Eric's House Of Ego

Actually pretty good. The last couple of months I have had back problems which are almost entirely resolved. I had to sleep semi-sitting up on the recliner for a month or so. Laying down caused a lot of pain.

I am slowly coming back to playing guitar. My hands are doing very well. I don't have my speed up, nor my calluses where I want them yet, but I'm getting there.

My lungs are good, I mean really good. I am not as worried this winter about them. Doesn't mean that I am taking too many chances, but less stress is good.

And of course there is the whole thing with us asking for some help, and our friends taking that as a dare. The response helped us immensely and gave us a piece of mind that we have not had in a couple of years. I can never be able to properly express my thanks.

The Shifting City project keeps, well, shifting. I am still looking for the point of view for the lyrics. I am on story line #4 now. Three of them are connected and the direction I am going seems promising. I have all this music, I need words.

FilkCast is done for the year. We put together a month of just music shows and they are already uploaded and scheduled so we have 5 weeks off. Our intention is to get a lot more done with our music in that time.

My weight is a problem, I am the heaviest I have ever been. I still can't get around well, but now that the holidays are over a lot of the temptation is gone. Back to no soda, no chocolate, no fast food, a lot less sugar and simpler snacky things.

Having the trike at the end of the summer helped a lot, but I need something with a more powerful engine. I can still only do so much of the pedaling myself, and not having pedal assist means that even the slightest inclines become difficult if not impossible. We do have a place nearby where I can go several miles with no real struggle. I want spring to get here so I can get back to that.

The new car is ridiculous. We're slowly digging into what that screen does. It came with a few months of Sirius radio, so Lizzie has been listening to nothing but Christmas music since we got it. We were listening to the pop Xmas channel and became the musical MST3K. We've spent several evenings wandering around town looking at Christmas lights. It's our favorite thing to do this time of year.

It gets amazing gas mileage, we can't wait to take it on the road to see what it gets there. Once again, we would not have had the means to be able to do this if it wasn't for the help from our friends.

Our passports expired in 2019, not too long after we got back from England. We sent off the renewals yesterday. That means that FKO is a definite possibility. We need to see our friends.

We're still not dealing with people well. 14 months of isolation did both of us a lot of damage, physically and mentally. Hopefully there will be a couple of road trips and a couple more cons in 2024.

Speaking of which, who will be in Indianapolis for the eclipse? Talk has gone around about there being filk happening somewhere. There are a lot of filkers in the area, and since Lizzie's family lives there, it's where we're going to see the eclipse.

This ended up a lot longer than I thought. If you got this far, say hi, I need to hear from people. I do feel isolated sometimes. Not as badly as I did, but we really don't go much of anywhere, especially with it being so hard for me to get around. We are heading to Winter SACC in a few hours, see some local friends, play some music. We intend to drop in on the 24 Hour New Years Filk tomorrow.

This year has been hard, but it is ending well. Now to make next year better.

Next week we are playing our first online show in a very long time.
We will be playing in the Festival Of The Living Rooms at 6pm mountain time Saturday Dec 9th.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1344170922891907

We didn't want to do this, but we have no real choice. It's all in the GFM description.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/transmission-died-this-was-the-bridge-too-far

It has been a matter of question for some time as to how my guitar playing was going to go. I was having all kinds of problems with my hands. Trigger finger in my left index finger, so playing anything where I had to bend that back was almost impossible. My right index finger and thumb were in pretty much constant pain. I can’t lift things very well, so just putting on a guitar is difficult/.

I worked out what was bothering my right hand, and took out out of the equation. I have very little pain or stiffness now.

I pinged my doctor about the left hand, ready to go talk to the surgeon who has worked on my hands before. My doctor wanted to see me first. I ended up with a shot, something different than what the surgeon has given me before, and ya know … it worked. Playing a D chord hurt … a lot. I had to snap my index finger back straight, and that sent a surge of pain through my entire body. I had been playing in alternate tunings, playing songs that took one or two fingers to play, and even that hurt. Last week I picked up a guitar and ran through some chords. The real problems, D, Am and Dm were all easy. My hands are weak, but that is just a matter of playing every day.

We have our second show this year next month, and that is a real frustration. Not that we have a show, but that it is only our second. I’m still hoping on getting a place to play locally, but that is still elusive.

My old bouzouki has gotten to where it is probably more effort to fix it up than replace it. It needs a fret job, a new bridge, the neck may need to be trued. I have a Sweetwater credit card and don’t have to pay things off for months to years. I have a lovely Gold Tone bouzouki. I hate the strings, they are brutally heavy, but lighter strings are on the way (The strings I used on the old instrument are too light for this). She is taking a bit of getting used to, but we are coming to terms with each other. Lizzie says her name is Angelique.

We went to Wisconsin this weekend to see Alexander James Adams play. We really shouldn’t have spent the money, but we desperately needed a bit of road time. Traveling is so much of who we are, and we have done so little even as the world has become a little more sane. It was worth every penny. We saw great music in a great place. We saw dear, dear friends who we do not see often enough.

Then today I contact my CPAP provider to see how I was doing on the requirements for the insurance.

We owe a fair amount of money for health related things right now. We have monthly payments going out, which take up all the money we would normally spend for things like travel and cons. Today I was told that I was not in compliance, and insurance would not pay for the CPAP. So we’re another grand in debt. So now I feel like a complete idiot for taking a road trip and for buying an instrument.

I’m hoping on being able to get out of all this medical debt in a year, and the rest in two years. We’ll see how that goes.

The podcast is both wonderful and a strain. It gets hard to pick songs. Our library has grown to ridiculous levels. But people are being more vocal about it. There was a great deal of silence for a very long time, and that makes someone who suffers from impostor syndrome, well, get very worried. Thank you to everyone who has said nice things. We need to hear that.

The trike riding continues. We about to the end of the season for that, but we are going to continue for as long as we can.

I worry about diving back into the depression I was in for much of the last several years. We both need to find ways to find joy. We need to play, we need shows. Cons are out of the question generally, since they cost so much. We are doing the two Iowa cons, and those because they have both been so good to us. We need to finish the re-writing of two albums, and see about getting them recorded, but that is more money than we have, and more than I think we can raise. I have two finished songs for my synth project. I need to get those properly recorded, mixed and released. And it’s so hard. Lizzie’s job can be kind of mind-numbing. It takes so much of her energy. Mine is mind-numbing in a totally different way.

I need to get myself playing guitar (or something like it) every day. I need to do the same with my synths. Getting better sleep because of the CPAP has made me sharper. So I am more inclined to be creative. I need to keep that going.

We need to find a local place to play. The problem is that original music has very few outlets in this town, and even fewer for an acoustic duo.

Life continues to be a struggle, but I am more hopeful than I have been. Although it is likely that some that is the anti-anxiety meds. I turn 65 at the end of the year, so all of my medical stuff is going to change. We’ll see how that goes.

So how are you?

We hit a milestone this morning. 50,000 DLs on FilkCast.

I didn’t expect this to fly. I figured there would be a few episodes, and then gone. I did not expect 215 episodes, 50k DLs, and that does not include SciFi.Radio listens.

We’re coming up on 5 years. The November 8th show will be fun, our celebration of that time.

Thank you everyone for your continuing support.

My father had been working on this for some years. I knew that Linda was still working on finishing it, but it came as a complete surprise when we were told that was done.

I've read bits and pieces over the years; I am so glad to finally have it in my hands.

https://www.lindarobbinscoleman.com/Linda_Robbins_Coleman/Boyhoods_End,_new_in_2023.html

https://www.amazon.com/Boyhoods-End-Memories-William-Coleman/dp/B0CGMPM87S/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143991397?ean=9798988547006

ISBN - 9798988547006

A year goes by from my last story. 12 years ago at Musecon we had a ceremony both silly and serious. My son Jared had the best joke of the day, dressed as a Hobbit, he brought the rings in on a chain. Completely his idea. Lizzie and Reilly both got ready together with the help of Stephanie (Lizzie's mom, for those who haven't met her). Lexie stood up for her, along with Raven and Leah. My eldest, Ian (in a glorious Ren Faire shirt), Xap and Theresa were on my side.

The music broke down, but that did not deter a room full of musicians. One of my dearest friends, Celia, started to sing. By the time Lizzie had gotten to the front of the room, the basses had picked up the harmony. The officiant, my clone Charles, signaled for them all to stop, which they did perfectly.

"I'm so proud of all of you." He is rarely left speechless.

Feedback tried to stop the pixie who sang a song for us and failed. You cannot defeat a S00j (we will see you in just over a week!).

Lizzie remembered her vows, I stumbled through mine.

Sara made a tie dye cake for us for the reception. Afterwards we snuck out of the hotel for some us time, and had a lovely italian dinner. Neither of us can remember the name of the restaurant, just that it was west of the hotel and in a strip mall. The waitress got all giddy when she found out we had just been married. We want to find that place again.

That evening there was a marvelous music circle. I remember we played Widow's Garden and S00j came over and said "more please".

Neither of us had thought we would ever get married, me again, her for the first time. We may have been a trifle mistaken about that. There are several friends who like to remind me of that occasionally.

12 years later we are happier than ever, more in love than ever. We have traveled all over the US, and Canada and England as well. We're on our second vehicle, between the two we have over a half million miles on the road. S00j got her wish, 150+ songs now.

We've struggled here and there. My health is not great, but it's getting better all the time.

Right now it is a lovely cool rainy day. We are in our marvelous little house here in the wilds of Iowa.
If you find yourself in the center of Iowa, stop in, we have a nice guest room now. Do beware the beasties, you may get cuddled.

A college friend, after meeting Lizzie for the first time said, "it's nice to see you so happy, it's something you were not very good at".

I have gotten good at it. Most of that is due to my fabulous Lizzie Crowe.

I adore you, here is to many more years.

It’s been pretty damn interesting.

I am generally doing better physically. I am certainly doing better mentally. I have a Cpap, which I still struggle with, but it’s getting better. I’m getting around a little better, but only a little. It’s a long process.

The electric trike is marvelous. I have not been out on it nearly enough, but it’s been too hot. I really don’t cope with 100 degree weather. This week is better. Once we get this week’s podcast done, we are going to head out for a couple of evenings.

Had a home invasion Friday. My son, his wife and Miss Izzy came to see us. We went downstairs where there is more room to sit and Izzy saw the synths and said “PIANO!”.

“Do you want me to turn them on?”
“YES!”

So she and I sat and played the keyboards for a while. Then we went off to see model trains and have frozen custard. All in all a pretty good evening. She finally knows us and remembers us. We haven't been able to see her as much as we would have liked. That is changing.

Our air conditioning went out yesterday, hopefully that will all be covered, we’ll see. Someone is in tomorrow to look at it.

We seem to have come to an end to the mounting medical bills. Now we just have to pay them off. That’s the hard part. It's a lot of money.

Lizzie’s job just got weird. There is a power mongering manager who cannot deal with the idea that more work gets done when most folks are at home so they are insisting that people be in the office more. They cannot accept that the whole working world has changed. This will do odd things to both of our schedules. Fortunately my boss is cool with it.

My job continues to be boring and tenuous. I still have a job, hopefully will for the next two years, at which point I can retire. But they are doing cuts through the company again. If I lose this job we could be in a bit of trouble.

I want to get the synth project really moving. One song is written, but there hasn't been time to relearn the music and get it recorded. I have lots of fragments for the rest of the songs.

Cheshire Moon is stirring quietly. We're trying to get going again, but it's a struggle. We have one show ahead of us, ICON in Cedar Rapids in October. If we had more shows, we would be more motivated, but we can't afford cons. ICON will be a little easier, it's relatively local. We haven't been to a Chicago con in quite a few years. I think we have put out 2 full length CDs and one of the EPs since we were there last. We want to get back on stage. There is a local place that is promising, but neither of us can get up the energy to contact them. If anyone wants to host a house concert that is in a 6 hour drive for us ...

So that is the update. Things move along, some good some bad.

I went to the cardiologist this morning. I have apparently remained grossly unremarkable. No sign of any blockage at all. This makes me very happy.

Hopefully there will not be much more in doctors bills this year, we still have a lot to get out from under.

I got a message over on FB a couple days ago asking if I was ok. I had been pretty much silent online. It's nice to have someone reach out. I feel really isolated most of the time. Lizzie is pretty much the only person I actually speak to.

The short answer is pretty good. I have gone through a bunch of testing the last month, two scans of my heart and a sleep test.

The first chest scan led to my favorite thing ever said about me. I understand that this is a medical term for everything looks fine at first glance, but if I ever do another solo record, I will call it this ...

Grossly Unremarkable.

It makes me giggle.

The scans seem to be OK, but I talk to the doctor in a month for the real diagnosis. The fact that he has not called me in early is a good sign.

The sleep test came out pretty much as expected. My sleep apnea has gotten worse. I will say that that night was the worst night sleep I have had in months. The night before or after may have had a different result, but, they know what they are doing.

We're taking a beating financially. We have a bit of extra money this month, so I was able to get rid of a lot of the little stuff, but we both still have two very large medical bills hanging out there with more coming.

Helvetica cracked a tooth. He is getting that dealt with in a month. More money going out.

So we are not traveling this year. No cons, except Icon which is local. We probably shouldn't do that.

I can get around a little better but I still can't walk very far. I want an electric trike so I can ride and pedal as much as I am capable of, but wow are they out of our price range.

Lizzie continues to work from home and I work from home part time, so we get a lot of time together. Yeah, we still like being around each other all the time.

I'm trying to get back to playing guitar, but it's hard. We have no shows, we have no way to record either album this year, all that drives the depression that made me stop in the first place. We're looking for local shows, just so we can get back to playing live. I think I have a location. There is an open mic at a coffee shop we have gone to a couple of times and they have a nice space. We'll see what they think. I am uncertain as to whether we can pull in an audience.

My granddaughter turned 3 last week. We have seen her twice in the last couple of weeks, and she is finally getting to know us. She ran across the room and gave both of us a hug. And there is another due in October.

My former father in law passed a month ago. I am sad that I had not seen him for quite some time, I liked him a lot.

I do comment and post on some groups on FB, but I hate it so much.

There was a Toyboat reunion of sorts at Demicon. Mike Nixon was playing a solo show, Random Fractions were playing as well, so Mike thought it would be fun if the 4 of us got together for the last half of his show. We called it Mayday. We weren't too awful, considering we had one rehearsal. I don't expect it to happen again, we're not traveling for awhile, and Cathy and Pat are moving out west sometime next year (I think).

So there ya go. Eric in a nutcas ... nutshell.

How are you?