Music Mambo

It’s officially the holiday season. Time to shop and be shopped for. So in the spirit of the busiest time of the year, the mambo will be about musical gifts.

What album do you want the most for the holiday?
it’s been a while since i’ve felt there was a CD that i absolutely have to have, but the one i’ve been thinking about recently is the soundtrack to Man on Fire.

Are you buying any of your friends or family music for Christmas? What are you buying them?
i haven’t really thought about getting CDs for anyone this year.

What was the best musical gift you ever received? (Doesn’t have to be for the holiday season)
(click thumbnails to enlarge)
my parents got me a drum set, and if i remember correctly, it was for 8th grade graduation. it was a used Ludwig that had the same bowling ball pattern as Ringo Starr’s, though the finish on his was Black Oyster (right), whereas mine was in Blue Oyster, though it looked more like a mucky green to me. the b/w thumbnail on the left is the exact model–not replica– of the one i had. the set is dated 1969, unlike the replica on the right, which isn’t available in the mucky green Blue Oyster finish. had i known this, i would have taken better care of my set because it could be worth something now! grrr…

after my first husband and i got married, he gave me a Yamaha electric/acoustic with a cutaway neck, which is similar to what Bob Mould played at the time. i had the APX4 but the model you see here is the APX5A. it appears that mine has been discontinued, unless they’ve renamed the model.

for my birthday one year, he gave me a Gibson SG Special (left) in Candy Apple (right) with a black pickguard:

apparently, they no longer make the SG in Ferrari red. though i suppose you could have a custom finish. this is the type of guitar Angus Young from AC/DC plays.

finally, for Christmas one year i got a Peavey Classic? 50/212 tube amp. this baby is ssssoooooo loud. it rocks.

Are there any holiday concerts you want to attend?
i’ve never been to a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” i wouldn’t mind seeing that some day.

Other than CDs what music or music related gifts are on your wishlist?
i can’t think of any music-related gifts on my wishlist, although our old stereo, which my dad gave me for Christmas in ‘94 or ‘95 gave out earlier this year. Brian and i have 2 low-quality CD boomboxes and the computer’s CD player. we aren’t satisfied with their performance–the CD player and speakers in our car are way better, for God’s sake–but we’re in no real hurry to get an entirely new stereo system. a better quality CD boombox would be fine, and even that isn’t really on the wishlist.

Do you keep a wishlist at Amazon or any other site for your musical wants?
i do have an Amazon wishlist, but it consists mainly of books. however, there are a few DVDs and CDs listed, and if i decide to expand my minuscule CD wishlist, i’d add them onto the Amazon list.

photos courtesy of:

• The Vintage Drum Center Museum
• Ludwig-Drums.com
• Yamaha Corporation of America
• GIBSON
• Music123.com (see also Peavey: Classic Series)

if you live in an apartment, never leave your shoes or umbrellas to dry in the hallway outside your door.  your neighbors might not steal them, but restaurant deliverymen certainly will.

Over Thanksgiving weekend I had a few cat-sitting appointments with 2 different sets of cats: a 17-year-old calico sweetheart named Bill (yes, Bill), and 2 gigantic brown tabbies named Lokie (male) and Samara (female).

Brian, who had Thursday and Friday off, came along with me and did litter box duty, which I really appreciated. Everything went smoothly both with the cat clients and our own 4, until we came home Saturday morning after feeding Bill her breakfast.

Hopper had pooped on my side desk. I was fortunate enough not to see this — Brian was the one who discovered the evidence. Although we didn’t actually see her do it, we know it was her because she’s the only one who ever poops out of the box. Luckily, this isn’t a regular thing, though it’s happened maybe 6 or 7 times since Hee Seop first joined us in September 2003, so obviously it’s a protest.

Certainly we aren’t going to get rid of her because of this. I’m just not sure what to do. Nature’s Miracle and Simple Solution don’t really make a difference because she hasn’t done it in the same place twice:

• the corner behind Brian’s desk
• the corner near my desk
• by the back door
• the bathtub
• my side desk

Those are the places I can recall, anyway. I’m currently reading: Cat vs. Cat. Hopefully, I’ll find some good suggestions, but so far I haven’t. If anyone out there has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

drama. Sean Penn. Naomi Watts. Benicio del Toro.

sometimes doing the right thing makes the situation worse. a series of depressing events entwines the lives of 3 strangers. story unfolds through flashbacks alternating with scenes taking place in the present, which makes the start confusing but then settles into a steady rhythm. set in gray coal-mining town that adds to grim, gloomy, mood, as does grainy filmstock reminiscent of home movies. minimal incidental music adds realism in spite of ironic, almost far-fetched coincidences in characters’ lives. intense, desperate, excellent performances.

BrainStorm

The year 2004 is almost over and the holidays are upon us. It’s time, whether we like it or not, to gather our thoughts and think about our life’s journey’s. Have you accomplished what you set out to accomplish for this year? Have there been any significant changes in your life this year? Where would you like to see yourself in a year from now? Write about as much as you want just have fun with this!

the only goal i had this year was to recover fully from my depressive episode.  although it’s due to a chemical imbalance that can only be controlled by meds, i have taken whatever steps that i can do to facilitate my recovery.  the 2 biggest things i’ve done in this regard are taking up martial arts and finally starting to write again.

i joined a local martial arts academy in January, after i was hospitalized for anxiety.  it was a lot of fun but unfortunately, i was back in the hospital 2 weeks later.  shortly after i was discharged i went back but attended just a few classes–5 altogether since i started.

the depression and anxiety grew worse.  i was in a partial hospitalization program (PHP) for a month, during which the doctors put me on medication other than what i was taking previously.  after PHP i saw and still see a therapist twice a week and a psychiatrist every 2 weeks for medication management.

in August the doctor switched my mood stabilizer from Tegretol to Lamictal, which gradually but steadily improved my mood.  i turned 35 just a few weeks before and returned to the martial arts academy.

i barely lasted 15 minutes my first time back, but i made myself stay the whole hour to observe.  i was determined to keep going and have been going regularly ever since.  that first day i showed up was such a huge accomplishment for me, even bigger than when i finally moved from being a white belt to a yellow belt.  i mean, i wouldn’t leave the apartment for days at a time, not even to walk the 2 flights of stairs to the lobby to check the mail.  now i train 3-4 times a week.

around the same time i began writing again, which i hadn’t done in about a year.  although my concentration in grad school was in poetry, i began experimenting with writing fiction since i was never very good at it.  i wrote 3 chapters of a Star Wars fanfic based on the video game Knights of the Old Republic.  however, i set that aside when i discovered the blogosphere, in which i’m now completely submerged.

my doctor and therapist feel that i’m not ready to go back to work, and that will probably be my goal for next year.