I went exactly two months without playing guitar…
…before I played today.
I played my SG because it’s the lightest guitar with the smallest body and I figured it would be the easiest to deal with against my recently sliced open gut.
There were no issues.
Life is good.
New decor?
Two weeks ago at about this time, I think I was being moved from the operating room to the recovery room. I’m trying to find some way to commemorate this historic anniversary and I am coming up with nothing. I’m in the cellar, watching Breaking Bad again and surfing online music stores on my laptop. I don’t want to spend money on gitter stuff but what can you do? Pedal boards and random gear are just fun to daydream about. I have made sure to avoid looking at actual guitars though. Amps too. Just pedals and non-bank breaking stuff.
As for the post-surgical update, I had a weird experience today. I ate my delicious tuna fish puree at lunch time. When I was done I… well… it’s so odd… I felt… hungry. As in, damn I could go for another ounce of that fun stuff. It was just a weird feeling.
I am still not giving any details on the subject, but my mother is still in the hospital. I still can’t do anything about it, and likely won’t be able to for another 2-3 weeks. I feel less than useless. Again, no details are coming but I just needed to state that publicly for my own guilt ridden reasons. That is all.
Happy two-week birthday to my little baby stomach*.
* In his book Ghost Rider, Neil Peart, while dealing with the deaths of his wife and daughter, refers to parts of his recovery as feeding his little baby soul. My soul is okay, but my little baby stomach needs constant attention.
I’ll take the Mooer E-Lady flanger off the big board, and the MXR Phase 95 that’s at Mike’s house and fill the space on the right. I’ll also take the MXR power brick on the board at Mike’s house and replace the daisy chained power supply.
Someday.
Let’s build ourselves a new pedal board. What do you say?
I’m thinking the wah will go on the floor.
We are up and about today. Nothing on the agenda other than staying hydrated. I’m struggling a little this morning, but I’m slowly but surely getting on top of it.
Protein shakes followed by chicken broth followed by some sugar free Gatorade. That’s been getting me where I need to be so far. May it continue today.
It’s a bit chilly in the cellar today so…
My mind is a-wanderin’ today, and it’s wanderin’ to guitar things. Someday the band is going to play together again. I’m thinking of a new pedal board setup combined with a Vox AC15 amp. I’m watching the YouTube’s looking for tips for AC15 use.
Someday.
It’s almost 2:00pm and I am just getting to lunch now. When I say lunch, of course, I mean liquid lunch. I just had me a protein shake. Yummy. Will it still be yummy after tomorrow? Who the hell knows!
3.5 hours left in my work day and then I go on leave for a month. I am having a tough time wrapping my brain around that. A whole month away from work is just… weird.
It’s really loud in my yard right now. There’s a huge ass riding lawn mower tearing around like a madman. I forgot we booked a lawn service this year. It’s a good thing because we kinda don’t have a lawn mower of our own at the moment, and for the next month or so I am going to be no good to anyone.
The Bruins lost game one last night. Game two is tomorrow. I am guessing I won’t be terribly interested in watching. You know, other stuff going on.
Still no phone call telling me when to show up tomorrow. They said to expect the call between 3:00 and 8:00pm, so I am not worried… yet.
When am I going to be able to watch MoonKnight tomorrow? Do you think Disney+ will let me see it today? No? Even if I ask Mickey Mouse directly? No? Aww.
Musiciansfriend is going to deliver a new delay pedal tomorrow. I don’t expect to be able to play through it right away. You know how it is, right?
My wife Jennifer is my rock. I just wanted to share that. I couldn’t do any of this without her. She’s amazing and I am so in love with her.
What else… I don’t know. I am sure I had a reason to start typing this and I am equally sure that nothing I’ve written here has anything to do with whatever that reason was. I know that, even though I really don’t know what the reason I started this actually is. My 51st birthday is this weekend. I’d tell you all not to get old, but the alternative is really a lot worse so I won’t.
To do list for tonight:
My friends Larry and Mike have already gotten in touch. I got a text from Larry this morning wishing me luck. Last night I got a call from Mike. He’s been through this already and he gave me some advice for the recovery.
They told me not to wear any jewelry tomorrow. That means no wedding ring and no watch. I’m not sure what to do with my glasses. Maybe I’ll bring the case and ask Jen to hold on to them for me.
I’m not freaking out. Not really. I think I just want it to be over with so I can move on to the next stage. As scary as all of this is, it’s a good thing and I will have no regrets.
Okay, back to work for the home stretch.
So I’m driving from my weight loss surgery class to the Supercuts in Tewksbury and I’m listening to the Envy of None record.
Spy House is playing and it gets to that moment when the guitar launches out from under the mix and Alex Lifeson reminds us that he’s the greatest guitarist ever. That moment.
I may be in a fragile state right now and that might explain why I got super emotional and a smile lit my face and my eyes grew damp and I literally asked myself who would I even be without Alex Lifeson?
Yeah. That moment. Let’s all give thanks that Alex keeps blessing us with his presence.
It’s not a music nook yet, but it will be. It will be.
Surgery is in 16 days and I am stressing a little. Not about the surgery itself, but about some things that go along with it.
I need to book a Covid-19 test three days before the surgery. They gave me a few clinics I can go to. I spent a lot of time on the phone with two of them today, trying to schedule a test, and never spoke to a human. Jen reminded me that today is a state holiday in Massachusetts, so that might be why. Still… if you’re not home today, add that to your voice message.
I haven’t had caffeine since February 3rd (I think). I haven’t missed it. Even last Wednesday when I did my 38 hour sleep-free stretch, I was never wishing I could have some caffeine. I am today though. I am jonzing go-juice in a big way. I’m exhausted and I could really use a little help staying focused. I can’t though. I can never have caffeine again.
I do have one little piece of good news, surgically speaking. I checked the documentation they gave me to see what restrictions there are on lifting things immediately post-op. It says not to lift anything over 25 pounds for six weeks after the surgery. Why is that important to me? The average weight of a Gibson Les Paul is around 10 pounds. That’s a ton in the guitar world, but it’s far below my limit. Sigh of musical relief.
In my travels through my childhood bedroom closet I found a folder full of old band stuff. There were some flyers and some set lists and…
Some pictures from our second gig!
I think this was June of 1987 maybe? It was before I bought my Les Paul Deluxe. This was my first electric. A super cheap Hondo strat copy. I was playing through Larry’s Kustom amp. The tiny Peavy sitting on top is my first amp. I was singing through it that day.
The most important thing in these pictures, clearly, is Mike’s first Rick! Awesome!
Inside the Red Head's Head 