Good times bad times, you know i had my share.

I'm in a glass case of emotions! haha. I went from high to low to high this weekend! Friday I went to the who wants to be a millionaire audition/test and unfortunately didn't do well enough to win a date with Meredeth! the test was multiple choice and a general knowledge quiz. Very similar to what you see on the show, but here's one of the questions I remember:


Bora bora and Tora Bora are how many miles apart:
a. 9.6 miles
b. 96 miles
c. 960 miles
d. 9600 miles

Of course I didn't know, but when in doubt I chose b. Overall, I think I did fairly well (maybe 5 wrong), actually, but from talking to some of the other hopefuls, you can only get about 3 questions wrong to pass. The room was full of about 100 or so people, and only about 5 made it. I have a tendency to assume the best, and when it doesn't go my way, i get a lil emo for a hot second or two, but by the time i got home I was feeling better.

Then I get a call from my brother and he needs my help ($). Of course it comes at a time where my finances are struggling..still waiting for that big bag of money to drop from the sky! grrr. but being the proud asshole that I am, I have to help him. I think subconsciously it makes me feel superior, and in general I just don't like showing weakness to people. After meeting up with him, I really didnt have anything else to do. And I really hate doing nothing on the weekend nights. It makes me feel like a loser, which is one of the worst parts of being single. if only I could be like so many other people out there and learn to settle. boo (not really!) for having standards.

Then Saturday I spent most of the day doing some chores and some exercising. During the night time we played a gig at a bar in jc, which was a lot of fun. I realized something recently about my playing, and that is, for me at least, mistakes don't come from not knowing what to play, because I certainly practice enough and know the parts..they come from a lack of focus while playing. I have to really work harder on concentrating on what I'm playing, and realize where we are in the song, and what comes next. As well as break down all the songs and really tear them apart. In general I was pretty happy with performance, but its those 4 or 5 notes over the course of 10 songs that screw with my head. Eliminating these mistakes will really go along way to feeling better about myself. I've been reading a lot on general music theory, and I feel I've made a lot of progress in putting together the missing pieces, as well as just getting a better feel for playing. I'm not the type that can just believe something works, I like to know how and why they work. knowledge is powerrr!

Then today, I made the trek down to south jersey to visit my parents for a few hours prior to Run Robot practice. My brother was also down there, and the tension was running hot! I commented at one point "is it always like this when you come down here?" it was pretty unpleasant to be around the bickering going back and forth between my brother and dad. guys are stupid! So I said something totally gay like "we should try to enjoy our time together." haha. burrrrn. things got better after that. Its not easy dealing with my bro, he is a know it all (who really only knows a little.) My dad and mom are also not easy to take when they start with the questions and suggestions, but I'm more well adjusted then my brother and usually do a better job at not starting WWIII.

Practice was a lot of fun. We haven't had the chance this summer to practice much, so its been awhile. I was happy to see that on most of the songs we had trouble with, I was the only one who was unsure of what to play. As the writer of the song, I am less inclined to practice because its my creation! but I do need to devote some time to practicing these songs as well. we added a few old songs back into the mix, and have about 8 total now, so that should be enough to play an actual gig! Hopefully by late September that can happen. Afterwords we ate Vietnamese food, and I was sooooo happy there wasn't much traffic coming home.

Anyway! One of the songs I really like playing is called "thanks but no thanks!" Lyrics are below annnnd a clip!



here's a link if the player doesn't work:thanks but no thanks

She's all over me online
and i dont know how to stop it
without her crying

so please
leave me alone
no more text messages on my telephone

so thanks for your time
another victimless crime

and i'm taking steps to untangle
this tidy little mess i made
has really blown up in my face

i'm really not that bad
i know we'll keep in touch
but i cant see you anymore
once u walk out that back door

so please
leave me alone
no more text messages on my telephone

so thanks for your time
another victimless crime

***

oh yeah, we wound up at the Coach House diner, and a group of extremely loud and stupid people who were at the gig, also showed up to eat. They were all over 40, but acting like they were 17. It was so obnoxious and painful! White trash at its finest, really. I think the combined IQ of their group was -123. Trashy old chicks who are butterface AND butterbodies, are only beaten on the lameness scale, by middleage jersey guidos with bad tans (and grammar). this groups had BOTH in abundance.