Better

I've been neglecting this 'blog... but, no, really I haven't. Fact is, I know barely anyone reads my posts anyway, and that's OK. Living life is better than writing about it anyway, as much as I enjoy writing. So I've been doing some of that, and hopefully you (whoever you are) have been as well.

There's been some travel. My trip to Egypt last year was incredible, of course; this year began with the traditional visit to Brazil, though I spent less time there than usual. Gina and I spent a relatively warm February weekend in Cape May, then decided soak up some sun in Key West for a few days in April. We did a little tour of New England over the long Fourth of July weekend, spending a night in Boston (where no one at Cheers knew our names), another one in Portsmouth, NH (where we had a delicious breakfast at La Maison Navarre), a short, rainy jaunt through Maine culminating in scrumptious lobster rolls with a lighthouse view... and two nights in beautiful Vermont. We did some kayaking, admired a waterfalls, visited the Ben & Jerry's Factory (well, we arrived just before closing, but we still managed to get some ice cream and peruse the gift shop and the Flavor Graveyard), held some baby goats, and just loved the hell out of the Green Mountain State. And each other.

Catsitting in April, dogsitting in July... I lost an aunt, my mom's sister, suddenly in May. I got to see a friend and former colleague, along with two current colleagues from Egypt and two from the US, with Gina at a great Turkish restaurant over Memorial Day weekend. More of my attention has been spent on Netflix (and Prime TV, and Apple TV+) of late, but it's probably safe to say that I still watch less TV than most of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. I did get Gina into "Black Mirror" after showing her the "Joan Is Awful" episode, and she and I are making our way through "Peaky Blinders" together (just finished season 2). And then there's the car situation.

A week before we embarked on our trip to New England, my old Corolla was totalled in a three-vehicle collision on Route 17 in Paramus. Fortunately, I wasn't injured at all, though the crash did pop up in my mind's eye randomly over the next week or so, including a few times as I was drifting off to sleep. Loads of fun. Gina went on a few test drives with me, and I'm happy to report that I'm now zipping around in a Pontiac G6 (which I've named Gisela), and I really enjoy this car, in a way that I never quite did the Toyota. Don't get me wrong, it was a dependable vehicle, but it just didn't spark joy the way the Pontiac does.

In hindsight, getting a pic of my car at Lyndhurst's
"Kingsland Explosion Memorial" might have been tempting fate, but...

All in all, things are better. Yes, I did put out a new song in May, "Spark Rekindled." My music output has slowed down rather a bit. You're welcome.  ;-P   If I wrote songs, or 'blog (or social media!) posts, solely for feedback and commentary from others, I'd have stopped a long, long time ago. I do have a few unfinished song ideas I'd like to finish, and I'm considering re-recording a few tunes for an EP, but there's no rush at the moment. I'm still getting a little more comfortable with the ukulele, and it might be fun to switch over to that for a while once I'm done with the other projects. We'll see.

In the meantime, there are two months of summer left as of today. Enjoy 'em; I plan to!

2018-02-02

I spent last Saturday in Morristown, NJ, last Monday night in New York City, and tonight in Philadelphia. (Maybe I should go to Boston on Sunday?) Guess I get around. I like Philly, and would've liked to have spent more time in the city tonight, but it's just too frakkin' cold. I'll definitely have to visit again once the weather's friendlier.

I've been thinking, though, that this year I need to visit someplace I haven't been. I do enjoy Boston, and Philadelphia and New York are always fun, but it's cool to check out a city I've never seen before. Nashville might be in my sights. Let's see...

Rainbows Are Visions

I love the Muppets, having grown up with the original "Muppet Show" and enjoyed "Muppets Tonight" as well. Laura was a big fan, too, and we saw an exhibit on the Muppets at the Museum of the Moving Image together before we were really dating. The first movie we went to together was "The Muppets," and we watched many of the old episodes and films at home (and had a habit of singing "Mahna Mahna" together). She and they are kinda inextricably entwined in my mind now, which is both a happy and a sad thing. As a result, I couldn't bring myself to go see "Muppets Most Wanted" when it came out, and I was hesitant about checking out the new show that debuted tonight (and it doesn't help that yesterday would've been our two-year wedding anniversary)... but I decided to watch it anyway.

"My life is a bacon-wrapped hell on earth," indeed. And the "passionate bear" reference... lol This is certainly not "The Muppet Show" or "Muppets Tonight." I'm still adjusting to the "reality TV" angle, but I have to say I enjoyed the premiere very much. "Ivan the terrible... dancer!" "Maybe you're grumpy your spray tan's too orange..." Glad to see the jokes are as good and as bad as ever. Poor Tom Bergeron... As great as it was to glimpse Uncle Deadly using a lintroller on Kermit, though, I do need to see some of those Muppet penguins again!

Boston was nice, thanks for asking. I could definitely have used more time there, but the weather was perfect and I enjoyed the time I did have. I also got some me time in NYC on Saturday evening, opting to celebrate first Oktoberfest (because I'm part German) and then the Feast of San Gennaro (because I'm also part Italian). Weissbier, bratwurst, and zeppoles... yum. I attended another of Tania Stavreva's musical performances, too. Pics, as always, are in the Gallery... of Death!

Yes, I'm making some progress with the album. I've been digging out old files for remixing and mastering, and I'm working on writing a few new songs to be recorded. Slowly but surely. So I'm movin' right along...

And yeah, I think I'll have to sit down and watch "Muppets Most Wanted" soon.

Runnin', Writin', and Rockin'

NaNoWriMo has me in its clutches, but I intend to run and to play guitar every day this month (at least) in addition to the writing.  OK, I procrastinated Friday and Saturday, but I did manage to do all three today, and while I haven't produced as much text as I'd like just yet, I have started, and that puts me far ahead of where I was in the game last year.  While I've not put too much planning into "The Divorce Is Final," I'm happy with the direction in which it's currently going, and I do have some general ideas and will no doubt develop more as I get deeper into it.  I do want it to feel at least as much like fun as it does like work...

Isn't it?

Preeti dozed on the couch behind me this afternoon as Mozart streamed from the Apple TV and I began putting words to paper the cloud.  (I'm sure the end of Daylight Saving Time means absolutely nothing to a creature who dozes most of her day away anyway.)  Tuesday will mark one year since we brought her home to the apartment, and while our little family is littler than it was then, I think my female feline is pretty happy overall.  Granted, she'd prefer to play fetch with her mousey for at least an hour a day longer than I consent to, but we do play.  Meguilla the chinchilla gets her playtime, too.  And her raisins.  Mustn't forget the raisins.

While I've mostly played either the Danelectro or the Kona acoustic/electric over the past two years, lately I've been eschewing both left-handed guitars for my old Epiphone knockoff of a right-handed Strat (strung and played "upside-down," of course).  I do love the sound of the Danelectro, especially with the light top/heavy bottom strings I mainly use with it, but the Epiphone seems to rock more, and I like to play it slung down lower than my other guitars, which just feels more rock, too.  Anyway, I played this evening 'til my fingers were sore, and then I played a little more.

I'd planned on recording a new song or two this month, but I'm realizing that I can't really dedicate that much time to it, not if I want to get a 50,000-word novel done before December.  That Entwistlian bassline for "I'll Live" that keeps running through my head is just going to have to wait a bit longer...  I'll settle for getting a few new songs written, and although I'm not going to run a 5K before springtime, I'm determined to run every day and gradually get my endurance and my speed up to something that'll make a good showing when I do tackle my first race.  Should help to keep those winter (and holiday!) pounds at bay, as well, and I'm starting to reintroduce some South Beach phase two recipes into my meals, after a lengthy period of not managing what I eat very well.

Also going on this month: a weekend road trip to Boston with a couple of my colleagues, and "The Day of the Doctor."  I've been a fan of "Doctor Who" since probably sometime around 1982, and this special looks to be... well, special.  I'm going to watch the simulcast at the AMC Loews Village 7 in Manhattan on November 23rd, having snagged a ticket despite Fandango's ineptitude.  Anyone else going?  Anyone wishing they were?

OK, I've written too many words already for something that isn't "The Divorce Is Final."  ;-)  I'm going to relax with a cup of hot chocolate and a scone.  Later!

May Day! May Day!

It's May Day once again, and while I spent the last one marching and playing tunes with the Occupy Guitarmy in the streets of Manhattan (led by one Nightwatchman, also known as Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello), I'm sitting this one out.  By which I mean that I'm at work.

May Day 2012 in Union Square with the Occupy Guitarmy

I still support Occupy, and the idea that we common men have (or should have) at least as much of a say in our government and society as the fatcat bankers and business owners and politicians.  I've just had too much on my plate and on my mind to commit the time to learning the songs and spending the day in New York.  In fact, I've decided not to do Make Music New York this year, despite taking part for the past five years.  Between the Webcomic and the wedding, I can't spare too much time for the music, at least not right now.  Perhaps I'll shift my efforts and put out a digital EP, rather than the full Tougher Than Flannel album that's still in the works, around the time we get married, but that remains to be seen.

Laura and I did manage to spare a weekend and have some fun in Massachusetts, even though the Boston Comic Con was postponed at the last minute (it's now rescheduled for August 3-4; not sure if we're going) and we couldn't spend too much time in Boston proper.  We've still got all these Slime buttons we'd planned on giving out!  She enjoyed spending some time at WEBS and other yarn shops, and we had a great breakfast at Zaftigs on Saturday morning and a tasty Indian meal at Masala Art in Needham on Friday night (while the second bombing suspect was being apprehended not ten miles away!).  Before heading to Salem on Saturday afternoon for some wandering and dinner, we did take in Boston Common and the Public Garden:

Laura and me in Boston's Public Garden

Getting tasks accomplished is a good feeling, and it's even better when you find them meaningful.  I wish you great productivity and self-satisfaction today, no matter what you're working at (or who you're working for).  Happy May Day!

Time

One month ago today, I proposed to Laura, and she said yes. She later described the look on my face as the most "genuinely vulnerable" she'd ever seen anyone, which sounds about how I was feeling. I knew she was probably going to say yes, but of course I couldn't know for sure, and yet I had to lay my heart out on the line. I was nervous, to be sure, though not nearly as nervous as I could have been; I just wanted to make it absolutely crystal-clear to this woman, and to everyone else, that I wanted to be with her always and spend all time, the rest of my days, with her. Being engaged doesn't feel any different, and yet it does. We still treat each other as lovingly as we always have, but there's more of a sense of permanence, and of expectation, too. We have a wedding to put together! Working on it...

Twenty-two days ago, New Jersey Transit interfered with my commuting schedule again. While the trip home from work sucks as badly as always, with me getting home at 6:45 PM on the really rare, really good day, I've suddenly found myself having to add a bus to my morning routine, which already consisted of a train and a bus, to get to work 40 minutes or so later than I used to. The bad(der) news is that this Bergen Line train is already proving slightly less reliable than the Main Line train had been; one day last week, the train was almost 30 minutes late, which caused me to miss my regular bus, and then the next bus was ten minutes late.  The good news is that I'll be paying less for my monthly passes, since I'm now traveling through Rutherford Station rather than Kingsland, so at least NJT is going to lose some money for inconveniencing me.

Two days ago, two explosions tore through the tail end of the Boston Marathon's route on Boylston Street. The last time I walked along that stretch couldn't have been more than four years ago, and of course Laura and I are heading to the Boston Comic Con this Saturday at the Hynes Convention Center, just a few blocks from where the tragedy unfolded. As a techie, I donated through this site to support the victims; it's nice to see such an outpouring of support online for Boston and those hurt by this, but money is needed, too.

I'm still looking forward to our mini-trip to Massachusetts. We're going to visit a yarn shop on the way to the Boston area, and we're considering having dinner in Salem on Friday night. Breakfast on Saturday definitely has to be at Zaftigs! Seeing Copley Square will hurt, though. I don't like innocent civilians, just people, being attacked anywhere, but particularly not somewhere I know and love. I've spent a lot of time in Boston. I've walked it from end to end, I've ridden T trolleys and buses so tightly packed that some cultures might consider me married already, I've seen Aimee Mann perform at the Orpheum, I've daydreamed in Boston Common and at the Public Garden, and I've been alone with my thoughts on the Esplanade while gazing out over the Charles late at night.  Boston is my city as much as New York is, and as I was shaken by the destruction of the World Trade Center, I am shaken by this.  Still, it will not deter me from visiting and it doesn't diminish my love for Boston.

There were a lot of quotes and a lot of memes circulating Monday and yesterday. I shared (and will leave you with) this one, from former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, another big fan of Boston: "Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's fate. And we are all mortal."