Almost a year ago, I mentioned that I was considering closing this site or moving to a dot mac account.  Now that I don't code for a living, I care less about the technology than the story I can tell. When I start a new project at work, I always ask "What do you want to accomplish?"  I don't ask "What new cool technology do you want to learn?" 

This site will be moving to a .mac account very soon. You can find me at http://web.mac.com/benissocool/

We rented a house at the Beach Club in Glf Shores the week of Sept 9th.  My parents went with us.  I posted a few pictures in the gallery, but you have to be a registered user to view them. And be careful because the Gallery is throwing all knids of errors since the code upgrade. 

Suzie died this morning. She had cancer that had erroded a large portion of her pelvis. But in true Suzie fashion, she wagged her tail, sang and was ready to ride in the car right up to literally her last minute.

It's hard to put down a dog that's wagging her tail and wanting to go home in the car. That's a tribute to the pain meds and to her spirit. She's not one to show pain. And yet she was in a great deal of pain for the past week, which is what lead us to the vet on Friday. She went in for surgery on her knee and during the course of prepping her, the vet did x-rays that ended in finding the cancer.

I remember sitting in an otherwise empty house in Atlanta in the middle of the night with Suzie licking the tears off my face. She probably didn't understand that my brother had died but she knew that I was hurt and she wanted to comfort me. I remember her pulling Karen into a park lake in Denver because someone had thrown a tennis ball into the water and Karen couldn't let go of the leash fast enough. And I will always remember our last ride in the car yesterday as she leaned fully out the window, ears flapping, smiling her big smile as she pretended to fly through the neighborhoods.

Most of you already know that I care for Suzie much more than most of the people I encounter. And at 12 years old, I had begun preparing myself for when she wouldn't be around. I just did not expect that within 24 hours she would be gone.

The world is a tough place. Life is precious.

Good night sweet girl. Sleep good.

I believe in visualization. If your mind can see it, your heart can feel its way through it. If it feels right, then take the next step. This process gives energy to your dream which then takes on life. (and no, I'm not going all Santana on you)

I did this for my music studio again this year. (I also needed to figure out the wiring and it helps to diagram it.) And so I present the 2007 Studio diagram and the 2007-2008 Want List, both in PDF format.

This year I'm happy with my guitar tone after purchasing the Mesa Mark IV. I wish I had done that in 1987 when I first wanted one (and had more money for such things) but there was no one to show me where or how to find one. Mesa didn't, and still doesn't to my knowledge, distribute product in Little Rock. There was no Internet and not an easy way to find guitar-oriented folks. Like the John Mayer quote I often use where he says that young guitarists don't find the great players who end up being their main influences unless and until an older guitar player comes alongside and introduces them to the greats: Muddy, Buddy, Carlos, Jimi, etc. It's only then that you realize where Clapton, Satriani and Johnson stole their riffs.

I've talked myself out of selling the GT6's to upgrade to the VG-99. I don't need the guitar tones now that I have the Mark IV. The GT6-B allows me to output two guitar signals: one direct and one with effects. This makes the mandolin and 12 string guitar sound great. And the bass as well. So I'm keeping both the GT-6 and the GT6-B. I need to dig deeper into them and learn how to program them.

I also talked myself out of any more keyboards. I can barely play my XP-80 synth and it continues to give me the tones I want. Plus the software synths in Logic Pro can't be beat. I don't need an 88-key weighted hammer action keybed when I don't play the existing 76-key one well.

The new focus is on slide guitars: lap steel, resonator and pedal steel. And mandolin. No one plays these instruments and I bet I can learn them. I'm going to pick up the '53 Supro more often and see if I'm as good as I say.

Darned if Webb Wilder, Dave Matthews and David Gray aren't making me want a baritone guitar. Webb has several songs with twangy baritone guitar solos. And David Gray plays on during his Live in Slow Motion concert. It's just a guitar with a low B string, but Gretsch makes a great one with a Bigsby that is worth collecting.

I'm all out of space in the master bedroom and we're going to have to build a music room on the back of the house if any more new gear shows up. Maybe we'll do that in 2008 if some cash shows up. I'm working on a floor plan design that allows the room to be a home theater and recording studio all-in-one.

And stop. The vacation is almost over and it feels like it never began. What did I accomplish? Why am I still as tired, distracted and cynical as before?

I look around and see unfinished projects, half baked ideas and dirty dishes. (figuratively speaking) There's not enough time to finish anything and I'm not sure there's a finish line anyway. Stuff piles up and it gets harder to want to deal with it. It's piling up so high (and so well) that it seems easier to do nothing than to find a place to dig in. What's the point?

What's the point, indeed.

Max and I had a big day at the park and now he's sleeping it off. I think I'll go take a nap with him and snuggle. Snuggles good. Fire bad.