frozen octopus

Lately, I am all about having a starting point or anchor point. When I am stuck on where to begin tasks, chores, or errands and I can't decide where to begin, there is the starting point. Go there and head out.

In computer mode it is the to-do app where all things flow into. For home mode, I start at the back right corner of the office/living room and work out from there. On drums it is a paradiddle on the snare but lately it is a half-time shuffle.

The goal for me with a fixed starting point is to eliminate the "where to start" and "what to start on" decisions. If I can get moving on things, I'll keep going for hours. Getting going is the slog through the mire for me. 

Just got the proofs back from the factory for our new cassette. Everything seems okay, so they can start making them. Hopefully, we'll have them for our shows coming up in Ibaraki and Nagano.

Excited to see them when they are done and excited to get this album out into the world. It is a lot more raw and live-sounding than previous releases. We wanted to bash it out quickly and in as few takes as possible.

We left a bunch of little glitches in the recording because so much old punk music I love has glitches too. They make the recordings sound human, which is a valuable thing lately.

It has been a while since I posted anything here. It was an intense two weeks, and some areas got put on the back burner to simmer.

My friend's band, Flavor Crystals, had a short tour booked and needed a temporary drummer. I haven't been back to the US in five years, so it was a nice way to get me to travel back. I have made that trip so many times, but I needed a push to go this time.

Their real drummer, John Menke, is so good, so it made learning the songs and getting the shows a breeze. It was good times focusing in on just the drum parts on their songs. I'd put on headphones, take an urban hike, and sort out the vibe of each drum part.

My plan wasn't to copy each song note for note but to get the feel down. I figured that for the other members, if it felt right, then they could not worry about me so much. It seemed to work.

I am noticing a slowdown in my posting here lately.

I think it might be from having to post so many show promotions. I feel like I already wrote something, then I don't write anything here.

It also could be partly from the news lately.

Sometimes when the world news is really big/hot, it has a dampening effect on wanting to write.

It could be partly the weather. It is getting hot here quickly, and I am not used to it yet.

The humidity in Japan is a lot different than where I am from. It always takes a while to adjust.

It could be the device as well. I love my laptop, but I am a little sick of typing lately.

I should switch to the iPad and Apple Pencil, maybe. There is also pencil, paper, and then scanning with the phone, which works very well actually.

Not a huge issue, but something is off lately, and course correction is in order. Listing out all the excuses, gets them out into the light and they dry up.

Survived the MRI yesterday but if someone asked me for tips on how to get through one, of course I have a list. It was an experience for sure. 

eyes

I wish I would have had an eye mask like the ones people wear on airplanes to sleep. I wasn't in the machine all the way but I was in far enough. The roof of the machine is really close to your face. An eye mask would have stopped the temptation to look at the roof.

mind

20 minutes plus with nothing to look at or listen to. It is pretty rare in our daily lives. I got through it but practicing a complicated linear drum pattern. You can't move in the machine. I drummed by lightly squeezing my hands and feet. I got 20 minutes of drumming in and kept my brain occupied.

ears

You have giant noise cancelling earphones on. It is still pretty loud. Lucky for me I listen to a lot of noise music. It is what it is so embrace the noise and meditate on it. There were a lot of industrial beats in the racket.