Winter Wonderland

In high school, you always wish for snow so you can get as many snow days as possible, without going over the limit of course. But now that I am in college, school cancellations are few and far between. This week we got a lot of snow and one day off. My brother, a junior in high school, is on his third.

Fortunately, I live close to school, so driving isn't too bad for me. This week has gone by without incident so far. I had one accident in november. I was going to school one morning. It was raining so I wasn't expecting any trouble, but I had hit a spot of black ice and slid off the road. I don't go that way anymore.

My driveway is probably the worst surface I drive on. It's a sheet of ice. The road I live on is also pretty bad. Other than that, It's just downtown Granville and 16.

Recording Music

As I mentioned in my first post, I am taking a music recording class where I learn the history of the music business and how to record music. I had my first experience with recording today. I learned that it takes more than one take to get the recording the way I want it. I spent at least 15 to 20 minutes recording just the intro for the bass part. But, until then, I had never played with a metronome and I had played with my brother, who is a drummer, only for about five minutes. When I would play without a metronome or a drummer, everything sounds and feels right, but when I went to play with one, I realized how far off I was.

Later in the quarter, I will record my brother on drums, maybe a friend of mine and/or myself on guitar, and maybe I will add some synth sounds. I also will have to make it a music video. I still don't know for sure what I am going to do for that. I am thinking I might just film whoever ends up in the song playing whatever instrument, but if I play guitar and bass, that might pose a problem. As you can see, I still have much to work out.

My Schedule

Last quarter I took 14 credit hours. I had all kinds of breaks throughout the day. I had class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and I worked 8 hours Tuesday and Thursday. My Wednesdays were horrible. I would be at school for 12 hours minus McDonald's runs and going home (which is about 10-15 minutes away depending on how fast you drive) to get my bass. Monday and Wednesday, a few of my friends and I had a break for a couple of hours at lunch time. We were lifting weights early in the quarter but stopped after a few weeks and began playing poker with condiment cups, pens, and McDonald's apple pie boxes substituting chips.

This quarter is very different. Since I work at a golf course, I am not needed year round and am not working during this quarter. My boss also told me to learn a lot, so I am taking 20 credit hours. I was fortunate to be able to schedule my classes blocked together in the middle of the day. Only later did I realize that I am not hungry enough to eat in the mornings of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and that when I am done, it is too close to dinnertime to eat (I still live at home). I actually tried it once. I made a stop at McDonald's, got two big macs and ate Chinese for dinner. I got sick the next day. So that's not happening again. Despite the fact that I am not working, I feel that I have less time on my hands. So far, it hasn't bothered me too much. I still spend some time with my friends after school. That's about all I have for now. I have no idea what I will get into next week so stay tuned.

My first blog

My name is Christian Kelley and this is my first blog. I will be keeping up with this blog for at least the next ten weeks. My blog will be about my life as a student at the Ohio State University. In my next post, I will compare and contrast my schedule from last quarter and this quarter and talk about what I did and do in my free time. Future posts could be about skiing or my music class. I am in the ski club at Ohio State. I have been skiing before but this is my first year in a ski club. I am in a music recording class where I am composing and recording music. For the final project, I will make a music video.