Scattered Moments

A young man in Hurst held a cardboard sign at 8am today as I headed out for supervision.

It read:

"Ninjas killed my family. Need money for vengeance."

***

My daughter was my little shadow this evening. She played on the front steps as I strummed my guitar. We played little games too, and she lectured me frequently.

She started going on about Ghostbusters, explaining that it's sort of scary, but sort of funny.

"It kind of freaks me out," she said sternly.

***

Later on, she started writing out random musical notes on blank pieces of paper. Eighth notes and sixteenth notes.

She asked me to play them so she'd know what they sounded like.

I busted out "Stairway to Heaven," and let me tell you, she was mighty pleased with her composition.

***

You know, I am one very happy man these days.

Y'all have a good weekend.

The Office Redux

Take a look and see what all the rearranging and decorating have produced.



I like this place better than I like my apartment!

Nude Dragons

I recommend that you Soundgarden fans roll this while reading. The band sounds good! I'm pretty excited about their return.



Rock rock rock!

***

Terrific day here. I worked all day on getting the counseling office at the church rearranged and decorated. Much of the day was spent moving furniture around. I'm kind of hardheaded (don't gasp) in that I pretty much feel that I can move furniture of any size unassisted.

Lo and behold, I was right.

So after the furniture was arranged more suitably, the lovely Renee joined me to decorate the place and make it more comfortable in general. Pillows, art, candles and tweaks to the setup really made an immeasurable difference in the appearance of that office. I must say that I'm quite pleased and excited about that office now. I still need at least one more lamp.

***

My work at Mindful Directions in Grapevine continues to go well. I run a social anxiety group there on Wednesday evenings. It looks like one or two individual clients are also about to materialize for me.

***

The plan, then, looks something like this:

I'll work some at Mindful Directions and some at the church. I've applied to be a Medicaid provider, and if I get that, I am hopeful that this will mean a steady source of referrals.

***

I should write about the whole Louisiana experience perhaps, though I must admit that it kind of gets stuck when I try to.

I think my favorite moment from the whole thing was my great aunt Beverly's rendition of "Amazing Grace" at the funeral. She sang the first verse in that beautiful voice of hers, and then announced, "Well, that's all I know. I hope that's good enough."

And she had a seat.

***

My second favorite moment, though, was probably at the car rental place. There'd been some sort of computer hiccup regarding my reservation, and it took forever for them to straighten it out.

I chose my car, put my suitcase in it, and climbed into Amanda and Eddie's car with them to call Shirley and straighten out our plans.

When we were done, I headed to my car only to find a big strappin' dude in sunglasses and his female companion putting bags in my car.

"Hey, my bag was in that car," I said.

"It don't matter," he said to me as he continued to load his bags.

With mixture of bemusement, astonishment, and a pinch of "what the French, toast?!?" I asked him, "Whoa... you're going to TAKE my CAR??"

That stopped him in his tracks. He explained that he thought I'd already returned the car, and that I'd mistakenly left my bag in it.

We got it straightened out and headed to Pontchatoula.

***

Our meal at Middendorf's was mighty good, I must say. I love those meals where you feel like they just dumped everything in the cast net into the Fry Daddy.

***

Did I mention that I'm pretty pumped about how the office looks?

***

Some songs I've been playing on my guitar lately:

"Me and Billy the Kid," by Joe Ely. Man, it's hard to strum that one correctly while singing it. I have to resist the urge to turn it into a polka.

"If You Were a Bluebird," also by Joe Ely. Gorgeous little song, and I figure I don't sing it any worse than Butch Hancock.

"Hey There Delilah," by the Plain White Ts. The kids asked me to learn this one tonight. It's easy, and they sing along. I've always liked this little song, though again, I have to resist the urge to make it a polka.

***

So can anyone tell me what guitar Kim Thayil is playing in that video? Looks like a Gibson SG, but I could swear the headstock reads "Guild."

***

I may sell my Jimmie Vaughan Strat soon. If you know anyone's who's interested give me a holler. It's got great action, and it has always intonated very well.

***

The kids and I had a terrific meal with Miss Renee tonight at Miguelito's in Hurst. Thank you, Renee!

***

I've been messing around with mole (the Mexican sauce) lately. I made some really good chicken mole a few days ago. Yesterday I made perhaps the world's first boca mole sandwich. I'm fond of those meatless "Boca" brand patties. It tasted pretty good.

"Boca" happens to be Spanish for "mouth," by the way, and that's exactly where I put my boca mole sandwich.

***

BB's current therapy: "technologic" by Daft Punk.

***

I should hit the sheets. G'night.

My iPod Mix for Puttering at the Church

Heading to the church to move some furniture, test some audio gear, etc. And these are the tunes that will accompany me today. Yes, I'm this much of a dork.

***

Love And Happiness 5:04 Al Green

Paradise 4:16 Alejandro Escovedo

Ballad Of The Sun & The Moon 4:32 Alejandro Escovedo

Grind 4:46 Alice In Chains

Again 4:05 Alice In Chains

I Stay Away 4:14 Alice In Chains

It's Not My Cross To Bear 4:57 The Allman Brothers Band

Dreams 7:15 The Allman Brothers Band

Do Me Right 3:18 Asie Payton

Kiss The Sun 3:55 The Atomic Bitchwax

Set It Off (Live BBC Radio 1 Session) 4:00 Audioslave

Here Comes The Sun 3:06 The Beatles

Golden Slumbers 1:32 The Beatles

Dear Prudence 3:57 The Beatles

Blackbird 2:18 The Beatles

Across the Universe 3:49 The Beatles

Love You To 3:01 The Beatles

And Your Bird Can Sing 2:02 The Beatles

It's Too Late 4:04 Bob Mould

Stop Your Crying 4:32 Bob Mould

Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace 5:34 Bob Mould

Paralyzed 3:55 Bob Mould

Don't Hold Back 3:15 The Chemical Brothers

Lágrimas Negras 7:12 Conjunto Céspedes

Crystal Method - Sidewinder 4:53

technologic 4:44 Daft Punk

Learn to Fly 3:55 Foo Fighters

Midnight Rider 4:27 Gregg Allman

Killing Floor (1964 Single Version) 2:51 Howlin' Wolf

Classic Girl 5:08 Jane's Addiction

Cause We Ve Ended As Lovers 5:17 Jeff Beck

Contrabando Y Traicion 2:41 Los Cuatitos Cantu

Sexual Healing 3:59 Marvin Gaye

I Am Ahab 2:46 Mastodon

California Blues (Blue Yodel # 4) 2:50 Merle Haggard

My Own Kind Of Hat 2:55 Merle Haggard

Beautiful 3:10 Moby

Flower 3:26 Moby

I Love To Move In Here 4:45 Moby

Porcelain 4:01 Moby

We Are All Made Of Stars 3:17 Moby

In This World 4:03 Moby

In My Heart 4:37 Moby

Bittersweet Symphony (Remix) 3:26 Moby

Moby - Go (best remix) 4:24 Moby

Natural Blues 4:13 Moby

Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad 4:25 Moby

Rainforest Mix (Techno Rave) 3:57 Moby

Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad 6:42 Moby

Moby & Enya - Sail Away (Trance Remix) 4:01

Moby & Gwen Steffani - South Side 3:50

A Change Is Gonna Come 3:41 Neville Brothers

Slit Skirts 5:02 Pete Townshend

Open Car 3:47 Porcupine Tree

Your Unpleasant Family 1:48 Porcupine Tree

Time Flies 11:41 Porcupine Tree

I Drive the Hearse 6:45 Porcupine Tree

Even Less 7:12 Porcupine Tree

Black Mattie 2:06 R.L. Burnside

The Picture 3:29 Son Volt

Searching With My Good Eye Closed

Good Morning 2:34 The Streetwalkin' Cheetas

March Of The Lor 4:41 The Sword

Ain't Leavin' Your Love 2:52 Townes Van Zandt

Woman 2:56 Wolfmother

Your Dictionary 3:15 XTC

Senses Working Overtime 4:35 XTC

The Wild Bunch

(Left to right... more or less... Roger, Steven, Gwen, Eddie, Amanda, Beverly, BB, Stephanie, Shirley, Rob, and Gene. Taken Saturday before the funeral)

Well...

I have a lot to say, a lot on my mind.

It seems stuck though.

It'll come. I hope.

Solar Storms Could Be Earth's Next Katrina

From Louisiana

I'm in Ponchatoula for my grandmother's funeral. She passed away peacefully in her sleep last week.

It's been a good trip. Headed home tonight.

Y'all take care.

...

Sometimes I can barely hear it whispering, and sometimes it sings to me ever so sweetly.

Time Flies

It's been a good week so far for yours truly.

If you know me at all, you probably know that I'm darn near obsessive about the British band Porcupine Tree.

I've wanted to see them for years. They came through a few years back when I was in grad school, but I think it was in October sometime, and mid-terms made it impossible for me to go.

So when they announced a Dallas date on their current tour for the brilliant The Incident, I simply had to go. I asked around, and soon a PT posse of Toland, Leigh, and Bond assembled.

We had a fine little dinner gathering here at the Ponderosa beforehand. Along with the aforementioned PT posse, Renee' came, as well as her daughter Megan and her boyfriend Josh. We whipped up some pasta, played some guitar, and generally had a loose, relaxed time.

(Thank you again, everyone, for sharing a meal and hanging out).

***

The four of us made it to the House of Blues in time to catch most of Bigelf, a thudding quartet built around Mellotron, Orange amps, and... beards. Really though, I kinda dug 'em, even if I did keep expecting them to bust out with "Highway Star."

***

Porcupine Tree took the stage shortly after a voice on the PA warned us that no photographs were allowed.

Steven Wilson et al did The Incident just about in its entirety. I personally love that CD, and the band's obvious dedication to putting on a good show made it pretty electrifying.

The second half of the show was devoted to material from the rest of their catalog. Honestly, this is a band that could probably play for four hours and still not satisfy every fan. They've been around for a lot of years, and have put out a lot of good songs, many of which are rather long. I enjoyed hearing "Way Out of Here," "Sentimental," "Lazarus," "The Sound of Muzak," and of course, "Trains." I wish they would have played "Open Car" or especially "Arriving Somewhere," but man, it's hard to complain about a show as good as that one.

And you know, the band seemed to really enjoy themselves. They've been touring for quite some time now, yet were cutting up onstage with little magic tricks. Wilson also mentioned that their short set at Coachella had left them "constipated," so they were glad to be able to have some musical release.



(Oh you knew I'd take some pics, didn't you?)

***

It was great to catch up with Michael and Leigh yesterday, swapping songs and stories. Easy, as always. Thanks again, everyone. A big thanks to Bond for doing so much of the legwork to make this happen.

Daylight is good at arriving at the right time

Soundgarden Play Small Seattle Club

Here is the set list.

Life is good.

Everybody Wins

I dreamed last night that I had an opportunity to play live with some rock band. I lugged my amp up beside the stage and got ready to go on. For whatever reason, I decided that "Crossroads" by Cream would be a good choice to open with.

(I doubt I'd ever do that one live, btw. It requires too much hot dog soloing).

Anyway, the other guys in the band didn't know it, and kept suggesting all this popular radio fare that I'd never heard, and certainly couldn't play.

I never got to perform.

***

Wolfboy has figured out that he can stretch out bedtime by asking me to play him some songs on the guitar.

I tried out one I've re-learned, "She's Already Made Up Her Mind" by Lyle Lovett. Wolfboy wasn't in the mood. "Delia's Gone" was nixed as well.

I whipped out a quick verse/chorus from "Gimme Three Steps," and although he paid attention, he proclaimed that it wasn't rock 'n' roll.

He's grounded until he's 30.

Anyway, I played some of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" before knocking out an abbreviated "Copperhead Road" (Steve Earle, for those of you keeping score at home) and sending him to bed. He seemed to enjoy it (the song, not the going to bed part).

Everybody wins.

***

Someday I want to post a list of songs I'd do if I were performing.

If any of you are musicians, I'd certainly like to hear your potential set list. Stuff YOU'D want to play.

***

Headed to bed soon. Maybe in tonight's dream I'll actually get to pick a little.

***

My dad has an interesting blog. As I write this, I can't recall if I've linked to it on this page. Surely I have. Anyway, if you don't see a link, look up Gulf Coast Boy. Some really good storytelling from the Briscoe patriarch.

***

Good night.