Dat Struggle, Tho.

I'm feeling awful and have taken a Benadryl, so this blog is kind of a race against whatever length of time before that knocks me out. The reason I'm writing is somewhat related to feeling like crap though, so yeah. I think I have it figured out though... Cash goes out in the yard, and the grass is tall, and he runs around in the grass, and then sometimes rolls in the dirt too. So I'm not allergic to Cash, but he's covered in the crap that I AM allergic to. He's gonna get a bath tomorrow when I feel less crappy.

Anyways, on Tuesday I accompanied Honey to some friends' house. It's like Gear Heaven in there. He's been politely pushing for me to come with for a few weeks, and since I'm out of class I finally had enough free time to go. Now you have to understand, I've been somewhat avoiding music for about 2 years now... thanks to some unpleasant past experiences. But I've finally broken that hiatus and went to jam. I actually had a really great time and experienced music in a way I haven't in so long. It was relieving. I don't think I can really explain the gravity of this to other people, but trust me, kind of a big deal, k? I was planning on writing this whole long thing about that, but I ended up having to shift my focus thanks to my body.

We were supposed to go back today. Woke up to an allergy attack [yay]--the meds the VA gave me stopped working, and even when I take 24-hour Allegra it only lasts for about 12 hours. Anyways, I went to Costco for a few things but forgot about my physical therapy appointment, so ended up being super rushed. I was go-go-go-go for a few hours. Decided to take a nap before heading out to jam, so that I'd be able to keep up tonight. Well, that didn't work out so well in my favor. I really wanted to go. I did. But when he woke me up to say it was time to go, I couldn't. I'm not sure why, it didn't seem like today took that much out of me, but I guess it did. And so this is the struggle we face... do we pretend like nothing's wrong and put ourselves through hell so we can have experiences and connections? Or do we give our body what it needs [or at least what we think it needs] and baby our fragile selves? I'm missing out tonight, but hoping that Babe doesn't wear himself out so much that we bail on tomorrow. This is the struggle. The struggle between trying to fit in and function like a "normal" human, but also trying to take it easy. It's a very very fine line that we have to straddle on a daily basis. You have to push because pushing is good for you, but you can't push too much or you'll regret it.

The second point that I want to make is this: It was so comforting and relieving to have someone understand this. He did not push, did not guilt, did not manipulate. He made sure I would be okay, that I didn't need anything, and that I wouldn't miss him too awful much if he went without me. This. So much this. Now that I see what a relationship of partners is like, I am constantly amazed. And even though things aren't always perfect [because there's no such thing] I understand how it's supposed to work now.

Side note: Have been doing a lot of research into runes and chakras. Given the downtime from school, I've been doing a bit of art lately. It takes me weeks to do anything because I work with layers that have to dry. Unfortunately, I need smaller brushes to be ab;e to finish the color, but, here is one of a 7-peice set.

There is no Irony, Only Hindsight.

Yesterday as I was driving, a really great song came on my shuffled list. I'm talking about "Time is Running Out" by Muse. Remember, I play bass. So, this song was a blast to learn. The timing is a little tough, but it's really fun to play and I love the sound of the bass with some fuzz on it. When I listened to it again I noticed the wet/dry mix they had going--wish I could have done that too--but that's all beside the point. Anyone who knows me knows that aside from a good thumping bass line, one of the most important things to me is a song's lyrics. I've sung this song I don't know how many times, and loved it every time, but for some reason this time I actually paid a deeper attention to the words. I know I haven't done this much on my blog, but I'm going to just paste some lyrics before I go on... keep in mind I have deleted some of the repetitions.

I think I'm drowning

Asphyxiated

I wanna break this spell

That you've created

You're something beautiful

A contradiction

I wanna play the game

I want the friction

You will be the death of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out

Our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom

Bound and restricted

I tried to give you up

But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped

Sense of elation

You'd never dream of

Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

[repeat chorus]

How did it come to this?
You will suck the life out of me

What I realized while singing along--hit me like a hammer, actually--is that this is one of the last songs I learned with my band. My first thought was, "Boy, that sure is ironic. Prophetic, almost." Now don't worry folks, I'm not going to go all mysterious voodoo on you here, but... I love hindsight. Love-Hate, I guess, is more accurate. This song always pulled up strong emotions in me, but I never could put my finger on it. It's one of the few songs that I can sing along to, in public, and while playing, even. And sometimes doing that would almost give me chills. Now I know why: It's almost a direct illustration of my last relationship, as well as my relationship with the band. So I suppose it's only fitting that this would have been the last song I learned with that group of people... If I had only known how much truth there was to the lyrics... Aw but hell, do I even think I would have listened? 

Again, hindsight is such a valuable tool. We tend to ignore things that are uncomfortable. We don't always pick up the vibrations in the universe [which I think may have plans, or show signs, but not on like, a god-like level or anything... existence is just weird, okay?]. We like to turn the other way and let life go on happening. But I've almost always found that retrospect is a very important thing to learn. As enlightened beings [some of us more--or less--than others], it is very important for us to constantly check in, constantly look back to learn lessons that eluded us at the time. That old saying of "Hindsight is 20/20," I never really understood it in theory, but boy do I understand it in practice. So many things make much more sense once you factor in the knowledge and/or experiences that you have gained over time. 

I guess what I'm saying is although I still love this song, I'm sure glad I put a stop to my assisted downward spiral before it got much worse. Although I am still stressed often, and although I still don't really have as much closure as I'd like, I know that I am much better off now. 

Take care of yourselves, people. And always, always glance back.

It Really Works.

I wonder if I could get a note from my doc saying that I need to leave work early [x]-number of times a week to participate in Art Therapy. I mean, forreal. I hardly know what I'm doing and I am having a blast. I don't know why it helps, I don't know what about it is making me feel better, but something is working. I don't have a whole lot of ideas, at least not cohesive ones. But I do bits and pieces and things come together sometimes. I am continuously learning and expressing, and boy if it isn't just the greatest thing ever. It's more positive than writing--although writing does seem to help me think and process more. I suppose somehow Mrs. K was right, and the best way to work through my frustrations, fears, and issues right now is to turn to creativity. I may not sort as much out this way, but it certainly is soothing.

mmmmm, silly string. 

That being said, I also spent a bit on RockSmith today. I'm still not totally sold on it. Part of that is because I've learned songs a certain way and I'm not the most flexibly-minded person on the planet. But, on the other hand, I did pick up a new song that otherwise would've taken me a bit longer to learn on my own. I have complaints, sure--their tabs are upside down [heaviest string on top, when you look at it] which is counter-intuitive to anyone who has ever read tabs; they have their own mechanics of gameplay and they call things by different names--but all in all I can see how it can be a useful tool. After adventuring with the program today, it's looking more like the Italian is going to learn bass, which leaves a nice Epi SG all to yours truly. I've been talking about picking up the guitar for months, if not years, now, so I guess I'd better make good on that claim.

Nothing beats playing with other people though, and I'm planning on going out to a weekly Rock-a-Roke event this weekend. For those of you who don't know, which seems to be everyone outside of WA, Rock-a-Roke is basically like Karaoke with a live band. Except you don't have to sing... I could look through their books, walk up, and say "I want to play [song] on bass. Gimmie!" and they would turn me loose. Not a bad gig really, considering that they are probably getting paid to show up, and really only having to play x-amount of the time... but the time they are playing, they have to be on point. They have to cover for newbies, novices, and drunkards; and let me tell you, from my experiences in Corson, that is not always easy. And also not all it's cracked up to be.

I've been settling in and putting things away little by little... by VERY little. I suppose when the bedframe gets here tomorrow that might give me a little more inspiration. I was hoping to get the whole garage cleaned out on this time away from work, but I think I'll settle for bedroom fixed up and the garage with boxes neatly stacked instead of the random pile of moving mess that we have now. 

I Wish I Could Make This Stuff Up...

I don't normally believe in this kind of thing, but there comes a point where "coincidence" just doesn't cut it. Ms. Medium, if you are reading, you should probably stop here and sit this one out, just in case. You know Bad Luck Brian? Well this poor guy embodies that meme. Totally. We thought it started last week, when Babe tried to get himself started on guitar; with a bit of 20/20 Hindsight, it started before that. But here's how it unfolded.

As I mentioned, Babe decided that he was going to learn guitar via Rocksmith... Against my advice, because I'm a snob. But he did ask me to help him pick out a guitar, and I was happy to oblige. So we go on down to Guitar Center and pick something out in his price range. Get all the essentials, too. Once we were home, I go about setting up his strap-locks, because they're a clumsy person's salvation. I check the knob on the neck plate, and it literally snaps off in my hands. So, we go back to GC and luckily the same guy is still on shift. Since we were polite he'd be happy to swap it out for us... except that was the last model at their store. We looked around a bit more, but decide that's really THE guitar. So he checks the inventory and calls a store to clear it, and we head on up to the Supermall store to swap out the guitar. The manager there was really cool about the whole thing.

So we get home and start setting up the Rocksmith stuff. He'd read that any USB-to-1/4" should be compatible with the program... buuuuuuut that's not entirely true. So after hours of frustration, swearing, and troubleshooting, I order the name-brand cable off of Amazon. Because of course no stores in the area carry JUST the cable. When the cable shows up from expedited shipping, his input jack comes loose. Easy fix, sure, but another nail in the coffin.

Next day. He has a guitar. He has the right cable. The program is running... for about 20 minutes. My whole desktop freezes. And not only does it freeze, but it doesn't come back from the hard crash. No kidding. I come home and clear out the dust bunny breeding ground, and with some help from an IT buddy, isolate the problem to most likely be the power supply. Well, come to think of it... a couple weeks earlier, the 1.5 tb I had in the tower pooped out. And, by the way, when my computer crashed, it fried HIS 2.0 gig hard drive, where he'd been pack-ratting movies and TV for the past couple years. Grrrrreat.

On top of all of this, we are moving. We do one day of car-loads of stuff. After that, he is in the early stages of a flare-up. Stupid bodies. Then, we have a lovely house-wide miscommunication that is really silly and frustrating. Three of us broke as a joke, stressed, tired, sore, etc etc etc. You can imagine. With my extra time off, we run Babe over to the VA finally. Sounds like everything should be easy and straight forward... turns out it's not, of course. [insert details here].

I'm glossing over a lot, but fast-forward to today. [Side note, come to think of it, my leave for moving also got denied! Luckily they gave me some unofficial time off, but leave would have been better]. Today, he drops a wifi repeater. Done. Mr. Guns, well, as soon as I got home, his Xbox decided it was going to refuse to work. And when I moved the fish tank from the apartment to the house, I squashed John Snow and thought he was going to die. He seems better now, but still may not make it. Babe dropped a LCD monitor, probably trash now. Even though Century Link was supposed to be out to start up internet today, we're still sitting at almost dial-up speeds. He spent all day dealing with them, but without the account info got nowhere. I got on tonight to talk to their support folks... turns out that they need to send a tech to check the lines, but can't do that until Saturday. If they can fix it great, if not, we might have to talk to the rental company and get them to re-wire the house because of how bad the wiring looks.

They say bad luck comes in threes, right? For him it comes in at least 30s. We're fighting through it, but everyone's tired. It's hard when your 'one-thing-after-another' string is running on three weeks of hellish events. And everyone is wound too tight. Hopefully soon things will smooth over. Until then, I'll take the advice that was blatantly shoved in my face yesterday:

In other news the house is GREAT [aside from potentially bad internet], and the kitties are finally bonding. I can't find the photo of them cuddling, but here is Bill being a goof.

Maybe I'm Just Getting Old, But...

Disclaimer: I try not to use a bunch of swears in my blog, just in case you never know who can stumble across this thing, but this post is going to be impossible without them. I will try to keep them to a minimum.

Last night, I went to Seattle to see Chevelle play the Showbox SoDo. And I was extremely disappointed. This was tough for me, because they are one of my favorite bands. So, my analytical brain took over, and I had a think.

Why was this show disappointing for me? I have a few ideas. I hate to sound like Hipster Steve, but... "When I saw them at Pain in the Grass a few years back, they were SO much better." Okay, but "better" is such a relative term. At Pain in the Grass, they really impressed me. I had no idea that a three-peice rock band could sound so heavy and crunchy and powerful. But now, a handful of albums later, they have really solidified their sound... and they have a sort of trademark heaviness. I wasn't blown away partly because I had such high expectations. And in a weird way, they met them. Their live show sounded almost exactly like the albums. And for me, that's actually a bit of a turn off. I feel that an album and a live set should have a different feeling. One should be more raw... involved... connected?... than the other one.

Maybe they brought all their album tricks to the stage--they certainly did use a lot of vocal effects. Maybe they should tone back their albums about 10%--so that seeing them live is like a slap in the face. Either could be true. But honestly, I have felt more amped up rocking out to the same exact songs in my kitchen. I could turn up the bass in my car, max out my stereo, and get a more intense feeling out of it. I've seen mosh pits that were more fun with much fewer people; I've seen crowds more interactive at a Corson Swift show. Don't get me wrong, I was not in my trademark edge-of-the-pit zone, and it's not like people weren't enjoying themselves. But perhaps it's the difference between a punk show and a hard rock or metal (ish) show. Different levels of energy.

When I see a band live, I want them to touch me, I want to feel like breaking things. And I just didn't get that. Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I was too late to get into the vibe. Maybe the venue was too big--I certainly do like smaller crowds and divey-er bars. The audience for some reason was a huge turn off for me; everyone seemed so old. Maybe everyone recording HD video on their damned phones got to me. Maybe missing the opening bands threw me off.

I can say for sure, if I ever get back into music in any significant way, and I'm in a band that ever takes off in a little way, I have my speech prepared. "Hey you, yeah, you people trying to record the whole show on your cell phones so you can out-hipster everyone else and prove you were there... stop trying to document the show and actually experience it. Try to have fun. You'll remember that better when you look back than just watching some crappy bumpy video you post on YouTube. If you've got a phone held up... go to the freakin back of the room and let the kids who want to have fun dance around."

The one thing that saved this show was the encore. Finally, they played "The Red," for one. For two, some kid made a joke about playing air guitar. So the singer had him come up on stage and told him if he promised to play air guitar for the whole next song, they'd let him. Then he found out the kid played REAL guitar too... and had a roadie bring him the backup guitar. And this kid played on stage with Chevelle. I can only imagine how elated he must have felt (he obviously loved the band).

I envy him that feeling. It made me want to play again. Now, if I only had more hours in the day, or more days in the weekend, I could get back to it. Lately I've found myself singing more, wanting to learn songs again. But I can't imagine a band where I could play all the songs I've ever wanted to cover. No one would come to those shows. And I still can't write from scratch. I wonder if it would be possible to somehow have a band that combines Chevelle and Alkaline Trio... and what that would even sound like.

On another plus side: the boy bought a guitar today. He's intent on using Rocksmith to learn. I have my misgivings, but he's sold on it, so I'll be supportive... I am a little excited to see how this pans out. And just the other day I was thinking about getting a guitar to try and learn some covers. So win-win. 

Another Longwinded Nutshell

Greetings, fair readers, assuming you exist. I know I have been very inconsistent with this bloggy-ness-thing. Life happens. Fortunately, I do still take lots of pictures, and duty days of boredom and loneliness are actually a good chance to write, if you want to start doing that glass-half-whatever thing. I have been up and down and dabbling across many fields [as I tend to do], so I'm going to repeat a previous format and see how it goes. This promises to be long-winded, so by all means feel free to skip to the parts that interest you.

 

Yarn Stuffs:

I finally got ballsy and decided to see exactly how much I knitted and crocheted while on deployment. This is the result. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to start putting the blanket together yet, and I'm actually starting to get a little nervous about how many various qualities, textures, weights, and sizes there are of squares. Girl night scheduled soon in order to divvy up squares for everyone. In related news, I have so much scrap yarn from this project that I have decided to start a random side-project blanket, which I have deemed 'the Ugliest Blanket in the Universe.' It is mindless, simple, and we'll see where it goes.

I am considering starting a file or notebook titled 'Cozy Compendium,' because if there's an inanimate object out there, there's damn sure a cozy for it. So far the only thing I have successfully completed in the cozy department is a skillet-handle-cover, and wow, yes, that was so worth it. My list of tiny things to make for friends is ever increasing, and I should probably get to work on those if I want to have ANYthing ready to go by Christmas.

Critter Stuffs:

What originally started as Hubs randomly suggesting 'Let's get a fish for the kitties!' has endured much research and much startup capital, and now results in us having a full-blown aquarium. Nothing too fancy, just a 10 gallon tank. We're starting the nitrogen cycle with a [Half-Moon] Betta [Hank, named after Henry Rollins], a snail [Etienne, because that's French for 'Steve'], and a small handful of ghost shrimp. I still really want to get some sort of Pleco, and hubs is gunning for some tetras since Bettas are supposed to 'tolerate' them. Hank is actually a darker blue, but he gets shiny and aqua in some lights. So far Miss Z is fascinated, she has tried to pat the tank a few times [she is a very feet-y cat]. Orange is mildly amused, but seems to think that he needs human chauffeuring to get from floor to desktop. The Princess could care less. 

Plant Stuffs:

So far, so good. Aside from occasionally forgetting to water them [the sunflower is the only one that can't handle it], me being home really does make all the difference. The aloe pups are still growing, and the sunflower will bloom... eventually. The only thing I'm not sure about is the mystery plant might be getting too much sun and I'm thinking it might be time to repot it into a larger home. 

Also, I was cruising through Safeway the other day and found THIS little guy... er, big guy rather! It was a little more expensive and I was skeptical of buying him from a grocery store, but upon closer inspection, this plant is WORLDS better than the ones I have bought from actual 'plant stores' via Amazon. I am excited to repot this sucker into some peat moss and perhaps settle him in to a shelf over the kitchen sink. [Note to self, build shelf over kitchen sink.]

 Music Stuffs:
Maybe I will do full reviews later on in an effort to blog more often, but, I have a couple new albums. Cursory listen to Middle Class Rut left me somewhat unimpressed, while the new MSI album is exactly what I'd expect from them plus a little more edge.

As far as personal music goes, well, the pendulum tends to swing between extremes. We were overdoing it a couple weeks ago, and followed that up with almost no musical activity to speak of. We're trying to reach a balancing point between the two, but we'll see. Still feeling kind of suck/dumb on keys, and haven't learned or practiced anything in a while. For bass, I managed to solidify a couple newer covers and hammer out a couple of Corson's originals. Hubs eventually wants to record them for an EP. The tour has also been postponed, and that band has petered out as a result.

Geek Stuffs:
Definitely not as active in this department as I was a few weeks ago. Have put a bit more time into Civ5 BNW and come to the conclusion that Brazil is just not a good strategy in a multiplayer game. Tried XCOM for about a half a second but was feeling impatient with the tutorial.

Read the Oatmeal.
Can't remember what else I was going to put here.

Work Stuffs:

We made a lot of progress on our actual work, and the contractors still love me. I recalculated my scores and I should probably make the next promotion pretty easily. However, getting very discontent and frustrated with the drama and politics. Starting to lean towards 'FTN I'm OUT!' instead of reenlisting. Some days it's just not worth it and I want my life back. But anyways.

 

Gym Stuffs:

Perhaps this should be filed under 'work stuffs,' but it's hard to say since the two are so dreadfully intertwined. I need to shave a whole minute off my 1.5 mile in about a month. I'm sure it's doable, but I'm not having the best time trying to make time to run at home. I'm sure you can imagine. However, with a little effort I should actually be able to make it into the 'excellent' category for pushups [37] and 'good' for situps [54]. That would equate to like, a B and a C if we were talking school grades. My run is a metaphorical D-.

Kitchen Stuffs:

Another rather dull section, really. I still cook, all the time... Because I EAT all the time... but, really, nothing fun, new, or interesting going on here that I can recall.

Mind & Body Stuffs:
Sleep is still very much out of whack, and my back hurts more often that not. Today is a pretty bad hand-day, but I have an appointment with a neurologist next month to continue the diagnostic process. Finally have an appointment to look at some new medications... just so happens to fall on my 'day off' about four or five hours after I WAS going to get to head home. And again, I live roughly an hour away, so it's not like I could go home for lunch or a nap or anything and go back out. Hopefully better updates on this topic in the future.

Damn my insufferable good Rhythm !

I am old enough to remember that song “The Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” by Gloria Estefan. More like, I spend all my time trying to get the rhythm.

I can’t dance. Like, I can’t ‘get down,’ or ‘boogie’ or any of that good drunk stuff—in heels or without. I can cha-cha, waltz, and salsa passably because of acting class. I can line dance if you give me earplugs, and I can zumba all day long—with half of my body at a time. I’m not quite sure where this rhythm came from, but I know one of my brothers is pretty damn good at drums, and my dad was in marching band back in the day… before he discovered football, I think. But I play bass, and the running joke is dammit, I can count to 8, and I’m pretty good at it, and so far that’s always been good enough. Sure, sometimes it’s more like “one, two, doo-de-doo, dun dun dun, and a-seven-and-eight,” but… well that’s how bassists count sometimes, okay?!

So. Science has totally proven that the music you listen to can affect your workout. If you listen to the right stuff, you get pumped. Like, this has been studied. What they can’t quite put their finger on, however, is what ‘good’ workout music is. I can’t exactly explain it either. But I can say this: When I have a bad music day on the ipod, I have a bad workout day at the gym. I don’t know why, but if I can’t manage to synch myself up to the beat, it throws me off completely. If I can’t keep up with a song because I’m tired, it ruins the moment. So I spend at least 1/3 of my workout trying to find the right song for the moment, which is unfortunate. I have a great fantasy idea of how to fix this, but I would have to build an elliptical from scratch and reprogram it entirely… and no I’m not going to explain myself until I get a patent on the idea. Anyways, it’s a cool idea.

Anyways, I had a bummer workout today [I was pretty beat] but, I have been slowly coming to the conclusion that the following bands are [almost] always safe bets for gym time:

#Mindless Self Indulgence

#Chevelle

#Deftones

#the Eels

#Electric Six

The following bands are extremely hit or miss:

#Smashing Pumpkins

#Nine Inch Nails

#Sick Puppies

#Tool

#A Perfect Circle

#Prodigy

There’s still over 1000 songs in my ‘test’ playlist. I’m slogging through them one run at a time… one of these days I’ll have a solid gym playlist. I can’t wait to post it. I don’t have my info with me, but I also can think of bands that seem like they’d be good for the gym, but surprisingly are somehow not. More on that later.

Words I wish I had written

“Pop music does not grow and mature alongside you. The pop stars of the 90s who sang songs about chasing girls and falling in love for the first time when you were chasing girls and falling in love for the first time aren't going to suddenly start singing songs about how your liberal arts degree was worthless and it's weird that all of your friends are getting married just because you're 26 and going through that now. The Backstreet Boys will never become The Backstreet Men. All you can do is cling to your favorite artists and pray they never stop releasing new music. Also stay away from pop radio. It's terrifying out there.”

This is the kind of thing I think about. This is the kind of thing I wish I’d thought to say. This is the kind of thing that I wish had MY name on it, instead of Daniel O'Brien’s. Then people would discuss how witty and apt my observations are, and someone somewhere on the internet would read what I had written and laugh. This is, perhaps, why I was so determined to get my bullshit BA in English. Because I want to be some kind of she-Klosterman. And now… sigh. I simply think these thoughts to myself and sometimes have similar debates with Hubs, which never end well, since he and I think so differently about music and culture. Ironically somehow we play in the same cover band. Go figure. Well, at least I’m aware that I’m doing it ironically. Him, I’m not so sure.

However, with all of that being said, I do love me some Cracked.

Courtesy of: 4 Pop Culture Arguments That Need to be Retired | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-pop-culture-arguments-that-need-to-be-retired_p2/#ixzz2AfuJp9ET

Today's Epiphany

I was driving down 38th St. today and had a musing. [If you aren't familiar with Tacoma, all you need to know is that it's the business district over by the mall] It was kind of sad, but I distinctly realized that the Borders has been replaced by a furniture store and the store that used to be FYE is now an alcohol outlet store. And that's when it hit me...

We will have to explain to our children the concept of record stores, of shopping for media.

They will never understand walking down to the local record store with no real goal... just browsing the new releases, or clearance bin, or local singles. They won't believe there was once a time when you would have to go buy a disc to entertain or inspire yourself. Even the larger chains like Borders--I used to spend hours in there, going from books, to movies, to music. Best Buy might be an exception, but in most stores I can't even find CDs any more. Everyone has switched to whatever you can download or rip.

Of course we still have a couple retail stores now, but do the math: I don't have a kid yet. So add a year or two. Then add the time for said kid to reach the teen years, when they care about media formats. Do you honestly think, with our economy and culture of instant gratification, that any kind of physical media store will still be around by then?


Well, this seemed like a deep thought when I had it, but now that I'm off my feet they're killing me and I can't think straight. Damn shame.

Tacoma Epidemic [a Reverse Manifesto]

So, Backstage Bar & Grill is starting to suffer. Which is sad, they've only been open for maybe two years, max. They are having a benefit show, which is instant bad news. Also from their facebook:

...help support live music. Tacoma just lost Hell's Kitchen and is on the verge of losing another [venue]. 

 Currently they are the only real live music venue in the area. Okay, Louie G's is sticking in there, but they are the newest on the scene, fresh-faced and hopeful, so they're still on the upward climb... soon they will follow the same fate as every other bar in town. They will peak, and they will fall. Over the past few years, I have seen almost every decent venue rise, peak, fall, attempt to bounce back, and ultimately fail.

I think the saddest and most recent was afore-mentioned Hell's Kitchen. They weren't able to pass code at the old location, on 6th Ave, so they moved to Pacific. Where they still couldn't pass code. Now they are closed for good, and Tacoma is the one getting screwed. Hell's Kitchen was a 253 staple for many years, a cultural mecca for us, if you will. Before that, we lost the Cedarwood Dome--probably one of the coolest bars around, since you could smoke inside and Levi would usually run a hookah bar on the third floor. Before that, we lost the all ages venues. When Hell's Kitchen moved, they stopped doing all ages shows. The Viaduct tried to pick up the slack, but ultimately lost their fight with the economy. There's no money in all ages shows, since there's no liquor sales. Before that, we lost Station 56, which had great sound and lights, and was almost always packed. Still not sure why they even closed.
 

It's happier here, trust me...

The first bar I can recall to go down the tubes was epic Maggie O'Toole's in Lakewood. We actually played there for their farewell show, when half the crowd and the ex-owner got taken to jail by a "surprise" raid. We almost lost our gear to the cops. However, I did buy a pretty sweet beer sign that night, as well as an Alaskan Amber tap pull for my dad.

Come to think of it, we even lost our best [in my opinion] rock radio station a couple years ago, KFNK. They're trying to bounce back with "The Brew," but we'll see how long that lasts. We had the Bye-Bye Monkey party for DJ Justin at Hell's Kitchen, ironically.

When I think back over all the clubs and bars I have played in the past three or four years... I can count the ones that are still open in the South Sound on one hand: Uncle Sam's and Jazzbones. Uncle Sam's is a tiny, generally awful biker bar; Jazzbones seems to be changing its audience and moving away from rock shows.

In fact, I'm not entirely sure I understand why every single rock club is struggling. Is it bad bands? Is it a lack of promotion? Ticket sales? Liquor sales? Is it just this god-awful economy? I don't understand why this is happening, but I can tell you it means the local music community will be taking a big hit. We'll be forced to play further and further away, which will make shows harder to come by. The competition for those shows will become tougher, with more bands competing for fewer gigs. Most bands will be driven underground and forced back into playing house parties, or fighting tooth and nail to see who can kiss the top Pay-to-Play jerk's ass.

Either way, the next few years aren't looking so good for musicians. It's already a rarity to get paid for a show... you're lucky if you get drink tickets... Now it's going to be musicians reaching into their own pockets in order to put on their own shows. That's what some of my friends are doing. Granted, I also have some acquaintances currently on tour, doing fairly well with their record label backing... but neither of them came from the Northwest. So what the hell are we doing here? Is Tacoma really going to just roll over and die musically, after having such a strong heartbeat for so long? Or am I just completely off my rocker? ...um, no pun intended. The only people showing up at shows any more are other bands... in case you didn't know better, this is wrong! So, I guess, get out there and support your friends. Because in the near future, you're going to lose your chance to.

okay, maybe the joke is a little out-dated,
but the sentiment remains the same.

Same Sad Fate

Well. All but one or two of the peppers I replanted have also died. My only guess is that I am moving them too early. The cayenne is still hanging in there, but the jalapenos couldn’t hack it. I even used some gravel to help with drainage, tried to balance between too wet and too dry, and changed their location so they wouldn’t get too scorched by the sun. No avail. Maybe I’m not meant to grow peppers. The carnivorous plants are sucking through distilled water like crazy. The random thing that just won’t die is continuing to sprout new leaves and blooms. The tomato plant was wilting on the front porch, now in the back porch with only a couple hours of evening sun it has made almost a full recovery. The aloe is doing okay. I was reading that generally you only want to water them about once a week, but with the recent warm-and-sunny spell so uncharacteristic of WA, the soil dries out completely every couple of days. The strawberry is sprouting a lot of new leaves, but seems like every week or so I have to cut more dead ones off. The bell pepper has also started sprouting new leaves, it was plateaued for a pretty long while there. Note, spell check does not believe that ‘plateaued’ is a word.

So that’s the plants update. Nothing particularly new in the crafting department… finished kitty beds and the girls both love them. Trigger even borrowed Lily’s for a while. They didn’t turn out like I’d wanted, but cats don’t mind, they are just fluffy things to sit upon. Now working on a grocery bag holder. Big grin.

Took lots of photos of a friend’s band, Generation Unknown, the other night. They played a great set, and I will say, they are one of my favorite bands to photograph. So much energy and character on stage! Shameless plug: go their FB and ‘like’ them. I need to do a little editing of the—gasp—originally over 700 photos… mostly just a little tweaking brightness and contrast. I’m thinking of starting a photobucket or flikr or something like that, to have a place to post photos that is more focused than FB.

Today is my second day back to work, and boy it blows every bit as much as I thought it would. I very much hate being at the whim of someone who drags their feet at work because they’re using work as an excuse to avoid their family. You know what, some of us like going home. Some of us also live more than five minutes from work. [Sure okay that’s my decision to do so, but I stick by it]. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again [many more times I’m sure] I don’t mind staying late if I’m actually working. If I’m in the middle of a project—that you didn’t dump in my lap after lunch—I’d rather see it through. But… sitting around with a bunch of half finished projects which are all at a sticking point for the day… what good does that do anyone? Correct Answer: NONE. Then again, military and logic never do go hand in hand.

Stereotypical.

So, it's my first night home. At some point, I casually mention to hubby, "Oh, did you hear about the Squidbillies Cover Contest?" He is mildly intrigued, whips out iPad, begins to half-assed cover the theme song. Somehow I made a joke about synching the theme song to a Metalocalypse video... and such, genius was born. In the span of about an hour, without leaving the couch--and at 4 am I might add!--hubs recorded the whole clip. Somehow between the two of us we managed to scrounge enough video editing skills to make it mildly believable. Now our video is posted in the contest, and any time we watch it we giggle maniacally because it a) is totally rediculous and b) was so simple to put together. Figures, my first night home and what do we do? Record metal at 3 in the morning. Yup, sounds just about right...

And now, for your viewing pleasure: Squidpocalypse. 

Haze Grey +20

Well, I went and got myself all backwards again. Stayed up too late last night, slept too long today.

I have forgotten to mention last week that I have now seen two pods of dolphins and also a whale. The whale was super cool.

This slow internet is really really killing me. I think I’d almost just rather have no internet; it’s like being teased. Nothing decent ever loads besides facebook, making it nearly impossible to do any sort of research [ie, for good spa deals on Groupon, or to add ideas to an Amazon wishlist].

I’ve had a pretty nasty migraine all day. I don’t have much to write about. Just tired of being away from home but at the same time, going home just means that it’s time to get ready to leave again. If you have time, look up the song “Xxyzz Road” by Stone Sour [I think that’s what it’s called, I’d tell you for sure except it would take me over ten minutes just to confirm that through google]. That song is exactly how I’m feeling right now.

Dan Adriano from Alkaline Trio wrote in one of his songs, “You know, all my favorite singers have stolen all of my best lines.” And I thoroughly agree. When I was in college and listening to a lot more music than I do now, I used to compile the lyrics that really got to me, the ones that I related to on a level that was too intense to ignore. I may have to bring that back. Which means I need to listen to more music. Sounds win/win to me.

Day Nineteen: I repotted the fool...

Heh, sorry, another attempt at terrible puns.

Hubby had a pretty nasty foot surgery today. He insisted I not spend the entire time in the hospital waiting room, so I begrudgingly complied and had a brief jaunt around Kmart [because I am a cheapy]. I finally picked up some repotting supplies--well, aside from the 10 lbs of dirt sitting in my apartment. Hubby was pleased and told me to go ahead and repot what needed it during his next percocet-nap. So, the roma tomatoes are now split up a little, and our rogue late-blooming asparagus has a pot to itself for now [his brothers are planted next to basil]. The strawberry and bell pepper have moved to larger pots that hopefully will be their endgame lairs. They will probably be too big for the greenhouse soon, and have to join Suzy the tomato plant on the porch. I repotted the rosemary too, although much later than I should have. Here's hoping it bounces back. The garlic is still... hit or miss.

you made my hands smell good.

I love these little compostable/plantable temp pots

she's getting so tall!

happy and sad garlic

The best news of all, however, pertains to our Cayenne peppers. Last night our good friends Irene and Sir William came by to do some recording on a last-minute epic metal track. While Irene was throwing down some growls that make the girl from Arch Enemy sound like a kitten, Sir William and I had a chat about how the peppers were being shy. Apparently I was busy drowning them! He told me to ditch the clear lid on the sprouter greenhouse, and not even 24 hours later, Bjorn and Sven [so named for their "metal roots"--ba-dum chhh] decided to pop out of the dirt! eeeee! Maybe more of them will sprout and we can have a whole pepper metal band.

Bjorn and Sven, thanks to the Pepper Whisperer.

Flowcharts are hard work!

I have some strange passion for flowcharts. 

They are just so logical and ordered, and when done right, can be very amusing. A friend of ours posted one today that was cute, but very incorrect from mine and hubby's experience... so he started ranting and I started taking notes. Then I put it together, sadly in MS Paint, but you do what you gotta do. If I had thought of it when I first started, I could have made it more colorful, but I was more concerned about getting all the blurbs in the right places. Now I know technically the shapes have meanings, but whatev. It is supposed to be snarky and offensive, and of course there's some profanity involved.

Long Overdue

Welp, hubby was chiding me that "you said that you would put other stuff on your blog too, not just girlie stuff! You should tell the whole story!" IE, things of the musical and geekical varieties. Yes, I made up a word. I'm allowed, I have an English degree. I was going to blawg about soldering a 1/4" cable for the show on Friday, but I didn't have enough time to sit down and do it so hubby took over. But I can still solder stuff!!

It's been a helluva couple days, what with work and running around and trying to sleep and clean the place up for next week... Tonight the local bro-in-law and his lovely lady stopped by on their way from Portland to Seattle. He's a bit of a karaoke nut, but hasn't been out in a while. Luckily in Tacoma you can pretty much throw a rock and find a bar that offers karaoke, even on a weeknight. Somehow I had the brilliant idea to check out The Thunderbird, aka, "T-Bird," or sometimes just, "The Bird." Our friends live a couple blocks away, and have been trying to get us out for many moons. The perk for us, aside from location, is that the Bird is one of--if not THE--last bar you can smoke in in Pierce County. Hell, in all of Western WA as far as I know. Yes, I know, you can smoke in Casinos. But whatever.

Long rambling story short: T-bird = win. Best karaoke guy ever. Sound set up is not amazing, but his karaoke system is all automated and shit. You can search his entire catalog, which is already pretty much way better than anyone else's, AND, if he doesn't have it, I hear he is pretty cool about working with you to make whatever obscure Chechnyan Polka Dance Rock song you can't quite remember the name of. AND! Best part of all, he has a rolling ticker on the big screen that displays the next three singers. No longer must you have the, "oh god I really have to pee but what if I'm next?" discussion in your head. AND! Just kidding, I apparently just like conjunctions today.


Ironically, the friend who'd been trying to get us to visit happened to stop by. And Irene randomly decided to sing a country song. Hubby was impressed... he doesn't realize that, especially for women, singing country is a lot easier than singing other stuff. Unless it's the really high lofty style vocals. I butchered some Bad Religion and have now sworn off karaoke-ing punk rock for good. This time I took notes and will make a mix CD for the car to practice with. I knew I should've done Cake instead.

Also, Irene brought me a book about "container gardening." WIN, plant reference.