Saturday, May 2, 2009

The Latest


Good stuff and not-so-good stuff, all rolling around in the mix, like always.

Good stuff:
The Redboot Quartet album is recorded, mixed and mastered! Or, as I should say, Liquor For Thieves is almost ready for sale. That's what we're calling it; don't ask what it means because we don't know, we just liked the phrase. And we all like liquor, so it seemed to fit. Two days, twelve tracks, 1 day to mix and master it. We managed to pull off a pretty skillful album in a tiny amount of time with very little rehearsal, and I'm particularly happy with my playing, which I think is some of the best I've ever done. It's a rush job, but I love the sound. Stay tuned for news on touring and the cd release party we're dying to have!

I'm drinking tons of water, losing weight, and eating my veggies and other low-carb things again. A recently rediscovered friend from highschool is my "buddy" in this, which has been helpful. Also running quite regularly, helped by the fantastic weather we've been having.

Not working a lot, which is financially worrying, but it's great to have some extra time to myself. Yesterday I was able to go for a run, then sit in the park just watching life go by (which I almost never do, and it's so relaxing), and then stroll all the way down the Drive. Very good for the soul, especially in light of the

Not-So-Good Stuff:
Seems to be the era of Worrying About Our Mothers. Our divorced, alone-in-the-world mothers. At least mine is incredibly healthy and active for her age; hell, for any age. And has a strong network of friends and some family. But she needs to find somewhere to live- to own somewhere, not rent- and I don't know what she'll be able to buy with her share of the proceeds once she splits them with her sister in the UK. Who co-owns her condo. And with whom my mother is no longer on speaking terms. What a tangled web. Why does she have to move? Long story. But she does.
And J's mom is recovering post-bypass, but is suffering from balance and memory loss. Which seems to be fairly common after heart surgery, if the internet is to be believed. The question being whether or not she'll bounce back (some do) or not (some don't) to her pre-surgery sharpness. It's starting to sink in that the road to recovery will be long and that J will shoulder almost all of the burden, as she has no other family here, and no friends, and although J's dad will help somewhat, he'll push her buttons almost more than he helps.
I'm trying to help; cooking meals to be frozen so that J and his mom can eat easily once she's out of hospital, visiting when I can. There's this selfish monster in me that's already crying "this isn't fair! What if things get worse? Is this the beginning of much harder times?" The problem is that we've been lucky so far, and have so few responsibilities, and now we have to man up and deal with this. I know there are so many heavier burdens, and I'm not proud of my selfishness, but it's there nonetheless.

As always it's a question of finding balance, looking for the sunlight through the clouds, and growing up a little bit. All around us these days are signs that time is speeding by so fast: friends' children are getting big, we watch Jim Carrey in a movie and marvel: "He's looking old!" A stepmother's ashes are scattered, a father mourns and a mother has an operation. The thing to cling to through this is that there is so much living left to do, and to see this all as a relentless downhill slide to the grave is silly. Now to put these good thoughts into action...

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