Here I am, a day late and a dollar short, as usual. The last decade has been a blur to me. I feel like Rip Van Winkle or a time traveler from the 1990’s. What happened? I got old. That is what happened. I’ve got the gray hair and AARP card to prove it. My mom was complaining about her age, sitting between me and my 90+ year old grandmother. I said, “I’m old. You’re old. She’s old. We’re all old.” She came up from Tennessee a few weeks ago, to inform me that my biological dad had died. I had never met the man, to my memory. She said I met him once as a little kid. But, I have no recollection of that. Anyway, she brought me a bunch of my childhood belongings that she had kept in an attic trunk. I remember most of these.

As if I needed another reminder of time passing, my old tires wore out recently and I got a flat, necessitating getting a new set. Not cheap! This was not on my bingo card. But, everything wears out. Everybody dies. The world moves on.

MAGA is finally dying. Hopefully, their bloated orange cult leader will die with it or spend his remaining years in a prison cell. A padded cell might be more apt, though. The Trumpster Fire decade may be approaching an end at last! Honestly, I think the stress of it has impacted my ability to get anything done. I finally have a clear diagnoses of AuDHD from my doctors. That explains a lot! The most visible symptoms were merely comorbidities. Understanding that makes managing them a lot easier. Other health issues have sidelined me for the better part of a year. But, I’m feeling better and getting back on track with things.

I’m trying to rebuild my home studio (Spacejunk UFO) and catch up on projects that have been languishing. I bought a bunch of snake cables for my patchbay. It isn’t quite the same as the MOTU/Roland setup we had in our home studio in Westland. But, I might be able to link more equipment together with what I have now. It ain’t hi-fi or lo-fi. It is a mid-fi hybrid, sorta. I’m often tempted to meet other musicians for collaborating. But, I think my tenure with Death Cat proved that it won’t work for me. I’ve never been crazy about being a solo act. But, at least it works better than the alternatives. Having a better handle on what my mental health needs are makes the required path more navigable. Putting together a live version of my projects with other musicians is something I would still like to do. The terms and logistics for such an endeavor are something I will just have to figure out with interested parties if the opportunities arise. For now, I guess I’m on my own.

Theee Urban SpaceCat cassette-zine is still the main vehicle for most of my creative output. Based on the packages I’ve sent to pen-pals since the 1980’s, it can contain virtually anything. So, I haven’t laid out many rules for it. It commonly includes found objects, handmade art, cards, stickers, and original recordings based on the mixtapes I’ve made for friends. Unlike a real band, with conflicting interests of other band members, I don’t have to build consensus around what style we should play or what our “look” is. It can go all over the place, like freeform radio or those mixtapes. If the Island of Misfit Noise ever becomes a live band again I have some ideas about which way I would like to go with it. But, that would depend entirely on who wants to be involved. I’ll just keep writing material on my own, regardless.

I’m trying REALLY HARD to get my shit together and complete more work in a timely manner. But, me & my brain have a hostile non-cooperative relationship.