The Lowest I've Been
By July 1st I'd been in New York for 3 days it took me a full twenty four hours to recover from the fiasco at the airport. The weather was odd, it went from extreme humidity, hot, to rainy, and damp in the same day. At some point I was sweating so much that it was dripping off my glasses as if they were tears.
I did not put as much into this trip as in Febuary, so it all seemed to go by quickly.
I took time to catch up with my Yoga, and also made use of my dad's barbells.
The main event my cousin's wedding on the fourth of July was good.
I met up with a few old friends in town.
I also made a quick city trip with my dad and grabbed these cookies my grandmother was after.
I noted that even on Long Island there seemed to be more people.
Maybe that was just me being used to California being so empty.
At the least I got a new cell phone out of it on my dad's dime.
Just in time before my flight back to California.
I almost always get the window seat, so the flight back was enjoyable watching the sun set.
When I touched down my friend picked me up at the airport in a new car.
He traded in his Honda for a Subaru.
I ended up staying at his apartment for the night and then the next morning drove back down to Monterey.
Having felt reinvigorated I started working on the guitar.
I glued all four back braces that week for the back plate.
Though its an easy task as far as gluing goes, you still have to make sure the measurements are right and carve a space in the backseam support for the braces to fit.
Having done all that I did some thinking about the neck I had halfway finished.
There are two ways to go about it, I can continue carving it with Files, rasps or I can band it out with the saw.
Still undecided for now because of the margin of error involved.
On the 17th I was at 60 days into the project.
On the 18th I went to Santa Cruz to see a show.
It was a good show even the opening band was pretty good, playing folky music as well as 80s hits.
Live shows are always much better and I could feel the good vibes but damn there were a lot of people.
I would have liked to swing dance since this particular band fits that genre with an electronic twist.
But really there was no room to maneuver where I was standing, even when I found myself with more room it didn't look like any girl was there to swing dance.
The show was two hours long but it went by like lighting.
It took me an hour to find where I parked my car and then I drove back down to Monterey.
I was a mile away from home when the car farted, stalled and died.
"You've gotta be kidding me." was all I could say.
It took an hour for road side assistance to get there and tow the car home.
I had my suspicions about the car when I was coming back from my friend's apartment earlier.
When I left the car there I noted the mileage was at 540 what I saw on the dash board was 580.
My friend said he went to Reno, and I did see him laugh and turn away when I asked if he drove the car.
There were a couple of things that bothered me when I started it that day.
The Oil light was on, there was a squeaking sound from the engine that wasn't there before too.
Even if they did drive it the car would have died at some point anyway but I was hoping till at least October.
I'm more annoyed then anything else because on top of the that I got a ticket for parking in his parking garage.
So much for reliable friends.
The next day I had plans to go climbing and this was totally shattered with the car dead.
I tried troubleshooting with the ECU and got some headway, charged the battery and the car started.
I was on my way over to the shop around the corner to have them get a good look when the timing belt broke and that was it.
Another tow to a different shop and that should be the end of the car.
But to spite my friends, I may just do a $1000 engine swap just to say, "See that could have been a thousand dollars in your pocket!"
Either way with the car gone I'm at the lowest I've been all year and I'm cutting more corners now then ever.
Still I've always done more with less, I wrote two novellas when I had little to nothing.
Being poor always makes one aspire creatively, how else do you get out of a hole?
Besides money always gives a false sense of security, you can have billions and still not be able to stop the cancer from spreading in your pancreas, you can have millions and your plane can crash.
I'd rather have to nickel and dime then have millions that would give me a sense of invincibility that some business men have.
I'd rather just be a good man, then a ruthless businessman.
I suppose on that note my ideals haven't completely been cut away despite the same harsh lessons I don't care to accept.
While I'm fluxing through mixed emotions, anger, regret, and relief all in the same.
It isn't anything I can't handle.
I had a few days to myself on the last weekend in July, and I took the time to practice my Iaido.
I spent an hour pushing myself as much as I could with the blade.
The next morning I expected to be beat up from the intensity of the work out.
All in all I wasn't that sore, and it got out a lot of that frustration and anger.
The guitar is still on its way to completion and I am sure the lion's share will be finished by the end of August. With the bridge blank cut out, and all the braces ready for the soundboard, its only a matter of time and effort.
The astral plane wasn't exactly quiet this month either.
Though only vague, hazy glimpses, of images that did not seem continuous to my life.
The month ends on a down turn with a dead car, but my optimism for the year isn't completely crushed out.
I still have a guitar to build and the novel has hit its 200 page mark on paper.
Keepin' it |_
-Astral Samurai
I did not put as much into this trip as in Febuary, so it all seemed to go by quickly.
I took time to catch up with my Yoga, and also made use of my dad's barbells.
The main event my cousin's wedding on the fourth of July was good.
I met up with a few old friends in town.
I also made a quick city trip with my dad and grabbed these cookies my grandmother was after.
I noted that even on Long Island there seemed to be more people.
Maybe that was just me being used to California being so empty.
At the least I got a new cell phone out of it on my dad's dime.
Just in time before my flight back to California.
I almost always get the window seat, so the flight back was enjoyable watching the sun set.
When I touched down my friend picked me up at the airport in a new car.
He traded in his Honda for a Subaru.
I ended up staying at his apartment for the night and then the next morning drove back down to Monterey.
Having felt reinvigorated I started working on the guitar.
I glued all four back braces that week for the back plate.
Though its an easy task as far as gluing goes, you still have to make sure the measurements are right and carve a space in the backseam support for the braces to fit.
Having done all that I did some thinking about the neck I had halfway finished.
There are two ways to go about it, I can continue carving it with Files, rasps or I can band it out with the saw.
Still undecided for now because of the margin of error involved.
On the 17th I was at 60 days into the project.
On the 18th I went to Santa Cruz to see a show.
It was a good show even the opening band was pretty good, playing folky music as well as 80s hits.
Live shows are always much better and I could feel the good vibes but damn there were a lot of people.
I would have liked to swing dance since this particular band fits that genre with an electronic twist.
But really there was no room to maneuver where I was standing, even when I found myself with more room it didn't look like any girl was there to swing dance.
The show was two hours long but it went by like lighting.
It took me an hour to find where I parked my car and then I drove back down to Monterey.
I was a mile away from home when the car farted, stalled and died.
"You've gotta be kidding me." was all I could say.
It took an hour for road side assistance to get there and tow the car home.
I had my suspicions about the car when I was coming back from my friend's apartment earlier.
When I left the car there I noted the mileage was at 540 what I saw on the dash board was 580.
My friend said he went to Reno, and I did see him laugh and turn away when I asked if he drove the car.
There were a couple of things that bothered me when I started it that day.
The Oil light was on, there was a squeaking sound from the engine that wasn't there before too.
Even if they did drive it the car would have died at some point anyway but I was hoping till at least October.
I'm more annoyed then anything else because on top of the that I got a ticket for parking in his parking garage.
So much for reliable friends.
The next day I had plans to go climbing and this was totally shattered with the car dead.
I tried troubleshooting with the ECU and got some headway, charged the battery and the car started.
I was on my way over to the shop around the corner to have them get a good look when the timing belt broke and that was it.
Another tow to a different shop and that should be the end of the car.
But to spite my friends, I may just do a $1000 engine swap just to say, "See that could have been a thousand dollars in your pocket!"
Either way with the car gone I'm at the lowest I've been all year and I'm cutting more corners now then ever.
Still I've always done more with less, I wrote two novellas when I had little to nothing.
Being poor always makes one aspire creatively, how else do you get out of a hole?
Besides money always gives a false sense of security, you can have billions and still not be able to stop the cancer from spreading in your pancreas, you can have millions and your plane can crash.
I'd rather have to nickel and dime then have millions that would give me a sense of invincibility that some business men have.
I'd rather just be a good man, then a ruthless businessman.
I suppose on that note my ideals haven't completely been cut away despite the same harsh lessons I don't care to accept.
While I'm fluxing through mixed emotions, anger, regret, and relief all in the same.
It isn't anything I can't handle.
I had a few days to myself on the last weekend in July, and I took the time to practice my Iaido.
I spent an hour pushing myself as much as I could with the blade.
The next morning I expected to be beat up from the intensity of the work out.
All in all I wasn't that sore, and it got out a lot of that frustration and anger.
The guitar is still on its way to completion and I am sure the lion's share will be finished by the end of August. With the bridge blank cut out, and all the braces ready for the soundboard, its only a matter of time and effort.
The astral plane wasn't exactly quiet this month either.
Though only vague, hazy glimpses, of images that did not seem continuous to my life.
The month ends on a down turn with a dead car, but my optimism for the year isn't completely crushed out.
I still have a guitar to build and the novel has hit its 200 page mark on paper.
Keepin' it |_
-Astral Samurai
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