Shinybass journal entry 02-28-12

We get lucky once in a while…

Tuesday gets screwed all the time.  We hate Mondays, look forward to ‘hump day’ (whatever that means, you button-down types), and the rest of the week slides downhill to the weekend, at which point we ask forgiveness for our sins, then start the process all over.  Add a few ‘sit-stand-kneels’ in there, pass the plate, gimme a big piece of chicken at the picnic, and your church service is covered, too.  Pipe down before you get ruffled – I know that church is more than that.  They also have pancake breakfasts.  I do love pancakes.  I worked a pancake breakfast once at the Holy Family church in Virginia Beach.  I was maybe 14, and i remember doing nothing but playing in the kitchen the whole time, burning the pancakes mercilessly.  Needless to say, that was the last pancake breakfast I was asked to be a part of at my church.

But in touring circles, Monday is typically our Saturday (or sometimes Friday), so whenever you want us to get out of bed and actually do something on a Tuesday, remember that you are asking us to get busy on our weekend.  (Hear that, dear?)  But today is one of those days I am glad you popped in – because it’s really not Tuesday I want to talk about – it’s tomorrow.  Wednesday.

I suppose tomorrow could have been any day, but this year, our gift of an extra 24 hours falls on a Wednesday.  The day was really ours to begin with, but scientists and mathematicians (and Julius Caesar – before he started making salads) figured out that to keep all things properly aligned with Easter (actually the vernal equinox) and to keep the chocolate bunny sector of manufacturing in the black, we had to add a day to the calendar every so often to make up for the little wrinkle in our calendar.

One day, a few years back, my phone reset itself, and when it did, I noticed the clock was a minute behind where it started.  In seeing this, I thought ‘Hmm- I just got a minute of my life back’ and began to ponder all the things I would like to have in my life, if just for a minute.  My list could have gone on for hours, and I won’t share it here, but it was pretty heavy.  Time with relatives we have lost topped the list, along with various activities we used to do as a family.  I listed lots of things that were not able to happen anymore, and that was very sad.  In writing it, however, I realized how much of it helped me appreciate the minutes we do have, and that living those precious minutes is all we have, really.

So today I want you to do a little schoolwork.  Take a minute right now and grab a pen and paper.  Your assignment – if you could have one minute back of any point in your life, what would it be?  Heck – make it ten separate points in your life.  Go ahead – I’ll wait.  Now look at your list.  How many of those things can you still do? Hopefully a few, but if not, cherish and hold those memories close.  How many of those things are going unnoticed or taken for granted?  I found in my list I wanted time back with people who have passed away.  It’s very easy to get down on ourselves for not spending more time with people after they are gone, but as we look back to look forward, is one more minute really going to matter?  Well, sure it does.  So hang out one more minute if you can.  Heck, make it 5.

In this little exercise, I hope you understand that this works everywhere.  If you are like me and get up early to take in the sunrise, take it in an extra minute.  Or watch the sun set for an extra minute, there Ponyboy.  Or hug your child an extra minute.  Or even for a minute.  Breathe for a minute.  Stare at that Picasso for a minute.  Just try and take time for you – not others – and soak in as much of this life as you can, with no regrets.  Off to the recap! To the cloud!

Stroudsburg, PA was the location for our first show this week.  It was cold, rainy, and our schedule was all screwed up, so my intention of seeing and doing was dashed.  We did visit a great record store, where I found hidden vinyl treasures abound, like this gem:

Ahh, the golden days of album covers.  Nobody takes risks like this anymore…The Sherman Theater was a great venue, and although (I am assuming due to age) the stage listed to port (for all your nautical types out there), it was a high-energy show, and as a band we had a really good time on stage.  We were a bit giddy since it was our fist show back in a while.  Mohegan Sun was the same way, although one of us (ahem, Brock) spent the next night’s show sweating out the post-Sherman festivities.  It happens.  And I chipped away at my ‘casino money relocation’ goal by hitting for $100 on a slot machine.  I am simply getting back the money I lost in Snoqualmie last year.  Some bitch dammit should have hit again on that split…

Things have seemed to get pretty exciting really quickly around here.  Phil’s new single has entered the charts, which means that you need to call your radio stations and request it.  I am snowed in with video projects, but I love the work, and I am playing an awful lot of music these days, in anticipation of getting the studio booked to finally get good versions of these songs done.  And of course, I am about 3 weeks away from ‘Hitching Day’.  That in itself is pretty exciting.

So I leave you with one last picture, a serene river next to the casino in Connecticut.  And yes, I took an extra minute to take it in.  Enjoy your free day tomorrow – soak in every one of the 1440 minutes you are given tomorrow.  For FREE!

See you on the road!