Today I went to a school of rock performance by my work wife's son. He started playing bass guitar this year. And of course I've been the most supportive auntie.
I should say she's my work wife yes, but he's also my friend. We're friends. I'm for sure friends with an 8 year old. At his birthday party in 2024, a bunch of kids canceled, and he was very sad. He told her "it'll be a great party though, as long as Auntie Christine comes."
So I wouldn't miss this debut performance for the world.
When he first started playing, he said his fingers hurt too much, and he wanted to quit. I reached out to rock star bass player Karina Rykman to ask her for some advice for a brand new baby bassist. She was thrilled to share thoughts, recommended a certain brand of strings for new fingers.
I shared that with her, and she talked to his teacher. He said for sure to switch, but, he wanted to sit with A and work on how he holds the bass - see if they could solve the problem with finger work.
A couple weeks ago, we found out he'd have his first concert. The school of rock does this twice a year, and this would be his first time.
He said he wasn't going to go and perform because "I suck," and "our band isn't that good, compared to the other bands." I gave him a pep talk, that the other bands were first-season bands once upon a time too. I told him about my other friend Henry who plays keyboard, and how his first show wasn't that great. But I've gone to see Henry and his band play a bunch of times now over the last 2 years or so, and they are so much better than they were!
He was afraid people would boo them.
Like in the game Guitar Hero, when you suck at playing Guitar Hero the crowd in the game will boooooooooooo your suckingness right before the failure message comes on the screen.
My work wife said no... everyone there is there to support the kids. No one in the audience will be strangers off the street expecting a professional show. If anything, people will be more supportive of the bands that aren't good, to encourage them to get better.
I gave him a similar pep talk. Then, I figured I'd ask a professional. I reached out to Karina again, and asked her if she'd just do a little video pep talk for him.
And she delivered.
Boy did she ever.
At like 1am in a cab or an uber, she held her phone up and spoke into the video, straight to him. She was so happy to know he stuck with it over the school year and summer. It's hard to learn something new! And it is scary to get up in front of a crowd of people and perform. But "you got this little bro!" She let him know that it was going to be alright, and even if he sucked, probably no one would know. Once you get through it, you did it, and you're done. And hopefully you learned a few things to apply for the next show.
I did the same thing a few years ago for Henry when he was super scared for his first recital. I didn't reach out to a famous piano player, I reached out to Brian Rosenworcel from Guster, because Henry admires him so much. Brian made a little video for Henry too about how piano is so hard, and Henry still watches it when he's feeling like he needs it.
The little rock show was good. A nailed his bass parts and there were 3-5 young girls singing, loudly, to songs like "Island in the Sun" and "I Hate Myself For Loving You," and "Wonderwall."
Afterwards, A said he was so scared going into it but that it all worked out great. I told him I could hear him loud and clear and he nailed his parts. So good.
Worth the trip.
My work wife has a no pictures of the boy on the internet policy, so I abide by that. Got some good shots, and did send them to Karina with her permission. And Karina loved it, of course.
I drove home, and Doug said he was going to take the dog for a walk. I said I'd like to come so he suggested we go to the dog park. It is about a 10 min. walk from our house, and is pretty nice. There's a big dog side and a little dog side. When we got there one guy was there with his two dogs, Red Bone Coon Hounds. They got along really well with Toffee. A lady came in with two dogs, an English Cream retriever, and a golden. Those two dogs were disinterested in playing, but the English Cream did eventually play with her.
A guy came in and said he was trying to resocialize his dog after many months of him (the guy not the dog) being in a PTSD hospital stay.
Toffee and the dog got bitey with each other, and I felt horrible. The guy left and I wished we had more time to talk maybe and work things out.
But.
Another guy came in with his "Potcake," which is a kind of mutt mix dog from "the islands," as he said. His name is Natty Boh, like the beer. And he and Toffee got bitey with each other and the guy was super cool about it. "This is how they learn. They learn by doing and doing it wrong. And we let them know they did it wrong and help them do it right." Eventually there was a lot of playing, Natty got a little snarly and kind of scary with one of the Red Bones, and that dog didn't enjoy it but he came and sat next to me on the bench, and I put my arm around him and let him know he was okay.
All told, a good hour spent. Except for the guy with PTSD and his dog, and I hope maybe someday I see him again.
It's not just about socializing his dog, but, socializing him too, I think.
We got home, made dinner, watched football, the end. I folded two suitcases of laundry, I still need to put it all away. And I made candied mixed nuts which didn't come out right because Doug wanted me to add honey, and the honey kind of burned a bit. They're not ruined, but they aren't the best mixed nuts I've ever made.
Digits below some pics. First pic is Natty Boh. Waiting for a cookie. Next is the dog dad of the Red Bone Hounds, his right arm sleeve is all ocean tattoos, so I wanted a pic of the octopus for Jess. His left arm is outer space themed. Pretty cool art! And finally, on the way home there is a house that has a couple holes cut in the fence for their dog to look out and bark at things. And he barked at us. He made me think of Phineas.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. 3 walks. to and from the dog park: 10 min/.47 mi and 15 min/.64 mile. to hit the 10k mark: 8 min/.41 mile. 10k+ by bedtime
blood glucose:
7am: 106
4pm: 107
10pm: 139
food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine
8:30am: 2 little walnut sticky buns w/coffee
11:30am: met+glip
6:30pm: bowl of rotini & meat sauce; shiraz+diet ginger ale
through the evening: candied nuts
9pm: met+glip
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