COVID-19 - How's everyone doing? Anyone playing more music?

you shoulda married my wife... she was really gorgeous and a demon in th sack with an exhausting sex drive so you woulda made out that way.

Quite happy with my spouse. 13 years now, they've stood by me through all the ups, downs, ins, and outs. Absolute stone cold stunner they are, have to wear their ring every day at work or they get hit on by everyone of both genders.

And I'll just leave it as "I'm a very happy man" as far as my romance life is concerned. Only issue we really have is they're not a musician, and we occasionally butt heads on what music to listen to. They sometimes enjoy top 40 saccharine pop garbage, and I can't bloody stand it. I very much enjoy my jazz, prog, and blues in the style of Mary Spender, and they're not so keen on that.

Plus, they're the only person I know who can handle my health issues. And that's a big deal.

being single again the last ew years I'm resolved not to form a long term relationship with a non-musician again. After being widowed my musical life got a lot better because I didn't have the love of my life telling me not to buy that synth or guitar only to turn around and blow the same amount of money on hardback trash novels abd shelves to house them eating up more floor space in the process bevcause cheap ikea book shelves are better decore than a tweed fender amplifier (yeah right). There's no one forcing me to listen to combichrist at ear splitting levels in the car... I intend to keep my life like this. I might make an exception for one aprticular person, but we see eye to eye on music a little better than me and my wife did... but I still foresee the budgeting arguments and floor space war. I think my best bet is to date some music peeps, soemthing I've never done before.

My spouse and I are both avid readers (former librarian here), so there's really no argument about blowing as much (or more) money on books and shelving (I generally build it myself, Ikea sucks).

And they're also the kind of person who this year has basically let me run hogwild on buying gear. This year alone I've got a new to me Strat, Jazz Bass, the Kay acoustic, my Arturia Synth, and I ordered that el-chepo Double Neck. I'm about to order a Firefly Tele, since all the Midnight Wine Fenders are sold out everywhere. Which just SUCKS (ok, so there's an American Fender on Reverb, but it's more than I'm willing to pay).

I have a whole big storage unit to hold the book overflow (yes, overflow, books I'll reread for pleasure or anything reference is here at the house, hundreds of them, maybe more) from me and my wife and because they're all mixed together from our last move before her death I dunno which are trash novels I could donate to a library and which are real books unless I tear the storage apart box by box which Im not doing right now.... thousands of books boxed up. It was way out of control the year before she died. She had a count of our joint book hoarde at one point when we were moving to DC but I can't recall how many there were, it was thousands though and the buyinh went on for a few more years. I love books, avid reader, but our ability to keep all those books, many of which we would never read again in a million years, was limited by our income. Its a library for a wealthier family.

Our current count stands at a little over 1200. Have read most of. My Tolkien collection has many duplicate titles, but different editions (for instance, I have somewhere around 15 different editions of Lord of the Rings, 4 copies of the Hobbit (including a reissue of the First Edition), and nearly every edition released of Silmarillion).

The spouse also really gets into Manga, which if we include in the count puts it over 2000.

I need to build another recessed shelving system, but I'm waiting on A) if I'm renovating, or 2) moving.

if we include gaphic novels I would venture upwards of 3k books.... regualr monthlies? well I don't know then. I got rid of a lot of my original 80s and 90s issues unless they were signed or soemthing back ebfore we married and Leigh paired down a lot too, but we swapped out for cllections so the number of graphic novels in ahrdback or tradepaperback format is huge. I mean, I have the whole essential x men plus tons of post-claremont collections, etc etc. That's like 25 trade paper backs right there just on x-men

I actually (foolishly) sold a load of my comics back in the late 90s when I was in on furlough. Used the money to buy instruments back in Africa. Now some of those comics would be worth loads. shrug I used to really get into Marvel in a big big way. Not so much in recent years. Mostly been trying to focus on music when I have the time and the depression isn't soulcrushing to a degree I can actually record.

Speaking of, I've placed an order for a Firefly FFTH Telecaster knockoff, and a Kiso-Suzuki MR-150 Mandolin. The Midnight Wine Tele I wanted was sold out, which sucks and makes me sad. But I need a Tele style guitar, and Firefly has been getting rave bloody reviews on the YouTubes.

What this effectively means is that over the next 10 days I'll be taking delivery of a double neck, a mandolin, and a Tele knockoff. I really hope I can start tracking for this song I've had in my head since last August around this time, when Mary Spender posted a picture and some tool made a most predictable comment proposing to her (yes, she is gorgeous, don't misunderstand me). That comment actually inspired the entire song, lyrics and all popped fully formed. I just have to have the wherewithal to actually record it. And this past month that's proven difficult.

Still, new instruments always inspire at least a little time in the DAW, so I'll use that to my advantage.

In case people want to know, I got the BLUE Firefly. It looks the best of the colours for it in my opinion.