In-tune? I hope so.

How do I get myself into these situations?

I mean, I've got a pretty stellar track record of committing myself to certain activities that were decided on purely by bravado, but lacked any sense or reason.

Let's see....hmm....for example, offering to do all of the photography for a friend's wedding, or volunteering to "pitch" at the company's softball tournament, or bungy jumping.

You know, that kind of stuff. Tomfoolery and stupidity at its finest. In my defense, when I committed to most of these things, I'd already had a few beers, so it seemed like a PERFECT idea.

Well, nothing's changed. I'm still an idiot.

Case in point, and Exhibit # 42: I'm going to a studio tomorrow to record all of the "songs" I've made over the past couple of years. Extra cringe points: I sing on all of these songs. Super cringe points: I had no beers when I made this decision.

A while back I posted about how I play guitar (or wrestle with it as the case may be) and have made tunes for the boys, my wife, the dog. Here's a link to that little gem:

http://scotthuegel.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

Well, lo and behold, I've soldiered on and have continued to expand my dubious repetoire of a playlist. I have no delusions that any of the stuff I make is good, I just like doing it. Sure beats watching TV I suppose.

A good friend of mine who I've stayed in touch with since high school runs a studio in the city and has agreed to spend a tortured day with me recording my stuff. I've been in bands before who all did recording, and while I found the experience to be fun on one level, it's absolutely excrutiating on another.

It's one thing to sit there and play your songs out to the air in the living room. It's quite another to have a microphone thrust upon you, and to hear that terrifying phrase of "We're rolling!" ringing in your ears. I get all jittery and goofy. Even if I've played the song a thousand times, once the sounds are being captured, I somehow find a way to mess it up.

Ah well, I'm only doing it for myself and the boys really. I want to have a document of this music. If nothing else, I can hand it to them later in life and say "OK sons, I know you think your old man is completely un-hip, but there was a time when I could still rock out".

Not that my songs "rock", but at least it's something.

So, I'm off tomorrow to go and do this crazy escapade. My only hope is that the end result doesn't make me wince and wonder why I even bothered in the first place. Oh, and if you're wondering, I won't be wearing that rad get-up you see me sporting in the photo, it was simply the only picture I had of me playing the guitar.

Or maybe I will wear it. Anything might help.