Boo Rain

No, the "boo" in the title is not a Halloween interjection, it's a cry of anguish and disgust due to the water falling from the sky. It's been raining a lot here lately and today is no different- it just started about an hour ago. I thought that maybe my trip to San Antonio would get me away from the precipitation for a few days but no, it's supposed to rain there as well. I guess I'll take my jacket. On the bright side, the high for the rest of the week in San Antonio is around 70 degrees. Maybe this trip won't be so bad.
Happy Halloween everyone, eat some candy.

Travel Time

I'm leaving wednesday morning for San Antonio. Yep, that's right. San Antonio, Tx. The UK Men's Choir is flying out of Louisville at an atrocious hour to go to Texas so that we can perfom a concert at the Trinity University Chapel on Thursday and then at the National Collegiate Choral Organization's (NCCO) first national convention. I've got mixed feelings about this trip, to be quite honest. I'm sure it's going to be fun, and I love performing- our songs are all about "The Life of a Man" and the audience will probably enjoy the show, but I don't want to miss class. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a dork who doesn't like missing school. We get back really late Friday night so I've got to miss all of my classes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The make-up work will be the worst part. I just worry that I won't allow myself to have a good time on this trip because I'll be stressed about all of the work I'll have awaiting me on my return. Oh well, it will probably be more fun than I am expecting.

Making a Banana Split

The Muppet Show-Swedish Chef

Boy, this really takes me back. I laughed so hard as I watched this today... numerous times.

Favorite Picture

This is definitely my favorite picture that we've taken together thus far. I'm not really sure what it is about this one, but I like it a lot. It really captures the essence of "us".

Heck yeah!

I just figured out how to add titles to my posts. It was really easy to do, I just never thought about trying to figure it out before now. That's all I've got really. Nothing else. Well, maybe later.

The current musical mood is country. I'm listening to a lot of country today and really digging and focusing in on the simplicity of the bass. I have a tendency to over-play if I'm not careful so I'm trying to get this concept of simplicity in my head and trying to translate it over into the JMB. The current album is Electric Rodeo from Shooter Jennings and before that was Son Volt (more alt-country, really) and earlier today I listened to some of Shooter Jennings first album, Put The O Back In County. Now, that I think about it, I believe it was the Eagles that first got me on this kick on Monday.
For anyone who cares: I think I'm going to put some flats on my Rickenbacker this weekend.

I'm out. I'm off of Facebook and Myspace. Why? Time. It's as simple as that. I was getting quite terrible at managing my time correctly and these things were getting in the way of homework, studying, pracatice, and my quiet time and prayer life. It became most obvious in the last two and that is what finally pushed me over the edge. I realized that I was slacking off so much in my bible reading and prayer and I knew that I had to deactivate my accounts if I ever wanted it to change. But, have no fear. The blog will remain- actually I'll probably post a lot more since facebook, myspace, and my blog won't be in competition anymore. And, if you really need to get a hold of me, you can always email or call me. Stay classy readers.

What happened to fall!?! Did I miss something here? Last week I was walking around in shorts and t-shirts and now I'm here bundled up in a sweater, my nice toasty hat (which Mary Beth made for me), and my winter jacket. It's October! I'm not sure what the weather is supposed to do next week but I surely hope that autumn makes some sort of appearance before Santa shows up. Don' t get me wrong, I LOVE winter and I'm thorougly enjoying this weather and it's figidity, I just feel a little cheated- that's all.

Back to the dorm after an amazing weekend with Mary Beth. I spent the past few days in E-Town with her and her family. Well, not exactly her family. Actually her youth minister and his family, but they might as well be family. Mary Beth stays with them a lot (they actually look quite a bit alike) and treats them as if they were her family so that is how I will refer to them from now on. I drove there Friday night and just got back about an hour ago so I'm pretty tired and I'm about to go to bed. But, I hadn't posted anything in awhile so I felt this deserved a little bit of coverage. It's actually too late for me to have any sort of well thought-out comments on the weekend so any discussing I did wouldn't do it justice. Sorry if I got your hopes up and then let you down. Go check out Andrew's blog- maybe he's been posting some good stuff.

Have you ever had a great "this-is-going-on-the-blog" moment? If you don't have a blog then I'm guessing that you haven't- but everyone else out there knows exactly what I'm talking about. You may not find this one as amusing as me, but I've been laughing to myself at this for the past half hour or so.
So, I'm walking to the Funkhouser Building for my Geology class, in which I had a test today. I was walking through the part of campus surrounded by the various classroom buildings and I smelled a delicious aroma. Hamburgers and hotdogs. I looked around and saw a huge line and since I was running late for class, didn't have time to stop and partake of the free food (it's ok, there's always free food around here.) The test took me about 15 minutes to complete (I may not have done very well, but I sure can take a fast test, dangit) and so I started to walk back to my dorm, hoping that the free food would still be out there. As I approached the tables, I saw what the free food was all about: PETA Cookout. Hmm. Weird right? Ok, I thought, maybe it's all fake meat... but it's still free! So I got a burger and started to eat it- definitely real. What the heck huh? So then I started reading their posters and actually, the cookout was an anti-PETA cookout sponsored by the Republican organization on campus. They had a bunch of posters with different facts about PETA and why they disagree with them. And if that wasn't enough to make me laugh, I saw a poster telling me that it's Republican week here! In fact, yesterday was "Fun with Guns Day." I'm serious. Oh man, what a great start to my day!

I never thought I'd do this... but here you go. I'm on myspace now. Actually, I'm not really sad or anything, it will actually be quite helpful in keeping track of people- especially people that a) aren't on facebook or b) never check their facebook... you know who you are. Myspace is also a great place to find new bands. So, if you're on myspace already- send me a friend invitation, myspace friends= best friends for life! Ok, not really. But we can at least have some sort of connection right?

http://www.myspace.com/derekjohnhughes

I just got back from my dorm room after an amazing weekend at home in Frankfort with Mary Beth. She drove to Lexington on Friday to hang out and eat and then we went to a cool concert across campus- The British Export (Beatles Tribute band). They were really good and it was a lot of fun. Their first set was the early pop tunes and they wore the matching suits and it was a lot of fun with everyone standing up and dancing. Then we took a short intermission and they came out for the second set with the St. Peppers costumes on (complete with George and Ringo with mustaches). They played their later rock songs to close out the night- all in all, it was a really fun concert. I definitely couldn't stand being in a tribute band of any kind, but these guys were really good and you could tell they had done their homework on the Beatles.
Then Mary Beth and I drove back to Frankfort to stay at my house (Dustin is in Canada for the weekend so she took his bed downstairs). We slept in Saturday and just sat around for awhile and then went over to my friend Sarah's house for a short appearance at her birthday luncheon (she goes to school in Illinois and it was her first time home). Then we went to Louisville to meet up with my friends Joshua and Matt and Joel, one of Joshua's friends, and had way too much pizza and that night, I filled in for the bass player in my dad's southern gospel group at a concert right outside of Louisville. We went to church that next morning and then to a family reunion for the rest of the afternoon. Mary Beth had to be back in Louisville for one of her band concerts and we had to be at church by 5 for practice so had to part ways at that point. Although that may not sound like a great weekend to you- let me tell you, it was. It was so great to spend so much time with Mary Beth, it gets pretty hard not seeing each other very often (not at all during the weeks) so any time we can spend together is just awesome. I can't wait till next weekend when I get to meet her family.

Here's me and Mary Beth- isn't she great?

It's getting pretty cold. I'm really ready for fall and winter- I just dislike being hot. I don't particularly enjoy freezing my butt off (figuratively or literally), but I do love cool autumn days and snow in the winter time. I just need to go home and pick up some more sweatshirts and sweaters, and maybe even a jacket. I'm kind of dreading college in the winter. Walking to and from class in the frigid Kentucky winter- not my idea of a good time. But hey, it's definitely going to beat swimming through my own sweat to get to my music theory class. I see the cold as the lesser of two evils- not something I enjoy, but something I will tolerate in order to avoid the heat. I wish it would just stay around 70 degrees all year. That has got to be the greatest temperature ever and if you don't agree, I will fight you. With that kind of weather, if you want to wear shorts- hey, go ahead! If you want to wear jeans and a sweatshirt- you go right on and do it buddy. It's the everyman temperature! If 70 degrees were to run for president I bet he could have a easy coast right into the oval office. I'm going to go ahead and stop before I go off on another odd tangent again- it's too late to be posting these things!

I want to apologize for yesterday's post. I realize now that it was extremely long- and rather boring if you're not me. You see, I find it quite interesting since it directly applies to my life and it's been on my mind for the past few weeks- but no one else cares. I'm not asking anyone else to care- I just know that no one else cares. But then again, if you're reading my blog then apparently you have some sort of fascination with my life, and the fact that you're reading this post shows that although I may post some pretty boring stuff, you keep coming back for more. Well, whatever the reason you're still here- Thank you. I really mean that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means a lot that you take the time out of your busy lives to check up on me and are somewhat concerned with my well-being. I'll try to keep the posts more universal from now on... ok, so I really won't. Because my life isn't exactly universal. A lot of the things that I write about will apply only to me, but I still hope you find them amusing.

Alright faithful readers. You've asked for it, and here it is... a new post!
This one will be about music, so if that's not your cup of tea then I suggest you stop reading and go watch CNN or something, or just skip to the final paragraph. I really want to try out in-ear monitors. I've used them before, back with Willing Heart and they worked pretty good for me. But, that was with completely different equipment and in a completely different musical setting. Now, I've got 2 onstage amps to deal with and (if we're lucky) acoustic drums and I've been having a lot of trouble hearing myself. I use my amp on stage (500 watt hartke with a 4x10 Carvin) but this is only for monitoring purposes. Since I've gotten the bass pod (still love it), my sound comes straight out of it and I don't use my amp to change my signal to the board, I simply run parallel outs to the amp and the mixer. But, as you may know, a 4 x 10 cab has a bit of a problem getting the sound up to the ears. If you distance yourself enough from it, it sounds pretty good, but I have never had the adequate stage room to pull this off. All of my sound ends up hitting me in the legs, so I feel the bass more than anything. Now, this is quite a problem since I need to hear myself over said amps and drums, but I still need to give control of my overall volume to my dad, he runs sound. If I turn my amp up loud enough where I can hear it onstage, it becomes impossible for him to control the bass and most times he ends up turning me off completely in the house mix. You see, most places we play are rather small rooms, barely large enough to hold us, much less an audience. When you get that much bass going on, it feels up the whole room and ruins the overall sound of the band. So...
I really want to try in-ear monitors. If I could take a monitor signal from the board, run it through my head phone amp, and pump it straight into my head, I could do away with my onstage amp and give dad complete control over the bass in the house mix. With this new board, I could have my own monitor mix, separate from the rest of the band, and I could have as much bass as I want. Since Willing Heart, I've updated my ear buds to a higher model and messed around with many different tips until I've found one that best fits my ear and blocks out the most sound. Next time JMB practices I am definitely going to bring my new set-up and give it a go. And not only would this improve my monitoring of the bass, it would allow me to hear everything with so much more clarity- especially vocals. Yes, I have a great feeling about this. I can't wait to try it out.
For those of you who skipped the majority of the post to read the final paragraph, here ya go. I had hours of free time this afternoon between class letting out and a 7 o clock practice. I had this strange feeling that I was missing something really important and that I should be doing something instead of sitting around. It finally hit me. The thing that I was missing. It was dinner. I forgot to eat. Boy, I scare myself sometimes.

Update time. As of this past Saturday night (or I guess it was actually really early Sunday morning): I am in a relationship with a wonderful girl named Mary Beth Mann. Yes, I realize that I am dating a "mann" and feel free to laugh about it as much as you want, I get quite a kick out of it actually. Those who frequent the JMB message board- yes, all 6 of you, may know her as Number1Fan. Yup, that's the one. I realize that this relationship has progressed very quickly over the past month or so, but, other than the truth in my salvation, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I know that this is exactly where God wants me right now. We would both greatly appreciate your prayers for our relationship to stay completely grounded in Him and for us to be extremely sensitive to His voice. Thanks guys.

I just got back from my first night of leading worship for the youth service at Master's Church in Lexington. I didn't know quite what to expect since I've never really been to any service at the church at all. I went to the park with them last week- they've been going to a nearby park all summer and getting the neighborhood kids involved, many of which were there tonight. There were a few technical difficulties with the sound system but it all got straightened out by the third song so it was alright. There were 12 kids there tonight, and a lot were not "church kids". They didn't really care too much about the music or the message that Marc brought, they just wanted to be in a place where they were loved and accepted. Anyway, Marc presented that gospel tonight and gave an opportunity at the end for people to make decisions and three people were saved tonight! Three! God moved in three peoples lives and they are now in a relationship with Him. I'm so excited right now for Megan, Nicky, and Emily. Nicky and Emily were both ready to go talk to more of their friends about Jesus! And when Marc was talking to Megan and she said that she wanted grow in her relationship with God. You could tell that this definitely wasn't a "get out of hell free card" for her, but a real relationship with God and she understood exactly what it meant.
I can't wait to see what God is going to do next.

I didn't want to post this at first because it is quite a personal song for me but I'm posting it in hopes that God will use it to influence your life.

Because of Me

They say they feel your presence and I can see you on each face
But the place in me where you should be feels like an empty space
They sing and shout and praise your name and dance all down the aisle
And as to not look out of place I sing along and smile
Their holy hands are lifted high and unashamed their battle cry is
Holy is the Lord, my God, He reigns
But this thorn in my side has caused me pain

Where are you God? Your face I cannot see
All this sin still present in my life shows me that I need you to be
Before time you chose me, so I know you'll never leave
But I can't see you, because of me

I know your word is always true and it's clear about the right
But this sweet sin, she draws me in with colors and bright lights
"Come follow me" she calls each day, I'll surely fit right in
Because I'd rather be a harlot, than go fishing for your men
Oh Lord, I'm tired of living like a righteous man in my own eyes
My Fig leaf suit is rotting away
Oh God, you hear me when I say

Where are you God? Your face I cannot see
All this sin still present in my life shows me that I need you to be
Before time you chose me, so I know you'll never leave
But I can't see you, because of me

I cooked soup. I ate soup. Soup was good.
After realizing that my meal plan at the moment includes only 7 meals a week I've decided to eat more meals on my own. As it is right now, the meal plan averages out to be between $8-$9 per meal so it would be cheaper to do more meals on my own than it would be to add more money to a meal plan. However, my parents do pay for my meal plan so that makes it cheaper for me, but not for them. Good thing I'm happy eating pretty much anywhere. There are so many places to eat on campus, I've only been to about half of them- not including the restaurants right down the street. The place that I've eaten at the most is this grill in the food court at the students center (right across the street) with really good chicken strips and fries. There burgers are ok, but the buns kept falling apart in my hand, so I've sworn them off forever. Ha, that'll teach 'em a lesson. I've also been to Ovids a few times (downstairs in the library). They have sandwiches (which I've heard are good) and good ol' home cooking. One time they made me a nice meal with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Oh, so good. I'm still making my way around campus trying to find the best food and I'm really enjoying the journey, much more than I enjoy studying. Maybe I could switch my major to "Restaurant Exploration"... do they have that? If not they really should. Maybe I'll be a pioneer in the field. Anyone wanting to study under me can just call. I've left my number with my mother so call her first.