Once you learn to build, repair, or modify musical instruments none of your instruments stay the same. I have two other posts about an old guitar I brought back to life, but I realized I changed it more since then.
We're not in a full-on civil war but something is happening in America. I'm calling it a soft war.
When men shall sleep away their fears And beat their swords to pruning shears Then shall they wake with joy and cheers
There’s something strange that seems to happen when you’ve put your heart into something, a difficult project that you’re hoping will be worth the effort. As it nears completion there’s a feeling of not wanting to finish.
Gratitude makes you feel better. You probably already know this.
I am thankful for friends, family, relatives, co-workers, classmates, teachers, and all kinds of people. It seems like most things I'm thankful for boil down to being thankful for a person.
When I started my gratitude posts I thought I'd just do a few. But I quickly realized that gratitude grows.
It's great to have a place you can call home. In England they say, "An Englishman's house is his castle." It's a place you feel safe and comfortable.
Adding some photos that show how awesome and fun sisters are. Skiing with Tanya, Angie taking my family to see dolphins in Florida, and my favorite, Lucy holding her new baby sister Eira on the day she was born.
Friends might come and go, but siblings are with you your whole life. Or are they?
Sometimes it's the simple things - eating pizza and watching Survivor. When I turned 50 Jennifer and the girls created a Survivor themed surprise birthday party for me.
I'm thinking of 2 people right now. First, Sir David Attenborough, the voice you are familiar with narrating countless beautiful nature documentaries.
Today I got a flu shot. It's no guarantee but it greatly reduces my chances of getting sick.
Dear Gr. Gr.
I am also grateful that in the attached photo I am obscured by an accordion, to hide the evidence. Mark knew that I was uncomfortable about this so he said, "Don't worry.
It's hard to believe it has been more than 30 years. I remember being so happy as a young college student when I found out I would be going to London, England.
One of my favorite foods is pizza. Another one of my favorite foods is also pizza.
Gonna brag a little. When Amanda was 14 I got her a laptop.
Here's an idea:
Let's gather all of our best stuff in one place. Let's build one of the nicer buildings in town and put it all in there along with some comfy furniture.
Yesterday I posted about how I appreciate America and our veterans. I am also very thankful for other countries.
I love that my grandfather on my Mom's side was a pilot during World War 2. Apparently he was so good that they wouldn't let him go into combat overseas, which he was not happy about.
I am thankful for all moms. Many people have told me how great my Mom is.
Music has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. It has colored my life.
She lights up my life. That smile.
Furry little rascal. Athletic perfection.
This wasn't on my list of things to post about. But now that the election results are in, and I'm sad it didn't go my way, this is what I want to say.
(These gratitude entries are things I posted on facebook and want to also save here in my journal.)
I am thankful for my Dad. He was a traveller who showed me the world, the good and the bad.
When Eira woke from peaceful sleep The snow had fallen new and deep And while the world was slumbering on
I've decided to replace the generic "404: Page not found" errors on my website with poetry. These are the common errors you see when you try to visit a page that doesn't exist anymore.
In the late 90's/early 2000's I worked for a company that made foreign language courses, mostly geared towards home school education. The internet still felt new at that time.
In 1983 there was a movie called War Games about a computer whiz who hacks into a military computer and almost causes world war 3. I loved that movie.
As strangers we did meet within a garden and a trail and spoke and laughed and loved the path
I recently decided to create some journaling software, mostly because it seems like other things I've tried in the past are not simple enough. It's been up and running for a few weeks now.
Cat in a box Cat in a bag Sneaks in the cupboard
On Friday morning July 14 2023 my daughter Eira and I left for a backpacking trip in the Uinta mountains. We hiked about 4.2 miles to Ibantik Lake.
I'm migrating my blog away from Wordpress to a static site. I think this will simplify things.
Driven Blind is a short documentary film that follows Dan Parker, a world champion drag racer, as he seeks to redefine his life in the wake of a tragedy that left him blind. Driven Blind is a short documentary film that follows Dan Parker, a world champion drag racer, as he seeks to redefine his life in the wake of a tragedy that left him blind.
During the Spring semester of 2017, I was hired to teach a course in Interactive Digital Media at Wake Forest University. This was the first time I had taught a college class that was all my own.
HD Video, 8:51 min. Directed by Geoff Groberg and Wei Ying.
The Silence of War is a transmedia storytelling project about a small group of African American Vietnam Veterans from rural Eastern North Carolina. Their stories are told through interviews, photos, videos and other media.
Eira is going to start violin lessons so we bought her a violin. She’s delighted.
I was digging through some old video tapes and found this, from 1996. I took a video camera with me when I toured with the International BYU Folk Dance Ensemble.
Transcribe is a web app I built while working for the Lee Library. It’s been one of the more rewarding apps I’ve built because it’s a crowd-sourcing application that continues to be used.
I was listening to Christmas music on the radio the other morning on my way to work when one of my own recordings came on. The ride to work
These are excerpts from a documentary I made in 2005 about playing in a small bluegrass band.
Skipped work on a rainy morning. Strapped a video camera to the front of my truck.
Koosharem is a place in Utah. It’s out-of-the-way.
A very short video snippet featuring Isaac and Mark Geslison.
In October 2012 we had a bluegrass gig in Lund, Nevada. What?
family reunion
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Final Limit is an audio effects processing plugin. It’s a “limiter” designed to be the final element in your signal chain.
Here is a movie about kids making a movie. These are my kids: Eira, Lucy, and Amanda feeding and playing with the neighbor’s chickens and ducks.
I composed the music for this short film. It’s part of the Olive Us videos my cousins have been producing.
Mark and I are finishing another Hymns CD. Here’s the opening track, featuring a little too much Irish Whistle playing.
Over the holidays we made Fairy houses. They’re made out of old flower pots and other odds and ends (the same way that real fairies build their houses).
William Morris has wonderful things to say about wealth:
The excerpt above is from William Morris’s Useful Work versus Useless Toil.
Here’s my bluegrass band, fascinated as quite a few drunk people try to dance the Virginia Reel.
The incredible true story of a Godzilla-like dog that threatened humanity.
I was in my basement when I noticed unearthly colors streaming thru the window shutters. I ran outside and saw this.
This is another acoustic arrangement of a pop-song. Enjoy.
My super cool cousins, Ben and Gabby Blair, have been making a series of fun videos featuring their kids. They let me do some of the music including the music in this video.
I just finished reading William Morris, craftsman – socialist. It’s a short book about the life of William Morris.
from the book “William Morris: Craftsman–Socialist” by Holbrook Jackson:
After reading this, I can see why William Morris loved folk music.
It’s finished. And it actually works.
Some months ago, I purchased a cheap, old archtop guitar. It’s a 1957 Harmony.
When I was a younger film student, I made a short documentary titled “Il Contrabasso.” It’s about Brady Ward, an acoustic bass player, and his thoughts about the instrument. Here’s the film (about 4 minutes long):
As Brady mentions in the film, the acoustic bass, and really all acoustic instruments, have a quality that is soothing and natural, almost healing.
My daughter Lucy is learning to play the harp. She is, after all, a princess.
This is a remake of ABBA's superhit from the 1970's. It's a lot of fun to take a pop song, and "acousticize" it.
Merry Christmas. Here’s a recording of my sweet little girls singing Stars Were Gleaming.
You know that I LOVE making music. That’s why I love the studio.