Jazzlife - because all of life is jazz

It’s a challenge trying to post when fatigue wants you to sleep…

I went out to get some groceries today, thanks to help from a friend. Spending most of my time indoors has left me with a bit of cabin fever.

I also worked on the Mind Map for another new project. With my latest Apacalypse zine in, I wanted to start working on the next one. Re-reading old issues of another rpg APA I used to be part of, it saddened me to see the breadth of output from others… compared to it, I really haven’t been producing that much. This has to change.

Sorry it’s been 5 days since my last update here… my current relapse is making it harder to type - although I seem pretty fast hen-pecking with my left-hand alone. :]

I had to cancel out of a few things because of this… not being able to put much weight on that arm makes it hard to walk (I need a cane in each hand for balance), and my current building has stairs; when I get Adapted Housing, I won’t have that problem to deal with.

Meanwhile, Unemployment screwed me over: I’d been told it would start in 3 weeks; this is the third, and no money. I called in, to find out it starts next week; according to the person I spoke to, the person who gave me a date couldn’t make decisions… that makes me feel so much better.

This has probably been mentioned all over, but I wanted to note it here as well:

Cartoon pioneer William Hanna dead at 90

As a graduate of animation school, the limited nature of this work bothered me… but you can’t demean the appeal and recognition of The Flintstones or Scooby-Doo, or any of the hundreds of other characters created by Hanna and Barbera.

A pity: I just tried to locate songs by The House Jacks through Bearshare with no luck. I know that former member Austin Willacy has a solo career going now, as he had an MP3 available on Tucows last year. I can’t find the band’s CDs anywhere though.

A cappela is a music style I enjoy almost as much as Jazz. I’ve heard some tremendous pieces by people singing without any instruments, their voices filling in all the sound.

I achieved a personal victory today: I produced my first Pagemaker document! It took a little bouncing between a tutorial book and the program, and I’m sure my document isn’t the most impressive looking ever made yet… but mostly I was pleased with how easily it came together.

That I was able to do it 1.5-handed too (I’m in a relapse, and my right arm is a bit fuzzy) was a good sign too.

The second day of spring today, and Mother Nature is playing a mean prank on us…

It started to snow again this morning. 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) of the white stuff, so far not melting away.

To think: yesterday, I was seeing a large percentage of the winter snows gone, my mood improving tremendously… Mother Nature, you can be cruel sometimes!

Blogging does have a negative side-effect: such rapid updating often leads to sloppy proof-reading.

I’ve been guilty of this far too many times: hours or even days after posting something to a Blog, I re-read it and discover tons of typos that I let slip by.

Frustrating, because I’m a Website designer by trade. Proofing pages before uploading is something I double- and even triple-check usually… yet I still make mistakes here.

Village Peoples leatherman dies. I tracked down his name now: Glenn Hughes.

“All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray. I went for a walk… at the YMCA…”

Sad news yesterday of the death of two parts of my pop-culture heritage. I wanted to commemorate both yesterday, but a system freeze kept me from doing so.

John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas was announced dead from heart failure yesterday, at the age of 65.

When I was a subway singer, “California Dreamin’” was a staple for me. The harmonies, the lyrics… they were just special. “Monday Monday” was also a great song.

Although the group only had 5 songs known, they were still a part of the cultural fabric of my life, and he will be deeply missed.

What drives it home even more: my dad is only 62 (not that 65 was that old). He just had heart surgery last November.

Unnamed (for now) from The Village People. I feel awful that I don’t have his name handy right now, but I’ll track it down. He was even younger: a mere 51.

True, the Village People get a lot of snorts of derision for their style of music, its sexual implications, or the fact the group didn’t know how to play instruments… but can you think of a wedding or Bar Mitzvah which you didn’t hear “YMCA” at in the past decade or so? Remember the karaoke gag using them in Wayne’s World 2?

If anything, no matter the jokes, they brought FUN to the music scene. He will also be missed.

The first day of spring today. How sad that it had to start with good-byes.

I went out a few minutes ago to get myself lunch. The snow is continuing to melt, the weather is milder than we’re used to…

Ghod willing, this means winter is ending.

Granted, we’ve had much colder winters in the past. I think that after the last few mild ones, we just aren’t prepared to handle a real one.

Still, even though summertime leaves me frazzled too, I won’t cry once there’s no more snow or ice on the ground.