Things are moving along…well, not beautifully, but nicely in my personal life.  Makinig more money than I had been previously, and the company and people seem like good folks.  Only complaint right now is that I’m working days and the money’s on nights…but I’m not broke right this minute.  (Sorta – bills.  But still.)  This Is A Good Thing And A Step In The Right Direction.  :P

You meet all sorts of people driving a taxi.  If you’re dropping by here because I gave you a card, welcome.  You’re part of the secret club now…

So yeah, let’s see.  Went and jammed with my friend Jamie and her husband Shawn.  Well, I jammed with Shawn, if Jamie plays an instrument she didn’t the other night.  Was a f’n great time, huge thanks to my gracious hosts for the use of their basement and musical instruments.  I kinda surprised myself by pulling off two perfectly reasonable attempts at “Call Me A Dog” by Temple of the Dog…on guitar and vocals.  Go me, and go Shawn for making his way through the song on drums damn well for never having heard it and my only knowing two-thirds of it and not having a recording available.  And we jammed on a bunch of other stuff, too.

Haven’t heard from that Tim dude, or from the other cat who knew the bass player that I was REALLY interested in hooking up with.  Bummer.  Oh well.  I need a kit of my own before I can think seriously about doing things musically on an ongoing basis anyway.  But I may get there with reasonable haste if my current job situation continues as it has.  Question is, will I have a place to set them up when I do?  At this point, I think I’ve amply demonstrated my abject ignorance when it comes to my instrument.  Given the choice between a place to put ME that I can count on and a place to put my DRUMS that I can count on, I’ll worry about the drums.  This is because I’m an idiot about my instrument.  I gotta.  I’ve chosen otherwise twice in my life, and have regretted every single moment of it both times.  We’ll see how things shake out between now and the end of the year.  Right now I’m keeping myself fed and watered as best I can.

That whole paragraph sounds depressing as heck, doesn’t it?  I don’t mean it to at all, I’m not feeling depressed – I’m still happier now, at home, than I was in NC.  The only downside is missing Amber and Haleigh and my folks, but as long as I keep hanging on those crutches, I’ll never walk :P  It’s been too damn long since I really felt like I was DOING something other than running my mouth – the last time was probably when Road Less Traveled was heading upward.  I was reaching out and using my experience and intellect to touch and change the world, and it felt really great. 

When that crashed and burned, I think I made up my mind to move back home.  Took me several years and I missed my own deadline several times, and six months ago I had no idea I’d be here NOW, but this is where I’ve wanted to end up.  Kalamazoo is a beautiful place that is in a great deal of pain.  It’s written on people’s faces.  Institutions and orders we have long taken for granted have been interrupted.  I don’t know what the local unemployment rate is, but statewide it’s 16%….and that doesn’t take into account a whole lot of people, like those who have been out of work for an extended period.

But there’s a spirit here.  Kalamazoo’s a weird little city.  Always has been.  It draws people.  There’s an incredible concentration of talent of all types, and I’m not just talking about the incredible scene in the 80’s and 90’s, but going back decades.  There’s a soul to this place that I’ve never seen anywhere else – not Houston, not Milwaukee, not Chicago, or Detroit or San Francisco or Raleigh.  This is not to say that those places don’t have soul, but none is quite like that of Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Everything sort of comes together here, and it produces incredible talent.  Right now it seems like that talent is at a low ebb, but then it also seems like it’s that way everywhere right now.  There’s a few good bands in most towns and cities, and a few exceptional bands in various places, and a whole lot of dreck and suck…this is nothing new.

Either way, I’m convinced that there’s enough left here to work with that it’ll be worth working.  I’ve talked about this before – a lot of people look at Kalamazoo and Michigan in general and go “there’s nothing there – why would you ever want to go there?”  I look at it as a chance to try new things; a bit of a power vacuum.  My nutty ideas are more likely to get some traction when we’re desperate for any ideas ;-)

Anyway, must sleep.  Work tomorrow.