I was just reading largehearted boy’s sixth birthday post and realized that I, too, started blogging (here, anyway) in January as well. So I decided to check, and discovered that this blog just hit the three-year mark two weeks ago.

My first blog post was on January 17, 2005. I’d like to think I’ve gotten better since then. I’m posting more regularly these days if nothing else. Browse the archives in the right column and decide for yourself.

Last year I did the RPM Challenge and it was well worth the huge amount of energy I put into it. Not only did I get more familiar with the cheap recording gear I’d had sitting around all but unused for several years, but I learned a lot about the best way for me to go about the creative process.

I won’t be participating this year, due to my bi-weekly songwriting/recording goal for 2008, but if you’ve ever wondered about writing music, the RPM Challenge is great way to get a kick start at it with some great accountability and resources available only to RPM Challenge participants.

Do it. You won’t regret it. And because of the leap year you actually get a day more to do it than I did.

Sometimes inspiration is found in the least likely of places. In this case it’s a web comic by someone that sees things in much the same way as I have come to. The only difference is his lack of acknowledgment of God. But then, sometimes I still wonder if or how He exists.

I don’t know if I should feel a sense of comfort or guilt when I admit that I often feel exactly as he does. Either way, it’s plenty to ponder for a Saturday afternoon.

The pater familias is in town this weekend so song #2 will be a few days late (again).

This is just a test to see how Mixaloo actually works in the wild. Of course, if you pay for this playlist, I could tell people I was making money as a music blogger.

(And check out my awesome Photoshop skills! Cropping an image and adding text! I could totally put “Photoshop skills” on my resume.)

I saw Ryan Adams at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara the other night. It was absolutely phenomenal. Great artist, great venue. Adams had a cold, but the band played a 2+ hour set. Makes me wonder if he could possibly be any better when healthy. I’m anxiously browsing the web in search of a bootleg.

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The Coachella lineup is pretty mediocre this year. Jack Johnson is headlining the first day? Enough said. After last year’s lineup that pretty much kept me going all day for all three days, I’d say this lineup has about half as much draw for me. Plenty of criticism from the music nerd world already, but the powers that be had to have seen that coming.

Needless to say, I won’t be going. Instead I’ll be doing whatever it takes to get Radiohead tickets for their Santa Barbara date. If it costs me less than the $300+ per ticket that Coachella does, I’ll have come out ahead.

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A few years ago, when Rhapsody was taking off, I predicted that it wouldn’t be too long before we would be able to stream an unlimited amount of music to a portable player on the go. Check out the Ibiza Rhapsody player. A huge step in the right direction. Now we just need better widespread Wi-fi and the possibilities will be endless.

My dream portable player has Wi-fi web access, stereo Bluetooth for wireless headphones, BitTorrent accessibility, FLAC compatibility, a 500+ GB solid state drive (to store all those FLACs, solid state for better battery life), gapless playback, ReplayGain capability and full, ID3 support with lots of options (for flexible library organization). It’s going to be a while before that happens, but hey, I can dream can’t I?

Drawing number two is done. I feel kind of guilty about scrawling out some rudimentary cartoon characters and calling it a “drawing.” But whatever. I’ll draw something legit at some point. Maybe.

(Click for the full size)

For the record, all these comics will be heavily based on actual conversations with Amy. So if they don’t make sense, that’s why.

I decided to pen over the pencil on this one, then erase for a cleaner drawing with more contrast. In the process I smeared the ink and had to clean it up. Then the scanner made a really uneven scan so I had to digitally alter the image to clean it up.

Heyyy. Only half a week late on reaching the first milestone of one of my more high-reaching goals for the year. I’ve listened to a lot of Ryan Adams and Ray LaMontagne over the last year (the influence is pretty obvious, I think), and a song that is oh-so-creatively titled “Oh Mama” has now been released into the wild to be torn apart by vultures via stream or download:

Josh Mock – Oh Mama

Please do criticize. That’s the point, after all. I kind of hate the song myself, so you’re not alone if you do too. I kind of sound like Gillian Welch on steroids. If nothing else, check it out for that.

Aside from crappy songwriting in general, I apologize for not cleaning up the recording. Leveling, EQing and adding a little reverb to soften the blow was about all I had time for. None of that mastering business (as if I even knew how).

My, my, I am very self-deprecating tonight, aren’t I? Enjoy, folks. Come back again soon for drawing #2. Probably another comic.

As promised, here is the first of what will hopefully be 26 drawings that I’ll be doing this year:

(Click the image for the full size.)

A year or two ago my good friend Amy and I said we would start a web comic of our conversations because we are the funniest people ever. Or at least she is. So this is my first try at that. I’ve got plenty more material for these so this may not be the last you’ll see of Josh and Amy comics.

I’m open to criticism and comments on anything about this drawing, so go right ahead. I’ll even beat you to the punch and say that clearly I have problems with consistency between panels. Hopefully that will go away over time as I get more comfortable with the characters.

I was talking with a friend the other day and when I realized the new year was here, I said something along the lines of, “Dang, that means the gym is gonna be crowded for a few weeks.” He asked, “A few weeks?” before the light bulb went on and he laughed and nodded in understanding.

I would say that 95% of the people who resolve to lose weight (the most common of resolutions, I’d imagine) give up by the end of the first month. Or maybe they forget. The problem, as I see it, is that people aren’t planning their goals well. Actually, it’s not just as I see it. Otherwise this whole concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals that so many people talk about wouldn’t exist.

Normally I don’t make resolutions because I know they won’t hold up. But this year, I’m calling them goals, making them S.M.A.R.T. and keeping people updated on them as a means of accountability. I’ll stop yammering. Here they are:

Write and record a song every other week

The point: Increase creative output so I’m practiced and more familiar with the process.

Other details and rules:

• At least half must have lyrics.
• Each song must be at least two minutes long.
• Remixes and mashups are allowed, but they fall under the “no lyrics” category and they must show a reasonable amount of effort on my part.
• I’ll be posting each song online and asking for feedback from you (whoever you are).

Draw something every other week

The point: Again, to increase creative output. Also, to get back in the habit of drawing like I used to when I was younger.

Other details and rules:

• Drawings will be scanned and posted online so I can get your feedback.
• Each drawing must show a significant amount of effort. Nothing half-assed just to meet the goal.
• Many will probably end up being comic-ish because that tends to be my style. I might take some influence from John Campbell, so it could end up being how well I execute the idea more so than how well I draw it.

Read 15 books

Fifteen was an arbitrary number. It just happened to be the number of books that I already own that remain unread which I have a desire to read.

The list:

• G.K. Chesterton – Orthodoxy
• Mark Ferem – Bathroom Graffiti
• Nic Harcourt – Music Lust
• Stephen Colbert – I Am America (And So Can You!)
• Jeff Fischer – Investing Without A Silver Spoon
• Mark Frauenfelder – Rule the Web
• Paul Harrison – All the Clever Words on Pages
• Tosca Lee – Demon: A Memoir
• Hugh Ross – The Creator and the Cosmos
• Malcolm Gladwell – Blink
• O’Reilly – Programming PHP
• The Art and Writing of WFMU
• Haruki Murakami – The Elephant Vanishes
• Daniel J. Levitin – This Is Your Brain On Music
• Francis A. Schaeffer – Art and the Bible

Create a personal, dynamic website

The point: I’ve become curious about the possibility of doing freelance web development and I come up with more and more reasons why my own website (not just a blog) would be useful for me.

Other details and rules:

• Must be developed with PHP and MySQL (technologies I don’t know but would need to know to increase my value and open up more freelance options for me).
• Must include a blog (which means this one will be moving eventually).
• Set up a permanent email address so I never have to change it again.

Get my passport

The point: I intend to travel someday. (One more reason why freelancing is attractive.) I figure having my passport will lower the barrier and encourage me to look into it.

Refurnish my bedroom

The point: All my furniture has been inherited from several places and there was a reason people were getting rid of it. Plus, I can’t stand sleeping on a twin mattress any more. Oh, and having a multi-purpose bookshelf will help me to stay more organized (see my next goal).

Details:

• New bed and mattress (queen, minimum) by April.
• New desk & office chair by August.
• A CD/DVD/book shelf by December.

Organize, clean and throw away stuff

The point: I hate that I have so much stuff. I don’t want it to rule me. I figure the less stuff I have, the easier it will be to organize and keep clean.

Start investing

The point: Putting money into savings is great, but making wise investments that generate more interest is even better. It’s not that scary once you’ve read a book or two about it(the Motley Fool is awesome).

So those are it. It’s probably too much, but I’ve set up a Remember The Milk account to keep my tasks in order so I know exactly what’s up. I’ll also be trying to make regular updates here so that others can be aware of the status of things.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a drawing to finish by the end of the day and plenty of reading to do.

I’m only a few days late. This was a month of making the best Christmas mix CD ever (exclusively in the hands of my closest friends), listening to countless best-of-2007 lists (hence the recurrence of M.I.A. and The Snake The Cross The Crown), a new This Will Destroy You record (not as good as Young Mountain, but still not a waste of money if you make it to the last few songs), discovering only a few years too late how great I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning is and realizing that Sam Beam has probably been listening to dub music.

Coming up: my personal goals for 2008, which explains how this here blog will finally be put to greater use than monthly playlists and the occasional rant.

1. The Knife – “We Share Our Mothers’ Health” (Silent Shout)
2. Daft Punk – “Robot Rock / Oh Yeah” (Alive 2007)
3. Holy Fuck – “Echo Sam” (LP)
4. Thom Yorke – “Harrowdown Hill” (The Eraser)
5. Sufjan Stevens – “O Come O Come Emmanuel” (Songs For Christmas)
6. Vince Guaraldi – “Christmastime Is Here (Vocal)” (A Charlie Brown Christmas)
7. Rihanna – “Umbrella” (Good Girl Gone Bad)
8. A Fine Frenzy – “Fever” (Dan In Real Life Soundtrack)
9. Bright Eyes – “Poison Oak” (I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning)
10. Bright Eyes – “Road To Joy” (I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning)
11. This Will Destroy You – “The Mighty Rio Grande” (This Will Destroy You)
12. Mindy Smith – “Santa Will Find You” (My Holiday)
13. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Cakewalk” (Cotton Teeth)
14. M.I.A. – “Mango Pickle Down River” (Kala)
15. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Electronic Dream Plant” (Cotton Teeth)
16. M.I.A. – “Paper Planes” (Kala)
17. Iron & Wine – “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog)” (The Shepherd’s Dog)
18. This Will Destroy You – “They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light” (This Will Destroy You)