This is an open and unfiltered diary-style journal
on the life of James Robert Smith.
This blog will contain sometimes graphic experiences (both beautiful and ugly),
sometimes stark insight, and all honest and factual documentation of dreams, diet, activity, and thoughts.
My mom had surgery today, a hysterectomy. So I’m left to
manage the Music Makers phone and scheduling for the day. I spend most of my
afternoon dealing with that.
Scrambled Eggs. Poppy Seed Bagel with Vegan Cream Cheese.
Salt n Vinegar Chips. Coffee.
Watching In the Shadow
of the Moon (2019).
Teaching lessons at Music Makers. Rachel’s here holding down
the front desk.
Back home. Eating some quick cook Asian Noodles with Kale
and Carrots.
Eating a mediocre Chocolate Cookie that Ana got from the
bagel place.
Doing the accounting for the month.
Hanging out with Ana and the cat. Then, I put on some
calming flute meditation music and we make fire.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.
At MMLIVE rehearsals all afternoon.
Snack break in between: Peanuts, Popcorn, Banana, and Iced
Coffee.
After 6:30 p.m. it’s all over.
Back home. Warming up some leftovers mom got from Cracker
Barrel: Fried Chicken, Biscuits, and Baby Broccoli.
Catching up on business.
At the studio practicing drums and configuring keyboard
patches for the Fleetwood Mac set.
It always feels like I’m carrying the burden of tomorrow,
like I’m trying to catch up on things before they hit. I’m exhausted and spread
thin. Plus, mom has to go through a surgery tomorrow morning, a hysterectomy –
nothing compared with her neck surgery before but still her battle continues. I
just want her to be pain free.
Experiencing stressful dreams of being in uncomfortable
situations and getting stuck in a loop of setting things up on a stage with all
these things going wrong.
Waking up around 11 a.m. to the smell of Ana’s Pumpkin
Pancakes downstairs.
Enjoying breakfast with Jenna, mom, and her.
Teaching afternoon lessons at Music Makers.
Packing up the vehicles with music gear for the gig.
Leftover Spaghetti with Baby Broccoli and Kale.
At Aloha Snacks setting up on the back patio for the
Musicplayer show. I get the first set going and soon after friends arrive. Ana
and I do our thing and have a good time.
Talking with Jesse, the owner, afterwards. Discovering that
I offended him earlier when he was recording a live video of me. I said
something playful and sarcastic during that Shins song and I think he took it
the wrong way. It really threw me off. I apologize cause I had no idea.
Sometimes I forget I can’t act the same way I act with close friends. Hopefully
we cleared the air.
After unloading everything back to Music Makers and setting
things up there I finally arrive at home to unwind with a smoothie (made by
mom) and relax in the living room.
Later on, Ana and I finish watching Aladdin (2019).
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Running errands. Picking up Ana’s bass and banjo from the
Hawkins guy. That banjo has been over there for who knows how long. We just
never got around to taking care of it.
Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Salt n Vinegar
Chips. Kale and Beets. Coffee.
Watching Anna
(2019).
Teaching all my in-home lessons.
Afterwards, Ana and I hit up Gringo’s Tacqueria for our
favorite Fish Tacos in town.
Then, practicing songs at the studio.
At home, mom is still struggling with pain in her neck.
There’s a possibility the doctors spotted another mass. Even though she got
surgery to remove the biggest part other things are still in danger of looming
over her. I feel so bad and I hate to hear her moan in pain.
Date and Almond Breakfast Bar. English Breakfast Tea.
Basketball at the Rec. Only three teams and my team
dominates every game so we stay on the court running non-stop.
Scrambled Eggs. Sourdough Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese and Poppy
Seeds. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Coffee.
Watching Child’s Play
(2019).
Teaching lessons at Music Makers. Feeling impatient today
for some reason – finding it difficult to orchestrate the lesson without the
student getting too carried away or lost on the piano.
Sharing dinner with mom: Tuna Steaks with Broccoli, Carrots,
Onions, and Rice.
Ana and I continue our Sunday tradition and hit up Three
Ships for Biscuits, Pastries, and Coffee.
At the rehearsal spot beginning the fall session for Music
Makers LIVE. Got three bands with so much talent and diversity. It’s a
wonderfully fun and productive day.
Peanuts. Cantaloupe. Popcorn.
I scheduled the rehearsals to have 30 minute breaks in
between, which is really nice.
Back home. Warming up some leftover Spaghetti, Kale, and
French Baguette for dinner.
At the studio working on keyboard patches for the Fleetwood
Mac band.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.
Teaching afternoon lessons at Music Makers.
Scrambled Eggs. Sourdough Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese and
Poppy Seeds. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Coffee.
Watching The Spy
(2019).
Doing some errands and little things around the house.
Cooking. In between Jenna is moving her things into Austin’s
old room. She’s got a friend helping her. I lend a hand lugging boxes and IKEA
purchases up the stairs.
Hake Filets, Carrots, Onions, Baby Broccoli, Peppers, and
Rice.
Organizing music gear and things at Music Makers. Then,
loading everything over to the rehearsal spot in preparation for MMLIVE
tomorrow.
Chores – cleaning/organizing the bathroom – vacuuming.
Leftover Chicken Pad Thai with Kale and Cucumbers. Green
Hibiscus Tea.
I decide to cancel my lessons for the day since we have a
show later. Plus, I still need to practice and pack up.
Apple.
Later on, at Pizza Chapel setting up for the Musicplayer gig
for Ana and I. We crowd up in the corner by the window at the end of the bar
packed in like musical sardines performing 3 hours of songs. We threw in a
couple new ones like “Last Nite” and “Float On”. It’s always nice to rotate new
tunes for old tunes. Chowing down on Garlic Knots and Pizza.
After packing up and loading everything back into the studio
we’re finally at home relaxing.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Doing all kinds of chores – cleaning and preparing Austin’s
old room – taking out the trash – organizing.
As I’m running up and down the stairs my mom pays notice,
“You are a hard workin’ young man!”
She mentions how I really do get it from her.
Scrambled Eggs. Sourdough Toast with Vegan Cream Cheese and
Poppy Seeds. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Coffee.
Teaching lessons at Music Makers.
Ana and I grab a quick bite to eat at Aloha Snacks.
I set up the waiting room at Music Makers to accommodate as
a rehearsal room for tonight. They’re doing another Halloween show like we did
last year and this time I’m a part of a Fleetwood Mac band with Aaron Lachman,
Adam Hanson, Lena Klett, Edward Oast, and Tristyn Tate. It’s kind of
interesting how this thing was organized cause some of us don’t know each
other. I’m pleasantly surprised how easily we’re able to rehearse the songs.
Lena, Ed, and Tristyn take over the vocals. We work on structure for four songs
and I’m left pleasantly surprised at how well this worked out.
Ana and I continue our Sunday tradition to Three Ships for
Pastries, Biscuits, and Coffee.
Afterwards, I go over to Great Neck Park near the Rec where
my old church is having a family picnic. My mom is there. I say hi to a few
people. We walk to the water for a bit. Then, basketball with some of the kids.
Back home. Our friend and Music Makers student, Jenna, stops
by to possibly be our new roommate. She’s been going through some big life
changes and needs a new place to get her life together.
Eating some leftover Eggs, Pancakes, and Bacon from Ana.
Brainstorming with mom on how to sign up more members for
MMLIVE bands.
Later on, mom and I drive over to Joe’s house off Cypress.
He’s been a Music Makers guitar teacher for a few years now and is going to be
moving to Hawaii very soon. He wanted to cook a special dinner for us, a
Spanish inspired dish involving a large round steel skillet full of seafood,
tomatoes, and short grain rice cooked over a charcoal grill. It’s a fun
teamwork experience between us all. We over salted but it was still delicious.
His Labrador dog runs around with a lot of energy. It’s nice just talking with
Joe about music and perks/downsides to being a professional musician.
Back home. Settling down and organizing some things.
Packing up the car, Ana and I hit the road towards Hopewell,
Virginia. I’ve got A New World Record gig tonight. The sun is shining perfectly
through the car windows as we enjoy each other’s company. Stopping by the
Virginia Diner through Suffolk. Snacking on PB&J’s and Chocolate Peanuts.
At The Beacon Theater linking up with the band/crew. Setting
up the stage. It’s an historic building with a lot of history. Many famous acts
have performed here. Sound check goes smoothly.
Afterwards, Ana and I take a stroll across the street at a
city park. It seems like they just recently built the playgrounds and wood
walkways by the river. It’s a very beautiful scene. There’s a section of
overgrown green leaves that envelopes a group of trees, like a blanket of green
ivy. We walk up to the water where it kind of resembles/reminds me of Crystal
Lake from the Jason movies. Ana and I do a photo shoot.
Eating Chinese food provided by the venue. Then, doing our
ELO show (two 45 minute sets of all the ELO hits). The response from the crowd
is grandiose, so much love for what we’re doing on stage reviving memories of
their younger times.
Packing up and hitting the road.
Relaxing in the passenger seat on the drive back with Ana at
the wheel. We’re both seemingly feeling at ease with each other after
experiencing something different than just being at home and doing our usual
things.
“Hey can I say something?” I interject during a song she
wanted to listen to.
“What?” she always reacts eagerly whenever it sounds like
I’m about to say something serious.
“Wouldn’t you say we got along really well today?”
We both agree. I guess we found hope in Hopewell.
After about two hours we make it back home. After editing
all the video footage we settle down and enjoy watching it. Being playful and
making “fire”.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.
Ana and I get into this argument/episode while cooking our
individual oatmeal. Mine is always a thick consistency and hers is always
really soupy. She takes it really personally when I call it “soup”. In my mind
I’m just poking fun at her but she says the tone in my voice is very critical
and it makes her feel like I’m saying my oatmeal is better than hers. There’s
some unnecessary yelling but eventually we explain ourselves upstairs while our
bowls of oatmeal get cold. I have to be careful and aware of the things I say
to her cause sometimes she gets triggered emotionally. It’s not her fault cause
everything springs from our childhood. As of late, this relationship is
teetering on disaster but we keep the “power” and I’m not gonna let it die.
At the Rec shooting the basketball around.
Scrambled Eggs. Blueberry Bagel with Vegan Cream Cheese.
Salt n Vinegar Chips. Iced Coffee.
Watching Dark Phoenix
(2019).
Austin, Will, and their dad are here moving out all of Austin’s
furniture and stuff from his room. It’s really happening. And we still haven’t
clamped down a new roommate yet.
Doing all kinds of tasks – cleaning – organizing around the
house and at the studio.
Practicing drums.
Tempeh with Onions, Celery, Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, and
Quinoa.
Back at the studio changing strings on a couple guitars and
playing more drums.
Talks in her bedroom:
Ana has continually said off and on throughout our
relationship that she doesn’t want to be in it anymore. I continue to defend it
and explain how we have to make a choice even when the flame fizzles out. While
Elvis spastically runs around the room we dive deeper into these topics...
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. Irish Breakfast Tea.
Ana and I go to the Rec. On the drive there we get into a
heated argument – I mean I don’t know if I would call them arguments as much as
they are just episodes. She’s been easily triggered the past couple of
days.She’s going through a lot of
internal things that she still has to figure out. All I wanna do is be
supportive but I feel like I can’t help her.
Shooting some basketball around.
Scrambled Eggs. Toast with Butter and Jam. Salt n Vinegar
Chips. Cucumbers. White Hibiscus Tea.
Teaching lessons at Music Makers.
Back home. Eating dinner that a customer made for us:
Lentils, Arugula, Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Potato, etc.
ELO rehearsal.
At the studio restringing a student’s guitar and organizing
some stuff.
Back home – settling in and snacking on Popcorn.
Later after I brush my teeth I reconvene with Ana continuing
our conversation from earlier. It’s really rough the emotional turmoil she
experiences. In the end I comfort her.
A potential new roommate, Jess, drops by to look at the
place. She also works at Trader Joe’s. This place is becoming a dormitory for
TJ’s employees. Austin’s moving out at the end of the month so we gotta find
someone fast.
It’s my day off, or rather “my day on”, as I like to call
it. Still many things I need to do on my day off.
Running errands – grocery stores – Taylor’s Do-It Center for
bathroom cleaning supplies.
Scrambled Eggs. Kale. Sourdough Toast with Vegan Cream
Cheese. White Hibiscus Tea.
Attempting to clean off the black mold on our bathroom
ceiling and cleaning the shower walls.
Catching up on business.
Dinner: Peas, Celery, Onions, Asparagus, and Rice.
Watching North Country
(2005).
At the studio organizing stuff – trying to figure out how to
set up a PA in the waiting room.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Strawberries, Maple Syrup, and Almond
Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Teaching afternoon lessons at Music Makers.
Scrambled Eggs. Blueberry Bagel with Vegan Cream Cheese.
Kale, Carrots, and Cucumbers. Iced Coffee.
Ana and I decide to go on a bike ride adventure to the
oceanfront. It’s a beautiful day for it and we don’t have to get to the gig too
early tonight. We take 24th Street through to Beach Garden Park
where the water tower is and they have this sidewalk strip that encircles the
park. Discovering an old unkempt batting cage – I climb up the fencing for a
photo opp. We take our time hanging out on our bikes.
We meander over to Lolly’s for an unplanned Ice Cream treat.
Running into an old student of mine, Elsa, and her family. This kind of thing happens
every so often.
Later on, we make it to Abbey Road Pub for our second night
in a row. Tonight it’s more focused on our usual set with a few special guest
appearances from Bianca, a piano student of mine, and Emma.
Enjoying a Shrimp Pasta dish for dinner.
Discovering our strong songs and okay songs but most are all
strong songs to the untrained ear. The sound system can be a little confusing to
control – they’ve got speakers hung all throughout the restaurant but in the
end it all works out. Ana felt a little funky tonight but most people wouldn’t
notice. We meet an older man walking around with a cooler full of candy – he’s
known as The Candy Man around here – interesting guy with a few words of wisdom
and jokes. Megan and her dad hang around to help pack up – Megan also joined us
on stage for a few songs.
It’s been a long day. Lounging around with Ana and mom in
the dining room recapping everything.
