish today. Cleaned out the tank and filled it up last night. I found something really cool too. There are these growing gel balls that you can buy that you put in water and they grow to about marble size. They’re really cool, people use this absorbent polymer stuff to irrigate plants too. I just threw a whole bunch of them into the fish tank since I hear they’re non-toxic. The fish seem to like them a lot! They like to dig down into them like a kid in the ball pit at Chuck-E-Cheese. It’s crazy! I’m gonna post a video of it soon I looked online and I don’t see anyone trying this before. I really think the fish like it and it’s neat to watch them burrow. They say the balls are non-toxic, but we’ll see over time if the balls are safe for the fish. If they are I think it’s something people should try, it’s pretty cool.


Have a good night