Priorities.
I finally feel liberated from my retirement account.
The likelihood of my pre retirement years succumbing to a “lost decade” in the markets has dramatically increased.
Vultures
Yes, we seem to be surrounded by them these days don't we? I'm not referring to those vultures, but instead the John Mayer song from his 2006 album "Continuum". The drummer on the album is the great Steve Jordan along with Pino Palladino (gosh if there were ever a bass player that I wish I could jam with it would be Mr. Palladino).
I don't nor have I really paid attention to John Mayer, I have always paused however when I hear a song that have these rhythm juggernauts playing on the track. That was the case with this song "Vultures"*. It is a simple, tight bass and drum groove with tasty guitars and fairly decent vocals. I came across a live performance of Steve Jordan playing it and the groove hit hard.
So I decided to do one of my one take drum covers. I listen to the song once, chart out a basic form and get a sense of the feel and press record. It was nice to feel motivated behind the kit again, a nice distraction from what has been going on lately. Here's my drum performance of the song:
*Goes without saying that I hold no copyright or ownership of this music, the drum performance in this track is mine for my own musical education purposes. All rights are reserved by the respective copyright owners.
✅ Groceries
✅ Food for the week prepped and cooked
✅ Playtime w/ 4 yo
✅ Realization that tomorrow is Monday
☑️ Rest
The Light Phone III is the most interesting phone design I have seen in while. I’m seriously considering it (but that price though 👀). I’m also a sucker for working within constraints. Phone, Text (SMS), Podcast, Calendar, Contacts, Directions, Camera and super clicky buttons.
Per my previous post, you can pretty much validate this at every tech news site.
Joan Westenberg captures a lot of what has been on my mind over the past couple of years in this wonderful piece, The Future is More Stuff:
This, right here, is why labor-saving devices haven't saved labor, why communication technologies haven't created more connection, why abundance hasn't given us a 4 day work week. The gains get captured by the same system that produces the stuff, channeled back into making more stuff rather than improving our mutual - our shared - well-being.
Today I played with my boy. Puzzles, racing, matching games, hide and seek, reading stories. All day, my only focus.
Apparently ssa.gov website is only running during set hours. This is what shows up when I try to log in (to see my social security contribution statement). I decided to check it out after reading about this poor gentleman, whose benefits are suspended for no good reason.
