Time for a New Post
Well, I don't really have anything in mind to write, but I felt like it was time to check back in with my readers on a personal basis. This week is going to be stressful, with two midterms and all, not to mention the projects and other stuff I should be working on...oh, and my job at church. Summer, summer, here I come... At least spring break is coming up soon. I plan on going home and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (well, other than being helpful to my Mom...kinda hafta do that). Yes, that's right. While many of my AU friends will be enjoying the balmy, tropical weather of Florida or one of those other states down in Dixie, I will be in Dutch Vegas, Michigan. Maybe I'll record an EP with Ken. I should probably have a few songs I like before I try to do that, though. I should probably also make sure Ken has time to do that. Chances are I'll call him and leave a message, and I won't hear back from him. His phone is almost always dead or not with him. We'll see, I guess. Ok, the cd I was listening to is done now (and by cd, I mean iTunes album), so I will start up another one and hit the sack. Yes, I know it's only like 10:30 at night, but little did you know that I have to wake up around 6:15ish. With exception of one person I know, that's earlier than any of you, so don't you dare complain about how early it is tomorrow morning when you wake up.
G'nite!
Matt
The Wait Is Over!!
Now that I've lost about 50% or more of my faithful reader base, I will attempt to rescue this blog from the pathetic state in which it currently finds itself. This post could potentially be really long, but I'll try to be as concise as possible. So here we go!
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
Random…
So here's what you'd call a hodge-podge of topics in one post, a potpourri if you will. Let's get it started!
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
Self-improvement
Self-improvement: that's the name of the game. I can think of a few things that I need to work on:
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
The search for the missing blogger…
"Where has Matt been?" you might ask. Or maybe "I wonder what he's been up to..." Well, let me tell you. I'VE BEEN WORKING OUT MY EARS!! No, I don't mean that my ears were out of shape and needed exercise. What I'm trying to say is I've never had such a time-consuming job in my short life.
We'll just say I'm ready for summer to start, or be over, or whatever will actually give me a break. Here's my typical day:
1. Wake up around 4:45-5:00 am
2. Get out of bed around 5:00-5:10
3. Start work at 6:00
4. Finish work at 4:30 pm (10.5 hours later!)
5. Go home tired
6. Do various things such as eat dinner, a few random computer things, play piano, run with Robert, pack a lunch, bandage my finger, etc.
7. Go to bed sometime after 9:00-9:30, usually a little later...
You may say, "But that leaves you about 5 hours to do stuff! How come you don't have 10 minutes to blog?" Well, sometimes I get scatter-brained and forget to do stuff (especially when I'm worn out). Blogging is one of those things.
Anyway, good news. My finger is healing very well. All the skin has returned, but it needs to toughen somewhat. It can still be kind of tender. More bad news though...I can't seem to go a whole work day without cutting or otherwise injuring some part of my body, primarily my hands, legs, or toes.
So the saga continues. More some other time...
Matt
Oh yeah...the concert was awesome!
I’m Back!!!
Wow, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I know what you're thinking: "He must have gone off and screwed up his life or something." Or maybe you simply forgot who I am in the midst of my absense. If that is the case, I shall introduce myself once again. My name is Matt, and I run this blog. Now that we're re-aquainted, allow me to bid you a fond farewell for the evening as I need to retire early because of a strenuous work schedule that begins promptly at six o'clock am tomorrow morning. But first, some news: I get Wednesday and Thursday off of work so I can travel to Indianapolis to see what I hope to be one of the best concerts (if not the best) I'll ever see. Picture this: Michael W. Smith and MercyMe on the same stage in the same night. Also, the David Crowder Band will be there, which is cool. I'm so excited!!
Anywho...I'd better hit the sack. Make sure you take it real easy, and check out the movie Bourne Identity if you get a chance. I just saw it for the first time this afternoon (sad, I know), and it rocked! Kinda' makes you wonder what really goes on in the CIA...
Matt
Monday Wretched Monday…
No, not a new U2 song. More like my dismay at going back to another week of waking up early and working 10 hours. Oh well...it's not that bad. The check that comes on Thursdays makes it all worth it. But another reason Monday is wretched: it is the one week anniversary of the day the table saw almost took my thumb from me.
On a more serious note, I am very thankful and blessed that my thumb will heal back to normal. One of my first thoughts when it happened was what would happen to my music, but it looks like that won't be an issue anymore. I really think the Lord has something in store for me with music. I just need to do my part and hone my talent (and protect my hands from dangerous equiptment). 
Matt