Wednesday November 4 2020

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Running errands – buying coffee and biscuits at Three Ships – picking up groceries at Kroger.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Biscuit with Butter and Jam. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Spinach. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers. Busy day of scheduling and stuff. We’re planning to open up on Fridays now cause that’s how much the business is growing.

 

Back home. Cooking dinner with Ana: Vegan Burgers with Brussel Sprouts and Carrots.

In the living room watching the pilot episode of Ratched (2020).

 

Cleaning up things.

 

Playing DOOM.

 

Tuesday November 3 2020

Waking up around 11:30 a.m.

 

Cereal with Blueberries and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Catching up on all kinds of MM business – emails, payments, scheduling.

 

Cleaning the shower.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Chips. Coffee.

Watching Unsolved Mysteries (2020).

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers. It’s one of those times I have to be a therapist first then a teacher. One of my teen students sheds tears about how overwhelmed she is with parental expectations and school stuff.

 

Leftovers for dinner.

 

Catching up on more business and relaxing.

 

Monday November 2 2020

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Another workout session with Vlad.

 

Vega Banana Protein Drink.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Chips. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Back home. Ana cooked a real nice dinner: homemade Tomato Soup with Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, and Kale. I open up some Sardines to go with.

We watch Addams Family Values (1993).

 

Cleaning up the kitchen.

 

Green Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Later on, Ana comes into my room with heavy existential issues on her heart.

 

Sunday November 1 2020

Waking up at 11 a.m. We gained an hour of sleep cause of daylight savings, which is nice.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Got all 3 band rehearsals today from noon to five. PB&J and Coffee break somewhere in there.

 

Back home. Catching up on business.

 

Ana cooked dinner earlier in the day: Pumpkin Curry Lentils with Quinoa, Broccoli, and Carrots. I warm some bread to go with – an absolutely delicious meal.

 

Doing the accounting.

 

Chilling with Ana and the cat later.

 

Saturday October 31 2020

Waking up around noon. Had a dream mom was still alive – I tend to have these often. In the dream it’s like she survived past death but is still sick.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Meeting with Jordan and Kay at the MOCA to look over the sound and light system in the auditorium. Meanwhile, people are setting up for a wedding.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Biscuit with Butter and Jam. Kale. Chips. Coffee.

Watching an episode of Unsolved Mysteries (2020).

 

Running errands.

 

 

After Ana gets off work we head to The Alley where Three Ships and Pink Dinghy are. They invited everyone here for an outside jam session in celebration of Chase who recently passed. Zack, from Snake Mountain Revival, set up a couple drum sets with an organ, guitars, a marimba, mics, and percussion instruments. Everybody just hops on things creating a beautiful unified jam right under the bright lit moon. It’s a perfect Halloween night.

 

 

Friday October 30 2020

 [i]

Waking up around 11:50 a.m.

 

Cereal with Blueberries and Almond Milk.

 

Catching up on business and promoting the show for tonight.

 

Searching for a vest at the thrift store but no luck. Instead I employ Ronnie to borrow his ruffled shirt and vest from last year.

 

Packing up and driving out to Norfolk.

...

PB&J. Coffee.

 

Tonight is the big night for Fleetwood Massacre. We’re here at Smartmouth setting up for the Halloween Rock n Roll Revue featuring October Gurls (Big Star), George Harrison’s Ghost Band, and us. I spend a lot of time working on logistics on stage and figuring out how to rig the iPads and cameras in the back to live stream the entire show.

...

Both bands before us perform a tight set of songs. The crowd is all seated and socially distanced with masks on anytime they’re moving around. It works out pretty well in that regard.

Then, we hop on stage and do an hour’s worth of Fleetwood Mac. Everyone of us jives together and everything comes together in the end with a few hiccups. So much energy and liveliness. We were fortunate to recruit Chris Remaley to help out on drums for a couple songs – he fits in perfectly.

 

---

[i] Images by Joe Justice.

Thursday October 29 2020

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Ana and I do a workout together with Vlad.

 

Vega Banana Protein Shake.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Avocado. Kale. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Off work I snack on an Apple and deliver the drum set to Smartmouth. They’re going to need it here for afternoon when Cole’s band practices. Meanwhile, Ana is having her Community Witch band practice.

...

I head over to Cogan’s to link up with her after for Pizza. Skippy just so happens to be here. But then it’s just Ana and I with our pizza, garlic knots, and a couple of blue beers (which she doesn’t care for). We’re sitting on a picnic table outside – she vents to me about her band and all the conflicts that arise at times.

 

Wednesday October 28 2020

 

Waking up around 11:40 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Running errands – picking up some coffee beans and pastries from Three Ships – groceries at Trader Joe’s.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Biscuit with Butter and Jam. Kale. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Coffee.

Watching Fargo (1996).

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Ana and I both get off work at the same time. We head over to The Pink Dinghy for dinner and show our support for this place – Chase, one of the owners and friend/legend of the community, passed away recently. They just opened up for tonight and tomorrow. Enjoying Sweet Potato Empanadas and Bean Pupusas.

 

Then, the final Fleetwood Mac band rehearsal at Music Makers. The whole band is here. We run through the whole set very smoothly then pick and choose tunes that need polishing. But overall we’re ready!

 

Staying behind to change a snare drumhead and pack up a few things.

 

Green Tea and Cookies.

 

Tuesday October 27 2020

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Cereal with Blueberries and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

The phones are blowing up with cancelations and scheduling issues.

 

Ana and I drive over to Great Neck Rec to vote! This year because of Covid things they’ve organized early voting all across the city. It’s her first time being able to vote since she became a citizen. There’s a long spaced out line outside – we wait about an hour to fill in our ballots.

 

Making a quick lunch cause we’re just barely getting back in time.

Scrambled Eggs. Kale. Toast with Butter and Jam. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Chicken Pad Thai from Bangkok Garden for dinner.

Watching Fargo (1996).

 

Catching up on business.

 

Green Tea.

 

Playing DOOM.

 

Ana and I take the recycle out. Then, I practice a little drums at the studio.

 

Monday October 26 2020

Waking up at 11:40 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Workout session with Vlad – Ana tags along – we focus on a workout for her this time.

 

Vega Banana Protein Shake.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese and Jam. Kale. Chips. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Sharing dinner leftovers at home with Ana.

 

Fleetwood Mac rehearsal. We’re feeling almost over prepared at this point but we’re locked into an hour headlining set so we gotta know what we’re doing.

 

Staying back after rehearsal to sort and organize things.

 

Back home. Catching up on business. Green Tea.

 

Playing DOOM.

 

Sunday October 25 2020

Waking up around noon.

 

Cereal with Blueberries and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Gotta coach two MMLIVE bands – teen band and adult band. With Devon’s help things go smoothly. PB&J break somewhere in there with a Nitro Cold Brew Coffee.

 

At the studio organizing and setting up all the gear we brought in from last night’s gig.

 

Warming up leftovers for dinner: BBQ Jackfruit/Tempeh on a bun with Tomato, Lettuce, Carrots, and Kale.  Meanwhile, Ana’s here on her work break eating a decent microwave dinner and watching old Addams Family episodes on her phone.

 

Running late night errands – getting groceries at Kroger. I’m so grateful there’s actually a grocery store open late at night for people like me.

 

Catching up on business. Green Tea.

 

Later on, after Ana gets off work we make Cinnamon Rolls and watch a touching and inspiring episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

 

Saturday October 24 2020

Waking up around noon.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, and Almond Milk. Breakfast Tea.

 

Time to load up the vehicles with all the music gear.

 

Driving out to Smartmouth in Norfolk for a Musicplayer gig. They’re celebrating their 8^th anniversary with a Magic 8 IPA. Nate Sacks performs just outside while we set up.

 

I’m out of practice doing all this setting up. Not since last February have we played a real gig. Trying to remember our system of which cords go where and everything.

 

We do 3 sets of all our familiar tunes with a few fresh ones. Tristan Stewart’s here in support as usual. And more of our friends show up later. This little girl about 5 years old, Beatrice, isn’t afraid to dance and get on the stage with a shaker. We corral this drunk frat guy to play drums on Rebel Rebel but he has a hard time keeping the rhythm. Later on, we get Stacey to jam out on Satisfaction, which goes much smoother. Anthony and Miah’s birthdays are this weekend also. He comes up and we play that Sugar Ray song.

 

Afterwards, everybody helps load out the gear to the cars.

 

Meeting up at Anthony and Miah’s apartment down the street for a party. It’s nice to see all the old 1623/1435 crew.

 

 

Friday October 23 2020

Waking up around noon.

 

Cereal with Strawberries and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Running errands with Ana.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Coffee (almost until I spilt it!).

 

Setting up the rehearsal spot for one MMLIVE band rehearsal (the kids band). They’re a handful but it is very productive.

 

Back home. Ana starts up dinner. I was gonna burn some calories on the basketball courts but it’s too crowded there. Instead, I do some things at Music Makers.

 

Enjoying dinner that Ana made: Sloppy Jacks, as we like to call them. BBQ Jackfruit and Tempeh with Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower.

 

Later on, at the studio Ana and I practice any songs we need to work on in preparation for tomorrow’s gig.

 

Catching up on things back home.

 

Thursday October 22 2020

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, and Almond Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

Workout session with Vlad.

 

Vega Banana Protein Shake.

 

Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Popped Chips. Coffee.

Watching Unsolved Mysteries (2020).

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Leftover Vegetable Soup with Baguette.

 

Fleetwood Mac rehearsal – productive and fun as usual.

 

Back home. Josiah texted me about a virtual live show out in the west coast with our band friends Levitation Room. Ana and I put it on in the living room. Enjoying the 60’s sideburn vibes with a Cinnamon Roll and Green Tea.