02/23/2012

I’m going to keep up with the ‘trying to write public entries again’ thing I mentioned before. I think we should all write more public entries in order to help start new series of relationships on OD. I have been cocooned in FO for a couple of years now, and this is one of the primary ways we meet people on OD, clicking on their new entries. So… let’s all revitalize the place and make new friends, hey?

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I decided earlier this week with all the over-busyness in my life that I needed to take this week out from those things. We’ve been on a break from English class so it’s optimal to do it now. (If you are new, I volunteer at a program that teaches English to immigrants who speak no English whatever)

I think I am going to cut out the Tuesday night group I go to. I don’t get much out of it, and of the three things I attend weekly related to church I think I’d rank the other two higher, in terms of what I bring to them and what I get out of them.

I think this will help. My other resolution is, I’m not going to be afraid to say no to things, even if they are good because… well, “I don’t want to” is somewhat legitimate of a reason and I shouldn’t be afraid to invoke it.

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Did I talk about bass? I was browsing Craigslist and I saw someone selling a used bass at a pretty low price, and I couldn’t help myself. This was a couple of weeks ago… I don’t think I wrote about it… anyway, I have been devoting half my practice time lately to that.

It’s really FUN. I can’t explain why. I really like playing it. It’s a lot different than guitar, some of the knowledge transfers but the technique is all different and the theory of what you’re doing is all different. I think it’s harder in about 75% of the ways you could describe difficulty, but maybe easier in the other 25%.

You are never playing 4, 5, or 6 notes at once, which makes it easier physically than guitar, but the amount of thought you need to put in what you are doing is higher. There are three different striking techniques instead of two. Not only do you have to play one or two strings, but you have to keep the other two from ringing as well, because the thing is so resonant and the frequencies low enough that everything vibrates all the time. And rhythm is much more important… anybody can recite melodies, especially melodies they know, but playing rhythm technically is not easy at all, at least not for me.

This is all very hard, I don’t have innate talent here, but the more I learn about music the more I think it’s less about natural talent than you’d assume.

That’s kind of a statement for all areas of life… the more I learn, the less I think it is about talent or luck.

I think this will be more helpful in my mission to help on the worship team at church, if I decide to continue studying it long-term. There are a billion guitar players but I only ever see one bassist.

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Things I think we need stop saying, plz:

-“Could potentially” (is this like multiplying 1/2 by 1/2, or is it just redundant?)
-“I know, right” (ick.)
-“Baby bump”
-“Amazing” (when you are talking about the MOST AMAZING cupcakes or the MOST AMAZING paperclips or other things which are not in any way amazing)
-“Epic”
-“plz”

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On that Apple commercial, they show people asking Siri where you could find the best barbecue in Kansas City. I find it amusing that the one Siri sends you to first is in a gas station. (though, to be fair, it is awesome) I picture a movie star blowing through town who’s shooting a scene in a movie or something, and they saw the commercial so they ask their iPhone where to find BBQ, and they end up at this gas station/barbecue joint/liquor store. Haha.

(I am pretty sure I saw Paul Rudd there once.) (He is short, if it was him.) (I saw Leonardo DiCaprio in person once and he was shorter than average, too.) (It makes you feel good when you see a famous guy who women think is hot, and they’re shorter than you. Take that, millionaire playboy… I’m 6 inches taller than you.)

(Ok, not really.)

As a subject matter expert, I would always direct visitors to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue. (A, you know this, back me up.)

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I don’t want to do the FMM prompt, about a song you grew up with (or a song that reminds you of an animal… what the heck…?) – because my path is going to be typical of anyone my age, the first CD I bought was the first Pearl Jam one I think, and I followed the typical path for people in junior high and high school at that time. (they need better prompts…)

So anyway – FMM with a blues focus this time:

This is great. (then-unknown Buddy Guy playing on guitar)

I’m sure you will recognize the hook from those stupid Viagra commercials, but listen to this voice… born with a blues singer’s voice, he was.

More of a modern fingerstyle blues type of sound, but it also reminds you of the old resonator sound. I love the way he snaps that high note during the verse.

The cool thing about these old blues songs is most of them are 2-3 minutes long, so if you don’t like it, just wait a moment.

My personal favorite of all the old guys.

Again… what a blues voice.