dianec42

This is SUCH a bad time to have blisters on my fingers.

Or to be having an altercation with a lead guitarist who is, at this point, Just Showing Off.

The topic of the fast-food chain Wienerschnitzel came up at the lunch table today, entirely at random.

I made the mistake of actually sharing an anecdote of work-related Wienerschnitzel-ness. Dan then proceeded to try to out-weird me. There were innocent bystanders. It was bad.

More jamming today. I sort-of learned a new song (some moldy oldie about waiting for a bus? possibly ZZ Top) and failed to learn a couple of others. It turns out I learn better if some people in the room already know the song. (In other words, I learn better from Dan yelling at me than from listening to a recording. Go figure.) Once again I played through the PA and once again I was turned up as loud as I would go and could not particularly hear myself. I think this is all part of Dan's fiendish plot to force me to use proper techniques and actually stroke through. Some people are just mean.

A certain amount of off-the-cuff jamming also took place. Jim and Dan seem to have the guitarist mind-meld thing going on, and I'm finally learning to tap into that. (Of course the drummer just gets to do whatever the hell he wants because none of us will know any better... and as the bass player, I have a similar degree of freedom.) I have also learned that when in doubt, it's probably in the key of A. Or at least that's usually a harmless place to start.

Really must get over this damned cold so I can attempt the Pat Benatar stuff. I think I set myself back a couple of days by singing along in the car this morning.

We are also continuing our tradition of covering weird covers of otherwise reasonable songs. There is a 311 cover of the Cure's "Lovesong" that I am greatly looking forward to covering -- the main plot twist is that one of the guitar leads has been moved to the bass! Several people seem to think I can do this, so who am I to disagree with them? And I am suddenly looking forward to ordering the guitar tab version of it from the nice sheet music people online...

Office Christmas Generic Politically Correct Non-Denominational Holday party was last night.

The red dress was a hit. The bass solo was cheered. All stuff was put away and everyone was sound asleep by 1:30 AM because we are all getting old.

( You know you want to click here )

I have actually thanked stuartc for bringing me to this strange place with these strange people. (Yes, he laughed at me.) Best of all, he is perfectly happy to be a band widow for another year -- something about taking my aggressions out on them instead of him, which I didn't really follow but it sounds like a plan to me. (-:

I was actually BOUNCING at practice today! $BOY_GUITARIST is right, it really is all going to be okay.

(in which the observations go round and round until the music stops, then they all sit down... no wait...)

* I love it when a plan comes together. (In particular, I love it when I listen to a tune just before practice and work out bits of it; then approach the practice room and hear the same recording blasting through the PA while the lead guitarist is doing the exact same thing.)

* Practice got considerably less productive when a second guitarist showed up. Oh well.

* Yesterday's impulse sheet music purchase is ALSO COMPLETE BOLLOCKS. I may have just paid 22 bucks to learn that I should be playing an F where I was previously playing a B-flat.

* There is a certain kind of guitar strap that I am a complete idiot and don't know how to use. Sadly, I also impulse-purchased one of those yesterday.

* Yesterday's question of "We've got something, now what the hell is it?" has been answered. So did the attendant questions of "How the hell did we end up THERE?!" and "How do we get out again after that?"

* I CAN sing and play at the same time, at least well enough to keep us all on track. Hey, somebody had to do it.

* I can also bounce while playing, at least intermittently. Given the shoes I'll be wearing, I'm really hoping that won't be a requirement.

A thing which I'm not sure whether to consider good or bad:

The band has bonded to the point where spontaneous filking occurs. Usually when things are already going wrong.

(Now if we can just get my [male] evil twin to STOP singing the No Doubt stuff... I wonder if they make microphones with remotes...)