I took two of my groupings of random riff ideas and worked them both into song forms, and then added rhythm guitars. Then I added leads to the only song I had that was ready for leads.
Now I am going to exercise for 11 minutes and then I am going to go into a coma due to exhaustion.
I really should have gone to bed about an hour ago. I have to work in the morning you know. It’s a school night, why am I staying up late?
Because I was mixing a song, that’s why. It’s done now so I can go to bed.
Sweet dreams, my readers and only friends*.
Nerd boy is referencing A Clockwork Orange again.
I was able to sneak into the cellar and play the guitar twice today.
I got a lot done for 50/90, which was nice, but I reached the point on the second go-round where my hands just wouldn’t do it anymore. That’s actually not a bad thing. I really need to build up more stamina, but I’ll get there.
On a gear note, I have my little recording nook in the master bedroom that has my current recording pedal board and my little 15 watt Fender amp. My big use-with-the-band pedal board and my Vox 15 watt amp (and my 30 watt Fender amp) are all in the cellar because Covid was slowing down and I thought they would be traveling to Mike the Bass Player’s house soon… and of course that hasn’t happened because the universe has intervened. The upside is I could set all of that stuff up in the cellar to keep working on 50/90 while I’m locked out of my bedroom. I bring my new Les Paul and my MacBook Pro up and down with me, as there is no way in hell those puppies are staying down there in the humidity. I set everything up far away from the flood zone, but you may note from the previous pictures that none of the electrical stuff is actually on the floor. The pedal board is, but the pedals themselves are not. That’s for flood damage prevention reasons.
So that is what I am doing to keep 50/90 going this week.
I also wanted to start with the exercising again. I started a couple of weeks ago and then fell off the wagon. I wanted to start up again today, what with it being a Monday and the iPhone Activity app starting its week on Monday. Jen wanted to do the same thing and she totally kicked ass all day today. Me? I was at two minutes of exercise as of 7:00pm tonight. Looked like I was going to fail for the day. Well, screw that folks. I’m up to 17 minutes now with 3.5 hours left in the day. I’ll get to 30 minutes, you betcha.
Okay. I need to go get a bottle of water and do another few minutes of exercise.
Looking for the bright side of self isolation. It’s tough to find, but it might be out there. Probably not, but maybe I might be able to pretend.
Mental Health required this. Just need to make sure it all stays clear of the flood zone.
I don’t know what to write about today. It’s Labor day, so have a good one.
Clean up in the cellar has been taken care of for now. All of Harry’s left over laundry is done, though I still need to put his sheets back onto his bed. There is a mountain of laundry in Bellana’s room that I’ll probably start today. I set up a new music nook for quarantine in the cellar last night and am hoping I’ll get a chance to use it today. Maybe.
No cookouts for me today. Just isolation and stress and work and guilt and the usual. It’s hard to explain what is going through my head at this point. I am sad about how my mother is handling the change (did I ever post what the change was? I’ll get to it), I am guilty because I am not there to help, I am pissed off because I have to isolate for Covid (even though I’m positive this whole thing is an overreaction, even if the overreaction is still the smart move) and I don’t get to hug my wife, and I am filled with relief that my parents are finally in a place where they can get the help and care that they need rather than have my idiot ass pretending like I know what I am doing.
I don’t know.
Here’s the Covid music nook:
Hopefully I won’t have to use it long and can go back to the bedroom. I haven’t received a call from the urgent care place telling me I have a positive result so that’s good. I have an appointment for another test on Wednesday. If that comes back negative then it’s back to reality for me. I know it will because I was barely exposed and people who had much closer exposure are all testing negative. Whatever, isolating is the right thing to do, I just want it to be over.
I want isolation to be over, I want Covid to be over. I want my parents’ difficulties to be over. I want being guilty to be over. I want to be able to get a good night’s sleep again. I want to be able to work without having to think about all of this other stuff. I want my wife to not have to worry about me. I want my kids to not have to worry about anything except their educations. I want my band to get back together.
Call me selfish, but I just want normal back.
Shit. I had nothing to write about when I started and then I turned it into another downer. Sorry about that. Next time I post I’ll try to include some jokes or something.
There was stuff going on outside of my parents house tonight and it’s all resolved happily. Kick ass, dude!
While trying to disctract myself from, well… everything, I mixed a second song. That’s it. Nothing else is ready for mixing so this is all you get tonight.
I don’t hate this one. I almost like it. The one I posted an hour or so ago is tons better, but this little 5/4 thingie is better than most of the shit I write.
On the parent sitting front, the floor fan in the living room is starting to squeak. If that sucker dies it will be like losing my closest friend. I love that little spinning bastard. It’s been so good to me over the last five months. I don’t know what I will do without it. HANG IN THERE MY FAN FRIEND!
Both of my parents are asleep. That is good. I’m not. There’s stuff going on that I want to stay awake for. I’m distracting myself from the fact that I am here when I don’t want to be here by mixing some music. Magically, there’s a song that I think might be pretty good. Short and sweet and good.
I was upstairs at the parents house trying to take apart a twin bed and I found an old roll of pictures. Included were a couple of shots from a band practice in, probably, 1999.
My Les Paul Custom as it was when I bought it, before the pick ups and machine heads were changed. Also, my old solid state Fender amp from before it took a bath in gasoline (literally):
Also, more significantly, Mike’s black Rickenbacker!
I mixed two songs tonight. They both kinda suck so I won’t post them. The first of the two was completed mix number 25. I have reached the halfway point of 50/90. Hooray, right? The pipeline is up to 41 songs now so I won’t have that much more to add in September. I’ll just have to finish off whatever is left. Good.
I mixed three songs tonight. Hot Damn! My brain feels like mush now, so I am going to bed.
My mother was asleep when I checked on her a minute ago, but she was still up. Explain? Okay. She’s sitting up on the edge of her bed, slumped over to one side asleep. I woke her up and told her she should lie down. She said she will and then went back to sleep without moving. Her back is going to be searing agony tomorrow. It’s like talking to a brick wall sometimes, except you can usually get pissed off when people act like that. I can’t get pissed off now. I don’t think she can actually process that she’s doing anything that will have a negative consequence.
It’s pretty friggin’ frustrating.
Inside the Red Head's Head 