27 april 2000
i think i'm insane

That's an F Major 7th chord up there. I'm writing a new song, but it's having a hard time coming together. While my first tune for this band was a spooky rock ballad, and the second one was bubblegum pop, this one is a sexy, soulful and sultry something that hasn't quite figured out what it wants to be. I started wanting to write a latin flavored ditty, and that's probably why half of the tune is a straight d minor 12 bar-ish groove, almost reminiscent of "Black Magic Woman." But then the chorus kicks in with the aforementioned F Major 7th chord, and it takes on an entirely different, dare I say "prettier," chordal mood, more akin to a piano bar in an airport hotel, which might not necessarily be a bad thing.

Major 7th chords. I got hooked on them during a year-long stint playing cocktail piano in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ. And the chorus of this song I'm working on, or the idea for it, well, I came up with it one night about ten years ago while playing at that Hyatt Regency. And I've always wanted to do something with it, and I guess I figured now is a good a time as any. It's an interesting juxtoposition from the verse to the chorus, almost as if the "Black Magic Woman" turns into a "Girl From Ipanema." If I can somehow merge those two "females" into a unified (albeit slightly neurotic) personality, I think I'm gonna have an incredible song on my hands. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened yet. But I have faith that it will.

No rehearsal tonight. Instead we recorded the base tracks for "I Mean To Tell Ya," the second to last song in the set, and what will within a few days become the fifth song on our ever-growing cd. It's a seventies vibe, and yet my part is more akin to a sequencer, a Stevie Wonder Superstitionish clavinet line that is only difficult in its relentless pace. We nailed it on the first take, and it's only left to do my organ part (three chords) and the vocals. Next week we'll record Selva's "Hey Hey Do You Love Me" and the cd-for-sale at our next gig will have six songs on it, which means we might even be able to get away with charging 8 bucks for it.

Of course, no recording session would be complete (it seems these days) without my fingers bleeding in some way or another. This time, I got to the studio early, so I decided to have a beer in the car when I was waiting. I tried to pull a neat trick opening the bottle with my lighter, and my hand slipped, slashing my right index finger against the bottle cap in two separate places. It bled nicely, and once again I recorded my parts with a band-aid on my finger. It's become such a common occurrence that we're actually writing my bleeding fingers (as well as a predilection towards vampirism on my part) into the show.

So much shit to do before I move out. I'm getting the key for the new apartment tomorrow night. I plan to be fully moved in by a week from sunday, and I can finally say goodbye to the city, the helicopters, the gunshots, sirens, and all the other schtuff that's been such a part of my life for the past seven years. In its place, complete quiet, a beautiful ocean view, a $30,000 home theater system, and a really hairy half-hour drive anytime I want to go to work, band practice, or do anything remotely resembling city life. Then again, it's not that hairy a drive. It's the same commute I've had for years, except this time the ocean will be on the other side of the car, the round-trip mileage will be about 15 miles less, and the traffic will be a bit worse.

The new left side of my car arrived today, according to the body shop. They want me to drop it off on monday, which means I'll probably be doing most of my move in a rent-a-car. It's kind of weird. In this one period of thirty days, I'll have managed to acquire a new job, new apartment, new driver-side car door, new driver-side car fender, new song ... if someone had told me in March that all of this stuff was gonna happen, I would have deemed them insane.

And insane is just how I feel right now.

27 april 1999: didn't write

27 april 1998: sleep: He says that the fact that I'm surrounding myself with all this green means that I'm horny. Duh. Like I need a color to tell me that.

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