Greetings!
I know the title of this blog might be shocking-- and it deserves to be!
I will get to that later!
First I must recount the past few months of gigs (for posterity as always).
Since the last post I did play at the Civil War reenactment at the Norlands Living History Center, followed by Fishstock with EOS (mid July), then Into the Woods (musical) @ Community Little Theatre in Auburn, a solo guitar wedding in Boothbay, and Dr. Paul Caron's wedding at the Franco-Heritage Center (he has been my music director for over a decade in countless shows).
I have noticed that musicals and gigs in general all seem to "flow" better the older (seasoned) I get. Problems are resolved faster and I feel I am almost a spectator to myself playing. That comes with playing by rote (something I despise unless the music is breakneck exciting), but then again, I like being the pilot of a ship and being able to focus on things besides the regurgitation of notes (dynamics and expression come to mind). I still look for creative opportunities, and I will never play any song the same way twice for this reason. Maybe I am still looking for an Allen Holdsworth meets Dream Theater experience, but that doesn't mean I can't create that in the moment for myself.
Don't lose yourself in your playing. Do not become something you are not, and do not lose what you love about music (find what this is at the core). You can find what you like in all music, or you can add it in intentionally!
Now about my house being burglarized...
Over a month ago, while I was sleeping upstairs with my air conditioner on, a burglar broke into my house, stole my Fender Power Tele guitar, recording equipment, and all credit cards. I caught the act on camera with a few videos. He started out breaking a window in my basement, but couldn't get up past my cellar door. This man then proceeded to tear my air conditioner out of my livingroom window, leaving it hanging while still be plugged in, and got into the house. The time was 3am. I woke up and found a window wide open, front doors open, and I initially thought that my cat had gotten smarter and much stronger. When I saw my guitar missing and items misplaced, I knew what happened. Credit cards were cancelled and the police were called. An officer showed up and seemed uninterested. I dropped off the videos, pics, and serial number of my guitar to help find it at the station. Later in the day 3 investigators showed up and asked a few questions. After that day, no one got in contact with us. 2 weeks later I emailed to ask where they were in the process, and I received a generic indifferent response. It has been over a month and no one has contacted me since then. I am not impressed with law enforcement in my area, and I feel that my guitar might be in a pawn shop somewhere (which they promised wouldn't happen). They will be receiving an email today.
The lesson is that you need to question how secure your living space is. Think like a criminal and do not be blatant about showing off what you own. I have always locked up my music equipment since I started living in my house, but chose for that night to have 1 guitar out to practice for a wedding the next day. Keep yourself safe first and foremost, but also have peace-of-mind. I once had a single camera in my house, and I now have 5 (4 of which are in continuous record mode whenever movement is detected). Sleeping is still difficult although my house is more secure. I am more pessimistic about the town where I live, but that will fade slightly with time. By next year (or soon) I will be focused on moving to a location I deem safer, in a house that I will personally secure from the ground up. The world doesn't seem to be getting any better, so this seems to be a common sense move.
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