Journal 004

I got up today as usual. I made it to dinner just in time to catch an uncomfortable argument between my two brothers. Fortunately, I had no part in it. Basically, my older brother was more or less drilling my little brother on his life plans, while my little brother was pretty much purely on the defensive. It was a frustrating argument to witness, because there was clearly no leniency to be had. My little brother wasn't about to take advice clearly given from the perspective of The Man, and my older brother was clearly not about to give in and concede that any part of my little brother's plans were smart, or right. They were coming from completely different angles, and in my opinion, there was nothing to be gained; I was just glad when it ended. My dad came into the kitchen and asked my older brother a question about some athlete (hockey player?), and my brother got into this whole long discussion, since he's clearly a huge fan of that whole world. Maybe it was purely coincidental, but I have a feeling that maybe my dad was secretly just trying to give my brother something else to talk about, rather than ragging on my other brother. Either way, it worked.

Being the second Friday of the month, tonight was an Open Stage night at the den. Just before eight (I like to be fashionably right-on-or-slightly-past-time), I packed up my guitar and amp and my brother and I hopped into the van for the less-than-five-minute drive up to the den. For tonight, I chose Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada EP, which I got for Christmas, for our listening pleasure. When we got to the den, my brother rushed in ahead of me. As I was walking in, he said we had to go back to get his harmonicas, since he was apparently recruited to jam with the Stickman!

Getting back the second time, the fun began. I got to see the end of The Primatives' opening set (they're the folk rock band that runs the Open Stage). They did Never Again, a song they haven't played much recently, but that my brother has made a habit of covering periodically. And to close, they played All Along The Watchtower, which is one of my favorite covers that they do. It sounded really good. The first time I heard them play that song, it opened me up to a whole new perspective on the meaning of it, and I've appreciated the song even more ever since then. Hendrix's version with the lead guitar is awesome, but I still think The Primatives' version has the most meaning.

My bro played harmonica on Mary Jane's Last Dance with the Stickman and another regular at the den on guitar and vocals. (For the uninitiated, the man known and referred to here as the 'Stickman' is an awesome musician who regularly plays the Chapman Stick - look it up if you've never heard about them before, it's like a combination of a bass and a regular guitar, essentially a guitar with the range of a piano). After that, I paid less attention to the performers, and more to my warming up. When my set came up, I did my regular shtick, with the whole madness thing, this time emphasizing my appreciation for the invention of electricity. A recurring theme in my thoughts of today is the fact that I much prefer electric music to acoustic music. It's always been that way for me. The stinging bite of a good tone is worth everything in this world. And that's to say nothing of feedback!

After the show ended, the core group (consisting of The Primatives and their closest den friends, as well as my brother and I) headed out for a late night snack. This week, it was the local pizza shop which happens to be open till like 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. We had some good old general hanging out, with some good old classic pizza, and then eventually returned home.

My dad and his good friend, who had both been at the Open Stage (the friend also performed - my dad was just there for moral support, and because it's a happening place, I'm sure), were still up shooting pool in the basement, as usual. After my dad beat his friend (like always), he challenged me and beat me in a best 2 out of 3. I also took the chance to ask him if he was interested in seeing Lez Zeppelin - the all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band - when they come to town in February. I've been dying to see a Led Zeppelin cover band, particularly since seeing the Pink Floyd cover band The Machine, and Lez Zeppelin are supposed to be good. I missed them the last time they came through. I'd love to see it with my bro, but, like usual, it's a 21+ show...

So after that, the house finally quieted down, though it was already about 2am. I've been having a hard time tonight trying to balance my desire to be completely nude with my desire to be warm. It feels a little colder than it has been, maybe because I've been out of the house today. Actually, my first order of business - after getting undressed, ironically - was to take the garbage (just from my own room) out to the side of the house (something I meant to do days ago, but kinda forgot). It was brisk, indeed, but it was quick, so it couldn't hurt too much. Taking the garbage out (in the middle of the night, of course) is actually a great, and practical, excuse for going outside nude - and you can even do it in the cold, since it doesn't take very long! Still, I had to warm up under the covers in my bed for a few minutes after I got back inside. No point in staying overly chilled.

All that remained of the night then was just some reading, and catching up (only slightly) on some anime. So much to do, and so much to be done - and I have no work, no responsibilities! I don't know what to tell you. You might think, "well, if you're so busy anyway, why don't you just get a job and then you'll at least get paid for being busy?!" But it's obviously not that easy. Even though there's tons of stuff to do, it's still stuff I enjoy doing. And more importantly, there's a huge difference between doing my own thing in my own little world, and doing something 'worthwhile' out in the real world. Even if I knew where to begin (and it might be true that I do), there's still the matter of overcoming my fears of going out there...