Seat the retreat

It’s been just over a month since I got the guitar. I’ve tried to play it about half an hour each day, plugged in or not, except when we were out of town. No, I did not bring it with me. It’s been relaxing, even if my skills are lacking. A definite comfort and I’m having fun. I’ve stopped biting my nails, lost a few pounds and lowered my blood pressure. How much of this is related is hard to say, but it is happening.

The Back Room has become a retreat to escape from the activism of the day. The constant hammering of issue after issue on social media that must be read and consumed now or else you are not paying attention. I’m not sure if I’m out of the loop, or refuse to get motion sickness by witnessing it every hour.

I am paying attention, people are so stuck on their selfies that they fail to see that. Reposting link after link after link is time consuming and I barely have the energy to get out of bed these days.

Picked up a multi-effects pedal that is fascinating to use, but probably a bit out of my depth right now. A friend said to, “play with my hands, not my feet,” and that’s a fair point. Do need a new strap though. The one I have is for an acoustic and I worry about slippage.

My wife said that she hopes I get out of the guitar what she’s been getting out of yoga. She also has a point, and so far she is correct. Although the guitar was more expensive than a yoga mat.

Another friend said I had to put me playing Talk About the Passion by REM on video in two months or he’d send me a wall hook for the guitar. I did respond, a month early. You can watch it here.

I’m very self conscious about my lack of ability, so I have no idea how long the link will be active. But yes, I’m happy as Hell with the investment as I work on proficiency on the instrument. I’m not hiding, but that’s where I’ll be for awhile.

Double secret filtration

My social media feed is looking more and more like the ad block of the nightly news during October of a national election year. How many different ways can it be said that a person does not like another person?

Quite a few I guess with all the memes, links and other sources of dislike.

Can only unfollow so many people. I know they're passionate. I get that. It's great.

It's also overwhelming. Very overwhelming to see the same links over and over. Dozens of links to the same John Oliver video. Wow, it is funny, but his audience is the converted.

So I am filtering out a word for the time being, to see how much that cleans up my feed to what I want it to be - and to keep my blood pressure down.

Now it's back to cat pictures and Hamilton/Rent mashups.

We're not addressing mental health this time either

An act of murder was committed when Jillian McCabe threw her six year old son London, off a bridge in Oregon. It is a terrible, criminal act that I cannot condone or defend.

London McCabe was severely autistic.

In addition, the McCabe family was in trouble, London's father was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was unable to work. He was the financial head of the household, so Mrs. McCabe had to juggle being a caregiver and seek out financial assistance for her family. A rather stressful undertaking.

Then Mrs. McCabe's father died and she and her husband separated.

It is not difficult to see why Jillian McCabe may have snapped, but that does not give her any excuses for her crime of murder.

We talk a lot after tragedies about how we have to address mental health. It's a lot of talk. Whatever Jillian McCabe's mental health treatment was, it was not enough, and her family is now suffering the consequences of her actions.