Excerpt Time!

Spent some time writing tonight. Not a whole lot I can share at this point, but I did write some "funny" stuff. The term "funny" is relative, I guess. At any rate, here is an excerpt, and then I am, most certainly, off to bed.

Anyway, the excerpt, from Devil's Handiwork:

My head felt like a two hundred-piece drum line playing "Wipeout" on constant repeat had taken up residence inside it. Tequila was so not my thing. Coupled with the headache were the waves of heat radiating off the asphalt at the Reno airport. Jess said he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy who had a private jet and who owed Jess a favor. Something about erasing IRS debt. Who knew?

Between Jess and me, we’d devised Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. By the time we were planning Plans D through F, though, we had polished off two fifths of tequila. Our grand scheme of taking a few million dollars from the Council and spending it on a chain of Mexican restaurants that only served tequila didn’t sound so good to me today. Sounded like the best plan ever, then, though.

Though You're Probably Not Interested...

I've been both domestic and hard-working today. I started working on the That Bytes web design. I dealt with a client all day. And then, I made baked Mac & Cheese. From scratch. Here's my recipe, which I made up myself:

Boil pasta until al dente.

In large sauce pan, combine 2 cups milk with 1 egg. Blend with a whisk. Over medium heat, stir in 1/2 cup of flour. Whisk until very warm but not boiling. You can vary the cheeses, but I used bags of pre-shredded cheese, including: colby & monterey jack, pizza blend (cheddar, mozzerella, colby, swiss, and jack), and mozzerella cheese. Add cheese to warmed milk mixture by fingerfuls. Continue stirring. Total amount of cheese added should be about 2 cups, plus or minus to taste. When cheese is fully melted, add sauce to drained pasta in a casserole or other baking pan. Top with more shredded cheese, crushed crackers, and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cheese is browning and bubbly on top. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Serves about 6 people.

I'm so, so domestic.

Went into the studio yesterday and recorded scratch vocals and scratch guitar tracks. I did really really well, and, yes, I got a CD of what I did to practice harmony parts. But I am not showing that off yet. Soon.

Et Cetera

I rehearsed for the producer... it went well, but I wanted to change the time I would be going in Sunday from noon to, say, 3PM, so that I could have the opportunity to warm up. Well, it was a good thing I called 'cause he cancelled it.

I also did some writing, and completely re-did Kenny's boss' web site.

Here's some decent stuff from Devil's Handiwork:

I grabbed the beer and made my way around the counter and to the stairwell. I heard the whirring, buzzing, and clicking of a computer geek in his native environment below, and descended into the darkness.

Basements are normally cool and slightly damp, but basements in the desert are only mildly more comfortable than a mineshaft in the middle of August with one hundred percent humidity. Jess’ basement apartment had three rooms connected by a mineshaft-like tunnel. The ceilings still bore pick marks and the burnt scars of blasting, probably the only way of getting through the dense rock. Immediately to my left was a "bathroom," if you could call it that. A manhole-like drain marked the lowest point of the slate-tiled floor, and, behind it, a toilet that probably pre-dated my grandparents sat lopsided against some black pipes. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in sixty or so years.

I Used My Gig Money To...

...buy an armoire. I found it on Craigslist this afternoon. Kenny went and got it. It is cedar. It took a lot twisting and turning to get it into the bedroom, but it is exactly what I wanted. Cost me $250 of my $300, but it was worth it.

Here is the best stuff I wrote tonight, from Devil's Handiwork:

There is nothing but sagebrush, dirt, and rocks in Ione, Nevada. Well, there are a few people to cater to the tourists who come to see the fossils at the nearby state park or one of the numerous "ghost" towns from the mining booms. I had to smile at the thought as I parked the truck in front of the bar. No one knew ghosts the way I knew ghosts.

A trickle of sweat snaked its way down my spine as I exited the truck. The Nevada desert in July was not a pleasant place to be; I couldn’t fathom why Jess had decided to hide out here when there were plenty of other – more temperate – hidey-holes of desolation. I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulder and made my way into the bar. The air conditioning was on high, instantly freezing the sweat to my skin.

"Yellow."

I glanced up at the bartender, inwardly grinning at the accented way he’d greeted me. "Hey," I said. "Got a beer back there?"

"Yup," he said. He reached beneath the counter and placed a can on the counter.

The barstool's vinyl seat immediately adhered itself to my bare thighs.

Shows and Tells

We had some pretty fun shows over the holiday. We played at the Kalispel Indian Reservation and then at a private party later. I got up at about 9 AM on Wednesday and took my time choosing an outfit, getting ready and just generally preparing myself for the show. It was hot out. Over 90 degrees, I'm sure. Anyway, so they load up the drums and equipment and stuff and we head off.

Get to the venue at about 2 PM We find out where they want us to set up, and we get our things all ready to go and whatnot. There is about 1,500 people gathered around. We played a couple of short sets and got paid. We did really well. My Mom (who was watching the kids while we played) said that she could hear every part of the band everywhere on the grounds, and that people were really enjoying it. At 6PM, we broke down all the equipment and headed back to our place. We got the drummer's truck unloaded and he took off. We loaded the PA monitors, one of Kenny's amps, my amp, our cords and things, Kenny's Les Paul and my acoustic guitar into the Daihatsu, and Mom and Dad took off 'cause Dad had to go to bed early 'cause he had to get up at 2AM.

Got our stuff unloaded and set up and started playing. Mind you, all day long, I've had half a hot dog to eat. I'm starving after about an hour of this, and the bugs are eating me. I feel dizzy from my hypoglycemia, and finally take a break to pilfer some food from the buffet. I had half a chicken sandwich before we started playing again. About 20 minutes into our second set, the Priest River fireworks started. We had a great view of the whole valley and all the fireworks, but they looked miniscule from our vantage point, and we all kind of felt gypped out of our 4th of July celebration. Anyway, we finished up our set, got paid by our appreciative hosts, and set off for home.

Came home and ate a little bit of leftover rice while I watched the end of The Patriot on TV. Finally got to go to bed at about 2AM. I took the kids swimming out at McAbee Falls. The water was fantastic, but there was this weird, creepy guy there that was making me uncomfortable, so we left a little earlier than I had planned. On the way home, I got pulled over on Peninsula Road for going 55MPH in a 35MPH zone. I got off with a warning because - the cop said - the kids were all in seatbelts.

Wild Weekend

I had quite a weekend. I got up Friday morning and went shopping with Mom while the Twins stayed here with the kids.

Got back out to Mom and Dad's and Dad was home from work. By the time we left, a huge thunderstorm was brewing overhead. Within a mile down the road, we went from bright sunshine to pounding rain and howling winds... winds that were maybe 60 MPH at times. As I drove down the Shingle Mill Hill, the wind pushed trees to the ground all around us; I had to swerve and drive off the road a couple of times to avoid the debris. Five miles later, as we were just entering Priest River, the storm stopped. The power was out, and branches and trees were down everywhere. I got home, and the power was out here, too. I had just spent $300 on groceries, and I was pretty pissed that they might go bad because I didn't have refrigeration. But, I got all the groceries put away, and then got a call to go play a show at Stateline Tavern in Oldtown... just me an Kenny, acoustically.

So, I got ready (in the dark, no less) and went to the bar where Kenny was setting stuff up. The power came back on just as Dad and I got there. We finished setting up and started playing. The people were really responsive, and we had a great show. We performed really, really well, and had a blast. The bartender told us that she made more than double what she usually makes on Friday nights with karaoke, and that the owner might make me and Kenny's duo thing a regular thing on Fridays. She said she'd know more Monday after she talked with the owner. After the show, I drove my aunt and uncle home, and then drove my Dad home. As we went through Priest River, it was like driving through the remnants of a city after the apocalypse. There wasn't any power anywhere. There were no cars on the streets. It was completely black and empty. It was a little scary, to be honest. Especially thinking about the state of this country's energy dependancy... and the whole global warming thing... and how much we rely on our power and electricity... what if it was gone? This is what it would be like all the time.... Very scary stuff.

So, I came home, ate some cookies, and went to bed. I don't know what time it was when I went to sleep, but I got up at about 9 AM Saturday and made coffee, got cleaned up, drank some coffee, and made chocolate chip cookies for an friend. Then, I went and picked out my "formal" outfit for the show Saturday night. I went and fixed my hair all up in a cute upswept style with cascading curls, and then did my make-up and went to get dressed. Two people had to help me get into the get up. It was a black damask/brocade kinda dress that went to my knees and is very low cut. And very tight around the rib cage. But it accentuated all the right things, and hid all the bad things, and I looked AMAZING. We got everything loaded and to the show site and started setting up.

We sounded awesome and totally rocked. We got asked back for another show on August 11th. But it was BUTT-ASS COLD out there once the sun set. Sheesh! I haven't been that cold in a LONG time. I couldn't feel my thumb on my right hand at all, and, by the end of the night, the ends of my fingers on my left hand were very, very sore just from pressing on cold metal strings in the cold. And the location of the Dumpster out back in relation to the band stand and the wind coming from a certain direction made for some rather unpleasant breathing experiences.

After the show, we all came back to my house and unloaded equipment and I fed everybody, and we all sat around and talked for an hour or so. Dad drove himself home after eating and sobering up a little bit. He called me when he got home to let me know he'd made it home safe. I almost fell asleep in the recliner, but managed to make it to bed - fully dressed - and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.