The Inevitable Hand Dance

      Happy World Canoe Day! It’s also World Drug Day, World Refrigeration Day, National Handshake Day, and National Beauticians Day. None of those really apply that much to me, which I’m kind of glad about, because, the last few took up my whole post, and I feel there’s a lot I haven’t gotten too. I will say this, just because this is what we’re doing now: I can’t imagine where we’d be without refrigeration. Sometimes I get a little bummed at how loud mine is, but I love that it keeps things cold, and inhibits spoilage. It must have been rough before. I can’t really conceive of having to get things fresh every couple of days. Sometimes getting to the store once a week is a challenge. I know in Europe, and probably some other places, they have small refrigerators, so they still mostly buy fresh. I wonder if we’ll get there? I don’t know, but, for now, I think it’s good to remind ourselves how lucky we are to have refrigeration. The world wouldn’t be the same without it. Taking time for the handshake? That caught my attention. But the thing that popped up first is: are handshakes going away? Most of the time now, I can’t tell whether I’m going to shake hands, or fist bump! It’s weird, I tend to look at what the other person is about to offer, because if I’m not paying attention, I end up covering their fist with my hand, or vice versa. Or, even more weird, maybe, is that we neither one know, and end up doing some kind of “hand dance,” with each of us trying to guess what the other was going to do. When that happens, I usually just look at them and say: “Sorry, I’m never sure which one we’re going to do.” Because, it isn’t regulated! A few years ago, that was the norm: Shaking Hands. But now, who knows!? I’ve increasingly met more people who are huggers right from the jump. That’s a bit off-putting. Will the handshake eventually be just a formal greeting?

     Okay, there, narrowed it down to one paragraph. Without thinking too much about it, Father’s Day popped in, as where I should go back to. Father’s Day was pretty fun. We decided to take my father to the Air & Space Museum. They have a new exhibit about Da Vinci’s beginning flight ideas. I thought he would enjoy it, and I was right. I feel kind of bad for him because he doesn’t get to do much. He’s about to turn 80, and no one can believe it. He still has things he wants to do. He wants to enjoy his retirement. But, my mom doesn’t. She just seems to want to watch TV. So, I try to think of things to take him to, so at least he gets to do something. And, hopefully, feel like someone’s thinking of him, and what he may like. I don’t think he gets that very often. It’s kind of sad. He’s a very vibrant old man, and I feel like he sits around, just so as not to upset my mother. Which, of course, doesn’t work, she gets upset anyway. There’s nothing he can do. This is not about that! Moving on: We had a nice time, the exhibit was cool, and he smiled so much, I thought his face might break. It was no shock to me that my mother and sister did not want to go. It was probably best, the 3 of us had a great time, doing what he, and I, wanted. Later on, they did meet us for some barbeque. There is a Smokey and the Bandit themed barbeque in La Mesa. I had only been there once, and had been wanting to take him there for a while, so we finally did. It was okay. The theme wasn’t as prevalent as I had thought, and the food wasn’t all that good. When you go to a barbeque place, and the best thing that anyone can talk about is the meatloaf, you may need better barbeque!

     I told you about the fire situation. To finish that up: everything worked out well for us. The fires got contained, the drummer made it to practice, and our show was awesome! Three weeks back-to-back, and practicing the night before, was the answer! We killed it! I don’t think we ever played so good. People, for hours afterwards, were still saying how well we played. People who’ve seen us before! It felt good. My whole band was on cloud 9 after the show. Which continues to baffle me, because they’re always so resistant before a show. They always seem like it’s a “pain in the ass,” and “not worth it,” until we play, then it’s awesome! I don’t know why they can’t remember the outcome before they start bitching and moaning. Every time!  It’s frustrating. The Calvins, whom the show was with, are just as bad. It’s like everyone forgets that we’re supposed to be having fun! This is supposed to be enjoyable, not torture. What the fuck!? The closing act had cancelled, so we weren’t sure what was going to happen, and I know that is never fun, but still, with only a little notice, they weren’t bringing a crowd. We had about 30 people. Not too bad. All but about 5 or 6 were there to see us. And, those 5 or 6 stayed! That was cool. About as cool as the fact that about 30 people showed up to see us! They weren’t there for anyone else. It felt good. I wish a few randos had shown up, especially for the Calvins, but they didn’t. However, there were a lot of shows that same night. After all, it seemed like the Calvins wished we had cancelled, whereas the Eruption had one of its best shows ever. The Calvins’ drummer didn’t even want to post our performance on YouTube! He posts everything. I saw my daughter’s recording, and we sounded good, I don’t know why he’s so reticent about it.

The Juneteenth Fire

      Happy Juneteenth! It’s also Real Food Day, Sickle Cell Day, Garfield the Cat Day, Sauntering Day, and my favorite: Tapas Day! I find it interesting, and wonder if it’s a coincidence, that Juneteenth, and Sickle Cell Day, are on the same date. It doesn't really matter, I’m just curious. I’m more interested in Tapas Day. I love tapas! I wonder why that idea didn’t take off here. Well, I guess it slowly is. A lot of places are doing things similar to that now, but I think they call them “small plates.” Some places also refer to them as “shareables,” but that makes me think more of like an appetizer. Which I guess is like the same thing. However, sometimes now, the appetizers are larger than a meal! That’s what I like about the tapas idea, small things. One time we were at a place, and ordered the shishito pepper appetizer. There were three of us. There were more shishitos than I had ever seen. I wondered how many people they thought it was for, and wish they would’ve included that in the description! And it’s other things too, if you get nachos, you get more nachos than could possibly be eaten in one sitting. Most of the time, I just want to try things. I am an adventurous eater, and like to try things. I don’t need, or want, a pound and a half of the same thing. I don’t want the same flavor for half an hour or more. I like mixing it up. I don’t know where we got this idea that we should get more food than we can consume. Not everyone likes leftovers. I do. I have fun trying to re-imagine them, and see what else I can do with them. But I know that’s not for everybody. Come to find out, my parents did not eat the Pea Soup leftovers I made for them! My wife and I were bummed. We would have gladly eaten them! It was delicious! Oh well, next time, we’re keeping the rest for ourselves!

     Most of the time now, when my wife and I go out, we make the decision if we’re planning on leftovers or not. We almost always share. We like similar things, so it’s cheaper, and easier, to get the same thing, other than two of them. Or sometimes, in the beginning, one of us would pick our second choice, just so we didn’t have two of the same at the table. Plus, sharing gives us the opportunity to get an appetizer, if we want. One of the things I like about buffets is the ability to try different things. But, I don’t like overeating, so that’s a tricky balance. One I fail at often. Hence, I’m into the tapas idea. Tapas, small plates, tasting menu, whatever you call it, I hope the idea takes off. Afterall, variety is the spice of life! However, there are a lot of people who don’t care for spice, but we’ll get to that at a later time. Right now, I’m too distracted. I’ve been hearing helicopters overhead constantly for about the last 20-30 minutes. Then I just got a text from my drummer, who only lives 1 mile away, with a picture of a fire that he can see from his yard. It’s exactly across the freeway from him. I’m closer to the reservoir, so the noise is constant. Luckily, we’re both on the same side of the freeway, so the fire would have to jump it, which is unlikely, but it has happened before. Whoa! Now it just got eerily quiet. Okay, they’re back at it, that was a little spooky. This is the second fire near us this week! Spooky shit! People keep calling and asking if we’re okay. We didn’t even know there was a fire until people told us. Although, with this one right now, I would have known something was up, because of the constant flying. I just looked at the fire watch map really quick, it is closer than I thought to me, and not as close to my drummer as it looked in the photo. Spooky shit!

     Besides the fire, which is a bummer, it’s also a bummer because we have a gig tomorrow. And, this was one of the first times he was okay with practicing the day before. I was so excited that he was willing. And now, he says if the fire isn’t under control, he’s not leaving. Which I kind of get, but, at the same time, if we have to evacuate, why not practice? I know, I know, that’s typical me: Let’s Practice. I imagine it might be hard to concentrate when you’re not sure if your house is burning down. But, seriously, it is a lot farther from him than he thinks. I should be more worried! I was also excited because this will be 3 practices in a row! That almost never happens! 3 in a row, including one the night before!? We’re going to kill it tomorrow! We haven’t been firing on this many cylinders in a long time! Although, we just got word yesterday that the third band dropped out. Yesterday! No explanation either, which I think is lame. I really like them too, I hope I can get over it. Lots of shows are happening this weekend, and we were already at somewhat of a disadvantage, because we didn’t start promoting right away, because the lineup wasn’t solidified. And now this! I’m not sure how we’re going to find a band with one day notice. Even if we find someone, they won’t have time to promote, so they may have no draw. Coupled with the 2 other shows that I know about, it could be dismal. I was really looking forward to this show. I still am, but now, wonder starts to set in, as we try to figure out what we’re going to do. The club owner said he’d work on it, but him working on it is why nothing happened until the last minute! Oh well, we’ll talk tonight and see what we think. This is weird, and now with the fire? I had so much more to say, but for now, we part ways wondering.

Still Starting Over

      Happy Raggedy Ann and Andy Day! I can’t believe that’s the first thing that came up. It hits home, having grown up being accused of looking like Raggedy Andy. If you’re not sure who those are, I suggest looking them up, it’s a bit ridiculous. It’s hard to believe that two dolls described as “raggedy,” have gotten so much worldwide attention over the years. It’s also Jerky Day, which I wish I had known, because I would have used the excuse to buy some at the store, or make my own. Along with those, it’s also Superman Day, Peanut Butter Cookie Day, Falafel Day, and Red Rose Day. As always, there are more, but those jumped out. I keep forgetting which site I look at to “get the truth” about what day it is. I want to be consistent, so I keep looking for the same one. No matter what I ask Google for, I always have to scroll down a little to find it. Luckily, it “highlights,” so I know I’ve been there before. It’s the only sight, of the ones I looked at, that seems user friendly, and put in a palatable, non-clickbait, kind of way. Plus, I like the “feel” of the sight. I just can’t ever remember what it’s called. I know there is something called a “bookmark,” which I can supposedly use to help remember things like that, but I haven’t taken the time to figure out what that means, or how to use it. Until then, I’ll keep scrolling until the “highlight” lets me know. Although now I’m a little nervous. And it all has to do with last week’s theme. Well, let me start by stating that obviously, my font experiment worked! However, it has made me hyper-aware of how drastic the different font sizes can actually be. It’s wild to think that 12 is not 12 across the board. It might be 12, but take up the same space as another’s 14. Wild! That’s information I wouldn’t have gotten without a little curiosity.

     And now, back to last week’s theme: 2 things happened of note last week, that really put the “starting over idea” drilled into my head. And, incidentally, why I may be nervous about relying on “highlights.” 1) For a while, every time I went to log into one of my Gmail accounts, (yes, I have multiple accounts. My personal, and then 1 for each band) I would have to log in again. It would accept my code, the Gmail would come up, so I could see it, just for a second, then it would close, and I would have to log in again. It worked fine after that, and was more annoying than anything. However, I started to get curious, and a little nervous about “malware,” so I looked it up. I found a link that helped. But, it totally erased all of my easy access codes, along with all of my Google shortcuts. So, it helped the problem I was having, but created a situation where I basically had to “start over” with all of my convenient access. Luckily, my laptop stored enough information to help me re-organize my conveniences, but still, I felt like I was “starting over.” Another odd thing was: I tried to go back to the site that helped me, but I couldn’t find it anywhere! You know how a lot of times they’ll ask you: “Was this post helpful?” Well, I did find it helpful, and I wanted to let other people having the same problem know that this worked for me. But no matter what combination of words I used to try to find the same advice, I could not find it. So now, I’m a little hesitant of relying on the “highlights.” Because, sometimes, they’re just not there anymore. I feel as if I’m too close to the end of the paragraph to start in on the other issue I had, so now, I’m just curious if I should set up my “shortcuts” again.

     I never set those “shortcuts” up anyway, they just appeared! 2) And, this one is mostly my fault. I got clickbaited! This little “new driver” icon popped up on my screen. It looked official. I never click on those! But this one said there was an update for Audacity, a program I use every day. I had never seen such a thing, and I knew it had been a while, so I clicked. Come to find out, I’ve been using version 2.3.3, and now they’re on 3.7.3! It really had been a while. Well, after it set itself up, I couldn’t recognize it! It was Friday, just after I had written to you about the joys of “starting over.” Yet, I could not find the joy in getting to know a new system, while I had practice in the can! (A term used to refer to having the recording, recorded, but not yet ready for public dispersal) I was a wreck! It still basically worked the same way, but lots of things were new, and most of the stuff I use on a regular basis was not there. Then, after trying a little bit, (And I did try) I found the applications I usually use in a folder called “legacy.” Legacy! That sounds old! I gave it about 4 or 5 songs, I really did try, but I was not in the mood. I had just finally gotten all of my keystrokes down, and workflow smooth, after years of learning. I was not ready for the change! It looked different, acted different, and I was not ready. I tried thinking about what I wrote you, I couldn’t help but think about it! However, I couldn’t continue, not knowing whether it was the new system making practice sound funny, or if practice actually sounded funny. We’ve got a show next week! I can’t “wonder” whether or not things are working properly, I had to “know!” I had to download the “old” version from a different site. It took me days to figure it out. But now, it’s working the way it used to. Yay!

Just Like Starting Over

      Happy Hot Air Balloon Day! It’s also Gingerbread Day, Veggie Burger Day, Sausage Roll Day, Moonshine Day, and Start Over Day. There are many more, but those are the ones that stuck out to me. I’m also using a new font today. It’s the one I like to use for personal things. I’ve been using a “more formal one” for these posts, but I figure why not, it’s fun, and I like it. However, I’m not sure how it will translate over to the Blogger page, so this is just an experiment. If you’re experiencing no difference, it did not work, and all that I just wrote may seem pointless, except to make you aware of the experiment. I experiment often. Which kind of goes along with one of today’s “days:” Start Over Day. Unfortunately, I start over a lot. Well, now that I type that, I’m not sure it is “unfortunate.” They have a whole “day” dedicated to it, so it must be worth something. And, I read something online recently, that stated something to the effect of: It’s not just starting over, it’s starting over with experience. I took that to heart. I have to start over a lot. And, having read that, I felt the trueness of it. Because, almost without exception, every time I start over, I do so with the knowledge of what went awry, and what to do about it this time. I was working on a little video the other day, and I had to start over once during the photo cropping, and once during the video image selecting. I was a little bummed both times, because I had missed something, and had to redo it, but I still was aware of what needed to be done, and how to avoid the same thing from happening. Hence, starting over made it better. As usual. Especially if you’re already aware of the problem. With projects, I think it seems a little easier. However, sometimes, having to start your life over, again, feels painful.

     I know we can not “technically” start our lives over again, well not scientifically proven anyway, but you probably know what I mean. New job, new house, new relationships, it often feels like we have to start over. And, most of the time, in “life,” it feels horrible. It usually comes after some type of perceived “failure,” at which point, most of us are not that good at “looking on the bright side.” Of course, there are those others who are glad to be out of the situation they were just in, and look forward to starting over, with wide welcoming eyes. It’s a trip. But I do think those of us who try lots of different things, not give up when they don’t work, find a way past “failure,” and start over often, can begin to assimilate all the information, and connect the dots in a helpful way that can give us the tools to see failure as “new opportunity.” Obviously, it takes a while of feeling this way to be able to switch easily. I’m not sure it ever gets to be “easy.” Even yesterday, when I was working on the video, when I realized I hadn’t done the math correctly, and needed to start over, I let out a little exclamation. My wife, who was working from home, came to see what had happened. I was on photo 13 out of 30, and had to “re-begin.” Once I worked out the problem, found the solution, and got back on my way, I was glad I took the time to make it “right.” But, at the first thought of “starting over,” I was bummed. It’s weird how we do that to ourselves. Especially frustrating to me, was that I initially tried to think if I could “fake it.” Instead of just making it the way it “should” be. I have a lot more satisfaction now, for having started over. Hence, I am ending this segment stating that I think reminding people it’s okay to start over is a worthwhile endeavor.

     I remember now why I initially was using the “more official font” when typing these. Even though I’m using the same size font, I just started page two on my word processor. Usually, I get all three paragraphs on one page. That’s weird because I was just thinking about this the other night: I stopped printing these out. I used to print every one. And, I’m glad I did, because Myspace took a shit and stopped hosting them. I had the wherewithal to print them before it went down, and almost immediately after, it went down. Almost like I knew. I hadn’t thought of that in a while. They say: Once it’s on the internet it’s there forever. Well, I can tell you, that’s not true. I dare you to try to find my Myspace blogs! But I have them, because I printed them out. Then I had to start on here. Talk about starting over, what a tie in! I’m not sure why I didn’t start printing these out. Maybe I did, then got lazy. I’m not sure, because I never look at the old ones! However, just the other night I was wondering if something similar happened to Blogger, what would I do. Then I wondered if I should print these out. Just in case. Now, trying this new font has me realizing that: there was a time not too long ago, after I had stopped printing them out, that I noticed I was going onto the second page. But I didn’t care, because you couldn’t tell how many pages it was. I changed the way I was doing things, because I was only doing them the way I was, because of how I was doing them. Do I need a printed version of them? For what? Continuity. That’s the first word that came to mind, as if my inner person was answering me. But, I don’t have to type them that way, I can adjust that in “post,” as they say.