Battle of the Bands brings me back

 Went to a high school-aged "Battle of the Bands" last night with my teenaged daughter (who was going with a few of her friends).  She had never been to a concert or rock music event before -- just school orchestra types of events.

It totally brought me back to my youth -- being in my 20s in Seattle, going out to see bands every two weeks or so with Guitar Cousin.  This was a bit more "sanitized", as it took place in a school multipurpose centre, so there wasn't any spilled beer on the floor, or secondhand smoke in the air.

But:  it still had that quality.  Most of the bands were good performers; some were really good performers, with strong "audience engagement".  Nearly all were cover songs -- but, that's okay.  The crowd was pogoing and singing along to the good songs -- and I was reminded at the sort of "communal spirit" you get at a concert, which is not at all replicated by sitting in your room and listening to the album.  ;)

I also noticed that it's hard to find good singers:  out of about 12 bands, one singer was "pretty good" and the other two were definitely good.  Among the songs were a No Doubt cover, a Pearl Jam cover, and a Queen cover -- and I realized just how powerful the original singers (Gwen Stefani; Eddie Vedder, Freddie Mercury) were.

Anyhow:  had a great time -- was bopping along to the music, "Woo!"-ing, clapping - all without conscious volition:  I was just "in it".  :) 

Would do it again.

And:  as often happened, was inspired to go home and play guitar... or bass... or drums.  But, I didn't (by the time I got home, it was late).

 

--GG

A 1965 teenager

As I've mentioned before, I don't believe that vinyl sounds better:  instead, I enjoy the ritual of it, plus imaging that the (used) LP I'm playing was listened to by someone else ten, twenty, thirty years ago.

Case in point:  today I picked up the Beatles album Help! -- not a reissue - for AU$25 (about US$20).  There's light scuffing (but no scratches), and the cover has some minor damage -- so it's not of "collectable" quality.  Still totally playable, of course. 

It's a good album -- I really like most of the songs (and the rest are good, as well:  no clunkers).  It's the third(?) CD I bought (at least among the first five):  #1 was a Devo live album, and #2 was Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever album.

I can imagine a teenager, 1965-ish, having saved up his or her allowance, sitting on the bedroom floor listening to this.

--GG

Nice vinyl finds

 Maybe half a year ago I joined the vinyl craze:  i don't actually think vinyl sounds better than CDs -- but I like the meditative, intentional aspect:  it takes a bit of handling, and (because I don't have speakers for my turntable, just a headphone amplifier), I have to just sit and listen to music -- not putter around doing tasks.

Because of that, though, I usually only listen to one side per session:  the typical side of an LP is 23 minutes (or less).

There's a new and used record store downtown, near where I work, which I visit about once a week -- and another record shop in the mall.  "Normal" LP prices are $15, $20, or $25 for the "good" (i.e. popular) used vinyl, and $10 for the "cheesy used" (a lot of Neil Diamond, plus various bands I've never heard of).  When I stop in to a record store, I'm a little disappointed if I walk away without finding something good.  Luckily, I'm a child of the '80s -- and LPs were still in abundance (apparently) until 1989 -- so there's a lot of bands from my youth that are available on LP.

Usually I have a mental list of favorite bands that I'm on the lookout for -- but I also stumble across some unexpected finds:  Saturday (a week ago) I visited a record store I'd only been in once before (about a year ago), and stumbled across two Petra (a Christian rock band from the '80s) albums -- plus the (good) Georgia Satellite album (the one with "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and "Battleship Chains"). 

And on Friday morning (a few days ago; took the morning off from work to attend a funeral), at the record shop in the mall I found a Talking Heads album for $15, and a semi-obscure band (The Shirts), of which I have one of their albums -- which I like -- in the ten dollar bin:  wooo!!!!

 

I have a bit of a backlog, in that I'm buying albums more quickly than I'm listening to them.  But I'm okay with that.

I've stopped buying guitars, amps, and woodworking tools -- and LPs take up less space -- so maybe that's an okay trade?

--GG

Mic cable rip-off

Am partway through one final task before bed:  finally repairing some microphone cables and instrument cables that I've been meaning to do (one mic and one instrument cable from church, about 6-9 months ago; two mic and two instrument cables of my own, that have needed repairing for maybe 2-3 years).

One mic cable (mine) I'd marked "BAD - THIS END".  Upon disassembly I realized that only two of the three pins were connected: the shield (ground), and one of the "live" pins. (All three pins are supposed to be connected -- one pin to the braided "shield" that goes around the interior of the cable, and each of of the other two pins to each of the wires that runs down the centre.  So I looked at the other end:  same thing.  So maybe I was using a device that relied on one of the non-standard pins -- and that's why it didn't work for me?  (Dunno -- it's been too long.)

Regardless:  that's a rip-off (IMO) to sell a "microphone" cable that doesn't connect all the pins -- because it doesn't have the "noise-suppressing" capability that two interior wires (connected properly) would provide.  Clearly the manufacturer couldn't spring for a slightly better cable that had two wires in the core.

 

It's analagous to selling a car that has some of the bolts that hold the car together:  yeah, it'll work -- but it's not as robust, and you're not getting what you think you're paying for.

I've salvaged the two ends of the mic cable (perfectly decent), and have labelled the cord as a future instrument cable.  I have some extra 1/4" jacks -- but, no hurry, as one of my recent projects was to build a mega cable rack (will remedially post pics at some point), and consolidate all of my cables (mic; instrument; RCA) -- years of accumulation; some in use, but most in various boxes.  Turns out that (including the short cables that go between f/x pedals) I have more cables of each type than I actually need:  I'm glad that when I sold my last two electric guitars (both to beginners) I gave each buyer a few (inexpensive) instrument cables, just to get them started; and, will post a message at work that I have extra cables.   

 

So -- no hurry to build yet another instrument cable:  I have enough.

Still disappointing, though, that someone would sell a "microphone" cable that doesn't meet the minimum standard. 

--GG

 

 

P.S.  I've written this blog entry (and also e-mailed the above to a few musician-y friends) -- so I might just wrap it up rather than getting out my soldering gear:  another night.  :)

Good Song - Regina Spektor "One Little Soldier"

Saw this a few months ago on YouTube, and just came across it again.  A good song (IMO).



One thing that impresses me is that the chorus packs a lot of punch, relative to the verse -- but it's more than just "loud/soft" -- and it doesn't rely on distorted guitars for its power.  So:  good arranging, and mixing; congrats.  :)


--GG

Culling CDs

As mentioned earlier (too lazy to cross-link), I'm taking advantage of the whole C-19 "working from home" situation to systematically go through my "second tier" CDs.

About half of my CDs are my "good" CDs:  I like the songs (catchy; memorable), and I have a sense of which songs are on which album.

And the other half aren't memorable:  I listen through, and they're "fine" -- but as soon as one song ends I can't remember the last one; and by the end of the album I don't remember anything I've listened to.  Some of them are CDs I picked up cheap; others were gifts; still others were by bands or artists with albums in my "good" pile -- but this specific album?  Not so good.

So I'm going through all of my "second tier" CDs, as I work.  If I like it because of at least one song, I write a note on a scrap of paper, slip it into the front of the CD case, and put the CD (including the case!) in the "keep" pile.  But if I can't identify any specific reason to keep it, I write a note that describes the genre ("Metal"; "Mellow female vocals with strummed acoustic guitar"), insert the note, and put it in the "discard" box -- with the idea to give the CD to someone that's into that genre of music.


Some of the CDs have "okay" songs.  In which case, the test question is:  "Would I mind if I never hear this song -- ever again?"

If the answer is "Eh -- nope, wouldn't mind" -- it's discarded.


So far I'm about 25% "keep", 75% "discard".  And that seems about right. 


--GG

I enjoy playing music

So, basically I'm an idiot.

As I've been saying for the past half year or so:  figure out what you enjoy doing -- and then try to do it, a lot.

Well -- I apparently enjoy making music.  For example, last night I messed around on a weird little four-string short-sale guitar (two of the strings are missing), playing through an inexpensive chorus pedal:  loved it.  And then tonight I noodled around on the piano, playing a classical-sounding "miscellaneous" piece that I made up as I went along:  made me happy to be doing it.  And then, just a few moments ago, I messed around again, on the same funny little four-string electric guitar, this time through a cheap flanger pedal (getting some sitar-like sounds in the process):  once again, loved it.  I was happy, happy, happy.

Which means, of course, that I should do this more often -- like, every night.

Let's see if that actually happens, of course.

But:  I'm a generally happy guy.  But making music makes me even more happy.  So:  I should do it.  A lot. 


--GG

The music is embedded in me

Yesterday I re-watched an Australian-made movie called Three Summers, which takes over three summers at a fictional folk music festival in Western Australia.  The main character plays the theremin.  One of his character traits is that he's passionate about music.


"Music isn't something you choose.  If you can just drop it, you never had it."

--Roland, Three Summers (movie), 27:42; found 11/28/18 (May've already logged when watched the movie the first time, half a year to a year ago)


Roland:  "You girls are great.  You're really, really talented -- and music's always gonna be in your lives, there's no doubt about that.  But you have to ask yourself:  its it your vocation?  Is it the only thing you want?" 

Girl:  "Yes."

Roland:  "Then you have to make music for itself, not because it'll get you a hit.  You have to know that even if, after a lifetime of playing, you never get that hit, you'll still believe you made the right choice.  [...]  There's a band playing tonight -- an Afghani folk band.  My guess is they're unlikely to ever get a hit, and they probably know it -- but still they play."

(Three Summers (movie), 1:10:45; found 11/28/18 (May've already logged when watched the movie the first time, half a year to a year ago))



That made me think about my own relationship to music.  Over the past two decades or so, I would for literally months without touching a guitar, bass, or keyboard -- but then when I did get around to it, I would spend a few hours noodling around and enjoying making music, just for the inherent enjoyment of it.

In my youth I was in a band with my cousin and my roommate.  After the band broke up, I wasn't single-minded enough to do the "solo" thing -- although this was pre-internet -- so maybe I might've marshalled my forces a bit more if I'd been able to post some music online and mount a webpage.

But:  over the two months I've made an effort to make playing music a daily part of my life:  I have a small hand drum under my desk that I'll play for a few minutes before or after my evening session of typing on the computer (checking e-mail, etc.); I have a tambourine in the front passenger seat, so that when I'm stopped at traffic lights I can play it like a hand drum; and I received a small synthesizer for my birthday, which is about the length of the span between my outstretched thumb and pinky -- which I play on a near-daily basis during the week, on the "train" portion of my daily commute (it has a headphone jack).

And whenever I play music, I feel... good.

I have a substantial backlog of songs to record -- which I always say is better than the opposite:  tons of time, but no songs in the queue.  One of these days I'll sit down and record some of them.  And some-someday I'll sign up for some online song-hosting service, and try selling downloads of my songs.

I'm unlikely to get rich from selling my songs.  But I enjoy playing music; writing songs; and recording songs.  I earn a living from my "day job" -- so I'm happy to just be involved with music on a personal, informal basis.

Music makes me happy.

Yup.  :)


--GG

Becoming a better guitarist

The following is pretty obvious -- but it took me a while to figure it out:


-Buying additional effects pedals won't make me a better guitarist.

-Buying a fancy amp won't make me a better guitarist.

-Buying a fancy guitar won't make me a better guitarist.

-The only way to become a better guitarist... is to become a better guitarist.


That is:  spend more time playing the guitar; try out new and innovative things.  The more time I spend playing, the better I'll become.

That's all there is.  There is no other way.


--GG

Electric guitar is like woodworking

Last night I played the electric guitar for the first time in maybe a month.  As always, once I started it was hard to stop -- except for (like always) I started somewhat late at night -- so I had to stop so I could go to bed (had to get up for work the next day).

I noodled around for a bit, but after a few minutes I ended up playing a chord sequence that I'm going to try to turn into a song:  it had good energy, and I could "hear" the drum beat that will accompany it.

As I was playing, I had the same emotion that I do when I'm doing woodworking.  And the process is the same:  whether I writing a song, then recording and mixing it, or sketching out some plans, then preparing the materials and assembling it -- it's still "making 'something' out of 'nothing'."

Love it.  If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd spend about 80% of my time doing woodworking and doing music -- drifting back and forth depending on my mood that day, but also what I was in the middle of (e.g. if I was partway through recording a song, I'd probably do music that day).


--GG

I miss the band

I'm reading a book called The Joy of Tidying, by Marie Kondo.  Among other things, she points out that (I'm paraphrasing) everything in your home should be something you enjoy, or something that's functional (e.g. the toaster):  if its neither enjoyable nor functional -- why do you have it?  And once you strip away all of the things from your home that you're indifferent to, you typically discover -- as a byproduct -- what is most important to you.

Inspired by this, I've been slowly going through our clutter-filled house and determining which things we actually like, and which things we've just kind of "held on to".  For example, I'm finally at a place where I'm willing to get rid of most of my old Criminology textbooks, left over from graduate school:  I'm never going back to academia (I enjoy working for the state government and being a data-cruncher!), and now that Criminology isn't my job -- I'm really not interested in the books.  But I already knew that.

Last weekend I also went through all of our DVDs -- and had the kids go through "their" DVDs -- and we probably divested of a quarter of each of our stashes:  DVDs that either we didn't like in the first place, or movies that we'd watched once, but really, will never watch again.  I ran the extras past my in-laws, and they took most of them; the rest they'll but on the breakroom table for their co-workers.


As a byproduct of that process, I re-discovered a concert DVD of The Who (The Who at Kilburn 1977) that I've had for a while but never got around to watching.  So I sat down and watched it. 

The Who isn't my favorite-ist band -- but at one point they were in my top 20.


And, as I sat there and watched the concert footage, I realized:  Dang, I miss being in a band.  I don't know about the "being on stage and performing" aspect -- because I've only played live in a band three(?) times, which isn't enough to give me a sense of things.  But I miss making music in collaboration with other people; and I miss coming up with original songs within a group context.

Unfortunately, there's nothing at the moment that I can do about this:  or rather, I would have to drop something else from my life (exercising; woodworking) in order to spend time in a band.  And, at various points since moving to Australia I have made some attempts to start a band -- and nothing ever came of it.

Ah well. 

One thing that has kind of filled that gap is that the wife and kids do their piano practice, I've played along on the drums:  that's pretty enjoyable.  :)

And I need to play guitar more often.


--GG

Miss the music

Last night I did a hard drive search and dug up a bunch of recordings of my songs that I've done over the years, and converted them to mp3s (most of them pre-date the mp3 format!).

Today I listened to them in the car, on my way to -- and from -- work.  Some of them I'd forgotten that I'd recorded; one of them I'd even forgotten about the song!

And, one of them was a jam I did with two guys from my dorm, at my second university.

That, combined with a version of "Is This Love" which includes Old Roommate on guitar, made me realize that I miss being in a band:  there's something about making something out of nothing, and playing music with other people -- not a cover song, but our own unique creation.

One of the few things that I miss:  I'm oddly "middle", in that I don't get excited about much, but also don't miss much.


--GG

Two items

At a garage sale a few weeks ago, I picked up a few $2 CDs of bands that I’d never heard of.  Am listening to a pretty bad band – but at least they’re enthusiastic about it.


On the way in to work today, I saw a mom yelling at her young daughter to stop crying.  I don’t think that’s how it works.




--GG

The fallacy or myth of wishing that your parents or mom had made you keep doing piano lessons

I occasionally hear someone say "I wish that my parents hadn't let me quit playing piano -- because then I'd know how to play the piano now."

If you break out the components, what the person is really saying is "I wish [person in authority who isn't me] had made me keep doing [task that requires cumulative discipline and effort over many years], because then I'd now have [desirable skill or characteristic]."


You could create other variations of this wish:

-I wish my parents had made me eat healthier food when I was a kid, because now I wouldn't be overweight (or, "less overweight").

-I wish my parents had made me go jogging twice a week, because then I'd have excellent cardiovascular right now.

-I wish my parents had made me lift weights three times a week, because then I'd have a great physique now.

-I wish I hadn't quit taking Spanish in 10th grade, because now I'd be a fluent speaker.

-I wish my parents had made me save and invest $50 a paycheck over the years -- because I'd have a pile of money by now.

-I wish I had taken swimming lessons as a kid -- so I'd know how to swim.  (This one is in a different category.  But the later section of this post is relevant.)


What all of the above overlook is:

-the amount of cumulative effort (drudgery?) that was avoided;

-that there was a reason that you didn't do "the beneficial thing" (i.e. you clearly didn't enjoy it, or didn't want to do it!);

-these laments typically put the responsibility on someone else, not yourself (e.g. "Why did my mom let me quit taking piano?") -- which shifts the responsibility away from yourself.


The rebuttal, of course, is:  Fine.  So:  do it now.  As an adult.



Let's say that you wish that you had stayed with piano until at least the end of high school -- rather than quitting when you were twelve.  Good:  start taking piano lessons again.  As a grownup, you're smarter and (presumably) have greater discipline than when you were a kid:  you'll progress faster in the six years now than you would've during your teen years.

You wish you'd started lifting weights when you were twenty.  You can't go back in time -- so start lifting weights now.

You wish you'd saved more, starting twenty years ago?  Fine:  start saving now -- and twenty years from now you'll be where you wish you were right now.

And etcetera.


Unless there were external forces at work (e.g. your family weren't able to keep paying for your ice skating lessons, so you had to stop), then the reason you stopped [name of lesson or activity] was that you didn't like it!  And, as an adult, you probably do have activities that you enjoy... spend time at... and (because of the time invested) are probably pretty knowledgeable and skilled.  (Bowling?  Golf?  Photography?  Model ship building?)

So:  to say that you wish you had stuck with something that you really didn't enjoy at the time, just so you could have that skill which you probably wouldn't make use of right now, anyhow -- just doesn't make sense.


That is:  let's say that you had stayed with your piano lessons until the end of high school.  Would you really be playing the piano right now, recreationally?  Really?  Honestly???

Probably not -- at least, not very often.


Put differently:  Elton John, Howard Jones, Regina Spektor, and others presumably enjoyed playing the piano -- and that's why they stuck with it.


And, to those that say "I don't have time":  well, that's possibly true -- if you're working two jobs, or working a job plus studying at university.  But if you have any sort of free time (after the kids are in bed -- if indeed you have any kids) -- how you spend your time is a choice:  your choice.

If you spend an hour a night watching t.v., or reading before you go to bed:  that's fine; that's legitimate.  But you could be studying Spanish, or doing a few push-ups, or following along to that yoga DVD, or practicing guitar.  And that's your choice.  And if you'd prefer to read or watch t.v.:  that's a choice as well.

And choices have consequences:  often, pretty easily anticipated ones.

And as a grown-up, you're not allowed to make choices -- and then complain about the (easily-foreseen) consequences of those choices:


Such as:

-Spend your money in ways you know you shouldn't -- and then complain that you're often short of money.

-Never exercise -- and then complain that you don't have the physique that you want.

-Eat all sorts of junk -- and then complain that you're overweight.

-Watch t.v. all evening -- and then complain that you don't possess [name of skill or ability].



No one can do it for you.  You are responsible for you.

And, yeah, that's unfair -- perhaps.  But, it is how it is.

And maybe there are situations outside your control that make it hard -- very hard.  (Maybe you do have to work two jobs...)  But, it's your life -- and you can either complain and be ineffectual -- or buck up and take control of your destiny.


Your airplane has crashed in the middle of the desert.  Do you (a) Sit around and complain about how unfair it is; or (b) Do everything you can to survive?


Your decision; your choice; your life.


And, yes:  I've not been in the situation myself, but I hear that quitting smoking is difficult -- very difficult.

But:  is "It's very difficult" a reason to not do work to achieve what you want?



And:  just so I don't sound like I'm Mister Perfect:  I've only come to this realization about five years ago.  I'm now in training for some very specific personal goals.  I don't work out as often as I want to -- and sometimes I slack off., or get busy  But ever time that I do manage to work out is a "win".

This afternoon I asked my teenage daughter if she wanted to go jogging with me, and my wife said "She hates jogging."  My response was, "I do too."

I don't like exercising.  But I want to be able to do a one-armed chin-up -- and that means that I need to do chin-ups and pull-ups with a weighted backpack, a few times a week, until I achieve my goal.  I've been doing it for a few years -- and I have many more years to go.  (I call it "applied OCD"...)

Whereas if I don't do my exercises, it's guaranteed that I won't achieve my goal.  No one else can do it for me.


--GG

Accidental breakthrough

Last night I was messing around with my vocoder synth, which included working out a part for one of the three songs I'm in the middle of.

I'm pleased to say that I somehow managed to work out the correct notes for both riffs, as I heard them in my head, on my very first attempt. For those of you with good ears (and/or perfect pitch) this probably doesn't mean anything -- but I'm disadvantaged in that area -- so I was, of course, immensely pleased that I hit upon the riffs without any effort.

Also, this will be the first time I've actually used the pitch-bend wheel in a song (rather than just messing around): when I was singing the part into the vocoder, the last two words seemed too choppy; it turned out I needed to slur them together -- so I play the second-to-last note with the pitch-bend all the way up (i.e. a whole step), then release it while holding down the same key, which slurs the pitch down to the correct final note.

I have some other tasks I'm supposed to be working on for the next few weeks --  so no additional recording until late Sept.

However, I have 90 minutes of down-time each Saturday, sitting in the rumpus room of the kids' piano teacher -- so I've been bringing my laptop and "good" headphones and tidying *.wav files that I'd recorded with my cell phone, to use in a techno-ish song I'm working on (the same one I'm using the vocoder in):  the working title is "SGFZASS".

--GG

A striking resemblance

It's late "winter" (such as it is!) here in Brisbane, Australia -- so I was wearing a stocking cap indoors, because I was cold.  (Cleverly, homes in Brisbane tend to not have "central heating", because -- Hey! -- we're subtropical.)  I looked in the bathroom mirror, and thought, "I know who **I** look like...!!!"


Me:

Him:

Guitar not included.


--GG

If I were a rich man

One of the great things about getting older (and older...) is having an ever-increasing sense of "self":  what you value, and who you are.

My job is the best job I have ever had:  interesting (usually!) work that is useful to society, with good co-workers, a good boss, and a good boss' boss.  I used to say that if I won the big lottery I'd still keep working half-time.

But, over the Easter weekend, I realized:  nah.  I have way too many things that I enjoy doing -- such that working half-time still wouldn't leave me enough time to accomplish everything that I'd want to.

On March 31st, I wrote this note to myself:  “I need to retire now, just to accomplish all my songwriting/recording/instrument-learning/woodworking/gardening/reading/exercising/martial arts goals!!!”


If I had the time, and didn’t think my muscle memory would get confused, I’d take two martial arts a week: maybe a grappling style plus a striking-based style, to minimize the muscle memory overlap.

Oh:  and I'd take tap-dancing lessons.


Here's some preliminary planning -- in anticipation of winning the lottery.


Activities:

-Martial arts
-Woodworking
-Film/video shooting
-Recording songs
-Tap dance
-Learning instruments
-Weightlifting
-Yardwork
-Typing up my backlog of notes and such from over the years.


Most weekdays, here's my preliminary schedule:

-Take the kids to school, then drive back home
-A quick breakfast
-Practice instrument #1 for 15 mins
-Practice instrument #2 for 15 mins
-Spend 3 hrs 45 mins doing something creative (recording music or shooting and/or editing film or doing woodworking or writing a screenplay)
-About 15 mins cleaning up (e.g. showering, if I've been woodworking)
-A quick (late) lunch
-Go get the kids from school, bring them back home
-About 15 mins on the punching bag
-Evenings:  help w/ kids' homework some nights; martial arts classes other nights


It's actually a moderate drive to my kids' school -- so two days a week I'd just hang out in that neighborhood during the day, rather than making two round trips.

The plan would be:

-Drive the kids to school
-Borrow one of their music practice rooms (more like little booths) for a half hour and practice an instrument
-Put the instrument in the car and jog to the local gym
-Work out for about four hours
-Jog back to school
-Get the kids and bring them home (while sweating like a monkey)


Weekends:  mostly yardwork, plus errands


Anyhow -- that's the plan.  Now I just need to win the lottery...  ;)


--GG

Good use of the dige

A talented guy.



Not sure that the song is "catchy" -- but it's a good sound.

Hat-tip to Cynical Guy for forwarding this to me.


--GG

The universal scale

Guitar Cousin showed me this video a few years ago.

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates how we are conditioned to the pentatonic scale.




--GG

Mostly better

Well, I had a weird week this week.

Monday I left work a few hours early, for an orthodontics appointment to get my braces tightened.

Tuesday I took the day off:  they boys had an eye appointment in the morning, and it it wasn't worth the commute to work a half day in the afternoon -- so I cashed in some Flex hours. 


It's school vacation, by the way -- so the kids are at home rather than at school.


Tuesday night Boy #1 developed a hearty cough and a fever, so Wednesday I stayed home with a sick kid. 

Luckily, the kids are old enough that they don't need real monitoring -- just an adult to stay home with them -- because I felt a little run-down myself.  I got up in the morning and saw The Lady off, then went back to bed.   And managed -- with occasional interruptions from the kids -- to sleep until 11:45am.

Sleeping until 11:45 is pretty impressive, since my office job means that I'm usually awake around 6:30am.  This means that despite my best efforts, now-a-days I can only "sleep in" until about 8:30am -- then I lie there, awake, until I figure "Eh; may as well get up."

So, clearly I was a bit fatigued.


Thursday, I actually managed to make it to work.  Felt pretty good, though not at my full capacity.  The Lady stayed home with the kids.

At the kids' Tae Kwon Do class in the evening, usually I've been doing a light jog around the school grounds.  This time, though, I didn't feel up to it.  Instead, I did a moderately brisk walk for just under a half hour; lay on my back in the school field and looked up at the stars for about ten minutes (been years since I've done that...); and then played guitar in the car for the remaining half hour.

Really enjoyed playing the guitar.  I really, really should play the guitar more often...


Friday, Boy #1 was still unwell, so it was my turn again.  This time I managed to sleep all the way to 12:30pm -- so, still not completely well.

After I got up, I was feeling mostly good -- so I did some light yardwork.


And, today is Saturday.  Spent the morning indoors, and the afternoon in the shed, hand-slabbing (i.e. sawing) some small logs so that they could season without splitting.  In a few years I'll turn them into a small storage box or jewelery box.



--GG