There’s a lot going on in American politics everybody. Believe me I’ve got my two cents to add. However, before I do, I have to tell you something.

I’m in big trouble. I mean BIG trouble. You see the EMPTY Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet chocolate chip bag above? Well, it’s not supposed to be empty.

You see, I have what some people call a sweet tooth. I myself admit to being addicted to junk food, especially chocolate.

For the last few years my family has been “encouraging” me to eat healthier. In other words, “discouraging” me from eating my favorite non healthy foods. And I have surprisingly gotten better. I gave up my chocolate chip breakfast muffins. I now drink soda once every other weekend. I haven’t bought candy bars, honey buns or cakes in months. I only eat doughnuts when someone else buys them (maybe once a month).

You would think that my family would appreciate that, right? And they do, but …….. Let me explain.

I am not in denial. I am addicted to junk food. My mind and body just feel better after a piece of cake or chocolate chip cookies or a Pepsi. For real. Man when I go too long without them I feel sluggish and my mind isn’t as sharp.

So while I have been staying away from all of my favorite sweets, I still have my urges. Hence the bag pictured above. My wife likes to bake chocolate chip cookies which is good because I like to eat chocolate chip cookies. My wife likes to keep a bag of chocolate chips in the pantry so she can bake without having to go shopping. So…

I recently discovered this to be extremely convenient and beneficial. With no other sweets in the pantry these chocolate chips became my ally. Whenever I crave a Snickers I just grab 6 to 8 chocolate chips. No cake in the house? Grab 6 to 8 chocolate chips. No honey buns around? Grab 6 to 8 chocolate chips. And I only eat chocolate chip cookies for the chocolate chips anyway! So I’m doing my wife a favor by saving her time and effort. You get the idea.  And it is working. I am saving time and money by avoiding trips to Walmart and Dollar General for snacks. I am eating healthier. But…..

Somebody hates when I eat the chocolate chips. Whenever she’s around and I reach for the bag she yells, “DON’T EAT THOSE CHOCOLATE CHIPS. THEY ARE FOR MY COOKIES.” But I HAVE to eat those chocolate chips. If not  I’ll go back to my bad eating habits. My wife does not care. I am not to eat out of that bag for any reason.

But I can’t help it. Not every day, but every now and then I grab 6 to 8 chips out of that bag because I HAVE to. I function better. Thing is, I have to sneak into the pantry to get the bag. My wife can hear me get that bag no matter where she is in the house. One day I thought I could sneak it out of the pantry while she was upstairs in the bath tub. As soon as I opened the bag she yelled, “STOP EATING THOSE CHOCOLATE CHIPS. I NEED THEM FOR MY COOKIES!” How the hell did she hear that? It made me mad!!! So I started eating 10 to 12 chips at a time. She yelled at me for eating half the bag and made me mad again. So I started eating 15 to 20 chips at a time.

Well now the bag is empty, the last few chips shown here were eaten today before dinner. My wife doesn’t know it yet and so I have a dilemma. Do I get rid of the bag or just leave it in the pantry and let her discover it later? Either way I am in big trouble.

So, if I turn up missing any time soon you all know what happened.

If I’m still around next weekend I’ll share my 2 cents worth of politics. 

You know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new Tricks”. Well,  based on the amount of unsolicited mail (USPS and email) I receive for people of a certain age I am definitely an old dog.  And when it comes to eating habits and dietary choices I need to learn some “new tricks”.

Back when I was a young adult food choices were a bit more limited.  You had the obligatory fast food, the standard casual dining, the neighborhood eateries and maybe a specialty diner or two.  That’s it.  Oh, and pizza joints for good measure.  Sushi bars??? Forget it. No Chick Fil A’s in Maryland either.  Customizable salad bars and faux Mexican burritos?? In California maybe but not where I grew up.

Saturday July 20, 2024. 5pm. I want a quick bite to eat, just something to “coat my stomach” before I eat my Bruster’s large waffle bowl of two scoops of vanilla, two scoops of cookies &  cream with M&M topping. Now, back in the day that choice may have been McD’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried (KFC for you hoppers) or Vizzini’s.  With a Coke or a Pepsi. But in 2024…..

Gotta eat a little healthier. So it’s CAVA  instead of cake. Greek chicken pita. No Coke, Pepsi  or Slurpee. Nope. Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Tropical Island Punch. Guess it’s a little healthier…..Still gonna eat my ice though. Which proves one thing.

I am still an old dog at heart, but I have in fact learned a new trick.

This is a Blackstone Griddle. I never knew I needed a Blackstone Griddle.  But, for the past few years my WIFE has insisted that I did in fact NEED one.  She knew all of the models, knew how to season the cooking surface, knew all of the accessories and most importantly knew the price!Aaaalright……

So, when my family asked for MY  “opinion” on what would be a great Father’s Day gift I “suggested” my usual suspects: my motorcycle of choice, anything music and/or a weekend “Dad Vacation”.  Good. All set. Nothing too extraordinary.  However, my family had an even better idea!

Picture the box above. Key word being box.  Now don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for any gift I’m given and truth be told I am looking forward to cooking on the Blackstone.  But you see, my idea of a Father’s Day gift is one which requires no work or exertion from me. Maybe others working and putting in effort for Dad’s benefit.  Maybe…..?

So it’s been what, about a month since Father’s Day?  Right?  Blackstone still in the box? Right?  Uh huh.  So now Dad has to assemble his own Father’s Day gift. And I bet you can guess who’ll be cooking his “Father’s Day dinner” on the Blackstone can’t you?  You guessed it. 

Hey to all you young dads and husbands. Take heed: no matter WHAT they say otherwise your wife and children will find ways to use your love as benevolence for their benefit.  So protect and appreciate Father’s Day, our only day. 

Well, it’s time to get to work. The day has come to open the box. I have to pretend how much I begrudge it, complete with huffing and puffing loudly with unusually bad body language. 😊 I’m not giving them the satisfaction of knowing how much I’m going to enjoy cooking on it.  Then they’ll expect me to cook for them more than I already do. I intend to use it to cook healthier meals for myself.  It is my Father’s Day gift after all.😎

Friday July 19, 2024, in fact. 4:40pm.  Is there a more perfect time or day? Nope. Not even close. And for those who didn’t know or don’t agree I’ll gladly tell you why.

Well, for one you have the whole weekend ahead of you.  Two, 4:40pm means my commute lasted only 35 minutes which means I didn’t have to sit in traffic until 5:40pm! Three, it’s happy hour.  Four, there’s live music happening somewhere. And five, I get to have my weekly minute of peaceful solitude to meditate while gazing into my backyard.  Hence the photo above.

We’ve had a string of 90 degree days without any rain.  My lawn which was once full of grass is now feeling the effects of a summer dry spell. During the spring it rained almost every weekend resulting in me cutting grass twice a week. Don’t have to worry about that any time soon…

So let’s kick this weekend off right.  Do everything you want to do for the next couple of days. Just remember to use your time wisely because the Monday morning alarm is but 68 hours away. Lol.

Have fun.

Sunday afternoons. Anyone who knows me knows how much I need my Sunday afternoon down time. I refer to the hours  between 4pm and 8pm on Sunday as the “danger zone”, meaning that my Monday mornings are severely compromised if I don’t use my Sunday afternoons wisely.

This past Sunday, July 14, 2024, I had planned to be completely selfish with my time. My two consecutive prior Saturdays were planned before I could even dream of what I wanted to do.

So, this past Sunday was supposed to be spent playing music, eating ice cream and  being as passively hedonistic as possible.

Until my son walks in and says, “Dad something unfortunate happened while I was driving. My car engine light came on and my car is shaking badly. At 2:30pm. On my Sunday. While I was finishing my dinner on the grill. Well……danger zone. I announce to my sons that we have a job to do. 

So after dinner. At 5pm. On Sunday. I had to assist in a car repair. 6pm at the auto parts store. 6:30pm under the hood. And then something unexpected happened. My son came and took over the repair. We ran a diagnostic and determined the issue. Bad spark plug coil. I supplied the tools and gave direction. My son decided to replace all 4 plugs and the bad coil. Done by 7:30.

No engine shake. No repair bill. I get my ice cream of choice. But most importantly……

I got to share my Sunday afternoon with my sons and teach them a little bit about car repair. And save money in the process. 

We just might do this every Sunday. I got you this time Monday……

I hate being late to the party. I’m not talking about being fashionably late by a few minutes or so. No, I’m talking about being so late that all of the good stuff is already gone.

As a youth in my hometown I attended several house parties. House parties were very popular in those days and my friends and I were fortunate to be invited to many. Every now and then one of the members of our crew would make us late. We’d show up and most of the food would be gone. Some of the people would have left already. Most importantly the  girls that you desired were already taken. You see, you had to dance with 3 or 4 girls to see which one would be the one. So the odds were against you when you showed up late.

Being late to the party in the literal sense is bad enough, but when you’re late to the party figuratively the consequences can be life altering.

I like to create. Playing instruments, writing songs, writing stories. Sometimes it can be difficult to find time to create when there is so much “life” going on. And when you consider the fact that the urge to create may come at the least convenient time it makes it all the more important to have immediate access to the tools needed to create.

So. I said all of that just to say this. For the past few years (well if I have to be honest I’ll say all of my life…..) I have been trying to find ways to quickly create the musical ideas that I hear in my head.  Some days I might hear nothing. Other days I hear sounds constantly.  Never found the ideal solution.  Until now……maybe……?

Cell phones have been around for what….40  years?  Recording apps and interfaces for cell phones have been around for about 20 to 25 years? The I.K. Multimedia iRig was one of the first I recall. Got my first cell phone in 1995.  Guess when I got the “revolutionay” idea to turn my phone into a mobile recording studio? June 20, 2024.  The light bulb finally came on.  Over the years I have used my various cell phones’ video cameras to record hundreds of song ideas and parts but never into a dedicated recording app until now. Courtesy of my sons I already have a quality mic and headphones.  Just discovered BandLab which I think is a great option. I’ll decide between it and  FL Studio Mobile for now. Check these out if you haven’t already.

Hopefully the mobile recording party is still going strong now that I have finally arrived.

Tools to inspire creativity. Hope I’m not too late to the party…….Full story will follow

The Gift of Time to Practice Music

Hope all dads had a great Father’s Day. My family spoiled me well.  Now it’s time to spoil myself.  A few hours of practice before Monday morning comes calling. 

No words. No words to describe the conscious weightlessness I experience on Friday afternoons when I leave work.  And when the afternoon turns into an evening sunset like this……man.

When time allows during the workday I get out of the office to take a walk. About 15 minutes. I make sure to take in the surroundings no matter how familiar they may seem.  Buildings, trees, vehicles, sounds. All in preparation for and in anticipation of Friday afternoon.  Good for a man of my generation to keep the body moving.

Come Friday afternoon when I arrive home from work, I get out of my car and walk to my backyard. I stand still and stare off into the sunset with my thoughts as clear as possible. Good for the my soul of a man of my age.  I carry this image through my weekend because I know that jealous Monday morning will surely take it away.

But for now it is Friday night and it’s sunset.  No words required.

A guitar player. A little strange to refer to myself as such but I’m ready for it after 20 years of playing electric bass. Many years in the making. We’ll get to that a little later. But for now ……

We are looking for a gig. The Epiphone ES335, Boss Katana Artist amp and myself are ready. We are looking to fill the second guitar/rhythm slot for Praise & Worship,  Traditional & Contemporary Gospel, R&B, Hip Hop and Pop bands. The ideal ensemble will have regular rehearsals to allow time to learn songs prior to performances as my experience catches up to my skill. 

In addition to my desire to play I bring love and respect for people, positive spiritual energy and an intense obsession with all things music.

Looking forward to seeing you on a stage sometime soon……..