Post 62 of 90.
I followed up on Don's request to send a pdf of "Tight Muscle Party" to Adrian. I wasn't able to last night because I fell asleep before I could get to it. I laid down fully clothed to "rest my eyes" and the next thing I knew it was 5:00 AM.
In the interim, I had a strange dream where I was an Albert Speer sort of architect character working for some fascist regime. Fascists who were rock fans, that is. I was at a private party featuring a Yes tribute band (including a very tall guy playing bass who looked a lot like Chris Squire). That band finished their set, and then this Goebbels sort of character gave a speech while a Blue Oyster Cult tribute band stood by in the background ready to play (within the dream, I knew they were a Blue Oyster tribute because all of the band members had moustaches). Goebbels had to pause his speech until some people in an adjacent alcove turned off the Rush concert video they had been watching.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
exhausted again
Post 61 of 90.
I was up late again practicing guitar.
I worked on ear training with the new version of Absolute Pitch Blaster throughout the day. Whenever I was due for a break, I would fire it up on the laptop. I'm hoping this will keep things fresh in my ear.
The default speed setting for the melody words is a lot faster on this one. I'm having to slow things down now and then to see if I can hear the C. With really fast melodic examples, the C will sometimes "light up" in my consciousness in the way I've grown accustomed to, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I make mistakes and have to slow the bit way down before the C makes itself known. Sometimes I hear it, but I don't know which exact note in the sequence is announcing itself. It just seems to be "in there somewhere." The same thing often happens with chords. I couldn't tell you which note in the cluster is the C, but I know it's in there somewhere.
Someday, when I move on to other notes and become familiar with their individual chromas, it will be interesting to see if this clears up.
I mentioned this to Chris Aruffo over email, and he reported the same experience. His hypothesis is that the structural/relative pitch aspect of hearing is what will clarify it. The absolute pitch faculty tells you what notes are present, while the structural faculty tells you where they are.
It will be interesting to see.
I do have this sense that once you have a sense for the chroma of all 12 notes, it will be almost impossible to mistake what you're hearing.
When my ear is revved up from working with the program and I sit down to the piano keyboard, I've been amazed at how A and C are so completely different, and I marvel that I could ever have mistaken them for on another. They are nothing alike.
Intensifying perception of the C chroma after a session does seem to spill over, in general, to the other notes as well. A definitely seems to stand out from years and years of hearing guitar music in A. So many rock riffs are in A.
I've been curious to see if that will manifest in NST as well, but I'm not sure so far. A is indeed a handy tonality in NST. "Where It Goes" obviously leans on A quite a bit.
I went ahead and ran through some benchmarking routines in the new program for both absolute pitch and relative pitch (both scale degrees and harmonic intervals all built from a key root), and found I'd improved a lot. I was rated at 83% for spotting C in various clusters and melodic fragments, and I had shown a great deal of relative pitch improvement, even though I don't focus on that nearly as much.
The new chord training program now seems to be based on a key rather than chord types all built off of a single root. This is cool, in that it's now helping me work identifying whether I'm hearing the I, IV or V chord of a key (other chords to come later).
The old program for chord types from a single root is still there in version 4.0 if I want to work on it. In that program, I found right away that I could identify suspensions with almost 100% accuracy, while I had a tough time telling minor and diminished chords apart. I always loved the ambiguity and mystery of suspended chords and felt drawn to them, so I guess this shouldn't surprise me.
I was up late again practicing guitar.
I worked on ear training with the new version of Absolute Pitch Blaster throughout the day. Whenever I was due for a break, I would fire it up on the laptop. I'm hoping this will keep things fresh in my ear.
The default speed setting for the melody words is a lot faster on this one. I'm having to slow things down now and then to see if I can hear the C. With really fast melodic examples, the C will sometimes "light up" in my consciousness in the way I've grown accustomed to, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I make mistakes and have to slow the bit way down before the C makes itself known. Sometimes I hear it, but I don't know which exact note in the sequence is announcing itself. It just seems to be "in there somewhere." The same thing often happens with chords. I couldn't tell you which note in the cluster is the C, but I know it's in there somewhere.
Someday, when I move on to other notes and become familiar with their individual chromas, it will be interesting to see if this clears up.
I mentioned this to Chris Aruffo over email, and he reported the same experience. His hypothesis is that the structural/relative pitch aspect of hearing is what will clarify it. The absolute pitch faculty tells you what notes are present, while the structural faculty tells you where they are.
It will be interesting to see.
I do have this sense that once you have a sense for the chroma of all 12 notes, it will be almost impossible to mistake what you're hearing.
When my ear is revved up from working with the program and I sit down to the piano keyboard, I've been amazed at how A and C are so completely different, and I marvel that I could ever have mistaken them for on another. They are nothing alike.
Intensifying perception of the C chroma after a session does seem to spill over, in general, to the other notes as well. A definitely seems to stand out from years and years of hearing guitar music in A. So many rock riffs are in A.
I've been curious to see if that will manifest in NST as well, but I'm not sure so far. A is indeed a handy tonality in NST. "Where It Goes" obviously leans on A quite a bit.
I went ahead and ran through some benchmarking routines in the new program for both absolute pitch and relative pitch (both scale degrees and harmonic intervals all built from a key root), and found I'd improved a lot. I was rated at 83% for spotting C in various clusters and melodic fragments, and I had shown a great deal of relative pitch improvement, even though I don't focus on that nearly as much.
The new chord training program now seems to be based on a key rather than chord types all built off of a single root. This is cool, in that it's now helping me work identifying whether I'm hearing the I, IV or V chord of a key (other chords to come later).
The old program for chord types from a single root is still there in version 4.0 if I want to work on it. In that program, I found right away that I could identify suspensions with almost 100% accuracy, while I had a tough time telling minor and diminished chords apart. I always loved the ambiguity and mystery of suspended chords and felt drawn to them, so I guess this shouldn't surprise me.
Monday, February 26, 2007
ear workouts
Post 60 of 90.
I've emailed Chris Aruffo for the latest update of Absolute Pitch Blaster, version 5.0.
More right hand work.
I've emailed Chris Aruffo for the latest update of Absolute Pitch Blaster, version 5.0.
More right hand work.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
slickery
Post 59 of 90.
I spent the morning drifting in and out of sleep. I felt justified in my decision not to go out last night when I would wake up and hear cars grinding around on the icy country road about an eighth of a mile away.
Laundry, and then I watched a few episodes of Firefly from the complete series DVD set I picked up last week. Great show.
More work on "Intergalactic Boogie," even though we won't be playing it at the performance.
I'm getting to where I can play the opening polyrhythm and then maintain the pulse to enter with the seven note picked sequence, but only at a slow tempo. Much work yet to do, but it's beginning to seem possible that I could play this peace.
When I open with the polyrhythm, it's crucial that the second chord chop in each series of three coincides with a foot tapping on the 1 of the second triplet.
Keeping track of either which beat I'm on in the measure or the number of chords I've played is still beyond me. It seems as if I can instinctively find my way through it by feel, but I need to be able to count it reliably. Otherwise, if I have an off day, the whole thing could crash and burn.
A lot of work on microscopic examination of my picking and fingering using no-tempo practice. The feeling of lightly touching the string with a relaxed pick or finger before allowing pressure is easily lost at even moderate tempos. No unintentional hammer-ons, please!
No-tempo work is not realistic for everything--there is so damn much stuff to learn!--but I am keeping a definite space for this work in my practice. I'm banking on the concept that in-depth work of quality on even very basic things will spread to other areas of my playing, as I've heard described on courses by people who should know.
A while back I came across an article by a double bass player where he talked about the necessity in physically practicing an instrument to replace muscular tension with "pressure, weight, and balance" wherever possible. Something about this resonated with me, and it seemed to me that release was the means to access pressure, weight, and balance.
In no-tempo work on picking, rather than slapping at the string with a tense arm, I'm pursuing this thing of first touching the string with a relaxed pick, and then allowing pressure onto the string from release of the wrist (and perhaps some weight of the forearm--the mass of my hand by itself does not seem to be quite enough to overcome the resistance of the string as it pushes back slightly against pick). Then there's a moment of balance. The pressure of my arm and wrist transmitted through the pick to the string is balanced by the resistance of the string. The entire hand and forearm balances on the string like a tightrope walker.
Then the balance is broken and the pick goes through the string (or rather, it seems that the pick flexes a bit and the string and pick slip past each other).
And now there's the question of what to do with the mass of my hand and arm as it goes flying after dropping through the string. No matter how slow you go, the picking hand and forearm seem to take off like a rocket, especially if you've applying pressure with the thumb to stiffen the pick, which seems to raise the "break point" threshold. I'm still working on what exactly to do with this. Once it's moving, the picking hand and arm have inertia. It takes some time to recover. That mass and velocity has to be directed and counteracted in the "recovery phase."
There's a tendency for my arm to "start" and flail outward if I'm not paying attention.
I've also noticed a tendency on the trip downward for the pick to bury itself into the next string. If I'm going to cross-pick, that velocity must be directed elsewhere. In many cases, it needs to go over the next string, so I'm having to adjust my attitude in the moment of balance so that the resulting movement is directed in a slightly more upward/outward direction. Some of this goes back to having the pick truly perpindicular when it touches the string. There may also be a slight rotational movement in the forearm (clockwise if you're looking down from the headstock). Just the tiniest bit.
I've tried a variation where I immediately take the pick to the next location it needs to be. If I have to cross over the string below for the "return"/up-pick, I direct the resulting velocity of the hand and forearm and use it to help me get the pick where I want it to go. I'm looking for a controlled movement here, so that at the end of the sequence I am once again touching a string with a relaxed hand and pick.
I'm also working on programming in a "default setting" where I'm only using the tiniest bit of the tip of the pick, no more than the width of the string if possible. I have a tendency to "dig in" with the pick, and this definitely slows me down. There may well be times when the music calls for it, but I don't believe it's necessary or appropriate for my default.
In the left hand, I'm working on First Primary variations in no-tempo. When I firm up the relaxed finger and fret the string, I'm moving slowly and working on inhibiting the sympathetic tension and relaxing those other fingers.
There's also a sympathetic reaction in the right hand where it wants to dig down into the strings with the pick in response to happenings in the left hand.
I spent the morning drifting in and out of sleep. I felt justified in my decision not to go out last night when I would wake up and hear cars grinding around on the icy country road about an eighth of a mile away.
Laundry, and then I watched a few episodes of Firefly from the complete series DVD set I picked up last week. Great show.
More work on "Intergalactic Boogie," even though we won't be playing it at the performance.
I'm getting to where I can play the opening polyrhythm and then maintain the pulse to enter with the seven note picked sequence, but only at a slow tempo. Much work yet to do, but it's beginning to seem possible that I could play this peace.
When I open with the polyrhythm, it's crucial that the second chord chop in each series of three coincides with a foot tapping on the 1 of the second triplet.
Keeping track of either which beat I'm on in the measure or the number of chords I've played is still beyond me. It seems as if I can instinctively find my way through it by feel, but I need to be able to count it reliably. Otherwise, if I have an off day, the whole thing could crash and burn.
A lot of work on microscopic examination of my picking and fingering using no-tempo practice. The feeling of lightly touching the string with a relaxed pick or finger before allowing pressure is easily lost at even moderate tempos. No unintentional hammer-ons, please!
No-tempo work is not realistic for everything--there is so damn much stuff to learn!--but I am keeping a definite space for this work in my practice. I'm banking on the concept that in-depth work of quality on even very basic things will spread to other areas of my playing, as I've heard described on courses by people who should know.
A while back I came across an article by a double bass player where he talked about the necessity in physically practicing an instrument to replace muscular tension with "pressure, weight, and balance" wherever possible. Something about this resonated with me, and it seemed to me that release was the means to access pressure, weight, and balance.
In no-tempo work on picking, rather than slapping at the string with a tense arm, I'm pursuing this thing of first touching the string with a relaxed pick, and then allowing pressure onto the string from release of the wrist (and perhaps some weight of the forearm--the mass of my hand by itself does not seem to be quite enough to overcome the resistance of the string as it pushes back slightly against pick). Then there's a moment of balance. The pressure of my arm and wrist transmitted through the pick to the string is balanced by the resistance of the string. The entire hand and forearm balances on the string like a tightrope walker.
Then the balance is broken and the pick goes through the string (or rather, it seems that the pick flexes a bit and the string and pick slip past each other).
And now there's the question of what to do with the mass of my hand and arm as it goes flying after dropping through the string. No matter how slow you go, the picking hand and forearm seem to take off like a rocket, especially if you've applying pressure with the thumb to stiffen the pick, which seems to raise the "break point" threshold. I'm still working on what exactly to do with this. Once it's moving, the picking hand and arm have inertia. It takes some time to recover. That mass and velocity has to be directed and counteracted in the "recovery phase."
There's a tendency for my arm to "start" and flail outward if I'm not paying attention.
I've also noticed a tendency on the trip downward for the pick to bury itself into the next string. If I'm going to cross-pick, that velocity must be directed elsewhere. In many cases, it needs to go over the next string, so I'm having to adjust my attitude in the moment of balance so that the resulting movement is directed in a slightly more upward/outward direction. Some of this goes back to having the pick truly perpindicular when it touches the string. There may also be a slight rotational movement in the forearm (clockwise if you're looking down from the headstock). Just the tiniest bit.
I've tried a variation where I immediately take the pick to the next location it needs to be. If I have to cross over the string below for the "return"/up-pick, I direct the resulting velocity of the hand and forearm and use it to help me get the pick where I want it to go. I'm looking for a controlled movement here, so that at the end of the sequence I am once again touching a string with a relaxed hand and pick.
I'm also working on programming in a "default setting" where I'm only using the tiniest bit of the tip of the pick, no more than the width of the string if possible. I have a tendency to "dig in" with the pick, and this definitely slows me down. There may well be times when the music calls for it, but I don't believe it's necessary or appropriate for my default.
In the left hand, I'm working on First Primary variations in no-tempo. When I firm up the relaxed finger and fret the string, I'm moving slowly and working on inhibiting the sympathetic tension and relaxing those other fingers.
There's also a sympathetic reaction in the right hand where it wants to dig down into the strings with the pick in response to happenings in the left hand.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
yummy gator
Post 58 of 90.
I slept in and then went with my parents to see Ghost Rider. Silly movie, but fun.
Afterward, we went to Pappadeux for cajun food, and I had the fried alligator. Very tasty!
Some practice in the evening, and then I called off my plans to go see a local rock show. Freezing rain had arrived and it was already getting slippery outside.
I slept in and then went with my parents to see Ghost Rider. Silly movie, but fun.
Afterward, we went to Pappadeux for cajun food, and I had the fried alligator. Very tasty!
Some practice in the evening, and then I called off my plans to go see a local rock show. Freezing rain had arrived and it was already getting slippery outside.
Friday, February 23, 2007
snow on the way
Post 57 of 90.
Most of the evening was taken up with phone calls and email to Don and the rest of the Chicago team. A big storm front is on the way through. Don and I could make it in the morning and then depart before the snow and ice rolls in, but others would be driving right into the heart of the storm. The area north of I80 is supposed to be clobbered tomorrow.
The decision eventually came together to postpone rehearsal until next weekend. We need to get at least one more rehearsal in together before our performance.
I'm relieved that we won't be tempting fate with the weather.
Most of the evening was taken up with phone calls and email to Don and the rest of the Chicago team. A big storm front is on the way through. Don and I could make it in the morning and then depart before the snow and ice rolls in, but others would be driving right into the heart of the storm. The area north of I80 is supposed to be clobbered tomorrow.
The decision eventually came together to postpone rehearsal until next weekend. We need to get at least one more rehearsal in together before our performance.
I'm relieved that we won't be tempting fate with the weather.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
follow the bouncing ball
Post 56 of 90.
It was a long day at work. In fact, for whatever reason, it has felt like a very long week. I spent part of the day today thinking it was Friday.
I spent a lot of time last night working on the reverse 3/2 polyrhythm that opens "Intergalactic Boogie Express." I began by working on the entire polyrhythm as a pattern of 6 beats with the chords on 2, 4, and 6. I found this to be playable, and it wasn't too hard to get my foot tapping on the 1 of the 6 pattern.
But, we're eventually aiming for the rest of the piece to have a triplet feel, so I began working on getting this pattern divided in half into patterns of three with the accent every three beats to mark the triplet feel.
To begin working on this, I worked on tapping my foot on 1 and then 4 of the 6 pattern. This turned out to be harder than it seemed. The sub-cycle of physical motion within the initial foot tap, this followed by lifting in preparation for the next tap, became an issue. It was hard to find a regular pattern of motion for the foot tap and to get that synced up to the "strange" feeling of tapping my foot on the 4.
I moved to referring internally to the 4 as "1" of a 3-beat pattern, and for some reason this was easier to get in sync with. I began working on imbuing the "downbeats" with a big accent to get the overall triplet feel going, and I wound up standing up and bouncing my entire body from side to side in sync with that feeling while maintaining the chord hits in the right places. I wanted to get this rhythm into my body, and it seemed to help by exaggerating the accent in this way, as if the "1" of each triplet was a big basketball dropping down to bounce off the floor. I tried walking around, dancing around, whatever I could think of.
It seemed to help. I found myself playing the chord hits in the right places and generally keeping the polyrhythm intact. I'll find out tonight whether I was successful in getting the rhythm into my body to any degree. We'll see if it's any easier.
It was a long day at work. In fact, for whatever reason, it has felt like a very long week. I spent part of the day today thinking it was Friday.
I spent a lot of time last night working on the reverse 3/2 polyrhythm that opens "Intergalactic Boogie Express." I began by working on the entire polyrhythm as a pattern of 6 beats with the chords on 2, 4, and 6. I found this to be playable, and it wasn't too hard to get my foot tapping on the 1 of the 6 pattern.
But, we're eventually aiming for the rest of the piece to have a triplet feel, so I began working on getting this pattern divided in half into patterns of three with the accent every three beats to mark the triplet feel.
To begin working on this, I worked on tapping my foot on 1 and then 4 of the 6 pattern. This turned out to be harder than it seemed. The sub-cycle of physical motion within the initial foot tap, this followed by lifting in preparation for the next tap, became an issue. It was hard to find a regular pattern of motion for the foot tap and to get that synced up to the "strange" feeling of tapping my foot on the 4.
I moved to referring internally to the 4 as "1" of a 3-beat pattern, and for some reason this was easier to get in sync with. I began working on imbuing the "downbeats" with a big accent to get the overall triplet feel going, and I wound up standing up and bouncing my entire body from side to side in sync with that feeling while maintaining the chord hits in the right places. I wanted to get this rhythm into my body, and it seemed to help by exaggerating the accent in this way, as if the "1" of each triplet was a big basketball dropping down to bounce off the floor. I tried walking around, dancing around, whatever I could think of.
It seemed to help. I found myself playing the chord hits in the right places and generally keeping the polyrhythm intact. I'll find out tonight whether I was successful in getting the rhythm into my body to any degree. We'll see if it's any easier.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
kuppa kuawfee
Post 55 of 90.
At the coffeeshop again...
I listened to a track on an old friend's MySpace page. He's gotten a lot better with the rock guitar chops. Sort of like if Greg Ginn were really into Eddie Hazel of P-Funk.
In a moment, I need to walk my Mt. Lookout route and get some exercise. My legs were sore after the walk on Monday.
You would never guess that a little over five years ago I was running approximately 40 miles per week and competing in foot races.
Then it's home to practice, probably emphasizing the "fairy fingers" section of Blockhead. If I can just keep at it, maybe I can finally nail that one and get it up to tempo.
At the coffeeshop again...
I listened to a track on an old friend's MySpace page. He's gotten a lot better with the rock guitar chops. Sort of like if Greg Ginn were really into Eddie Hazel of P-Funk.
In a moment, I need to walk my Mt. Lookout route and get some exercise. My legs were sore after the walk on Monday.
You would never guess that a little over five years ago I was running approximately 40 miles per week and competing in foot races.
Then it's home to practice, probably emphasizing the "fairy fingers" section of Blockhead. If I can just keep at it, maybe I can finally nail that one and get it up to tempo.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
overwhelmed by the stinkies
Post 54 of 90.
It turns out my Alexander work has helped me regain some flexibility. It's nothing close to how flexible I used to be, but improving. During the table work part of my session this evening, my AT teacher was able to move my legs up way past where they usually are able to flex, and I didn't experience any pain or discomfort. It occurs to me that the pain and tightness I normally experience behind my knees during a stretch is actually due to some other factor than simply having lost flexibility. It may actually be connected more to the flexibility of my calf muscles than it is to my hamstrings, but I'm not totally sure. I've always worked on stretching my calf muscles, so...I don't really know. I'll look into it.
I quit guitar practice early. A family member had apparently been working with caustic chemicals in the basement, and even though I was in a more-or-less sealed room and I couldn't really smell the fumes, they still seemed to have worked their magic and I now have a light head and a thumping sinus headache.
I've been listening to a mix of a recent ProTools recording, and there's something going on still with the bass guitar that is pushing the recording way too far in the 250 to 500 hz range of frequencies, i.e. the "mud" frequencies. It probably goes all the way back to bass amp emulation I chose in the Ampeg modeling plug-in and the sound I dialed in with the mid-range knob that I liked so much and which seemed so thoroughly bitchen at the time.
So now I can't seem to find a level with the bass that "sits" right in the mix. It's either booming out and muddying the whole track or it disappears.
I've generally noticed that I tend to mix with way too much bass. One of my long-time fellow recording enthusiasts seems to do the same thing with his mixes. I need to get used to mixing with a flat eq and not try to compensate that area to make it sound like a stereo with the "loudness" bass boost on. I need to leave some headroom there.
On some systems, this bass/low mid issue doesn't show up at all except as the mix being slightly too "thick," but through iTunes with Bose noise cancellers (and the damn low-mid bump featured in those headphones) it's total mud unless I pull out about 6-8 db in the 250 to 500 hz range with the graphic eq.
I'll remix again some other time when I have some spare time. Guitar practice for Chicago is first on the menu right now.
Taking the trash bin out to the curb tonight was an exercise in ice skating.
I have yet to get comfortable with my part in the "fairy fingers" section of Blockhead. I pick the same "three pattern" in Grossderschau with no problem, but for some reason that work isn't helping me here.
It turns out my Alexander work has helped me regain some flexibility. It's nothing close to how flexible I used to be, but improving. During the table work part of my session this evening, my AT teacher was able to move my legs up way past where they usually are able to flex, and I didn't experience any pain or discomfort. It occurs to me that the pain and tightness I normally experience behind my knees during a stretch is actually due to some other factor than simply having lost flexibility. It may actually be connected more to the flexibility of my calf muscles than it is to my hamstrings, but I'm not totally sure. I've always worked on stretching my calf muscles, so...I don't really know. I'll look into it.
I quit guitar practice early. A family member had apparently been working with caustic chemicals in the basement, and even though I was in a more-or-less sealed room and I couldn't really smell the fumes, they still seemed to have worked their magic and I now have a light head and a thumping sinus headache.
I've been listening to a mix of a recent ProTools recording, and there's something going on still with the bass guitar that is pushing the recording way too far in the 250 to 500 hz range of frequencies, i.e. the "mud" frequencies. It probably goes all the way back to bass amp emulation I chose in the Ampeg modeling plug-in and the sound I dialed in with the mid-range knob that I liked so much and which seemed so thoroughly bitchen at the time.
So now I can't seem to find a level with the bass that "sits" right in the mix. It's either booming out and muddying the whole track or it disappears.
I've generally noticed that I tend to mix with way too much bass. One of my long-time fellow recording enthusiasts seems to do the same thing with his mixes. I need to get used to mixing with a flat eq and not try to compensate that area to make it sound like a stereo with the "loudness" bass boost on. I need to leave some headroom there.
On some systems, this bass/low mid issue doesn't show up at all except as the mix being slightly too "thick," but through iTunes with Bose noise cancellers (and the damn low-mid bump featured in those headphones) it's total mud unless I pull out about 6-8 db in the 250 to 500 hz range with the graphic eq.
I'll remix again some other time when I have some spare time. Guitar practice for Chicago is first on the menu right now.
Taking the trash bin out to the curb tonight was an exercise in ice skating.
I have yet to get comfortable with my part in the "fairy fingers" section of Blockhead. I pick the same "three pattern" in Grossderschau with no problem, but for some reason that work isn't helping me here.
Monday, February 19, 2007
happy presidents day
Post 53 of 90.
I forgot the workplace was closed in celebration of Presidents Day, and so I showed up to an empty parking lot.
OK, so turning things around, I went to Lookout Joe for some caffeine and a bite to eat, went on a walk (my first bit of real exercise this year), and then ran some errands. My main purchase was a water resistant clock/timer for the shower so I can monitor how long I'm in there. There are plenty of times when I get under the hot water and basically trance out. Having longish hair means I spend more time in the shower than if I had a crew cut, but sometimes I'm zoning out in there for a looong time. I don't have to spend that much time in the shower. I don't want to spend that much time in the shower, so I have to do something about it.
I do like hot showers, though. When I was in college, it seemed like every time my friends came to hang out at my apartment, I had just gotten out of the shower. It got to be an inside joke in that crowd.
"What's going on, man? Hair's kinda wet...let me guess...you just got out of the shower?"
"Well, I ,uh...yeah..."
Now down to practice. My guitar calluses seem to be firming up a bit, finally.
I forgot the workplace was closed in celebration of Presidents Day, and so I showed up to an empty parking lot.
OK, so turning things around, I went to Lookout Joe for some caffeine and a bite to eat, went on a walk (my first bit of real exercise this year), and then ran some errands. My main purchase was a water resistant clock/timer for the shower so I can monitor how long I'm in there. There are plenty of times when I get under the hot water and basically trance out. Having longish hair means I spend more time in the shower than if I had a crew cut, but sometimes I'm zoning out in there for a looong time. I don't have to spend that much time in the shower. I don't want to spend that much time in the shower, so I have to do something about it.
I do like hot showers, though. When I was in college, it seemed like every time my friends came to hang out at my apartment, I had just gotten out of the shower. It got to be an inside joke in that crowd.
"What's going on, man? Hair's kinda wet...let me guess...you just got out of the shower?"
"Well, I ,uh...yeah..."
Now down to practice. My guitar calluses seem to be firming up a bit, finally.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
"warsh!"
Post 52 of 90.
Laundry in progress throughout the day.
I seem to have yet again lost a notebook full of song ideas, both titles and notes about progressions and musical ideas I wanted to try out. Damn!
Dinner in the evening with friends of the family.
We had a long wait in the entryway, and every person who walked in the door seemed completely oblivious to the fact they were letting the door hang open and making us all shiver in the draft. Again and again, someone would shuffle in at the head of a group and then stop within a foot of the open door to make a slack jawed scan of the space while the others piled up in the gap behind them, unable to move forward and unable to close the door.
Laundry in progress throughout the day.
I seem to have yet again lost a notebook full of song ideas, both titles and notes about progressions and musical ideas I wanted to try out. Damn!
Dinner in the evening with friends of the family.
We had a long wait in the entryway, and every person who walked in the door seemed completely oblivious to the fact they were letting the door hang open and making us all shiver in the draft. Again and again, someone would shuffle in at the head of a group and then stop within a foot of the open door to make a slack jawed scan of the space while the others piled up in the gap behind them, unable to move forward and unable to close the door.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
cleaning up
Post 51 of 90.
I woke up early thinking I had to go to work, then remembered it was Saturday and I didn't have to be anywhere. I drank a glass of water, watched the snow falling outside, and went back to bed.
Beginning in late afternoon, I finally cleaned up the assorted books, papers, and clothing that had accumulated throughout my bedroom and around the sitting pad. Now that I once again have access to the sitting pad, so perhaps I'll make some more use of it, even though I've taken to sitting in a chair instead of trying to contort myself on the floor. I've lost a lot of flexibility over the last few years.
I had ideas of going into town to see Adrian Belew at Southgate House, but the weather and the ticket price dissuaded me this time. Better to stay home and work on cleaning and music.
I woke up early thinking I had to go to work, then remembered it was Saturday and I didn't have to be anywhere. I drank a glass of water, watched the snow falling outside, and went back to bed.
Beginning in late afternoon, I finally cleaned up the assorted books, papers, and clothing that had accumulated throughout my bedroom and around the sitting pad. Now that I once again have access to the sitting pad, so perhaps I'll make some more use of it, even though I've taken to sitting in a chair instead of trying to contort myself on the floor. I've lost a lot of flexibility over the last few years.
I had ideas of going into town to see Adrian Belew at Southgate House, but the weather and the ticket price dissuaded me this time. Better to stay home and work on cleaning and music.
Friday, February 16, 2007
trouble in gigland
Post 50 of 90.
Things got off to a weird start this morning, with repercussions reverberating throughout the rest of the day.
After getting everything packed and ready to go last night, I still managed to get halfway to work before realizing that, of all things, I had run off and forgotten my guitars. I was already running behind, so turning around to get them was out of the question. Unfortunately, music must yield to the reality that I must work.
All the same, I cut out as early as I could justify to myself, raced home to get the guitars, and then got back on the road to Springfield and the Un Mundo Cafe gig.
Then I hit the rush hour traffic jams, including a jam one exit before Springfield due to a car wreck.
All told, this set me behind by at least an hour and a half.
I was in contact with Don on the way up to keep him abreast of developments. In the meantime, things were weird at the Un Mundo Cafe. There had supposedly been some other acts booked to play the show with us, but they either did not show up or never existed.
By this point, it was late enough that we had to wait until the benefit presentation about Cambodia was over before we could play. Once it was time, we dove in and played a short set to the remainder of the audience, some of whom later thanked us for playing and said they liked how we sounded.
One very nice man described us as "jazz." I have no idea why. I can only theorize that "jazz" for some can signify any sort of music that is not recognizably pop or rock and perhaps features some intentional dissonance. But he was being complimentary, so I just thanked him rather then enter some meaningless debate about genre designations.
At one point during a circulation in C Major, I realized I was totally lost, yet I somehow still placed my notes at the correct spot in the circulation. It seemed to take care of itself.
Matt Deane used my spare Ovation with the low, tinny output, so we had him crank his settings up full and adjusted to his levels. I found I had to roll off some bass when my low notes on Asturias boomed and began to feed back, even with the rubber feedback busters in place in the guitar soundholes.
Diana, the coffeeshop manager, gave us some money for playing, even though we protested that we didn't quite feel like our performance merited payment. We still accepted the money when she insisted, but we felt we had to register at least minimal resistance. She's very kind.
I managed to get home just a little bit after midnight.
Things got off to a weird start this morning, with repercussions reverberating throughout the rest of the day.
After getting everything packed and ready to go last night, I still managed to get halfway to work before realizing that, of all things, I had run off and forgotten my guitars. I was already running behind, so turning around to get them was out of the question. Unfortunately, music must yield to the reality that I must work.
All the same, I cut out as early as I could justify to myself, raced home to get the guitars, and then got back on the road to Springfield and the Un Mundo Cafe gig.
Then I hit the rush hour traffic jams, including a jam one exit before Springfield due to a car wreck.
All told, this set me behind by at least an hour and a half.
I was in contact with Don on the way up to keep him abreast of developments. In the meantime, things were weird at the Un Mundo Cafe. There had supposedly been some other acts booked to play the show with us, but they either did not show up or never existed.
By this point, it was late enough that we had to wait until the benefit presentation about Cambodia was over before we could play. Once it was time, we dove in and played a short set to the remainder of the audience, some of whom later thanked us for playing and said they liked how we sounded.
One very nice man described us as "jazz." I have no idea why. I can only theorize that "jazz" for some can signify any sort of music that is not recognizably pop or rock and perhaps features some intentional dissonance. But he was being complimentary, so I just thanked him rather then enter some meaningless debate about genre designations.
At one point during a circulation in C Major, I realized I was totally lost, yet I somehow still placed my notes at the correct spot in the circulation. It seemed to take care of itself.
Matt Deane used my spare Ovation with the low, tinny output, so we had him crank his settings up full and adjusted to his levels. I found I had to roll off some bass when my low notes on Asturias boomed and began to feed back, even with the rubber feedback busters in place in the guitar soundholes.
Diana, the coffeeshop manager, gave us some money for playing, even though we protested that we didn't quite feel like our performance merited payment. We still accepted the money when she insisted, but we felt we had to register at least minimal resistance. She's very kind.
I managed to get home just a little bit after midnight.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
level three?
Post 49 of 90.
I get Guitar Craft emails at my work address, and when I saw the Level Three scheduled for October, I immediately thought, "Could this be the one for me?" We'll see if this feeling holds up. I have this idea that it would take the intensity of a Level Three finally to break through with my right hand. Dunno.
Ran all the way to Lawrenceburg over lunch to get my plates renewed, and thankfully, they were fast and efficient at the license branch.
I need to gather up my guitars and equipment tonight before I go to bed, so that I have everything ready for the gig in Springfield tomorrow.
I get Guitar Craft emails at my work address, and when I saw the Level Three scheduled for October, I immediately thought, "Could this be the one for me?" We'll see if this feeling holds up. I have this idea that it would take the intensity of a Level Three finally to break through with my right hand. Dunno.
Ran all the way to Lawrenceburg over lunch to get my plates renewed, and thankfully, they were fast and efficient at the license branch.
I need to gather up my guitars and equipment tonight before I go to bed, so that I have everything ready for the gig in Springfield tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
happy valentine's day
Post 48 of 90.
The office was closed because of the ice and snow. There were power outages in town. I stayed in all day, practiced guitar and worked on recordings.
I went outside briefly in the afternoon to take photos of the ice-encrusted trees and bushes. Every branch, twig, and leaf has a complete coating of ice, and it looks amazing when viewed against the sun.
Practicing Asturias and a few other things I haven't looked at in a while. My muscle memory has deteriorated a bit with these pieces, so I've been practicing with extreme slowness to get my finger movements cleaned up. In the course of doing this, I'm finding previously unnoticed anomalies and extraneous tension. Maybe it was always like this and I'm just now noticing.
The office was closed because of the ice and snow. There were power outages in town. I stayed in all day, practiced guitar and worked on recordings.
I went outside briefly in the afternoon to take photos of the ice-encrusted trees and bushes. Every branch, twig, and leaf has a complete coating of ice, and it looks amazing when viewed against the sun.
Practicing Asturias and a few other things I haven't looked at in a while. My muscle memory has deteriorated a bit with these pieces, so I've been practicing with extreme slowness to get my finger movements cleaned up. In the course of doing this, I'm finding previously unnoticed anomalies and extraneous tension. Maybe it was always like this and I'm just now noticing.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
ice and snow
Post 47 of 90.
I ran late this morning out of my desire to avoid driving on slick country backroads. When I finally got on the road, it was pretty much what I expected, although I only had one scary moment on a steep curve. I only exceeded 55 mph on a few occasions once I was on the highway. The office closed early due to the approaching storm.
Time for practice. The amount of music and exercises to practice seems overwhelming. I'm going to work on counting sixes for the intro to Intergalactic Boogie. I've been striving for some time to feel the triplets, but it's still beyond me. I need some other point of entry.
I ran late this morning out of my desire to avoid driving on slick country backroads. When I finally got on the road, it was pretty much what I expected, although I only had one scary moment on a steep curve. I only exceeded 55 mph on a few occasions once I was on the highway. The office closed early due to the approaching storm.
Time for practice. The amount of music and exercises to practice seems overwhelming. I'm going to work on counting sixes for the intro to Intergalactic Boogie. I've been striving for some time to feel the triplets, but it's still beyond me. I need some other point of entry.
Monday, February 12, 2007
espresso
Post 46 of 90.
I stopped by the coffeeshop for a cappuccino after work and dallied a bit too long. Now to practice.
I stopped by the coffeeshop for a cappuccino after work and dallied a bit too long. Now to practice.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
musica antiqua
Post 45 of 90.
I went to see Musica Antiqua play Classical and Medieval music at a Starbucks in Cincinnati. They used period instruments, cheating only slightly by using some amplification. I finally got to meet my MySpace friend Tina in person, and also briefly talked with Christian the percussionist. Very nice people.
During the performance, the barrista on duty loudly brayed into her cell phone about something "Angela" had said, and someone needed to tell Angela something or other or whatever. Clueless.
Back home, I played around with the Strike plugin in ProTools and practiced on the Ovation. This was one of those sessions when the guitar just felt really good in my hands.
ProTools succeeded in crashing OSX three times tonight. Amazing.
I definitely need a more powerful machine.
I've developed a strong suspicion regarding a possible RAM thief, someone who may have had unsupervised access to my laptop for a significant amount of time. But, my recollection is fuzzy and it's one of those things I could never prove.
Who knows?
I'm not prone to being suspicious of my friends and acquaintances, but experience over many years has taught me that "friend" does not always equate to "trustworthy." I rarely place unwarranted and uncritical trust in anybody these days, so on some level it's not even a big deal. It just comes with the territory, I guess. I can't control them. I can only work on myself, and I place my focus on the beam in my own eye.
"No act of kindness will go unpunished."
I went to see Musica Antiqua play Classical and Medieval music at a Starbucks in Cincinnati. They used period instruments, cheating only slightly by using some amplification. I finally got to meet my MySpace friend Tina in person, and also briefly talked with Christian the percussionist. Very nice people.
During the performance, the barrista on duty loudly brayed into her cell phone about something "Angela" had said, and someone needed to tell Angela something or other or whatever. Clueless.
Back home, I played around with the Strike plugin in ProTools and practiced on the Ovation. This was one of those sessions when the guitar just felt really good in my hands.
ProTools succeeded in crashing OSX three times tonight. Amazing.
I definitely need a more powerful machine.
I've developed a strong suspicion regarding a possible RAM thief, someone who may have had unsupervised access to my laptop for a significant amount of time. But, my recollection is fuzzy and it's one of those things I could never prove.
Who knows?
I'm not prone to being suspicious of my friends and acquaintances, but experience over many years has taught me that "friend" does not always equate to "trustworthy." I rarely place unwarranted and uncritical trust in anybody these days, so on some level it's not even a big deal. It just comes with the territory, I guess. I can't control them. I can only work on myself, and I place my focus on the beam in my own eye.
"No act of kindness will go unpunished."
Saturday, February 10, 2007
chicago circle meeting
Post 44 of 90.
Up late again, and then a long drive to Chicago, but at least the meeting was at 1 pm instead of 9 am, so I got about five hours of sleep instead of two.
We had a particularly nice C major circulation. Don and I talked about it later on the drive back and agreed it had a nice quality. You could tell that everybody on the team was listening and allowing for phrasing with pauses to arise. It didn't feel like the straight major/Ionian mode of C. I'm not sure what it would divulge under analysis, but it felt exotic.
I could tell that the fretboard familiarity work I've been doing, as minimal as it is, has been helping. I've also taken to practicing my C major with a drone, either on the low C string or sustained on the keyboard, to give a more overt context to the major scale degrees.
We also worked on the "zither" exercise tabbed out by Scott, then stumbled our way through Intergalactic Boogie Express, followed by a free improv. During the improv I found myself playing a Dm->Am->C->Dm chordal figure in search of a Dorian tonal envelope for everything else going on. This felt like the appropriate role for me to take at the moment. Some part of me wished to whip out some hot licks, but another part felt the necessity of holding on to this progression. The thought came to me that it was more important to be making music rather than wiggling my fingers as fast as possible. Without some tonal center and flavor in place, I would just be playing the dreaded "gnat notes" that Zappa despised so much.
After about two hours of playing, I found my right hand wanting to collapse. I couldn't figure out why this uncomfortable feeling was arising, and then it occurred to me that the muscles needed to hold the ball of the thumb upright are perhaps not as strong and developed as they could be.
In a C major circulation, what would have to happen to effect a modulation to G major? If it's not done correctly, the raised F# would either just sound like a wrong note (and often does) or else would yield a C Lydian mode, which actually something altogether different from "G major.". I suppose it would have to be leading tone to a line rising to a G, but I don't know how we would get to that without some really big ears. It's rarely going to happen by accident, and if it did, would everybody there be able to recognize what had happened?
As I work on ear training and my ears begin to wake up ever so slightly over time, I find myself realizing how deeply asleep my musical ear really is.
Up late again, and then a long drive to Chicago, but at least the meeting was at 1 pm instead of 9 am, so I got about five hours of sleep instead of two.
We had a particularly nice C major circulation. Don and I talked about it later on the drive back and agreed it had a nice quality. You could tell that everybody on the team was listening and allowing for phrasing with pauses to arise. It didn't feel like the straight major/Ionian mode of C. I'm not sure what it would divulge under analysis, but it felt exotic.
I could tell that the fretboard familiarity work I've been doing, as minimal as it is, has been helping. I've also taken to practicing my C major with a drone, either on the low C string or sustained on the keyboard, to give a more overt context to the major scale degrees.
We also worked on the "zither" exercise tabbed out by Scott, then stumbled our way through Intergalactic Boogie Express, followed by a free improv. During the improv I found myself playing a Dm->Am->C->Dm chordal figure in search of a Dorian tonal envelope for everything else going on. This felt like the appropriate role for me to take at the moment. Some part of me wished to whip out some hot licks, but another part felt the necessity of holding on to this progression. The thought came to me that it was more important to be making music rather than wiggling my fingers as fast as possible. Without some tonal center and flavor in place, I would just be playing the dreaded "gnat notes" that Zappa despised so much.
After about two hours of playing, I found my right hand wanting to collapse. I couldn't figure out why this uncomfortable feeling was arising, and then it occurred to me that the muscles needed to hold the ball of the thumb upright are perhaps not as strong and developed as they could be.
In a C major circulation, what would have to happen to effect a modulation to G major? If it's not done correctly, the raised F# would either just sound like a wrong note (and often does) or else would yield a C Lydian mode, which actually something altogether different from "G major.". I suppose it would have to be leading tone to a line rising to a G, but I don't know how we would get to that without some really big ears. It's rarely going to happen by accident, and if it did, would everybody there be able to recognize what had happened?
As I work on ear training and my ears begin to wake up ever so slightly over time, I find myself realizing how deeply asleep my musical ear really is.
Friday, February 9, 2007
strike!
Post 44 of 90.
The Strike drum plug-in was waiting for me when I got home, and I wasted no time getting it loaded. Curiously enough, my computer seems to have no problem dealing with the processing load for this plug-in. I practiced guitar while the software loaded, which took a long time.
The Strike drum plug-in was waiting for me when I got home, and I wasted no time getting it loaded. Curiously enough, my computer seems to have no problem dealing with the processing load for this plug-in. I practiced guitar while the software loaded, which took a long time.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
RAM!!
Post 43 of 90.
I stopped by Micro Center after work and picked up a 1GB RAM chip for my Powerbook. I noticed startup was immediately faster, but the extra memory isn't helping all that much with Amplitube. I can run the Ampeg emulation with no problem, but Amplitube keeps crashing ProTools. I just need a faster processor setup.
I stopped by Micro Center after work and picked up a 1GB RAM chip for my Powerbook. I noticed startup was immediately faster, but the extra memory isn't helping all that much with Amplitube. I can run the Ampeg emulation with no problem, but Amplitube keeps crashing ProTools. I just need a faster processor setup.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
cat meets dr. dog -or- "level flea"
Post 42 of 90.
The Mac AT guy was totally baffled, and so am I. I paid for a full GB of RAM when I first got his laptop--I even went back and checked out the original receipt--and the "About This Mac" window used to clearly show a full 1 GB in the system. Then all of a sudden I lost 256 somewhere. I assumed it was the overheating/logic board problem I had heard about for my run of Powerbooks, but when Julian looked in the RAM slots, he found a 512 chip and 256 chip! I had never felt competent to open it up before, so I never actually examined the chips with my own eyes.
WTF?! So where did my extra RAM go? Did somebody switch out the chips?
There was still some kind of discharge from the cat's left eye today, so I took him down to Lawrenceburg to see the vet. As soon as he realized I was carrying him to his carrier, the struggle began, and he managed to catch a claw on the edge of the carrier door. Then he wailed and cried in the car on the way down.
The receptionist thought I was trying to schedule some walk-in surgery, but eventually we figured out that I was just bringing the cat in to have his eye looked at. The scale registered 18 pounds of cat flesh, and the vet immediately prescribed eye drops. Both eyes were a little irritated and infected, but mostly the left.
The cat struggled and scratched when I picked him up to return him to his carrier, and scrabbled up my coat like he was going to climb on top of my head to get away from the all the scary sounds and smells in the vet's office.
When I got him home, I discovered he had not pooped in his carrier like he usually does when we visit the vet's office. As far as I know, this is a first.
The Mac AT guy was totally baffled, and so am I. I paid for a full GB of RAM when I first got his laptop--I even went back and checked out the original receipt--and the "About This Mac" window used to clearly show a full 1 GB in the system. Then all of a sudden I lost 256 somewhere. I assumed it was the overheating/logic board problem I had heard about for my run of Powerbooks, but when Julian looked in the RAM slots, he found a 512 chip and 256 chip! I had never felt competent to open it up before, so I never actually examined the chips with my own eyes.
WTF?! So where did my extra RAM go? Did somebody switch out the chips?
There was still some kind of discharge from the cat's left eye today, so I took him down to Lawrenceburg to see the vet. As soon as he realized I was carrying him to his carrier, the struggle began, and he managed to catch a claw on the edge of the carrier door. Then he wailed and cried in the car on the way down.
The receptionist thought I was trying to schedule some walk-in surgery, but eventually we figured out that I was just bringing the cat in to have his eye looked at. The scale registered 18 pounds of cat flesh, and the vet immediately prescribed eye drops. Both eyes were a little irritated and infected, but mostly the left.
The cat struggled and scratched when I picked him up to return him to his carrier, and scrabbled up my coat like he was going to climb on top of my head to get away from the all the scary sounds and smells in the vet's office.
When I got him home, I discovered he had not pooped in his carrier like he usually does when we visit the vet's office. As far as I know, this is a first.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
more snow
Post 41 of 90.
The snow began at lunch time and steadily grew more intense. Don and I agreed to call off our trek to the open mic in Yellow Springs.
I still went to my AT lesson. My teacher let me check the highway traffic cams, and I decided to make the journey home. The last time it snowed this hard, he and his wife insisted I stay the night in their house. This time, it appeared the highway crews were prepared. Traffic was still moving (slowly), and I was able to make it home in under two hours.
I talked to the Mac AT guy at work about my laptop, and he agreed to check it out for me.
The snow began at lunch time and steadily grew more intense. Don and I agreed to call off our trek to the open mic in Yellow Springs.
I still went to my AT lesson. My teacher let me check the highway traffic cams, and I decided to make the journey home. The last time it snowed this hard, he and his wife insisted I stay the night in their house. This time, it appeared the highway crews were prepared. Traffic was still moving (slowly), and I was able to make it home in under two hours.
I talked to the Mac AT guy at work about my laptop, and he agreed to check it out for me.
Monday, February 5, 2007
more car trouble
Post 40 of 90.
My 6 month old car died on the way to work today. While in the left lane on Ronald Reagan Highway, the engine just quit out of the blue.
I was going to call a tow truck, but decided to try turning it on, just to see. It started up, and everything seemed fine. I was going to shrug it off and go ahead to work, but then decided it would be better to go ahead and nurse it back to the dealership.
Sure enough, several miles later it died again.
It turns out the "Powertrain Control Module," the little electronic brain regulating the transmission, had died. There was nothing mechanically wrong with it, and just about any car made prior to 1980 or so would still be functioning perfectly well. Let's hear it for computer technology! Luckily, the car is still under warranty.
I had a car over ten years ago that had the same problem, and it behaved exactly the same way. The longer you drove it, the more frequently it would die, until you couldn't restart it at all unless you waited at least an hour. I remember nursing that car back to Bloomington, IN from a wedding in Brown County, and it must have died 15 times until I finally got back. Of course, the scumbags at the Chevy dealership in Bloomington saw fit to try and screw me over and rip me off, probably just because I was a "kid" and they felt they could get away with it. They managed to repair and charge me for everything except the actual problem.
It's a great relief to me that I'm no longer a babyface kid. I rarely face glaring instances of outright contempt and disrespect anymore. [knock on wood]
This car trouble has screwed up my plans to get the cat to the vet in the evening. I had to make up the time I missed from work this morning.
My 6 month old car died on the way to work today. While in the left lane on Ronald Reagan Highway, the engine just quit out of the blue.
I was going to call a tow truck, but decided to try turning it on, just to see. It started up, and everything seemed fine. I was going to shrug it off and go ahead to work, but then decided it would be better to go ahead and nurse it back to the dealership.
Sure enough, several miles later it died again.
It turns out the "Powertrain Control Module," the little electronic brain regulating the transmission, had died. There was nothing mechanically wrong with it, and just about any car made prior to 1980 or so would still be functioning perfectly well. Let's hear it for computer technology! Luckily, the car is still under warranty.
I had a car over ten years ago that had the same problem, and it behaved exactly the same way. The longer you drove it, the more frequently it would die, until you couldn't restart it at all unless you waited at least an hour. I remember nursing that car back to Bloomington, IN from a wedding in Brown County, and it must have died 15 times until I finally got back. Of course, the scumbags at the Chevy dealership in Bloomington saw fit to try and screw me over and rip me off, probably just because I was a "kid" and they felt they could get away with it. They managed to repair and charge me for everything except the actual problem.
It's a great relief to me that I'm no longer a babyface kid. I rarely face glaring instances of outright contempt and disrespect anymore. [knock on wood]
This car trouble has screwed up my plans to get the cat to the vet in the evening. I had to make up the time I missed from work this morning.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
wash day
Post 39 of 90.
A day of laundry. My "practice" probably more closely resembled "noodling." Very little focus.
I sometimes wish I had the focus (and the time) I had when I was in my early 20s, when I could obsessively practice for hours on end.
A day of laundry. My "practice" probably more closely resembled "noodling." Very little focus.
I sometimes wish I had the focus (and the time) I had when I was in my early 20s, when I could obsessively practice for hours on end.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
OGE rehearsal in Dayton
Post 38 of 90.
Met with Don and Matt in Dayton and went over the music we intend to play at Un Mundo Cafe on the 16th.
Freezing, freezing cold. I can so understand why old people retire to Florida.
Met with Don and Matt in Dayton and went over the music we intend to play at Un Mundo Cafe on the 16th.
Freezing, freezing cold. I can so understand why old people retire to Florida.
Friday, February 2, 2007
brains...more yummy brains...
Post 37 of 90.
I was a sleep-deprived zombie all day. In a moment, I'm going to go open up the guitar case and see if I can at least touch my guitar before going to bed. Maybe that simple goal will lead to more, as sometimes happens.
I was a sleep-deprived zombie all day. In a moment, I'm going to go open up the guitar case and see if I can at least touch my guitar before going to bed. Maybe that simple goal will lead to more, as sometimes happens.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
my caffeinated grin
Post 36 of 90.
Predictably, it's been a long day.
If my current mental state had a sound, it would be the sound of cymbals frying like bacon under too much mastering compression.
But, I'm not going to bed first thing when I get home. I'm going to tough it out and go to bed at a sensible hour rather than crash and wake up in my clothes at 5 am in the morning. I always hate that feeling, and it happens all too often.
I again find myself frantically scanning through news postings and blogs for some kind of information that will make all the churning storm clouds out there in the world click into a recognizable shape. For a good part of the afternoon yesterday, some kind of angst overcame me where I felt in my churning solar plexus that decisions have been made and the world as we know it is in deep shit. I just suddenly knew it, and I had the urge to run out of the office and stand on the corner by the mall with a sign basically saying, "Repent! The End Is Nigh!!" or some such equivalent. I would not and could not offer a remedy. I could only scream out to the bustling herds, saying, "We're in deep shit and you know it! You may not want to, but you do. I know it, you know it, and we 'little people' can't do anything about it, but could you please at least be honest for once and admit that you see it coming?"
So, in my heart I was ready to take to the streets, but what good would it do? The answer to that question has not crystallized for me yet...
I may need to get an iMac to get this recording system really up to speed. I haven't decided yet, but the above is becoming a factor for me, in the sense that I'm wondering if maybe I should go ahead and spend this money while it's available and while this technology is still available. I may as well fiddle while Rome burns, because music makes life worth living and that's what I would rather be doing.
Predictably, it's been a long day.
If my current mental state had a sound, it would be the sound of cymbals frying like bacon under too much mastering compression.
But, I'm not going to bed first thing when I get home. I'm going to tough it out and go to bed at a sensible hour rather than crash and wake up in my clothes at 5 am in the morning. I always hate that feeling, and it happens all too often.
I again find myself frantically scanning through news postings and blogs for some kind of information that will make all the churning storm clouds out there in the world click into a recognizable shape. For a good part of the afternoon yesterday, some kind of angst overcame me where I felt in my churning solar plexus that decisions have been made and the world as we know it is in deep shit. I just suddenly knew it, and I had the urge to run out of the office and stand on the corner by the mall with a sign basically saying, "Repent! The End Is Nigh!!" or some such equivalent. I would not and could not offer a remedy. I could only scream out to the bustling herds, saying, "We're in deep shit and you know it! You may not want to, but you do. I know it, you know it, and we 'little people' can't do anything about it, but could you please at least be honest for once and admit that you see it coming?"
So, in my heart I was ready to take to the streets, but what good would it do? The answer to that question has not crystallized for me yet...
I may need to get an iMac to get this recording system really up to speed. I haven't decided yet, but the above is becoming a factor for me, in the sense that I'm wondering if maybe I should go ahead and spend this money while it's available and while this technology is still available. I may as well fiddle while Rome burns, because music makes life worth living and that's what I would rather be doing.
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