Blogging effectively is tough for me. Maybe that's why I haven't attempted it in a while. Honestly, I'm not convinced anyone really cares about the chronicle of my life anyway. Plus, I'd rather experience life with people than tell them about it on my blog. That being said, I would like to come up with a purpose for this blog, rather than it just being a "here's what I did today." I suppose I could review music, but honestly I don't get new stuff very often. I could share pictures, but normally that requires a camera. I could share interesting articles, links, and tidbits that I find on the web, but that sort of thing is better suited to Twitter or Tumblr, both of which I have. Am I at a loss for ideas? So far, yes. Now's where you leave me a comment with your ideas for a purpose for this blog. Go!

On to bigger and better things...

I am now once again a reader.  Well, that might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm getting there.  I remember a time when, if given the choice, I'd choose to read for fun.  My imagination was filled with the stories of the Boxcar Children and the Hardy Boys, not to mention Aslan and crew from the Chronicles of Narnia.  Unfortunately, those days ended when I started 5th grade at a new school.  Suddenly, I learned what homework was and forgot what reading was.  Well, now that I am no longer a student of any formal institution, I have the responsibility of making the choice to continue my education on my own.  I suppose that's what life is all about, but I feel like I'll probably benefit a bit more by being proactive about it versus just breezing on through.  So anyway, I thought I'd share a couple lists with you.  The first one is fairly short, a list of books I've been working on recently:

C.S. Lewis - A Grief Observed (completed), The Great Divorce, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (re-reading)
John Eldredge - Wild at Heart (completed)
Mark Batterson - In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

I set aside The Great Divorce a while back, in favor of Wild at Heart, but now that it's complete, I'll get back to it.  I needed a break from deeply thoughtful reading, so I decided to invoke my imagination and re-read The Chronicles of Narnia.  I don't have to sort through syntax to get to the meaning; I can just immerse myself in the story, and I love that.  Reading those books is like watching a movie to me.  Anyway, the second list is my "To read" list.  They're just sitting there on my shelf, waiting for me.  We'll see how long this takes.

Erwin McManus - The Barbarian Way
Becky Tirabassi - Sacred Obsession (for student ministries next fall)
John Piper - The Passion of Jesus Christ
Steve Brown - A Scandalous Freedom
Gene Edwards - A Tale of Three Kings (re-read)
Ron Owens - Return to Worship
Bill Hybels - Too Busy Not to Pray
Rory Noland - The Heart of the Artist (I've tried to read this a number of times and just never finished)
Robert Ludlum - The Bourne Supremacy (Same story here) and The Bourne Ultimatum
Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger - Simple Church
C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia

I'm sure that list is incomplete, but those are all the books and I can think of at this point.  I've also been recommended The Shack, but I don't have it, so I'll have to borrow from someone.

Ok, I think that's enough for today.  I need to leave in 20 minutes for Pendleton, and I want to get a chapter or two more done in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

For Narnia and for Aslan!

Anywho, next semester is almost here, and not only is it the only thing standing between me and summer break (aka warm weather), it is the only thing standing between me and real life. Yes, folks, that's right. It's my LAST semester of college, and very likely my last semester of school ever. I'm not closed to the thought of going farther in my education if necessary someday, but for now, I think I'll be done.

As I mentioned in my last post, a number of my friends will be marrying soon, and since the writing of said post, I've thought of a number of more friends who find themselves victims of the same fate. Forgive my terminology; maybe I'm just bitter at my state of singleness. Anyway, I'll be playing for a few of these weddings and receptions, and probably attending most or all of them, so that will be one feature of my summer. Also, I hope to be touring and playing music so I don't have to get a real job.

If you get a chance, you should check out my website www.mattulrich.com. If you've ever visited it before, you will probably notice that nothing major has changed. Oh, but that's just what you notice at first glance. If you'll recall, clicking a link would simply take you to the desired website. Well, now you get the pleasure of a new experience. Click a link. It's sweet. You'll like it. I promise.

I'm a nerd...

Lately, I've had a strong desire to start a podcast. You laugh and think that if I don't update my blog, why would I ever update my podcast. You're probably right. Plus, I don't have a ton of hard drive space left, nor do I have very good equipment with which to make a podcast with any semblance of professionalism. Plus, who would care anyway? So on to other pursuits...

I've also had a realization that I might really like to get into scoring films or television shows. I just finished watching the 5th season of 24 on DVD (my Christmas present to myself), and one of the bonus features was a featurette about the guy who does the music and how he does it. I was very intrigued, but also quite sad that apparently you need to be rich to do something like this, because I could never afford the hardware and software with which scores for shows of that magnitude are produced. I suppose I could work my way up. It's another option for "real life" I guess...

Well, I've officially covered topics that allow me to file this post under every category, so I guess that means there's not much left to say. It's getting late, and I need to get out of the habit of sleeping in past noon. My Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes once again start at 9am next semester, and sleeping through them isn't really an option. Friends, thank you for your listening ear (or in the case of this blog, your reading eye). Happy new year, and God bless America!

Matt

Anywho, I'm gearing up to lead worship for Worship in the Valley on Friday night. It's a pretty cool part of orientation weekend, so I'm excited and nervous to be helping out in that capacity. Classes start on Monday, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the load. My class schedule is pretty lop-sided, with four classes on MWF (9,11,12,1) and only one on TR (8:30). Well, technically there's Jazz Ensemble on MW at 5 as well, and Orangehaus usually falls on some evening. On top of that stuff, I'll hopefully be playing a lot of music with Paige, Jennifer Stanley, Melissa Sandullo, Chad Meadow's and my new band, or anyone else who wants to hire me. I'd love to make some more dough playing for weddings. Everyone seems to be engaged or almost engaged, so you'd think I'd have more wedding gigs. Oh well...

I should get back to planning Worship in the Valley. I think you're up-to-date on me now. Oh yeah...one more thing...I turned 21 this past August 6. Thought you'd want to know.

Bye.

Matty

G'nite!

Matt

I love you all.

Matt

Matt

Let's start with Christmas break. Wow, has it really been that long since I last blogged? I guess so. Anyway...so my church back home in Dutch Vegas, Michigan had a fancy Christmas Eve/Morning service. They asked me to sing and play in this service, which was exciting. It turned out that I played B-3 and keyboards on a few songs, sang the 2nd tenor part in a quartet, and sang "O Holy Night" as a solo also featuring my good friend Ken on the piano. I was fairly nervous, but it went off pretty dern well...nothing to go home and cry about. Um, what next? Oh yeah...I got a digital camera from my Dad for Christmas. He won it, but I convinced him that he wouldn't use it to its full potential (and he already has one anyway), so he gave it to me. I'm so naughty... Anywho, I've been taking pictures and will continue to do so, so hopefully I'll be sharing some of them with you right here on the blog. You can check out my complete gallery at gallery.mattulrich.com. Unfortunately, I've not found the time to get all my pictures up yet. I'll get around to it eventually.

Ok, now on to this semester. For starters, I saw Chronicles of Narnia with Doug Irving on the day it came out. It was super-dee-duper. It's a must-see for me and hopefully for you too. But let's back up for a bit. I came back to school a week earlier than almost everyone else for a couple reasons. I bet you'd like to know what those reasons are. Well, let me tell you. First of all, I now play country music. I'll let you take a minute to recover from that piece of news. (pause - only continue of you're ready) Mark Pay (president of Orangehaus Records) hooked me up with a country gig, playing keys for a girl named Paige, who is only 15 years old but you'd never know it by listening to her or looking at her. Anyway, she's very talented and has great potential to go far with this whole music thing. Anyway, back to why I came back to school early. Paige has been performing at fair conventions in the four surrounding states (OH, IN, MI, and IL...just in case you didn't know), and two of those performances were the week before classes started. So I came back early to practice and perform with her. But that's not all. My friend Nathanael is new Orangehaus Records recording artist, so he has been working on his new album. The recording process also started the week before classes. Check my gallery for pictures from both Paige shows and recording Nathanael's album.

Ok, last thing. I promise. I just started a position at East Side Church of God in the worship arts department. I'm not really sure what my title is, but I think it's something like Production Assistant. Basically, I'm acting commander of the band (sorta), behind Pastor Mick of course. I make sure that everyone that's scheduled to play is actually planning on playing, I make sure the stage is ready for the band by Sunday morning, I lead the 7:30am band rehearsal every Sunday morning, and I help develop players and integrate new ones into the band rotation. Sound fun? I think so. I get paid too. That's nice.

This post took way too long to write (distractions, distractions), so now I will close. That is all.

Adieu,
Matt

Slide 1 (Background): For the past year, I've been trying to get a free iPod from freeipods.com. In that time, I've seen them go from offering the 20 GB black-and-white-display iPod to the 20 GB color-display iPod to finally the 30 GB video iPod. When the video iPod was announced, I quite honestly probably coveted and lusted and likely broke a few more of the Ten Commandments and the seven deadly sins. Needless to say, I wanted one. A few weeks back, I finally acquired my final referral. It told me to check back in 5-7 days to see if my account was approved (they recheck each referral). Of course I checked back almost every day. A few days later, the ETA had changed to 7-10 days. I was a little disheartened, but I figured I'd waited a year, so what's another few days? Well, I'm pretty sure it ended up being much longer than 10 days, but maybe it just felt longer. I logged on not too long ago (like an hour), and found this:

BEEP!

Slide 2: I was pretty stoked (to reference a colloquialism from an earlier era). So I continued on into this journey. Next I got to select my prize.

BEEP!

Slide 3: Thank goodness I wasn't wanting an iPod nano...4-6 weeks??? Anyway...I continued on. I entered the address to which I wanted my video iPod to come. Of course this is my school address. Why would I want it to be sent home? Actually, now that I think about it, I'd better get it before Christmas break, or I'll be upset.

BEEP!

Slide 4: There was a "discrepancy" with the way I formatted the address, so I got this screen:

BEEP!

Slide 5: Upon fixing the problem, I was successful in submitting my address. All that's left is to click "Finalize." Here we go!

BEEP!

Slide 6: It's done! I hope I don't have to wait forever.

BEEP!

Oh, I get a free t-shirt too. I hope it fits, and I hope it's at least somewhat cool so I can wear it with pride whilst I listen to music and watch videos on my iPod! Thanks to everyone that helped out in this process. For those whom I bribed, let me know if you still want the cash.

Thank you for your attention, children. Class dismissed.

BEEP!

First off, here's a song I wrote for songwriting class. It's called "All My Days (Surrender to You)." It was supposed to be a worship song suitable for corporate worship. Well, it turned out to be a great worship song, but better for a soloist. Oh well. The lyrics please...

VERSE 1
O faithful One, of Whom I sing
This simple song to You I bring
Accept my praise; be magnified
In You I will be satisfied

CHORUS
I sing to the One and Only
You alone are pure and holy
My sole Desire, I give you praise
I surrender to You all my days

VERSE 2
O worthy One, what can I do
To glorify and honor You?
Words can’t express how You love me
Only Your blood on Calvary

BRIDGE
I am unworthy
But You made a way for me
You run my direction
Despite my imperfection

I might record it someday so you can hear it and not just read the words.

Topic #2: I put a song up on my MySpace page. It was a project for my recording tech class. Here's the link: myspace.com/mattulrich

Thirdly, I almost died tonite. Well, not really, but I thought I might. There was supposed to be a huge storm of "historic proportions" coming through, but we got lucky. There wasn't much of anything.

Next, I must comment on this blog. As much as I love WordPress, there's no community like there is with Xanga. I don't think I'll be switching, but I do have a Xanga so I can keep tabs on my friends. I might redesign this blog so it has a little more relaxed look (like Xanga). We'll see what I feel like and what kind of time I have. That probably will have to wait until Christmas break at the earliest.

On the topic of webdesign, I am still waiting on graphics from my friend Dane Benton to design the SGA website. So when I finally get that stuff, that website will be going up. Also, I am the official designer of artist websites for Orangehaus Records, or at least that's the way I understand that part of my position. I also was resonsible for designing and getting out the first electronic issue of the Orangehaus SPIN, our newsletter. You can read it here. So yay...pat me on the back. Gosh, that sounded conceited. Sorry. I guess I'm just keeping you informed of what I've been up to.

Another fun thing about my life is that I've been reading through Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. Every Tuesday morning at the slightly ungodly hour of 7am, Doug Irving (my adopt-a-parent at my Anderson church) and I have breakfast at Panera. We talk about life and the book and pray with each other. So far it's been a rewarding time. I feel like I've learned and grown a lot through this time with Doug. I've also discovered I love Panera's dark and vibrant coffee. You should try it sometime.

Hm...what else? Oh, I've been working a bit on helping a friend named Jeff Owen design his cd cover. He seemed to like one of my ideas should the colors be modified, so we'll see. By the way, in addition to doing his own singer/songwriter thing, he plays bass for Joy Williams. Two of my other friends (sort of...one's more of an acquaintance, and the other is somewhere in-between) also play for Joy. Dylan Williams plays lead guitar, and Darren Rayl plays drums. The latter two have played for Jon McLaughlin in the past, and I believe Dylan still does when Jon wants a guitar player.

Next topic: my "free" iPod. Well, it technically will be free, assuming I get it. Any money I've paid hasn't been directly for the iPod. It's more because I wasn't careful when picking an offer to complete and because I bribed a few people to do offers. Anyway, having gotten my 5 referrals, it is now currently in the verification stage wherein the company makes sure all my referrals are legitimate. It says to wait 7-10 days (I'm pretty sure it said 5-7 when I first requested verification), but I feel like it's been that long or longer. So I continue to wait... I'll keep you updated.

Finally, I have some great new friends this semester. Among these are Kalyn Yocum, Megan McDaniel, Mindy Parsons, Chelsea Travis, Joe Balbaugh, Glen Lovitt, Antoine Brown (who, in combination with me, makes up "Mantoine"), Nate Heironimous, Phil Larson, and many others. The first few are new to AU, and the others have been here, but I've just gotten to know them a lot better this semester. Still no woman for me, though.

Thus ends what I believe to be my longest post ever. I am out.

Verbosely yours,
Matt

Matt, aka Matthew, aka Matty, aka Melonhead, aka Mellonhead, aka Melonfoot

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus." ~Heart of Worship by Matt Redman

Today was probably my favorite chapel yet. Gloria Gaither was the speaker, and the topic was worship, primarily a concept dubbed the "worship wars." Basically her whole point (and mind you, this is a huge generalization because I don't have enough room to write every way I was impacted) was that people fight over styles and forms of worship when the real issue is the substance. It doesn't matter if we sing hymns or praise songs, use hymnals or Powerpoint slides, utilize an organ and a choir or a worship band and worship team. If you think about it, it would be very hard to think of a problem in this world that is actually the problem. What I mean is that there is usually an underlying issue that is being avoided but should be addressed instead the superficial issues we bicker about. Satan loves to take our focus off what's really important. I'm sure he smiles when people argue about such fickle things as worship style or dress in church. BUT...I'm sure God smiles when we humans realize that we are nothing but ashes in His presence, and our only response is praise, in whatever form we are led to use. I'm also sure God smiles when we get past the petty issues of old verses new and traditional verses contemporary and realize it's a non-issue. Our only requirement is to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness," as the verse says.

I also had another revelation today. While Gloria was speaking about us being ashes in His presence, I thought about the verse that says "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." I began to think about myself, and in my mind I put myself in the Lord's presence and tried to determine what I would be thinking and feeling. I began to think that I might actually have trouble bowing as low as others. This may not make sense, but it was clear to me. I realized that our life here on earth is practice for Heaven in many ways. If I can't abase myself to others without care for whether or not I am able to be as successful as them in this life, wouldn't I be at least a little bit tempted to put my head up and look around to make sure I have one up on everyone else? My only response is that when I do face Jesus someday, I hope to know the ground in front of His feet so well that I'll have no problem hitting it again with complete abandon. I hope that there is absolutely nothing in me that makes me feel even the slightest bit worthy to stand in His presence. Obviously, I'm not there now, and I don't think I will reach that place this side of Heaven, but I hope that stepping out of this life and entering eternal life will be the final step on that journey that all of us are called to.

Let's focus on the real issues and throw ourselves humbly at His feet. I hope you will pursue this with me.

Matt

Matt

In case you don't know what this means, I'll tell you. It means I'm one step closer to having my own studio. I've also purchased a pro mobile audio interface for use with my powerbook. But enough with the technical jargon. It's going to be sweet. Hopefully I'll be able to post up some beautiful music this semester, or at least this year. Keep your eyes open, and whilst you're doing that, I'll slip off to bed. I've gotta sing in church tomorrow morning, so I need my beauty sleep (like that's going to help, right?).

~Matty~

1. I need to make sure my relationship with God is on track
2. I need to make sure to be a godly son, brother, and friend
3. I need to lose weight and get in shape
4. I need to learn to play the guitar
5. I need to commit some time to service (right now, some sort of youth ministry seems to fit...maybe because I'm jealous of my friends who are camp counselors for the summer...I'd like to do that some summer as well as maybe help out the youth group at my church either while home or at school, or both)

Alright, I'm going to be dead tired at work tomorrow. I'd better get to bed now before I make it any worse. One day of work before an elongated July 4 weekend...what's the point? I guess a miniscule check is better than no check at all.

Matt

So I'm finally done with my sophomore year of college. The last couple of weeks were fairly close to a nightmare. Preparing for my UDPE (Upper Divisional Performance Evaluation - basically I play for the faculty and they decide if I can still be a music major, so no pressure at all), writing an orchestration and a string quartet and doing three workbook assignments for orchestration class, studying for finals, preparing for the summer, studying for finals, hanging out with friends who I might not see for the whole summer (or ever again in a few cases), sleeping, eating, and doing anything else that could possibly take some of my time were all aspects of my life these past few weeks. Blogging was not one of those important things. But now I found some time...obviously. I think I need to find some time to write some e-mails too, as I know there are a few people I haven't gotten back to. But for now, I'm going to head to bed. Church is happening tomorrow morning, and I'll be there, so I should get some nappy-nappy.

Zzzzzzz,
Matt

How about that Indiana weather...70s and sunny 3 days ago, butt cold and snowy last night and today. Yuck. I wish warm weather would quit flirting with us. What stinks is I already sent my warm clothes and winter coat home.

Matt

Matt

Here's to an eventful (but hopefully not too stressful) conclusion of the semester and a great summer of work with occasional opportunities for relaxation.

Cheers!

Matt

Ok, time for sleepy.

Matt

Look forward to hearing from ya. But now it's time for me to sleep for a long time.

Good night.

Matt

I guess my week could be worse, like if I didn't have anything done yet or if I had work due Friday or tests on that day, but it's really just tonight and tomorrow which will be bad. Turning the assignments and projects in on Thursday shouldn't be too taxing, so I'm not worried.

Well, I'm off to a group study session for my Econ test. Wish me luck.

Matt

I've said all this just to say that although I'm exhausted from pulling a virtual all-nighter last night (don't worry Mom, I took a nap, so I'm alright) and I'm roommmate-less for the weekend again, I think this will be a very fun weekend, a much-needed break from the normal.

Matt

UPDATE (2/12/05): I'm an idiot. Ok, tickets were $2.50 a piece. For some reason, I got 14.5 when I multiplied 2.5 times 7. That just doesn't work. Let me try again... How about $17.50?? I think that's a better number.

Matt

Jazz-fully yours,
Matt

M 8:30-9:45 -- Artist Development -- Mark Pay
M-W-F 10:00-10:50 -- Principles of Marketing -- Michael Bruce
T-Th 10:00-10:50 -- Chapel
M-W-F 11:00-11:50 -- Principles of Microeconomics -- Barry Ritchey
T-Th 11:00-11:50 -- Orchestration -- Mark Murray
M-W 1:00-1:50 -- Introduction to Music Literature -- Barbara Douglas
T-Th 1:00-1:50 -- Introduction to Music Publishing -- Becky Chappell
M 2:00-2:50 -- Private Composition Lesson -- Jonathan Brooks
W 2:00-2:50 -- Private Piano Lesson -- Randy Frieling
M-W 5:00-6:30 -- Jazz Ensemble -- John Huntoon

All for a grand total of 17 credit hours. The maximum I can take...

Matt

UPDATE (1/30/05): Artist Development now meets at 4:45 on Thursdays.

Well, it's time for bed. I need to get some good shut-eye before the 4-hour trip back to Anderson. Falling asleep on the ride back is not acceptable, especially since I'm driving and there's no passenger to keep me awake. Only David Phelps and a few others in my cd player.

See you in Anderson.

Matt

First of all, a story. One morning toward the end of this past semester, while I was getting my last hour and a half of sleep before waking up for my 10:00 class, I received a phone call which startled me from my sleep. This was about 8:10 in the morning, so needless to say, I wasn't too happy about being woken from my slumber. It rang once, and I could tell by the way it rang that it was an off-campus call. I've had previous experience with phone solicitors calling me and waking me up in the morning, so I decided to ignore the call. Unfortunately, it rang again. I began to worry. I thought maybe it was an emergency at home or something like that. But my body still wanted to sleep, so I decided to try ignoring it one more time. Well, I must've fallen asleep for a few minutes, but it rang a final time. I decided that I might as well answer the phone and see what was so important that I should be kept from much-needed rest. Mind you, I have a vehicle down at school now, and I had a good parking spot right between my dorm and the girls' dorm (closer to the girls' dorm, though). It turns out that security was calling me to come down and disable my car alarm or move my car because my alarm had been going off and keeping girls awake. Not being one to say "No" to the law, I obeyed and went down to the parking lot and moved my car. I couldn't figure out how to disable my alarm, but I probably could have had I been in possession of a manual for my vehicle. The dumb thing didn't come with the car. But I think I'll be getting a manual soon. Also, after much experimentation, I think I've figured out how to disable my alarm. Exciting, huh?

There's probably more to write, but that story exhausted me, and I have to go take my Grandpa's computer back over to his place, so I'll write more when I have time.

Feliz Navidad.

Mateo

P.S. Sign my tagboard (bottom right-hand side). I'd like to know who actually reads this.

Hasta luego (big Spanish test tomorrow...gotta brush up)

Mateo

Realizing that I underestimated the zeal, determination, and dedication that would be required to survive this semester (wow, a long sign-off),
Matt