Author: colter

Guitar to the Rescue

I stayed home from work today because everything below my esophagus is kaput. OK, it’s not that bad, but my digestive system has caught the office bug, in addition to suffering almost 3 weeks of nervous stress. I’ve been on edge every day, not sleeping well, and assuming it will go away as I get a better handle on things. But as I get a better handle on things, I realize how much is in front of me.

I’ve always been the type of worker who has a personal stake in my performance. I want to please people, and when they’re not pleased, I internalize that. But I need to let it go. I need to separate the business from the personal. So today I got some rest, and tried to get my mind off work. I tried meditating, but I’m not good enough at it to completely clear my head. Tonight I was reminded of what works for me: guitar practice. I haven’t really funneled heavy stress into practicing in a long time. I played for about two hours and it really helped. In addition to helping me let go of everything, it also improves my chops. My Eric Johnson strat is a great guitar for practicing like this because it’s not so easy to play. It puts up a fight, and that’s even better.

I can’t say the stress is gone for good, but I can say that I’ve found a workable way to decompress. I don’t know how you regular humans do it without a musical instrument.

October 2006

The seeds of my current shift in residence were planted in October of 2006, when Tara, Joe and I took a trip to New York. I knew that I wanted to see the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, and figured it would come nowhere near Arkansas, so catching them in New York on Halloween seemed like the best idea. Little did I know that the places I would go and people I would meet would eventually cause this massive upheaval in my life.

This morning I realized that the pictures that I took during that trip were never uploaded to Flickr, so I uploaded them just now. If you were here for the travelogue, then you’ve seen the pictures.

It only took me a year and two months since that trip to get here.

I’ll Be on TV in Two Countries

Union Square is an interesting place. It’s apparently the epicenter for TV crews looking for man-on-the-street footage. Walking to Quizno’s this afternoon I was asked by a Japanese TV crew to tell me about movies I would watch for Valentine’s Day. I said The Apartment, because it is romantic even though it’s not your traditional romantic comedy. Then they asked for something more recent, so I just said Almost Famous, because it’s a movie that has some things to say about love, and it’s a movie I always have to make sure gets seen by those who haven’t seen it.

Just after that, I turn around, and there’s Rob Riggle from The Daily Show, asking people who they’re voting for and then shooting them free t-shirts from his t-shirt cannon. I wasn’t sure if they were staging something so I just stayed out of the way and took a picture. I went on to Quizno’s still impressed by my contribution to Japanese televsion.

On the way back, Riggle was still there, this time asking for volunteers so I stepped up and said I was voting for Obama. Truthfully I hadn’t actually decided between him and Hillary, but it was the first thing that popped into my head so it must be my preference, right? It’s not like I’m actually voting in the primaries anyway.

So it looks like I’m going to be on The Daily Show! I don’t know when; I’m not sure what the turnaround time is on the correspondent segments, but I’ll post the link as soon as I see it on www.thedailyshow.com.

Oh, and the shirt? It’s grey and says “Will Work for Freedom.”

A Revelatory Walk to the Grocery Store

It’s cold out, and I need to save money, so I only left the house once this weekend, and that was to go to the grocery store. It’s only a few blocks away, and yet I kept finding things worth photographing. The sky was clear, the light was perfect, and the dreary neighborhood just seemed to come alive. I started to notice the subtle differences between my neighbors’ doors; each one told a different story: one classy, one grumpy, one…trying too hard? I even noticed the peculiar remainders of windows past above the dentist’s office. Even the overbearing condos seemed pretty.

My neighbors are a widely varied bunch. Elephant figurine collectors live alongside people with unfortunate dietary habits. And of course, the recently departed eccentric Vinnie Russo, with his Styrofoam crosses, I Love Hawaii stickers and peculiar taste in yard ornaments.

Down Smith Street, even the scrapyard held my interest. I found a happy fire hydrant and an unhappy phone cradle living along the Gowanus Canal, in the shadow of the mighty green Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

I have to say that I was quite proud of my work that day.

Attention New York Musicians

Stop using the word “bear” in your bands’ names. I was just perusing a recent issue of The Deli, and there were two features right next to each other of the young bands Bearclaws and Bear Hands. A few pages later a two-page spread on Lucinda Black Bear. And there’s a band from New England called Big Bear, in addition to Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear, who I think can safely be credited with starting this thing. Stop the madness!

Interestingly enough it took an Arkansas band to make me sensitive to this trend. Bear Colony, whom I’ve written about for Localist, chose their name after their previous moniker, Brothers + Sisters, was already taken.

Thanks, Mute Math

Sometimes a song helps build your resolve, reminds you that there is more than your daily life, and coaxes you out of your comfort zone. One song in particular that has recently helped me in times of nervous retreat is Mute Math’s “Typical.” I would play it while driving around Little Rock, I played it when I drove across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge into Brooklyn, and it came up on my iPod the other day as I walked up the final flight of steps to my local train platform overlooking the city. It made me realize…I did it. I’m here.

I’m sure this will sound corny, but here are the lyrics:

Come on, can’t I dream for one day
There’s nothing that can’t be done
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone?

‘Cause I know there’s
got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I’m feeling like it’s now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical?

I’ve lived through my share of misfortune
And I’ve worked in the blazing sun
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone?

And here’s the video:

Potential Energy

Secret message to those I’ve told this to: I’ve said before that a particular task that took me several years to accomplish only 2-3 times in Little Rock took one week to accomplish in New York. Well, I’ve been in New York just over two weeks now and that task has been accomplished AGAIN.

The Job

Two days on the job now. Yesterday was mainly acclimation and getting set up. Today was a meeting all day in New Jersey with a big client. I’ve been hired to head up the website portion of a larger marketing account. Tomorrow I get some more orientation in the office. Here are a few things that make this job awesome:

  • Company laptop and Blackberry
  • Great benefits package and 401k
  • 2 weeks paid vacation
  • 10 sick days
  • 3 Floating Holidays
  • 5 “Summer” days off (can’t be appended to other days)
  • Thanksgiving + days before and after off
  • Christmas Eve and Christmas off
  • Half days before Memorial Day and Labor Day
  • Bagels every Friday

Currently I work on the top floor of a 12-story building, occupying a corner office with two other guys, but I’m sure they’ll move me to a cube soon. The view and the neighborhood are great. Union Square is a block away – including a Whole Foods, Circuit City, Virgin Megastore, and across the street is The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist are playing two nights there this weekend, but it’s sold out, naturally. Oh and there’s a Farmer’s Market most days during the summer. It’s only a few blocks from my F train, but I need to find a good transfer to the Union Square stop. Speaking of which, since I had to meet my group this morning at 8 a.m. for the trip to New Jersey, I thought I would get to work early, but I ate up the time by accidentally taking the G train from my stop, which meant I had to make my way back to the F line. I made it to the rendezvous point right at 8. Phew.