This is the album I was talking about the other day. I took a bunch of our songs and ran them through Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch (aka Paulstretch), which can play a song back many times slower than it was originally intended. I took my favorites from that project and remastered them accordingly. That's tracks 1-5. Track 6 is a song I made by playing around with some hand-tuned wind chimes that Jaime bought me several years ago. The whole thing is free if you care to add it to your iPod or anything. It makes good background music for doing homework or design work or coding or anything like that. Also, we released it with "no rights reserved" so people can use it in their for-profit productions (movies, videos, games, etc). Anyway, enjoy, and don't forget to relax every once in a while.

Okay, I can finally put all this talk of my band's album to rest, and for that I am sure you are all thankful. For well over a year now, I've been incessantly mentioning "the album" and all the work that's going into it at every different stage. Well, now we've taken it as far as we can. The CD itself (hard copy) is for sale many places online and it can be special-ordered in over 2,500 real (as in "brick-and-mortar") record stores. The .MP3 digital download version can be purchased at iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon MP3, Bandcamp, and pretty much anywhere that legally sells music online. It has also been added to most of the streaming music sites (Napster, Rhapsody) as part of their database.

A lot of these .MP3 vendors set their own prices, and not surprisingly, iTunes is the most expensive at ten dollars. The only places that we had direct input in setting up the sales are Bandcamp and CD Baby, and those are each $6 to download the album. If someone downloads the album, we make about five bucks, but if someone buys a CD for almost twice as much, we make a dollar. That's kind of a shame.

If you just want to listen to the album for free without downloading it, that's fine too. It's still available for free listening at Bandcamp. Additionally, if you would like a physical CD (hard copy) for less than $10, just get in touch with me about making a deal. I have a stock of these in my basement, and my cost was much less than $10.

Typically there are at least a hundred people involved in making a record, and we did everything with just the two of us. We wrote, recorded, and produced all the songs. We commissioned the artwork. We made the website. We ordered and stocked the CDs. We set up every detail of the online sales. Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way: this includes people who bought the first incarnation of the album a couple years back, people who contributed artwork for very little pay, and everyone who has given us encouraging words about our music for the past five years. The money we made from selling the first version of the album (released under the title "innovation avenue" and featuring many different songs/mixes than this one) went entirely towards the making/ordering of these CDs and setting up the online sales. We are now broke, but with feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. Thanks again, everyone.

ps--Another good way to help us is to leave a review on iTunes!

For some reason I have been very motivated to keep posting on here even though we have all been sick, my laptop was doused in water, and my parents&brother visited twice. The last two weeks have been quite... uh... eventful, but thankfully we are on the other side of it now. I couldn't take another day of Stephen's constantly-running nose or Henry's unpredictable sleep schedule while they were sick. There were a few days where Henry wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding him. One day Jaime held him for 7-9 hours throughout the day and then we took turns snuggling him in bed all night so he could sleep. As soon as he started feeling better, we took him to the doctor and he got immunization shots. He spent the rest of Friday acting pathetic.

We went to the Petting Zoo at Frying Pan Park on Saturday. It was a very different experience from the Reston Zoo--mainly because Stephen didn't get bitten. Also, the Frying Pan Park is completely free. You just kind of walk around and see a bunch of animals up-close. Some you can pet, but there is no feed for sale or anything like that. We saw a gigantic horse born in 1983. He was extremely nice and stuck his monstrous head out so we could all pet him. There are also two large playgrounds there and cheap carousel rides. They give horseback riding lessons in plain sight so you can watch more horses that way if you like.

Stephen has finally learned to stop biting people when he gets upset. But it has led to something else: he bites himself... hard! I find this disturbing even though it is a common response to being frustrated. He has come up with a few labels for things (like his favorite TV show), but mostly he just sits in silence and operates all the electronics in the house. He can use the trackpad on a laptop and choose YouTube videos to watch. He can do pretty much anything on the iPod Touch now, including a perfect drag-and-drop. He knows how to pause and play videos on streaming Netflix, and he can play the next video when one of his episodes ends. He can put a movie into his computer DVD-ROM and play it in Linux Mint.

Henry is much bigger and much happier than Stephen was, though he is a bit more high-maintenance. He smiles and laughs often. He can't roll over yet, but he can turn himself around on the floor (meaning if you set him down on his back with his legs facing west, he can orient himself to be lying on his back with his legs facing east). It really sucks that him having a bad day makes everyone have a bad day. Yesterday he ate all day and didn't take one nap. Everyone suffers during a day like that--the dogs don't get any walks, Stephen doesn't get enough attention, and I just plain hate my life.

It'll be a while until we can sort of get our life back in order. It took until Stephen was over a year old before I could start making dinners before Jaime got home from work and do those sorts of everyday activities. Now Jaime gets home from work later and we go to bed earlier. The nights seem like they are five minutes.

I have committed to not produce or record any new music for the rest of 2011. I'm going to use that "free time" to get practiced up on the guitar so I can play out when the opportunity presents itself. I think Steve's band is slowly dissolving so he is looking to get some gigs with me. If he handles all that part of it, I can just show up and sing pretty (hopefully) and put some of the money into the earsauce fund. Speaking of that, we are going to spend the $250 that we already have in the earsauce fund to get some CDs made, get on iTunes, and keep a stock of CDs at CDBaby. Steve thinks he can sell some at the winery where he works and we plan to give a lot away also.

ps--I let my laptop dry out for over a week and it works.

pps--We waited until 2011 to get a HD television and I think we were about 5 years too soon. I hate nearly everything about this TV. I hate how it takes over a minute to turn on. I hate how it ignores every button on the remote for even longer. I hate how non-HD channels look so awful and some channels are not available in HD. Why did we need this, again?

This was made with a series of three free iPhone apps.

I keep forgetting to mention that earsauce is on this compilation: Independent music for Japan. You make a donation (minimum €1 EUR) in order to download the compilation and all proceeds are donated to Save the Children. There is no overhead with a release like this, so 100% of anything you donate will go to the charity.

Also, on a personal level, I just made this song with my friend Adam. I think we worked well together on this one. To put it in perspective, this was all made in the past two weeks. So, while I'm constantly complaining about how much work Henry is and how I have no free time, I obviously have time enough to do some things that I want. This song is called "Mulholland Funk" and it's pretty middle-of-the road as far as electronic stuff goes. It's easy-going and accessible.

mulholland funk (with adm†) by evan valentine

What a week. Henry's due date is fast approaching and we still have a couple things left to do. On Sunday we replaced the garbage disposal under the kitchen sink. That went off without a hitch and finally gave me an excuse to throw away half of the crap in the cabinets. (We can't be the only ones with far too many vases, can we? Annoying)

On Monday Jaime had another level II ultrasound scheduled because the baby seems to be quite large, and the ultrasound basically confirmed that. The baby's abdomen measured in the 99th percentile. With that comes large collar bones and shoulders which can be hard to birth. Stephen behaved very badly during all of this.

On Wednesday, Stephen and I had lunch with a friend of mine. We went to the Backyard Grill, which Jaime and I have been meaning to go to ever since it opened. My food was really good and any place that dumps SeasonAll on their french fries is okay in my book.

Wednesday night was our interview with the Fat Man. It went all right. It was fun having a lot of my family members from up and down the east coast listening live. I was a little annoyed/frustrated at the time because Steve was mostly chatting on facebook (you can hear incessant typing at some points) and trying to interject whatever awful zingers people were feeding him. Also, by the end I couldn't get a word in edgewise. But when I listen to the recording, I realize that it was mostly paranoia and we did pretty well. The interview definitely needed more Evan though.

It can be heard here on the earsauce news/mentions page.

The interview went late (until 11pm) and I had a hard time going to sleep after that. We met up at Steve's office so we could be on landlines and be able to see each other during the interview. On Thursday, everyone at Jaime's work threw a baby shower for her. She had to leave straight from that and go to the (now-weekly) appointment with the OB. Her car was completely full of presents, decorations and balloons. We met her there to discuss possible birthing options with the Doc.

Then we came home and unloaded the car. Our living room is completely full of baby clothing, balloons, and gift bags. Just when we get on top of things, we get assaulted by the kindness of others AGAIN. Leave it to me to complain about free stuff, hehe. The big present that she got from her bosses was a double stroller, which we are quite thankful for. Those things are hundreds of dollars!

Last night was the Leon Redbone concert at The Barns (a small performance space within the Wolf Trap Center for Performing Arts that seats 382). I'm not much of a concert-goer, but I have a strange obsession with seeing Leon Redbone. I have seen him over ten times. I lost count several shows ago. Now, the last time I went was with a group of 5 or 6 at the Birchmere. That night was an "off" night. He did several songs twice within the same set (very strange), and there was a lot of awkward silence.... more than usual, let's say. It actually made me reconsider going to see him every time he's in town. But Jaime got me two tickets for Christmas and last night was the night. The Barns is my favorite venue around here and we sat right in the middle of the balcony.

The show last night was great. Leon was lucid (unlike last time) and it was a really good set list. It's the only time I've ever seen him that you could easily understand everything he said (maybe he was sober?). He explained the history of a lot of the songs/artists he was covering, which is something I enjoy. He did about 50% fast songs, when usually he only does 1 or 2 in a night. The slow songs are nice too, but his guitar work on the fast-paced stuff is always quite impressive. I'm going to be 30 in May, and a Leon Redbone concert is one of the only places I can go and still be the youngest person there by about 20 years.

(I love parentheses more than anyone I know)

After a six month absence from the internet airwaves, Fat Man After Dark is returning tonight with a new live format, and he has invited earsauce to be guests on this inaugural show. I'm trying to restrain myself from ending every sentence with an exclamation point because we are excited about this opportunity(!)

HOW TO LISTEN: Just visit fatmanafterdark.com and the show will start playing at 10pm EST. There are no plugins to install and you don't have to sign up for an account or anything. We are scheduled to start between 10:20-10:30pm tonight.

For those of you that don't stay up that late on a school night, there will hopefully be a podcast so you can listen at your leisure.

Well well, I finally posted all the vacation photos I wanted. I am over a month behind on photos. I am sucking! Honestly, I've been spending all of my free time trying to finish up the earsauce album, and that's done now (click, then push "play." voilà). I just have to post some pictures from the county fair this weekend, and all will be right with the world.

I made Chicken Cheesesteak sandwiches last night from scratch. No recpie. I thought they were so-so but Steve and Jaime seemed to like them fine. Cut up the chicken into small pieces and cooked it with butter, season all, and pepper in a pan. Added fresh chopped onion. Once it's cooked and the spices taste right, add the provolone cheese right in the pan to melt it all over the chicken. Mix it up and slap that hot mess on a big roll with a little mayo. Next time: different spice(s), add green/red peppers.

Stephen is.... growing up. The good parts of my day get better all the time, and the bad parts of my day get worse (bona fide tantrums). That's just the way it is. Sometimes I can give him a spoon and a cooking pot and he can walk around for an hour playing with them nicely ("cooking"). This morning we played a "game" on the couch where he jumps up and down repeatedly and slams his butt down on my stomach, working his way up to my chest. When he gets far enough up, he jumps off of me and onto the pillow on the couch. Then I tickle him and pick him up and put him on my stomach. The game starts over. We did this about 50-60 times and I was feeling it. Ouch.

We've watched the first three episodes of Pushing Daisies in the past week and a half. My jury's still out. The cinematography is gorgeous and the omniscient narrator is a great character, but I'm not sure I like the dialog. It tries too hard to be clever and turns out wholly unrealistic. Example: Chuck: I've been ruminating, and by "ruminating" I mean "pondering," not "chewing cud." Who talks like that?

By the way, if you have a second, stop by the earsauce twitter account and follow us!