Get Back in Touch

Ever since the nightmare that was election day last month I have let myself get pretty much completely out of touch with the rest of the world. I just sort of went into duck and cover mode and hid away from the news.

I am very much out of touch and starting to feel like I’m of no use.

Martial law in South Korea? The CEO of a US health insurance company gunned down on the streets of Manhattan in what appears to have been a targeted attack? This morning a Boston city council member was arrested by the Feds?

Okay. It’s time to wake up again. Enough of this bullshit.

Weather or Not

I made a pun in the title of this post. Did you like it? It takes the phrase “whether or not” and replaces whether with it’s homonym, weather because the post is going to be about the weather. Get it? I feel so friggin’ clever I could spontaneously combust*!

We’re supposed to get a nor’easter this week. The forecast yesterday said 3-6 inches of snow on Wednesday into Thursday. I just checked the accuweather website and it’s still calling for some snow on Wednesday but no real accumulation. Then Thursday into Friday we’re still looking at 3-6 inches.

I am taking my father to a doctors appointment on Wednesday and I am working in the office on Thursday. Wednesday is looking good but Thursday might be in trouble. We’ll have to see.

The long range forecast includes something I am looking forward to. When the temperature outside hits 60 degrees I like to open the windows. If the forecast is correct, next week I’ll be opening the windows. It stands as more evidence that I am now officially a really old fart, but stuff like that pleases me immensely. Come on, weather. Let’s let me open the windows. Just stop snowing first, m’kay?

*That’s sarcasm. I am not clever at all. Not even a little bit.

January Music Goals

Right then. It’s 2024. Enough of that crap that was 2023. Let’s get our shit together and make some music. In February I will dive head first back into the RPM Challenge, but until then what am I going to force upon myself to jump start creativity and make me feel like I can be a musician for a few weeks.

In other words, what are my musical goals for January 2024? There are three.

First and foremost, we are hoping to start auditioning singers for the cover band. My playing is utter shite right now so I need to get into shape. I need to find out what songs we are going to use for the audition and practice the holy hell out of them. They all used to be second nature but that was almost four years ago. I have to make them second nature again.

Second and second most, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro needs to go into the shop. The same shop my Les Paul Custom spent time in a few months ago. I think it needs new frets, and I think it might need a new wiring harness as well. I need to get things going this month so that the guitar will be available for me to use on February’s RPM Challenge album.

Third and third most, it is time to get back to The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, where I take old songs from old writing projects and clean them up, edit them, rewrite where necessary, and then record a slightly higher quality version. This project is also known as Quarantine Tunes. There are six Quarantine Tunes albums on my alonetone page. I told myself that I was stopping at six but then about a year and a half ago I started work on volume seven and also sort of started thinking about volume eight. What can I say, I am a nerd about this stuff. Last night I added two more songs to the volume seven to-do list. I plan to spend January working on volume seven and hopefully finishing it. That should put my brain into a good recording and playing space in time for February.

I am also slightly overwhelmed by a scary compulsion to go out and buy a new guitar. I need to fight that urge. I want a Les Paul Junior or a Firebird, but I don’t need them. Hopefully playing the shit out of the guitars I already own will calm me down on the online shopping front… hopefully… I think.

So there you go. Practice, get the 335 fixed up, and record. My three musical goals for January.

Bring ’em on.

They are Not Coming for Me

I found a news story that likely explains why that helicopter has been circling for a while now. Apparently there was a stabbing at the high school. The victim seems to be all right, or as all right as you can be given the circumstances. First responders are on the scene and the weapon has been recovered, and a juvenile is in custody. The article says the victim was not a student. Did a student stab a teacher? Holy shit!

Here’s hoping everyone is okay, and sorry for joking about Henry Hill.

Here in One Piece

Another day in the office for me. Traffic was okay. It took about an hour to get here. I shouldn’t complain. things tied up pretty bad on route 3, and then again for a little while on route 128. Neither jam was as bad as pre-Covid, but still… It’s just frustrating to go through it after working from home for two years and not worrying about traffic at all.

I took a rapid Covid test before I left. I had thoughts of doing that every time I come into the office and then last week when I came in for the first time I completely forgot to do it. We’re supposed to do a little self assessment before we leave the house. Any symptoms? Nope, come on in. My thought was to add a home test to that process. Not sure if I will keep doing that, but I’m negative today so life is good.

Jen told me that she saw a news report of a shooting in my general neighborhood. That’s a happy story to wake up to. I don’t know the details. I’ll have to see if I can learn anything. Just a little icing on the Thursday cake, right?

Happy work day, everyone.