Hey shlomo whats up?? I just caught up on your thread. It seems like your doing great. Happy for you that your back on the 90 chart. keep it up!! Hatzlacha and have a great shabbos!!

Absolutely! have a great shabbos, and keep on trucking!

You are truly incredible - I hope you realize that!

You don't need anything super-complicated, there should be freeware programs that'll lt you mix a few tracks.

As for a mic, you could get one for a few dollars, probably, or buy an mp3 player that records well. I use an ifp-series Iriver, you could probably get one for about $15 on ebay - the recording quality is great!

i sometimes mess around with garageband on my computer but who knows whether i'll make any full songs, possibly original.

well, happy to report no news!!  ;D Good Shabbos everyone!!

My father was once a rabbi in a sefardi school. he had a boy who was a satmer chassid and a sefardi. Promise. This dude hads long peyos long coat beaver hat all the works but he davened like he just walked out of syria. And he had two brothers in the school too. So after seeing that aint nothing gonna surprise me no more!!

Well, I hope everyone's shabbos went well. Things are all good for me. And to add to the success, I got into my first choice college so I'm feeling great.

Shavuah Tov!

Very cool! Shavua tov!

Glad to hear things are going well, and you're feeling good!

I'd say that as far as music is concerned, go for it!  8)

:'( i dont even know how to begin. i fell b/c there was a change of plans. i was supposed to spend the afternoon with my family at the movies and when it was sold out, i just came home. with this new-found free time, the Y"H convinced me to just check something and then there was no turning back. i naively forgot to send the password to the filtergabbai for my ipod. i just sent him the password so things should be good, but i'm just embarrassed that i could fall like this.

right now, i'm struggling to find the balance between sadness and getting over the aveirah. i know i dont want to be depressed (and i dont feel that i am), but at the same time, i dont want to get over this too quickly and forget about it. at least for now, i think thats my biggest struggle and the place where i could use tips.

i now have no personal, unrestricted access to the internet or un-tznius things. hopefully i've gotten down to the bare basics. my biggest challenge has been sunday afternoons, when i have little to do. now its time to restructure my attitude about this issue, especially using the handbook, and fill my time to the brink with things productive things to do.

as the count returns to 0, i say i'm sorry.

Dont be sorry shlomo!! what counts is what we take out of a fall. We are not meant to make it all on the first try! Nor the 2nd or the third. If we do great!! Buts its not the focus. The focus is to find ways of becomeing a better person who doesnt need all tis garbage. And we need not to lose focus from that! But as long as were focusing on whats ahead we are doing great!!

Keep it up! And have a great week!!

Before we fall, we need to focus on how terrible the aveirah is - after we fall, we focus on moving forward, and not allowing it to get us down.

Keep on moving upwards, and realize that you've learned something from this, so you're using your experience to help you grow!

make sure that as you move forward, you don't just work on "not falling" - you also need to work on changing who you are, building up your defenses, so that even if you'd be faced with a similar situations, you could come out clean and pure - and to help you spot these things before they happen, and slip out of them more easily when they do.

Hey my good man...Thanks for being there for me...even while you were licking your wounds...Shlomo...you will have your namsake in your life - true wisdom and Shalom - peace will make you complete (Shaleim) very soon...You and I are on the right path...Hashem shepped (lit. draws) Nachas.

:'(  :'(
i sit here, literally dumbfounded, embarrassed by what i've done. for the first time in over a month, i've fallen two days in a row. i'm disappointed with myself and thats all i can say negative about this because you all as well as past experience testifies to the ability of positivity.

even though i fell today, i'm already trying to make tikkunim and really figure out where i go from here. i'm working through the attitude handbook but i feel like thats still the area where i need the most work. i did 10 minutes of hisbodedus/meditation about everything in my life with a focus on shemiras einayim. this will become a daily habit. and now i'm working to slowly but surely develop more of a sense of discipline with regard to my internet use, how i spend my time in general, torah study and my thoughts.

right now, i think the biggest help i could use would be from guys that have made it through the first couple of days or weeks successfully, what are some tips to getting over this first hurdle?

sorry to disappoint. i pray as much as possible that this wont happen again.  :-\

Dumbfounded...I know the feeling - EXACTLY...I'm right there with you...You just have the courage to post right away.

Listen man we got to go deeper into why we have the need and urges we have....SA Groups sounds like the way to go...Duvid Chaim's Group souns like it's starting up soon. Until then Davven and keep on posting.

with school and work, i dunno if theres time for me to join an SA group or even a phone group. at least for now, i'll work on posting and (trying to give) chizuk to others on the forum. also, perusing and searching the GUE website and its links has helped thus far. i just gotta start applying what i learn.

I'm sorry...the key is, I think, to get up, and build up a desire to start again. A fresh start, full of energy - truly picking yourself up, getting up after a fall.

What happened to your filter?

Do you have any plans set up for when you feel urges?

essentially, i've fixed the way that i got around the filter on my ipod. i've got to learn that its better to block virtually everthing b/c at least for now, its tough to trust myself.  :-\

my plans essentially consist of me switching to another activity, whether torah study, homework or anything i can find. to get a stronger defense, i guess i'll have a definitive checklist if something does come up (i'll put it in bold so i can find it in the future)
1) Study Tanya
2) Review the laws of shmiras einayim
3) if internet is around, go on GUE for 10 minutes (minimum)
4) repeat until desire fades

i have the first two (as well as other kosher options) on my ipod so no matter where i go, if the urge comes, i'll have the tools to ignore it.