Happy New Year!

Post 4 of 90.

Out in the afternoon to my favorite coffeeshop. The barrista gives me a free pound of coffee and shows me his new tattoos on his arms, still crusty as they heal up. I describe seeing a work friend way back when get a celtic knotwork tattooed at the base of her spine and how her face squinched up as the needle hit bone.

I read the first chapter of G's Beelzebub's Tales.

A girl nearby is wearing a pair of noise cancelling Bose headphones, which must come in handy in the noisy environment of this coffeeshop, which overwhelms most music on the Apple earbuds.

My pal E, regular coffeeshop denizen and men's clothing salesman extraordinaire, is obsessed with Jennifer Connelly and evaluates all women against her standard. Headphone Girl rates well, but still does not reach the heights of beauty embodied by Jennifer Connelly (no woman probably ever could). He's pleased to know I've been wearing the new shirts and coats he sold to me a few months back. We plot my return to the clothing store for a semi-secret half-off sale in a few weeks so I can load up on new shirts and pants. I tell him I'll see him next year.

Torrential rains most of the day, now quiet.

Frequent sightings of passing ambulances while in the coffeeshop are a bad omen. I resolve to head home and stay off the roads tonight.

Back home, the cat has gotten in a fight and has some kind of infected area that is now draining. He'll be going to the vet ASAP. I whip up a quick veggie dinner and watch a documentary on the history of marijuana, full of hilarious outtakes from Reefer Madness. Ah, those hopheads and their crazy jazz...

Ear training on Absolute Pitch Blaster. It's hard to spot the high C note right now, especially since it's not in the short Bach outtake used as the "melody word" to refresh the sound. As usual, I struggle through the first wave of aliens, then the second wave is much easier. I need to see about getting the new version of the program.

More emails to Loren talking about strobe tuner weirdness, harmonics, etc.

Phone call to Don to catch up and plot out ideas for swinging back into action with both Ohio Guitar Ensemble and the Chicago Group.

Now down to the studio to practice and record. I intend to ring in the New Year with a guitar in my hands.