Sending Love, Joy, and Laughter to all beings...

I may just love California right now.
For the past 2 days I've received a flurry of emails & calls & hugs from friends (and even a couple of family members) with congrats on the Same-Sex marriage verdict.
Many friends have been asking when we're going to have another wedding. This is a little hilarious. While we will certainly legalize our marriage, weddings are a HELL of a lot of work, and $$$. Damned if we're going through all of that again. Besides, I was much thinner 4 years ago, and would not look nearly as good in a wedding dress. snicker snicker.  But maybe, just maybe, champagne and cake could be do-able.

Finished the kalimba for my rocker drummer pal, who is now my co-worker. The front side looks just like the other one that I built. The backside, however, was a special custom job. She was thrilled. We may even do some recording with it.  Black nitrocellulose lacquer is a pain in the ass to deal with, and I ended up doing a lot of spot checking with black glossy acrylic paint.




Been enjoying EBay again lately. Got 2 new pedals, and this awesome pedal board, all used (and much cheaper than buying this gear new).  The Boss BCB-60 board is very pleasing for me; it neatly holds all of my effects, has inputs & outputs that are isolated, and is powered, so that most of my pedals (except the DOD ones) can plug in for power and not rely on 9V batteries which can die at the saddest of moments.  Even though I still have a cruddy amp, the board itself is pretty quiet - hardly any fuzziness from the daisy chain.
Behold my new rig:

From right to left (input to output order):  
Dunlop Hendrix Crybaby Wah (JH-1B), DOD Envelope Filter, DOD Stereo Phaser, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss DD-6 Digital Delay

I may yet switch the positions of the phaser and tremolo pedals. Time will tell.  Next on my shopping list is the Boss BD-6 Blues Driver, with the Keeley Phat Mod. Watching on EBay for the right price to come along. I can cut the foam inserts, and it'll fit nicely into the board.  Yeah, I'm a bit of a gearhead. I like funky tones.

My grandpa passed away yesterday afternoon. The service is tomorrow AM. A flight from LAX to CVG starts at $1500, or 50K flyer miles.
So I'm not going to make it.


I miss my family.

Been a while since I've updated. My how time flies; somedays it crawls...

Happy stuff:
Vacation in late May. Yippie! Going to Santa Fe to eat, drink, see art, shop, rest, do married couple stuff, and just "be."  Can't come soon enough.
Broke down and got Dish network. DVR rules. I'm watching WAY too much TV right now, but we have IFC, BBC, some funky artsy & free speech channels, Sirius radio stations, and lots of ESPN.
Been jamming with my awesome wacky drummer pal. Will start recording soon.

Not Happy stuff:
Dodgers & Reds have crappy season starts.
Several people whom I care about are no longer my co-workers for varying reasons, including pregnancy, surgery, and new jobs. This makes work a lot less fun.
Great Uncle passed away a few weeks back.
 My wife's father was very ill & in the hospital for a week in quarantine, and they finally released him,settling on "pneumonia" because they ruled out a bunch of other stuff. Was starting to feel like we were living in an episode of House, MD.
My mom told me on Saturday that the Hospice staff who are working with my grandpa says that he has about 3 weeks. Spent this weekend crying, grieving, and buying a funeral outfit. Will be making a brief trip to Cincy very soon.
Watching too much TV.
Consuming more ice cream & alcohol than is wise.

Feeling overwhelmed by Not Happy stuff.  Communicating ineffectively with broken sentences, mixed metaphors, and non sequiturs. Arrggghhh.
Really ready for vacation.

I'm loving Spring. Lots of social stuff going on. Saturday we went to Grace Slick's gallery showing in Laguna Beach with a bunch of friends, and my lovely wife and I bought a print!  We got to meet Grace, and she signed the back with a nice message. Doubled-signed art rules. There was also a lot of fantastic rock and roll art, but this was the one that moved me the most, that was still in our price range. I can't believe we bought art; it felt very grown-up. It was very exciting, and then about 5 minutes after I signed the credit card slip I started to become woozy and had to sit down. I'm not used to spending that much money in one shot (new car notwithstanding).  Then we all went for food and beverages. It was a lovely evening; I'm not much for parties anymore, but I love doing something artsy & then having food with a smaller group of friends, especially when they're all very sweet, cheery, good natured people.  Plus, I brought a new friend whom I adore- we just click, and she wakes up my inner child. After a few drinks she was a bit flirty with both my wife & I, and it brought out the Alpha in my wife which was really fun to watch.
It's called "Bar Code"   number 368 of 420. It's quite sublime up close.



I finished a new instrument yesterday. It's a Kalimba (African thumb piano) and I made it specifically for a friend who just completed (survived) her music therapy internship. I can't wait to give it to her. It's very shiny and smooth, and I managed to tune it to C major diatonic. It has a really nice mellow tone, and she should actually be able to use it with clients. The ukulele for another friend should be completed by the end of the month (if all goes according to my time frame), and I've just started another Kalimba for someone else.


I have next Saturday through Tuesday off for my birthday weekend (we actually get a paid day off for our birthday where I work), and we aren't going to do anything fancy (we did just spend a chunk of change on art), but I foresee  some festivities on the horizon. Especially since a fair number of my friends are also Aries and  have birthdays just after mine.  Yay Aries!
Plus, the countdown towards Opening Day is ON!  8 days till Dodgertime!

I love the nearing of Spring. I can feel myself re-awakening, and I can see light in my eyes again. Spring is a very subtle affair in LA, but I can still feel it in my bones. I miss the tumultuous weather, followed by tiny light green buds that dare to emerge on skeletal looking trees, and tender shoots of baby grass that beg not to be trod upon until they can fully take hold.

I feel more awake this week than I have in several months. I am reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, recommended by a dear friend, and it is an extraordinary journey.  http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/ea…   Enchanting, hilarious, heartbreaking, & enlightening.  
I am re-assessing my own spiritual practices, and have realized that I have been using meditation as a band-aid to regain my center, but not to find deeper peace or connection. Discovered a lovely magazine called "Shambala Sun" focusing on buddhism, culture, meditation & life. I am moving towards change, & the universe is responding in kind.

Went to some art galleries Laguna Beach yesterday, and found 2 new artists that I love. This could be my new favorite painting; it does astonishing things in good light. http://www.piccadillys.com/Butirsk…

The other artist is Grace Slick (yes, that Grace Slick) who is a fantastic painter/artist, and will be at the gallery we visited on March 15 with her new collection. So we put our names on the list to come to the VIP reception. Sweet!  I'd actually love to buy a couple of her prints, we'll see how that works out- they're not cheap.

Today I bought myself a new crybaby wah pedal and gig bag (the old one was beyond nasty, having gotten it for free 13 years ago and it was fairly nasty then). I am going to buy myself a tube amp for my birthday. It's high time that I had a good amp. I'm thinking Fender Blues Jr., blonde tweed for that vintage look and sound.

Working on 2 new instruments, a thumb piano (also known as a kalimba, or mbira), and a uke, both to give as gifts to dear friends who are nearing the ends of their Music Therapy internships. I am getting immense joy out of making these so far.


Plus, Spring Training starts  in 2 days- yippie!

I got released from Jury Duty at 11:30 (the whole group was excused), so I have the rest of the day to play. Yippie!!!

iTunes game shamelessly stolen from Beavergirl1977

How many songs total:  3137  (still reloading CD library after the last hard drive crash
How many hours or days of music: 8.7 days
Most recently played: "Crazy" by Beyonce
Most played:  "Come Alive" by Foo Fighters
Most recently added:  "Mary, Don't  You  Weep"  by Aretha Franklin  (from 1972 Amazing Grace album)

Sort by Song Title
First Song:  "The A La Menthe"  by Nikkfurie (suspiciously missing from the Ocean's 12 soundtrack, translates to "Green Tea")
Last Song:  "1984" by Van Halen

Sort by Time
Shortest Song:  Chewbacca Yell 0:01 (not really a song, but damn entertaining anyways)
Longest Song:  "Dazed and Confused"  26:52  by Led Zeppelin The Song Remains the Same   (Live album from 1976)

Sort by Album
First album:  Abbey Road  by The Beatles
Last album:   40000 Watt RSL  by Midnight Oil

First song that comes up on Shuffle:  "Shattered" by the Rolling Stones

Search the following and state how many songs come up:

Death -  3
Life -  21
Love -  100 !
Hate – 3

I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I have some good ideas for groups, & I'm tired of being on the sofa. I'm actually just tired of being tired, although I'm still quite tired. I stocked up on fresh fruits & veggies at the store today; I'm craving vitamin C now.

I watched a hodge-podge of movies while I was sick. I watched about half of "Urban Cowboy" the other day, and finally changed the station after about an hour. Weird, weird movie. Laughable, and bad. I'm not sure why it was such a hit when it came out in theaters. My favorite moment was hearing the song "Looking for Love,"  which I can only hear as "Wooking pa nub." Which leads me to "Unce, tice, fee tines a nady" - it's one of my top 5 favorite SNL skits.

Also watched "Superman The Movie" again. So glad that I got that DVD. Such a wonderful film, on every level. Possibly one of the best superhero movies ever. Great screenplay (Mario Puzo), wonderful character development, clever writing, and Christopher Reeve was the handsomest man on the planet when that movie came out. He *was* Superman. I love that they don't even show Superman until nearly an hour into the movie to allow for story development- that could never fly in a comic book movie now. And the stroke of brilliance for me is when he doesn't get to Lois in time to save her, and you see his agony & humanity. Plus, the theme still moves me - John Williams in his prime. Real orchestration, real orchestra. Sigh. Beautiful piece of work.

We also watched "The Princess Diaries" again, which is such a sweet movie. I'd forgotten how funny it was, and that was to my detriment. I'd vetoed us watching "9 to 5" because it was too funny and I was experiencing a burning coughing fit every time that I laughed. So the Disney movie hurt me.  :(     I'm still coughing when I laugh, but it doesn't burn now.

I'm fully over Jello now, though.

Finally feeling human again. Nasty, nasty sickness for nearly a week. Just as I started to feel slightly less horrible on Friday, my wife comes in mid-day with a fever so I run her down to the Dr., and have been balancing getting better and taking care of her, because she's still in the "please shoot me now" phase of it.  Meh.


OK- this is gonna ramble for a bit before I bring it to a point...
Played around online this morning (because I can do this again without getting a headache), and looked up parts for my guitar, as I do every so often because I keep toying with restoring it to it utmost glory. I have a '65 Gibson SG, with P-90 pickups. A serious, bad-ass guitar that I bought when I was 14 from a pal for $125. It was that cheap because my pal bought it from a guy (who will be hence-forth referred to as Monkey Boy) who monkeyed with it by changing out a lot of the stock parts and attempting to customize it. I didn't even know what an SG was when I got it, I just thought that it looked super-cool, like the devil.
My Guitar:

I know it was made in 1965 because of the serial number; I learned that a few years ago. But I really want to replace the cheesy white plastic pickguard that Monkey Boy added with an original style black pickguard, switch out the knobs for stock, and maybe even the tuners (although Monkey Boy put Schallers on, and those are quite good, just not classic.) 

Because of the 2 pickup configuration (P-90 pickups), & dot-inlay on the fretboard, I have believed this to be a '65 SG Special for several years now.
1965 SG Special, stock photo:


Looks pretty similar except for the junky white parts, yeah? That's what I've been thinking for years. I found some stock-looking parts online this morning, but the placement of the screws just seemed, well, off somehow to my guitar. Since I've been building instruments and working on my own instruments lately, I felt brave enough to unscrew the pickguard from the body of my guitar.  Oy.  Found funky handmade cuts (not machine made factory cuts) around the top pickup and connecting the 2 pickups, and weird small screw marks that definitely don't fit the pickguard for an SG Special.
I start to feel a sinking feeling, and pull up a picture of a similar era SG Jr. from the 'net.
1964 Gibson SG Jr.

The screw marks on the Jr. pic match what I discovered hidden under that crappy white pickguard on my guitar. UGH.

What I now believe: I have a 1965 Gibson SG Junior that Monkey Boy carved into, added an extra pickup, knobs, switch, and whacked-out hardware. This explains some of the weird wiring issues.

Nobody cool EVER played a Junior! Not Angus Young, Not Pete Townshend, Not Eric Clapton, Not Jimi Hendrix. What rock god wants a guitar with only 1 pickup?!?

In the grand scheme of things, this is really not a big deal. I was looking to restore it for my own pleasure, not for resale (vintage SG Specials can fetch $5000 in top shape, Juniors maybe $2000, Frankenstein guitars = zilch). It still plays well and gets great tone - Monkey Boy actually did a fairly decent job, aesthetics aside.  And since the major difference is the number of pickups, I ought to be glad that he added the 2nd one.

But still. Major loss of cool points. Bummed me out this morning.

My new upside as of this afternoon - maybe I can use this as an opportunity to be Monkey Girl. Since I'm no longer having to worry about ruining the value of something iconic I can totally mess around with changing out whatever parts I like. As long as I don't affect the playability of it, I can't cause any major damage.
Maybe I should strip it, and give it a Fool paint job, like Clapton's:

I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED.

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH..

FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN
BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING BECAUSE IT MEANS I
HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME. SEND THIS TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT.
Live well, Laugh often, & Love with all of your heart!

Well, I had a mini-mini-meltdown last night/this morning. I've been very excited that this year is our 10th anniversary of being together, and Jan 22 marks 10 years to the day of when we met. It feels like a major accomplishment to me, and we're both very happy about it, and plan to celebrate quite a bit.

Then last night I realized, OH MY GOD - 10 YEARS!  And all I could think about was the lyrics to the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime":
And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

And I was starting to act out and be snippy a bit this morning, so told her what I was feeling, and apologized for being an irrational pain in the ass. Then we laughed about it and went out to breakfast. But seriously, it kinda turned my head around. I'm about to be 35, and partnered for 10 years. I'm starting to feel time catch up with me, and the "same as it ever was" is starting to grate on my nerves a little. I think it's why I'm craving bits of newness and change here and there in my daily life.