Just checking in. I haven't done so in a while. I've been very busy, unfortunately a bit too busy to work much on music. I guess I'm making up for February.

In the meantime, I started up a new blog, CarpenBlog, which focuses on songwriting and its theory. It's here: http://carpenblog.blogspot.com/.

I've been thinking a lot about songwriting theory lately. By "songwriting theory" I don't mean musical theory, but a sort of examination of the process of writing songs. I've come to think of myself as a songwriter above all else, and I think it's an even more appropriate term for me than "composer", at least at this point.

In the meantime, I took a trip out to California with my wife (our first trip together without the kids since we've had them [that being 5+ years]). It was great. I even got to meet up with an old friend who is out in LA now. We primarily visited the Palm Springs area. It was totally alien to me. I'd never been off the east coast before - ever. All that desert and empty space was hard for my brain to handle.

Anyway, I have a bit of time after work today so I'm going to try to work on some ideas in my head, at least try to lay down a few basic song ideas.