Redundant Repetition

Daily writing prompt
What relationships have a positive impact on you?
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Come on, Jetpack or wordpress.com or whoever the hell comes up with these prompts. I’ve only been playing along for a few months but I’m pretty sure I’ve answered nearly exactly this question at least four times, and I am pretty sure I answered one just a few days ago. I’m getting really tired of this repetitious crap.

My wife and my step kids are the relationships that have had the most positive impact on me. Extended family, friends, close co-workers, they are all important as well, but none of those relationships are as impactful as my wife and my step kids.

Can we have a new question now?

Photo a Day: Mirror Universe Style

Yesterday’s photo a day post was a bunch of shake to shuffle Hipstamatic pics of Robin the cat sitting on top of the cat tree in the living room.

Today is the mirror universe version of that post. It’s a bunch of shake to shuffle Hipstamatic pics of Lily the cat sitting on top of the cat tree in the living room.

Creativity runs deep ’round these parts.

120/365
120/365

Wasn’t that fun? Sure was!

Thread

I feel gross using the facebook/instagram owned twitter alternative app, Threads. Really gross. 

That isn’t quite enough to stop me right now though. I am such a social media hypocrite/whore.

Anyway, someone asked, “what are your guitar goals for 2024” or something along those lines. I responded with a few. I figured I would port the response over to this post and maybe add a thing or two because I ran out of characters on the app. First, does the embed code work? I tried just sharing a link the other day to see if that pulled anything in, but it didn’t. I found that each post includes some embedding HTML code. Betcha a dollar it doesn’t work…

Post by @reallytallredhead
View on Threads

https://www.threads.net/embed.js

Based on the preview function in the editor, it didn’t work. Oh well. Here’s the text I wrote:

I want my cover band to finally get back together after a covid-hiatus and an exiting singer.

I want to write a shit ton of songs, record listenable demoes of all of them, and maybe have one or two that don’t objectively suck.

I want to play a bar gig for the first time since Feb 1, 2020.

After getting my 1978 Les Paul refretted a couple of months ago, I want to do the same with my 1979 ES-335 along with maybe getting a new wiring harness so that all four of my guitars will be in gig shape.

Me: https://www.threads.net/@reallytallredhead/post/C1ch8b9LyTx

Yes, kids… I just quoted myself. I dun did that.

Anyway, there are a couple of things to add.

I want to replace all of my guitar straps with heavy, leather straps like the one I have on my 50th birthday present Les Paul Standard. I have amazon shipping one for my Les Paul Custom and it should arrive tomorrow.

I want to buy either a Gibson Les Paul Junior, a Gibson Firebird, a Gibson Les Paul Standard with P-90 pickups instead of humbuckers, or a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. The order I wrote them is from most wanted to least most wanted. The chances of me buying any of these is about 0.0000001%… so there’s a chance.

With all of these goals in mind, mostly I would just settle for playing more. That’s what I really want to do.

(Not Even Close to) Daily Haiku for You #114

2024 is imminent so let’s work the occasion into a haiku for you!

The final work day,
Of two thousand twenty-three,
Is also pay day.

I spelled out 2023 to force you to say it with the correct number of syllables. Is that cheating? Probably.

Also, I’m thinking about canning the haikus. I’m sure you’ll all be heartbroken if they go away, my fine gentle readers and only friends.

The Nerds

Daily writing prompt
If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be?
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I don’t care…

Ugh…

I told myself I wouldn’t skip any of these things but the last few have really tested my resolve. I could give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about colors and mascots. 

I’ll try, I guess… but the sarcasm will be strong with this one. The utter disdain and complete ambivalence too.

Colors… for a sports team… As a citizen of the United States of America I am (probably) legally required to suggest some combination of red, white, and blue. As a citizen of greater Boston, Massachusetts we can add black, gold, and green… and I guess silver(?) to the list. 

If I had to choose though I would go with black and white so that the teams would always look like they are living in old newspaper photographs. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Either that or blue… and red… or whatever.

The mascot would be a lot easier to choose. It would be a nerd. The Boston Nerds. Yes. The Boston Nerds in their black and white uniforms. Epic. The logo would be a geeky looking person with thick glasses and bad acne. There would probably be some tape holding the glasses together too. Yeah, that would do it. The nerd would be smiling like a total dork. If The Boston Nerds are a hockey team then he/she would be missing some teeth too. 

How’s that work for you all? Just think of the advanced statistical analysis The Boston Nerds would beat your dumb jock teams with. Wins Above Replacement for the Win!

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis… Pink Eye… do I gots it?

Oh yeah, I gots it.

Shit. My eye is more sore and more itchy now that I know what is wrong.

To make matters worse, I have cocked-up the whole gastric-bypass food/eating thing multiple times today and even had a full on puke experience.

I’m better now, I think. Ready to move on with life. I’ll pick up my eye drops at the drug store tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed that I don’t zombify or anything crazy like that.

Wasn’t I Just Here?

Back again.

My stomach has been a smidge off all day. Probably 90% of normal-good. It’s becoming very unhappy right now though. I’m going to need to eat something more substantial than a protein bar very soon. Nice timing, stomach pouch.

Here’s hoping the pink eye exam goes quickly and I can get the hell out of here. My appointment was for 6:30pm and I didn’t get in for triage until 6:50.

I’m hungry enough that it hurts right now. The last bite to eat was at 5:25, but it was just a small protein bar that I thought would hold me over until dinner. Guess I was wrong. I brought another snack here with me but I don’t want to be eating when the doc comes in. Effin’ decorum, right?

Amazing Advances in Topical Creams

Yesterday’s haiku mentioned that I feel like I have a black eye. I don’t have a black eye though. It’s just swollen and sore. What’s going on?

I might have a guess. I made a doctors appointment for afterwork tonight to see if my guess is correct. If it is, then we’re going to have to keep me away from Worcestershire sauce* for a while. Fortunately there have been some amazing advances in topical creams, so I should be okay if the worst is true.

My question for the doctor… do I have… Pink Eye?

*This whole post is a reference to the first South Park Halloween episode. If you don’t get the references then I apologize for your lack of culture. That first Halloween episode is one of the finest 30 minute television time slots in broadcast/cable/streaming history. It is perfection.