Vocal Range Test / Umi Sushi

 

Song:  A Pillow Of Winds

Group:   Pink Floyd

The lead singer of Pink Floyd (David Gilmore)...

has a wonderful voice

(Above music video).

I can almost match his range...

although I have no where near his quality.

With him being a naturally big man...

he has natural resonance and a great quality of tone.

I love the way he can sustain perfect pitch on all of his notes.

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As I practice my vocal studies...

I am still having a very hard time hitting certain notes...

and with all of the notes...

I am having an even more difficult time stabilizing my voice on

any one particular note.

I still find it very difficult to maintain perfect pitch.

I do the frequency exercises as warm up for YouTube vocal lessons.

Since I am still having a difficult time with my singing...

this morning I checked to see what my category of tone is.

I had never checked before.

I did the tests here and found out that I am neither a Baritone...

nor am I a Tenor.

I couldn't reach so low in tone as a baritone...

and I especially could not reach so high as a tenor.

I then tried the test for the mid of each...

a Bari-tenor.

However...

I still could neither reach the high of a Bari-tenor...

nor the low of it.

And so...

I found out my particular category is...

Bari-terrible  :)

I tried the exercises

After I had done many Baritenor exercises...

I had strained my voice.

I am having an especially tough time with trying to stretch my lower range.

It actually makes my voice horse and my vocal cords hurt.

It had very lightly snowed again last night.

Bandi and I rested for a while...

and then I decided I wanted to try a new sushi restaurant.

Just as I was headed down the mountain from my driveway.

You can see the nice formation of clouds.

I was more than halfway to the main road in this photo.

I was on my way to Colorado Springs to eat my fill at a new sushi restaurant.

Just going into Woodland Park.

As I headed South once in Woodland Park...

Pikes Peak stood out.

At the sushi restaurant...

I had first ordered some appetizers.

My first order arrived.

I was surprised...

as the sushi had large portions on each portion of rice.

I hadn't noticed until I looked at the pictures...

they are using beer bottles to hold up each kimono  :)

I then ordered my second round of sushi...

and one more appetizer.

Actually...

their sushi was pretty good...

although, it is still in second place to my favorite sushi restaurant.

I then headed home.

With my voice being sore...

I couldn't enjoy singing so much as my voice kept slipping...

so I just listened to most of the music there and back.

I love passing by the Wolf Preserve on the way home.

I love their colored lights.

On the way home...

I saw the moon just coming over the horizon...

yet occluded by some clouds.

When I reached home...

and then after I got up to the loft...

I could finally see the moon between the clouds.

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In a few weeks...

I will be going to the community center's Spring Craft Fair.

I hope to see some things I will get to decorate my home a little more.

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I am strangely tired right now.

I will just go to bed early tonight.

Late Night Tacos / Late Night Guitar

 

Song:  Reflections Of My Life

Group:  The Marmalade

I had sung with this song most of the way home.

It just so happens

that the lead singer's voice (Dean Ford) just fits my range for singing...

and it is why I so frequently sing along with this particular song whenever I drive.

And with the chorus...

I just sing one octave lower...

so I can sing along with them as well.

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I was so tired earlier today...

so much so that I had taken a midday nap and had awoken in the late evening.

When I woke up...

I had the strongest craving for tacos.

I wanted to try a new place...

so I drove to Colorado Springs...

and it was a little after 10 PM when I got there.

I was hoping for some inside seating...

but all they had was outside seating...

or drive through.

As I had already slept for much of the day...

I went ahead and got two Red Bulls to drink...

as I knew I would be staying up late anyway...

and I just ate outside.

I had gotten a tostada and taco plate...

and three extra tacos.

I shall be trying another place in the future...

as these tacos were not my favorite types...

but...

they took care of my mad craving.

After eating...

I just drove back home.

I love late night drives anyway.

The roads are mostly empty...

and I just put on some of my favorite music...

and I sing to my favorite songs all the way there and back...

with fresh air blowing through my hair and through the car.

In a word...

freedom.

I just feel so free as I drive through the forested mountains at night.

My only worries are deer running out in front of the car...

but...

I am always scanning ahead for them as I drive...

and so...

I just practice my singing as I enjoy the freedom of the night roads.

I will just be practicing the classical guitar until I get tired once again.

The night offers the feeling of deep solitude...

that no one else exists...

and so...

I feel freedom from the world.

-------

I am naturally nocturnal...

and so...

I just love staying awake at night.

Whenever I must do things in the daytime...

I always feel tired...

and so...

I will take midday naps.

However...

I feel the best at night.

I am more energetic and creative.

The ideal times to be awake for me is just before sunset...

and going to bed sometime after sunrise.

The night just makes me so happy...

as I just love the solitude of the night...

especially when driving.

However...

before I begin my guitar practice...

I will have to wait a bit for my hands to defrost...

as for part of my drive with the windows down...

the temperature was just a few degrees above freezing  :)

Misty Mountain Day / Cajon Chicken

 

Song:  Mathilda

YouTube Channel:  Midnight In New York

Last night we had a mellow sunset...

and Bandi and I just took in the alpine mountain air and the sunset

on the third deck before retiring to bed.

This afternoon...

I made Cajon chicken breasts and some pasta.

I love this...

and I stocked up on many boxes.

I buy 50 -60 lbs of chicken breasts at a time and freeze them.

After a couple of days defrosting in the fridge...

I just set the oven at 380 F for 25 minutes...

and I will have at least two meals from them.

I make many things from the chicken...

and this time I tried some Cajon spices on them.

Just showing the efficacy of my stairway friction footholds.

The underlying sandpaper like covering is fully waterproof.

And the rubber footholds prevent wear on the underlying waterproof fabric...

and they are raised enough to prevent ice from forming on the surface.

As you can see...

little rocks get trapped by the raised rubber mat...

but as the rubber mats are not stapled down...

all I have to do is to raise the rubber mat and brush the rocks off.

I got all of the materials off of Amazon...

and they were fairly inexpensive.

I left a slight overhang of the waterproof fabric over each stair so as to form a vertical drip line.

It had lightly snowed the night before...

the day sun melted it...

and then when the temperature dropped...

icicles formed.

The wood underneath is fully protected from the weather...

the sandpaper like surface of the waterproof fabric securely holds the raised rubber mats...

and I no longer am in danger of slipping on ice on the stairs.

Today...

the mountains were misty...

as low clouds were passing through.

A patch of blue sky showed through just to the left of Sentinel Peak.

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Bandi and I are just going to relax in bed for the rest of the night.

Today was just a lazy day for me.

---------------

One thing I love about FaceBook is the local communities posts about

various restaurants.

I had found one post about a small place just beyond Woodland Park.

They have Taco Tuesdays...

and I am going to the next one.

They have some of my favorite types of tacos...

ground beef with lots of lettuce and tomatoes on top...

and they have three choices of shells...

hard corn...soft flour...and fried flour.

I am going to try two of each style...

maybe more.

They also have sausage gravy over biscuits...

and burgers and Chicago dogs...

among other great food items.

I am already looking forward to eating there this Tuesday.

I have a feeling I will stop in frequently whenever I go food shopping

(It is just down the road from Walmart)...

especially on Tuesdays.

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Addendum:

This morning I went to that particular restaurant.

They no longer do breakfast...

and Taco Tuesdays are no longer being done.

Too bad...

however, I did go another restaurant I have been wanting to try.

Almost at Safeway.

So...

I stopped by after I went food shopping at Safeway...

and it was just so good.

I will have to try many more of their dishes...

as the BBQ pork sandwich was delicious.

They also do seafood...

so I must go back for some of that.

The view of Pikes Peak from inside the restaurant.

I was there in the late morning...

so it was empty when I arrived.

Their food is so good...

and everything is reasonably priced.

I must try their seafood dishes.

Right now...

I think I have found my new favorite BBQ place.