the happiness, excitement, and general contentedness thread

[cosmicevan]

April 2019 I was in the mindset of I am only gonna live once and f-it Carl is getting older and I'm gonna try and get a deposit in on my current dream bass - 32" scale 5 string from E - C. Finances were in a good enough place and the mrs was supportive so I reached out and confirmed Carl's current number and dialed the digits to reach the master once again. I left him a message and moved along with my day. I had heard that he had stopped taking orders a while ago, but a few friends I've met through just being a fanboi and owner of Carl's basses mentioned to me that it was worth the call since you never know and some of these folks had been lucky enough to get on the waitlist.

In any event, Carl called me back and said I know you know how this goes because you already have gotten a bass from me and he asked what I was hoping for. I gave him my minimal ask of 32" scale length and 5 strings strung E - C and much like telling a Michelin star chef your allergies and then it's up to them...the rest was in Carl's hands. I begged for a fancy frills, but Carl suggested that my only shot might be to take a semi-frills. I said whatever you can do is more than appreciated and I took a deep swallow and sent off a massive deposit.

Radio silence for 3.5 years...fast forward to the other day and I get a message from a fan saying hey...is that your name on the progress pics Carl just posted to instagram? Sure enough...it's me!!!! I'm over the moon with excitement. Should be another 6 months or so give or take...I'm just happy to see it is happening and to make it even better, the picture was a rainbow bass!!!! HOLY MOLY!!!!!

[friendship]

This weekend, I'm getting back the guitars I had when I got divorced almost a decade ago. My Reverend Slingshot Jr. that I got off the guy from the Supersuckers. The Gibson Melody Maker Flying V that is likely the only Gibson ever. A Gretsch BST-2000 that was my second guitar ever. A MIM Strat I scored in a parking lot for $150 and a fuzz. They are coming home. I need a clip on tuner and a Kleenex.

damn dude it was been a banner week for you and guitars! Everything's coming up chuck! Upchucking!

Congrats to morange and qersty for getting into school!

Congrats to cosmicevan for your dream bass becoming a dream reality!

In personal news, I was cleaning out an SD card and found 40 minutes of decent ambient music I completely forgot I recorded in 2020.

[chuckjaywalk]

Great guitar day yesterday. My partner and two of our friends played hooky yesterday and we all drove to Lincoln. We went to the Warhammer Store and got some neat stuff, then went to Guitar Center. I got a Boss CS-3 cheap, after running the gauntlet of irritating guitar store employees (guy who doesn't know anything followed by guy who thinks suggesting a fucking rack unit makes sense when I'm buying a $60 pedal). Best of all, I picked up my Reverend from my guitar tech. I'm moving all my instruments to lighter 9-42 strings. The decade of non-use in a basement didn't affect the Reverend, at all. She is the best guitar I've ever played.

[blankfield]

Saw our ol' pal Aen at Russian Circles. It was like seeing a celebrity. Show was fantastic.

[moid]

Got my favourite amp back from the repair shop today, so glad to play through it again... It's been broken all Summer and now it's back! Everything sounds right again

[echorec]

Got uninvited by my sister to a family event. Hahahaha. I'm so excited---a peaceful day to myself. I have 5 siblings, and I can talk to 2 of them. I was obligated to go, because one of my sisters lives in another state and rarely visits (because my family is terrible at communication & dreadful at supporting one another). My sister, who is 38, thinks that uninviting me is some kind of punishment??? That's like being barred from jury duty. ---Attending the event would have been a punishment. All I had to do was tell my sister for the 30th time in the last 6 years, that I don't like being in mega group texts. I've repeatedly asked not to be placed in huge group texts (nephews, nieces, grandparents), and she said that I was being "short-sighted" and demanding "special" treatment. I don't want to get dozens of texts that clog up my shitty phone---why would I pay $1,000 a year for a premium phone & a data plan, so I can get flooded with messages from people I don't like? I'm not the host. I don't need to be included in any of that. So glad that I don't have to see my whole family this weekend---what a relief.

[Gone Fission]

Man, if annoying relations constantly group texted, I would already have used this guy up:


As it stands, I just use him on spam texters.

If I had your disinvite win, I’d also consider doing something awesome with that chunk of time and giving contemporaneous social media updates showing how much I was enjoying it. Not because I’m the sort of person who normally posts such things, but because I’m guessing your sister follows those sorts of things and would be tweaked by it.

[Velcro Bottom]

Got uninvited by my sister to a family event. Hahahaha. I'm so excited---a peaceful day to myself. I have 5 siblings, and I can talk to 2 of them. I was obligated to go, because one of my sisters lives in another state and rarely visits (because my family is terrible at communication & dreadful at supporting one another). My sister, who is 38, thinks that uninviting me is some kind of punishment??? That's like being barred from jury duty. ---Attending the event would have been a punishment. All I had to do was tell my sister for the 30th time in the last 6 years, that I don't like being in mega group texts. I've repeatedly asked not to be placed in huge group texts (nephews, nieces, grandparents), and she said that I was being "short-sighted" and demanding "special" treatment. I don't want to get dozens of texts that clog up my shitty phone---why would I pay $1,000 a year for a premium phone & a data plan, so I can get flooded with messages from people I don't like? I'm not the host. I don't need to be included in any of that. So glad that I don't have to see my whole family this weekend---what a relief.

You lucky bastard.

[friendship]

Yesterday was a day from Hell at work, and the stress reached such a peak that suddenly my brain 404'd or something and I just wasn't stressed anymore. Like I let it wash over me and I didn't feel bad or anxious or panicked or mad. I had been having a really rotten couple of weeks mentally due to various other pressures (see: "have you ever blown up your life" thread) and it's almost like it reached such an intensity that it burned itself out. I went home, devoured a kingly spread of Chinese food, pet the cat, fell asleep at 9PM, and woke up feeling much better about having to be a human being with consciousness.

[imJonWain]

I'm doing a weekly radio show again starting next week! I had one a few years back but dropped it due to not having the time for plan for it each week. Doing live radio is a little stressful but it'll be good to get back into it and force myself to get new music.

[Pepe]

I wish you success and fun!

[PanicProne]

1. Music is going well. I'm playing and writing more than ever. Most of all I have a new project, with people who WANT TO PLAY (ie go out of their way to find time to rehearse) and know how ot properly communicate. IT's amazing and I'm trying really hard to not take it for granted. Such a luxury and I love it!

2. Finally seeing the finish line for an ongoing 10 yr projects (see: previous band with people who didn't really want to play and can't communicate :P ) and it's turning out pretty decent.

3. I've fallen in love with pedals again and I looove going through my collection and discovering/rediscovering stuff and feeling super justified as far keeping them in the first place. I've actually sold more stuff than bought new in the past 6 months and it feels great.

[imJonWain]

holy necrobump!

[Chankgeez]

I guess we haven't been collectively happy since 2022.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Wow that's a bummer

1. Music is going well. I'm playing and writing more than ever. Most of all I have a new project, with people who WANT TO PLAY (ie go out of their way to find time to rehearse) and know how ot properly communicate. IT's amazing and I'm trying really hard to not take it for granted. Such a luxury and I love it!

2. Finally seeing the finish line for an ongoing 10 yr projects (see: previous band with people who didn't really want to play and can't communicate :P ) and it's turning out pretty decent.

3. I've fallen in love with pedals again and I looove going through my collection and discovering/rediscovering stuff and feeling super justified as far keeping them in the first place. I've actually sold more stuff than bought new in the past 6 months and it feels great.

All great news! I'm similarly enjoying being in a band where people and keen, nice, and talented, after years of not having any bands going on (except remote ones but that's not the same really as a local gang that can gig and rehearse a lot. Played loads more gigs than I've attended as a punter in the last year.

I always think being in a band makes my thoughts about gear a lot more healthy and different than when I'm not! Maybe that's a factor