It kinda gets put on the back burner, but I play guitar.  Sometimes, I even sing.  Mostly blues (King, Clapton, Shepherd, Vaughan, Waters, Hooker, Reed (Jimmy)), sometimes classic rock (Eagles, Kansas, Foreigner), sometimes poppier stuff (Mayer, Gray (David, not Macy)).

You get the idea.

I don’t play often these days.  Rarer still when I play for people.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with all things Justified.  Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard called ‘Fire in the Hole‘, Justified follows Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, a man born in Harlan County, Kentucky.  Raylan worked in the coal mines until he got out of Harlan and eventually became a Marshall.  In the show, he shoots  man in Miami and is transferred back to Kentucky where pot and other drugs and crime are rampant and old memories lurk around every corner.

The show airs on FX late on Tuesday nights.

I recently rewatched the first season (they’re currently airing season three).  In the last scene of the last episode, there is a snippet of a song.  A haunting male voice sings the lines:

In the deep dark hills of Eastern Kentucky
That’s the place where I trace my bloodline
And its there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive.

Those words, the way the guy sang them – it really stuck with me.  I had to look it up.  Turns out, the singer is a man named Darrell Scott.  The song is bluegrass, but a lot of country folks have sang it, which is probably why I’ve never heard it, given that I don’t listen to country on principal (there was a lot of country in our house when I was growing up).

Title: You’ll never leave Harlan alive.

My obsession lead to my buying the song.  I was listening to it a lot Saturday and Sunday.  Next thing I knew, I had my guitar out and was trying to work out the lyrics and chords.

Then this happened:

Click here to download. You’ll be taken to Box.net.

Anyway, I hope you liked it.  I’ve never tried to sing like that before. 

~P

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Random Thoughts for Thursday, January 26th, 2012

/begin random thoughts

I went and got a haircut this week. I was overdue.  The lady said, “I see in your notes that you like a scissor clip.” (wait – they have notes on me?  So, the friggin hair cut place HAS NOTES ON ME?  DOES EVERYONE HAVE NOTES NOW?)

“Welcome to Olive Garden! Oh, I see you’re a shitty tipper.  We’ll be seating you by the kitchen door tonight.” “Wait, what?  I TIP 18%!  SOMETIMES 20!  I SWEAR!”

* * *

Tips are earned.  People in food service work their butts off – I was one of them.  So I reward good service.  I also can be a bastard when I don’t get it…

* * *

*Fresno, CA. The 90′s.  DiCiccio’s Italian Restaurant*

Me: I can’t believe we’ve been sitting here with empty glasses for so long.

Friend: Oh, no!  You’re not going to say somethig, are you?  DO NOT SAY ANYTHING! I DON’T WANT THESE FRIGGIN PEOPLE SPITTING IN MY FOOD!

Me: >_>

* * *

Because I’ve been working on the book exclusively, and it’s a 1st draft, I have nothing to take to writers group this week.  This makes me sad.

* * *

“…and Tebow has the ball, he’s scrambling in the pocket, he’s throwing, OH! Interception!  Wait… wait… there’s a bright white light shining down from the sky, it’s enveloping Tebow!  Yes, the light has completely surrounded him!  He’s rising up off the ground!  Now he is shooting up into the heavens!  Proof that God exists!  Proof that God exists!”

*onboard the alien spacecraft*

“…probe the hell out of this guy.  I lost $50 cuz he can’t throw worth a damn.”

* * *

I often wonder if a barrier to my working out at a gym might be some repressed high school trauma.

* * *

“…and this is the weight room.”

“Wow!  Pretty cool!  What’s that?”

“Dead rat.”

“AAIIIEEE!”

“…did you just scream like a little girl?”

“…no?”

* * *

(there wasn’t really a dead rat)

* * *

2 years of pulling Coach Herzog, the CROSS COUNTRY COACH, for P.E. might have something to do with it.

* * *

“Okay, boys, today we are going to run.”

*loud groans*

“The more you groan, the more you run.  Once around the school, please.”

* * *

In HS, I took a computer programming class.  We were working on TRS-80′s (TRASH EIGHTIES!) and had to create a custom animation (monochrome, low resolution by today’s standards).  People did things like a football going through the goal posts, cars racing down a road.

I had a dog walk up and take a piss on a fire hydrant.

So.

Yeah.

/end random thoughts

~p

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It occurs to me that I haven’t done an update on my life in general in some time, so this post is intended to fix that.

Life is good.  Mostly.

Spring is here with all the things that come along with this time of year – mostly allergies.  My nose is sore from constant wiping.  My skin is breaking out – I swear I thought this would go away when, you know, I became an adult.  I have grass growing in my yard again, which means I’ll soon need to start cutting said grass, which will only exasperate the allergies.

Ahh, spring.

Taxes are done. I received a refund this year, which is good and bad.  I’m not a fan of tax refunds, mostly because the majority of the people in America see it as a thrill, as something they can plan on – like a bonus.  But it isn’t a bonus – it’s a failure on your part.  You failed in your finances for the year.  You paid too much to the government, had too much taken away, which the government was kind enough to place in a non-interest bearing savings account for you.

Sweet of them, right?

Had I put that same money in the worst savings account in the country, it would have been doing more for me in the long term than this so called refund does today.

Bitter much?

Writing is rough these days.  My brain has lost the focus gene.  I sit my butt down every night, laptop ready to go and find myself staring at the screen and thinking of a hundred other things I could be doing.  I put a few words down to try and get me going, I turn on some music, I turn off the music, I put more words down but they feel wrong.  It’s really hard.

Then I sit down on Saturday and find all the focus back.  Before you know it, I’ve spent the majority of the day typing away.

Weird.

A couple weekends ago, I completely redid the Functional Nerds website.  I encourage you to click the link and check it out.  Even though I redid atfmb.com not too long ago, I have an itch to redo it again.  It’s closer to what I’ve wanted than it’s ever been before, but there’s still a couple things I’d like to change/adjust.  I can’t even think about that right now, though.  I have another website under construction that needs to get done first.  More on that later.

I’ve talked before about getting healthier, eating better and losing some weight.  Well, for the past few weeks, I have been a back slider.  I’ve been drinking more pop, eating junk food and, worse of all – haven’t used the exercise bike NOR have I recorded my calories in my iPhone app.

As a result, I’ve been feeling extra fat.

There’s all sorts of excuses I could make (and you should check out a whole list of excuses in Sandra Wickham’s post over on FunctionalNerds.com), but I won’t.  I’ll simply say it is what it is and I’ve been bad.

Oddly, I lost three pounds.  I am now at 265, which is three pounds down from my last weigh in on LoseIt! of 268.  This is probably due to the fact that even when I’ve been eating bad, I’ve felt guilty about it so I guess I didn’t over do it.

Still, need to get back on track this week.

/resolve face

~P

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• New Functional Nerds Episode: Episode 006 http://functionalnerds.com/2010/04/episode-006/ #
• Hello, hello – sorry, sorry – been in meetings all morning. Plus my kitchen ceiling was leaking this morning. Wheee….. #
• Hopefully everyone has checked out the New Functional Nerds Episode: http://tinyurl.com/2aq28e2 ! Had fun with @KateSherrod & @JohnAnealio! #
• If you said anything interesting this morning, I missed it. If you love me & wish to keep me entertain, you’ll repeat it all… NOW! GO! #
• Thanks for the #FF mentions @Writepop @TheNewAuthor!! #
• If you were writing a torture scene in a story, which would be worse: pulling nose hairs out 1 by 1 or making them watch Wrestling on #Syfy #
• O_O! I just realized the upside to Wrestling on #Syfy Now I know which channel to avoid so I never have to watch that crap! #
• No nerd news roundup today due to my not being able to get to the site from work. Again. We thought it was fixed. We were wrong. Bleh. #
• New Chapter of Evermist: Chapter Twenty-Nine http://atfmb.com/Evermist/2010/04/chapter-twenty-nine/ #evermist #
• …the snow today threw me. Wasn’t expecting that. #
• Only the Functional Nerds would spend airtime discussing Jean Claude Van Damme’s 80′s & 90′s mullet… http://tinyurl.com/2aq28e2 #
• It’s good stuff! I’m glad @ONoesUDidnt liked it! @KateSherrod was fantastic! (to quote a certain Northern accented Doctor…) #
• Hey @JohnAnealio, I’m reading all this stuff about how everything going 3d & I think we need to go 3d on the podcast! You buy the glasses… #
• RT @KateSherrod: #sonnet In Which I Join The Chorus Singing “Crown The Shat” http://goo.gl/fb/4q39B #canada #geekery #williamshatner #
• *in the kitchen, lady sets down a bowl, starts to walk away* “Don’t forget your bowl!” “Oh, I’ll come back. I have to make winky first.” #
• #FF @KateSherrod @CliftonHill @FARfetched58 @TheNewAuthor @authormancuso @Writepop @Yinepuhotep @stevestr @EisleyJacobs @lynthornealder #
• #FF @julievj @Chevenga @dances_w_vowels @EasternSmooth @AlanBaxter @DRayburn @JohnAnealio @AirlockAlpha @TheBigKlosowski @charitybradford #
• #FF @Torinir @1CreativeWolf @jalanerwine @sfsignal @KristenLambTX @willouj @charitybradford @torbooks @shadowsinstone @whedonesque @janoda #
• #FF @lights_aurora @TheKJA @sliceofscifi @pvponline @io9 @stephenfry @JeremyCShipp @BrandonSandrson @Agent_M @aspiringmama @dbsw @tordotcom #
• #FF @pvponline @TychoBrahe @neilhimself @DC_NATION @billamend @cwgabriel @VeryShortStory @HilaryWagner1 @kostkajenn @extralife @jcfiala #
• Lorem Ipsum on the side of a Chipotle bag? MADNESS! http://twitpic.com/1huvbw #
• Laptop: You’re paying too much attention to the desktop. I’m jealous. Me: The desktop is acting up. Laptop: Then I will too! Me: . . . #
• Bret Michaels Hospitalized Following Brain Hemorrhage http://tinyurl.com/2537f6q #
• Someone was talking about the difference between a concert downtown & one at Red Rocks; “Downtown, you don’t have to climb a mountain.” #
• “Downtown, when you park you car & someone runs up to you, it’s not to sell you pot, it’s to steal your wallet like a normal person.” #
• “The last time I went to Red Rocks for a concert, I got gravel in my shoes, wind in my hair and couldn’t breathe for climbing the stairs!” #
• I felt like I was in that old Python skit w/the Four Yorkshireman. “…& you try to tell the young people today & they won’t believe you.” #
• “Are you ever offline?” “I’m offline right now.” “…but you’re going to go online and talk about this, aren’t you?” “…maybe.” #
• audioBoo: Creativity on demand http://boo.fm/b120101 #
• audioBoo: About audioboo http://boo.fm/b120104 #
• audioBoo: About sweat tea and then I’ll shut up… http://boo.fm/b120110 #
• Cat: *knocks clock off the shelf* Me: Oh. Gonna be one of THOSE nights, huh? #
• Dear Gizmodo, I have a new prototype… uh… usb drive from Apple. Seriously. Found it in a Tokyo Joes… it’s yours for.. uh… $2500… #
• Oooo – good ending for SGU tonight! #
• Sci-Fi Becomes Reality at Masdar City With Recycled Sweat, Robot Pods, More! http://tinyurl.com/23cs2uj #
• “The guild is running ICC tonight but you’re at your nana’s funeral? There’s an app for that…” http://tinyurl.com/yb7pq7s #
• “Star Wars is about space wizards who live in the past-future.” http://tinyurl.com/y7vwtmt #
• I came home full of energy and ready to write! Wordcount: -0- #
• Watching the episode of #Lost that I missed this week on Abc.com. The commercial breaks would be tolerable if it didn’t resize my screen. #
• “He finds ot we’re gone… he’s going to be mad.” #Lost #
• On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6adQK5k_0sk #
• Two young scientists achieve fame by splicing human DNA with the DNA of different animals to create… http://tinyurl.com/36m44ts #trailer #
• I love these films these kids made. Lightsaber duels for the win… http://tinyurl.com/np2se #

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