Jam Night

Last night I jammed with a bass player and drummer I’ve been talking to about a possible band. It went OK, but I was a little rusty and they only had a few jams they’d been working on, no songs. They asked if I had any riffs or anything and despite the fact that I do, I drew a blank, of course.

There’s just something about auditions, job interviews, and first dates. I end up stammering like a buffoon, but sounding like a genius on the ride home, when I think of that I should have said, and no one else is around. Basically it goes like this:

Them: So what bands do you listen to?
Me: I like… uh… music.

Them: Do you know any songs?
Me: My name is Mike. I like shiny things.

Them: Do you have any original material written?
Me: My guitar has 6 strings.

Them: Can’t you name at least one band you listen to???
Me: Um… Hanson.
(Sometimes when I’m under pressure, Hanson is one of the first things that pop into my head.)

I have a feeling I’m not going to hear back from those guys. They were both very good, but it’s OK with me though either way. I just couldn’t seem to get into a groove with the drummer. I’m looking for something that is a little more ready to go too. Plug & Play, baby!

I’ll have another tryout after the holiday weekend and that one sounds like a better fit anyway. It was good to actually shake some of the rust off though and play with actual musicians! Once my nerves settled I played better and felt like I was picking up right where I left off. It was definitely a confidence booster. I might just not suck after all!

Catching up with stuff...

I have been neglecting this blog for practically the last two months. A lot has happened in the meantime. The main reason I’ve been so busy is I closed on my house last month, and I’ve been settling in.

After a lot of back and forth between the lawyers everything finally got resolved and now I’m moved in! The main delay was that the seller’s lawyer was either very sneaky, or an incompetent moron. My vote is on the latter. We’d ask a question, and get a response that not only didn’t answer my question, but usually made no sense. She was even unprepared for the closing, forgetting several documents. At least the lawyer I was using was good!

I had my friends Keith and Cesar help me move. Yes, I’m one of those guys that have their friends help them move. If I move again though I’ll hire movers! It went pretty smoothly except for my beastly 14” band saw!

Now I just need to get some curtains, and some furniture. I bought a 42” Plasma Philips TV with Ambilight. The ambilight is lights on the side of the TV that shine against the wall (for ambient lighting, clever, eh?). You can set it so the colors vary by what’s on the screen too. Very cool!

I’m no longer making my football picks because I was pretty much below .500, and I missed a few weeks.

I’ll try to be more diligent about posting something at least once a week here. Not that anyone actually reads this, but just in case!