More Guitar

Two days in a row. It is silly how sneaking in 20-30 minutes of guitar playing before work in the morning can just brighten up the whole day. Silly and a little weird, maybe.

I mentioned last night that I started working on a new song for the re-recording project thing. I put rhythm guitars on it this morning after I did my daily exercise and had a quick breakfast. Done and done. I used direct outs from two of my amps again. That’s the norm now. Oh well. It sounded pretty good today. It sounded pretty good yesterday too, I think.

Here’s the obligatory guitar pic. Let’s use it for today’s photo a day project as well. Day 243 of 365. Actually… 366, but we won’t worry about that until the end of the line.

243/365

Holidaze

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?
View all responses

Like most American kids my youth was spent living for Christmas. You know, presents and shite. As I got older my opinions changed. Xmas changed from a joyous celebration to a months long stress-fest followed by one happy, wonderful day. It dropped way down on the list of favorite holidays.

Thanksgiving ceremoniously took over the top spot on that list. Meeting Jen and having a couple of kids in my life brought new life to Xmas, a new perspective and all, but I still saw Thanksgiving as my fav. Quality family time, good food, a happy celebration. All of those things make it my favorite.

Weight loss surgery has changed the perspective again. I can’t really partake in the Thanksgiving feast the way I used to. A tiny bit of turkey, a tiny bit of stuffing, a bite of mashed potatoes and I am stuffed like you’ve heard about. It doesn’t actually change anything, I just feel oddly self conscious.

So does that change what I see as my favorite holiday? Not really. A little? Does that move Halloween into the top spot? If the kids were still trick or treating it might. I really enjoy being the guy who hands out the treats at our house, but I enjoyed bringing the kids out more. So Thanksgiving still tops Halloween. Memorial Day is a contender, but only by association. We got married near Memorial Day so to me the holiday is more representative of our anniversary. 15 years, this year. We’re going to celebrate with a little trip.

So I think the answer to the question of the day is the same one it has been since I was a teenager and Santa Claus stopped being a thing. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is the best of them all. At least for a middle aged red head living in the United States.

I Want to Try All of This

I want to try everything he talks about in this video. Especially the zone focusing stuff. The biggest problem I have with my film camera is manual focusing. The camera is older than the concept of auto focus so I have to do it all with my own eyes and my eyes are unreliable (see the posts from a few days ago with all the shopping for glasses).

The thing that worries me is knowing distances without any measuring device. How far is four feet? How far is 10 feet? How do I know without tons of practice, which implies tons of wasted film. I don’t want to waste film, it’s freakin’ expensive!

I’ll figure it out. Maybe I’ll finally get to the city and spend a day pretending I am a Boston area street photographer. That would be groovy, wouldn’t it?

Another Song Ready

While sitting in the living room tonight being totally annoyed that there was neither a Bruins game nor a Red Sox game (WTF?) I took my frustrations out on another song for the re-recording project. Now I have a song that is ready to get some rhythm guitar tracks tomorrow… assuming I get up early enough and have time to play some guitar before work. We’ll see.

Stupid NHL and MLB both scheduling a night off for their Boston teams on the same night. Jerks. Also, for the record, I don’t care about the Celtics so if they are playing tonight don’t bother trying to cheer me up by mentioning them. If they are playing tonight it will probably annoy me even more.

The Windows are Open

The windows all over the house are open. It is a gorgeous day outside and the cats are transfixed by the outdoors.

In slightly related news, I got an email from amazon today stating that the two new bird feeders I ordered over a week ago finally shipped but won’t be delivered until Friday. Friday? Really? Ugh.

I was saving a bag of bird seed but I just said screw it and filled up the old, decrepit bird feeders one last time.

Also, no sign of life in either of the bird houses I hung outside. Oh well. I guess you can’t win ’em all. It’s still early in the season though… sort of.

Pre-Work Guitars

I mentioned last night that I was hoping to get some guitar playing in before work.

This morning? I got some guitar playing in before work.

I put rhythm guitars on the song I worked on last night, and lead guitars on the only other song I had in progress. I think I might have a little time to add vocals on Thursday morning, so I’m hoping to start another song tonight and put rhythm guitars onto it before work tomorrow. Wednesday is an in the office day so there’s no time for anything there. If I apply myself (HA! Fat chance of that!) I might be able to get to three songs ready to mix by early next week. That would be cool.

The current project is updating, editing, rewriting, and rerecording songs that were originally written for the 2021 Fifty Songs in Ninety Days challenge. I picked 10 songs to focus on. I might decide along the way that some of them are unworthy, but as of now we’re going with 10. Two songs in progress. Many more to mess around with.

242/365
242/365

Camp Concussion

Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?
View all responses

Back in the early 80’s I was a Boy Scout. You bet your sweet ass I’ve been camping.

I don’t think I was ever very good at it, if that’s even a thing. I always enjoyed the little trips. Tents, cabins, whatever. Tents in the winter time are a pretty sucky experience. Warm cabins? Now we’re talking. Except for that one time.

It was the dead of winter. The weather was super cold but the cabin was warm. The lake was frozen and we were going to try ice fishing. First we tried sledding down the steep, icy hill that had the path from the cabin to the lake. I wasn’t the first to go. The adventurous, athletic types lined up to go first. I was the awkward fat kid and I stayed near the back of the line.

All of the other guys were laying down on the sled and going head first. They were flying down that hill at crazy speeds. I was too chicken for that. I sat upright with my ass toward the back. My first run down the hill was awesome, at first. Then gravity combined with a really low coefficient of friction conspired to do their thing. The weight was at the back of the sled and wouldn’t you know it, the sucker spun around. I was now flying down the hill at a million miles an hour (estimated) backwards. It was exhilarating. Until the tree, at least.

I hit a tree while traveling at about Warp 8.5. Slam. Crash. My head slammed into the tree, very hard. I didn’t pass out, but it knocked me for a loop, I tells ya. Ouch town, population me, Bro. The adults packed me into someone’s car and drove me to a doctor. I had a concussion. I was a tad loopy for a day or two. I slept well, at least.

I don’t remember if that was my last Scout camping trip or not. It might have been. It would probably make a better story if it were. I quit the Boy Scouts when I was in the eighth grade. I gave it another try about a year later, but I didn’t last long enough to go on any camping trips. I am pretty sure that this concussion was my second and last. I was six when I had the first one and that was ice-related too, but I’ll share that story another day.

I guess the follow up question here is would I ever want to go camping again. The answer is never say never, but it’s a safe bet I have packed my last tent. Done and done.