:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Saturday, November 24, 2007 ::

I just saw this quote on the Chris Seefried website, had to b/log it for future reference:

"Nervous breakdown ...
a highly underrated method of spiritual transformation"

Almost wrote another song this evening, but decided I was too tired to start that process just now. Thanksgiving went well. Had it here, been a while, enjoyed the good people energy. Still munching on leftovers. The weather has turned freezing. Looking forward to the next two days off. Gonna sleep some.

:: Anne 10:28 PM [smartass remarks] ::
...

One of my favorite films, American Beauty, is about people's secret lives (all the best stories are). Sometimes it's possible to find another or few with whom there is some overlap-- enough for a little understanding. I know we keep parts of ourselves to ourselves for security, and some of those parts we never share, of course. But it is interesting to watch what happens when people reveal parts of their secret lives. It can make for a 'spectac-ular' film.

I think people would be surprised at what I'm thinking most of the time. I'm not sure why, but people really like to make negative assumptions about me and my thoughts or motives. And much of the time, they're dead wrong. And being misunderstood is one of my greatest dreads [which often doesn't help my attitude toward people's misconceptions, a la vicous circle...]. People don't listen, though. They make up their minds and then act upon their own thoughts as if they were truths. Reductio ad absurdum.

I say this because last night at a gathering, someone made an ignorant remark that lumped me in with a group of people and then ridiculed that group. Most who were within earshot laughed at the remark as they looked at me. I tried to point out that this wasn't a kind thing to say, and in fact was something called 'profiling,' which has all of the same ingredients found in things like racism, sexism, and homophobia. The person who made the remark replied with something akin to See? This proves my point-- you're ______ just like I said. There was nothing I could say or do to undo what had been said about me and or what people thought as a result. And I felt powerless, ridiculed, and discriminated against. And worse, misunderstood. All because of something mean that someone said about me. When I asked why, she said, "Because it's funny." I said I didn't feel like laughing.

This is a good reminder that even though you hang out with a group of people who as a whole try to be tolerant and accepting, there are going to be individuals who will cut you down anyway, and members of the group will follow. It was amazing how fast 40-&-50-year-olds regressed to grade school behavior, making jokes at someone's expense unapologetically, and then rubbing salt in that wound, all for the entertainment of their peers. I guess it made them feel better about themselves to put me down. I will not be going out with that group again.

:: Anne 5:30 PM [smartass remarks] ::
...

After a couple of months of toying with the idea, knowing I wanted to do it, but researching every detail so that I could do it up right, I finally took the plunge last night and bought a second monitor for the studio computer. And it's amazing. I got it for a song at Best Buy, as it's an LG discontinued model, but it's a beautiful 19" flat screen.

And it feels like tons of space, after using just the 17" for 3 years. I swapped it out for the 19" last night, as they both have VGA-ended cables, but as soon as I score a VGA-to-DVI-D adapter, I can plug one into the second port on my GeForce video card and thar she blows: 2 monitors. I can't believe everybody doesn't do this.

:: Anne 8:00 AM [smartass remarks] ::
...

Just a byte on the television writers' strike-- why they're striking
and how it's tied to the evolution of television.... well said.

:: Anne 12:21 AM [smartass remarks] ::
...

Watch out, here comes a rationalization. Yesterday I took some of my laptop savings and bought a new bass guitar. Why? Because I haven't found the right laptop yet. I can replace the money within the next couple of weeks and all systems will again be 'go.' I'm kinda waiting to see if Dell does indeed produce an XPS-line 15" [projected model# M1510 or 1530] mid-November.

Anyway, I've been wanting to replace my shitty 15-yr-old [bought used even then] Fender knock-off with all of its buzzes & quirks for several years now. So after a few days of research, I bought an actual Fender knock-off. It is a Fender, but it's their low-end company [Gibson has Epiphone, Fender has Squier]-- which is actually better than a lot of crap out there and suits me just fine. So here's what I bought [at left]: the maple-body modified 70's jazz bass. The thinner neck and satin finish seem to aid speed and dexterity, and the two single-coil pick-ups add a bit of range [whereas the old bass had a single split-coil pick-up]. I am enjoying it immensely. It sounds okay through my Traynor BLOC80B amp [80 watts], but for some reason, it seemed to sound clearer through a Peavey 35-watt amp. Hmm-- there lies the question: Should I give up wattage for clarity and make a trade? I'm not giggin' with it, so I don't need volume. I need quality of sound for studio recording. I'll have to think on that. With the trade-in, I'd still be looking at spending a couple hundred bucks, especially if I jump up to a Fender 50W.

Toys toys toys. Anyway, the house has been cleaned in prep for moving the recording gear back out into the living room for a bit. I've done a bit of acoustic recording in the studio lately, and I've been wanting to try some electric guitar through the Lexicon MX300 processor. In the next two weeks, I have a couple of 2-&-3-day strings of time where I can delve into that more in the way that I prefer-- timelessly.

:: Anne 12:30 PM [smartass remarks] ::
...