Mondays Are My Days
I can’t remember exactly when I started having Mondays as my day off, but it’s been longer than just the music days. Before ever learning to play guitar or sing, I worked at Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill. Working Mondays as a server is a great way to get the full-time-lunch-waitress very mad at you. So really it started then. but now that I’m thinking about it, I skipped school almost every Monday during my later years in high school. No one likes Mondays, but these days, I do.
My normal Monday rise time is a little later than other days as I play every Sunday night down on West 7th at Landmark Bar and Kitchen. My brother started a Sunday songwriter night when he was still bartending and brought me on a couple years ago. We are going three years strong now and have featured well over 150 songwriters during that time. This coming Sunday, Oct. 17, we will be hosting an anniversary party that features a songwriting contest with $1000 in cash prizes. It’s been an emmise amount of work putting it all together, but on the other hand it’s been super easy and enjoyable to try and put something this badass together. I’d say that one of the benefits of having a brother for a general manager is when I ask for things, his brotherly love usually allows him to give me more than I would have ever expected.
I feel so grateful for Jason and the Landmark owners and crew as even during the darkest days of the economic shut down, we were up there working and I was getting paid. That meant that I could also hire a songwriter or two and pay them as well. At a time when people were adjusting to working for less or not working at all, here’s a place that gave those of us who wanted - no - needed to work a place to do it…and they didn’t skimp on the pay. That kind of approach to life is inspiring and I wanted to give back. I called up my brother the GM and told him I wanted to purchase a keg and a bottle so I could invite all previous performers up for free drinks on Oct. 17. I got the go ahead and was told I could buy them at cost. As the idea grew in everyone’s mind, Landmark called me back and said they wanted to do a contest and not only give away the free beer and bottle, but throw down $1000.
Some of my favorite movies are based around some sort of music contest - There’s The Blues Brothers (1980) , The Pick of Destiny (2006), That Thing You Do (1996), Wayne's World and 8 Mile (2002) to name a few. I still watch these when I’m feeling down. There’s prolly some more out there but these are the ones that stick with me.
Anyway $500 to 1st place is the biggest competition I’ve seen around DFW. I’ve played in some battle of the bands before and done some other competition style shows, but nothing awarding cash directly to the musician. 2nd place will get $300 and 3rd gets $200. For a Sunday night, the top prize is around double to a working wage. My only disappointment is that I cannot compete to win the money. It would be fun. Click here for all the details, to meet the judges and see all the badasses that will be competing in the competition
Like I was saying, I spent a lot of yesterday finalizing some promo pieces and attempting to highlight the fantastic individuals I seem to be surrounded by. I spent most of the morning hours doing that from - 8am until lunch - before I went out and ran my usual weekly errands; things like dropping off the laundry (I never get it folded and so resolved years ago to spend about 20-30 bucks a week for bundle service) at Ann’s Laundry, taking my shirts to the dry cleaning at A Plus Cleaners, going to HEB to use the automated teller at EECU or getting propane and other supplies for the garden at Arrow Feed and Ranch. There’s a new Mama’s Pizza in Granbury and I couldn’t resist, so while passing by I went and had the buffet. Lemme tell ya - that’s some great pizza dough.
When running around I try to wear some merch I’ve bought. I normally don’t wear anything with brand names showing and so I definitely don’t wear anything with some one else’s name on it. However, being a part of such a large and growing music scene, I’ve decided to start wearing T-Shirts out and supporting my people that way. Of course, I love to make the Facebook Post showing my buddies that I care about them and I’m thinking of them.
Yesterday I wore my Pioneer Tap House shirt that I got by trading away one of mine with the owner. I love it. It’s soft, fits well and the lettering is screen printed. My shirts are also top quality and very soft 50/50 blends, but it took me a few orders to even realize that the cotton shirts were low quality and everyone who really bought shirts knows it. I figure it out after washing one of my own the first time. A large becomes a medium in one wash and it keeps getting smaller from there. I use those shirts as shop rags at this point, the only thing they are good for.
Once I got the quality of my shirts up, they sell themselves. People buy them before shows, before ever hearing a note of my music, and I’m hopeful that them having a shirt will eventually lead to them checking some of my stuff out.
Running errands, for some reason tires me out - prolly the phat Indica spliff I’m smoking while getting things done - and so I get home around 2p and have a nap. Every time I nap I think of Spain and how much I love it there. I love the people I’ve met and the beauty that is Spain. Every day the entire country (except for shops run by Chinese immigrants) shut down for a couple hours from 3-5pm. Everyone spends an hour eating lunch from 2-3pm and then they go home for a nap, getting up to watch the afternoon news from 4-5pm before returning to work the second half of the day. Typically a worker will be off around 8pm and come home to have dinner at 9 before heading to bed around midnight.
In my opinion, it’s the perfect schedule, and I easily fall asleep for an hour or so - belly stuffed with Mama’s Pizza, errands run, camper clean, promo complete, calendar updated and laundry in the wash.
Waking up I feel lazy for some reason. Maybe it’s because I haven’t showered in at least a day. My camper is a little messy as it’s very cramped and my work space is just the small table usually reserved for eating. I must have had some weird thoughts going to sleep and had some strange dream. I can be hard on myself.
I bought a 10ft x 10ft shed last month to add some square footage to my environment. To get my computer and all this office stuff out into an actual office. I’ve spent the last month and any extra money enclosing the shed. I bought it used and it was already insulated and wired out, and although I bought it for a pretty good price, I spent another, unforeseen, $700 having it moved from Aledo to Granbury. It has been totally worth it though.
I’d like to get it finished out this month and start using it to do all the computer stuff, record videos and YouTube channel content, and even record my demos and preproduction stuff. I honestly can’t wait to show and tell you more about my shed.
So feeling the onset of the negative voice telling me I’m not good enough, I set out to Home Depot to buy some more supplies. I’m spending about $200/wk up there, and although it’s manageable, I can’t wait to finish and get back to spending that money on other things. Being my first project of this kind, I really have had no idea what to expect going into each portion of the project. I’ve never spent too much time at Home Depot. (I tried to use the Mom&Pop-Shop Pete’s, but I usually smell of marijuana when I go places, and the pop of this shop didn’t take too kindly to that.) I have learned for the amount of time I will ultimately spend using the power tools I have bought, the pawn shop was really the right choice. Things like a saws-all cost me $15 when a new one would be well over $100.
I loaded up the final role of Eco Cork Form that I would need. It’s mostly used for underlayment, but I’m using it for extra sound proofing on the walls. Then I wondered the isles for a minute looking for things I might need, selected some pieces of trim from the pinewood section. It’s sold by the stick and better than common wood and only a few cents more expensive, but I can’t help think about some of the beautiful east Texas and Oregon pines. I know if I had lived by them, I’d be cutting em down to use them anyhow. I move on from my guilt and grab a few more items and head out.
It’s impossible to get out of Home Depot for less than $100, and if you do, please let me know how.
The fall evening is cool and pleasant. The traffic on my street has died down and the ornamental lights in the yards are flickering on as the sun slowly disappears. I don’t unload the supplies all at once. I can’t forget this saying “Touch it once” or “How many times you gonna touch that today?”. The voice of Joe Chaney rings in my head.
I haven’t talked to him in years. Back when I was waiting tables, I took on a morning job. Used to get up at 4a to meet him and his son to go work on remodels and carpentry. One of their mottos was try not to touch a piece of material more than once, so I leave it always in the car and unload it as I need it. Of course this leads to me taking 8 pieces of particle board and 5 2x4s to a gig and making the entire loading in and out unbearable, but at least I get to remember my friend Joe.
Not having to run the a/c and being able to leave the door to the shed open, Dexter makes an appearance and scouts out the new turf. Thinking about the cats who were given official rank on old pirate ships as they proved to be indispensable from the fight against pest, I watch with fascination as Dexter patrols every inch of the room. I’ve built the walls out an extra four inches and what a joy it is to see Dexter attempt to find any possible way to get into the space he intuitively knows is right in front of him. He does the same thing around the camper, and intermittedly I have to entertain his pestering request to open every cabinet or door and give him access to every nook and cranny on our little ship.
Making substantial progress on the shed I head inside about 10:30. I’m fortunate to have nice lighting on my lot and could work outside at all hours if I wanted. I sit down at the computer, watch some of the late night talk show videos, think about eating something terrible. I pull out my phone, think of ordering a pizza or using Uber Eats to get something delivered. It’s so easy, so full of fats, sugars and salts…I think I could go for a couple chicken sandwiches and a chocolate milkshake from Chic-fila. I think, nah, I want some McDonalds or maybe even something nice like Mi Familia.
My mind races, the brain wants its sugars, salts and fats. Demands them even! My phone knows what time it is and prolly knows the last time I ate (I paid with my debit card and Facebook tracks my location) and PING! an ad reminding me that Uber Eats was almost closed and offering me a 40% coupon. Hilarious. But helpful? I donno. I settle for a Cliff bar I have and a glass of milk, roll a spliff and head to bed.
My bedtime routine isn’t so great. I usually smoke myself to sleep. Have long ago bought fire retardant sheets and frequently wake up to a smashed spliff under my back, which I usually roll over and light. Some of my most joyous spliffs happen in the wee small hours - when I’ve been awoke from a storm, I can’t fall back to sleep and roll over, turn on the light and there she is - a perfectly rolled spliff that has barely been smoked on. I must have fallen asleep directly after lighting it. I open the window, listen to the storm and smoke it down.
Fall in Texas is about as good as it gets. Things start to get green again, flowers bloom, the passion vine puts out new shoots and you can get a whole second round on your vegetables. I fall asleep smoking my spliff and listening to night time videos that repeat prayers and positive sayings and self affirmations. That shit works. Do not doubt that you can re program yourself. I have done it and continue to do it. I spent almost 5 years or so listening to James Allen’s As A Man Thinketh before anything really started changing. Of course I was adding in other experiences and books to companion that text, but it is that text and the thousands of times I’ve listened to it that have really made difference. I’ve now moved on to deeper texts and more biblical approaches of self examination and forgiveness of self and others.
The main take away from the James Allen book is his challenge to the reader to attempt to be good. His witty and jabbing way of saying, “Have you ever even tried being good? Are you certain that your bad fortune and current circumstance is really from you good character”.
I was more and more offended and unsettled each time I listened to the point I started to believe that my fortune was a product of my own actions. I was not a victim and it is my bad character that leads to my destitution. The more I lean on proving this theory, the more abundantly I live, the more opportunities come my way and the more prosperous I can see my future.
Oh yea, to think that I could use a magnetic lasso and cut out those 50+ pictures in only a few hours is crazy! As much as I’d love for you to think that I can do the impossible, what I did was use Canva.com. With their paid service is caulked full of advanced features doing things with the click of a button that even the best graphic artists couldn’t do at all just 5 years ago. Check it out. Enjoy!