Welcome and Mission Statement

Hey there, thanks for stopping by! My name is Geoff and I’ve created this blog to help me reach one of my goals for 2005: produce a CD of nine original and cover tunes by year’s end. This blog will serve as a process journal of sorts. The purpose is twofold:

• to provide status updates on my recording project - hold myself accountable and perhaps also inspire others to pursue their dreams;
• to learn how to use blogging software (more on this in a moment).

The content I expect to publish on Mental Shrapnel, at least for now, includes but is not necessarily limited to:

• lyrics for and inspiration behind songs I’ve written;
• mechanics of writing, arranging, recording, etc.;
• mp3s of songs as they are completed;
• links to home recording resources I’ve found helpful as well as to folks who have traveled this path before me and from whom I draw inspiration.

As for my personal goals in embarking on this recording project, they’re simple. I have no desire to quit my day job. I have no illusions about my ability. I’m just a guy who loves music. I have been playing guitar for nearly 20 years and am fascinated by the process of building songs out of notes and words. It is my hope that by the end of 2005, I’ll have nine songs committed to CD that I can share with a small group of family and friends without embarrassing myself or them.

More of the story will reveal itself as we move forward, but for now, a little about myself: I am a web developer and editor by trade. I am married, with two dogs. I live in San Diego and run a San Diego Padres baseball blog focusing on but in no way affiliated with the San Diego Padres called Ducksnorts (I built that site before blogging existed and still update it by hand coding all my HTML; hence the desire to learn about blogging software).

From a musical standpoint, I unenthusiastically took piano lessons through most of elementary school and junior high. I first picked up an electric guitar in 1985-86 after hearing Rush’s Alex Lifeson and I’ve been playing ever since. I have been in bands for the greater part of the past 15 years and currently play lead guitar and sing for Chin Waggers, a rock covers band in San Diego.

I could go on, but we’ve got all year for this. My expectation for the blog itself is that it will be read primarily by me as a reminder of where I’ve been and where I’m going. If anyone else wants to hop onboard, so much the better. And if you are reading this and have made it this far, thank you. I hope that you will learn something from my process or, failing that, at least find some amount of enjoyment in peering over my shoulder as I grope about in the dark.

Onward…

On this day…

• 2006: Guitar Solo: U2, “New Year’s Day” — I happened to catch U2’s 1983 tune “New Year’s Day” on the radio this morning and was taken by the […]
• 2005: Schedule — I’ve determined that I should be able to reach my goal by investing 4 hours a week. The songs have […]
• 2005: Hello, World! — What, you were expecting something more profound?