Early morning blues and greys

While the air is not as bitter cold as it had been, an annoying mixture of snow and rain interfered with my trek into work this morning. Nothing can put me in a bad humor faster than being wet as soon as I leave the apartment. Ugh.

I've seen the first mock-ups of the album artwork and I already love it, even in this embryonic stage. Rob is a complete pro; one of my most trusted friends, and took this project on as his own, with all love and respect to the music and the ideas I've been trying to convey. He gets it and his vision of the complete package works in tandem with mine on every level. The most exciting thing about it is that what he's doing is the work of a true art director; unlike when we were at Atlantic together, most of the "art directors" we worked with were handcuffed by "outside forces" (namely, the assholes in marketing and product development who didn't care about the quality of a project's visual presentation). They were all basically relegated to "graphic designers"--you know, take a photo, find a font, stick them together and trust your luck. A very cold, cookie cutter approach. There was no way I was going to let this one album with The Punch Line slip from my grasp in terms of art, design, etc.--it's what I've done, it's what Rob does so it only made sense that he helps bring this to life. As far back as '88, when we were doing the original "...to get to the other side", the images and designs were taking shape in our minds and on paper, when Marc and I would actually discuss what it should look like. Like everything else surrounding this project, it's coming full circle.

I'm obviously feeling pretty good about the design factor; I'm also pleased that I increased my regimen on the elliptical last night and reached a new height on the fat burn/weight loss program. I never would have expected to take such pride and pleasure at the notion of exercising. Sounds childish, perhaps, but having been sedentary for so long, you wind up in a completely different mindset once you make the decision and actually begin the process of training. And as overstated and cliche-laden this may be, after a long day at work (not necessarily bad or stress-filled), you feel completely rejuvenated with a workout. Good things all around. I still hold fast with the notion of should The Punch Line play live in the coming months, then I intend to be comfortable on stage in a black t-shirt and not looking like my guitar rests on my stomach. A simplistic goal, but one that's completely reachable.

Signed up for a programming class, here at work. It's time to start learning something completely new. All these wonderful resources at my fingertips--why not say "yes" and be a true team player? It's apparent to me that I work with some pretty amazing people. Not just in terms of their capabilities and professional backgrounds, but in their human qualities. It's a welcomed pleasure and a revellation to find people that I can have genuine, interesting conversations with. Not the usual stupid bullshit of past acquaintances, et al., but being able to ruminate about life, politics, marriage, houses, which brand of coffee is really best and so on. There have been so many times when I want to run screaming from listening to the nonsense of some of my contemporaries; being here with this particular group of co-workers is a joy and a refuge from the usual suspects. Plus, this company has given me so much more than I've had at prior jobs--taken in the context of now being 40 and not living in the goldfish bowl existence of life at a record label. When I add it up, the perks here have been far greater. Realization that I really like this job is like many other recent discoveries.

Okay, time to start loading today's CD's on my hard drive for the iPod mini. I need to get one. I want to prepare myself in advance. Had an amazing library already loaded in on my laptop, but that's a moot point since it was stolen on my birthday. Have to start over from scratch. Going over to the Apple Store at lunch to check it out and to price an external hard drive for the iMac. I may throw down and buy both tomorrow when Liz and I are in New Jersey.