Just like starting over

So I finally decided to restring my guitar so I play like a lefty playing a left-handed guitar, as opposed to how I've been doing it, which is to just take a regular guitar and play it upside down.

This, by the way, is a good way to get freakish stares at Guitar Center.

When I was first learning on my brother's guitar, I almost gave up until I realized that I played air guitar like a lefty but was trying to play real guitar like a righty. I flipped it over, and started learning from there.

There are a few drawbacks. For starters, I popped about 44.8 billion high E strings trying to rock out with a Nirvana song because those took the brunt of my ham-handed strumming.

I learned to rein it in (I'm cheap if nothing else), but I'm for crap at actual leadwork because frets and strings that are easy to reach for most players are on the other end for me. Kurt Cobain was a lefty, but I don't know if he restrung his guitar (and I'm too lazy to look it up).

So now I have to take all the chords I've been playing for 15 years and flip them over in my head to play them the right way. It's a pain in the ass so far, but in a way, it's sorta like playing Guitar Hero all the way through on Easy, and then starting over on medium.

Wish me luck.

Goodness, gracious...

Every now and then I see a headline that I really wish I'd written. Case in point:



Awe. Some.

Herd mentality

Growing up, I'd see cows and other livestock out in fields, and sometimes they'd have those nutty locator tag earrings that the cool cows wear.

I always thought that was kind of a bummer to always have to have it with them. This, of course, was ignoring the whole "becoming food and clothing" that they also had to look forward to.

I'm a detail person.

I was glad that, not being a cow, I didn't have to deal with such foolishness. I was a person, and I could go where I wanted, right?

So the other day while walking from the BART station to work, I noticed that many of my fellow working slobs shared something in common:

We all had ID badges dangling from various articles of clothing.

So really, the cows are a step ahead (aside from the aforementioned food and clothing thing) of me, because they don't have to ask for a temporary badge and worry about looking like an absent-minded schmuck if they leave it at home.

So next time you see a tagged cow, don't feel so smug.

Word to your udder.

No sleep till...24th Mission

After about 8 months of working in San Francisco, I finally fell asleep on BART and missed my stop this morning. And the one after that, and the one after that. I woke up by the next one, dragged myself upright and exited the train, headed to the other side of the platform, and waited for the next train to take me back.

Just to make sure there was no repeat, I stood until I reached my destination. But dammit, I was still on time for work. How much do I rawk?

You know, aside from the whole "being a dumbass who fell asleep on public transit" thing...

I rawk.

Had a chance to finally finish off Rock Band just now. On Medium, because I'm old, and I suck. It was pretty fun. I rented it from Gamefly, so I pretty much just did the guitar part, since I don't have the drums and I can't sing worth a crap.





Now I just need to finish the last bit of the first Guitar Hero, then I can tackle the 80s edition.

If these keep being as successful as they are, they're eventually going to run out of ideas, and I'll be posting a picture of me beating Guitar Hero: Porno Movie Soundtrack Classics.

Chicka-chicka-bow-bowwwwwww....

Hi there, nice rich people...

If there are any readers out there who are overburdened with cash and want a way to remedy the situation, here's something you can buy me:


Only $2,500 if you use Buy It Now!

It's the mighty cartoon booth of my youth. Rarely did a trip to Woolworth's at Southland Mall go by without me pestering my mom for a quarter so I could watch a Mighty Mouse or Woody Woodpecker cartoon.

Of course, 9 times out of 10, it was a Deputy Dawg cartoon, but the world is an unfair place.

But it was a great day when I plunked in my quarter and got this, my favorite Woody Woodpecker cartoon:

And the things I draw come true...

Being a failed artist, I'm always keen to see how people who can actually draw well actually do it.

Here's a nifty video capture of an artist using his tablet. I have a similar tablet, and I can pretty much guarantee you won't see something like that come from me.

Oh well. At least I have lots of hair.

Oh wait.

Crap.