Let’s start the birthday post by talking about Nicole. Nicole is a big believer that, if you’re not doing something to make memories, you’re just wasting time. She’s pretty awesome that way. So, she booked us a room at the Hotel Havana last weekend and that is absolutely the best way to lower my emotional temperature. Of all the places I’ve spent the night, that one’s probably my favorite. We almost never stay in the same room twice and it’s still magical.
Not our room this time, but it’s probably my favorite of the ones where we’ve stayed.
Yesterday, we had real restaurant food for the first time in ages. Went up to San Marcos, got some curbside from Torchy’s, and ate in a park and oh my stars and garters it was good. It’s been over a year since I’ve had their tacos and it was nearly tear-inducing. She also got me a journal to destroy (yes, really) and a blueberry bush which I planted outside my office. I truly, madly, deeply, love blueberries.
This weekend, we’re going to do a day trip out to Castroville to check out the “Little Alsace of Texas” which I’m sure will be fun no matter what it turns out to be. Is there a “Little Lorraine of Texas” nearby? Do they refer to their courthouse as “Little Strossburig?” OK, I’ll stop now. Anyway, to say I’ve been pampered would be an understatement.
And she’s says, ominously, “That’s not all.”
At the risk of being vague (rather, “being quite explicitly vague”), there was some work news yesterday as well. It was the sort of news that sounds really bad but isn’t. My understanding is that I’m OK and will continue to be so for the time being. That’s good, because I’m in a situation where I’m working from home and have enough autonomy that, even with a heavy workload, I’m not compelled to look elsewhere.
To make it even more vague, I have an analogy I like to use in cases like this. Demand for a product or service is like a body of water. It must be truly vast to support the really big fish, but once the puddle become an ocean, the big fish will dominate and the smaller ones will struggle to survive. But, should the waters recede, the big fish will be the ones to die out while the smaller ones will be able to thrive.
Book and record stores are a perfect example of this. While there was a huge demand for in-person purchases of books and music, the big chains took over. Local stores struggled and most failed. But, as soon as the demand diminished (or, really, moved online), the big chains no longer had enough water to survive while the local joint that made it through the tougher times did well. Borders and Sound Warehouse are gone; Book People and Waterloo are still there.
I’ve been playing with the musical toys a good deal lately and I’ve made quite a few breakthroughs.. They’ve all come on the “production” side as opposed to the “composition” side, but it’s always exciting to learn some new trick. Recording MIDI data into the DAW was a big one, mapping the drum sounds from an 80s drum machine to a newer sequencer was fun and shockingly easy. I just found that there’s a firmware upgrade from the Volca Sample that increases its capabilities and loaded it up last nigh. Wow…huge difference. Just all kinds of neat little things that get me excited to go play in that sandbox again.
I know I’m going to sound crazy saying this because I’m me, but…I have enough goodies? I really can’t think of anything else I need or even want. I do this when I’m writing too. I’ll say “I’ll sit down and do it when I have X, or when Y is done,.” Heck, I’m pretty sure I do it with my job, too. At some point, I just have to make myself do it. I’m not even dreading it, I’m just easily distracted.
On the other hand, I could probably do a gear list. That’d be fun, right?
I reckon 55 is a milestone age of some sort, so that seems a good a reason as any for a bit of a reset.
Maybe not “reset,” but a little spring cleaning maybe? I culled a lot of angry accounts from my Twitter feed. You know the kind, I bet: The kind of accounts that just invite outrage in one direction or the other. I’m an absolute sucker for a heated argument so removing the temptation has been a very good thing indeed.
I’m just trying not to get into arguments. It’s not like I’m going to convince anyone, anyway. But…when someone is spreading disinformation about, say, COVID, leaving that stuff unchallenged feels wrong. So, the goal is to find the balance where I’m challenging the information without it turning into a war.
I bring this up because, the day before my birthday, I came across a dude doing exactly that, spreading falsehoods about the efficacy of masks. It was standard troll stuff, just a lot of dumb statements worded in a way to try to draw a reaction. Nothing new or clever and certainly nothing accurate. My first temptation was to go in guns blazing. I wanted to do that, but I held off, countered his info, and muted him.
There’s no adrenaline rush that comes from that, but I think it does make the quality of my life fractionally better, so yay? I’ve also resurrected my RSS list and I’m pleased to find that most of the folks I was reading before are still going. I’m going to do a bit of pruning and add some new ones, but I feel like this will be a much better experience than doomscrolling Twitter for hours.
Not an especially high bar, huh?
So, say “Hello” to 55.
Thanks for sticking with me.
-RK