Scary Drifter

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Well, ok . . . if it's perfect, you just go ahead and make it perfect. Since it's perfect. I changed mine breifly, but changed back. I think mine's perfect. But maybe I should make a perfect one . . .

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Hmmmm . . . 278 pages and I've never been here before. Curiouser and curiouser, said Drifter . . .

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I have 400 posts, and haven't gotten my HERO game off the ground yet. Now I've gone and pissed off established members of the community. What a terrible way for a noob to act. I am grumpy because my right hand, which has been rebuilt twice, woke me up the other night with a great deal of pain, out of nowhere. It hasn't done that in years. I splinted it up, and have been icing it, but haven't played guitar since Sunday morning. I hope I'm ready for rehearsal on Thursday. The bright side is, I've had a good deal of experience operating with only my left hand, so I'm functioning pretty well in everyday stuff. Has anyone else ever had to go one handed? Think about it - make a sandwich, pour a soda, open/close your zipper, roll a doobie (don't have to worry about that one anymore!), get money out of your wallet. Do your next post with only your off hand, and get a small sample.

Re: Musings on Random Musings yeah, he's bominable. And he comes from sturdy stock!

Re: A Thread for Random Musings My son is doing well. The drug ran its course, and he's fine - other than seeming a little high. Thank you, everyone, for the kind words and prayers. It means a lot.

Re: Musings on Random Musings My son is doing well. The drug ran its course, and he's fine - other than seeming a little high. Thank you, everyone, for the kind words and prayers. It means a lot.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Moody Blues it is. They wrote beautiful music and awesome lyrics.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Breathe deep the gathering gloom Watch lights fade from every room Bedsitter people look back and lament Another day's useless energy is spent Impassioned lovers wrestle as one Lonely man cries out for love and has none New mother picks up and suckles her son Senior citizens wish they were young Cold-hearted orb that rules the night Removes the colours from our sight Red is grey and yellow white But we decide which is right And which is an illusion

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Prayers and well wishes for my son would be appreciated. He has Tourette's Syndrome, and so of course gets his share of teasing. He has a great attitude though, and says if they don't understand then they have a problem, not him. But he got new medication teh other day, and today he had a real emotional rollercoaster of a day. Apparently he was crying so hard that his back started to spasm, and now his back is hurting him terribly. I'm sure the other kids will have a field day with this . . . Anyhoo, my wife got him out of school early (at that point he was sleeping in the nurse's office), and I'm staying home with him tomorrow. But tonight my wife showed up at my rehearsal and brought me home 'cause he was having a really hard time. I'm hoping the medicine just needs to run its course. I've done more than my share of chemical experimentation, and I have experienced some real hell in "coming down" - I really feel for the little guy. That kind of thing is hard enough when self-induced and half expected, but must be a nightmare for a child.

Re: The cranky thread

Re: A Thread for Random Musings My mom and stepdad came up from South Carolina last night, and bought my wife birthday dinner. Mom called me first and asked me to pick a place, so she could be there ahead of us to surprise Dede (my wife) when we got there. So I picked a decent Italian place that we hadn't been to in a few years. Turns out, it is now a very nice Italian restaurant, and was kinda pricy. I felt bad for picking such a pricy place, but my wife just said, "Hon, don't you think she owes you a few good meals?" So I stopped worrying about it. Nothing like a good wife to put things in perspective. On a side note, my son, who is 10, was saying comments about Italians that were a little awkward. I said, "Son - where did you pick this stuff up? You do know that you are Italian, right?" He was stunned. Turns out that I have never really talked to him about his heritage. And apparently it has confused him that his white mostly italian dad is named Jose . . . But still, the fact that he is picking up prejudices, apparently from neighborhood friends, really bothers me.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Re: Musings on Random Musings A local restaurant here has Beer-cheese Soup as a specialty. It's some of the best stuff in the world!

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Sorry to inject this in the middle of the stand up! I "walked the walk" today, and it was tough! I got together with an old buddy; he and I were homeless together as teens, and saw each other through some real hard times. We shared interest in guitar years ago, and when I caught up with him it was one of teh first things I asked him. Turns out that his ex trashed his guitar, and times have been too lean for him to replace it. I couldn't decide which of mine I could part with, so I took my acoustics to him and let him pick one. So now Valerie 23, the Ibanez A/E has a new home. Like the scripture says, "If you have two cloaks, and someone has none, give him one of yours." It was awesome to get together with him again, and my family is asleep so I'm telling you about it. We talked about how fortunate we are to be drawing breath after the adventures we went through. We laughed about living for a week on oyster crackers and cocoa packets, reminisced over fights where we backed each other up, shared fond memories of sleeping in the school bus lot, shivered over hitchhiking nightmares become reality, and looked deep into our beers as we remembered the times we got dinner out of a dumpster. I felt a little bad, because I have gathered more material wealth than he has been able to. I am fortunate to be able to offer my family security that I never had, and I would like for him to have that too. But he's content; he has a daughter he sees sometimes, a couple exes that suck up his money - but he has found peace after all of that. I see him now, and remember him as a kid and am just amazed that he is doing as well as he is, even though he's sharing a home with some other folks. I mean, to climb up from nothing and earn a place in society is very hard - too many take it for granted. But it also really hits home about just how far I have come. I was street punk just like him, and I, too, take my success for granted far too often. I am no rags to riches millionaire, but my family has a full belly and a roof overhead, and those are huge blessings indeed. Just remember, fellow citizens: In America you have the right to succeed beyond your wildest imaginings. But with that comes teh right to fail and fall totally unnoticed through the cracks. There but for the grace of God go I.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Thoughts on sewing machines: I play guitar, but I don't sing (not in front of people anyway). Folks always ask me to sing, and I say "Even if I was a sewing machine, I wouldn't be a Singer", which always gets groans, but takes their mind off of hearing my voice. Today I saw a lady jogger that almost made me wreck my car, and I realized that she, too, was no sewing machine. After all, a sewing machine only has one bobbin . . .

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I've been out of touch. (Was I ever in touch?) I was involved with teaching a vacation bible school, and we had over 60 kids show up! That was way more than we expected. So for a week I worked full time, skipping lunch so I could leave early, and then racing to church to get set up before it started. Very, very busy week. And on Thursday I started feeling sick, and wound up getting hit hard with a sinus infection and pharyngitis. I'm recovering very slowly - it sucks getting old.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Jiminy Crickets - I just watched my son sneeze right into teh refrigerator. For crying out loud - grrrrrrrrr!

Re: A Thread for Random Musings My guitar obsession continues. I sold four of em, and bought one really nice one. Now I have room for more! Last week I sold another one, and with just a small portion of that bought another that I can fix up and hopefully sell. But here's the real excting (for me) part. With the rest, I bought a beautiful guitar body so that I can begin making my own guitar. It will be an original Scary Drifter - I plan on putting a silhouette of a logo-style Drifter on it - small, though, so as to not upset the gorgeous wood grain. This weekend there's a guitar convention near Philly, and I'm gonna go look at pickups, pots, swiches, all the little components I'll need to make this a reality. I'm psyched.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I turn 40 today. Celbrated last night with wife and son, I've been playing guitar all morning with the amp cranked up (am usually real quiet and can hear the neighbors' TVs and radios 24/7 so now it's my turn), then I'm going to my brother's to play games, and then a group of us guys are going to an arena football game. Tomorrow a.m. I play guitar at early service - and I'm jamming this week, I love the song selection, and one tune is gonna be pure metal heaven - and then more family fun. I'm not working Monday - I'm going to go to a major guitar store an hour away to try and trade in 6 of my guitars for a Gibson SG Tony Iommi signature model. The only birthday that really affected me was turning 20. I had already been on my own for about 5 years, was living in another country, and when I was no longer a teenager, the Drifter started to realize that drifting didn't have much of a benefits package . . .

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Oh no! I'm getting my son ready for school, and realized he only has one pill left! He has Tourrette Syndrome, and without medicine he gets in trouble with his teacher. We have tried a hundred times to speak to the principal - I'm not sure he exists at this point - about her intolerance to his condition. Oh boy . . . .

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I took the family to a carnival last weekend. At one point, my wife and I got seperated in teh crowd. When I finally spotted her, I was struck by just how beautiful she is. To get the warm fuzzies just by seeing her after almost 15 years of marriage did my heart good. I have had many temptations to revert to the wild habits of my youth, but have resisted them at every turn. I thank God for this reward for my good behavior.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Drifted for a week, 's ok, appears I wasn't missed. I need all the buds I can find, though - if I get my hands on a hacker, any hacker, that writes virus programs, I'm gonna need bail money from somebody.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Well, I'm selling my motorcycle. I know, I know, a drifter without his bike doesn't drift much . . . Since the fire, I don't have a good place to keep it. I have been having spells of vertigo for over a year now (much less severe now, but still . . . ) and don't want it to happen when I'm on 2 wheels, and I just don't get time to enjoy it like I should - meaning, just me and the wife out cruising while a babysitter is with the son. Nothing like the open road and a lady holding you tight. My wife is going to slap me silly though, 'cause I found a buyer. I can get the cash I wanted, plus he is giving up on learning music, and will throw in 2 guitars, an amp, and some accessories. I'll be making a good deal, but it may not be a smart deal. I have tme to think it over; I lost the bike's title in the fire, and have to wait for DMV to go through their processes of supplying me with a new one. Hmmmmmm . . . .

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I've had some really fun father and son moments lately, thanks to modern technology. I networked our computers so we can play games together, and we've been having a ball. Dungeon siege is cool as a team - but we both want to do Neverwinter Nights, just need another copy. Quake 3 is a ball, but the old game Rune is even better - Viking head to head hack and slash! We've had some tough times the last few years, and it's good to just have some mindless fun with Son of Gamemaster. *contented sigh*