Archive for March 2008
Crackin’ Up
March 27, 2008, 2:26 pm
—Greg | 1 comment
(posted in the rockin' category)
A Little Stinkin’ Fresh Air…
March 26, 2008, 4:11 amMan, there is nothing in the world that feels better than quitting a job. Knowing that you’re not going to go back there, asserting that you’re better than the circumstances you are in, rejecting the hand that shoves money at you (not much money or else you wouldn’t be quitting) and walking outside on a sunny spring day to head off to the next thing. It’s great to no longer have that commitment.
This was just a part time job of course, so it’s like a little bump compared to the heart-stopping rail of quitting a full-time job. Still, it felt great. I’ll miss the kids because they’re cute. The ladies who worked there and took care of the kids weren’t. The man that runs the place is definitely not. He asked me really nicely if I could maybe ask somebody I knew if they’d do it (more…)
—Greg | no comments
(posted in the teachin' category)
Writing Songs
March 25, 2008, 4:54 pmLately I’m rasslin’ with a new problem: how to write songs. It’s not a new problem, not for me or anybody, and actually I wrote songs before, but it’s the rasslin’ that’s new. Writing songs is a lot harder than everybody thinks, unless of course you’re the Knack and you come up with a guitar riff that writes itself and becomes a big hit but ultimately ruins your career… well, enough about that, I just watched the video again… anyway, the point is that there’s a lot that goes into writing songs, and I’m not talking about pouring your heart out, trying to think of rhymes or working out symphonic arrangements… it’s not rocket science to write songs, but the big difficulty is that you write something and it’s perfectly like you wanted it, bad as all hell and just like all the bad-as-hell stuff your favorite bands write, and you can’t wait to record it and show it off… then the next day, you look at your notebook and your hastily scribbled notes, try to (more…)
—Greg | no comments
(posted in the rockin' category)
a little Sunday television… the story of My Sharona.
March 23, 2008, 6:53 amThis is way too cool to not watch.
(more…)
—Greg | no comments
(posted in the rockin' category)
Momo’s Last Lesson… All Hail The Electone!
March 22, 2008, 2:51 pmToday was the last lesson for Momo Tanaka. She and her mom and all their pianos and things are moving to Saitama next week, which is out of the range of my teaching (but not too far out, I’m sad to say). I’ve had some good times with Momo (age 9) and some little faux pas miscommunications with her mom, who seems like an all around cool lady, in spite of her ability to turn every thing I say into some kind of criticism or judgment about her life. This is an uncanny ability that many Japanese people have. For example, you pull the cuffs of your sleeves up a little bit and then they turn up the heater. You didn’t know it, but you just told them that it’s cold in here, and they responded by warming it up. Life in Japan, especially life teaching in people’s houses, is like that. But with Mrs. T, it goes way beyond that.
For example, last week we were doing a game where me and Momo hide all the animal cards around (more…)
—Greg | no comments
(posted in the teachin' category)
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