Sign Up

It happens around this time every year, or at least every year since 2008…

I just signed up for this year’s RPM Challenge. The annual musical extravaganza/torture event is happening and I will be eye ball deep in it all throughout the month of February. We wouldn’t have it any other way, would we?

I have no idea what I am going to do this year. No goals other than to finish. 10 songs or 35 minutes of music… or maybe 20 songs or 70 minutes of music, as maybe I might shoot for a double album this year. Who knows.

Maybe my 1978 Les Paul in your left speaker (or your left ear if you’re wearing headphones) and my 2020 Les Paul in your right speaker/ear? Fun, eh?

I went to sleep last night fully planning to record some singing in the car this morning but then when I woke up I just didn’t have the energy. Tomorrow, for sure. Then some lead guitar playing. That’s the plan at least. I’m not trying to write anything new this month as I am saving that up for RPM February. Maybe I should just noodle some riffs and chord changes onto a memo file to have in the bank for next month. I’ve done that before but I usually try to keep everything 100% February if I can. 

So I have signed up for the RPM Challenge… have you? Well why not! Make some music next month. It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be.

Clean Bill of Health

Robin is home from the vet. Everything went fine. Just like her daughter, Lily three days ago, she was given a clean bill of health. Her shots are up to date and her claws have been trimmed.

All is well with both cats. We will book another check up for about a year from now. Until then, let’s not pull that carrier/prison out of storage again. 

Happy healthy cats day.

Family Traditions

Bloganuary writing prompt
Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
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Nope. I don’t think I want to. 

Well… okay… I’ll give a couple of holiday season things that I know I’ve written about before, just for the spirit of the thing. I’m having a weird morning and I’m not in a sharing mood so I’ll stick to public-ish info, m’kay?

Both of these little traditions come from my beloved wife Jen’s family, long before I came into the picture. The first happens at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Just after the clock strikes 12:00am to start the new year, one of us opens up one of the doors to the house to let the old year out and someone else opens another door to let the new year in. Cool, huh? I like that one. It’s little and silly but it’s us.

The other tradition I’ll mention is the xmas eve party. When I first started dating Jen her family had an annual xmas eve party at her mother’s house. When we bought our house in 2010 the party moved from there to here. Everything was fine and on schedule until Covid messed it up. Once things calmed down we got sort of back on track. With the kids living in Vermont right now we moved it back to Jen’s mother’s. This year it also moved to the day after xmas due to some busy holiday schedules. It still happened though and it was just as fun as always.

There you have it. Two little family traditions that are not little at all. They are both wonderful. I write this all the time, but I am so grateful and happy that Jen and the kids and the extended family have welcomed me and allowed me to be one of them. It’s one of the things in life that makes me happier than I could ever describe. 

Random Thursday Thoughts

The first random thought on this fine Thursday afternoon is that it actually is Thursday and not Friday or Saturday. I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago that my inner calendar/clock is a mess this week and I am not quite sure why, but I was convinced all day Tuesday that it was Thursday, and then I was also convinced all day Wednesday that it was Thursday. Now that it actually is Thursday I can’t decide if my brain is convinced that it is Friday or Saturday, which doesn’t make sense because I don’t work on Saturdays but I’ve been working all day today and still at times I’ve felt like it was Saturday.

My brain is broken. Here’s a cat to make it feel better…

Most work days fine me playing podcasts through the Apple HomePod that’s next to my desk in the new office space in my step son’s room. The last couple of days have been different. I’ve been listening to music. Today has been a playlist made up of all of Peter Gabriel’s original, non-soundtrack, non-cover/tribute records both as a solo artist and with Genesis. I made this playlist a few days ago with the idea being I would shuffle it. Today I started from the first track of his first solo record and let it run. The transition from his second record to his third is utterly stunning. The first two records are good. Not great, but good. The third… it’s weirder, it’s a totally different sound/approach/feel, and it is so infinitely better than what he did in the few years before it that it made my head spin a little. I just started album number five… So… I think it’s safe to say it is the masterpiece of his solo career and again the improvement is dazzling. 

Here’s a cat to help you appreciate Peter Gabriel the freakin’ legend…

It is January 25th today. It is 50 degrees outside. I actually went outside without a jacket on this morning. Granted, my shoes sank into the mud field that once was my yard, but other than that it was nice. This time of year the air can actually be painful if you go outside for a couple of quick minutes and are not bundled up. Today did not hurt at all.

Okay, that will do for random thoughts as my lunch break ends. I have some paperwork to finish up today and then I am making hamburgers for dinner. My wife made that request last night and I am more than happy to oblige. 

Happy Thursday afternoon, everyone… assuming it actually is Thursday. Who knows, right?

Anyone Else Play Guitar Today?

Hey everyone, raise your hand if you were able to sneak some guitar playing in before work this morning.

Robert timidly raises his hand.

Yup, I recorded lead parts for two songs. I now officially have no songs in progress that are currently ready for any guitar tracks. I have to do some MIDI work tonight, and maybe some car vocals in the morning, and then I’ll have some stuff ready to work on.

The Great Guitar Pick Journey of 2024 continues as well. I tried another new one today. Much of my internet research pointed to Dunlop as the brand to go with. I tried Max Grip first (1.14mm) and those were okay, but no as good as the Fender picks I’d been using for ages. They have little grippy things on them that are supposed to keep them from spinning around between your fingers as you play, and that worked but it felt awkward. I am sure I could get used to it but I moved on to option two this morning (for now at least). 

Option two is Dunlop Tortex Jazz III. This one was much better than the Max Grip in all ways but one. The little guy is just tiny. I kept going into muscle memory mode and literally missed the strings. It’s just small. It feels really good in my hand, and the overwhelming majority of suggestions I’ve received in my online questioning said to try them. I’ll stick with it for a while, but I am wondering if they make the same pick only bigger. 

I have two other options that I want to try before I start looking outside of Dunlop, but I haven’t bought either of them yet. One of them is pretty expensive for a pic. We’ll see.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures from this morning’s lead guitar playing extravaganza.

147/365
147/365
Dig those shiny new frets
Two amps… I ran them both direct out though. No speakers. Sadface.

Leisure

Bloganuary writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
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Two days ago the daily prompt asked for five things we do for fun. I said be with my family, music, photography, travel, and TV.

Today they ask us what we enjoy doing most during leisure time…

Insert the sound of a frustrated sigh here.

Two days. It took them two days to repeat a question. Is the “bloganuary” well that dry already?

So then, what do I enjoy doing most in my leisure time? I don’t know… maybe… spend time with my family, music, photography, travel, and TV? Something along those lines. Go back in time two days to get a smidge more information.