Black Coffee
On the first of November things seemed incredibly chaotic.
At first I thought it was just post Halloween jitters but it was more then that.
I wasn't the only one who picked up on it either.
I ran into somebody at this coffee shop I go to on the weekend for the free wifi.
Since I haven't had my own dedicated internet since December of last year.
I didn't want to have to think about her and worry myself over things I did or didn't do.
Either way it threw me off a bit.
I decided after that to get internet at home again.
I reasoned out that, yeah maybe I was saving $38 a month but in the long run I'm losing time on ten minute google searches and purchase lock ups.
And yeah I wouldn't have to hike to the coffee shop with my laptop in my pack anymore either.
There was a whole lot of family involvement this month.
With multiple birthday's that I only had some knowledge of.
In anticipation for my Aunt's birthday I painted her two dogs with oils on some spare plywood.
I presanded it and rounded the edges the best I could.
Knowing that I had about a week to paint it I did my best with what I had.
I made a trip out to the art store and bought the colors I thought would work best.
It came out okay, if I had more time I probably would've got more detail in.
She was ecstatic over the paintings but I felt like her sister and my other aunt felt under appreciated.
Truth was I didn't remember anyone telling me there birthday's at all.
The next day after the Grand Birthday Dinner/Shopping Spree my grandmother and I were again expected to go out and meet up.
I already said to myself when they said that, I have so much work to do, please, not tomorrow too.
And I most certainly did, while working on the paintings, I realized I could use the power sander to try to smooth out the molding edges, it half worked, the power sander itself is supposed to be used on flat surfaces so the sand paper either cracked or broke off the sander.
It also blackened the plywood which would get on the ribs if I didn't sand that off by hand.
I looked into spindle sanders but they are a small fortune and wouldn't be possible to buy on my budget.
I could try free handing the ribs too but that would run the risk of me breaking them.
The other answer was I could go to Dave the luthier but I still wanted to keep my pride intact.
So far no one but myself has worked on this guitar its all been self constructed with all of my creative energy.
That being said I am already months behind with the guitar.
There were other things too that left me an impression of chaos this month.
While waiting up for these large print photos of the dogs at the drug store this lady went on and on nervously about how they screwed up her photos.
I offered some photoshop advice but I think she found it too complicated.
I also lost a journal that I started late last month when I finished the other one.
In my experience with journals if somebody finds it, its theres now.
I've lost around 4 journals in my life time all with detailed contact information and return addresses.
None have ever been returned.
I hate that, I really do because again people just don't give a shit.
I've also have kept adrift from social networking for the most part for the last six months.
That saying, "A kind word and a 2x4 is better then just a kind word." I feel applies here.
Really its all just been 2x4s of redwood and hard work that have not been aided in anyway by chit chat communiques between would be friends.
None of my friends were or are going to help me build this guitar.
I even had one friend say inconsiderately, "Whens it gonna be finished?"
You don't ask a luthier how long its going to take to build a perfect guitar.
Its typical consumer mentality to ask when this cool new thing you built will be available for them.
Without any consideration of how, why, and what it took to build it.
Besides any friend that knows me knows how to contact me otherwise.
I only half expected my friend from LA to come up and wouldn't have been surprised if she couldn't make it.
So I wasn't surprised when she said she couldn't come up.
It was kind of a relief even because I didn't know what to expect from her.
I'm sure I would have spent a lot of money on adventures or misadventures too.
And it would have just added to the chaos that already seemed to be present this month.
I decided to build a side molding I figured it might work out better and was less involved.
Besides it would take days worth of sanding to smooth out the other molding.
By the 17th I finished the side molding with intent on bending the next day.
I got stopped cold with a virus that just took the wind out of me.
On top of that to add to the chaos that I'd already been experiencing after doing a clean install on my quadcore, after updating the bios the motherboard failed rendering the machine useless.
I negotiated with the manufacturer for a week and finally decided just to buy the bios chip on ebay.
As for the ribs on the guitar I learned from a tutorial video online that I was bending incorrectly.
I was moving the wood too quickly, neither the author from the book nor Dave mentioned that you shouldn't do that.
It adds friction to a piece of wood that is already hot on the iron which was why it cracked.
After I got over this hurtle it made me realize how easy it really is.
If you are patient with it you don't really even need to spritz it with water though it helps the process along.
Having that cold right in the middle of the month really threw me off.
I did not want to be sick when I was so close to getting those ribs on.
I had my grandmother make chicken soup and I drank a lot of tea.
Again she had plans for yet another gambling adventure and really I felt a little better by then.
But I didn't give myself much time to relax, I wanted to repaint her kitchen table, finish the side molding, write, sketch and start bending both ribs.
I did all of the above except the latter leaving it til after she returned.
Instead I cleaned the whole house because I thought that it would make her happy.
Fifteen minutes before I was to pick her up at the airport the toilet overflowed.
Talk about being shitted on!
I hastily put down as many towels as I could to sap the overflow and started plunging then dumped draino in.
Since I had to pick her up I rushed out the door to the airport.
When I came back the toilet overflowed again and it was an all night job. to avoid getting wet and getting even more sick I leaped onto the bathroom sink from the hallway plunging from crouched position.
My grandmother watched this gasping.
By the time I was confident I cleared it out and dismounted from the bathroom sink with paper towels everywhere I was beyond exhausted.
By then the Chaos meter went off the charts, and I was starting to expect the absolute worst possible ending for this month and possibly the year.
What else can go wrong I started asking myself.
I started expecting an earthquake in a way this would have eliminated a whole lot of problems.
Destruction breeding creation I suppose, If the car was destroyed in the earthquake I wouldn't have to pay into it anymore, if the house got rocked and the shop destroyed I would never be able to get back to the point I have so far reached with it and would not try.
Fortunately none of this happened and hopefully it doesn't by the end of this year.
Thanksgiving fortunately ended up being a calmer, quite occasion.
For me thats what Thanksgiving was really about, no earthquake shattering my world, my plans or my family.
With the end of the month I tried to regroup, focus and make sure I could handle whatever was coming the following month with an extended beach day.
And yeah despite having to drink black coffee because I can't afford milk and being pushed around like a ping pong ball I'm still managing somehow.
As always keepin' it ▢
-Astral Samurai
At first I thought it was just post Halloween jitters but it was more then that.
I wasn't the only one who picked up on it either.
I ran into somebody at this coffee shop I go to on the weekend for the free wifi.
Since I haven't had my own dedicated internet since December of last year.
I didn't want to have to think about her and worry myself over things I did or didn't do.
Either way it threw me off a bit.
I decided after that to get internet at home again.
I reasoned out that, yeah maybe I was saving $38 a month but in the long run I'm losing time on ten minute google searches and purchase lock ups.
And yeah I wouldn't have to hike to the coffee shop with my laptop in my pack anymore either.
There was a whole lot of family involvement this month.
With multiple birthday's that I only had some knowledge of.
In anticipation for my Aunt's birthday I painted her two dogs with oils on some spare plywood.
I presanded it and rounded the edges the best I could.
Knowing that I had about a week to paint it I did my best with what I had.
I made a trip out to the art store and bought the colors I thought would work best.
It came out okay, if I had more time I probably would've got more detail in.
She was ecstatic over the paintings but I felt like her sister and my other aunt felt under appreciated.
Truth was I didn't remember anyone telling me there birthday's at all.
The next day after the Grand Birthday Dinner/Shopping Spree my grandmother and I were again expected to go out and meet up.
I already said to myself when they said that, I have so much work to do, please, not tomorrow too.
And I most certainly did, while working on the paintings, I realized I could use the power sander to try to smooth out the molding edges, it half worked, the power sander itself is supposed to be used on flat surfaces so the sand paper either cracked or broke off the sander.
It also blackened the plywood which would get on the ribs if I didn't sand that off by hand.
I looked into spindle sanders but they are a small fortune and wouldn't be possible to buy on my budget.
I could try free handing the ribs too but that would run the risk of me breaking them.
The other answer was I could go to Dave the luthier but I still wanted to keep my pride intact.
So far no one but myself has worked on this guitar its all been self constructed with all of my creative energy.
That being said I am already months behind with the guitar.
There were other things too that left me an impression of chaos this month.
While waiting up for these large print photos of the dogs at the drug store this lady went on and on nervously about how they screwed up her photos.
I offered some photoshop advice but I think she found it too complicated.
I also lost a journal that I started late last month when I finished the other one.
In my experience with journals if somebody finds it, its theres now.
I've lost around 4 journals in my life time all with detailed contact information and return addresses.
None have ever been returned.
I hate that, I really do because again people just don't give a shit.
I've also have kept adrift from social networking for the most part for the last six months.
That saying, "A kind word and a 2x4 is better then just a kind word." I feel applies here.
Really its all just been 2x4s of redwood and hard work that have not been aided in anyway by chit chat communiques between would be friends.
None of my friends were or are going to help me build this guitar.
I even had one friend say inconsiderately, "Whens it gonna be finished?"
You don't ask a luthier how long its going to take to build a perfect guitar.
Its typical consumer mentality to ask when this cool new thing you built will be available for them.
Without any consideration of how, why, and what it took to build it.
Besides any friend that knows me knows how to contact me otherwise.
I only half expected my friend from LA to come up and wouldn't have been surprised if she couldn't make it.
So I wasn't surprised when she said she couldn't come up.
It was kind of a relief even because I didn't know what to expect from her.
I'm sure I would have spent a lot of money on adventures or misadventures too.
And it would have just added to the chaos that already seemed to be present this month.
I decided to build a side molding I figured it might work out better and was less involved.
Besides it would take days worth of sanding to smooth out the other molding.
By the 17th I finished the side molding with intent on bending the next day.
I got stopped cold with a virus that just took the wind out of me.
On top of that to add to the chaos that I'd already been experiencing after doing a clean install on my quadcore, after updating the bios the motherboard failed rendering the machine useless.
I negotiated with the manufacturer for a week and finally decided just to buy the bios chip on ebay.
As for the ribs on the guitar I learned from a tutorial video online that I was bending incorrectly.
I was moving the wood too quickly, neither the author from the book nor Dave mentioned that you shouldn't do that.
It adds friction to a piece of wood that is already hot on the iron which was why it cracked.
After I got over this hurtle it made me realize how easy it really is.
If you are patient with it you don't really even need to spritz it with water though it helps the process along.
Having that cold right in the middle of the month really threw me off.
I did not want to be sick when I was so close to getting those ribs on.
I had my grandmother make chicken soup and I drank a lot of tea.
Again she had plans for yet another gambling adventure and really I felt a little better by then.
But I didn't give myself much time to relax, I wanted to repaint her kitchen table, finish the side molding, write, sketch and start bending both ribs.
I did all of the above except the latter leaving it til after she returned.
Instead I cleaned the whole house because I thought that it would make her happy.
Fifteen minutes before I was to pick her up at the airport the toilet overflowed.
Talk about being shitted on!
I hastily put down as many towels as I could to sap the overflow and started plunging then dumped draino in.
Since I had to pick her up I rushed out the door to the airport.
When I came back the toilet overflowed again and it was an all night job. to avoid getting wet and getting even more sick I leaped onto the bathroom sink from the hallway plunging from crouched position.
My grandmother watched this gasping.
By the time I was confident I cleared it out and dismounted from the bathroom sink with paper towels everywhere I was beyond exhausted.
By then the Chaos meter went off the charts, and I was starting to expect the absolute worst possible ending for this month and possibly the year.
What else can go wrong I started asking myself.
I started expecting an earthquake in a way this would have eliminated a whole lot of problems.
Destruction breeding creation I suppose, If the car was destroyed in the earthquake I wouldn't have to pay into it anymore, if the house got rocked and the shop destroyed I would never be able to get back to the point I have so far reached with it and would not try.
Fortunately none of this happened and hopefully it doesn't by the end of this year.
Thanksgiving fortunately ended up being a calmer, quite occasion.
For me thats what Thanksgiving was really about, no earthquake shattering my world, my plans or my family.
With the end of the month I tried to regroup, focus and make sure I could handle whatever was coming the following month with an extended beach day.
And yeah despite having to drink black coffee because I can't afford milk and being pushed around like a ping pong ball I'm still managing somehow.
As always keepin' it ▢
-Astral Samurai
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