You can really learn a lot that way
It will change you in the middle of the day
Though your confidence may be shattered
It doesn't matter
On Friday, Stanette had a girl's night out. So, Bells stopped by and we made a little noise. I taught him that Jack Johnson song I just learned and we enjoyed some mild rocking.
Blain was coming through town, after picking up his son, Jackson.
{I apologize for the pictures. I am working with a camera that came free with a credit card. It doesn't have a lens cover, so the pictures get the gauzy smudge treatment. If you really don't like it, you can buy me a new camera.
Seriously.
My email is above. Have your people call my people.}
It was nice to have them over. Jackson is a good kid.
On Saturday, I was feeling run down, so we slept in.
Eventually, though, we went out for a nice, strenuous hike up Storm Castle.
^^That is Storm Castle. The trail takes you around the back and on top of that big rock.
The hike climbs about 2000 vertical feet in 2.5 miles to the summit (5 miles, round trip)... for the unitiated, that is pretty much straight up.
It takes about 3 hours, in total. Good first hike of the season.
The hike winds its way up the mountain, and at the top, you can dangle your toes right off about a 2000 foot drop.
It is weird. When you sit on the edge, you get this strange vertigo sensation.
For instance, in the picture above, my car is parked right where the road comes out of the trees, to the left of my feet.
It feels like it is right below my feet. It felt dizzy, and my heart started beating fast.
I didn't trust my equilibrium.
There was an inexorable pull of gravity, and I didn't trust myself.
I felt like I might accidentally toss myself off the edge.
Stanette felt the same way.
I did notice some light-headedness on the hike, but I figured it was just sunshine, altitude and the first hike of the year.
I thought maybe some of that scorpion venom was still in me. I haven't felt right since that day. Achy and just a bit ... off.
We had some dinner and went to see Spiderman 3 on the big screen. We were the only people in the theater for the late show. I have to say, it was worth $ 7.50. I mean, it's a comic book, so don't expect profundity, but it was visually stunning. You can tell they spent $ 165 million making it... it shows. The action and effects were amazing, and I was actually laughing at a few hilarious scenes. (The one with the french maitre d'.)
One of the villians in the movie was Venom, this black, outerspace goo that gets on Spidey, turns him black and makes him into a bad boy.
I continued to feel achy and shitty. It turns out, I have shingles. It is a virus that only hits people who have had chicken pox. I was eight when I had chicken pox. I guess the virus lives in your nerve cells, and can lay dormant for decades. (In my case, almost three decades.)
That's weird. I have been carrying this little guy since I was eight. We left each other alone for 29 years. And now this.
((Thank you to Dr. Dan for the telephone diagnosis and phoning in a script.))
We were going to go kayaking today. It is in the mid-80's and gorgeous.
Alas, it was not to be.
Instead, I am sitting here, googling shingles and shopping online for an acoustic bass.
(((Done. It's a lower-end, red Fender. It looks cool.
Free shipping!)))
For those keeping track at home, that is one Washburn electric/acoustic, my go-to guitar ...
((((Thanks, Curt. He bought me that guitar about 4 years ago, as a thank you for something I did for him as a lawyer. Thanks, Curt. It is sincerely, the best gift I have ever received.))))
An Epihphone Les Paul with a wah, chorus, phase and a li'l bit of Marshall...
((((((That's not only rocking, but also rolling. Rolling is an important, if oft overshadowed, component of rock-n-roll.))))))
A Seagull twelve-string that Stanette bought me for Valentine's Day...
(((((Thanks, Stanette.)))))
Some congas...
A djimbe drum and a didgeridoo...
A mini-steel drum...
(((((((Full-size steel drum cost almost two grand. I want, I want. I need, I need.))))))))
A wood drum that sounds a little like a xylophone...
A ukelele, and, of course, a gong...
((((((((((I can play every one of them, except the freaking didgeridoo. I cannot get that trombone, mouth fart, circular breathing thing that is necessary to make that sound. I could, though, if it were foggy, warn approaching ships that they were approaching rocky shores.)))))))))
So, that's it.
Blain was coming through town, after picking up his son, Jackson.
{I apologize for the pictures. I am working with a camera that came free with a credit card. It doesn't have a lens cover, so the pictures get the gauzy smudge treatment. If you really don't like it, you can buy me a new camera.
Seriously.
My email is above. Have your people call my people.}
It was nice to have them over. Jackson is a good kid.
On Saturday, I was feeling run down, so we slept in.
Eventually, though, we went out for a nice, strenuous hike up Storm Castle.
^^That is Storm Castle. The trail takes you around the back and on top of that big rock.
The hike climbs about 2000 vertical feet in 2.5 miles to the summit (5 miles, round trip)... for the unitiated, that is pretty much straight up.
It takes about 3 hours, in total. Good first hike of the season.
The hike winds its way up the mountain, and at the top, you can dangle your toes right off about a 2000 foot drop.
It is weird. When you sit on the edge, you get this strange vertigo sensation.
For instance, in the picture above, my car is parked right where the road comes out of the trees, to the left of my feet.
It feels like it is right below my feet. It felt dizzy, and my heart started beating fast.
I didn't trust my equilibrium.
There was an inexorable pull of gravity, and I didn't trust myself.
I felt like I might accidentally toss myself off the edge.
Stanette felt the same way.
I did notice some light-headedness on the hike, but I figured it was just sunshine, altitude and the first hike of the year.
I thought maybe some of that scorpion venom was still in me. I haven't felt right since that day. Achy and just a bit ... off.
We had some dinner and went to see Spiderman 3 on the big screen. We were the only people in the theater for the late show. I have to say, it was worth $ 7.50. I mean, it's a comic book, so don't expect profundity, but it was visually stunning. You can tell they spent $ 165 million making it... it shows. The action and effects were amazing, and I was actually laughing at a few hilarious scenes. (The one with the french maitre d'.)
One of the villians in the movie was Venom, this black, outerspace goo that gets on Spidey, turns him black and makes him into a bad boy.
I continued to feel achy and shitty. It turns out, I have shingles. It is a virus that only hits people who have had chicken pox. I was eight when I had chicken pox. I guess the virus lives in your nerve cells, and can lay dormant for decades. (In my case, almost three decades.)
That's weird. I have been carrying this little guy since I was eight. We left each other alone for 29 years. And now this.
((Thank you to Dr. Dan for the telephone diagnosis and phoning in a script.))
We were going to go kayaking today. It is in the mid-80's and gorgeous.
Alas, it was not to be.
Instead, I am sitting here, googling shingles and shopping online for an acoustic bass.
(((Done. It's a lower-end, red Fender. It looks cool.
Free shipping!)))
For those keeping track at home, that is one Washburn electric/acoustic, my go-to guitar ...
((((Thanks, Curt. He bought me that guitar about 4 years ago, as a thank you for something I did for him as a lawyer. Thanks, Curt. It is sincerely, the best gift I have ever received.))))
An Epihphone Les Paul with a wah, chorus, phase and a li'l bit of Marshall...
((((((That's not only rocking, but also rolling. Rolling is an important, if oft overshadowed, component of rock-n-roll.))))))
A Seagull twelve-string that Stanette bought me for Valentine's Day...
(((((Thanks, Stanette.)))))
Some congas...
A djimbe drum and a didgeridoo...
A mini-steel drum...
(((((((Full-size steel drum cost almost two grand. I want, I want. I need, I need.))))))))
A wood drum that sounds a little like a xylophone...
A ukelele, and, of course, a gong...
((((((((((I can play every one of them, except the freaking didgeridoo. I cannot get that trombone, mouth fart, circular breathing thing that is necessary to make that sound. I could, though, if it were foggy, warn approaching ships that they were approaching rocky shores.)))))))))
So, that's it.
Labels: aches, Blain, blister, fender bass, i am jack's medulla oblongata, i am jack's raging bile duct, jackson, neuropathy, pain, scorpions, shingles, storm castle, venom, vertigo
posted by Joe at
12:29 PM
9 Comments
