We're Being Invaded by...Bunnies?

Something very strange is hitting the internet this year and it's something I can't really get my head around.  Maybe it's just me (probably not) but almost everywhere I turn online I'm seeing this:

I mean...wtf?!  It's some bizarre ad for a "robot bunny", apparently "taking the internet by storm" or so they claim.  Um...huh??  I mean, why?!

I've said this countless times before but I'll say it again:  at times like this, I don't feel like I'm a human being nor of this planet.  For example, I can tell you firsthand that I have absolutely, positively, without any doubt in my life no reason or desire at all to have a robot bunny crawling around my house.  In fact, the mere concept of it boggles my brain.  Why would ANYONE want a robot bunny doing a limp hop throughout their home?!

Yeah, sure, it's Spring...Easter is on the near horizon, and so on, but how in the hell does that equate to a robot bunny?  In my head at least, "Spring != Robot Bunny", to put it in technical terms, nor do I see how that equation is changed to a positive for anyone.  Ah, but then again, this leads me to my other old rant about none other than marketing, something that I've simply never understood...ever.

Going back to my comment about not feeling human, I'll openly admit that I often hum or sing along to various ditties from commercials, etc., and may even say something akin to the fact that I really like a specific commercial or presentation.  What I don't do because of this, however, is buy the actual product...unless I'm already buying the product, if you know what I mean.  To be even more blunt, half the time I know the song/ditty really well but have no clue what the product actually is or what it's for.  In other words, marketing for the most part simply doesn't work on me nor do I think it ever really has except for possibly when I was really young, like pre 20's.  Ever since then, however, I simply feel rather immune to it and often wonder why companies waste the money.

It's then that it hits me...SOMEBODY is  buying the product due to these stupid commercials, right?  I mean, if no one bought it, they wouldn't advertise!  So, bringing this back to the bunny above, some damn fool out there is clicking on this idiotic looking robot bunny and then possibly purchasing it.  Why you ask?  Beats the living sh*t out of me.  All I can tell you, though, is that if YOU'RE that person, well, you're ruining it for all of us since we all now have to suffer from watching this goofy little yellow bunny hoppin' around on our screens.  Also, just for the record, I'm not sure bunnies actually come in the color yellow either - sorry, I just needed to throw that in there as well.

Seriously, folks, we need to wise up as a population and stop the madness.  There have been a lot of proposed boycotts lately but how about we all just agree at the very least to boycott the robot bunny?!  Ah, that would be a dream most certainly.

They're Coming for your Keys

Let's be honest:  lots of things in our day to day lives have been under attack for awhile now.  Why?  Well, there are various reasons, some I think fairly misguided but with good intent, but sometimes I can't even wrap my head around what could possibly be the gain.  Even better, it's hard to know the 'who' and the 'when' behind the attack, and so we're all basically becoming completely paranoid 100% of the time that some mystery person(s) is going to jump on us at any moment from anywhere and for any reason.  It's kind of akin to one of my cats that's always on guard, as if some mystery animal is going to fall from the sky, perhaps by parachute, at any given moment simply with the intent to scare the living hell out of her.  Yes, it's exactly like that, actually.

So, what now, right?  It's the CTRL key.  Yes, you read that correctly...the damn CTRL key, the one on the right side of your keyboard, to be specific.  If you're like me and aren't regularly subscribed to the latest keyboard related news (and why would you be...that's quite a question in itself), you won't learn of this bizarre attack until you purchase a new, say, laptop in particular, and you'll go to do something akin to a CTRL 'A'  or a CTRL 'C' and find, low and behold, there's no CTRL key to do this with.  Yes, that's right, it's been 'repurposed', now with that annoying little Microsoft CoPilot icon, their latest invention that they're pushing on us in every new version of Windows, um, without asking us, of course.

So, then, how do you do a CTRL 'C' exactly?  Well, I guess they expect you to stray from standard typing and do it all on one hand in 2 separate annoying keystrokes...OR...right click the mouse in about 3 keystrokes.  Makes sense, huh?!  Let's slow down all productivity so that we all have access to this annoying new 'feature' that at least most of us a) didn't ask for and b) are desperately trying to remove off of our taskbars in the first place.  Wow.  Yes, this IS the world we live in now, sad to say.  We've finally become a nation of "please, break everything that's currently working more than adequately".  Hmm.

Now, there are apparently work arounds, one being installing some new program called Microsoft PowerToys.  Yes, you read that correctly...PowerToys.  I know what you're thinking, and I know exactly what that name made me think of.  Hah hah.  I can only imagine this was the developer's personal inside joke, not unlike the old "Little Mermaid" phallic symbol on the VHS tape cover ploy by a disgruntled employee.  The bad news is that the PowerToys workaround is not working on my laptop, and did I mention that this is my work laptop?!  Yes, that makes it even worse considering I use the right CTRL button about a thousand times a day in my work life.  I mean, I use the left CTRL key way less than the right one...couldn't you guys at least take that one instead??  Can we at least negotiate which key on my keyboard you will needlessly hold hostage?!  That'll probably be next,  you know...where you'll have to pay a ransom fee to get access to the keys you're used to.

And so, the moral of the story is that truly nothing is apparently safe anymore, and my cat had the right idea all along, waiting for the mystery parachute animal to fall at any second.  I've always said you can learn a lot from animals...so there.

Who passed the gas?!

For years, I've heard about the warnings behind propane and gas grills  I mean, I've been using gas grills since I was about 14 years old and have never had a problem.  I simply thought the dangers were overly exaggerated.  Well, I guess not.

The gas grill I have now was left by the previous owner of the house.  It's basically a huge grill, way larger than I would ever need, and because of that it of course sucks up the propane like a thirsty camel in the desert.  As an added bonus, upon moving in and first opening the grill, there was the lovely surprise of an entire family of rats living literally inside the grill, with them scattering in terror upon lifting the lid.  I had been wondering where that strange odor was coming from and...well...er...

In any event, the grill got cleaned, etc., and I've been using it off and on ever since.  For such a large grill, something that is built in to some concrete and tile and was probably fairly expensive, it's bloody awful.  In fact, it works way worse than any of the Weber's I've owned and I can only chalk it up to the enormous size of it.  It's one of those things where nothing ever cooks even close to evenly on the thing, almost to a maddening degree.  It also takes forever for it reach its ideal temperature.

I've taken to cooking pizzas on the grill, though, and it's become a favorite thing of mine.  For whatever reason, though, this particular day about 2 months ago the grill wouldn't light.  This was a first.  Now, I've always gone against the grain and lit the grill with the lid down.  I know, I know...they say DON'T do this.  Yeah, whatever, pish tosh.  So, again, I'm clicking the igniter and nothing's happening.  I was a bit tired that day so I kind of had a lapse in judgement, where I silently thought to myself, hey, did I forget to open the propane spigot?  Weird.

Well, no sooner had I convinced myself that might be the case, after a little bit of time, I decided to push the igniter again.  It was like in slow motion...where as my finger was slowly pushing the trigger, my brain was saying "...but you did turn the gas on...and it's been pouring into the lid for the past 45 sec...".  And that's when I had fully pushed the igniter.

WHOOOSH!!!  No kidding, the lid literally flew open like Arnold Schwarznegger had pulled it with all his might, and also all the smaller doors in the back and front blew out equally loudly.  For a moment, I thought I was in "Christmas Vacation", when the uncle lights his stogey at the Christmas tree and burns both his coat and his toupee.  The kaboom noise was beyond belief, especially since all the doors are pretty heavy, and I stood there and let out a very loud "Aaaaaahhhhh!"

My first thought was...am I on fire?!  Nope, I seemed okay.  Did I lose any limbs?!  Nope, they're all there.  Actually, I think I'm alright.  What about the house?!  Is IT on fire?!  Nope, it's okay.  In fact, the only damage seemed to be the doors and the lid blowing up with such tremendous force.  Wow.  Let's just say I was extremely lucky for once.  I also looked around sheepishly.  Had any of my neighbors seen me do this?  Nope, I don't think.  Nice.

After collecting myself, I continued on and placed the cooking stone on the grill, and so on, although slightly shaking still.  I felt like a total idiot.  What was I thinking?!  Geez.

And so, yes, apparently all those warnings about the gas grills, propane, gas, etc., is real.  It's no joke so take it seriously.  Meanwhile, I still light the grill with the lid closed...I'm just more careful now.  Some people never learn ;)

Why Post?!

There are many things in modern society that I could rant about for hours upon hours but one that never ceases to burn my proverbial arse is the classic user review.  I'm referring to pretty much any user review at this point, whether it be a product on Amazon or a restaurant/food establishment on GoogleMaps, or even a product on, say, Macys.com.  It really doesn't matter where it is these days; it's all completely pointless.

I mean, why do we DO this?!  It's all so very confusing.  Let's think about this historically, mind you.  I think the whole reason the user review began was to give businesses a chance to have regular folk speak out about products that they love or don't really love rather than having professional paid writers/reviewers do it, probably with a percentage of them being slipped a dollar or two to lean one way or the other.  That's how it started, I think.

Like many decent ideas, this has completely gone astray.  These days, you have people with absolutely no idea what they're talking about whatsoever saying "this is the greatest" and then you purchase said product and you're like, um, this is bloody awful.  So, what's the point?  I know, you're going to say "it's all a matter of opinion".  Is it though?  I would argue 'no'.

For example, this has been a long standing argument in the film category for decades, where one person says film A is better than film B.  Sure, this is where subjectivity comes in...provided that the person(s) doing the talking has actually some knowledge about film ('...knowledge', you say?  What's that?!).  Have you ever been in a conversation with two 10 year olds arguing over which cartoon is better?!  That's what it's like.  If you have no knowledge on said topic, you can't possibly defend your position.  This is one area where user reviews have really failed for any Joe Schmoe can leave a review and have absolutely zero clue about what they're saying, and you, the reader, don't really have any idea if the source is trustworthy.  Ah, but it says 5 stars, right?!  It HAS to be good!

Another major failure is that the paid reviewers actually knew how to write and use grammar, etc.  Wow, that's really gone out the window, hasn't it?  Ugh.  Some argue that language skills are overrated and unimportant (all that matters is math, right??) but I would still say that without communication you might have the greatest ideas in the world but no one will ever know about them if you can't share that info.

And then, lastly, user reviews can fall into the category of "business wars", where people have a weird biased competitive liking of a certain business so they'll post over bloated reviews just to pump up sales and state their opinion.  Even worse, the business itself will have their friends and family post bloated reviews just so they show up higher in the lists, or purposely post negative reviews about other businesses to try and drag them down.  I also can't fail to mention the most bizarre of the user review...the one that is reviewing, say, the material on a CD or album and instead it's talking about how the UPS man delivered the product 2 days late.  Stranger even yet, there's also the occurrence where the category could be about a movie and the reviewer is instead talking about a video game.  It's all very puzzling.

I think there's only one thing to do, really, and that is to completely nix the user review idea and (gulp) go back to professional reviewers.  Having said that, we do need to put regulations into place so that businesses can't pay to inflate their sales but we've really no other choice.  The way things are, there's a billion tons of data out there for us to peruse; unfortunately, it's 90% garbage.

It's Not Allowed

There are two foods that are simply banned and not allowed in my household:  Cheetos and Doritos.  Yes, that's right, there's an "if you see this snack, call 1-800-XXX-XXXX" 'wanted' style poster on my kitchen wall, warning everyone of the potential danger.  They're armed...and dangerous.  Beware!

They're probably 2 of the worst foods for you, although I have no proof to back up that claim but that is a logical guess.  They're also 2 of the best foods for enjoyment...ever...in my opinion.  In fact, they so "have my number" that I simply can't resist them, hence why they're not allowed in the house.  I've gotten a bit better at resisting the Doritos urge (my personal favorite is the Tapatio variety...my god) but the Cheetos urge, my crutch being the Flamin' Hot variety, do tend to call me in like Satan on the steps of the Vatican.

I liked regular Cheetos, especially Crunchy but sometimes Puffy, enough as it was, but once they invented Flamin' Hot it was all over.  I mean, it was immediate and complete total love.  It was like someone invented the perfect food to literally do me in.  Resistance was futile.  I'd just look at a bag and could feel 5 lbs. of fat forming around my abdomen.

And then, I got older, and my stomach got worse and worse.  These days, if I eat something like Cheetos or Doritos, it's pure bliss going down and then hours of pain after.  Due to this, I've had to really stack up my resistance factors but still the evil does call to me on occasion, sometimes in the middle of the night.

Last week, I stupidly read a headline that said something like 'people were going crazy over this new Flamin' Hot variety'.  Dumb, dumb, dumb, because I immediately was on a quest to find a bag of the new Flamin' Hot Cajun Cheddar Cheetos.  This prompted an accidental bumping into Crunch Buffalo Cheetos at the store.  Foolishly, both varieties ended up in my pantry at the same time and, no joke, both disappeared within a matter of days.  Having said that, the stomach pains still haven't stopped.

The funny part is that neither lived up to the hype.  I mean, I could almost argue that the flavor wasn't that great.  Ah, yes, but it's something about that damn crunch that gets me every time, coupled with the heat, and so the addict in me comes out in full force and the next thing I know over half the bag is gone.  On average, it takes two sittings to down a bag and that's only because I force myself to stop; I mean, I could easily eat the whole bag in probably a matter of 7 minutes.  When they say that these foods are chemically altered to psychologically stimulate people to eat them, it's no joke.  This sh*t is powerful.

Even weirder, though, we as a society seem to be obsessed with "crossover foods".  They're everywhere these days, and why?  I have no clue.  I personally don't like them...I mean, the regular Flamin' Hot Cheetos are literally a perfect food - how can you possibly perfect it?!  And yet, we try, and then idiots like myself down the bag in a marathon fashion while not even liking the flavor.  In fact, it just makes me that much more likely to now go buy a bag of regular Flamin' Hot Cheetos so I can down those since I didn't get satisfied the first time around.  It's clearly a ploy.

Back to crossovers, though, why are we obsessed with this?  I get emails all the time lately about the BBQ Chicken pizza.  I mean, huh?!  If you want BBQ chicken, why not just eat BBQ chicken?!  Why do you need that in pizza form?  Then, we do pizza flavored other things.  It's all very puzzling and it personally drives me a bit nuts.  Now, I'll admit that I do like some of it, that is when I do indulge, but for the most part I try to steer clear, if nothing else for the sake of my poor stomach and intestines.

For this round, Cheetos definitely won.  Score - Cheetos 10, me 0.  Ah, but I'll avoid ya next round, I swear, I swear.  Oh, if only.

  

Scatterbrained

I hadn't realized that I missed posting in June.  Hmph!  I've been trying to post at least every month but apparently I forget on occasion.  Even worse, I get these ideas for a blog post that come to me usually at odd moments, and I mean to write them down really quickly but by the time I get to my computer they've flown out my other ear, to be lost for all eternity.  I do remember one of them, though, and perhaps I'll still post it so I'll leave that out for now.  Other than that, though, I'm at a loss.

So, how are things with everyone?  I will say things are decent here.  I've of course been incredibly busy, hence the lack of writing in some regards, and time is simply passing by at a continually alarming rate.  I did manage to get the EP printed and released (check!).  I also managed to get some t-shirts in motion (double check!).  I am still struggling with the second EP, a task which feels like it may never end at this point, but I literally almost work on it nightly, doing my endless tinkering.  Just call me the tinkerer; it's better than the other words that some have called me.

I also had my 6 month follow up at the derm's office.  Yes, that's right, I have 5 more spots that have formed on my head.  Oh joy!  If these are surgically removed, I'll be up to 17 total.  Ridiculous, especially for someone who 1) never leaves the house and 2) basically lives in darkness.  I can't help but feel like this is a conspiracy of sorts.  At this point, I'm considering getting a toupee since at least it would cover up the majority of my head from the sun on the rare occasions that I actually leave the house.  Hell, Thomas Dolby just did it, why can't I?!

Knowing my frustration, my dermatologist finally offered me the option of using the chemo cream option to help burn off any remnants on my scalp before they turn to all out cancerous spots.  And so, I've been doing that for a week and a half and...low and behold...absolutely nothing.  My next door neighbor used this same cream and his entire scalp and face turned beet red, with the skin coming off like a really bad sunburn, etc., which means that the cream is doing its job.  For me?  Nothing, apart from a slight shinier sheen to my skin.  I mean, how can I possibly have the skin of iron that the chemo cream can't penetrate when I'm obviously so very susceptible to actual skin cancer?!  Yes, folks, this is my life.  I'd be a liar if I said I was shocked by the irony in this.

In other news, my eye conundrums simply continue but so far, fingers crossed, it doesn't seem like my retina has torn again...yet.  I had a lot of fun with ordering glasses this year, however.  Imagine trying to take an eye test, where they're trying to figure out the correct prescription for you by asking which version in the little hanging glass thingy looks better, and then imagine that you can't really see straight to even tell.  Yes, that was the fun I had, and I literally had to order about 6 pairs of glasses from Liingo.com before more or less getting it right (it's actually hard to say that because, well, I don't see well enough to say that with full confidence).  I will add that all the folks that I dealt with at Liingo.com were absolutely amazing so I can't recommend them enough.

I eventually decided to get more expensive lenses put into my frames because I figured it might be a better idea given my situation.  Well, this opened a whole new can of worms because apparently your basic level optician doesn't seem to understand that you may not see well enough to answer the questions in a straight forward manner.  This led to minor arguments, discussions, sending glasses back repetitively, and so on.  My personal favorite was that this particular optician, of which I don't think has any business being in the business, insisted on taking my new frames that I had just perfectly fit to my face and then bent them in a manner that's left them completely crooked.  Hmm.  Yes, that's service in 2024 for ya.  Needless to say, I don't recommend this optician; in fact, I'll go out on a limb - she's a complete idiot.  She may be nice and sort of pretty...but she's a complete moron, in my opinion.  Avoid at all costs!

I know I had something else to share but I'll be damned if I can remember what that was.  I seem to say this more and more these days.  The older you get, the less you remember, and sometimes that's actually for the better.  And so, I'll end here.  More later...hopefully.

Yet Another Month

It's been awhile since I've posted but figured I'd poke my head out here.  I've been extremely busy between work and music so I've had little time for anything else.  I'm busy enough that I usually am quite stressed in general, running around the house like a lunatic, trying to get as many tasks done as I possibly can in the smallest windows of time possible.

I've got my day job, music, writing, both large and smaller house related projects to figure out, artwork for CD's, sending off songs and mixes for potential new video ideas, usually some doctor's related appointments, normal chores, and of course play time with the cats.  I usually end my days with watching at least a portion of a film before passing out and going to sleep.  Most of my days are fairly exhausting, to be honest.  My cats are convinced that I'm boycotting them.

I've lost track of the last time that I mentioned Mohs.  I had my "last" appointment almost a month ago and so my head is starting to look more healed.  I've had 12 excisions so far...and I go in again in mid June to be reevaluated, of which I'm fairly certain I have at least 3 more spots that will need to be removed.  This madness just never ends AND I rarely ever leave the house - seriously.  In fact, I didn't really leave the house much before but now that I have to douse my body in sunscreen even if I'm running over to Starbucks for a whole 3 minutes, it's made me even more of a hermit.  I'm sure the neighborhood thinks I'm a guitar playing vampire or something along those lines.

On top of that, I've been fighting with my vision again.  I had a weird occurrence just a little over a week ago where it seemed that I saw a lightning bolt out of the corner of my eye.  Well, there was no lightning, mind you, and the vision in my bad eye suddenly got a bit worse as did the distortion/crooked lines issue.  I finally got ahold of my retina doctor but he doesn't seem too terribly concerned at the moment.  This either means that weird things are to be expected in an eye that's had 2 retinal detachments or that he's looking forward to making more cash for a potential boat purchase when I have to go in for a third surgery.  This remains to be seen, I guess.

Has anyone else had issues with progressive lenses?!  My prescription altered greatly with last year's retinal detachment and so my new glasses are pretty wonky.  The reading/progressive area is now fairly powerful and I'll tell ya...I can't see sh*t usually in these glasses.  I mean, it's ridiculous.  I heard somewhere recently where some people suggest NOT getting progressives, which are ridiculously pricey, by the way, and instead just having multiple pairs of glasses for different purposes.  It sounds like a pain in the ass either way but I'm thinking I might explore it since I'm getting tired of bumping into things constantly.  Hell, even pouring coffee can be challenging at times, especially with a bad eye.  I can't even count how many times I've spilled or knocked something over in the past month.

That's pretty much my life at the moment.  As soon as something amusing happens, I'll be sure to write about it here :)

You are Reading "Low Value Content"

I was slightly amazed to look at my stats and see that people actually read this blog.  Wow?!  I'm seriously both honored and humbled.  I know my Marillion Weekend posts from over a decade ago get a lot of hits so that's probably the majority of it, but then again I'm getting daily hits so I'm thinking that maybe people are just randomly stumbling upon it.  My thinking is that people are so wanting something to read now and then and not have to deal with pay walls, signing up, etc.  Well, you're welcome...and thank you for reading!

Due to the number of hits, I made the goofy decision to maybe try signing up for Google AdSense.  Now, I say that like I know exactly what that is, of which I don't.  I get the concept...you know, those annoying little ads that display on the side and title bars of a page that then take you to some bizarre product that you didn't even know existed, and now maybe are a bit scared to know that it actually does.  You get the drift.  And so, I signed up for Google AdSense...and received a bizarre "no" in response.

Why?  Apparently, I have "low value content".  Hmm.  Now, in expanding upon what that means exactly, I had to waste about thirty minutes of my time skimming through page after page after page of, well, ridiculous rules and regulations.  Everything limiting porn to guns to the war in Ukraine to politics...  On and on.  Then, it moved into "unoriginal content" via screen scrapes, "doorways", content that can easily be found on another site, created by AI, and so on.

Let me be frank - I'm pretty sure I haven't exposed my naked body or anyone elses in this blog.  Fairly sure, actually, so I should be safe there.  As for guns and the war in Ukraine, again, I'm sure I haven't crossed any lines.  I don't believe I have any "doorways" unless that's considered a link to my other blogs, which would make absolutely no sense to me at all.  So, I have to guess that I'm being accused of either screen scraping, which is pretty outrageously bizarre, or they're simply saying that my content has literally no value whatsoever to anyone in the world.  Hmm.  Yeah, that doesn't hurt at all :)  Thanks Google!

Needless to say, I deleted the request for the AdSense account and shrugged my shoulders.  I guess in this world you can post as an authority on any number of topics that you may actually know nothing about, and that's apparently okay.  However, if you just maintain a regular "blog", of both your thoughts wrapped in with some comedy and silly things that happen during your day to day life...well, sorry, you're kaput.  Oh, I probably shouldn't say "kaput"...that'll probably generate on a report somewhere.  Yep, flagged again.

And so, dear reader, of whom I at least greatly value your eyes and time, I just felt it was my duty to let you know that you're indeed reading "low value content".  You've now been warned.  And yes, I write every single word...the old fashioned way...using my brain and fingers.  You have my guarantee!

A Cut and a Chunk Here

And so, the beat goes on...  Have I mentioned that I've had more Mohs done?  Yeah, it's a blast, seriously.  Mohs in general really isn't that big of a deal but when you're in the "blooming" phase, as my doctor recently put it, it simply gets very old quickly.  I'm now approaching procedure number 12 and from the looks of my scalp, I believe I'll have at least 2-3 more to add to it afterward.  I keep telling her, "...but I don't want to bloom!  I don't want to bloom!"  I'm not sure who's watering the seeds but I wish they'd stop already.

I've always been a very careful person and I've rarely had any accidents, falls, major cuts, no operations up until about 4 years ago, etc.  Well, at this age I seem to be making up for lost time.  I've lost count of the number of scars I have, especially on my head and facial area, and now I even have one on my left forearm.

So, this latest one is considered an "excision" rather than Mohs.  What's the difference?  Well, from what I can tell, it's simply that they cut, dig, and sew up right away, whereas with Mohs they cut, dig, and then study under the microscope.  If you're lucky, they then sew; if you're unlucky, you start over and do it again, kind of like some weird boardgame where you keep getting put back to the "go" square.  The bottom line is that one you're out in about 35 minutes while the other is 2-5 hours, depending upon how many times you go back to the "go" square".  Sounds great, right?  And you thought Monopoly was tedious.

Strangely, this excision on my arm is very itchy.  In fact, it's been nearly impossible to not scratch it, although it's the area around the excision that itches, and that's mainly because once you've been cut in this manner you more or less lose all feeling in that exact area, at least for a while.  It's a strange thing having all these little patches with no feeling.  I also have noticed a large amount of orange bruising on my arm which caught me slightly off guard.  Other than that, it's been pretty easy and straight forward, and I will honestly say that it's way easier addressing wounds that you can see right in front of you versus something on the back of your head.  You have to get pretty good with a mirror to slather antiseptic from a cotton swap while looking in a mirror at the back of your head, that is if you don't want to slather it accidentally on your ear my mistake (unless that's the intended target, of course).

All of this is going on while I still have a healing Mohs spot on the back of my head.  I don't know why but the ones on the back of my head heal much worse than the front.  My skin is fairly sensitive so I tend to get mild eczema break outs around the stitches...it's all fairly annoying.

I will say that I'm now getting to know the other "regulars" at the derm office, often chatting with them in the hallway, comparing notes, and so on.  I recently chatted with someone who readily admitted he's a nudist...yeah, you do the math on that one.  Honestly, I don't even want to think about getting these sorts of cuts down...well, there.  Geez.  He showed me one of his scars but luckily not one in that area.

Ah, life...  As they say, it beats the alternative!

I Think It's All Gone

Call me crazy but I think we're living in a new society.  Now, this isn't going to be some crazy political post, and quite frankly I can't handle those myself, but I would be amiss to not mention things around me that seem terribly obvious and yet no one seems to be commenting on them.  What am I talking about?  Well, for starters, mayonnaise.

Okay, that's not totally true.  This is NOT a post about mayonnaise...but it does start with mayonnaise, and I think it's a perfect example of what I'm referring to.  So, pretty much since the dawn of time (slight exaggeration), there has been a staple of a product called Hellman's Mayonnaise in the east and Best Foods Mayonnaise in the west (same product, btw, just two different names).  This has literally been the mayonnaise of the whole entire country since, well, I was born (the dark ages?).  This product is a staple because it's been consistent beyond belief.  It had a rich texture, full flavor, etc.  Well, not anymore.

Maybe you don't eat or use mayonnaise as much as I do but this product has absolutely, positively, hands down, without any doubt, changed.  It is not the same product.  Hell, just look at it!  Yes, even the color of the product has changed, where it was always just a slight creamy off white and now it has this grayish tint.  And then, there's the taste...  What I loved about this product was that it tasted "good" and not at all like icky bizarre Miracle Whip.  Well, those days are definitely gone.  Take a glob of this new version and tell me your thoughts.

So, what's my point, you ask?  We in this society are getting a snow job.  Products are being altered, changed, cheapened, and who knows what the heck else and no one seems to be noticing.  How is that possible?  I mean, seriously?!

Another one which is more well known is the "pint" of Haagen Daz ice cream.  Maybe you don't already know this but it's no longer actually a pint.  Hmm.  They have stated that they had a choice...either raise the price or decrease the quantity.  This is apparently a phenomenon that's happening to a whole slew of products out there.  If you're like me, you're probably thinking that they decreased the quantity AND increased the price...and I'd dare say you're correct, or at least that's what it seems like.  If nothing else, though, it rolls off the tongue easily to say "I want a pint of ice cream", and it's not quite as easy to say "I want a pint minus two ounces or 14 ounces of ice cream please".  Yes, it's simply not the same, is it?  No wonder math is more important these days.

Ah, but the list of products seems to just grow every day.  More and more products are cutting corners, changing ingredients, and probably, well, poisoning us all in the name of saving themselves a little cash.  Pretty soon, I wouldn't be shocked if water is no longer the main and only ingredient in water...but I shudder at what they'll use to fill in the gaps.

When and where does this end?  Have we no pride in anything anymore?  Will a Twinkie no longer have the infamous lasting 7 years cream center and instead something just shy of shaving cream filler?  And better yet, how have we not noticed?  One thing for sure - I'm beyond tired of the "supply chain issues" excuse.  C'mon, COVID's over, at least as an epidemic.  This is just a money grab, some strange and bizarre experiment to see if the American public notices.  And the scariest part?  We apparently don't.  Sigh.

Just Say No

It was announced that Joni Mitchell was going to come out of retirement to do one (now two) special performances at the Hollywood Bowl later this year.  I actually hadn't heard about this but I saw it written in an email and apparently it was blasted all over the news, the internet, etc.  After being rather shocked by this info (she is 80, after all), I then realized that pretty much everyone on Earth now knows about this performance.  This means that ticket demand would probably be fairly outrageous.

Now, I've purchased a lot of tickets in my life; in fact, one might say I'm a ticket buying expert.  I've been through all the phases of this dreaded event, from camping outside to physical in person lotteries to online purchases to scalpers, and so on.  I think I've seen it all.  What I've never seen, however, is the below.

I made a point to jump onto Ticketmaster a half hour early this time around, mainly since they tend to open ticket buying lobbies earlier than the posted time, something I personally think is completely bogus but probably helps prevent the website from crashing.  The lobby opened at the fifteen minute mark, I had to validate my account which admittedly took longer than I would have liked, and then I sat idle in the lobby for the next 15 minutes.  When the buzzer finally went off to say that ticket buying was live, I got this message:  "You are now in the queue...23,130 people ahead of you".

I'm sorry...what?!  23k people are ahead of me?!  This defies all belief.  How is that even possible??  I had to do a double and triple take, mainly because I've never seen a number that high in my life in a lobby and, well, my eyesight isn't good.  But yes, it DID say 23,130, and I could only sit there and scratch my head.  Prior to this, I thought being number 1,000 was bad...but 23k?!

As you can probably imagine, I didn't end up buying any tickets.  To add insult to injury, the only tickets that were available that I would be interested in seemed to be $1250 - $1450...per seat.  Um...?  Nothing like spending a mortgage payment or two to see a show at the Bowl.

So, let's back up...  This WHOLE bs via ticketing agencies was all about scalpers, etc.  The agencies and the artists wanted to cut back on scalping, especially back in the day when there were literal "ticket brokers" in business doing this sort of thing.  The solution the agencies evidently came up with was jacking up prices so that only the super rich will actually be able to buy tickets, and also allowing every average joe the opportunity to buy and then sell tickets at a profit, in essence taking the scalper problem from 10% of the market and making it 60%.  Yes, folks, this is the world we live in...and even weirder no one seems upset about it.

Now, I don't blame Joni, mind you, since I doubt the 80 year old has anything to do with ticketing whatsoever.  Still, I think it's time for us to say as a society that enough is a enough.  I say just say 'no'.  Sorry, Joni, but it t'ain't worth it.

Meanwhile, I'm still sitting in the lobby...and I now have only 19,510 people in front of me.  Hmph.

Things We Don't Have

I heard the most fascinating thing the other day while grabbing some food.  This particular establishment had a line up of large coffee thermoses, if you will, kind of like in the style that, say, Einstein's used to have, with probably about 6-7 varieties.  While making the difficult decision, a worker came up, interrupted my thought process, and asked, "Let me know if you'd like any coffee that we don't have."

This, of course, puzzled the living heck out of me and left me momentarily speechless.  How exactly does one answer this question?!  What does that even mean?!  These were the initial things that popped into my head, and then about all I could manage to squeak out was a "um, okay, thanks."  I mean, what can you possibly say to this question after all?

I then pondered this even more.  Was he saying that he had more coffee in the back and that he'd get it if it was requested?  Or, was he asking for opinions for possible additional flavors and styles, like, "...I really wish you had X coffee..."?  My personal favorite hypothesis, though, was that he meant it literally; "let me know if you'd like any coffee that we don't have".  Hmm.

I then couldn't resist but run with this in my mind a bit.  Maybe this guy ALWAYS talks like this - could you imagine?  He walks into a bank:  "Hi, I'd like to withdraw some money...that I don't have".  "Here's my ATM card...that I left at home".  "I'll place the funds into my wallet...which is in my other trousers".  Or, maybe he asks other patrons at the food establishment, "Tell me if you'd like to order something off of the menu...that we don't actually make".  "Would you like to add avocado...which we don't keep on hand?"  I mean, imagine the possibilities here!  This could be a very interesting world to live in and it immediately made me want to be his friend, just to see exactly how far this curious line of communication could actually go.  Then again (sigh), it's probably more much likely that he either had a slip of the tongue or it was simply a language barrier.  Still, ah, yes, I much prefer my version.

We all know that communication is going down the toilet.  The English language has certainly been bastardized by the likes of texting, laziness, and an overall feeling that proper communication is simply unimportant.  I personally think it's a huge part of what we all hate about daily life now and the demise of common courtesy...and yet most people don't seem to want to admit it or do a thing to change it.  Therefore, I stand on my lone island, the defender of the language, kind of like Joan of Ark as she burned at the stake, while everyone else around me attempts to communicate via a series of grunts, emoji's, and bizarre shorthand.  I'll continue to use complete sentences, dammit, no matter what, even in texts.  Grrr!  Oh, wait, that's a grunt...please ignore.

And now, I think I'll go play some music...that was never made.

The Beat Goes On

I'll admit that I'm running out of titles for these posts.  Geez.  I also keep wanting to get back to more amusing entries but alas that's been a bit difficult over the past couple of months.

I guess first up I'll say that my eyesight has moderately improved over the past 2-3 weeks.  In fact, it improved enough that I was able to drive myself over to see Devo in Del Mar, which actually turned out to be the best show I saw all year long (albeit I didn't see that many).  At that time, I still drove with an eyepatch over my bad eye, especially at night with all the glare of the lights.  Once I got into the venue that evening, it was a bit disorienting trying to walk amongst other people without bumping into them or other objects, and I mainly kept to myself.  Alas, I got through it and ended up having a great time.  Oddly, I had never seen Devo before.

About two weeks later, I finally stopped using the eyepatch while working.  I found that the double vision had gone down a bit and therefore I could make it through the day without the added inconvenience of this material hanging over my eye.  I still don't see great at all, mind you, but it's nice to be able to have my eye "open" again and without a huge amount of double vision.

I found that I could start trusting driving a bit more as well as getting back on my bike, all of which I took slowly and with extra caution.  I just recently graduated to not using the eyepatch while driving period, and I also made my first long drive since probably 5 years ago, with driving out to Arizona to see friends and family.

I wish I could say that everything's been better but a very dear friend of mine experienced a terrible tragedy in his family of which I won't go into here, and then just days later my aunt passed away, hence the trip to AZ.  It was all very earth shattering and hard to get a grip on.  I was pleased that I could actually make the journey, though, and I dare say that I wouldn't have been able to do it only a week or two before.

This week, I finally had Moh's appointment #8, the last of the original group.  I was supposed to have this one done back in early October but I had to cancel due to the retina detachment.  2023 has been...well, quite a year, and certainly not a good one for me at all.  I had grand plans of getting tons of things done this year, least of all music projects and also starting on a major house renovation, and basically everything has been delayed repetitively due to all the dramas going on.  I know I've said it many times before but getting old(er) is hell, I tell ya.

At this point, if I'm still breathing past the first of the New Year, I'll consider it a "win" because, well, wow.  More so than ever, I wake up each day happy being able to see another day.  Now, if I could only get back to business, per se.

I'm now looking ahead to having my usual 2 weeks off over Xmas, something I greatly look forward to every year and that usually gets away from me.  Ah yes, but not this year...we're going to make the most of it, right?!  I said, right??!!  Yes, right!

Surgery and Recovery

I thought I'd be able to blog much earlier than this but I found typing face down, with my laptop at the bottom of the bed while I hang over the end, really quite difficult and tedious to do.  Therefore, I opted to simply wait until I was able to be upright again.

As a bit of a catch-up, the surgery went pretty well overall.  My blood pressure pre-surgery was extremely high due to nervousness, I think around 176.  I asked the assistants at what point they cancel a surgery due to blood pressure being too high; the answer was, "Whoa...you're not even in the ballpark.  We frequently see in the 200's, etc."  Well, good to know I have some wiggle room.

I was incredibly anxious as I was filling out paperwork, being called up to the desk a couple of times, and then eventually being called back for surgery prep.  I do what I can to keep myself in check but I simply can't alter everything, hence the high blood pressure reading.

After changing into my robe but oddly being told to keep my jeans on (?), the anesthesiologist came in to meet with me.  I explained my issues with anesthesia during my colonoscopy and asked if I could possibly be put out before being wheeled into the OR.  He looked at me very oddly and said, um, no, that's completely out of the ordinary.  I then asked to be sure that I was given enough anesthesia to make sure I was completely out during the procedure and he said, "Oh, you'll most likely be awake during it."  Of course, my blood pressure probably shot up another 20-30 points because this contradicted what everyone had told me previously.  He then went on to explain that I'll be completely out when they put the needle below my eye socket, which will basically completely numb that eye and black out my vision, and then I'll most likely awaken while they're doing the rest of the procedure.  He saw the look of horror on my face and immediately started talking me off of the ledge:  "Oh, you won't feel anything or see anything.  You'll be so groggy that it won't matter one way or another to you."  I still wasn't buying it and so he jotted a few notes down, grimaced slightly, and said, "Hey, I'll be there the whole time.  You'll be fine."  I honestly wasn't so assured.

Next came one of the things I always dread the most - the person putting the IV in your arm or hand.  I lucked out this time because the lady was super nice and kind, and also very compassionate about my nervousness.  I asked if the IV would be in my arm and she said, "No, I was going to put it in your hand."  Again, my blood pressure must have raised yet another 20-30 points since they were giving me all the wrong answers, in my opinion at least.  I explained to her how for the colonoscopy that it took 3 nurses to hold me down while they placed it in my hand, and I was basically screaming and couldn't hold my hand steady.  She thought about it a minute and then changed course.  "Let's put it in your wrist, then."  This was a new one for me but I wasn't sure what my recourse was at this point.

She then went on to tell me that she's very good at this, does it X times a day, and that I shouldn't really feel anything because she uses Lidocaine.  Now, this didn't mean much to me but I was sure that the previous time nothing was used to help the pain so who knows.  I felt the initial prick but it wasn't much worse than getting your blood drawn, and then she used the Lidocaine, and by the time she put the IV in she was absolutely correct for I didn't feel a thing.  Wow.  Mental note = Lidocaine.  And so, that trauma actually ended up being quite okay.

Next came the obligatory but worrisome "do you have a will?" and "do you have any visitors that you want to say goodbye to before the surgery?" sort of thing.  You know, the types of things that really give you comfort.  After that, I was placed in a wheelchair and given a nice little ride through the hallways and over to the OR.

This was my very first time ever being in an OR, apart from birth, that is, hence my nervousness.  Strangely, in hindsight now, it doesn't seem anywhere near as nerve wrecking as I had imagined.  I got up off the wheelchair, said hello to all the people involved, laid down, got "comfortable", and then it was like completely lights out, meaning there was no warning or anything...I was simply gone.  I then woke up and it was exactly as the anesthesiologist had explained, where my right eye had absolutely no vision and I felt not a thing except for a mild tugging here and there as the doctor worked on my eye.  I kept making a strange low moaning sound because that's all I could muster but overall the procedure was pretty non-concerning.  This went on for awhile, I heard them talking in the room and having a conversation as they worked, and then there was a moment where it was similar to the Three Stooges routine where the doctor said, "Gas on....gas off", or something like that, as they started filling my eye with the gas to replace the original fluid in it.  Shortly after, the doctor said, "That's it...you're done."  Gobs of tape and other things were put on my eye and I was wheeled out, completely doped to the nth degree.

I stayed in the recovery area for a bit where they started rattling off instructions that I knew I wouldn't retain whatsoever due to my dopiness.  I also started the face down positioning at this point.  Then, I was wheeled out by a large friendly guy who took me down to the waiting area on the side of the road where I could be picked up.

The whole ride home was a complete blur.  It's about a 45 minute ride but it felt like 5 minutes, that's how out of it I was.  Upon getting home, I started the endless problem of trying to get comfortable in a face down position of which I can now say is close to impossible.  In fact, I rented a special chair, bought a handful of special pillows from Amazon, etc., and none of these seemed to really work.  It took me about 2 days to finally realize that just using standard bedding pillows, more or less hanging off the side of the bed so that I can watch movies on my laptop, and so on, was better than any of the alternatives.  So, you read it here, folks...if you're going to have a vitrectomy and need to be in a face down position for a week, I personally wouldn't bother with any of the BS that's on the market.  Just grab some comfy pillows and whatever device you prefer and hang off the bed in order to fill your time.  Sleeping, however, is a whole different issue.  Due to my tremendous back problems, this was a real torture for me until I figured out that I needed to use muscle relaxers each night.  Even so, the positioning was awful and gave me loads of pain in my back that I can't even begin to describe.  I slept very little for days and kept constantly waking up every 20 minutes.

And so, in the end, I was correct in my thinking...the actual surgery wasn't that big of a deal but the recovery is killer.  My eye looked like I had been severely beaten up by a gang on a street corner, with both eyelids super swollen to where I couldn't even open my eye, and the actual eye itself so red and blood filled that you couldn't really see the iris or pupil of my eye.  The pain seemed to get worse as the week progressed, probably due to lack of sleep.  My eye socket continually throbbed for days.  At this point, I'm back upright thankfully but my eye is still pretty red on one side although the iris and pupil are now visible.  My actual eyesight, however, is another story.  The gas bubble is now only in the lower part of my vision but the upper area is not only blurred but also out of sync with my left/good eye which makes pretty much everything challenging.  This is what has me worried at this point.

On the plus side, I did watch tons and tons of horror movies all week long, some of which were super enjoyable and ones I had never seen before.  My personal fav's from the week were "Frankenhooker", a must see for anyone who likes weird horror comedy from the 80's, and "Mr. Vampire", one of the Hong Kong vampire movies that I didn't even know were a thing.  Other notables were "Bordello of Blood" and the "Terrifier" films which are beyond disgusting.  I also revisited the "Psycho" sequels, some "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" films, and the remaining films in the "Phantasm" series that I hadn't seen.  I dare say that I kind of enjoyed watching the films although seeing them downward is an odd experience indeed.  I certainly can attest to why the inventors of TV thought that it made more sense to watch it on the wall versus on the floor.  It's also astounding to note how, when recovering from eye surgery, how many horror movies have something in them having to do with poking or gouging eyes out.  It's not exactly comforting at that moment, as you can imagine.

That's pretty much catching everything up to now.  If anyone ever needs info about detached retinas or Mohs procedures, I'm unfortunately your guy since I'm slowly becoming an expert in both, albeit an unwilling one. 

Prep

My eye surgery is tomorrow and, as you can probably imagine, I'm rather jittery about it.  I haven't been sleeping well at all over the past almost week and often found myself having mild panic attacks, jarringly waking up from a sound sleep.  I would then in a sleepy manner try to talk myself off the proverbial ledge, as they say.  Anxiety is no fun, let me tell you.

The best way I found to talk myself down was this:  you basically HAD this surgery 2-3 years ago while you were awake.  This time, you'll be out...so what's the problem?  That little pep talk actually does work, believe it or not, and it's not entirely untrue.  They will basically be doing the same type of procedure except for the buckle which admittedly freaks me out a bit.  Luckily, I don't have to witness it but it does make me nervous to know what that's going to feel like afterward.  I can only imagine that my eye will feel like it's on fire, and quite frankly it felt pretty horrific for about 24 hours the last time as well.  My favorite in the prior procedure was that they punctured my eye, put in the gas bubble, etc., and then the nurse said, "Oh, I forgot to give you this eye drop...", and then puts that in my eye which basically felt like pouring gasoline on a wound and lighting it.  I screamed rather loudly and she said in an unknowing manner, "Oh?  Did that hurt?"  Yes, everyone's a comedian these days.

A ton of my anxiety actually comes from knowing where the procedure will take place.  We have a nice small facility right in our neighborhood which I've been in, seen, etc., and was hoping that's where it would take place.  Nope.  Instead, I need to travel all the way down almost to San Diego proper and be in some large medical building ala hospital.  So, yes, that's just added to my anxiety because the thought of all the hospital-like stuff just makes it that more "real", if you will.  It admittedly does seem a bit strange to think that I have less anxiety about getting something done in somebody's garage or shed...hmm.

Apparently, they use the same sort of anesthesia for this as they do for colonoscopy's.  That will be interesting because when I had that done, the anesthesia basically turned me into Rodney Dangerfield afterward, where I couldn't stop laughing and cracking jokes, god awful jokes at that.  I remember one of the nurses asking another, "...who's the laugher over there...?"  Keeping in mind that I had just been given a colonoscopy, in my Rodney-esque way, I literally yelled out, "Hey, that doctor over there raped me....and I didn't even know 'em!"  Of course, this was followed by uncontrollable laughter that probably made everyone in the facility completely uncomfortable on multiple levels.  So, yes, I can't wait to see if Rodney makes his reappearance tomorrow.  Get your tickets now!

It's also unclear if I need to spend 5-7 days face down or longer.  If it's longer, geesh...I'll certainly throw my back out again which will then take another week to heal, most likely.  Good times.  Let's just put it this way...when anyone asks why I didn't get any music released this year, well, just read these blogs and you'll know.  Wish me luck - I'll need it.

Torn and Detached...Again

Just a minor update...  I did not have emergency surgery on Friday, mainly because the retina specialist said that it's no longer an emergency:  the damage has already been done and the macula has already been affected.  Per his exact words, "time is on our side...".  I think what he really meant was that he would be able to enjoy his weekend uninterrupted with no loss of sleep.

My retina is in fact more than torn; it's actually detached...again...and this time I will be getting the full surgery plus a scleral buckle, most likely in the next 2-3 days.  The good news is that I should be able to write and do various tasks while recovering; the bad news is that they don't expect to recover that much vision in that eye.  As you can probably imagine, I've been trying to come to terms with that ever since, not to mention wrapping my head around the general anxiety of having surgery in general.

It's apparently not that common to have a detachment twice in the same eye.  Again, this is where my "luck" comes in...I mean, it's phenomenal how many types of bad luck I can have.  The thing that really concerns me is that it's still very likely that I might have a detachment in my "good" eye, and if that one goes too, well, I'm pretty much f***ed.  Again, trying to wrap my head around this which admittedly hasn't been easy.

For now, I need to get the surgery scheduled, get through that, and then start the road to recovery.  What's really disconcerting is that I'll have no vision in the eye undergoing surgery while the gas is in there, and it'll most likely take up to 6-8 weeks before I actually know what vision I do have in that eye.  In the meantime, I can function in whatever manner I can with only one functioning eye, that is after I lay face flat for at least 5 days straight.  Yep, sounds great, huh?  This was definitely the worst birthday I've ever had and, trust me, most have been no picnic.

That's the news.  Since I probably won't have much else to do, I may actually end up writing here often.  Funny - I branched off my blogs intentionally so that I could write more comedic elements in this column.  Go figure.  Maybe someday.

Gone Again

No sooner than I make my plan for the remainder of the year music-wise everything comes to a crashing halt yet again.  I swear, if I had GOOD luck like I have not so good luck I would have been a millionaire decades ago.

So, I'm most likely going to be offline for a bit.  Why?  Apparently, my retina tore yet again in my bad eye...you know, the eye that I've been complaining about my vision in for the past few months?  Well, yes, lucky me...it finally tore again and it seems that I'm going to be having emergency surgery tomorrow afternoon.

It all depends upon what they end up doing, of course, but I'm mentally preparing for not only a miserable experience but also a 1-4 week recovery, again depending upon the actual procedure.  This is...well...not great news.  It's also the lousiest birthday present ever, I would think.  It'll also most likely drain all of my PTO and therefore I'll end up with no time off over the holidays, which ultimately means no recording.  I just can't win in 2023.  I give.  You win.  This will be the first year in a very long time where I'll be very happy to see it come to a close...provided I'm still here, that is.  With how this year has been going, one never knows.

In any event, I'll write again once it's safe for me to do so.  Wish me luck; I'll need it.  Looking at the bright side, hopefully I'll be able to see again in a clearer fashion.

Casual Day and Return

My last full day in MN started once again with a Caribou run, this time for the high calorie "malted mocha".  This proved to be certainly not my cup of "tea" since the sweetness level was through the roof.  No wonder the calorie count is so high; it tasted like a pound of sugar was in it.  I'll definitely skip that one in the future.

My sleep has been okay but a little on the rough side, kind of to be expected in a hotel.  I still have a nasty sore on my head which tends to wake me up at night and my back isn't exactly doing the greatest either.  For whatever reason, my right "bad" eye has been having a very hard time focusing which is a bit of a drag.  I swear that I'm falling apart.  Nevertheless, I've been getting more sleep in the hotel than I'm used to getting at home, mainly since I don't have two furry critters jockeying for positions on me at 3am.

Sunday was time to visit with family, a rather long overdue visit.  We had a nice lunch at French Meadow and then later on had Carbone's pizza, another old favorite of mine from when I lived here.  The pizza was fantastic, in fact I'd dare say that it was better than what I occasionally get at Rosati's in Encinitas which is a direct from Chicago brand whereas Carbone's is the MN version.  It's pretty rare that I prefer something MN over Chicago itself.

After the visit, I ventured back to the hotel and watched the end of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Massacre at Central High".  The latter film was an odd one for sure, something that I found on the Criterion Channel.  I thought it was going to be a teen slasher film...hah!  Yeah, a bit far from it but certainly an interesting film.

The next morning, it was time to start packing up and thinking about heading home.  One more Caribou run!  Geesh...  It's just like old times since I used to basically live at Caribou.  I would normally venture out to other coffee places, just to try them and such, but there's really nothing else over in the area of the hotel so I figured I'd just enjoy Caribou while it was within reach.  Next, it was off to Zantigo, a fast food Mexican place and the only of its sort in MN that I ever found that was worthwhile.  I guess you could call it the MN Del Taco.

After doing a bit of clean up and packing my things, I headed out to my old cat clinic, to see if the doctor was working today and say hello to any staff members that I might know.  I spent an incredible amount of time at this cat clinic over the years since I had three adult cats that were constantly having various issues and such.

Lastly, I drove around my old neighborhood, just to see how things look, etc.  It's always a strange feeling seeing your old house and area, etc., and it tends to fill you with a weird mix of feelings.  For me, the house I owned in MN will always remind me of my cat trio, all of which have sadly passed now, and it's probably the most pleasant memories I have of living in MN since the cats were really the light of my life.  I honestly can't imagine my life over that 25 year span without them.

I was a bit shocked to see that my old house was completely changed on the outside.  The new owners redid all the siding, windows, tore down one of the annoying trees in the front yard, installed new snazzy garage doors, etc.  I almost drove right past the house...that's how different it looked.  All in all, I think they did a fabulous job and I couldn't help but ask myself why it never occurred to me to make any such changes.  In looking back on it, I made an incredibly low number of changes in that house for living there for over a decade.  In comparison to the house I live in now, it's kind of shocking since almost everything in this house is or will be changed.

I dropped the rental car off at the airport and grabbed yet another coffee in the terminal.  This may be the worst Starbucks location ever, AND it had an increase of over $2 attached to it.  I guess it was some sort of "convenience" fee.  Um, yeah.

The flight home was status quo with nothing major to report.  I watched "Goldfinger" and found it to be pretty amusing and enjoyable.  I'll admit I did fall asleep briefly at one point but I wouldn't mind watching the film again, in fact I might just watch all the old ones in succession.

All in all, it was a great trip, especially after not going anywhere for years.  It was also nice to finally make peace with MN.  As for Zorn, fingers crossed that I get another opportunity to see him either for his 80th birthday or maybe in the LA area.

Mr. Zorn, Take 3

I finally got some sleep.  Wow, I really needed that.  I haven't slept for 10 hours in quite awhile so I know I'm really exhausted.

Today has been the first time that I can slow down a bit since I don't have any morning appointments to rush out to, no one to meet, etc.  It's a bit of a refresher.  I once again ventured to Caribou Coffee, for a latte this time vs. a mocha, and then grabbed a sandwich at Potbelly, another old favorite that didn't survive in CA so it's a bit of a treat.  Businesses struggle to get setup in SoCal for whatever reason.  Potbelly had one location that folded pretty quickly and Jimmy John's is still struggling to get going over there as well.  Which Wich, an easy win in most parts of the country, closed most of their locations.  It's kind of odd.  CA folk tend to go to the same places that they're used to, even if they're not the greatest...it's strange.

Back to Caribou, I was mildly shocked yesterday to see the calorie count on their mochas.  My god...  No wonder they taste good!  Back home, I skip certain drinks at places like Black Rock Coffee Bar because the calorie count is upwards of around 500 or so for a large; Caribou's mediums on their flavored specialty drinks were pushing in the 700-800 range!  I mean, that's outrageous, in my opinion!

Next, I was on the hunt for a cheap DVD I could watch on the plane ride home since I only brought one with me.  Since no one wants DVD's anymore, it's usually a fairly easy thing to find, although it's not always easy for me to find a movie I haven't seen before.  It's part of the downside of being a cinephile.  A trip to Barnes & Noble solved the problem where my best option ended up being "Goldfinger".  I've been meaning to watch the old Bond films anyhow so why not?  I also picked up another three CD's while I was there, something I really don't need but still insist on doing.

Next, it was off to the Walker for the festivities.  Upon arrival, I was disappointed to see that the free gallery "shows" actually started at noon whereas I would swear that the emails said 3pm, hence my arriving at that time.  It's not every day that I could have seen Julian Lage, guitarist extraordinaire, playing in a corner of a gallery and I ended up missing it.  To add salt to the wound, Lage passed me casually in the hallway where I momentarily thought about asking him why the time change and then thought better of it.

My old bandmate then showed up while Zorn was playing the bizarre piece "Hockey" and so I was treated to both the wackiness of Zorn while catching up with an old friend.  "Hockey" is a bizarre, rather silly piece played with what I believe are duck whistles, cello, and some eastern styled percussion and there is simply no way to describe it apart from saying it's like hearing a herd of ducks on acid (the ducks, not us).  Next, there was one other piece done in the gallery done with classical instruments, and while pretty interesting (it reminded me of the "Psycho" theme, again on acid), it was hard to pay attention while standing in a crowd.

The Zorn composition "Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics that will be able to Present Itself as a Science" in the Walker Art Gallery

After dinner and saying goodbye to my old friend, I quickly rushed up to the McGuire Theater for the first of the 3 Zorn performances, "Nove Cantici Per Francesco D'Assisi".  This contained both Julian Lage and Bill Frisell, the latter most certainly being one of my favorite artists of all time and someone I've probably seen over 30 times by now.  Strangely, I've never once seen him play an acoustic guitar so that was different, and this was basically an all acoustic guitar trio (sorry, I don't know the name of the third gentleman playing the nylon string).  Quite frankly, unlike most Zorn based compositions, it was quite accessible and very beautiful, and most likely an album I'll seek out.  My only complaint was that the set lasted 45 minutes and I could have easily been down with double that.

This in turn meant that I had an hour and fifteen minutes to kill.  Bummer.  So, I used it wisely and walked across the street and took some photos, some of which will probably be used for album artwork at some point.  The famous Minneapolis "cherry on a spoon" is more or less the city symbol and I took quite a few pic's even though I've obviously seen it dozens of times before.

At 8pm, I ventured again up to the McGuire for the Chaos Magick performance.  This was a bit more typical Zorn based but was still kind of accessible, much to my surprise.  It was awesome, though, and definitely my favorite of the three shows.  Again, it was only 45-ish minutes long and I really wanted to hear more.  What's up with these short sets this year?!

Zorn directing Chaos Magick

And so, yet another hour and fifteen minutes to kill doing pretty much nothing.  I did talk a bit with a guy in the audience who seemed pretty well versed in Zorn, and then I also kept an eye on what I believe to be Marc Maron, although I can't imagine why in the hell he would be at this performance unless he was interviewing Zorn or Lage for the WTF podcast.  I kept staring at him, and he was wearing unusual round glasses for him, but he was also wearing curiously pointed shoes and was slightly hunched over, and the more I looked at him the more I was convinced it really was him.  He also seemed like an anxiety prone guy of which Maron is indeed and I think my staring at him was making him rather nervous.  I'll have to listen to WTF over the next month or so and see if says anything about being at the show.

Last up was the New Masada Quartet, this time with Zorn actually performing (he did not perform with the previous two sets).  This was pretty awesome as well but again it didn't seem as outlandish as he's been in the past.  Is it just that I'm actually acclimating to it?  That's both exciting and scary.  After another 45 minute set which seemed way too short, I left the theater and headed back to the hotel.  Zorn was scheduled to play the organ at the local basilica but I actually saw him do that a decade ago and it wasn't really my thing, hence I skipped out on it.

The New Masada Quartet

All in all, it was a great day and night, and the performances were top notch...just all too short.  It was certainly worth coming to, however, but I'm now hungry for more.  It looks like there could be a small chance that Zorn might play at LA's the Skirball Center so I'll be keeping a close eye on that.  If he's there or anywhere in the near vicinity (hell, even Phoenix, which seems unlikely), I'm there.

Not So Bad

I headed out yesterday for Minneapolis, the first time I'm returning to the area since I left back in December of 2016.  Leaving MN was one of my biggest accomplishments ever in my life.  I know that sounds strange but I more or less got "stranded" in MN due to the housing market collapsing in , and with the added (not) bonus of not liking the house I owned and then having it lose 100k to where there was no possible way for me at the time to sell it, made life in MN nearly intolerable.  It also created this tremendous animosity inside of me as well as a feeling like the city/state was holding me hostage, and whereas I would have left of my free will after about 3-4 years, I ended up having to stay an awful 12 years.

MN itself really isn't a bad place at all, mind you, but I really didn't fit in there much.  I also grew incredibly tired of people constantly telling me that I didn't fit in one way or another, and again my animosity only grew and grew over the years.  There was a time when I actually thought I'd never be able to leave.  When things like this occur, at least for me, it builds up a really bizarre false set of feelings internally that end up being rather challenging to overcome.

Needless to say, when  I drove out of MN in my Mini Cooper S in late December of 2016 and physically crossed the state line for the last time as a resident, I literally cheered, screamed, etc. at the top of my lungs.  I could hardly believe it.  I also vowed I might never return.  I always said that the only reason I would consider returning is if John Zorn played another birthday fest at the Walker, of which he had for both his 50th and 60th birthdays, and both shows were incredibly memorable.

And so, when the 70th birthday Zorn fest was announced two months ago, I mulled it over and promptly gave in.  I will honestly admit that I've had nothing but anxiety about this trip coming into it.  In fact, yesterday, prepping to get to the airport, even sitting on the plane, etc., I literally felt defeated and depressed knowing I was flying to MN.  It's kind of hard to explain, really, but I was also so incredibly tired and was falling in and out sleep on the plane, having visions that MN was this large Godzilla/Mothra styled monster grabbing people (myself included) with it's tongue, dragging them back into the void.  Yes, that's how weird this whole thing has gotten for me.

After lying in this depression for awhile, and trying to keep calm on the plane, of which I don't enjoy plane rides much, not because of being off the ground but more or less being cramped in a tight space, I did my best to come to terms with everything and did a lot of thinking in general.  I thought about my whole life, decisions I've made, wrong turns, terrible wrongs that I wish I could right but can't, and so on.  I finally just told myself that you might, just might, feel better once you're on the ground and have some time to acclimate.

The plane ride was fairly uneventful.  Thankfully, I brought along "Bohemian Rhapsody" to watch on my laptop, a movie I had deliberately been putting off since its release and found it to actually be fairly enjoyable.  It definitely helped to pass the time.  One alarming thing that happened was when the flight crew announced, "Ladies and gentlemen...if there are any medical personnel on the plane, please come to the front".  Yeah, that's never what you want to hear on a plane, right?  I immediately thought that maybe the pilot had ordered the fish and was deathly ill, a callback to the old "Airplane" movie.  Hell knows that I wouldn't be the one flying the plane for them, even with the automatic pilot.

We landed on time but it was 11:45pm MN time.  The real kicker is that Terminal 1 in San Diego is beyond awful and ended up having no food that I could eat, and here I thought I was being smart by saving time and planning to grab dinner at the airport.  Instead, I only got to eat 2 Kind bars before taking off and was now physically starving beyond belief.  The real downside is that the Twin Cities more or less closes down food wise by 10pm so I had to do a bit of digging.

I mildly lucked out because White Castle was open, in fact it was the one I used to go to by my old workplace.  Unfortunately, the road was closed so I immediately got lost, and I was also slightly shocked by how I couldn't completely remember how to get around nor did I remember the street names.  I should also mention that at midnight in the outskirts of the Twin Cities, there's literally no lighting anywhere and no cars on the road.  I was frankly shocked to see that White Castle actually WAS open at that hour given the circumstances.

The Impossible Sliders, which I've been eager to try for awhile, honestly weren't as good as the old veggie sliders.  Bummer.  Eating at midnight, or 10pm my time, also didn't sit well in my stomach or intestines, as you might imagine, and I didn't end up getting to sleep until about 2:30am.

This morning, I woke up in a mild hurry, went and grabbed my old MN favorite Caribou coffee, and then met up with my old work mates at the Original Pancake House.  It was really fun seeing them and chatting, and it was almost like I had never left even though it's been 7 years.  I was also pleased to see that my weird feelings about the area seem to quickly be disappearing, and instead I'm focused on just enjoying myself.  It's also the first time in a few weeks that life has finally slowed down a bit since I've been going at full speed for as long as I can remember, and I don't handle stress or a frantic pace very well.

Next, off to Paisley Park for a 2 hour VIP tour.  It should be interesting.  Overall, I think it's going to end up being an enjoyable weekend after all and maybe it'll finally put all these weird feelings to rest.  If so, that's a major win in my book.