I don't think I'd do grrrrrreat

I grew up poor. If I discover a skill or invent something that gets me a billion dollars, somewhere along the way I'm going to screw up. I don't have any training or role models to help me determine how to deal with that much money. So yeah, somewhere, somehow, I'd do something monumentally stupid.

Fore

"Hello. I'm Tiger Woods.

I'm the best in the world at what I do. Because of that, I'm going to pretend it's normal that the world throws obscene amounts of money at me. The world, in turn, is going to pretend it's perfectly OK to examine my life under a microscope, hashing and rehashing details so mundane they wouldn't make page 6 in the Podunk Gazette, then pondering, speculating and outright fabricating stuff they missed in the microscope.

And by mutual consent the world and I are going to pretend that this relationship isn't batshit crazy.

Love and bruises,

T"

Geekdom v2.0

I finally see some progress in guitar. I've learned a couple of really nice blues riffs that allow me to improvise, and I'm learning a song by George Harrison - one of my all-time favorite artists!

I've noticed some major differences between music (at least the amateur side of it) and my previous obsession: magic. First, there are canonical methods for learning music. With guitar, for example, you start by learning a few basic (open) chords, then you learn some scales - usually starting with pentatonic, but that probably varies by teacher. You then practice various scales, including chromatic scales just to learn how things sound up and down the neck of the guitar. Then you start putting things together, and learning how rhythm and melody fit into the mix.

In magic there really aren't any such methods, with a couple of exceptions. Mostly it's haphazard: learn a trick here, a couple more there, get a business card, turn pro. :-)

Other differences are in the attitudes of the people I've run across. Magicians seem to be a whole lot of broken social misfits. And yes, if you're asking, I include myself squarely in the "broken social misfit" camp, if no longer in the magical one. Musicians, on the other hand, seem to be mostly more easygoing, with fewer neuroses. I'm not sure if it's the whole "soothes the savage breast" thing, or if music just attracts a different sort of person. In other words, I'm not sure if it's a cause or an effect.

Then again, before taking any of this too seriously, please look at the very top of this page and keep the blog title in mind.

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P.S.

Welcome to new reader and old friend Eve. Our email exchanges have been fun.

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P.P.S.

To paraphrase Paul's mother in Dune, it's interesting that I hold up a general garment and some claim it's cut to their fit.

Better Man (reprise)

Tomorrow is my birthday; one I share with, among others, Eddie Vedder (the day, not the year).

How old am I? If you're into magic, tomorrow I'll be the Queen of Spades in Simon Aronson's stack. If you're not into magic, I will be the hexagram "Welling," or "The Well" in the I Ching

Can't find a better man

Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra
Louis I, Duke of Bavaria
Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (d. 1577)
King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
Severo Bonini, Italian composer (d. 1663)
Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d. 1639)
Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier (d. 1676)
Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (d. 1678)
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1682)
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (d. 1755)
Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)
Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet (d. 1803)
King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (d. 1827)
Tsar Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)
Jean François Champollion, French Egyptologist (d. 1832)
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d. 1869)
Joseph Smith, Jr., American founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1844)
Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d. 1889)
Wilhelm Bauer, German engineer (d. 1875)
Richard Conner, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (d. 1924)
Henry B. Guppy, British botanist (d. 1926)
Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d. 1890)
Madam C.J. Walker, American philanthropist and tycoon(d. 1919)
Stephen Timoshenko, Ukrainian-born mechanical engineer (d. 1972)
Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d. 1964)
Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (d. 1956)
Otto Soglow, American comics artist (d. 1975)
Norman Maclean, American author (d. 1990)
Avraham Stern, Polish-born Zionist leader (d. 1942)
Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born, Canadian portrait photographer (d. 2002)
Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)
James Gregory, American actor (d. 2002)
Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany
José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d. 2001)
Guy Beaulne, French Canadian actor and theatre director (d. 2001)
Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (d. 2001)
Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist
Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral (d. 2005)
Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (d. 1954)
Robert Bly, American poet
Chronis Aidonidis, Greek singer
Chet Baker, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1988)
Ronnie Schell, American actor
Akihito, Emperor of Japan
Paul Hornung, American football player
Esther Phillips, American singer (d. 1984)
Frederic Forrest, American actor
Barney Rosenzweig, American television producer
Bob Kahn, American Internet pioneer
Jorma Kaukonen, American musician
Robert Labine, former mayor of old city of Gatineau, Quebec
Eugene Record, American singer (The Chi-Lites) (d. 2005)
Tim Hardin, American musician (d. 1980)
John Peterman, American fashion designer
Mikhail Gromov, Russian-born mathematician
Harry Shearer, American actor
Ron Allen, baseball player
Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (d. 1987)
Silvia Sommerlath, Queen of Sweden
Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
Ron Bushy, American drummer (Iron Butterfly)
Edita Gruberova, Slovak operatic soprano
Susan Lucci, American actress
Heikki Lahtinen, Finnish race walker
Jack Ham, American football player
Adrian Belew, American musician
Michael C. Burgess, American politician
Ilchi Lee, Korean educator and author
Anthony Phillips, British guitarist (Genesis)
William Kristol, American political commentator
Dave Murray, English guitarist (Iron Maiden)
Michele Alboreto, Italian Formula one driver (d. 2001)
Dan Bigras, Canadian singer
Trisha Goddard, English television presenter
Victoria Williams, American singer
Joan Severance, American actress
Geoff Willis, British engineer
Carol Smillie, British television personality
Keiji Muto, Japanese professional wrestler
Bertrand Gachot, Belgian racing driver
Jim Harbaugh, American football player
Donna Tartt, American author
Eddie Vedder, American musician (Pearl Jam)
Carla Bruni, Italian-French model, songwriter and singer
Martha Byrne, American actress
Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
Raymont Harris, American football player
Corey Haim, Canadian actor
Masayoshi Yamazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter
Michalis Klokidis, Greek footballer
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite
Agustín Delgado, Ecuadorian footballer
Sky Lopez, American actress
Vadim Sharifijanov, Russian ice hockey player
Brad Lidge, American baseball player
Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Greek footballer
Jamie Noble, American professional wrestler
Alge Crumpler, American football player
Jari Mäenpää, Finnish guitarist and singer
Paul Shirley, American basketball player
Andra Davis, American football player
Esthero, Canadian musician and singer
Jodie Marsh, British pornographic model
Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player
Estella Warren, Canadian model and actress
Summer Altice, American model and actress
Scott Gomez, American ice hockey player
Beth, Spanish singer
Michael Chopra, English footballer
Hanley Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
Harry Judd, British drummer (McFly)
Luke O'Loughlin, Australian actor
Eri Kamei, Japanese singer
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, American actress, model, and singer

Random thoughts on a random day

• It's hard for me to get motivated today, and I have to attend a slew of meetings. Coincidence?
  
• Tools can be used for either good or evil. The internet is a really powerful tool.
  
• Now that I'm not really working on magic any more I just had a routine I co-created published on an e-zine. Seems weird.
  
• I also came up with some effects using a strange little pen. Maybe I should quit magic more often.
  
• I'm continuing my odd obsession with autism and disability rights. (Side note: I wonder if this mention of autism will bring as many comments as the last one.)
  
• After a period of relative calm, my arthritic knees are acting up again. Sucks.
  
• I discovered a comedian (dead) that I really like, and it's spurred me to write more of my own. Comedy, that is.
  
• If I buy any more CDs I'm going to turn my house into a Sam Goody's.