As you see above, I am all over the place at Marscon next weekend. It’s going to be fun, but it’s going to be tiring, being, as I am increasingly known, “The Guy In Every Band™”!

Y’know, this week’s been primarily about figuring out how to be a productive member of society again after being off the grid in holiday limbo for two weeks. I’ve mostly fallen back into things, pushing documents around and being bureaucratic and stuff. I also spent a bit of time keeping my eye on the HR repositories, as it’s about that time for the results of annual evaluations, and more importantly, the impact those things have on salary, to hit the street. When it did finally hit Wednesday afternoon, the news was generally good; I got a decent enough bump; I’m not entirely unhappy (and $diety knows I could use the extra cash flow), and my boss was quite complimentary about the contribution I made this year, where I took on a couple of new responsibilities that ended up becoming a bit more than other duties as assigned and consuming a lot more of my time.

It’s a living.

Beyond that, there isn’t really much. I’ve been hiking (discovered a new trail I didn’t know about in one of my usual park haunts), reading, and…yeah.

I’ve also discovered that I kind of suck at social media (says the old man who’s been blogging more or less consistently since the late 90s…); in anticipation of all the stuff on my Marscon schedule for next weekend, I knocked out a relatively simple graphic to post to the usual social media things and probably print off a couple of copies to hang in the lifts at the con, to let people know where I’d be, but because I don’t know how to ‘gram or ‘face all that well, large chunks of the sides of the image got hacked off because I think in terms of widescreen and not phone screen. My lovely spouse, who’s more up on these things immediately gave me a gentle chiding (thankfully in private). I’m well aware of my limitations; that’s why I’m not my own social media director.

Anyway; not much else to say. I’ll put the Marscon schedule in it’s own post later. Here are some tunes that Spotify spit out. Decent enough; and given #12 (of 11), I’ve clearly been listening to Striking Copper‘s new record, A Trip Around The Sun, quite a bit recently; check ’em out, won’t you?

1. “Shame on You” – Indigo Girls
2. “Need You Around” – Smoking Popes
3. “Right Back Where We Started From” – Army Navy
4. “Old Old Fashioned” – Frightened Rabbit
5. “Never Say Never” – Romeo Void
6. “Kiss Me Deadly” – Generation X
7. “Hope for the High Road” – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
8. “Everywhere That I’m Not” – Translator
9. “Sometimes A Fantasy” – Billy Joel
10. “Minnesota” – Shackeltons
11. “Dream All Day” – The Posies
12. “Winter” – Striking Copper
13. “Six Different Ways” – The Cure

My year-end (mostly) Staycation™ came to it’s inevitable end yesterday.

The break was actually pretty relaxing, when I consider things. We all decided to make Christmas itself pretty low-key; the end of the year was way to hectic and crazy, with sewing projects and obligations and not as much money as we’d like and such, we didn’t even get the tree up until the 23rd, and it basically came down the Friday after Christmas, in no small part because the kitten knocked most of the lower branches off as it was. We did gifts on Christmas Eve, intending, and actually succeeding at sleeping in, which we all needed. We spent the afternoon with friends out east a bit, eating, drinking, and being low-key merry; 2019 was pretty rough on so many of my social circle, we all just enjoyed each other’s company and took a breather from things for a while.

New Years’ was likewise a low-key affair. While my teenage son did go out to a friends’ for the evening, the rest of us sat around watching some stand-up comedy on Netflix, drinking a couple of beers, and retiring by 10:30, succumbing to the siren song of slumber, or something poetic like that.

The time in-between; that week between the two holidays where nobody quite knows what day it is, was kind of a blur. On those relatively insignificant days I spent my mornings out hiking along the river, mostly enjoying nature and early morning goose antics, and doing wizard and pokemon things. I like my time in the woods, whether on feet or wheels; it’s part self-care, part spiritual practice, part stumbling upon a couple of teenagers getting to second base on the marsh walk overlook (like what happened this afternoon when I walked a couple of miles after work). Some days it’s rapid, some days it’s leisurely, but it’s an experience I’ve kind of come to depend on in support of my mental health.

Otherwise, I ran errands, cleaned some stuff, watching The Witcher and finishing Mindhunter over the course of the two weeks, and catching up on reading.

Beyond getting together with our friends as described above and venturing into the city a couple of times (where I got that tattoo for my holiday gift), the only other adventure was down to NC last Friday afternoon for relaxing evening of music and jokes and fun at bandmate Scott’s “Bardic Circle.” In spite of the rain along I-85, it was exactly the adventure I needed, just sitting around making music with my friends. That’s my other spiritual practice.

Speaking of making music, the Marscon schedule got posted this afternoon, and it looks like I’m going to be really busy (my many obligations will get their own post before long), but that’s perfectly fine, because I’ll mostly be engaging in that second spiritual practice again, and it seems I (yes me, apart from all those bands I play in) have fans who I can’t disappoint. Mostly, it’ll be hanging with friends having a laugh over drinks and guitars.

…and I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend.

As I write this, we’re a little more than 24 hours to go until we move into 2020. A change in year. A change in decade. All that, plus a Presidential election and such.

2019, stressful as it’s been in some cases, has been surprisingly productive and successful for me. Sure, my day job continues to be frustrating, though some shifting in responsibilities has made me rather indispensable, and allows me to use some skills I haven’t gotten to use for a while. I am waiting anxiously to see whether the number of times I’ve pulled our department out of the fire translates into decent pay increase (I should actually know by now, but given the scheduling of things, I don’t). The good news, I guess, is that this job isn’t likely to go anywhere any time soon.

In my other job, that of Semi-Professional Rock Star™, I’ve probably had the most productive year of my life. For one, I made more money, by a significant margin, than I spent, on this hobby that almost pays for itself. I played a bunch of great gigs up and down the east coast with the Humdingers and as myself (including my shot as “Special Filk Guest”, and successfully wrangled and maintained a regular paying gig as open mic host at Castleburg in town, and this gig looks to continue all the way through the coming year. I also got my songs featured on some national, if niche, media, like The FuMP and Filkcast, which is pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

Also, I took a big step and recorded and released my own record, which, while not exactly setting the world on fire (yet), has already made back the money I invested in producing the physical CDs, which is nice; I won’t go broke on the deal. In any case, going ahead and putting my stuff out there, both live and for sale as recordings, is kind of a big deal and involved me stepping way out of my comfort zone. The Chuck of even five years ago wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Yay me.

I’ve mostly maintained my svelte figure (I’m maybe ten pounds heavier than I want to be at the moment, but my clothes still fit, and I was able to speed-hike three miles in 40 minutes this morning), am still taking care of myself physically and mentally, and as a middle-aged man, that helps – I’m still in better shape than I was in high school, which is indeed something at age 45.

Oh, and Phoenix, the awesome cat, came into my life this year. I wasn’t originally down with adding another cat, but given her story, and her personality, I kinda had to go with it, and now I have a new best buddy for life. I’ll take it.

All these things in my life kind of needed some commemoration. My lovely wife and eldest daughter decided to enable that with their Christmas present to me:

I think it captures most of it. It took me 45 years to decide what was worth emblazoning on my body for the rest of my life. This is it.

Happy New Year, folks.

As this entry posts, I will be beginning my final day at work for the year 2019. And honestly, there hasn’t actually beeen a whole lot of “work” happening this week, or honestly, the last part of last week. I have largely put my programs in stasis at this point, knocked together all the documentation I’m actually able to (because people I need to tag have been off for as long as two weeks already -seriously, people take the whole month of December off around here), taken care of the last of the phone calls, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t running out the clock looking up political analysis online or *gasp* occasionally reading a library book.

As I’ve described in past years, I really have a hard time getting into the holidays anymore…especially this year, which has been a bit of a roller-coaster, emotionally and financially; big highs, low lows, interminable middles. I’ve got most of my holiday shopping done; it’s going to be mostly low-key this year anyway. I’m just one of those peoplw who end up being a bit down for the holidays for all kinds of reasons; my usual atypical mental health slate, with the added benefit of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which I’m sure is aggravated by the fact that I’m so damned busy or the weather isn’t cooperating or whatever and I can’t get outside in the sun and away from these flourescent lights.

At this point, I’ve mostly accepted that this is going to happen, and just try to get through it. Taking a break from the office, if only for the change of scenery, does help a bit, which I’m looking forward to.

Given all that, summoning up the energy to host open mic on Wednesday night was a challenge, but I pushed through it, in part through the help of good friends, good beer, and some talented people that really forced me to step up my game. My playing was not terrible, though I was honored to be upstaged by a whole bunch of new faces who showed up and brought the goods. And, with Wednesday wrapped, I am done playing shows for the year, which, given how much I’ve played out this year, a welcome relief.

Speaking of playing out, though, in discussions with my fellow performers and the staff from Marscon about schedule, I got word Wednesday afternoon that I’m not only playing with my usual compatriots The Blibbering Humdingers, likely sitting in for a set with Dimensional Riffs, and filk circling with the best of them, the organizers of this shindig have seen fit to give me my own set on Saturday, for which I’m much appreciative (both to the Marscon staff, and to my lovely spouse, who poked and prodded me and raised the subject with the right people when I wasn’t so good at promoting myself). So, come next month, I’m going to be BUSY.

That’s what I have for the moment. As holidays usually go around here, I tend to slow down my posting (as I tend to be offline more) during these times, but I expect that I’ll have thoughts on the historic events in the public square on Wednesday night once I see how everything plays out, and I usually do a couple of year-end wrap up things, so look forward to that.

Anyway – tunes. The usual Spotify discovery playlist, which tracks pretty well with the kind of musical stuff I’ve been listening to lately. Starts off strong with a 90s group I didn’t really appreciate when they were a thing, and #8 is one of the better band names I’ve seen in a while (as the AV Club’s “year in band names” hasn’t posted yet).

If I don’t see ya, Happy Holidays:

1. “Here and Now”- Letters to Cleo
2. “Moonage Daydream” – Zen Guerrilla
3. “Delaware” – Drop Nineteens
4. “Corona” – Calexico
5. “Polyester Bride” – Liz Phair
6. “Damn Good” – David Lee Roth
7. “Never Enough” – L.A. Guns
8. “Drive That Fast” – Kitchens of Distinction
9. “Academy Fighting Song” – Misson to Burma
10. “Virginia Reel Around the Fountain” – The Halo Benders
11. “Hey Jack Kerouac” – 10,000 Maniacs
12. “Rock Brigade” – Def Leppard

Just a quick note to let the world know that one of my tunes from World’s Okayest…, “Filker At The Mundane Hootenanny”, is being featured on the most recent episode of Eric Coleman’s Filkcast

Eric (of the excellent band Cheshire Moon) has spent the last few episodes of 2019 featuring tons of filk releases from the past year, and was nice enough to include me in this edition, along with such luminaries (and friends) as Ashley Hamel, Rhiannon’s Lark, and the Beadrills.

It feels pretty great to have my stuff embraced by the community that’s given me so much enjoyment over the years. I hope the folks listening get something out of my humble contribution to the lexicon.

Anyway, I encourage you to take a listen, if you’re so inclined!

Since Saturday, I have put over 1300 miles on my car.  My ass aches in protest.  To give you an idea of what that works out to, I started a nearly fifteen hour audiobook on the first leg of the trip (down to Gastonia NC for Cavendish’s annual Butterbeer release and wizard celebration/market); I currently have about four hours left.

The actual business of driving wasn’t so bad; traffic was nice and cooperative in all respects.  The duration, however, wears on you, especially if your body is beginning to show signs of middle-aged wear.

The event down there was fun, anyway; I enjoyed playing music with my friends who make up the Blibbering Humdingers, as well as sharing the stage with our fellow wrockers Hawthorn & Holly.  The folks who came to see us play seemed to enjoy it; I just with there were more of them.  Timing was kind of weird this year, with the beer release happening at 3pm, and music not going on until 5pm.  3pm?  Line out the door.  5pm?  room was kind of sparse. Last year, the Butterbeer (a nice caramel ale – though I think I liked last year’s better) started flowing just as we were going on.

What matters is that we sounded good, even if the “muggle market”, which was hidden back in the brewing space behind the taproom, wasn’t exactly hopping.  I found a couple of nice little gifts for family, however, and had a couple of decent brews as well; can’t ask for much more.

The drive home was a little more eventful, owing to a bad reaction to a hotel breakfast yogurt smoothie that might have turned.  Let’s just say that I got to know the rest area facilities of I-85 a bit more intimately than I’d have liked, but thankfully, that’s all mostly settled.

Arriving home Sunday afternoon, after spending a little time just lying down not driving, the spouse and I went out to pick up a few groceries and swing by the Kroger bar for a pint, and ended up having a nice time with the regulars who got there for a little celebration earlier in the day, and were still around, even if we’d thought we’d missed it.

Monday started my last week at work for the year, trying to close things down for a couple of weeks, and afterwards, I spent four more hours in the car back and forth to SBC to pick up the oldest who wrapped her last final Monday morning.  It’s nice to have her back.

But yeah, my ass continues to ache.

Been a quiet one this week; work is dragging, as people are already starting to take their holiday time off. I’ve been spending my time putting ongoing projects into stasis and getting the last of the year-end stuff done before I pop out after next week.

I’ve also been feeling pretty darned terrible; something has settled into my lungs that I can’t quite shake, but that’s par for the course this time of year. I’ve primarily been pushing through the workday, coming home, eating something (I made a huge pot of refried beans in the Instant Pot on Monday, and it’s been feeding me all week), and passing out early in hope that lots of rest will nip this latest bug in the bud and get rid of it before the weekend.

Because this weekend I have a Humdingers gig down in NC on Saturday at Cavendish Brewing Company in Gastonia for their annual butterbeer release. Had a blast at this one last year, and am looking forward to playing with my friends, as well as being able to play the sideman again rather than being the main attraction. No pressure.

That’s all I got – I’ve been keeping pace with the headlines, of course, because that’s what I do, but I hesitate to comment, as by the time I type something, it’s overcome by events. But, if you’ve been paying attention as well, check out the other post I put up Wednesday night (because given the circumstances described earlier, I hadn’t turned my personal computer on since last weekend) about DJ’s Impeachment Carols, that we knocked out this past Saturday.

On to tunes. Eclectic mix popping out of Spotify’s algorhythms this week, pretty heavy on 70s/80s pop rock. Have never heard #6 before, though I’m now sort of obsessed. Also, #8 is one I hadn’t heard in a while, though it’s not a terrible piece from late period fat-Vince Crüe, and damn…I haven’t heard #2 since I bought Hormonally Yours back in high school. Think I’m gonna go down that rabbit hole later:

1. “Nemesis” – Shriekback
2. “Stay” – Shakespeare’s Sister
3. “Glory” – Television
4. “Walking On A Thin Line” – Huey Lewis & The News
5. “Too Hot To Handle” – UFO
6. “Eaten By The Monster of Love” – Sparks
7. “He Can’t Love You” – Micheal Stanley Band
8. “Angela” – Mötley Crüe
9. “Picture Show” – John Prine
10. “Going Down To Liverpool” – The Bangles
11. “Tumbling Dice” – Linda Rondstadt
12. “Coming of Age” – Damn Yankees
13. “(You Can Still) Rock In America” – Night Ranger

So on Saturday (before, one should note, the actual Articles were introduced) my friend and I did a thing:

D.J., internet-famous political pundit, Filk Ferret, and genuinely all-around good guy, writes a lot of songs; his particular specialty is parody, but he’s got some excellent originals as well.

These tunes grab both those interests, twist ’em together and tie them up with a holiday bow covered with official redactions. Given that it’s both the holiday season and impeachment season, my friend was inspired to write a handful of “impeachment carols”, and in five hours or so on Saturday afternoon, we recorded and published them, because given the immediacy of both the style and subject matter, he had to strike while the iron was hot.

We had a lot of fun, and the songs themselves are fun. I share them both because I’m proud of the work we did (again, this is D.J.’s show; I just slid some sliders, pushed some buttons, and played a little guitar), and I hope people might find themselves amused in a topical sort of way.

The best I can say about this week is that it’s gone by quickly. I haven’t accomplished much of anything, to be honest. Oh well, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy; I should just enjoy the quiet.

Some good news related to projects I’ve been involved with the last couple of months, though:

• Jonah’s Songs of the Faithless kickstarter project closed up successfully, almost tripling the initial funding goal, and it looks like we’re all but done with the recording. This project’s going to be a pretty great one; I can’t wait to hear the finished result.
• My friends the Misbehavin’ Maidens were nice enough to include my record on their 2019 Nerd Music Holiday Gift Guide, in the company such musical luminaries as The Doubleclicks, Sunny Larsen, and Rhiannon’s Lark. As I said in another context earlier this year, it’s an honor just to be nominated.
• Speaking of the record, I am happy to note that after being out for two weeks or so, I’ve more than broken even on the financial investment of having the physical CDs pressed; anything further is gravy (which will make my Christmas shopping a bit easier to handle); this isn’t to say that I wouldn’t be delighted to take your money in exchange for a digital download or compact disc!
• Oh, and for those playing along, I’m five days into December and am still in the running to win Whamageddon!, though it was touch and go there for a bit yesterday when a cover version came up on the pet store soundtrack when I was stocking up on cat food.

So yeah, I guess my efforts are bearing some kind of fruit, feels kinda nice to have a couple of wins.

Let’s end this one on a positive note, shall we? Good. On to the tunes. As usual, random spew from the Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. Kinda alt-country this week, with side trips into buttrock and glam metal, which is just fine with me. Also, #5’s title and opening bars did summon an audible chuckle from me

1. “This Town” – The Go-Go’s
2. “Bluebird Wine”- Rodney Crowell
3. “I Don’t Care About You” – Fear
4. “Stone In Love” – Journey
5. “Teenage Wristband” – The Twilight Singers
6. “Runaway Train” – Adam’s House Cat
7. “Long Way To Love”- Britney Fox
8. “(I Live For) Cars and Girls” – The Dictators
9. “Wait for You” – Bonham
10. “Keep Pushin'” – REO Speedwagon
11. “Soul Sister” – Blue Mountain
12. “Simple Man” – Junkyard
13. “Say What You Will” – Fastway