No Preface, No Introductions
I’m in the bathroom taking a breather from the show last night. Between seeing life long friends I will also see people from my shadow past who I will do anything to avoid (two times to be exact).
It will rise to the surface and I will let it go alongside this delivery of urine to Toronto’s waste processing station and into the lake, to one day end up in the ocean.
In a concert you might be antsy. There’s so many errands to get done here.
Depending on your current flavour, there’s water refills, alcohol tap ups, bathroom, pizza, smoking section, merch booth.
Yet when the set break happened I realized that I don’t have to go anywhere. I am fine right here where I am. I don’t need to go looking for my friends. My friends will find me.
Stay put reader of The Sunday Bagel, you are not only ok as you are, you are brilliant and beautiful.
I got up close to Trey last night and had a conversation with him. It was a complete download and memory dump of information and data transferred through invisible wires that I will now call The 4th Internet which is also known as real life molecules and matter.
He told me to learn the god damn fretboard. Know exactly where you are going to land.
What makes him one of the best guitarists of all time is not just the tone or the style of playing, it’s the knowledge of the fretboard and landing on the perfect note like a pilot touching down on the runway.
Everyone can download this information from any great performer that you will be able to use throughout your life’s journey.
How to communicate with grace and style. Knowing when to escalate and know when to back off and give the crowd a slow dancing ballad so that everyone gets a break.
My friends make it too easy for me. They do all the work to get the tickets, get me there and get me home. In the venue I worm away from them because sometimes I just need space to get comfy. But at the end of the day we are a team and I’m grateful for them.
Three Ideas from My Notebooks
When the day is over I now try to sit and tell myself that the game is over. I don’t need to play the game any more. The jig is up. Any bullshit that I’ve been carrying around today is time to go. The more I tell myself this, the more I will continue to drop the game during the day.
We don’t need any preface or introduction to what we’re about to tell each other and no qualifications for the job. Nothing needs this much padding and small talk, just get right in there. Proof in action: Why do some podcasts have 5 minutes of ads before they start?
There have been studies on the effects of going for walks in nature on subjects with ADHD. Researchers have been looking into how this could be just as effective as medication on the days they ran the trials (I’m not saying IS as effective, but that’s what they looked at). If this info is only useful as a reminder to take a walk at any point of the day to reset your mind.
All of the ideas going back to May 2023 are located in The Ideas Index:
Music Log
I am still in tinkering mode but when the camera isn’t rolling I’m working on a few classical and flamenco pieces. The finger work from those carries over to every other style and improvisation afterwards.
Just sit in the chair and splash some paint on the canvas. See where it goes.
Thanks for reading, see you next week 🇨🇦