Hello. I know, I know. It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted. As a matter of fact I can’t even remember the last time I wrote for The Real Life Corner. Can’t remember the last time I posted to Facebook or Instagram either.

Man, look. On one hand I had a couple of life events that sapped my creative spirit. Then, on the other hand, I had so many things to write about that the ideas just got stuck in a traffic jam in my head. They compounded and I didn’t know where to start. Until today Sunday September 17, 2023, for the record.

So, to get right to the point, a good bit of my creative space has been hijacked by a new and unexpected obsession. The items pictured above are an Epiphone ES 335 guitar and a BOSS Katana Artist mkII amplifier. Two of my favorite things, these musical instruments have become my obsession. My long journey here, while mostly unremarkable, is fascinating in the sense that it is where I’ve always belonged.

My first real musical instrument was a guitar that my mother bought without any solicitation from yours truly. She just came home from work one day with brand new guitar and amp in boxes and sat them on my lap. Her only words to me were, “here”. I looked around in a bit of confusion. Then I proceeded to open the boxes. Slowly and carefully. To my subdued excitement and surprise I was the owner of a new guitar and amplifier. I was 12 years old. If I only had the time and words to express how my mother changed the course of my life with this one act of kindness.

Fast forward to the December 2019. After years of (trying to) play electric bass I had not owned one for nearly a decade. Itching to get back to playing I visited a local music store and started to tell my family about my desire to play. What I did not tell them was I that I was deciding between continuing with the bass or starting new on guitar. They bought me a bass for Christmas. I was happy. Got a gig immediately in January 2020. Then the Corona Virus came calling and ceased live music performances. I was sad. And so……

Being idle leaves lots of time for creativity. It also leaves lots of time for contemplation. As I practiced bass playing and explored the social media community my interest in electric guitar started to consume my thoughts. I developed a keen interest in guitar amps in particular. I sought out notable guitarists and became fascinated by the lives and careers of the professional studio guitarists throughout history. And then I went to the music store and picked up a semi hollow body guitar. And then I demoed the Katana Artist. Then I bought ’em. And now I’m obsessed!

I can’t put this guitar down. My appetite for learning new chords is insatiable. To my surprise I’ve learned guitar basics ten times faster than I learned bass guitar. When learning new songs it’s almost as if I’ve played the changes before. It comes so much more naturally than the bass. With the guitar in my hands my whole world just feels right. I’m at total peace. I breath easier. I become who I am. I am empowered. I am home.

So. I’m obsessed. And it’s a good thing. But I am writing again. And will continue to do so as soon as I put the guitar down.

It’s amazing how fast time goes by as time goes by. A half a century takes on a new meaning when most of your friends have reached that milestone of living years. As the Holiday season approaches each year I am reminded of yet another impending birthday which for me happens just more than a week into January.

But this Holiday Season has been somewhat challenging. Actually the entire Fall season had me moving and living in slow motion for various reasons. Hence the long pause of time since I last added to this blog.

For the past few years I’ve included a 25 day countdown to Christmas wish list of my most desired gifts. It took a minute but I think I am finally in the “Christmas Spirit” this year. As today is December 19, 2022, I will have to back track to December 1st to get all 25 days in. So with that here is the “25 Days Of Christmas” list for 2022.

For the days of December 1st through December 19th the list goes as follows: I am grateful for the gift of life for all of my living family and friends. I am thankful for family and friends for being such a positive influence in my life. Thoughts and prayers to friends and family who’ve lost loved ones and wishing you the best that this Holiday Season has to offer. To be continued…….

A long time ago in a galaxy far away I was once 35 years old.  I’ve never been one who was overly concerned with “getting older”, but as I look back in time I am often fascinated by how some days, weeks or months  seem to last forever while simultaneously ensuing years seem to fly by.  I referenced age 35 to share a related story

Back when I was 35 I played my last game of “touch/tackle” football.  It was around Thanksgiving so myself and a few neighborhood fellas got together for the annual “Turkey Bowl”, the Rite of Passage for football wanna be’s who were not ever good enough to be considered a “has beens”.  Lotta fun though. 

So, as I said this was my last time playing in the game. It had been a few years since I was injured playing football.  But the injury in this game made me realize that I was in fact getting older. I was on defense playing safety.  A pass came my way.  I jumped to defend the ball, got my foot clipped and landed on a part of my body that I didn’t know I had: my tailbone.  Never knew that it could be so painful. 

So the following Monday I go to work still sore from the fall.  My manager walks up to me and says, “Hey Randy you look like you’re really dragging ass today. You feeling alright?” I say to him, “Lou, I AM dragging ass today.  I’m 35 years old and for the first time in my life I can actually feel my ass in my pants as I walk.” Lou had a good laugh and then told me he had to talk me later. I said fine.

That afternoon Lou asks me to come to the office.  We sit down and he says, “Hey Randy.  Do you know why 35 is THE most important age in man’s life?”  I did not.  Lou says, “35 splits the difference between 20 and 50.  You see how fast you aged from 20 to 35. That’s how fast you age from 35 to 50.  It seems even faster since you’re getting older. Whatever you wanna be in life you have to be working on it by now.” I had never heard that before, but it stuck in my brain from that day forward. 

Many years have passed since I was 35.  A few more have passed since I was 50.  But you know what?  I still feel the same even though the mirror is a constant reminder of the years gone by. Reasonably healthy.  Reasonably happy.  Hopefully a little wiser. But it IS football season. Maybe, just maybe, I have ONE more Turkey Bowl game left.

Yesterday was Saturday. Friday was two days ago. You’ve been at this place in time more than a thousand times. And yet, each time one fades away you still cannot believe how fast time goes by. No matter how much gets accomplished in a weekend there is always more that needed to be done.

Despite your best efforts, the inevitable end of the weekend comes around to remind you of just how precise it keeps time. It never changes. It is never too late, always either early or right on time. Ready to cast it’s shadow whether you are ready or not…

So, here I am. Covered by the latest weekend’s shadow. Wondering how I put so little into sooo much time, or so much into sooo little time. Either way….

Once again covered by the weekend’s shadow. Counting the hours and wishing that time goes by.

Anyone who knows me will tell you how important Sunday evenings are to my weekday productivity. The block of time from 4pm to 8pm on Sunday is critical to my mental acuity for the rest of the week. Crucial. Sometime in my mid to late twenties I discovered that going to bed by 10pm on Sunday nights really sharpened my focus for the following days and nights.

Keep that in mind. Hey, you ever did something that you KNEW you were gonna regret, but you just HAD to do it?!? See, I hear sounds in my head man. Been hearing them for as long as I can remember. Mainly music and musical instruments. All of the time. I may even hear voices. Singing voices, okay? Don’t judge unless you’ve never heard a voice in your head……..Fair?

These sounds call out to me and sometimes I just have to listen. This past Sunday was one of those occasions. It was the perfect storm. I was home alone. It was early, about 2pm. Dinner was cooked. My laundry was done. My grass had been cut. I had been out on the bike for a few hours already. Perfect. I had that all too rare “time to myself” moment.

So the creative urge forced me to turn on all of my instruments. First plugged in my bass then turned on the amp. Next plugged in the guitar and turned on the amp. Then my looper pedal. Then my computer and interface and midi keyboard. Plugged in my condenser mic. Opened up Studio One 5. Then the monitors. Then it hit me. This is the first time in weeks that all of the instruments were on at the SAME time. Yep.

It was 3pm. What seemed like a few minutes later I had recorded some sounds that I had carried around in my head for days. It was 11pm. Time for an MP3 file. 12 midnight. Listen to the recording. 1:30am. What seemed like minutes later it was 6:15am. Time to get ready for work. On a Monday morning. With barely four hours of sleep. It’s already been a long week. And I’m already hearing more sounds.

I wish every day felt like Saturday.  I’d sleep better at night.  My days would last a little longer.  I might laugh a lot more.  Would definitely smile a lot more.  Probably would have more hair.  And fewer gray hairs…… I’d be in better shape because I would excercise more.  Come to think of it I would have to excercise more because I would eat less healthy. I wouldn’t feel the urge to do EVERYTHING at the same time ALL OF THE TIME  which would reduce my anxiety.  I could listen to more music.  I could PLAY more music.  Maybe I’d get better at playing music….I could spend more time with family.  Stay more connected with friends.  Not dread the all too inevitable “Monday Morning”. 

Well today is Sunday.  A new week.  Let me see how many “Saturday” things I can get done today.  Guitars for breakfast sounds good……

A breakfast ride to start my day. An F18 Hornet for brunch. Live music with my son’s band for lunch! Can’t wait to see what’s for dinner…….

#doingwhatIwanttodo

So it’s Saturday.  I’m going to try to do everything I want to do today.  Off to a good start. I like motorcycles. I love fighter jets. So I rode a motorcycle down to this beautiful monument. It is Navy F18 Hornet in Blue Angel livery.

Almost picture perfect. If only this plane were in the air and I were in it……

Man it’s been a busy few weeks. I can’t remember the last time I posted to this page on consecutive days.

A few months ago I was blessed with a new position at my company. This new opportunity required six weeks of training (three in a classroom and three in the “field”). That was challenging enough, but add in an hour commute (WITHOUT TRAFFIC) and six hour daily classes with a good bit of lecturing…….had me recalling Danny Glover’s classic line in the Lethal Weapon movies: “I’m too old for this shit”!

To make things even more interesting the two home improvement projects that were supposed happen six months apart (one three months before the training and the other three months after) converged on the date of the last week of training to create a perfect storm of sorts. Add in a second dose of the Corona Virus as all of this was going on……I could hardly catch my breath.

Now I finally can breath. Exhale! I write for therapy. When I started this page I told myself to make an effort to write every day. However it is difficult to write when you are preoccupied with other things. So I’m gonna get back to basics. I’m going to write about life’s simple pleasures. Starting today.

In my little corner of the world it is Friday July 22,2022. It is near sunset. It is hot! But I like this time of day. Work week over for now. Weekend ahead of me. Ideal time to do exactly what I want to do. Now let me go figure out what that is. But first, take a deep breath. Exhale…….

Question: how many days in a week, a month, a year have you spent doing everything (and only) you wanted to? Nothing more, nothing less. How many?