Daybook 1 | New Locale. New Music. New Shirt.

No XL, No Problem

So this weekend I grabbed three new t-shirts. This particular one is my favorite of the trio. However, given this half of a basketball I call an abdomen, I needed to get it in size XL just so there’s room for comfort, especially given the likely shrinkage tendency upon washing that would make it too snug for comfort. Well, the store didn’t have this particular design in XL, only had it in L. Well, I couldn’t pass it up.  I mean, look at it. Finally I have a shirt to sport on St. Patrick’s Day. Just have to remember to wash cold and hope for the best. #ChubbyDudeProblems 

On Vacay

So we took a mini-vacation as a family up in Wisconsin Dells, WI.  Really nice resort area, full of plenty of things to do and have a great time doing it, which is exactly what we discovered last summer down in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN.  Like those two places, I don’t have any complaints about the Dells area or its people.  I’ve gotta say that Wisconsin, being a fellow Midwest state, wasn’t all that different from Indiana, at least in terms of positive aspects. It’s not uncommon knowledge that the Midwest does have quite a bit of diversity, so after a day or so there I started wondering about how the actual demographics of the place shake out because even with the year-round residents it was quite the melting pot of people from all over globe.  Heard many a different languages spoken by the locals and visitors. Suits me perfectly fine as I always think it’s great to see and be around folks from all walks of life coming together peacefully for good times. Will definitely visit again.

Notables events I should list:

• Stayed two nights at the reasonably priced Ambers Resort & Conference Center.
• Chula Vista Indoor Waterpark: hot tub, big scary tube slide, lazy river swimming and crazy ramp slide.
• Kalahari Indoor Amusement Park: electric Go-carts, the Ferris wheel, laser tag, a 3-D virtual shooter, a game of pool.
• Mt. Olympus Outdoor Theme Park: Zeus roller coaster and Poseidon gas go-carts.
• On the strip: Krazy Mirror Maze, exploratory walking and people watching.
• Dined at Pizza Villa and Mexicali Rose — the former great, the latter less so.
• Taught my youngest daughter the fine art and science of billiards.
• Unfortunately missed out on the Ghost Boat and Haunted Cavern experience.
• Shopped for T-shirts and popcorn for us, and fudge for loved ones back home watching our dog for us.

Sturm Und Drang

While on my way to Wisconsin I stopped by a Best Buy store in Janesville, WI to finally procure the new CD VII: Sturm Und Drang by Richmond, VA’s own new wave of American metal band LAMB OF GOD. An immediately huge influence on my own metal guitar playing, I’ve been madly following this band (like I do MASTODON) since 2006 and so far my reaction to this new Lamb of God album (with bonus tracks of course) is that it is balls-to-the-wall awesome. I think it will impress even the jaded and fatigued metal fan. Seven albums in and I’m still proud of these boys and rocking out to their music with air guitar and air drumming glee.

Also have these LoG-related reads to partake in whenever I get a moment’s silence.

With my workload I really have no business reading a new book, let alone a magazine for leisurely entertainment, but this is what fanboys do when they’d rather read about others artists doing art than them doing art themselves. I am shameless. Don’t judge me.

Quick Programming Note

What used to be called Daybook is now re-titled as Workbook, which is more fitting for that particular kind of post which chronicles the story-making and music-making life in which I feebly manage to partake. There’s also a new Music section where I will be archiving web widgets of my various music projects. We can just call it the Ruckerpedia Virtual Jukebox, if you will. Currently up is my catch-all ambient and (mostly) instrumental production project SAINT RUCKUS.

I think this week I will also finally be posting an author Q&A that I recently did on another site. I also feel new stuff brewing for Journal Juice, The Morning Muse and The Evening Muse. Yeah, I should probably just write nonfiction from here on out, huh?

Until next time, my love bugs…

— BLR