Dear Friends,
What can I say about a day like yesterday. I celebrated the life of my friend, celebrated my own life with lunch with more friends, and then wrote about life in our town celebrating some great places that deserve to be recognized.
Yesterday was a celebration.
It was also a reminder of how far into the woods we are in Maine, and we are hopeful Doug will find his way out. It was a tough day, according to Rhondi, and while some things are looking somewhat stable, others are still a mystery that only time will tell us what is going on. My heart is there with her.
I’m going to put it out there right now that if I am in a place where I don’t have any quality of life left and I’m just a body that breathes and doesn’t really communicate (and this me…I’m not alluding to anything about Doug), please pull the plug on me. Don’t let me linger here if I’m just floating along. Let me go.
If I can’t advocate for myself, please advocate for me and let me go. Keep me comfortable, of course, or just put a pillow over my face…I won’t care or know but let me go. If I can still talk to you and see the people I love, then keep me around. But if I don’t have a way to connect with my wife, kids, or friends, I don’t want to be here.
*****
Today I will make some music for a lot of the day. I need it, too. We have Freeze practice at 11. I’m stoked to get back in there and play the songs with the fellas and then I have Living Room Project a bit later in the afternoon. We’ve been off for a few months, so it will be fun to get back and at it, too.
The rest of the day will be resting and getting ready for the week.
*****
I have decided that December 31, 2024, will be the end for daily Ergonomic Mischief posts. I’m letting go of this format, at least posting every day, and turning my attention to a new website. This one will be similar in some regards, I’m sure, but very different in other ways.
I’ve had a blast with Ergonomic Mischief, and it will be hard to let it go in a lot of ways, but I already feel like I have overstayed my welcome. There is definitely unfinished business here, but as a daily driver, it’s time to let it rest. I appreciate everyone who has read it, though, and I’m going to go out with some sort of bang.
*****
Getting high on my own supply number 7…
In 2006, Rhondi and I were celebrating the birth of Teresa Quinn in June and later that summer, I got together with the other members of North Side Kings (NSK) and we recorded what would be our last record, Suburban Royalty. Because of TQ’s birth, I don’t really remember much of what the recording session was like for the record. I was there. I even sang back up vocals this time, but the details of the recording process are few and far between.
The good news is that I do really like the record when I listen to it now. I remember how fun it was to play those riffs and because we added Jason K. to the band on drums and Ryan B. on guitar, we were sounding great. It’s a really huge sounding record and I’m proud of it.
I do have a few memories here and there, actually.
I remember doing the cover of Anthrax’ “Among the Living.” That one was a lot of fun. I was definitely determined to play it well as I love the original, so I remember being really locked in during that particular track. I think I nailed it.
We played track two, “This Means War” a lot during our live shows, so we had that one down. It was the same for “My Sins,” as well. We were pretty tight at our shows in those days with the new additions to the band. 2006, though, especially the last half, is a blur.
I couldn’t sleep through TQ crying, so I would get up with her at night so Rhondi could sleep in. I was still working for Casa, so my schedule was a lot more flexible than Rhondi’s and we were definitely walking a fine line between being broke and having a little bit of extra cash, so she had to make it to work.
Some of the record, maybe all of it, come to think about it, had to be done before our wedding because we accidently played “Downtown at the Bar” during our wedding reception. Rhondi jumped over the table, or so it seemed, to push the FF button before it went too long.
The beginning of that song has Puerto Rican Myke from District 9, who is a friend of Danny’s, doing vocals on it about “bangin’ lines off the urinal” and dropping n-bombs. Not my proudest moment, but he is a man of color, so he can say those things, I suppose.
We still laugh about that little gaffe. A lot of these songs we had been working on for a few years by the time the record came out. “When Push Comes to Shove” is a fun riff to play. So is “Organizing Our Neighborhood” and “Thugcore.” When I listen now, I can sit back and smile a little bit. I am definitely proud of my time with NSK.
Luke did a great job with Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation.” He really belted it out in a pretty cool way. I probably didn’t give him enough props back at the time we made it, but he really did kill it. It’s a pretty fun cover. I think Drea played some guitar on that one, too, which made it even more fun. She used to play it with us live…at least a few times.
It’s wild how much of those years, 2005 and 2006 is kind of a blur to me. I was busy as hell with music, but so many other things were happening with my life. I guess I was going through some motions, although I know I put my all into the bands when I was at practice or playing shows.
At that point, this was the third or fourth project I had done at Villain with Byron. I didn’t know then that I would be doing a whole lot more there with The Father Figures. In 2006, I don’t think I could have even foreseen what was to come for me.
I do miss making new music with the NSK guys, though, even still. Hopefully we will make more music together before it is all said and done.
*****
See you soon.
NSK lyrics made into ducks by AI.
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