Posts Tagged ‘Guitar

23
Jan
13

“Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special.” Chris Rock

Holy crap, you people got lucky. I just realized that about 60 posts that I had imported from another blogging service were still public/visible. I took care of that, you won’t have to go back and read those. Not that anyone is ever really digging into my blog any earlier than 2009 anyway….

But these were pretty bad. Stories of defeat, alcohol, guitars, death, depression, overcoming the hurdles and then finally redemption. Redemption, or at least the very least my blog posts became readable and I started taking it semi-seriously.  I left a few posts here and there, but starting here, you can work your way forward.  Not worth clicking, but you can see the progression.  Lookit me now, custom header and everything. Big time. Thanks Abe Lincoln.

***///***

As I was looking through some of the old blog pictures, I ran across some of my teen pictures. And wow, do I really feel old now.  That stuff about feeling better when you get older, “I’ve never felt better in my life!” is a bunch of deluded crap. Or boomers trying to convince themselves it’s true.  The only reason I feel better is because I work out now instead of letting my youthful metabolism do all the work.  Shoot. This is getting depressing. Let’s try something else.

***///***

Since I’ve been unusually quiet about guitar related matters, I’ll should note that my buddy let me try his copy of Rocksmith.  This is the guitar-hero type game that you plug in your own guitar and play along to. He kept telling me how much he was playing, like hours a day. Anything that gets a guitar into your hands for hours a day is freaking great as far as I’m concerned.  So I tried it out. Since I’ve (depressingly) been playing since the 80′s, I managed to barrel through a few of the songs in his game until it adjusted the difficulty mid-song. Seeing a C#7 chord get thrown in out of the blue (a chord I don’t think I’ve played in YEARS) was pretty crazy. It ramped up the speed and chord/single note difficulty on me until I just jacked the entire song up. Then it backed the speed down until I could just keep up. I liked that, although the main reason I ended up picking up the game was for the technique drills and scale practice. So far I’ve had the guitar in my hands for stretches up to two hours. It’s a really nice practice tool – even for players like me who have been playing for years (and admittedly have some rough spots technique wise). I’m getting a little lag on my system which is throwing me off a bit, but it’s still working out okay.

DSC01148-001Rock on Peoples!

07
Dec
12

“You silly twisted boy.” Spike Milligan

So, PBR and Advil – bad idea?

My TMJ is killing me. Thanks to a hellaciously stressful week at work, my jawbone muscles are sore and aching. Rather than do my facial exercises (yes, they do look as goofy as you’re imagining right now), I’m opting for the beer and Advil relaxation method. Maybe I’ll call it PBAdvil. Or Advipbr.

I don’t really feel like detailing my boring work. Let’s just boil it down to: Troubleshooting.

After five days of solving severe, severe problems, (well, severe in my line of business anyway) I took a long lunch and went to Guitar Center.  Managed to get my hands on a doublecut Gibson that I’d been curious about the neck on.

tv2_doublecut

Ole Yeller

I’m not a fan of doublecuts. At all. I was interested in the neck, and the P90. (PBR90?) The P90 sounded cool, but was missing some bottom end. *DING* The lightbulb goes on over my head.  That’s what the bass guitar is for. Duhhh.  For some reason I’ve had it in my head that some of that bass *thunk* should be pushed out of whatever guitar I’ve been playing. Duh (again). Sometimes I don’t know why my brain works that way, I swear. I would borrow the kiddo’s bass, but it’s a lefty. Last time I faked some bass I used one of my guitars and an octave pedal. Bleah.

Some of my recording equipment has made it out near the amps; I’ve now realized that I’m never going to practice enough that I feel comfortable recording – so I might as well practice while I’m writing songs and recording.
So here is my pet peeve for today: Removable Trailer Hitches

If you live anywhere in the Southern States, you’re likely to see them on the backs of big trucks. Also to be found on cars of People-who-need-to-get-stuff-done™.

hitch_tha_bitch

Here’s my problem with them. They’re REMOVABLE. So why the HELL doesn’t anyone remove them??

When I was in my slight fender bender a while back,  the truck that hit the car that hit me had one. There was a mid-size SUV behind him, impaled onto his trailer hitch.  I vividly remember him jamming on the accelerator dragging her car with him (dangerous) while she had her wheels screaming in reverse (unsafe). He was obviously a working dude, so I’m not going to fault his hitch-ness.  When I’m driving home, however, I have to consciously think about the truck in front of me – whether I need to possibly plan for a 6-8 inch metal spear that may pierce my radiator should I happen to rear end anyone.  There was also a time at one of my old apartments where a dude in huge truck had backed up to the mailboxes, and I caught his (removable) hitch with my shin.

You know pain, right? The blinding, cripping, I’m-not-moving and unable to even cry out in pain kind of pain?

My shin had that pain. Boy oh boy did I have that pain. Luckily I was a nice guy and swore under my breath. I’m pretty sure I blamed myself for running into it.  I should have….uh….ok, I’m not posting that on the internet.

My point is that there is only a small percentage of people who use trailer hitches on a daily basis. Just take the damn things off your trucks if you’re a weekend warrior or something. You really need to leave it on 24/7? Are you going to lose it if you take it off? You must have bigger problems.

30
Jun
12

“Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.” Paul Valery

I’m killing time before we head out to the “company picnic”. Great idea, although the loner in me tried to avoid committing to it for as long as possible. Avoidance for good reason, while they wisely moved the start time from 4pm to 6pm, it’s still looking to be about 98 degrees when we get there. Ouch.

So, not only do I get to be sociable while sweating, I have to lose about 6 hours of my day attending this thing.

Hence, I’m just killing time.

I got one of my guitars worked on last week and picked it up today. It’s my first/oldest and it had been playing very badly for a while now. So badly that I’ve been considering cutting it loose if I couldn’t get it to “act right”.

Image

I’m pretty spoiled (okay, very spoiled) but my previous guitar techs would do the work for about $25 while I would wait. This was a new guy that I’m not sure I trust yet. The end result cost twice as much as I thought it would. It plays tremendously better (saved from the block!) but I’m not sure that it really required that much work.

I know the ins and outs of setups, I’m just not good with truss rod adjustment so that’s primarily what I figured the problem was. It got a nice polish and he oiled the fretboard – but I can do that myself. I just didn’t want to fight the guitar every time I played it.

There’s a new show on Discovery called “Fast and Loud” that’s based on a shop here in Dallas. They put together some cool rides, and for sure it makes me miss my old ’69 Camaro. I’ve been hunting up Craigslist and found some really nice Chevelles (cheap). I’ve come to my senses for the most part. My current money pit (house) trumps a new money pit (classic car). Since I’m a dude, I can pretty much justify sticking a classic in the garage for future restoration, but as much fun as it is planning a restoration…..it’s freaking hard work. And expensive. Hard to justify sheet metal repair, but I guess that’s the trick. Find the good bodied cars that just need the engine work – which is relatively easy.

Soo…that about wraps it up for me right now. Pretty quiet.

21
Feb
12

“Return what you have stolen from me! Return the map!” Supreme Being ~ Time Bandits

I made up a new graphic for my missing guitar, primarily because I forgot all about it.  On one of the guitar forums I frequent (nerd!), two other guys recently got burned like I did.  That’s one of those, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that!” moments.  Granted, they’re early into their journey of hell whereas I’ve just let it go…..for the most part. Since I get a few hits from guitar related websites, I figured I would post this as a general service.

stolen by simscustomshop.com

Stolen by simscustomshop.com

My original plan was to have gotten this guitar, strip off the shiny/sparkly silver star stickers and then have it custom painted like the ICJ100WZ. (Yes, yes, not original at all, but the originals are pretty scarce.) LUCKILY, a sig model showed up shortly after I shipped this guitar so my cheapo conversion became a back burner kind of issue.

In the conversations (by phone) that I had with Patrick Sims in August of 2009, he indicated a 4-6 week turnaround. After I paid him in advance (dummy), he quit returning e-mails, quit taking phone calls, and to this day I’ve never heard from him again.  The last I heard from him was an e-mail I sent in March of 2010.

“Where is my guitar?”

“At our shop….where else would it be??”

Let’s see, 4-6 week turn-around = a month or so. So, I should have expected the guitar in…uh…October or even late November if I’m being charitable.  So, by March of the following year, I get that response to a completely valid qurstion?  This is a 2010 response from a job that should have been completed in 2009 we’re talking about here.  It’s 2012.

I assume he still has this guitar since I haven’t gotten any contact, the guitar, or any type of refund since the last message.

There are many, many, many guitar forums full of people who have never gotten their money back, nor their guitar.  If you found this page because you were googling simscustomshop.com and think I have an axe to grind (no pun intended) then check out simswarning.com. I feel exceptionally bad for those people who have been ripped off by simscustomshop.com, the ones who were lured in by those really great pictures on their website and then shipped a prize guitar, or their ONLY guitar and are still waiting. I’m lucky that this guitar was nothing more than a fun project.

Do I expect that my graphic will get my guitar back? No. I don’t expect that at all. It’s my hope that more people are aware of what could happen if you ship your guitar to him. You may never get it back.

04
Jan
12

“Sometimes, I even freak myself out!” – Dimebag Darrell

I don’t know about you, but my new year has been pretty cool so far.

So far I’ve gotten a lot done in the garage and my music room. Strapped on a guitar here and there and even fired up an old distortion pedal that I kind of like now.

I’m trying to make an effort not to pay so much attention to my blog stats – although I can usually tell when some guitar forum posts a link to the guitar columns.

Unusually enough, I get quite a bit of traffic for searches on Edgar Oliver. You know, the “straaightjacket” guy from that show Oddities (and numerous other projects as his IMDB attests)

In honor of Edgar, I present:

 

“Is that a straaaaight jacket?” – Edgar Oliver

12
Oct
11

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. – John Barrymore

Having a puppy made me realize how much extra time that I had that I was squandering. Of course, the irony is that now that I have the dog I don’t have any spare time to squander.

I’m starting to get that feeling….the one that says, “You need to take some time to enjoy doing some things that you enjoy doing – playing guitar and recording songs”.  I’ve been reading some recording books at work so that I can try and capture that mindset again. While walking the dog I’ve had some song ideas float through my head. Granted, now that I have a smartphone I could make verbal notes to myself but since it’s a smartphone, I haven’t figured it out yet.

My dad’s birthday was October 4th.

I didn’t do anything in his memory although I had a fleeting thought of having a drink in his honor.  But I’m pretty sure I was out of scotch (which wasn’t his drink) and had no orange juice (for a screwdriver that he once admitted that he drank in college).   It’s very hard for me to drink his beer (Budweiser = rusty nails).

Honestly, I think I was too tired to do it.

Walking a more-than-energetic dog twice a day is pretty draining. And time consuming.  He’s still a puppy but luckily he’s learning fast. And a fast learner.

Here he is in his upcoming costume, “Bat with 100-mph-tail”.

 

03
Mar
11

“Up to now, the worst fears have not been realized. He has found another style.” Hans Kung

I spent a little time yesterday figuring out the theme song to “I Dream of Jeannie” on my guitar -

From there, I moved on to “The Munsters” -

All in all, it wasn’t a long exercise – it took me about 10 minutes each song to figure and match the horn and guitar parts. Of course, the horn parts were actually a lot more fun to play.

It was nice to be laying hands on a guitar. I haven’t done that in a while.

Playing TV theme songs took me back quite a ways – I used to have a small collection of TV Theme tapes. As a child, I wasn’t interested in “guitar” music per se – as the 80′s lollygagged around with synthesizers and electronic drums, the guitar was relegated to 70′s fuzz rock. Speaking of which, back in the 90′s,  my mother told me that she was “scared” of the Stray Cats. Seriously? Scared? The upshot of this is that I was not exposed to very many guitar based kinds of music in my youth. As I have previously blogged, my first record albums (you know, the large black plastic disks) were Meet The Beatles and Beach Boys.

As I’ve been unemployed a while, and I always said, “If I had more time, I’d be practicing guitar a meeelion hours a day!”.  Of course, that didn’t happen. Neither did working out, but I digress.  So in following flickr and several Facebook accounts, I find myself relatively irritated when I see pictures of teenagers in bands.

I think to myself, “Why didn’t I ever do that?”.  As I meditated on writing this entry, I think I stumbled onto the reason….well, kind of.

When I started playing guitar, I lived in New Zealand. As many teen bands have in common, “not much else” was going on in the area. This left them plenty of time to practice their craft.  As such, I spent many hours playing along with the radio there (80′s – true), E-A-D, etc, etc. BUT, shortly after I started those lessons, I moved back to the US.

As my guitar teacher would say (ask him! I’m still friends with him after 20 years….) I never applied myself. BUT, I still had a great ear.  And I also had a multitude of things to distract me from practicing my guitar. Because of my good ear, in one of my early lessons, I tabbed out a Jimi Hendrix solo (Wind Cries Mary?) by ear, but couldn’t play it.  My guitar teacher was like, “Whaaaa?”.  What a waste of my talent.

Here’s a picture of a guitar that I somehow convinced my mother to purchase early in my playing career ($599?) – an Ovation Celebrity. With a locking nut, floyd rose, and reverse tuners, I was WAYYYY out of my league in terms of even knowing what to do with it.  I barely touched it.

So my later teen years I spent countless hours in poolhalls. Not so much that I won any money hustling pool, but it was a good distraction.  I beat myself up for a few years, wondering ‘what if I had spent less time in the poolhalls, and more practicing guitar?’.  Having all this time off recently told me all I needed to know – that I’m too distracted for my own good. Even if I hadn’t been playing pool, I wouldn’t have been hustling on the guitar.

While I can regret not having ever really put myself out there (beyond a few open mics), I can rest easy that had I the chance as a teen, I still wouldn’t have done it right.  Seclusion (New Zealand) would have been the answer.

To my relief though, I can still write, I can record, and I can somewhat play.

And I’ve still got a good ear.

21
Feb
11

“No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life” Samuel Goldwyn

I’m pretty enthused about the number of companies contacting me that are relevant (and fiscally responsible) to my work experience. Being unemployed – while good for resting, is not so good for the checking account.

It turns out that the mortgage company still wants me to pay? Crazy – I know.

While I’ve been passed over for jobs that I know I would excel at so far – better job offers have come my way anyway.  My skill set is relatively confined while being broad enough to appeal to many aspects of the industry.

I can’t tell if that scares them more than helps me.

This has been a week of getting back into the groove.  New Orleans was such a blast, it’s hard not to bring the spirit of it back.

While NOLA is known for “getting your drink on”, we really didn’t partake that much while we were there.  That possibly is what tagged us as “locals” because we weren’t staggering around clutching a Hand Grenade nor a Hurricane. Being that Texas is a pretty close neighbor to the Big Easy, we did pick up a King Cake when we got back.

Since I’m not religulous at all (great movie BTW), the King Cake really doesn’t mean much more to me than “party with your friends and enjoy life”.  Or more specifically, “enjoy as breakfast”.

01
Aug
10

“She’s a killer, she’s a thriller, Spookshow Baby” ~ Rob Zombie

I wish I could find the Youtube video I saw a while back. It was  a vintage interview with White Zombie, in the early days. Rob ends up talking about “Lead Singers Disease” – meaning, the singer gets too “big” for the band. In the video – he seems to scoff at the notion that would happen to White Zombie.

[Edit: Found it]

Watching the White Zombie videos – from the box set, consecutively……..it does kind of appear that way. I mean, by the time you get to (I’m Your) Boogieman, if I recall, is the rest of the band even in the video? Unless maybe it’s subliminal? It’s all Rob.

To me, it’s funny because from down here (in the pit, or better yet – in the back by the bar), it looks as though LSD is exactly what happened.  Now, I’m going to disclaim – I know bands are like marriages. There’s sides to every story, and sometimes, you just fade apart.  Being in a band means compromise. Each member has their own compromises to make in order for the “whole” to work.

I am of the opinion that White Zombie was always a much better band than Rob’s solo work – and I’ve spent the last two days listening to Hellbilly Deluxe to see if I can understand why.  There are parts I think I understand now. White Zombie had songs, grooves and riffs. Rob Zombie (solo) has riffs, and establishes an almost disco/metal rhythm. I haven’t seen them live, but other than raw blasting low E (or D, or C, or whatever they’re tuned down to) chords it seems to me that it would be more or less….uh….boring to play? There is much more dynamic movement in the White Zombie stuff – although Rob’s vocal style seems less dynamic.  WZ has more of a swing, or groove, while the RZ stuff is just…..crushing? Relentlessly crushing? I bought Hellbilly Deluxe probably in 2005? Listened to it once and put it away. I’ve been cruising and listening to it yesterday. All the songs have their interesting sample hooks, and (again) crushing guitar.  Horror-themed lyrics that make me want to grow dredlocks and wear sunglasses all the time. But I digress.
Not super odd or anything, but I like Scum of the Earth better. So does my twelve year old daughter. SOTE, to me, is the best substitute to WZ that I can find. Their first album is killer, but the second I’m so-so on.  Is it because I’m a guitar player that I like more dynamic songs?

Edit: 1/29/11 – I wrote this post well before Sean’s book “I’m in the Band” came out, and since it has, my thoughts were more or less confirmed. (Great book by the way.) For the end of White Zombie, it was mentioned in multiple interviews  that more and more samples were brought in (ala Charlie Clouser) and less focus was on the live music . Though I didn’t say in my original post, with his solo career, it seemed like Rob Zombie wanted to be the Trent Reznor of low-brow metal. Put most simply, I guess I was right.

21
Jul
10

“It’s going to have to be at Torino, … If it isn’t, I think time will work against us.” Don Porter

Okay, second attempt. I didn’t work on the first song very much, but I’m taking a break from it for a day or two.

In the meantime, I came up with this (including samples!! whoo!!)



I’m getting better on the volume (I think). This went a lot smoother, and would go smoother still if I could actually play guitar.

09
Jul
10

“I found my inner bitch and ran with her” Courtney Love

I’m stalling.

I’ve packed the ashes in my carry-on luggage.  The bag that I expect to check is empty. I leave for the airport in seven hours.

As I have maintained, my sleep schedule is beyond unreasonable at this point. I suspect that waking up tomorrow will require two alarm clocks and my cell phone.

I’ve slowly weaned myself off the medications that have slowed me down as of late, which may be why I’m sitting here playing along to Foxboro Hot Tubs and having chord progressions and lyrics float around inside my thick skull.. (rather than pack, or even pretend to get ready).

It feels like the journey is nearly over. Even though I can’t bring myself to believe it was a journey in the first place.

Must be the denial.

09
Jul
10

“I thought that our defense stymied them all day, and really played extremely well,” Les Miles

Never underestimate the power of outside influences to screw things up.

My sleep schedule has been inconsistent, to say the least. I was up until four last night. Knowing that I was expecting a delivery from Fedex today, I slept on the couch so that I wouldn’t miss the delivery. Unfortunately, rather than being a regular delivery, it’s a no-longer-available out-of-stock youth sized snowboard for my daughter. So, I needed to receive it today. With my impending travel plans, I couldn’t risk missing it.

So, I awoke at one, and checked the front door. No delivery. I would have heard if someone knocked and even had my home alarm off so that I wouldn’t set it off when I yanked the door open (as I have often done).  So, I checked FedEx’s website and sure enough, it said it had been delivered!

The FedEx lady is usually pretty good. Long story short (and an hour later), I retrieved the snowboard from the house two doors down.  *sigh*

In other news, I found a completely gorgeous neck-through Robin Machete – for a great price! But unfortunately, I’ll need to liquidate all my guitars (except two) to justify buying it. It’s a gorgeous guitar, but ….now….is….not…the….time. Must….resist!

*Edit* Couldn’t resist….now here.

30
Jun
10

Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Do I really need all this crap to write a song? Apparently so. After dragging this all out, I ended up writing a rhythm, a verse and a chorus. Lyrics are not far behind. We’ll see if it actually pans out all the way to recording….

14
Jun
10

“They’re not telling Music Row how to record the songs. But I think more than ever before they’re dictating the look and the feel of the genre.” David Bennett

SWEEEET!

Finally got all my pro-tools stuff in place, and managed to quickly lay down the rhythm ideas, lead ideas, and vocal ideas I had for this one song.

I’m pretty pumped. I forgot how much fun this is.

(I also forgot how badly I need to practice with a metronome)

21
Feb
10

“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing” John Adams

Ow.

My TMJ is kicking up a storm.

I was clenching my teeth while figuring out a solo. In fact, the solo that had quite a hand in beginning my interest in guitar.

Among the many guitar players that I’ve spoken to, the scene in Back to the Future was one that inspired many guitar players. I’m sure Chuck Berry is pissed. Granted, Chuck’s been shit on pretty much since the 50′s, so his bitterness is well earned.

Finally, thanks to the magic of YouTube, here’s the infamous Chuck Berry vs Keith Richards:

I really wanted to go to VLV 2010 to see Chuck, but I can’t swing it. He’s truly a rock and roll legend.

Here’s some (more) random recent pics of my office…..er….music room.

17
Feb
10

“There is a very real brain component to addiction, and society up to now has for the most part has viewed it as failure of will.” Richard Pops

We have entered the culture of lowered expectations – please raise your tray tables and fasten your seat belts, this will be a bumpy ride…..

I managed to get a “B” on my Texas Politics test. I was a little disappointed that it was an “on the edge” B – it was an 80. Although, for the time I put in, I deserved exactly what I got. So, I went to class today and the professor was astonished that our class did so poorly. The class average was 53. FIFTY-THREE. This is a class where we were allowed to use an index card (both sides) with notes for the test!

As it turns out, there were two A’s, two B’s, about 6 C’s, 12 D’s, and the rest were F’s. Freaking amazing. I too was astonished. Just think if I had put some time in on it!

Piano class, I managed to underwhelm myself when I volunteered (too early) for something that I wasn’t really ready for. I thought I was going to get away with not-really-practicing-at-home, but I’m not going to be comfortable doing that. Many of the playing elements are solid, but other parts are not.

For golf class, we went to Mansfield National and hit some balls at the driving range. Now that was fun. Although, I didn’t realize that I was supposed to use my almost-full-stroke yet, so when the coach was saying, “Bring it back more” I’m like, “Huh?”. So I think I’ll be heading to Top Golf this weekend with Rod and hit some balls. Stretch out my aching triceps anyway. Monday was a snowy/wet day so we hit the cardio room. I also hit the weight room and REALLY pushed myself. Ouch.

A student got smart with the RnR History/Appreciation class professor. I couldn’t believe it. He looked like he loved Nickelback and was like, “Duuuude! Why are you talkin’ smack to me?” to the professor. A hush fell over the class.

Stupid kids.

In other news, when in a funk I managed to mangle one of my rims, and I’m in the process of buying another one. Also, got some windshield wiper blades which are Honda year/model specific which is crazy. At least they were easy to install.

The amp showed up – somehow I thought it would be bigger. LOL.

09
Feb
10

“I usually take a two hour nap from one to four” Yogi Berra

I took a nap a little earlier and I’m feeling better after this weekend. Friday and Saturday night some friends and I went to a burlesque festival – it was a lot of fun. We ate sushi at some place I’ve never gone on Friday. At the show, drinks were plentiful and made merry – and looked at the pretty girls.

BTW – I totally stole these from my friends since I didn’t take my camera. There were approximately 50 performers total over the two nights, so this obviously is just a sample.

“There’s plenty more fish in the sea” is a very quick, glib way of explaining the truth. And the truth is………………

……there are plenty of women in the world that will “get” you. You just have to seek them out.

I’m working on a project again after realizing that life is short. I’ll update as the project gets harder (which it is already hard, but for some reason I chose superbowl sunday to start again)

My piano class is fun – I keep getting included on the really hard stuff. Two tests coming up this week – RnR History and Texas Politics. I’m really not taking this semester seriously (unfortunately) but I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve been practicing guitar like a mofo and I’m happy to report that I’m very pleased with my progress. Woodshedding (when done right) works.

On the way:

03
Feb
10

“Walking on a rubber foot is like walking in sand. It compresses under the weight of the body. You get more tired when you’re walking in sand.” Tony Saia

Yes, yes, yes. I’ve fallen off my internet abstinence program. I have my reasons.

Having a sick child monopolize the TV does that to me. LOL

The burlesque festival is this weekend. I’m looking forward to it.

19
Jan
10

“To me, music is like air, food or water. I just have to have it. I use it to shut things out when I want to study … it helps pass the time on the long walk to class, and is just my way of unwinding at the end of the day.” – Fred Russell

I’m taking liberty with my “only sunday” posting policy as I went to my music appreciation class today (History of Rock and Roll). Looks like it will be a lot of fun.

The instructor is a professional drummer and is a pretty typical musician professor – laid back, goofy, funny etc.

Before I left I asked him if he took points off for “drummer jokes” but then gave extra credit for “guitar player and lead singer jokes”. He laughed, so I’m off to a good start.

I did answer a bunch of open ended questions that he asked (when everyone else was silent) and I knew every single artist on a survey that he handed out….so this looks to be a really fun class.

He did ask if anyone was a fan of heavy metal – most of the class raised their hand. I didn’t raise my hand but said, “Reformed”.

The girl beside me said, “Reformed? How can you be reformed?”

I just smiled.

17
Jan
10

“Try to put well in practice what you already know. In so doing, you will, in good time, discover the hidden things you now inquire about.” Remy de Gourmont

Gosh – is it Sunday already?

Time has flown a bit. I kicked some ass this week – spent most of it practicing scales, learning a jazz chord progression and simultaneously watching streaming Netflix (Damn you season 1 of “Lost”!!!)

Other than that, not much else is going on – school starts next Tuesday….with “MUSIC 1306 – History of Rock and Roll”. Looking forward to it.

Found an friend from way back on Myspace (which then transitioned to Facebook) as Myspace still is too cluttered. It’s a shame that Facebook can’t come up with a companion site that deals solely with bands/artists/etc. The “fan” pages don’t do much for me.

There’s a burlesque festival in February that I bought some tickets to. Should be a fun time.

Everything else has been…..pretty quiet.

Nice.

10
Jan
10

“I would never speculate on the limit. Every time you speculate, you’re way too conservative.” John Warnock

Okay – it’s finally time for a Sunday post.

What’s going on?

Well, I needed an intermission….to take some time off the internets. Spending more time IRL (as it were). By not spending time on the internet all the time, I’ve found plenty of time to paint my bedroom, paint my breakfast area, practice plenty of guitar, read about four different books, watch about six or seven different movies…..the list goes on and on. Rather than going cold turkey on the whole thing – I decided that Sunday should be my day to “cheat”. Depriving yourself of anything entirely is not usually a good plan.

My first guitar lesson was last week – I’ve been going through minor scales and getting the key signatures down by memory. Next lesson tomorrow. I’ve got a week or two before school starts again.

18
Dec
09

“I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.” Marilyn Monroe

I went out yesterday and looked for guitar instructors. It’s a nice feeling knowing what questions I want to ask. (Essentially, I’m “auditioning” guitar teachers – since they’ll have to prove that they know what they’re talking about before I buy into the lesson) New students have no idea what to look or ask for – but I’ve done this long enough I know what I want. Mostly though, I wanted to check out the “vibe” of the places to see if they matched up with what would motivate me. For some reason, I can’t get my ass into gear and practice like I need to. I’m currently overwhelmed with options I suppose. Too much stuff to study from, and not enough thought about what I’m going to actually practice. That is not helping me in my quest to audition at UTA.

Most people who hear me play would say (and do say), “What? Lessons? You? Why are you taking lessons?”. Anyone who actually plays guitar for a living (whether it be a band, a teacher, what have you) quickly can see my weaknesses as a guitar player. I told the one guy (at the place I’m hoping to hook up with) that I’m really looking to increase my fluency on guitar. I need goals, and I need a taskmaster to get me to those goals. While I’m definitely better than a beginner, I’m man enough to admit I need help to get me to my next level.

Found a place conveniently located near that same little club that has an open mic night on Tuesdays. It’s a few miles from my house and while it did appear fairly disorganized, I liked the setup of the practice rooms. They remind me a lot of when I was taking lessons at Rockin’ Robin back in the 80′s from one of my best friends. I suppose that’s why I like it so much. That and it’s close by the house. Ha!

Still waiting on a response from the scheduling lady. *crossing fingers*

12
Dec
09

“You may have heard that a dean is to faculty as a hydrant is to a dog” Alfred Kahn

As I find myself navigating different situations that previously I might have over-controlled in order to pre-determine the outcome, but have more or less played by ear, I realize that like anything else the release of control gets easier with practice

I made the Dean’s list apparently. Which is pretty strange since I’ve never overshot my goals quite so spectacularly.

Well, good for me I guess.

In other news, I got to move my daughter’s piano into my music room – and I’ve started the learning.

One of my friends hooked me up with a guy who is looking for a non-singing guitar player…..hey! That’s ME! so we’re going to try and get together and play. Things are power drifting into the right direction. While I have been content to previously let these things fall in my lap (as they did this time) as of last week, I had decided that I was going to play a new open mic night around the corner from my house. I haven’t prepped for it yet – but I’m in slight vacation mode. Things are looking like they’re flowing in the right direction though.

07
Dec
09

“There is music wherever there is harmony, order, or proportion.” Thomas C. Haliburton

In general, I’ve always wondered what possessed my mother (or father) to buy the two main record albums that I remember receiving as a child. Yes, record albums. The big plastic discs….

I believe the first was “Meet the Beatles”

The second was “Surfin’ USA”. I can’t find the actual album, because for some reason the tracks I specifically remember (In My Room, Surfin’ USA, Little Deuce Coupe) don’t seem to appear on any one album. I’ll put the closest I can find:

I didn’t have Surfin’ USA album for sure – because I know that I would have recognized Miserlou and Honky Tonk later in life. I hadn’t heard those until late 90′s.

These albums were received as Christmas gifts in probably ’78 or ’79. Possibly 1980. So, which came first, my getting albums? Or my love of harmony (and minor progressions)? I picked up the “With the Beatles” which I think is the European version of “Meet the Beatles”. The Beatles disc is playing right now – and I remember all the times I listed to this record over and over and over. This is in the late 70′s. I didn’t have any idea who the Beatles were!

Obviously, I think that “In My Room” is one of the most haunting harmonies that Brian Wilson ever wrote. I once got busted for harmonizing in choir as a young lad. LOL.

I love the counterpoint I guess.

29
Nov
09

“When a finger points to the moon, the imbecile looks at the finger” Chinese Proverb

Today has been a really “off” day. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m getting a cold, or if the moon cycle is hitting a little early.

I didn’t believe in the “moon cycle” until my boss pointed it out to me. About two days before and after every full moon, everything at work would go haywire. Completely off the wall stuff. Things would happen that you just couldn’t believe. (Not supernatural stuff, but stuff that happens once every ten years would just pick one of those days to happen). The next full moon is December second – so it’s a little early yet.

My day started when I woke up getting everything ready for my guitar lesson. My student canceled. No problem, got a few things done. My brother called and wanted to meet. My daughter and I got ready and we left the house to meet at Bonedaddy’s.

That’s when it hit me. That “Don’t Leave the House” feeling. It’s that feeling that tells me, “Be careful, something tremendously bad can happen today”. I resisted every urge to cancel everything and stay home. Met up with brother, daughter met a few friends I have there, and I drank three beers and had lunch.

Afterward, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond, and got a lava lamp for girlie’s room and a sound machine too. Came home and passed out for three hours. Had to pick up milk for tomorrow and I got that same “Don’t Leave the House” feeling. Was extra, extra careful getting home and I’ve locked the door and set the alarm.

Not sure what’s going on – if it’s an impending cold, it would make sense. The moon, less sense, but still possible. It’s a very nagging feeling that something is not quite right…..I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.

09
Nov
09

“We still have some vacancies, but we’re winding down.” Sally Smith

I’m really avoiding thinking about school right now.

Part of my life experience has taught me that I am much better at short projects than long ones.

School (even a short college semester) really is much longer than I’m good at focusing at. Granted, I’m still doing MUCH better than I thought I would be. BUT, I can feel it slipping away……slowly.

I should be okay by the end of the semester, the Chemistry test failure was quite a blow – even though it’s a test grade that gets dropped. I’m probably stressing this debate thing more than I should – my opponent today didn’t even realize the debate was next week! They’re in poor-to-decent shape, and I’d say we’re pretty much in the same position. Finished some Concepts homework and now I’m just bumming around. I should probably catch up on Mad Men or play some guitar. What say?

06
Nov
09

“Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.” W. C. Fields

I’ve been on Ebay for quite a while – I’ve only been truly stiffed once, and that was my own fault for not being careful.

Something strange happened this week – not sure why. Actually, I’m pretty sure I know why, but just odd that it happened.

I did a “Buy it Now” on an Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi. Total price was about $10 less than they normally sell for. So the next day I get this message from Paypal:

” Seller has refunded your money due to: Sorry, I can’t find the pedal! If I get another one, and you still want it let me know!”

(!)

I’m thinking WTF? You put something on Ebay and then can’t FIND it?

So I didn’t do anything with the auction – didn’t send a message back because I was still mulling it over.

So apparently while I was at school today, the seller sends a message to me at 9:30am saying, “I found it – do you still want it?”. Then I see a message from ebay at noon or so saying that the seller is cancelling the auction due to “The buyer did not mean to buy it” (?????) And then I look and see that she has RELISTED THAT SAME PEDAL!!!

So I respond to her and say, “Yes, I still want the pedal – I’m Paypaling back right now”. Then I respond to the ebay claim and DENY the seller the right to claim that I didn’t want the pedal after all. Then I sent the seller a note through her NEW auction and said, “I hope that’s not MY pedal that you’re reselling”.

I got messages back saying “Oh – okay” then I get another message saying, “Nooo, that’s not your pedal” and I look back at that auction and it’s been cancelled, pictures taken off and the description changed.

So. Here’s what I think. This seller is in a RUSH to unload this pedal. And also wasn’t happy with how much I paid for it? But then relisted the pedal for the same price? And then pulled the auction after I found out about it? Just strange.

31
Oct
09

“Imitation belittles” Christian Nevell Bovee

Q: How many guitarists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: Five, Five, one to screw it in and four to brag about how they could have done it better.

I’m constantly amazed at how true this still is – and this is a joke. I’m not innocent by any means, I just have a much better understanding now of what it takes to play guitar now – compared to my early years.

Even if you can play guitar badly you’re still doing more than 90% of the population can do.

I don’t really want to get into what touched this off, but I find it irritating that guitar players can sit around and judge other guitar players ability. What does it even matter? Do you own thing!

29
Oct
09

“When red-haired people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn” Mark Twain

Yup, did it again.

red

19
Oct
09

“You can’t be greater than Elvis, change things as much as the Beatles, or be as original as Led Zeppelin. All you can do is rip them off.” Billy Corgan

As a musician, I’ve heard a lot of music – sometimes however I’m pleasantly surprised when I’m turned onto an artist that I consider to be overexposed and over-rated.

Led Zeppelin has never been a favorite band of mine – possibly stemming from the years, years and years that I spent in pool halls. How many times can I hear the same recordings over and over and over again and not get sick of them?

Well, a friend yesterday recommended some of the “not obvious” LZ songs and I found one that really struck me – I may have to go dig around and find all the live recordings because this one really hit me.

25
Sep
09

“If only there were a longer time between epiphany and epitaph” David Glaser

I’m being a good boy. I’m sticking around the house rather than going out. I need to plow through a few Netflix discs and practice some guitar…..I already finished most of my homework, enough that I’m satisfied.

I had to update because it’s been a pretty roller-coaster couple of days. While those closest to me have been riding the front and back cars, and I myself have been solidly in the middle, the days have definitely spun me for a loop (or loop-de-loop or loop-loop-de-loop). There have been a few things that have struck me recently (much like an epiphany) but that I have not quite yet acted on yet.

I’ve heard recently something that resonated with me, it was said, “I’d rather regret the things I did do, rather than the things I didn’t do”. Which of course I think is totally applicable except for that incident of public nudity on a baseball diamond and possibly the charge of illegal animal husbandry. Regardless, life is short. Extremely short when you look at the long term survival rate of any one human being. (At some point, EVERYONE has a zero survival rate)
A lot of decisions in my life have been so logic based that I ended up not doing whatever it was because the end result wasn’t something I was entirely comfortable with. These days, I’m finding that to be a pretty limiting decision making process. Always the “what ifs?” held me back. What if? What if? What if?

Henceforth (yes – I said “henceforth”), I’m going to attempt to head into directions that I haven’t been, do some things I haven’t done, try something I haven’t tried, talk like I haven’t talked, act like I haven’t acted. I’ve come a long way, but there’s a long way to go (and a short time to get there, I’m eastbound just to watch ole bandit run)

In reality based news, the probate hearing was yesterday. Long story short, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t have some oddly colored hair – because it could have been disastrous. It’s good to act like a completely sane responsible human – some of the time. Ha! Tequila (again) is not my friend – but I’ll know better next time. I still managed to get up, go to school – unfortunately dehydration meant my calves were cramping up so I couldn’t do much. My hair has freedom now – I’m not sure where I should go with it. Most sane people say, “Do what YOU want to with it”. I was going to waffle on it, but I know what I’m going to do now.

Life is short – remember?

13
Sep
09

“It is dainty to be sick, if you have leisure and convenience for it” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bleah.

Just to prove that I have something else to write about besides coffee, guitars and school, I think I have caught a cold of some sort.

It’s the groggy, don’t feel like getting up kind.

Haven’t gotten much done except sleep – and I’ve got some tests coming up this week.

*sigh*

11
Sep
09

“Laziness begets nothing but failures and lost opportunities. ” Rig Veda

Ahhh crap.

Because I didn’t pull my guitar apart myself first, and relied only on a quick question/answer, I got the wrong part.

I’m upgrading the block inside the Ibanez on the Floyd Rose.

Sustain = good.

The gaping wound:

floyd1

Side by side comparison (somewhat – since it’s the wrong block. The correct block will be on it’s way once I mail this one back):

floyd2

Floyd Roses are complicated? What? What do you mean? (Humpty Dumpty Pt 12):

floyd3

10
Sep
09

“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline – it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer” Frank Zappa

As a child growing up in the 70′s, in Texas, football was a majorly oppressive force for those of us who didn’t give a crap about sports.

I was recently sitting in an establishment that was showing Steelers highlights, and reflected back to a recent get-together at my brother’s house. Everyone there seemed to have an opinion about their favorite football team. Ross loves the Steelers, Nancy loves the Redskins, and everyone else seemed to be a Cowboys fan. When it comes to football, I’m less atheist and more agnostic. I just “doubt” that football really exists. Actually I don’t really actively think about it.

For what purpose does organized sports – much like organized religion play? I would hazard a guess they are actually one in the same.

I digress.

Now that I’ve gotten further into my school planning, I’m realizing that this is actually going to be work. WORK! I know I can do it, and if it’s something I’m interested in doing for the remainder of my years, then it’s the “right thing to do”. I guess I just feel a little behind since I imagine that most of the kids that will be in the program for a Music degree will have been reading music all their lives (since grade school anyway) and I never really sat down and learned it. I’ve had to start learning recently as my students are reading music, so I have to do it too.

I’ve set a goal of practicing 30-45min daily on my guitar and see how far I can get before I have to audition at the school *shudder*

This should be interesting.

05
Sep
09

“Whenever I feel like exercise I lie down until the feeling passes” Robert Maynard Hutchins

Ow. Ow. Ow.

I’m not really in that much pain, but my lower legs are definitely sore. Yesterday, in my “Concepts of Physical Fitness” class, we were baselining our VO2max and had to walk (1mile) or run (1.5miles) to get this baseline. Of the thirty person class, two of us chose to run. I was supposed to only run around the building about five and a half times, but I think I ran six and a half. Oops. Lost track. Even so, with the time I ran, my fitness is considered “good” – of which I’m pretty glad. I haven’t been running at all, so to be able to complete this I felt good about my physical fitness (for my age *cough* *cough*).

That being said, I was more or less stoned from exhaustion yesterday. I didn’t realize it until I made it over to Guitar Center to buy more strings. When I had gotten home, I had immediately tried to complete stringing up the J. I quickly realized that I had cut three of the strings wrong, and that is what was causing my intonation problems. But, I had no strings left. So, to Guitar Center I went. One of the GC guys attempted to strike up a conversation about Reverend Horton Heat (I was wearing a RHH shirt) but I was so exhausted that I could barely do more than nod and shrug my shoulders. From there I went to Whole Foods around the corner and found this:

monty_ale

Came home and finished stringing up the J. Around seven thirty, I laid down and attempted to sleep. So I slept until about eight forty five this morning. That’s a lot of sleep for me.

Oddly, this will be the first true holiday weekend that I’ve had in about five years. My Saturday class is cancelled, and so are my Monday classes. Time for more coffee. Need to read some Chemistry – maybe later.

Forgot – I’m supposed to be getting a *free* treadmill tomorrow from my ex-mother-in-law.

03
Sep
09

“Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.” Thomas Otway

I had my Endoscopy (follow up) today – the Dr says that there’s no inflammation, and didn’t even stretch (dilate) my esophagus. He said there’s enough room, and things are looking good.

Still have to puff on Flovent twice daily and still taking Nexium. Feeling good. The anesthesiologist gave me propofol, so of course I was obliged to make jokes about touching small boys and being able to do the moonwalk. That’s pretty trippy. It burns, then you sleep. Then you wake up in another room.

You’re not supposed to drive after you’ve taken it and while I can’t say that I was foggy, things would slip my memory. Like what I said last to the anesthesiologist before passing out….

The Iceman is just an absolute killer guitar. It’s an all around player. I’m not even afraid to mess with the Floyd – I understand it now (and have a book to help me out) so I need to change the strings on the guitar. Need to study first.

This school thing is turning out well. It’s nice to have Labor Day weekend off – I’ve got a quiz tomorrow in Government. We’ll see how that goes……

01
Sep
09

“Yeah, I know I’m ugly… I said to a bartender, ‘Make me a zombie.’ He said ‘God beat me to it.’” Rodney Dangerfield

One of these things is not like the other –

One of these things is not the same –

31
Aug
09

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.” Frank Sinatra

As I am slowing recovering from my two hour nap – and waking up, I’m going to update this page rather than clean my desk, do homework, practice guitar, feed the cats or any of the other mindless things I “should” be doing. Tuesdays are the only days that I have that I don’t have to wake up early to do anything – so essentially, Monday night is my Friday night. I can study late tonight (should I choose) and sleep late tomorrow…..and study tomorrow.

School is going well. Until the first test anyway….then we’ll see how well I’m understanding my commitment to the process.

My Iceman is on its way – and technically I should receive it tomorrow, but there was a shipping error, so it may be another day. I’m not sure how I always manage to fall into these “pay well below market” situations. It’s always “right place right time” with me and guitars. I have too many, way, waaaay too many now. I’d feel bad, but I’m not going to. I’ve paid the price in other ways. >wicked<

I’m supposed to get my upper GI scoped on Thursday (again) and it’s going to be expensive without insurance. I set up COBRA, but the gears of bureaucracy turn sloooowly. I’ll have to pay out-of-pocket and then be re-imbursed for it.

27
Aug
09

“The reactions from people when they see our stuff is always positive. Wherever we go, people seem to be drawn to us. It feels so good. It makes me feel like maybe I’ve made the right choice,” Sharon Hill

I picked up my Chemistry book today – again, I’m relieved that I made the right choice.

Reading through it, it’s more “interesting” and I don’t have that sinking feeling.

I’m still waiting for three books that were ordered from a separate campus last week – and have yet to be delivered. I’ve already ordered them at textbooks.com, so I should get the remainder in tomorrow.

My guitar shipped today, and I should be getting it in a few days. Hopefully I can request a pickup at the UPS hub on Tuesday. *crosses fingers*

I need to update my guitar page – I’ve acquired a bit of gear.

26
Aug
09

“Before you try to convince anyone else, be sure you are convinced, and if you cannot convince yourself, drop the subject.” John H. Patterson

Alright – my first class dropped.
I was able to sneak into a Saturday Chemistry class (one of my core requirements) and drop the logic class. The logic class was probably going to be interesting, but I could tell that from the first two chapters that I would be pretty buried. It didn’t help at all that the teacher was not tremendously orgainized. Quote, “I’m not going to be a teacher, but more of a coach…..well, I’ll teach also but….”  Nothing was really laid out too well (at least not to my liking) so that I could expect relatively what was going to happen.  After experiencing this, my history and government classes seem very easy. So, I did manage to find the Chemistry class – while I’m not super excited about it being on a Saturday, it just means that I only have to take four more classes for my Associate’s degree – then I can transfer into University of Texas Arlington.

Having had the previous experience of bombing classes, I know better now when to cut and run. There’s a difference between sighing because of the workload, and having a horrendous sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.  Last night was one of those nights in the Logic class. Since I was taking it to fill an elective spot (foolish me), I did visit with the academic counselor yesterday so that I could fully understand what I was doing.  I pretty much just jumped into it all without looking too closely, but that logic class was a little too close to the edge.

Maybe if I had been in school more recently, I could have handled it, but having not been in school in about thirteen years,  overwhelming myself is not a good plan.
All in all, I’m very happy with the choice I made – I did it before it was too late, and I’m still on my way.
The music class should be fun.

24
Aug
09

“Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.” Mark Twain

SO – How was the first day at school?
Not as nerve wracking as I expected it to be.  While it is assumed that I’m some punk “kid” because of my green hair (which did go over very well by the way) I know that I’m a little less than twice the age of most of these kids. It’s definitely nice to have this kind of perspective – every single class had a “get to meet you” and the majority of the kids in there sounded just like me when I was their age: “I don’t know what I want to do/be”

[UNDECIDED]

So it’s nice to at least kind of know what it is I’m going to do.

Current plan: Xfer to UTA and get a degree in music production/recording.  Couldn’t hurt.
My classes seem pretty straight forward. The “Concepts of Physical Education” I’m kind of looking forward to. It’s being taught by a track teacher and he said we can work out however we want to. I’m already working out four times a week – so this should bump it up a bit. Not sure how the information is being graded though in his class. The other two classes are pretty self explanatory.
Sooooo…..I probably need to be practicing guitar right now, but unfortunately, I’m not. I made a semi-mistake on eBay and ended up snagging a J Yuenger sig model Ibanez…..that will be pretty much like the guitar that I’m having custom painted right now….to look like a sig model J Yuenger guitar. My “custom” won’t have a floyd rose, but the sig model probably needs to be repainted anyway.  Apparently it was damaged when being shipped to the current owner and he had it airbrushed. You can see it in the photo which looks a little blue/green right by the knobs and the stars are a little more shiny – which is probably why I got such a good deal on it.  Depending on how well my “custom” is coming out,  I may send the sig model to him to redo the entire front. We’ll see when it comes in.

!BYs4Ou!B2k~$(KGrHgoOKisEjlLl5Pu2BKi-gT!fog~~_35

*sigh*

23
Aug
09

“May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart” Eskimo Proverb

Sundays appear to be good days to update. Again, I’m not sure why.

I’ve got a student coming over in about an hour and a half – and I’ll be giving another guitar lesson.

Yesterday, my brother picked me up and we went to a small get together with some of his friends from school – I’m a at good place in my life, and didn’t feel as …..inferior….. as I normally do. Over time, I’m finally getting to the conclusion that as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing, then the rest falls into place. We drove around a bunch in Ft Worth and went to the stockyards. My green hair went over pretty well there – in a lot of ways it was like being in Houston. The really “square” folks stared – everyone else pretty much ignored me. It was definitely a fun time – Ross’ buddies are all pretty quick on the draw.

School starts tomorrow. All my credits have been accounted for. After I finish this 13 hours this semester, I’ll only need four more classes to get an Associates Degree. I’m not stopping there though – I’m going to transfer into the college around the corner and go for a degree in Music Business/Recording. Not quite sure of all the different parts of it, but that’s the plan. Having the plan is good enough right now.

21
Aug
09

“It’s a labor of love,” Mark Franz

I managed to get my hands on some material that I’ve been looking for – for quite a while.

Originally, I had only caught two columns in print – then ran across them while running some searches. I thought, “I’ll get back to them”. I never did and they pretty much disappeared.
Rescued, reformatted and reposted.

“So You Wanna Join a Band? by J Yuenger”

18
Aug
09

“How many people make themselves abstract to appear profound. The most useful part of abstract terms are the shadows they create to hide a vacuum.” Joseph Joubert

I wish I had something interesting to report.

Things are kind of slow when my daughter isn’t around, and my green hair only entertains me so much. I hear from my lawyer that I will need to go back to blonde before the probate hearing. Yay me. Then it’s back to green.

Being unemployed is a little surreal. It will be good to go back to school, giving me a daily goal (wake up, go to school, repeat).

I’m using a book that teaches fretboard logic – and it’s working very well for me. I’m really happy with it.

Picked up a ton of $2 bills at the bank today. I wiped them out. Why? Why not? It’s legal US currency – it’s time to reintroduce it into circulation. C’mon people! Do your part!

Going to have a parent/teacher conference tamale. Little one made “student of the hour” last week – of which I am extremely proud. The things you do for your kids…..

She’s enjoying the whole process which is awesome. This is exactly what she needed. I can enthusiastically endorse Sylvan Learning Center.

Am considering doing the P90X program – my insurance agent/guitar teacher does it and he loves it.

I’m trying to use every Category that I have…..here we go – I’m close.

Installed a new toilet the other day – life is so much better with a new toilet. Don’t underestimate the power of a new toilet.

Speaking of humor….just kidding. I honestly have had more conversations with this hair than I can count. People say the oddest things. Which is great, because it’s sharpening my response skills.

“Which came first, the chicken? Or the egg?”

16
Aug
09

“I shot the sheriff” Bob Marley

Not sure why Sunday has turned into such a peaceful day….

It used to be because most of our customers were least busy, so I would get the least amount of phone calls. I was jolted earlier today when I thought, “Where is my work phone?”. In some ways, I’m still getting out of “work mode” – in other ways, I’m way, way gone.

Right now it’s quiet, the TV is off, my daughter is still asleep – I’m thinking about pattern one scales in the way that this one book is telling me…..and wanting to write a song.

There was a police officer across the street – and knowing my neighbors are out of town, I went to see if everything was ok. Everything was fine – including the officer. *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*. I could have easily crossed over in our tiny insignificant conversation and asked for her number, but I passed that tipping point where it felt natural, and just let it go.

Also, I never feel comfortable doing that kind of thing when my daughter is within say, 500 feet?

Sunday is supposed to be a religious day. I was definitely thinking about the big “R” the other day when someone asked me if I used to be a priest.

These days, I consider myself a non-theist. I’m a practicing non-theist. LOL.

Atheism, to me, prescribes a kind of knee-jerk reaction to whatever religion is being presented.

The only god I pray to is the porcelain kind – and speaking of which: I was replacing the wax seal (again) because I undertightened the bolts on the toilet, and ended up breaking it (the toilet). Bummer. My new one is in route to get here in the next hour or so – then I can install it. I’ll be kind of glad since I’ve been meaning to replace the disgusting seat that’s been on there since we moved in.

I gave my first guitar lesson on Friday – and I think it went well. I don’t know how the student thought it went, but overall we covered some things, and started down the path.

11
Aug
09

“Babies don’t need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I’ll go over to them and say, ‘What are you doing here, you’ve never worked a day in your life!’.” Stephen Wright

I’ve been a pretty busy dude.

Obviously.

Friday was my last day at work (have already covered that).

Didn’t really feel like doing anything, but drove out to Houston on Saturday. Monica and I stopped at Mai’s for food – and picked up some for Tam and Chelsea. My daughter ate steak at the Hilton – where I managed to get them a room for the night after the Green Day concert. I think I tried to eat fish the entire weekend. Went to the show –

which was obviously cool. They blew ticker tape all over the place – it had skulls on it. I think I just washed the few pieces I had. Or I dropped them – I don’t remember. my kid got some, which is really what matters. I got Terry a Green Day sticker (per request) and got a shirt for the kiddo. She loved it.

Drove to Galveston on Sunday – had a lot of fun. We went to Seawolf Park which was pretty much decimated by the last hurricane. It was all dirt. I got pretty pink in the 20 or 30 minutes we were out uncovered. Got some great pictures in the submarine – but didn’t get to go into the conning tower. Used to be able to look through the periscope when I was a kid. :-(

Walked on the beach (2 miles) at night which was really, really cool. Got a lot of exercise walking, but picked up about four pounds over the weekend. :-( Since it’s mostly beer, I suspect I’ll lose it by the end of next week. Time to start drinking a lot of water – and quit eating food after seven pm!

Great news! On the way back from H-town, I decided to tempt fate and contact my GI guy (not the GI Joe guy, the General Internist or whatever he is) and they said that I had “allergic espohatitis“. That’s good – it’s not cancerous. I now have an inhaler that I have to use for the next 6 or 8 weeks – and then we’ll go from there. I will surely laugh at the prospect that it may be coffee that I’m allergic to.

Got back and then I REALLY got busy. I shipped the IC300 out to be painted, and got some hair bleach at Hot Topic, went to Sally’s Beauty Supply and picked up some Green Manic Panic. Stage One:

Being unemployed is so freaking cool. (Until the bills roll in……)

I also picked up some music books and a music stand – getting ready for LESSON # 1!

LOL.

07
Aug
09

“The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.” Moliere

Wow.

Today was my last day of work. They held a great little luncheon for me, and I cracked jokes pretty much the entire time, probably to try and convince myself that I’m not nervous about the leap I’m taking. Oddly enough, we had some conversations about my age. Apparently pretty much everyone there thought I was in my mid-forties – and were very surprised that I’m not. LOL.

After it was all over, I came home and passed out for four hours. It honestly was pretty emotionally draining. After spending five long harrowing years pouring blood and sweat into this job – I walked away.

Some people kept saying, “It’s going to be impossible to fill your shoes”. I don’t truly believe that’s the case, I think there will be a relatively natural evolution that will occur. It will just be different (for them). I didn’t expect the place to go up in flames without me at all. It remained standing as I slowly pulled myself away over this last few….uh…er…..weeks. Ha!

In other news:

* I went to a golf driving range last night. The twist? All the balls were RFID’d and you had a monitor next to you that would track how far and how accurately you hit the ball. Since I haven’t golfed in 25 years (pretty close to not ever golfing) it was pretty rough for the first 60 balls. I finally got my swing in a little bit and managed to hit 4 out of 5 balls (in a row) pretty much where I wanted them to go. It was a lot of fun and there were lots of cute girls there too. Apparently driving ranges are the new meat market! Beer helps too…..except when my brother is bellowing “You suck BALLS???”. It was funny though.

* I’m having my Ibanez custom painted to look like a White Zombie model that’s no longer in production. I’ve owned a guitar with a floyd rose, and I’ve never been truly excited about getting another one with a Floyd, so I might as well get my cheap stop tail painted custom and save myself $3000.

The guy that is doing it is pretty excited about it – so am I. I’ve been posting on every guitar forum that I’m looking for one – no go. They’re HARD to find. I even e-mailed Jay Yuenger – since it’s his signature model – to see if he had one, but he didn’t have one to sell! I’m mailing the body off next week – crossing my fingers that all goes well.

* Green Day is tomorrow. I begin the trek down to Houston tomorrow morning some time. The way that I feel RIGHT NOW is that I’m so worn from this last two weeks, I almost want to crawl into bed for a week or two and not get out. I’m sure I’ll feel differently tomorrow morning, but I’m still mentally a blob right now. We’re going to go to Mai’s for some spring rolls (yay for Mai’s!!) and then hit the show. Heading for Galveston on Sunday, and will be spending the night. Mini-vacation if you will. Coming back Monday to see if anyone tried to test out my Brinks alarm system.

* One of my former employees is interested in learning guitar (zero experience) so I’m going to use this as an opportunity to try my skills at teaching guitar, which is one thing I’m pretty interested in doing. Being interested in it and doing it are two separate things, so we’ll see how this works out. Should be pretty fun.

01
Aug
09

“The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves if we are underlings.” William Shakespeare

It took about three or so hours, but I got most of the bedazzling off the guitar. It now looks like:

starless_iceman

It really did look better with all the stars on it. Gotta find some online…..

I went to bed early last night (9pm) and slept until about 9am this morning. Shortly after I woke, it began raining. I’ve been accused (in my past life) of not getting out of the house when it’s raining. That is correct.

When I lived in New Zealand, and went to an all boys school, and it rained, I stayed home 90% of the time.

People “knew” that if it rained, I wouldn’t be there.

Mid-day, the rain slacked off and the sun came out – I went and got some new rear tires, a haircut (meelion dollar haircut), and some CD’s. It was announced on Thursday that my job is up for grabs, so it’s entertaining to say the least. Jockeying and maneuvering into (re)placement they go!

I did get my hair cut a lot shorter this time – it’s summertime people! Anytime my barber(ess?) Erin declares that it looks good, I’m inclined to value her opinion. Gents, always get your hair advice from a beautiful woman – you can’t go wrong.

26
Jul
09

“We want consumers to say, ‘That’s a hell of a product’ instead of, ‘That’s a hell of an ad.’” Leo Burnett

Yes, I bought another guitar.

This one was cheap though – so I don’t feel too bad about it. It would probably be the first one to go, and the last one that I would pick up if there was a fire in my house. This is the first guitar I’ve ever owned that someone “Bedazzled”. There are little jewels stuck on some of the stars that I’ll have to remove. The stars themselves are stickers, which actually I really like because it’s a cheap version of the White Zombie Iceman that I love so much (but can’t bear to actually buy)

White Zombie Iceman

My second Ibanez I’ve ever owned, but my first Iceman.

It shreds like my old Ibanez, but like all Ibanezes before it – it has no soul. :-(

My Gibson(s) and Gretsches are normal looking, but they have soul. Alas, the Ibanez does not.

21
Jul
09

“What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.” Angela Davis

This pretending to be un-employed in preparation for the real thing is kind of cool.

Nobody calling me, getting things done, hanging out with my daughter.

I’m going to head over to the school to re-register and see how many of my class hours evaporated. *Poof*

I used to be a sophomore….somehow after 20 or so years, this time I’ll probably have to start from scratch.

What to do, what to do…….

Awaiting the Brinks alarm installation folks – finally getting around to that.




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