Two Bits

I had a dream three nights ago that it has taken until now to process.

   It was a dream filled with amorphous anxiety - numerous details escape me but two fine points of the night remain - one moment I remember: I'm swept out to sea from the deck of a ship.  I'm in a fur coat, for some reason (apparently I have hoes to choke in my dreams).  I sink below the water, the coat welling up above me, and I watch the sky disappear in a blobs of brick red fox pelt and aquamarine murk.
   Another dream: same night, same anxiet - Apparently I am able to cast magic spells?  Thanks to Alden for planting the seed of Sorcery in my subconscious, because it makes good dream fuel.  That's a topic for an other entry because, unfortunately, in this part of the dream I had no choice in which spell I cast.  I felt the power in my fingers, but I needed to conjure water to put out a fire and all I could manage was a fruit jam of some kind.  I attempted again and again different strengths and purpose of spell but to no avail.

   For the next two days, stress dandruff rained from my scalp, stress pimples broke out on my forehead, and stress bears roamed the streets of Brooklyn in search of honey.  These are all known symptoms of extended Cotler stress bubbling under the surface.  Except for the bears.  They just roam freely here.

   Feeling out of control, powerless, stressed, angry, and frustrated, I had to do something.  So, Chetta shaved my head:

Before

After

Patience is Everything!

"I learn it daily, learn it with pain to which I am grateful: patience is everything!” - Rainer Rilke


   I'm not sure what instilled in me an abundant respect for the value of patience, but somewhere between the "millions of years" talk of science, and the evidence of slow, inexorable processes that give rise to the wonders of our world, I have to to believe that almost anything is possible with patience.  


   Armed with a grasp (and acceptance of) musical theory as well as Alfred's "Teach yourself Chords and Progressions":

   I am in the market for a cheapie keyboard to begin the piano-playing portion of my musical life - I'm lookin' at you, craigslist.  While I respect the value of patience for self-teaching, I know learning is much more efficient with a guide, so I am also in the market for a piano player willing to trade piano lessons for drum lessons.

   In the drum world, I've been working up speed, strength, and endurance by practicing on a pillow along to an aforementioned mix of thirty-six songs I have learned to play since I started drums and which best represent the upper boundaries of my skills.  I started working on feet paradiddles, playing RLRR LRLL on my feet with assorted hand rhythms on top of that.  I love finding something new to tackle, that I can slowly whittle away at until it fits in my pocket and I can pull it out when the inspiration demands.

   Also brimming with patient energy and self-taught passion is my Candice Chetta, who recently finished the seventh and last in a series of Chakra paintings.  For a person who never went to an art class, I am more proud than I can describe of my pretty lady.  Amazing samples of the series:

Sing Out

   Also seen at her blog are some great photos of last week's Blizzageddon from our apartment window.  Three feet of snow never looked so good!

   More to come, stay posted!

Happy New Years, you Millennium Tween, you.

Boy, Vincent D'Onofrio sure does look like Vince Vaughn.  That's confusing.  Sorry, Criminal Intent is on.
Hey, it's the New Year!  Go Gregorian Number Change!  Time for new beginnings and projects!  And I'm feeling it this year.


In the pipeline:
   A very talented group of guys with which to play music.  I spent the five-hour flights to and from California building a playlist of music that originally inspired me to play music, music that I actively practice to, and music that represents a sound I would be proud to make.  I am constraining myself to one song per band, straining my active listening skills for the aspects that speak to me.  
   The guys and I are planning a listening party to share our respective mix CDs, just like the old days.  I remember my mother (sorry, Mom) telling me stories about she and her friends getting together to sit around to listen to the newly dropped White Album as a shared experience.  I suppose the "sharing" of music, facilitated by the intarwebz has become an easier, but isolated experience.  Bringin' it back.
   Also brought back has been my interest in the piano.  Lucky enough to have an upright piano in my childhood house, I can remember plinking along, about seven or eight years old, mystified that certain combinatons of keys just sounded  better. 
   At this past trip to California I looked through my brother's Complete Beatles Songbook, calling on dusty music theory and logic to slowly piece together "Oh Darling!" and "Let It Be", run scales and attempt to coordinate my fingers (I'm in fact typing like Mavis Beacon taught me.  Again with the back-bringing).  So I'm Looking for an ivory tickler who would trade piano lessons for drum lessons.  If you know anybody, pass it on.  Theenks.


In the present:
   Call me a sucker, I can't help make a resolution for the New Year.  I know, I know, the true meaning of the New Year has been marred by the resolutionifying of the season - thanks, big Greeting Cards - but whataya gon'do?
   I'm staring inefficient time management, one of my nagging weaknesses down the barrel, and I want it "taken 
care of", if you know what I mean.  My work schedule for now allows for an early rise and early nights  except for possible shows, so I'm shooting for a blog per day, practice at least five days per week, eventually three meetings with The Guys per week.  


So them's the plans for the next few.  As for everything else:
   The kitties are great, as can be seen on display and for sale at Candice Chetta's Etsy:

Lokian Judas

Curious Benny

 

Also seen at The Candice Chetta is the growing "Chakra" series:

Grounded

Embraced Sensuality

Currently raising the property value of our walls - until they sell, that is - this beautiful series has been Chetta's work since the layoff, which I'm counting as a blessing in disguise.  I am very proud of all the hard work and long hours my lady has been putting in, in spite of the emotional tumult of losing a job that caused so much emotional tumult.

   

   Life has happened hard this past year.  We've survived so far and I'm ready to get my hands on the wheel and push the gas down.  I just hope the same for everybody else.

"It's astounding that given some of life's luxuries, you can put up with a lack of its necessities."

Update:
   Following a period of mourning from leaving Kill The Huxter  for over a year, I have thrown myself back into music.  Conrad Sanguinetti, Rocco Malozzi and Nate Morgan were awesome dudes to make music with, and only reinforced my notion that in the East I find the nicest, most welcoming friends I could imagine.
 
   But, it's time to utilize the hibernational properties of wintertime to gather my energies together to grow my palette of musical tools, in theory to be unleashed when Spring arrives.
   Practice continues on pillows and pads, at least once a day - Either along with Pandora Radio or a metronome .  The giving of lessons has begun - a little extra cash on the side and a great new way to hone my own skills.  This coming Monday I am planning on being part of the house band for Steve "Sweets" Carr's first Breukelen Jest Comedy Show at Breukelen Coffee House along with Max Rose, multi-talented illustrator/ivory tickler.

   I have barely started to play music with some incredibly talented and driven folks from the neighborhood, and I am incredibly excited for the soon-tapped wealth of talent within a two block radius of my apartment.  More and more I find one rarely has to leave one's microneighborhood if one were so inclined.
 
   Between the above projects, practice, and blogging in an attempt to cast a sizable mark during my brief passing through this point in time.  Extra-strength deep, man.

   It is the last night of Channukah, and though I don't necessarily consider myself Jewish (and neither do the Jews, I'm told), but I am Jew-ish with the worry and the guilt and the glayven.  I'm approaching the one year anniversary of my father's passing, and I'm using the legend of the burning oil as an analogue for the fire that burns in everybody, and that it can burn longer and brighter than I would ever imagine, and faith is its fuel.

   We don't have much disposable income at the moment - After three of four jobs evaporated from under our feet, we find ourselves surprisingly able to make ends meet and any extra money is reinvested in our respective arts.  As you can see on the always honest Candice Chetta's corner of the internet, selling paintings , prints  and Vintage eye wear on Etsy is allowing us a bit of extra funds, but mostly we reinvest directly into our respective arts.  Candice is out of canvas and I am afraid she might start painting on the cats as they slink by.  It is a real fear.

I guess what I'm trying to say is

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Broccoli and Chetta.  My blog is linked to Facebook to Twitter to Reverbnation to Linkdin to the Skynet Mainframe.  Look forward to hearing lots more from me as I assault the internet cloud.  Pray for rain.

Thanks for all the fish

    I figured Thanksgiving 2010 was as good a time as any to send up some smoke signals from this little corner of the intarnets.  I'm sitting on a purple loveseat with my astounding Candice Chetta.  We're enjoying each other's company listening to Dialated Peoples from our humble stereo setup.
   I'm so thankful for the young woman who has helped me realize a life I had only dreamed about, and without whom I would be lost.
   I'm thankful for my incredible health.  Nothing's promised, especially with these delicate Earthly forms and I've seen enough death to know I should never assume "it can't happen to me" because "it" can happen to anybody at any time.
   I'm thankful for my family.  I can barely comprehend how lucky I am to have been brought up by a warm, loving and supportive group of people.  Nothing was ever missing from my family life, a pretty damn rare experience.
   By the way, this is my job:

   

   So pretty much I have the most dope job I could ever ask for.  It's not filling my bank account right away, but I walk downstairs to my job of making extremely good coffee for a diverse, intelligent, talented and inspiring people.  I'm challenged and growing and discovering new aspects of my self and my relationship with the world every day.  

   I've always been told to reach for whatever it is I love to do, and I am thankful to have the mental and emotional capacity to believe in myself and that I can live a heaven on this Earth.