yesterday jared and i found a few free piano's on craigslist. there were two we really wanted, one was exactly the same as the one i grew up with in my house, the other a beautiful console. sadly, no one answered the phone when we called about those.

regardless, we drove across town with a new pack of tie-down straps (a toll designed almost entirely to make you angry, those things are a pain to use) and picked up a piano. it's a kimball made in chicago sometime in the 1930's.

it was in decent shape, although very dirty and out of tune. we spent most of the evening trying to figure out how to get it OUT of my truck and then taking it apart and cleaning it. there are a lot of parts on the inside of these things. here are some pictures of the process.


'the only manufacturer thus honored' is a pretty lofty claim.


tons of dirt and grim on, between, and under the keys. we took each key out, brushed them, cleaned the ivory and wood, cleaned the pegs, and vac'd all the dust and dirt out from underneath.




i think someone spilled an entire pot of coffee inside this guy.


every key. luckily each one was numbered, so getting them back in correctly was not quite as difficult.


mostly finished product.

a few keys still stick in the higher octaves and it is desperately out of tune, although in tune with itself at least. but all in all, not bad for the cost of a pack of tie down straps and a 30 mile drive. everything is functional and with some tuning i think it will sound really nice.

just thought i would upload a poster that i finished making today for an art show in gainseville. i'm really happy with it, about 3 days of work and revisions. the original was flashier and had a lit more going on, but a few font changes and color palate revisions later, i ended up with a more minimal modern style that i really like.

if you're going to be in gainseville you should go check out the exhibit, i've seen the photographs and they are really amazing.

full-size version of the poster can be seen here if you're interested.

orlando.

i'm here.

i spent the first week alone at the house. i'm staying with my friends jared and megan until it's clsoe to the time their baby is due. the first week was strange because i neither left the house or spoke to anyone for about 8 days. i spent a lot of time sorting through my things... i got rid of a lot of stuff when i moved but wanted to trim down even more. aside from that it was mostly playing the piano and watching scrubs dvd's on my laptop... no internet or tv here.

i've been out a number of time applying for jobs, apparently orlando is 42 on the list of 50 worst metro cities to try and get a job in. there are 6 unemployed people to every 1 job opening. after two months trying to find work in orlando while i was living in tallahassee and one from orlando, it finally paid off. i got hired at gap after one interview. working at the mall / in retail isn't my first choice, but it's a job and they were very nice at the store. apparently they usually look over applicants for about a week after interviews, but they called me before i was out of the parking lot to offer me a job.

i have one other interview in the works for a company called district lines that makes t-shirts, websites, and merchandise primarily for bands. they do a lot of screen printing and web design and i know one of the owners, so i am hoping that will work out as well.

other than that just more music practice as usual. i'm making a lot of progress with the guitar and working back at being able to play the piano well. next thursday i head back up to tallahassee with jared to play a show at the engine room with a band from orlando, the winter sounds which should be a great show. if you're around please come out and see us play! we've recorded some new stuff and will have that on our myspace soon.

-h

my band will be playing live on V89 tonight at 10pm EST.

tune in if you are local to tallahassee, if not you can stream the show from:
http://voice.wvfs.fsu.edu:8000/stream.m3u

trying to get a job is really awful.

i applied for about 35 different positions in or around orlando last week. i've heard back from 3 places, one of which just wanted me to but a timeshare (i don't know about the rest of america, but normally when i am out of money/jobs i don't buy real estate). there are some great opportunities in orlando- for music, for education, and especially for community- but the basics are not falling into place. not for lack of trying. which is the frustrating part.

i've had an excessive amount of time to write new music, which is going well, but i think the frustrations of trying to get a job and move are wearing me out. some days things go well and it's exciting, other days i wonder why i have invested so much effort and money into it.

i don't anticipate making any money off music, i just want to be able to play and record and have things sound the way they ought to. i'd like for the songs i write to impact other people the way my favorite songs effect me.

[photo by whitney brammer]

i did it. and i'm glad i did.
http://twitter.com/hunterpittman

aside from doing that, i am searching had for a job in orlando. nothing really at this point but there are a few opportunities i'm interested in and i plan on being annoyingly persistent until one of them works out.

a lot of music going on. i finally have a dedicated practice space so i can play anytime, leave everything set up and not have to worry about it getting moldy, submerged, overheated, or stolen. this is a nice change.

i was able to trade in a giant fancy electronic keyboard i had for a rhodes, a vintage piano that i have been trying to find for three years or so. it sounds and play very nicely. i like playing the piano... so having one of my own is neat.


it looks like this. it's an actual piano, with hammer's and dampers, but instead of hitting strings it hits a special tuning fork inside. it makes a little noise on it's own, but is designed to be plugged in to something to make it louder.

so now i'll be spending a lot of time in my storage unti locked away making pretty music. its been a long road convincing jared that we should make pretty music (as opposed to spastic or creepy) but i think we're well on our way.

i'm excited to see what happens with orlando. lots of possibilities, i just need some of them to work out. our style of music will be fairly unique in orlando with so that should also be interesting to see how it turns out.

i may or may not get around to posting family pictures from our family "staycation." lets be realistic here. i don't post so very often. also there are a million pictures on my mom's blog so they can be seen there just as easily

i could hear the church bells ringing
they pealed aloud your praise
the member's faces were smiling
with their hands outstretched to shake
it's true they did not move me
my heart was hard and tired
their perfect fire annoyed me
i could not find you anywhere
could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
i still have never seen you, and somedays
i don't love you at all

the devoted were wearing bracelets
to remind them why they came
some concrete motivation
when the abstract could not do the same
but if all that's left is duty, i'm falling on my sword

could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
i still have never seen you, and somedays
i don't love you at all
if this only a test
i hope that i'm passing, cuz i'm losing steam
but i still want to trust you

what do all these buildings mean?
each brick
each wall
they all stand for something.
am i standing up for nothing?
these structures stand solemn
while i sleep on the shore of this lake
with soil in my shoes and
despair
impairing my ability to breathe
turns out sunsets aren't enough
sometimes it seems
there's just a few words between
king of the hill
and
easy kill
sometimes you end
up
facedown
in the sand
or take a chance to find out
if you hold fingers in a hand
or lack of a plan
something worth the risk
or convenience store romance
i've been wrong so many times that it's hard to believe
blinded by this bitter heart
over the water
heavy over my head
now hear this
don't you care that i'm dying?
please separate your head from the pillow
can you hear
over my storming
save me.