1 Wow.
2 Wednesday. The exhaustion. Relentless.
3 I'd like to give a shout out to my son-in-law Josh for having his mug on a billboard at Sac State. I think it is sponsored by the Business Journal. It reads, "Congratulations to our Alumni!" The billboard has two rows of pictures. Josh is in the bottom row, second from the left.
4 So congrats, Josh! You're the first guy I ever met (outside of realtors, politicians, serial killers, etc.) who has his face on a billboard.
5 I know a celebrity. We all stand proud. This Old Brown Shoe is beaming. Might be the reflection of the lamp on my head. Not sure.
6 Moving on, Part One: I've realized that my hands are having a tough time playing guitar. I'm healthy, so far as I know, but I have had frazzled nerves lately. I think a lot of stuff happened fast this past year.
7 Retirement rocks. I love not having to be anywhere. I still have to be places, but it's on my own terms.
8 Good times.
9 Just frazzled nerves. Am I worried?
10 Nah.
11 Any time I get like this, I know without looking what it is.
12 I need sleep.
13 Here comes a nap. <takes a short one>
14 Okay, gee that was great. <sounds of bones cracking >
15 Right when I awakened I got whisked over to Walmart for a return on a floor vacuum. Long line, lots of people with no fashion sense. We got out with our lives, but barely.
16 We jumped over to Staples for some file folders. It frazzled me.
17 Nothing reminds me of teaching more than Staples does.
18 Actually, lots of other things remind me of teaching.
19 Do I miss it?
20 Honestly?
21 Nope.
22 Just kidding.
23 I think of the nice people I've met over the years, and I miss them. This includes staff and students at both schools.
24 Then I think of the papers. Mountains and mountains of papers. Himalayas of papers.
25 At the end of last year I began throwing reams of stuff I've kept over the years into the dumpsters. The swiftness with which I had to clear out a classroom, help sell a house, buy a house, and move boxes in all three areas might have begun some of the frazzles. Somewhere in there I wrenched my Achilles. It remains sore to this minute.
26 Ah, I'll live.
27 I'll live.
28 Moving On, Part Two: Think it'll rain?
29 I practiced a little last night after the nap and the Wal- Mart run.
30 I don't get home until 9:30 most nights, so I have that time to take out microphones, stands, music, lyrics, and something I underestimated, lighting. I rented a pack mule a
Sherpa, something difficult to find in the valley.
31 Just setting the house up for a recording gets zany. Real life happens everywhere. I have to be careful I don't play so loud that I wake up the kids next door. I worry about these things.
32 The challenge of playing 10 songs in 10 days gets particularly dicey when I see film of myself. I've done three so far.
33 I hope to make The Rolling Stones' Wild Horses work. I don't want to try anything fancy; it holds its own as a nice song. Every time I try to throw fancy riffs, my brain gets jumbled; I forget lyrics or perform wrong stanzas.
34 Here are some secrets o how an amateur tries to do a music video. I wrote this before I decided to step down from the Riff Challenge:
35 There.
36 That feels better.
37 Moving On, Part the Thoid: How come I can't direct
myself?
38 Moving On, Part Four: We're back to live, early last night. I'll switch to the present tense, because at one point this was the present. Here go:
We've some Hallmark Christmas movie happening as I compose over here.
39 The girl in it just got a kiss from the fellow she liked, and she said, "Think you."
40 Lots of people say that now. They think they are saying, "Thank you," but phonetically it sounds like "Think you." I get a kick out of it. I'm tempted to say to them, "I will."
41
42 Come on.
43 It wasn't THAT stupid.
44 Controlling Tense Once More, Dept.: Sometimes, like last night, I write as though it were the next day. I do this ahead of time to avoid confusion. Does that make sense? Twelve English teachers just went over. This was particulary dicey last night, because I had no intention of stepping down from the Challenge. In a sense, you're going to hear my thoughts as that drama played out. I'll italicize my thoughts, as well as the lyrics to the song. Here go:
I got home early last night determined to nail The Rolling Stones' beautiful Wild Horses. I couldn't find my phone charger, ran out and bought another, set the entire house up with mics, lighting, guitars, cords, amps, and all the rest, and then practiced three or four times.
45 I moved the entire op into my office, where I have a low-budget studio with a few amps, stools, stuff like that.
46 Right when I was running a final take on the tune, my iPhone notified me for the second night in a row that I didn't have enough room on the cloud to hold all the videos.
47 I sat staring. Decision time. I didn't stand on ceremony. Something had to give. I announced on Facebook a little after ten that I had to drop out of the Riff Challenge.
48 Most everything I need to say I said in that post. I then walked through the house putting everything away. The sadness bore down, especially since the song I worked on
meant something. Keith Richards wrote the first two lines for his son, and Mick Jagger wrote the remainder about his break-up with Marianne Faithful. WARNING: There is an obnoxious commercial you need to mute instantly, then enjoy the flowers. If you let it run, it follows with Angie, and then returns to the classic version of Wild Horses.
49 Here are the words:
Wild Horses
by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Childhood living
is easy to do,
The things you wanted I bought them for you.
Graceless lady, you know who I am,
You know I can't let you
Slide through my hands.
I watched you suffer,
A dull, aching pain.
Now you decided
To show me the same.
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter,
Or treat you unkind.
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away,
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away.
I know I've dreamed [of] you,
A sin and a lie.
Let's do some living,
After we die.
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away.
Wild, wild horses,
We'll ride them some day.
50 Back to the Present, Part One: Sorta sad ending to today's DN. Didn't help that this Blogger dude went inconsistent on the fonts. Oh, sometimes I think I must go mad!
51 For a minute. I no longer wallow about stuff. Pointless. It was sad for a minute, and then it disappeared. There are worse things, dudes and dudettes. A little perspective shows me this was a blessing. I thank God, or The Creator of the Universe for putting the sun right back into my heart. And Apple didn't get a dime. By the way, Apple Corps., the Beatles' company, sued Apple for copyright infringement and won a ton of money. There's more to the story, but I thought you might enjoy that tidbit.
52 Gottago.
53 Have a GREAT day.
54 See you again.
55 Peace.
4 So congrats, Josh! You're the first guy I ever met (outside of realtors, politicians, serial killers, etc.) who has his face on a billboard.
5 I know a celebrity. We all stand proud. This Old Brown Shoe is beaming. Might be the reflection of the lamp on my head. Not sure.
6 Moving on, Part One: I've realized that my hands are having a tough time playing guitar. I'm healthy, so far as I know, but I have had frazzled nerves lately. I think a lot of stuff happened fast this past year.
7 Retirement rocks. I love not having to be anywhere. I still have to be places, but it's on my own terms.
8 Good times.
9 Just frazzled nerves. Am I worried?
10 Nah.
11 Any time I get like this, I know without looking what it is.
12 I need sleep.
13 Here comes a nap. <takes a short one>
14 Okay, gee that was great. <sounds of bones cracking >
15 Right when I awakened I got whisked over to Walmart for a return on a floor vacuum. Long line, lots of people with no fashion sense. We got out with our lives, but barely.
16 We jumped over to Staples for some file folders. It frazzled me.
17 Nothing reminds me of teaching more than Staples does.
18 Actually, lots of other things remind me of teaching.
19 Do I miss it?
20 Honestly?
21 Nope.
22 Just kidding.
23 I think of the nice people I've met over the years, and I miss them. This includes staff and students at both schools.
24 Then I think of the papers. Mountains and mountains of papers. Himalayas of papers.
26 Ah, I'll live.
27 I'll live.
28 Moving On, Part Two: Think it'll rain?
29 I practiced a little last night after the nap and the Wal- Mart run.
30 I don't get home until 9:30 most nights, so I have that time to take out microphones, stands, music, lyrics, and something I underestimated, lighting. I rented a pack mule a
Sherpa, something difficult to find in the valley.
31 Just setting the house up for a recording gets zany. Real life happens everywhere. I have to be careful I don't play so loud that I wake up the kids next door. I worry about these things.
32 The challenge of playing 10 songs in 10 days gets particularly dicey when I see film of myself. I've done three so far.
33 I hope to make The Rolling Stones' Wild Horses work. I don't want to try anything fancy; it holds its own as a nice song. Every time I try to throw fancy riffs, my brain gets jumbled; I forget lyrics or perform wrong stanzas.
34 Here are some secrets o how an amateur tries to do a music video. I wrote this before I decided to step down from the Riff Challenge:
- I use potato-chip bag clips to hold the music in place.
- I write short forms of lyrics on paper plates. I clip those onto a music stand right in front of my eyes, but off camera.
- I try to do interesting lighting. I have failed on every front.
- The other night I had a silhouette thing going on with the Otis Redding tune I worked on. I figure the fewer distractions, the easier it is to concentrate on lyrics, breathing, fingering, etc. I never got the tune recorded because my iPhone told me I had used up all the cloud space I had. Translation: pay us more and we can make this really easy. Long story. I put the videos into the desktop. By the time I finished that I didn't have time to do a ton of takes. The song didn't happen yesterday morning. I shelved that project.
- I realized fast that most people have more talent than I do.
- I remember Stephen King talk about how there are things that some individuals can't do.
- Those who can do. Those who can't teach. Or so they say. It works for me.
- My fingertips hurt, but haven't blistered. I am grateful.
- I hope my legacy isn't that of a glasses cracker.
- I'm out of secrets. I can't seem to get the posts right.
- This makes my heart sink. I'm not sure I can finish this stuff.
- I will try. I sometimes think that I over-think the songs.
35 There.
36 That feels better.
37 Moving On, Part the Thoid: How come I can't direct
myself?
38 Moving On, Part Four: We're back to live, early last night. I'll switch to the present tense, because at one point this was the present. Here go:
We've some Hallmark Christmas movie happening as I compose over here.
39 The girl in it just got a kiss from the fellow she liked, and she said, "Think you."
40 Lots of people say that now. They think they are saying, "Thank you," but phonetically it sounds like "Think you." I get a kick out of it. I'm tempted to say to them, "I will."
41
42 Come on.
43 It wasn't THAT stupid.
44 Controlling Tense Once More, Dept.: Sometimes, like last night, I write as though it were the next day. I do this ahead of time to avoid confusion. Does that make sense? Twelve English teachers just went over. This was particulary dicey last night, because I had no intention of stepping down from the Challenge. In a sense, you're going to hear my thoughts as that drama played out. I'll italicize my thoughts, as well as the lyrics to the song. Here go:
I got home early last night determined to nail The Rolling Stones' beautiful Wild Horses. I couldn't find my phone charger, ran out and bought another, set the entire house up with mics, lighting, guitars, cords, amps, and all the rest, and then practiced three or four times.
45 I moved the entire op into my office, where I have a low-budget studio with a few amps, stools, stuff like that.
46 Right when I was running a final take on the tune, my iPhone notified me for the second night in a row that I didn't have enough room on the cloud to hold all the videos.
47 I sat staring. Decision time. I didn't stand on ceremony. Something had to give. I announced on Facebook a little after ten that I had to drop out of the Riff Challenge.
48 Most everything I need to say I said in that post. I then walked through the house putting everything away. The sadness bore down, especially since the song I worked on
meant something. Keith Richards wrote the first two lines for his son, and Mick Jagger wrote the remainder about his break-up with Marianne Faithful. WARNING: There is an obnoxious commercial you need to mute instantly, then enjoy the flowers. If you let it run, it follows with Angie, and then returns to the classic version of Wild Horses.
49 Here are the words:
Wild Horses
by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Childhood living
is easy to do,
The things you wanted I bought them for you.
Graceless lady, you know who I am,
You know I can't let you
Slide through my hands.
I watched you suffer,
A dull, aching pain.
Now you decided
To show me the same.
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter,
Or treat you unkind.
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away,
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away.
I know I've dreamed [of] you,
A sin and a lie.
Let's do some living,
After we die.
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away.
Wild, wild horses,
We'll ride them some day.
50 Back to the Present, Part One: Sorta sad ending to today's DN. Didn't help that this Blogger dude went inconsistent on the fonts. Oh, sometimes I think I must go mad!
52 Gottago.
53 Have a GREAT day.
54 See you again.
55 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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