Too Much About Paul

paulroub: @brandond All right then.

paulroub: @brandond Yes, but in what *font*? Good God, man, priorities!

paulroub: ping.fm/p/Ku2ac - Good luck. Next sign over has a dinosaur.

paulroub: Hanging around O'Hare for an hour, as one does.

paulroub: @trisloth a few possibilities - is.gd/7Xoj5

paulroub: ping.fm/p/84t0W - The wall of Philly movie posters might be *too* comprehensive.

paulroub: PHL has Peet's Coffee! Just had to go 3 concourses over, past Dunkin and whatever Saxby's is.

paulroub: Automobile, train, automobile, planes, automobile. On step 3, still without John Candy-esque sidekick.

paulroub: Dear guy across the aisle: maybe just *one* packet of salt on that Sausage McMuffin?

paulroub: @palmerlaw Countryview Veterinary Clinic on Springfield. Can't praise them highly enough.

paulroub: And so begins the Amtrak portion of our day

paulroub: . @codinghorror demonstrates the hidden danger of equipment failure: the posting of Glenn Frey videos. bit.ly/acEZAG

paulroub: My favorite object at Marshall's house. We know now that I must never own one. yfrog.com/3g4w2oj

paulroub: @brigettewillner meanwhile Marshall and I are drinking coffee and cheering on neighbors shoveling the street. Go Marshall's neighbors, go!

paulroub: Got more friends hooked on @tripit today. Not hard, basically 30 seconds of showing them how it works, then a rush to sign up.

paulroub: DC->Champaign flights today canceled (natch). Now tomorrow's canceled, too. New plan: Amtrak to Philly tomorrow, fly from there.

paulroub: ... than others. yfrog.com/3ipuwj

paulroub: In retrospect, some protests seem more noble... yfrog.com/32ewuwj

paulroub: Took a minute to realize that's the Unabomber's cabin I was leaning against

paulroub: At the Newseum. Because I am a nerd, I'm particularly excited about the Comics exhibit

paulroub: The Headline News anchor is now reading Facebook comments out loud.

paulroub: How songwriting made me an #evernote fanboy: roub.net/572

I know I'm at least a year late on the "babbling about Evernote" train, but here I am anyway. I knew it was a nice app, heard all sorts of rave reviews... but having it on my phone kinda changes things.

In particular, I think this piece of software is going to let me write more songs. Leaving aside the question of whether this is a good or bad outcome for the world at large — as someone who (a) is a songwriter and (b) find himeself blocked more often than not — it's certainly a win for me.

I had the germ of an idea a couple of weeks ago. A lyric, in this case. Sometimes it's a fragment of melody, a chord progression, a theme... in any case, usually quickly forgotten. In this, I grabbed my phone, added a new note, titled it "Lyrics", and added one line:

He's been anything but kind

Had an inherent rhythm, suggested a lot of ways to continue. A good start. And now, I wouldn't forget it.

Fast forward a couple of days, I have some ideas for more lyrics, as well as some of the tune. New Audio Note time, and I warble this little bit of ridiculousness:

humming and la-ing like an idiot

and then some chords:

barely audible chords

Not done, maybe not good, but not forgotten. A few days after that, stuck for progress, I headed out to see Kayla Brown play. Well, not see; I sat at the counter, out of site, and just listened. Kayla's fantastic, I got inspired, and started free-associating lyric ideas, discussion of lyric ideas, arguments-with-myself, etc. Later, I scanned the scribblings in. Not forgotten:

Started to actually type out the lyrics into Evernote on my laptop (everything synchs everywhere, so all of my reference points were present).

Had most of the verse/chorus figured out, and recorded those to the laptop for future reference:

almost there

Finished it up, took it out and played it, and earlier this week recorded an actual demo. Here it is:

Paul Roub - A Little Bit Wiser

What I liked about the whole process was how unobtrusive and immediate it was. Evernote was my pocket notepad that can handle sound and pictures. The whole thing just came together so much easier than it has in the past.

Now watch me not write anything new for nine months.

paulroub: At the gate, online via #nexusone tethered with PDAnet. Yes, Boingo, I see you over there. Go away.

paulroub: Killing an hour at O'Hare.

paulroub: @jorgepinon Was going to give a smartass reply, but that's just too cool a compliment. Thanks.

paulroub: "Legion" was actually pretty entertaining for a film built out of random Stephen King fragments.

paulroub: Turns out it *is* Cowboy Monkey time.

paulroub: Trying to be responsible, get some rest, etc. But I'm thinking new strings stretch out better onstage. It just might be Monkey time.

paulroub: @surferrosa I expect a couple weeks of "No, *Julian* calendar" hand-waving

paulroub: @palmerlaw how 'bout @ippatsu?

paulroub: OK, if Eric gets the update first I *know* they're going by page rank. bit.ly/alOUjA

paulroub: @SaraJBenincasa *That's* an FB app I could see using. "Sara has set you on fire. - via Stop Making Facebook Excruciating"

paulroub: Just caused an actual spit-take. I win Monday.

paulroub: So, Headlights *and* Webb Wilder the weekend I'm out of town? In the future, everyone please consult me before booking anyone anywhere.

Just posted a new demo, "A Little Bit Wiser".

This is not quite a week old, but I think I've mostly found it now, performance-wise. I think this will age well; finding something new every time I sing it.

paulroub: I found myself with a new song to demo. And so I did. It's over here: bit.ly/bwBaGg

paulroub: "Picking the right text editor will not make you a better writer. Writing will make you a better writer." bit.ly/94uEdT

paulroub: 1/4-way through "Old Man's War". Think I'll be reading a lot of @scalzi in the near future...

paulroub: @ChefJamieLauren I don't think veg'ism is required. Ready to get on a plane for those.

paulroub: Just made do-ahead oatmeal, for tomorrow morning. I'm out of control. You can't tame me. Next: reading a book. Dare you to stop me.

paulroub: . @brigettewillner as a kid, I was freaked out by ventriloquist dummies, due to just the *commercial* for Magic: bit.ly/bAzl71

paulroub: Good to know it's not just me, I guess. www.engadget.com/2010/01/29/nexus-one-experiencing-nationwide-data-outage/

paulroub: RT @maxkir: Preliminary support of SourceGear Vault in TeamCity is available: is.gd/7h03x

paulroub: Heading over to the Haiti benefit at Radio Maria

paulroub: So I guess someone's going to make a killing on enormous, yet somehow stylish, belt holsters.

paulroub: @Tricon is.gd/79WR7

paulroub: Two open mikes. One night. Two broken strings. Same song. Ack.

paulroub: New song may have legs. Don't think I have the key nailed down yet, but no bottles thrown.

paulroub: Del Amitri "Tell Her This" and Ryan Adams "Sweet Illusions" if you're keeping score.

paulroub: I'm the Guy sitting at the bar singing harmonies to himself. Mike & I have the same obscure favorites.

paulroub: I'm not above bribery. I will buy a round. Looking at you @brandond

paulroub: @kt_writes no, just listening appreciatively. I have a brand new baby two-hour-old song to try, so small is good.

paulroub: So far just me & Mingram here at the Monkey

paulroub: @CynicalDad Dave Edmunds covering Chuck Berry's "Dear Dad" bit.ly/aFYH9u

paulroub: @brandond Likely headed to Cowboy Monkey for beer and open mike purposes around 10.

paulroub: Now to play it 20 times in a row and try to learn the damn lyrics...

paulroub: It would appear that #evernote is my new songwriting notebook. twitpic.com/zxtad

paulroub: @askseesmic yep, that did it.

paulroub: @brandond Co-workers and I are headed to Black Dog at 11:45, welcome to join in.