He’s hard to see hidden under my t-shirt but it was a little chilly yesterday when the pictures were taken. He’s only about 10 weeks old and weighs in at around 4 lbs. He’ll probably grow to about 12 lbs though. 

And so, the last week has been spent teaching the new dog old tricks…or rather.. TRYING to teach him. So far, he’s been pretty good about going to the bathroom outside…the number of mistakes indoors i can count on 1 hand…ok, well maybe 2 but that’s still pretty good. I’ve been watching him pretty closely though.

 Vladimir is an Italian Greyhound…sure, i know the name is Russian. I like the meaning mostly:

• Origin: Slavic
• Meaning: To Rule With Peace.

So it’s about 4pm on Friday and I’m thinkin’ "maybe i should blog something"…I go online and see the "people online" section about 4 minutes ago was over 40. So uh…thanks to whoever is giving me all this attention at once. I really hate attention… HA! I just want the total hit count to say a million…then i’ll have a Blog Party or something.

Ok…let’s face it, most bloggers want to to be read…otherwise, blog it in private mode. We all like to think our lives are so interesting that the masses all want to know. But I must say that at the moment, my life seems rather dull … I’m still chugging away trying to get this new CD done. Perhaps once it’s finally done i’ll be writing stories about hanging out of a hotel room window by a piece of toilet paper but for now my only news is that i just learned i have super high cholesterol (ah the joys of getting older).

I’m now taking a bunch of stuff to try to get it lower and there’s a list of stuff I can’t eat–turns out, it’s EVERYTHING I LOVE! Figures.

Anyhoot…Welcome to any lurkers =) 

This is one the coolest video game trailers I’ve seen in a while. It’s just a teaser but it’s enough to get my imagination going. I’ve never been that good at the Mortal Kombat games but I’ve always liked playing. 

I’ve been playing a the new Grand Theft Auto game and I can’t seem to stop. Driving to the hockey game on Sunday after playing the video game, i could actually feel myself wanting to drive a bit more crazier …no plans on stealing any cars for me though =)

And of course, I saw Iron Man over the weekend…and enjoyed it very much.

Oh, here’s something that’ll make me sound like an old man. I went to the doctor today to get my cholesterol checked. I guess it’s never a bad thing to get checked for these sorts of things. While at the doctor’s office, I told him I’d been having a little pain in my hand and he referred me to a hand specialist. I go see him on Thursday… it’s probably nothing, but the palm (on the thumb side) of my right hand has been swollen for quite some time. It’s almost twice the size of my left hand and it looks like my thumb has been lifting weights and taking steroid injections. 

It’s probably all the hockey, golf, piano, guitar and video game playing I’ve been doing…then again, i could just have a super muscular right thumb.  

This month zoomed pretty quickly…

Two weekends ago, I had my friend from Michigan visit -from Thursday to Sunday. Thankfully, he’d already done all the Hollywood Tourist stuff from his other times here so we didn’t need to do that. I don’t mind going to Universal but having to get out of the car and walk around "The Walk of Fame" is about as exciting as shampoo in my eyes. They have cleaned it up a little and it’s cool to see the 1st 10 times but after that….bleh!  

So we ended up just hanging out and it was fun. We went to see a movie [Forgetting Sarah Marshall–VERY FUNNY]. Coming out of the movie theater, Larry Flint was being pushed around and while in the crowd, almost ran over my friend. We also bumped into Jeff Beck that same day. 

Anyway…Last weekend, it was around 100 degrees. I had a major case of cabin fever….not really sure it’s cured. When it starts to become Summer-ish, I start thinking back to childhood Summers … I know I’ll never recapture those but it sure would be nice to try =) I think the key is PLANNING(something I’m lousy at).

Like…let’s say with this weekend coming up? Today being Wednesday, I should start thinking of something to do on Saturday rather than winging it. So what’s my plan? A: The Walk of Fame (just kidding) 

Ok…. So this is freaky ironic… sure i know celeb types like to golf…but today I ran into more. And they all seem to be connected.

John Lovitz was there golfing today…I didn’t talk to him. He had a look that sort of felt like "leave me alone" [So Justine and John were both on SNL…connected]

About 20 minutes in… fucking K-Fed showed up with a baseball hat and sunglasses. Who’s watching the kids??!?!?! [So Justine and K-Fed = Britney…connected.]

Gee, how many other Britney ex’s could i run into at the driving range? I don’t really keep up with too much of that stuff but it gets HAMMERED in our faces all the time… sort of hard not to know a little.

No, I didn’t talk to K-Fed.

Anyway…enough with the "celeb sightings"

I’m all sunburned…my golf swing is kicking ass though. 

Although it’s been a while, I’m still here. I seem to be starting quite a few blog entries like this. Hmm… And all with the intention of going back to writing daily. Well, this time I’m not going to even suggest that, but I did want to give a shout out. So AHHHHHHHHH!

Life’s been pretty interesting these last few weeks. Last I left off, I think I said that I purchased a new car. I still love it and love it even more when I fill up the gas tank and only have to pay around $20. I wonder when the next Prius model will come out with even better MPG. Someone sent me a link to this new car called Aptera …the thing looks more like an airplane and gets something like 230 mpg… [I’m not making this up… yes-"230"]. 

Um…what else? My website’s getting a makeover. There’s still some things that need to be done with it but I’d like to think the opening page is a little nicer than it was. I’d like to get a new blog theme as well but maybe that’ll be down the road.

I’ve been recording again and it feels good. Right now i’m just waiting for Kevin (the guitar player) to get back to me so I can track him. He’s been in the middle of a move so it’s been tricky.

Last week, I was pretty sick. Well, I guess I’m always a little sick in the head but this was pretty nasty. It was so bad that I actually went to see a doctor. For me to voluntarily walk into the doctor’s office is a pretty huge step. I try not to see a doctor unless I need an organ removed.

My sickness was bizarre… I didn’t feel like I had the flu and I didn’t feel like I had a cold but I just felt like I was living underwater. My head and eyes were hurting. The doc said he thought I had some sort of "sinusitis" and gave me antibiotics. I’m pretty sure they give you antibiotics when they don’t have a clue and they just wanna cover their asses.

Anyway…a few days after, the doctor called me up to say that my blood-work was all healthy and that I’m going to live. Of course, when he called it didn’t feel that way. So a week later and I’m feeling normal again…or maybe it’s that I still feel the same way but my body just got used it. 

I know I’ve been "out of touch"…eh…not even sure what to say about that other than I’ve sort of been "In Hiding". I’m still doing my thing but I just haven’t been making that much noise on the blog. It’s taken me a little time to get caught up from my trip back to Michigan but I’m almost back to a form of "normal"-whatever normal is. I think I’ve come back home a changed person, in some ways. I feel like a lizard whose tail broke off…it’ll grow back just fine but it’ll take some time is all. I’m trying to focus on going back to what I like to do best… and I’ve been making some forward motion with music stuff. We had a pretty good rehearsal last night and I’m now looking at getting a date set to get back in the recording studio. Maybe in 3 weeks even. I’ve certainly got some material accumulating. Whether or not it’ll be well received, only time will tell. So… Sorry if I haven’t emailed or called back. Life’s just been a little depressing lately and I’m the type of person who vanishes until i can get things sorted out and filed away in my head. Off subject [yes, let’s get off the subject]… I purchased a new car on Saturday. I wasn’t going to get a new vehicle but I got an offer I couldn’t refuse on my old truck. So I took the money from the sale of that and bought a Toyota Prius. I really wanted another Jeep but I decided to buy something "Practical". I was never really a fan of the shape of the Prius but there’s so many cool little whistles and bells on it that it’s really hard NOT to like[GPS, etc]… so far, it’s been a great little toy. With gas pushing $5 a gallon…getting close to 50 miles per gallon sounds pretty smart to me. I’m not out to save the Earth (I’m not trendy enough for that)… I just want to give as little money as possible to the oil companies and save money at the gas pump. So far it seems to be working out well.

My 1st post of the new year. I’ve had so much to say and yet I’ve been keeping much of it in.

I’m going back to Michigan tomorrow night. I’m not sure how long I’ll be back there…maybe a few weeks. I’m going back to see my father who has been pretty sick. He’s having a triple bypass while I’m back in Michigan. I know there’s not much I can do by being back there but I know I need to go. The circumstances will be complicated.

I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about some of this stuff before but a quick and non-detailed explanation is that my father was already married(with 5 kids) when he was screwing around with my mother and I was the end result. Well, I shouldn’t say “end result” because that’s where the mess began. My father never told his wife or 5 kids about me so I’m pretty sure they have no clue they have a sibling floating around out here. It’s been my father’s wishes that I not say anything to his family… and this has been challenging.

For most of my life, I’d always hoped he’d let his kids know I exist but as years went on, I realized that the only way I’d meet any of these people would be if my father were to pass away and, only then, I would introduced myself. –[My dad knows I’m going to meet his kids after he’s gone…I told him this a few times before.] For years I’ve had a chess game of conversation in my head of how reactions might be and what might or might not be said [It makes me a little crazy sometimes]. Anyway…there’s much more to the story but that’s enough to be caught up to speed.

So, my dad’s health has been pretty bad this last year…and he’s getting up there in age. For as non-fatherly as he’s been to me most of my life, he’s always been in contact around Christmas. When I didn’t hear from him this year, my mother hunted him down and found him in the hospital. He’d had a pretty bad heart attack. He’s been in the hospital now for the last 20-something days trying to recover and regain enough strength for the bypass surgery in the next week or so. I’ve been having brief conversations with him on the phone and he’s sounds like a wreck [and hard to understand]. He’ll be extremely emotional and (to me), it’s seems like he’s trying to prepare for his own death. It’s very sad. 

Just over a week ago…my father told me while in a pretty fragile state…that he told his wife about my mother. I guess his wife wanted to know who the lady was who was hunting him down in the hospital. When he said that he TOLD HER, I almost swallowed my own tongue. One would think the next step would be for him to now tell them about me? This hasn’t happened yet but there’s a chance it might while I’m back there this trip.

He told my mother that he needed to make some “preparations” for me to come in and see him but that he DID want me to come. I’m not really sure how to take that. I just know, I’d have some respect for him if he did say something now [at the very least, to his other kids]. I know it’ll never make up for lost years but it would make me very happy. I have a feeling I’m going to be let down again so I’m trying not to get my hopes up. If he DOES say something…I’m not sure what reactions would be.

Mainly, I DO hope my father will be okay and he probably will be. I know bypass is extremely common these days but there’s always risk. Most importantly, that last thing I want is to create unnecessary stress for him at this point in time. But, he IS my father and I feel I need to be there now. As I said, It’s complicated.

Oh…and YES, The TV Show “Brothers and Sisters” owes me a royalty check. They stole my life

I’ve been dreading writing my farewell to 2007… but here goes.

2007 started off on a high note. I guess I was still flying high from the good stuff that went on in 2006. In the beginning of the year[January], I played a show at the Key Club opening up for the band Great White. This was a fun event…lotza crazy Hollywood stuff but more importantly, i remember us sounding pretty damn good that night. Some shows feel better than others …this one felt pretty nice =)

The following month, I started a T-shirt contest and gave away a chunk of cash to the winning design that everyone voted on. Since then, I’ve worn my own t-shirt out places and I’m finding that the shirt DOES attracts attention… I usually get people asking me “Who is this Bob Gentry guy?”…or the fun ones are the ones who say “I’m a Bob Gentry Fan too”… Those give me a smile…I guess i don’t really look like the image of myself on the t-shirt unless i turn my head sideways. Of course, i probably wouldn’t wear it myself if the image was that easy to make out A good conversation starter though.

My new Yamaha Guitar arrived back in March. It still has that new guitar smell. I guess that just means i need to be taking it to more dingy clubs. It sure came in handy for recording we did in May. I cemented new tracks for the upcoming CD that I’m happy with and can’t wait to let people hear. This CD is taking longer than I thought it would. Hopefully, it’s worth the wait.

By April, my videos finally made it to Comcast ON DEMAND. I got the news in 2006 that the clips were going to be posted but as i look back i see that this really didn’t happen until 2007.

Somewhere in the year, I stepped on the scale and realized I gained a bunch of weight. Getting older makes it harder… This was my 1st diet ever and I started obsessing over counting calories. Before it was over I ended up losing about 30 lbs. Of course, I DID have a little help when the doctor removed my appendix.

Being rushed to the hospital and having someone put you to sleep for emergency surgery is one of the worst experiences I’ve ever gone through…and the most expensive. While I was recovering, I entered into another one of those voting contests[Rockstar 98.7]. Ya know…the kind that require begging friends and fans for votes… I was too busy begging for a normal digestive system so I’m pretty sure that killed any contest chance …. however, the one major New Years Resolution i’m making for 2008 is… NO MORE FUCKING ONLINE VOTING CONTESTS. Perhaps, if it were a national TV show, I’d reconsider but Online Contests that only care about web traffic suck donkey balls.

Something I DIDN’T blog about but what also happened in 2007 was that I moved…only 6 miles away from where i was before but so far the move has been dandy.

By September… I went back to Michigan for a long visit. Almost a month. This was good trip getting to see friends and family but something about this particular trip made me do some reflecting on my life and question and 2nd guess everything. It was just a combination of everything that happened during the year. It didn’t help that I was dealing with a High School Reunion that made me feel old as dirt.

October brought a job opportunity that didn’t have anything to do with music. Paychecks that come from music come in chunks…the trick is, getting those chunks closer to each other. Sadly, that hasn’t happened so I took this job thinking it would be short-term until music picked back up.

This pretty much takes me up to NOW. The last few months, my attention has been sucked away to “steady paychecks” doing something that I really don’t want to do. This is pretty much everyone’s life right?

So the plan for the upcoming year? It’s hard to say. I just know that I’m tired of the battle, teeth pulling, and basic struggle of wondering where or when the next cent is gonna come from. I’m not giving up just yet… I’ll always write songs and record. For now, I just need to sort some things out…take a breather(even if the “breather” is 9 to 5).

To end on an optimistic word…

I’ve been doing the whole “starving artist” stuff long enough to know that The Good Stuff has a way of circling back around… just as long as ya stick with it. The trick is going to be… not getting sucked into another life before that happens.

Wishing you all the best 2008!

This week leading up to Xmas has been somewhat hectic… This time of year is always like this though so I should be used to it by now eh? This year I haven’t really been in too much of a festive mood but I’m not full-blown Scrooge. I guess I’m somewhere in-between but leaning more on “Humbug”

In the battle of which is more depressing…Christmas or New Years, I’d have to say New Years wins the prize FOR SURE. New Years (for me) has always been a time of reflection and in all honesty, reflecting on 2007 is not something I’m looking forward to.

I try to be optimistic and look on the bright side of life as much as I can but this year has been a challenge for me. I’m not going to Tippy-Toe around anything this year or just allude to it being a bad year…there’s no denying the year has sucked when it comes to “music life”… Sure, I know that just by “sticking with it”, the good stuff usually cycles back around… but as time goes on it gets more exhausting and harder to look at things with a straight face. I worry that looking back on the last year is going to make me reevaluate things. I’m not sure I wanna “go there” right this second but I am starting to feel somewhat defeated. [Cue the violins]

In the past when I’ve been in this sort of funk, I usually just convert it into a song somehow as a twisted form of therapy, but over time I’ve been building up a higher tolerance to “musical medication” - perhaps I just need a new concoction so it’ll work again…who knows.

I think in the upcoming year, I need to be more of an ass. Everyone knows where the nice guys end up.

Sure…this journal entry is a little bit of a downer. There’s been many times in the last few months where I’ve written this same sort of post and immediately deleted it before posting [this has slowed my blogging down to almost a complete Stop]. So now to fix this, I think I’ll just write more but cut loose on what I’m really thinking. Mainly, I’m just not going to keep pretending everything is fantastic. It’s clogging my brain.

What’s strange about all this is…other areas of my life(non-musical) seem to going really well. Now if I could just blend the two and find some sort of balance.