Warning: long post ahead.

I started the 50/90 challenge on July 1st; it is now Oct 2nd, and the challenge is over. I “won” — I ended up submitting 52 songs total (just like a deck of cards!), each with a demo, whether it be a full-out demo or just me strumming a guitar. For the record, the 52 songs are as follows (told you it would be a long post):

01. Exposed
02. The Gov’t
03. Suicide
04. Manslaughter
05. Simon, Go Home
06. Song for Plasma Lady
07. Singing My Song
08. He’s Not Mine [Meg's lyrics]
09. Still on Board?
10. Porcelain Garden [Meg's lyrics]
11. HLL – Cut Coupons
12. HLL – Ellie Mae
13. HLL – A Million Things
14. HLL – Something
15. HLL – Wam-Bam-Boom
16. Sad Song at 3am
17. HLL – Railway Train
18. Nothing Less (The King’s Conquest)
19. HLL – Lady’s Lace
20. HLL – Chicken Bone!
21. 911
22. HLL – Dance, Hipsters, Dance!
23. HLL – Nothing Left
24. Reputation
25. HLL – Black Socks & Birkenstocks
26. Katerina Sokolova
27. Zadebce-Kolonia
28. HLL – Diana
29. HLL – The Laundry Blues
30. The Theremin Song
31. Aaron vs. the Tornado
32. I’m Finally Here!
33. Drunk Party Love (O Madeline!)
34. Puffy Red Hands
35. Davy Crockett [w/Debs]
36. KoT – Rant on the Corner of 82nd
37. KoT – This Home
38. KoT – I Need the Sun
39. KoT – Union Station, 2pm
40. Expired ID
41. The Fifth Element
42. The Paintress, Searched For
43. Solipsizing
44. What I Was
45. The Josh Belville Show Theme Song
46. Too Naive (to Be in Love)
47. Thank God It’s Over
48. A Toast to the Wicked and Wretched
49. Elephant!
50. HLL – The White Whale
51. The Evil Singer-Songwriter
52. Goodbye, Everything I Loved

Damn, that is a lot of songs. So now what the hell do I do with them?

Welllll… Some songs have already been put onto other albums. Most of the AK EP is there. A couple of Songs for Summer tracks.

At this point I have enough material for three albums. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “SLOW DOWN,” and I couldn’t agree more. One of those albums is a Here Lies Laika album, which will be put indefinitely on the back burner until I can find an adequate band to record those songs. This leaves me with two albums: one being a “me + guitar” album, the other being more of a “band” album, with drums and bass. Three years ago I would’ve just released both of them and called it a day, but today I am all about the All Ighty Ollar, and so this month, October, will be spent remixing, rerecording, and getting ready to release a proper album. I figure it will be released around Novemberishish.

Okay, first off, I don’t do this very much, but I just sent an e-mail to a person on Craigslist regarding a job. The job was as a part time English/Reading/Writing tutor at the Huntington Learning Center. My job would be to help kids prepare for the SATs/ACTs and all that. Anyway, I’m asking for some good vibes my way, because the job pays well and it would be a humongous step up from telemarketing, and by god I deserve a break today, and not in that stupid McDonalds way. The job sounds perfect for me. PERFECT. I’m a good writer, I have strong skills in English and Reading and Writing, and I’m a very good and patient teacher, and I work well with kids. The only bad thing would be that it’s five miles away, but dammit, I will bike there anyway, I don’t care. It’s worth it.

I spent my entire life writing. I’m good at it, I have a strong grasp of grammar, punctuation, and structure. I could, if one really wanted me, show my continual progression as a writer, from high school to now. I proofread even when I don’t want to. Good god this job is perfect for me! Perfect I say!

Okay, well, anyway, send me good vibes because I need some good vibes right now. That can be in the form of prayers, luck, overall vibes, or, if you really want, $100 bills. You pick.

The other thing I wanted to write about was that I have spent a lot of my time in my room recording music for this 50/90 nonsense, and it has been a blast. Lately, spurred by a fellow 50/90er’s idea of writing 10 EPs by ten different (fake) bands, I created my own band, Here Lies Laika. They rock. I’ve recorded a five-song EP, self-titled, and the songs are great and I’m very proud of it. If you want to listen to it you can check my 50/90 author page, or you can wait until July 29th, when the album is going to “drop.” The band is entirely fictional, a stripped-down three-piece out of Boise, and I’m writing their exploits on another blog, if you want to check that out as well.

This all is what I do after I go to my silly job. It helps calm me.

I’m actually planning on selling this EP, though. Probably for five bucks. That’s how much I like it. I might tour as them, too. Well, just me, of course. I’ll play an acoustic set! I’m excited.

Okay, that’s it. Send good vibes! That is all.