I posted this entry on my profile at the www.29gifts.org website. If you wanna friend me or join me on what will prove to be an incredible journey, please check it out at: www.29gifts.org/profile/davidkav ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DAY 3: FAWM/International Justice Mission No "Morning Pages" today. I woke up with barely enough time to make it to my Potbelly gig this afternoon. To quote the Indigo Girls from their Huge Hit "Closer To Fine:" "...and I woke up with a headache like my head against the board..." Or rather, that's how my eyes felt upon waking. I did go to bed at about 4 or 5 AM (finished the stories in the back of the "29 Gifts" book and I attempted to meditate.) Beth Ann was stirring in her sleep. I tried not to disturb her since her day started much earlier than mine was going to. Beth Ann is an actress and has the lead role in the Chicago Kids Company production of "Little Red Riding Hood - The Musical." This is her second season with the company and she is reprising her role from last year. She has SUCH fun in performing the part and is adorable to watch when she becomes Little Red. So, I tried to leave her alone as best as I could with the occasional "...could you move over a bit, please?" et al. So, where in as her day started at 7:45AM, my day started at 10:45, then 11:00AM, then 11:15, then 11:30 (I have a HORRIBLE habit with hitting the snooze button. I have to get that out there Now!) I rolled out of bed, got dressed, grabbed my guitar and backpack with my other accessories (i.e. capo, harmonicas, harmonica holder, extra strings, etc) and got out of the house. As I may have mentioned before, I have a horrible habit of taking the cab every day. I know that I mentioned that we live in the Beautiful area of the Gold Coast. With that being said, I do have a limited budget (or rather, I should have. I spend Much More than I should.) Although I am a LOT better than I used to be, I do tend to eat out every night that I work. BUT - I bring my supplies to work via groceries which consist of a 2-liter of Diet Coke (I consume a LOT of this - THIS is my main vice,) a 1.5 Liter bottle of water (which I didn't have yesterday. Hence the headache that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog,) 2 bananas, a yogurt, and a Super Big Gulp of Diet Coke from 7-Eleven to "start out the day." Yep. THESE are the items that I take with me religiously to work. But, I digress. I usually take a cab to work. However, even though I was running late today, I managed to take the subway to the shop (the shop is RIGHT off of the train.) I made it exactly at noon (which, to me, is late.) I believe that you're supposed to Start your job at Noon (or, whatever the specified time may be.) To be honest, I wasn't too upset (this is HUGE progress for me.) I grabbed a huge cup of water, a coffee, set myself up and played my set. I will admit that it was cool to see that the Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was amongst the crowd today. It HAD to be him. He has that undeniable look. I am a supporter of this particular governor (as opposed to the last one we had. You know, the one that put Illinois in a much more Infamous light on the radar? Yeah - that one.) :O I wanted to ask if it was really him. However, I really wasn't feeling well and it felt awkward since he had two younger guests with him (his kids? Interns? I dunno.) So, I let it go and thought, "you know? It little things like this." At this particular Potbelly, I see many local celebrities, news reporters, come into that particular shop. This is one of the Many reasons I have kept my gig at this particular store (besides the obvious reason of, well, umm, it's a music gig.) ;) So, I was a bit disappointed since I had (again) pre-meditated my gift for today. I haven't given blood in a long time and I really wanted that to be one of my gifts during this particular month. However, after my gig, Beth Ann called me at the stroke of 2pm (exactly when my gig ends,) "Hello." "HelLO!" Beth Ann says with her ever-cute voice. "Hi, cutie pie," I squeak out. I am really not feeling well at this point. "How was your Opening today?" "Great! Are you coming home right after your gig?" "Umm, I wasn't planning on it. I was going to give blood as one of my gifts. However, I'm really not feeling well. So, that and the fact that you called, I'll take it as a sign that I shouldn't." "Yeah. You can totally give at another time when you feel better. I wouldn't give today. ... I ... I was hoping that you can bring home lunch." (I get a 50% discount of anything I buy at that store as an In-Store Musician.) "Sure. Just text me what you want so I'll have it in writing and I'll pick it up." "OkBYE!" "Bye," I laugh. "I love you." "I love you, tooBYE!" THIS is what I supposed to do. I wanted to check my gut instinct about something that I already knew in the first place. I looked up the blood donation center on my phone and called them. Just as I had suspected deep down: They were closed already. They close up early on the weekends (at 1:30pm.) If those aren't multiple signs from the Universe, I don't know WHAT are! So, I came home with lunch in tow, Beth Ann and I watch our episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond." (I got the entire series on DVD as a birthday present last year.) Beth Ann and I have this thing where we watch entire series from start to finish. As far as "...Raymond" goes, we're currently on Season 9 and we're We've done this with "Will & Grace," "Pushing Daisies," "Doctor Who (from 2005 on,)" and many others. I've never really done this activity with anyone else (I took pride in the fact that I didn't watch much television prior to being in a relationship with Beth Ann. However, this is fun with her (and it sure beats reality TV!) So, we eat lunch, watch our episode, and Beth Ann proceeds to get ready for her job today at Godiva (she worked this evening from 4:30pm to 9pm...and just got back a couple of minutes ago if we keep this blog in Real Time.) At that point, I go to take some aspirin, drink some water, and lay down. Again, I'm really not well. I DRAG my butt out of bed around 6:15 or 6:30 pm. With my To-Do list, I notice that re-working the piano tracks, layering guitar, harmonica and vocals for my 1st Song Contribution for my songwriting challenge at www.fawm.org is on the list (you can see my profile there if you'd like.) :) So, with not as much pressure as the day before BUT being on a limited schedule because I wanted to get this all done before Beth Ann gets home, I get straight to work. The parts are a bit sloppy but I try to do the best that I can to "fix it in the mix" with my Very Novice skills on GarageBand on my MacBook Pro. (I've never crossed over to iPad. Don't see the point - at all. I like buttons and my MBP suits me just fine.) :) So, the mixing is done, I record a video to be placed onto my website (or a VLOG, if you will) about THIS particular challenge, the FAWM challenge, 29 Gifts (the book) and a Kickstarter page that I'm about to start within a couple of days to defray the cost of mastering, graphic designer and production costs Since the Sun Studio EP will have ALL of its proceeds go to St Jude's Children's Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) (I got a 2-hour FREE session at the Legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, TN in 2010 WITH the understanding that I donate the proceeds to the charity above.) Therefore, I am a man of my word and I'm going to honor that cause. I do need some help in doing so (isn't that what giving AND receiving is about? I'm learning.) ;) So, as of right now, the song and the lyrics are up at my web site IF you want to listen to it: www.davidkav.com. I posted my 1st song on FAWM. Now for today's gift: I knew that donating blood was out of the question early on today. I didn't want to just Give something to Beth Ann today. I can't exhaust that resource because It Might start to feel like an obligation to me and she'll think that I'm doing it merely "to give a gift," ya know? So, I thought: I haven't called my Aunt Judy in Colorado in quite some time. THAT'LL be nice to talk to her. Voice Mail. No luck. So, it just so happened that, upon posting my "Zong" (they're called that because you can't post Audio to the FAWM website. Just the lyrics and the info,) I saw the area where they take donations to keep the site up and running. I also noticed that 10% of the donations collected go to the International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org.) Upon research in going to this site, their mission is to combat and stop human trafficking. Sold me, this did (there's my Yoda speak for the day.) I was thinking of my limited budget. I was going to donate $5 at first. However, upon remembering the book, I remember when Cami was talking about Mbali's words stating that we must pay attention to the times when we feel we should give the thing that we should hang onto the most - the place that feels scarce. Right. Before I hit the "Donate" button on "PayPal," I literally said out loud, "Today, I give with abundance!" So, it MAY have felt like an obligation at first. However, if you want your world to change, you've got to change your actions. So, after that affirmation, I KNOW that the money will go to a good cause. In addition, it only made sense to contribute to that which I've donated my time for the evening, no? No harm, no foul. Now to make it through tomorrow ('cause I truly don't have anything pre-meditated for tomorrow's gift. It Could be a latte to my co-worker, Rachael, tomorrow morning.) We'll see. We'll start with that. That work? ;) Whatever you do, make it a great weekend, EVERYONE! :D