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I woke up this morning at 10:30. That’s pretty late, but seeing as it was Sunday and all, I thought, well, you know…

I read the paper, had some coffee and set down to work.

The BBQ yesterday was fun, and more of a celebration than a whoop-dee-doo kind of thing. There was a band, which was pretty good, but they were having fun, as were the onlookers, and that’s what counts. Not much dancing, unfortunately. Seeing the band play inspired me to finally buy a new amplifier for my electric guitar and get back to writing music. This is a pursuit that has given me great satisfaction over the years. I have been in a few bands, but not in sobriety. I have only written 1 song since I got sober, but it’s a good one and I put the work in to make it happen. I had also promised a friend that I’d set one of his lyrics to music, which I had been procrastinating.

After I re-strung one guitar and tuned it up, I sat down with the lyrics and in less than an hour had hammered out the tune. I like it and it has a really good melodic hook.

My new amp should arrive in about a week. Then I’ll set out to try to find some folks to play with. The thing is that the bassplayer in last nights band asked me to try out for their outfit a few months ago. On the night of the audition I was very sick and I couldn’t make it. In a way I’m glad. My musical direction is not about playing covers. I really only like to play my own tunes or at least original tunes by my bandmates. All the great cover tunes I can think of, the ones that I’d like to play, are perfect already. To try to rearrange them seems like a futile effort. It’s much easier to write and play original material. If I had joined that band I would have been as dictatorial as always, and eventually they wouldn’t be having fun anymore. My music is about precision, timing, and focus. I don’t jam around endlessly. My songs have beginnings and endings, bridges, choruses, verses, etc…and they all have a specific time and place. Otherwise there is no structure, no direction. I need to find musicians who can respect that and who are able to see how that kind of discipline is actually very freeing. You either play the song, or not.

Anyway, tomorrow I’ll sharpen up another number I’ve been working on. I also found some pre-sobriety tapes of my playing in some bands from a few years ago. One note to remember is that I never played drunk. I couldn’t do it. I became too sloppy. I’d open a beer and take a swig, put it down, and come back to it an hour later. My disease affected my music in other ways. It became very dark, foreboding, and strange. I’ll see what I can salvage. Maybe in time I’ll put out a CD or something.

Johnnyboy

I’m going to a big BBQ this afternoon. It’s in honor of the 35th anniversary of The Millerton Pathfinders Group, one of the local AA clubs. Imagine that, 35 years of holding meetings and helping people try to get sober? Amazing. I was only 5 years old when they first began. There are supposed to be quite a lot of people coming, and a live band. I heard the number ’75’ being batted around, so that’s a big BBQ. I’m bringing an Asian broccoli salad that I made yesterday. It came out OK. It has julienned carrots, red peppers, and the yellow part of summer squash, julienned as well. The dressing is made of fresh ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet chile-garlic sauce, and canola oil. I pureed that all in the blender and added a little water for consistency and some salt at the end. I cut up all the broccoli into florettes and blanched them off in boiling water, then shocked them in ice water to stop them from cooking. Then I mixed the whole shebang together and left it in the fridge overnight. I just checked it out and the veggies are still crunchy. All I need to do is pick a whole lot of basil, chiffonade the leaves (cut in thin strips), and mix that in as well. I’ll do that last minute. It should be a nice alternative to the potato/macaroni/ jello salad fare that seems to dominate the buffet at these kinds of gigs.

My mother is doing much better today. Her grief was considerably less this morning and she seems to be able to speak about inviting another cat into our lives. We talked about how all pets are special and that none of them can ever be replaced. She also agreed that Miss Kitty would want us to have another cat in our lives. You can imagine the sigh of relief at these motions towards healing. When I brought up the practical side of the issue (mice) she said “Oh yes, they’ll be moving in the house in a couple of months.”. So true. This place will be overrun with the little squeakers if we don’t do something soon. I predict that all will be well in 2 weeks and we will once again be charmed and comforted by the antics of another feline companion.

On the subject of time, where is the summer going? Soon the leaves will turn and the morning air will turn crisp. The earth will begin its tilt and the light will have that particular shade of gold that can only mean fall. I once believed that I wanted to live in a climate where it was always 80* and sunny. However, through trial and error, I have discovered that I am a temperate person and need a temperate climate. 4 seasons suit me just fine. Each season seems to eventually become tiresome, as familiarity breeds contempt. But just when you think you can’t stand it anymore, here comes the change to whatever is next. For me, fall is a lovely time of year. The fall harvest is one of my favorites, and the smell in the air puts a twinkle in my eye. It is still summer, however, and I will take it. Hazy, hot, and humid, with promises of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and all the summer garden stuff. These are the ‘salad days’, literally. Moving slowly and enjoying the heat, storing up energy like lizards, keeping memories of sunny afternoons like stores of nuts in a tree–this is the stuff that gets me through the winter, which we all know is just around the corner.

Time to pick that basil…

Johnnyboy