andrew dodson

Memorex gets it right. I bought a pack of Memorex CD labels a few weeks ago. I find them to be of good quality (on par with Neato) and very affordable (compared to Neato). I was also surprised to find Adobe Illustrator (the software I use to create labels) label templates on the included CD. A definite plus considering I normally have to create my own label template when I try a new company’s labels and don’t want to have to use their not-so-great labeling software. I highly recommend Memorex for all your CD-labeling needs.

I spent the last two nights redesigning the Saxton’s Cornet Band website. It was quick work due to John Higgins providing a basis for a design. Even still, it’s the quickest site design I’ve done to date.

In the works:
- Capital Church of the Nazarene’s site
- Taking over webmaster responsibilities for the Josh Martin Band
- New site design for my personal site

My new CD duplicator arrived yesterday, so I spent last night testing it out. Holy cow. I was able to burn 7 CDs in about five minutes (at 16X speed - it can burn as fast as 52X). With a few breaks here and there, I managed to burn close to 40 CDs in about two hours. I still have several to burn, but I’ll be able to ship all of my CD orders on Monday. It will be very nice to get that off my plate of things to do.

I just purchased a CD duplicator. By “purchase,” I mean I bought it. Not with a credit card. Cash. It’s mine. Dave Ramsey would be proud.

It was a business expense, so the money came from my business account. Due to tax returns and two concerts I’ve recorded lately, I was able to fund the expense fairly easily (a good deal on eBay). This will make burning CDs to fill orders much quicker (I currently have over 40 CDs that I need to burn to fill orders). The unit can stand alone from a computer and will burn seven CDs at once. Ahh, technology.

I’ve been doing a bit of wheelin’ and dealin’ with Dwayne.

I traded my Sony earbuds (don’t need ‘em now that I have my Shure E3’s) and my Western Digital 80GB external FireWire drive (haven’t used it in months) for an Iomega 40GB portable FireWire drive - powered by the computer’s FireWire port. Dwayne may’ve gotten the better end of the deal, but I now have something that I’ll actually use for what it’s worth. Here it is:

Since leaving state government, I’ve said I’d never return to state government. That was until I discovered the Office of Creative Services. Hmm…

Kentucky: Office of Creative Services - Home

As is the case with most decent human beings, I hold myself to a very high standard of excellence. While some categories of my life fall by the wayside of excellence (cleaning, keeping my vehicle in tip-top shape, eating habits, etc.), there are many areas where “getting by” isn’t good enough - being a Christian, relationships, playing the drums, creating websites, recordings, and most importantly, work. These are the areas of my life that are my passions.

Overall, I have a very good temperment (did I spell that right?). I’m generally in a good mood, and I don’t get upset very easily. A sure-fire way you will see my temper is when I haven’t lived up to my own standard of excellence. Nine times out of ten, when I’m upset, it’s with myself.

Today was a day when I didn’t meet my own standard of excellence - at work. If this was The Apprentice, the Donald would’ve fired me. I botched an order and made life difficult for the customer, my boss and our production department. The silver lining is the “botching” happened before the customer received their order. Thanks to my boss stepping in to help, life will be okay. CLS will make money, and the customer will get their order.

As my dad would say, “Chalk this up as a learning experience.” As Annie would say, “The sun’ll come up tomorrow.”

Ok, I admit it. I haven’t felt like working on websites for well over a month now. Call it “burnt out,” call it “too busy,” call it what you want. I’m going to call it “being lazy.” I’ll admit it. Maybe I just needed a break. Whatever the reason, I seem to be over it now.

The only exception has been the Vertex website, which needs to stay as up-to-date as possible at this point. Plus, Rick is good about giving me information to put on the site for updates.

I did a few minor updates to Saxton’s Cornet Band’s website earlier this week (not entirely my fault the site hasn’t been updated since last August…they finally gave me some updated information this past week).

I spent most of tonight working on Capital Church of the Nazarene’s website. The structure of the site is built - I just need to add content now.

Next up is the website for IN3 Entertainment. I’ve created a site design, but it was quick-and-dirty. I can do better. I’ll sit down at some point this weekend and try to come up with a more creative design for IN3.

The good part about working on and finishing websites? The money that follows…

This may become a regular thing for me… hopping on here Sunday nights and giving a synopsis of my weekend.

Friday - I took off work a half-day early in order to get ready for Vertex. I had a lot of nervous/anxious energy, so I decided to go to the gym and hit the treadmill. I ran a few quick errands, grabbed some lunch and headed to Crestwood. The lead team spent the afternoon transforming Crestwood into the home of Vertex. The band (52seven) arrived around 4 p.m. and started setting up. As 8 p.m. approached, I learned that my trip to the gym didn’t work - I was still anxious.

At 8 p.m., Vertex officially started. Well… it was actually around 8:15. Pretty much everything went according to plan, aside from one or two very minor technical issues throughout the night. Dave Edwards gave an excellent sermon/lecture/whatever you want to call it. Afterward, the coffeehouse seemed to be a big hit.

We know of at least one person who made a decision to accept Christ, and three people that want to volunteer at Vertex. Woo hoo!

Saturday: I spent most of the morning and afternoon at work (due to leaving early on Friday). I still didn’t get done as much as I would’ve liked, but I’ll try and hit it hard on Monday. I came home and watched the rest of the UK game (another narrow victory). The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent working on the Vertex website and lounging around. I went over to Lori’s later that night to hang out with some people from church. Watching Forrest Gump ended up being the entertainment.

Sunday: I went to church this morning. This afternoon, I went up to Lexington to record the Central Kentucky Concert Band. They’re becoming a very well-playing group. I stopped by at home for a little while this evening, and now I’m back at the apartment. It’s 10:04 as I type this, and I’m going to try my hardest to be in bed in an hour. We’ll see….

I have officially launched VertexLive.net - my newest website. Head over and let me know what you think:

VertexLive.net