I’ve been paring down my guitar pedalboard. I want less. I want to do what I need to do still, but endless options are dragging me down.

I’ve got my pedalboard down to the most spare I’ve had it in years. It’s been nice, I’ve been having more fun playing than I have in years. I have to use other means to change my sound up. My volume knob, tone knob, playing technique! And using all functions on the pedals that are left.

I think in life we distract ourselves with too many options. We want options, right? Keep all paths open? Why commit when we may change our mind later?

It’s nice to settle in once and awhile. Commit to little. And do your best with what you have, be creative, and get good at it.

First start with a band you love, and look up who’s opened for them live.

Listen to them, pick your favorite and look up who’s opened for that band.

Repeat above as often as needed.

Quickly you’ll be down to some local scene somewhere and there will be a bunch of bands that share lineage with your beloved band.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q: The artists I like don’t play live.

A: Then don’t do this stupid thing anyways

There’s an old joke, from Emo Phillips:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said “Stop! Don’t do it!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.

“Well, there’s so much to live for!”

“Like what?”

“Well… are you religious?”

He said yes.

I said, “Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?”

“Christian.”

“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?

“Protestant.”

“Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”

“Baptist”

“Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”

“Baptist Church of God!”

“Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?”

“Reformed Baptist Church of God!”

“Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?”

He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!”

I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off.

Like many jokes, this is funny because it’s just a heightened version of something we’ve all dealt with – the hatred between groups that are so similar, except for some tiny details that are focused and blown out of proportion.

The term “narcissism of small differences” refers to a concept introduced by Sigmund Freud, describing the phenomenon where minor, seemingly insignificant differences between people or groups are exaggerated to create a sense of distinct identity and superiority. This often leads to conflict and hostility despite the similarities between the groups or individuals. The term illustrates how minor distinctions can become the focus of intense feelings and rivalries.

This is an essential concept because once one is made aware of it, it starts to appear everywhere. In politics, communities, work, sports rivalries, and even between ethnic groups. Recognizing this in ourselves and others can help tamp down these feelings and move us toward finding common ground. We’re all more the same than we are different. There will always be differences, but understanding and accepting these differences can reduce unnecessary conflicts and foster more harmonious relationships. By focusing on our shared humanity and common goals, we can work together more effectively and build a more inclusive and cooperative society.

I recently remembered a show I watched when I was a very little kid called The Polka Dot Door. Growing up in the US near the Canadian border, I often would observe my dad wrestle the TV’s antenna to catch those elusive northern broadcasts. He knew I liked The Polka Dot Door and finessed those rabbit ears into just the perfect position.

Pulling the show up on YouTube, I felt elated as I started to watch. This episode began with a pair of actors singing some songs, and I immediately felt an anticipation – rather, a deep memory of anticipation – that there was something much bigger to come.

After a few songs, the hosts went to a toy chest and pulled out some stuffed animals and started telling a story with them. I felt this joy deep down in me explode. This is what I was waiting for!

If it’s not obvious, I don’t usually get excited about stuffed animals. I was re-experiencing a feeling I had when I was very, very young. It felt different than the usual comforting feelings I get with nostalgia. With nostalgia, it’s like remembering how you used to feel. Like looking at your past self through a dirty telescope and smiling at how you were enjoying yourself. This feeling was more intense, more immediate. I was right back there living the joy of watching some stuffed characters crudely act out a dumb story.

I’ve been trying to connect with my early childhood. Mining my distant memories for anything of value for self-discovery. I’ve come to find that as we grow up and become further integrated into society, our mimetic desires are stoked and our natural interests are corrupted. I need to get back to the basics, identifying those things that made me come alive as a child. Those interests tend to be the most pure, the most true to myself.

I think about how, as a kid, I spent countless hours drawing, and then one day in my early teens, I just stopped. So I recently went out and bought a sketchbook.

I don’t know what there is to learn from my euphoric viewing of The Polka Dot Door. It was so strong that I had to write about it. I do feel like there is something there, even if it’s as simple as looking at the world again with childlike wonder.

A few months ago, a very strange man came into the furniture store we work at. He wanted to see a certain wooden sculpture we had, one that he had seen in our store years before. A carving of a log going into a machine of some sort, and coming out the other side a fully formed rolltop desk. The desk was contorted, like it was being squeezed out of a toothpaste tube. And some of the drawers could be opened! It was given to us by one of our builders and not for sale.

I went in the back room and brought it out. This man was obsessed with it. He turned it every which way, running his hand along the edges and snapping pictures, all the while clicking his tongue. At one point I offered to sell it to him, but he declined, saying he wish he was younger and could take me up on my offer.

Before he left, he pulled out a pocket knife and did a magic trick for me. It was kind of cringy, but also charming in it’s own way. (He came back a few weeks later, and went through the same thing with a coworker – fawning over the carving, the magic trick.)

I wanted to know how he did the trick, so I went on YouTube. It was easy to find. I fell into a hole of watching people explain magic tricks. I noticed the deck of cards they were using were pretty cool looking. I started to look up the cards. I found a playing card sub-reddit. So many cool designs! Some were so expensive too. There’s a hype behind certain decks, limited drops, resales, artist collabs – a whole market not unlike sneakers.

I bought some. At first I just learned some solitaire and I would play instead of going on my phone. A nice activity. (My favorite solitaire game I’ve found so far is called The Bogey.)

Eventually I tried learning some card tricks and I’m hooked. I’m not really performing them for people (just my kids), nor do I necessarily want to, but it’s really fun to learn the moves and see the brilliant ways people design tricks.

The most fun part though is just learning different moves, because they keep my hands busy while doing other things. Instead of messing with my phone, I can do some one-handed cuts, or manipulate cards around the deck, that type of thing. Then there’s the whole world of cardistry, which is just doing cool flourishes with the cards.

In other news, I like listening to Old Time Radio shows. I decided to see if there were any new audio dramas in podcast form, and of course there are a million. I tried one that got some good buzz called “The Left-Right Game”. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan. The acting wasn’t great, the sound design was over the top, and the it didn’t have a satisfying ending. I’ll be trying more, but part of me wonders, is this a lost art? Radio dramas used to be HUGE. Like, a big portion of the country would listen to a single show. Audiences that any TV show would kill for today. They had amazing actors, sound effects, great scripts. Maybe there just isn’t many people skilled in that medium anymore. Well, I’ll try some more and report back.

Music log:
Acetone (90s Slowcore) Very cool band. I picked up a book about the band called Hadley Lee Lightcap and it’s pretty good so far. Discovered via the hipinion forums.
Tiny Mouse (Comfy synth) Discovered via the Comfy Synth YouTube channel.

Reading:
Hadley Lee Lightcap
50 Art Ideas You Really Need To Know

This week has had some ups and downs. I went to the guitar store by myself, which is a rare thing. I played a ton of guitars. I’m finding lately I’m paying attention more to details, in everything in life. It’s very nice, life is richer, brighter, colors more vivid. It being spring helps! Anyways, I’m noticing more details about the guitars I was trying. Bottom line is, my Jazzmaster is still my #1. I found two very good value guitars that played amazingly. The J Mascis Jazzmaster, and the Sterling Cutlass. I’m noticing things like the contours of the guitar, the knob placement, etc.

I also bought a new reverb pedal, the humble RV-6. It’s replacing my Neunaber Immerse. I’ve always relied too heavily on reviews, what other people say, and not on my own ears and experiences. So I’m trusting my ears. The Immerse is touted online as a very high quality pedal. But it didn’t hit my ears quite right, especially with my bright jazzmaster. Also, the way it turned down the dry signal as you turned the mix up was not what I wanted. So the RV-6 keeps the dry signal intact as you turn up, and all the reverbs on it are very nice and usable. I hooked it up with a Saturnworks expression so I can toggle between two sounds. It’s perfect so far. I also put a DS-1 on my board for lead tone. It’s a pedal that’s made fun of, but it is so good as a lead tone. I have the distortion all the way down.

After the music store I met my family at the zoo to watch the eclipse. It was so incredible! It was fun with all the people around getting excited about it. I was hoping the animals would go crazy but they didn’t care.

My job is winding down, and my future is uncertain. I’m plugging away at school to get my degree which I never got. I just won an award for a paper I wrote, which was a really great feeling!

Music log:
7038634357 – Discovered: I bought a book at the bookstore, by Blank Forms, and I checked out their website and they put out records, including this.

Fallin’ in Love – Hamilton & Joe Frank & Reynolds (1975) – 70s soft rock – Discovered through Operator Radio (they played a version from a very dirty 45 that sounded so good!)

I started a radio from the above song and found/rediscovered two 70s songs that rip. Jazzman by Carole King and Sail On, Sailor by The Beach Boys.

Book log:
Reading The Charisma Myth. So far so good. Like a lot of self-help books, it’s very padded out. It’s a book that could probably be 100 pages. But I’m enjoying it. Charisma is very important in our lives and any help there is useful!

I love incense. I used to burn it a lot as a teenager but haven’t since. I was outside one day last summer and smelled incense coming out of someone’s bedroom window and it took me back.

I went to the health food store and did some smelling of their extensive incense collection. They had the standard scents, but one scent was named Barack Obama. I bought it because it was funny (not because I like Obama, I’m an anarchist) and it’s become one of my favorites.

I tried a few different incense holders and none of them could contain the ash and my desk would get all ashy. I finally found a suggestion on the WWW, use a bowl full of sand.

I had to have the perfect bowl for my desk, so I started looking online. Then I remembered I already had the perfect bowl. My wife got me a pottery class for my birthday one year and we made bowls on a pottery wheel. It’s not a good looking bowl really but it’s a nice reminder of a wonderful date.

Where do you get sand? All the beaches here are rocky. I thought about going to a playground and stealing some from a sandbox but decided that was outside my comfort zone. Also all that sand out in the real world is dirty and I didn’t want that in my desk. I guess I’d have to filter it though a screen or something to get it nice and clean. This is all a lot of work.

Michael’s sells sand! They have a lot of different colors. I ended up going with original. Now I have a nice incense holder.

Music I’ve been listening to:

Johnny Brunette and the Rock ‘n Roll Trio (1956) Great rockabilly/early rock and roll. Some say better than Elvis’ debut. Discovered through…it was saved on my YT Music.

The Breeders – Title TK (2002) I never got too much into The Breeders, and completely missed this album at the time. I heard “Off You” come up on a YT Music radio station and was blown away. This is a really cool, weird album and I feel like it’s time for culture to rediscover this. I feel like it’s surprisingly modern. Discovered through a radio station started from the artist Dirty Beaches on YTMusic.

Yussef Dayes An AMAZING jazz drummer from the currently on-fire London scene. I’ve been working my way through his discography. Black Classical Music (2023) gets a lot of love. So far my favorite has been the live album Welcome to the Hills (2020) Discovered through r/jazz

Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee (2024) Hypogenic pop, long, a lot to digest but I’m loving the sounds on here. Discovered through places

I watch a lot of old Disney shorts with my kids. The kids love them! They hold up even though some of them are approaching 100 years old now. Walt Disney knew what he was doing. Here’s a good one I saw this week: