The Hazel Project

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and although we’re in the midst of the Holidays know I’ve been thinking about everyone and really appreciate your updates and pictures.

I’ve been in Green Valley California - The foothills of the Angeles Forest. Only landlines work up there instead of cell phones. I’ve been with my family reading Robert Bly’s Iron John and sitting by the wood stove drinking Chai Spice tea every night. It’s been wonderful to plan on staying away and just being with Phil, Betty and Herb.

RUNNING:
Two weeeks ago I completed my 20 mile run. I now have a device to help roll out my IT band. A muscle? that connects the knee to the hip. This device is a large foam roller I use to stretch this muscle. I put my entire body weight on my outer leg, starting at the knee and slolwly roll up to the hip. It feels like daggers! I’m SO close to the 26 miles though. I’m very excited about it all. I’ve stocked up on special Holiday Blend GU packets - Chocolate Mint as runner fuel for the big day! (March 02, 2008)

WORK:
The job is going well and I’m very thankful for what I’ve learned so far. In February we will be moving to a new facility with a tracking room connected to the studio. It’s a time of expansion for us and I’m extremely grateful being a part of this team. It’s like a second chance at something I’ve always wanted to do and am just now letting myself be okay with it.

One thing I’ve discovered is that the music business I knew of 15 years ago - even 7 - 10 years ago is gone. Vanished. I’ve read books about this, I’ve talked to several people who have been here and lived through it and they all confirm the same thing. I find these historical talks fascinating.

FREINDS:
Overall the theme for this year has been Reconnection - I’ve had the opportunity to see and reconnect with so many people, I’m so grateful for this. Especially, Richie Stonecypher whose business brought him to L.A. 4 or 5 times this year. A highlight -
He and Tim and I went to see the final cut of Blade Runner at the Landmark this Fall. An event that held a lot of meaning for me - I’ve been waiting 25 years to see BR on screen - Tim had to study it at NCSA but he was gracious and went again.

Also seeing the Flopster, BlackOps, Qbert, and Poetdoc over Thanksgiving was just amazing. I’m still unable to find the right words and space for this event. It’s been 1984 or 1985 since all of us were in the same room together. I had a chance to meet everyone’s families which was particularly special for me. I accidently toppled over Qberts youngest son which I still feel terrible about. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been around that many kids in one space.

There’s more here. There always is - but for now I must tend to other -

Enjoy the rest of this week with your families, and find the space for gratitude in the smallest thing or event that shows up.

Thanks for checking in.

Stephen A. Thomas

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 12:59 pm and is filed under on the path, posts & stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.