Thursday, August 22, 2013

Not So "Great" Expectations

Well alright, today feels pretty good. I finally had band practice last night. It was the first time in 2 months. It went pretty well, we had to set up all of our stuff, so that took a little while, but we got to jam for a bit. I thought we did pretty good for not having rehearsed in two months. Sometimes, when we take these breaks, it really is amazing how we come back fairly tight. It's also pretty amazing because we also seem to always come back a little stronger. There really isn't anything quite comparable to “reflection time.” We, as human beings, need time to reflect. That's why “they” say “Hindsight is always 20/20,” you can't really see the full story until it's over. We have to have time apart to see the growth. Plus, after taking so much time off, you either miss it, or could do with out it. We keep coming back. That also makes us stronger. Not playing often, for a musician, is akin to PMS in a woman. It's good to know that we still want to do this. I'm sure all of our significant others are probably glad it happened too. But this time is also a little different because we introduced a new element to our sound. The guitar player, Wagz, is now going to be using effects. We played a gig a couple of weeks ago on someone else's gear, and their guitar player used several effects, so Wagz had access to them, which he used artfully. That then, set his mind ablaze with all of the possibilities. So, thus, last night ushered in the new era of the Eruption. And it was pretty cool.

Today also feels pretty good because this has been the second Thursday in a row. I like patterns. It's especially peculiar tonight because I'm doing this at night. Last week I reminisced about the old Thursday's Crock Pot night. But even before that, I would always sneak over to my office on Thursday nights while Susan and Stella Mae were doing the dishes, because I had no computer at home. So now, sitting here typing on Thursday night seems like an old pair of jeans. It's pretty cool because I was supposed to have yesterday off, but they called me in. Hence, I was not sure when I was going to be able to do this, if at all. But then, as if by miracle, Susan got invited to ladies night at the Car Show. So After I fixed myself dinner, I actually turned the TV off, and am doing something productive! That makes me pretty happy. Besides the price, one of the other reasons I don't have cable is not to give myself more reasons to watch TV. I want to watch TV less. But I still find myself giving it a couple of hours of attention, when I have nothing going on. I would rather do something creative. And tonight I am. I kind of find it hard to be creative when there are other people here. While they're here, I feel that we should be spending time together. But, “spending time together” often means vegging out in front of the tube. Wow, I just thought of how archaic that term is now. Most televisions these days don't have anything to do with a tube. Weird.


I really have cut way back on my TV viewing. There aren't a whole lot of interesting shows on anymore. At least not to me. I'm happy I chose this. It feels weird doing this while other people are in the room, as if I'm ignoring them. Although, now that I write this, I picture in my head us sitting on the couch, not really speaking, just staring at the screen. It's kind of like ignoring each other. That's why I always thought of going to the movies as a kind of strange date idea. When you're younger, I could see it, because you're just looking for a place to make-out anyway. But as a legitimate date, it seems a little strange to go ignore each other for two hours. I do like watching movies, but I find the “pause” button to be quite helpful when you want to say something to each other, without ruining the movie. The “pause” button is also helpful for bathroom visits. Maybe that's why watching movies at home is becoming so popular. Plus there's always the “other people” factor. Sometimes I really feel that a lot of our new modern conveniences are designed around keeping us from one another. Stores suck, go on-line. People talking through the movie, watch it at home. Long line at the DMV, just conduct your business on-line. When did people become such an inconvenience? How is it going to get any better if instead of working on being better, we just avoid one another? We're going to Google ourselves out of existence if we don't start expecting more from each other.


Daughn

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