Little Weekend
Since my move to Ypsilanti a week ago, I've resigned myself to staying at the new place, reading books, working on music, and generally staying out of the public eye. Partly this is to save money (no more going out to the bars for a while) and partly because it's been a while since I gave myself the opportunity to just simmer in my own thoughts and adjust my mindset to a place where I'm relaxed. By "a while," I mean "two years." That Kaylan is my apartment-mate is nice because she also plays music, so I don't feel like I need to hide my guitar playing or any such thing when she's around. I saw this morning she'd left me some sheet music for a guitar/cello duet, which I'll take a stab at tonight, provided it's not too difficult (I never really learned to read music).
It's a bit stunning to me that I've not allowed myself any regular down-time in such a long period, and now that I am giving myself that time, I'm finding that I don't ever want to leave the house. I did depart for a short time on Thursday night, when I went to the Elbow Room for a nightcap and ran into a few people I'd not seen in some time. For the 4th, I went out to Ferndale and spent a relaxing afternoon out at Care's for a backyard BBQ and a couple rounds of Bag-O before returning to the place to work on music. Incredibly, I was able to finish four new songs, which is a rarity for me. I always take so long to write songs--and truthfully, all of these songs had been started in one capacity or another for at least six months, but a pair of them were nothing more than brief melodic sketches, one was nothing more than a stunted verse and chorus, and the last was nearly done but needed some editing. It took some time, but I'm really pleased with the results. Though it's too early to be sure, it seems that only one of the four needs some slight tweaking, the rest are good as they stand, at least for now.
We played Cityfest on Saturday, which went much better than I expected. I didn't break my guitar this year, which is nice. It appears I'm not nearly as much of a dumbass as I used to be when it comes to throwing equipment around. In fact, I no longer throw my guitar. The show went very well, people were incredibly responsive, and, afterward, I was able to track Tania's lost phone down by calling it and calling it and calling it until someone answered. I had to run around the city to find the woman who'd picked it up and walked off with it, but it was worth it for the conversation:
PHONE RESCUER: So, what do you look like so I can find you among all these people?
ME: Well, I'm wearing a white dress shirt and a tie.
PR: A tie? Damn, that's raaaare!
ME: I also have a beard.
PR: Is it new or old?
ME: Pardon?
PR: The beard, is it a new beard or an old one?
ME: Uh, it's fairly new, actually.
PR: How's it filling in?
ME: It's filled in quite well, I think.
PR: I'll be the judge of that.
She complimented me on my beard. I had just trimmed it up that day, after all.
James, Tania, and I went back to Ypsilanti where I transferred to my car and drove to Ann Arbor to visit Chris Bathgate, who had come back to town for the previous night, even though I really just wanted to go back to my apartment and work on more music. I'm glad I went to hang out with Chris, though. It had been nearly three months (I think, maybe more...) since I'd seen him and, as per the route of our usual hangouts, the night turned into a scene from the movie Dazed & Confused. There was a bunch of hipsters (and me, somehow) hanging on the roof of Arbor Vitae with, of all people, Drew Barrymore. She's much smaller in person than I imagined. And super-cute too.
"I've got a beard and I shave it really weird. I've got a beard. Yeah, yeah."
~ The Gok
It's a bit stunning to me that I've not allowed myself any regular down-time in such a long period, and now that I am giving myself that time, I'm finding that I don't ever want to leave the house. I did depart for a short time on Thursday night, when I went to the Elbow Room for a nightcap and ran into a few people I'd not seen in some time. For the 4th, I went out to Ferndale and spent a relaxing afternoon out at Care's for a backyard BBQ and a couple rounds of Bag-O before returning to the place to work on music. Incredibly, I was able to finish four new songs, which is a rarity for me. I always take so long to write songs--and truthfully, all of these songs had been started in one capacity or another for at least six months, but a pair of them were nothing more than brief melodic sketches, one was nothing more than a stunted verse and chorus, and the last was nearly done but needed some editing. It took some time, but I'm really pleased with the results. Though it's too early to be sure, it seems that only one of the four needs some slight tweaking, the rest are good as they stand, at least for now.
We played Cityfest on Saturday, which went much better than I expected. I didn't break my guitar this year, which is nice. It appears I'm not nearly as much of a dumbass as I used to be when it comes to throwing equipment around. In fact, I no longer throw my guitar. The show went very well, people were incredibly responsive, and, afterward, I was able to track Tania's lost phone down by calling it and calling it and calling it until someone answered. I had to run around the city to find the woman who'd picked it up and walked off with it, but it was worth it for the conversation:
PHONE RESCUER: So, what do you look like so I can find you among all these people?
ME: Well, I'm wearing a white dress shirt and a tie.
PR: A tie? Damn, that's raaaare!
ME: I also have a beard.
PR: Is it new or old?
ME: Pardon?
PR: The beard, is it a new beard or an old one?
ME: Uh, it's fairly new, actually.
PR: How's it filling in?
ME: It's filled in quite well, I think.
PR: I'll be the judge of that.
She complimented me on my beard. I had just trimmed it up that day, after all.
James, Tania, and I went back to Ypsilanti where I transferred to my car and drove to Ann Arbor to visit Chris Bathgate, who had come back to town for the previous night, even though I really just wanted to go back to my apartment and work on more music. I'm glad I went to hang out with Chris, though. It had been nearly three months (I think, maybe more...) since I'd seen him and, as per the route of our usual hangouts, the night turned into a scene from the movie Dazed & Confused. There was a bunch of hipsters (and me, somehow) hanging on the roof of Arbor Vitae with, of all people, Drew Barrymore. She's much smaller in person than I imagined. And super-cute too.
"I've got a beard and I shave it really weird. I've got a beard. Yeah, yeah."
~ The Gok