The Super Song Method

 Yesterday was rained out all day. I listed 25 things, hooray for me, and had the place all nice and clean when Ken came by. 

By that time I'd rounded up some things that *need* to go out - I have a bunch that are overdue! - and also, in light of the actual $1400 day, about $1200 of it being from the stuff I'd so recently dumpster-dived and had sold right away, I decided to "strike while the iron is hot". 

I'd rounded up all my guns'n'ammo and related things like a set of shooting glasses and a 'scope and an old bottle of Hoppe's No. 9 and so on. I went online and looked up the current prices for the guns and ammo themselves, and came up with a number a bit over $1200. 

When Ken came by, along with my paycheck, I got another check for the amount and Ken loaded the goodies into his car. That's a big hassle off of my mind. I even quipped to Ken that planning to move is like knowing you're going to die at X time, and getting rid of things because you know you'll be gone. 

The truth of the matter is, if things get bad enough that I need the rifle or the pistol, then I should have gotten out of here long before. Instead, my zombie problems have decreased over the years and a gun would only make things worse, not better. There are less-lethal things I carry and that's been more than good enough. 

It's early in the year but I'm really keen to sell off all the shit I don't need, that I spent money on and should not have, in hindsight. 

I guess maybe I should have been packing things to ship yesterday, staying in with all the rain, but I felt like I was busy enough. I read a thing about Bix Beiderbecke that was pretty good, though. I talk about the "Song Method" to keep me from getting bored and tensed up, in practicing the trumpet, well, it appears ol' Bix did something like the "Super Song Method" in that, according to the author of this piece I read, he listened to records (he was middle-class so having his own record player and being able to buy records was no problem, plus he could go sit by the river and practice undisturbed) and worked out how to play little licks that the trumpeter on the record was playing and just worked from there. Because he had no formal teacher and was *so* keen to play like the records, he ended up with his unique, and much-desired, sound. 

This is pretty much what young guys do with the guitar now. I remember reading the guitar magazines, I think with the idea that if I read enough of 'em, I'd somehow get truly interested in playing the guitar, and there were all kinds of hints and tips and guides, and even someone selling something called "Star Licks" which I guess was a method based on learning the "licks" in guitar solos and putting them together into solos. 

In fact, no less than Louis Armstrong himself, published a book with a title something like "101 jazz licks and turns" which is a sort of Holy Grail for me. It's among the books I want to seek out and buy, once I'm settled in back home. 

Bix Beiderbecke did something like 150 recordings and they're showing up on YouTube these days. It takes some listening to get used to 1920s style jazz, but I'm digging in there. Since I can't afford a teacher (and have been very unimpressed with what teachers I did take a few lessons from) I'm pretty self-taught myself, if one can say that with all the helpful videos on YouTube to watch. And my ultimate trumpet dream would be to be able to play the guitar solos I grew up hearing, that are practically encoded in my blood. 

This is all to say that Bix isn't considered a jazz hero because he was white, he's considered so because he was *good*. 

I left here at about 2 PM, dropped off a bag of trash (I need to fill a bag of trash daily if I'm to live my life right) and then went to the bank and deposited the checks, which agreed with my own calculations to the penny which is nice. 

I went over to Whole Foods and got chicken wings and a near-beer, of a brand I've never had before. It tasted OK but .... I actually got a headache from it which was not good. 

I stopped at Nijiya and got a bunch of things, and got back here. Now my headache was bothering me and according to Google, hops can cause headaches. So this near-beer probably has a ton of hops (it was an IPA and sure had hops) that were extra fresh or something. Blah. I'm not having that again. 

Once I got back here I had aspirin and hot sauce and things like that to try to get the headache to fade, and now I know another thing to watch out for. 

I packed 6 things, which meant 4 large boxes, and got out of here at 7 to take those to FedEx, and found a good amount of packing stuff on the way back. I put things away and got right to work packing 5 things, which went into 3 boxes all going to the same guy, that were overdue so I can just grab and go with those first thing tomorrow. 

Whole Foods had the black guy who parks *in* the bike racks, bothering people about his petitions, and some lady bugging people with some Save The Children or some-such scam sign, no booth, just a chair to sit in and a sign. But it was cold and windy and not really great for busking anyway so I didn't feel I was missing out.