Day jobs and rock ‘n roll fantasies do not fold together as nicely as we sometimes like. Demanding day jobs that we really enjoy can make the combination especially dicey. Working every day for three weeks uses up what creativity and energy might be available for rock ‘n roll, blog posts, etc. Tight, structured thinking and waves of projects do not allow for many free flow thoughts or mental meanderings.
But I am not going to let another week slip by without putting fingers to keyboard. If I tap away, something may emerge. After all, a roomful for monkeys working in Word might come up with a novel. With autocorrect, other computer aids, and rapidly evolving technology, the odds of success improve daily.
The new Lava Pup -- Tiki the Bichon -- is not acclimated at all to band life. Rather, he is a celebrity in his own right with his own Facebook page. Posts to his page generally outdraw anything posted by us.
Today, in San Jose, a woman came up to Becky and said, “Is that Tiki the Bichon? I recognize him from his Facebook page.” The appeal of a cute fluffy puppy overpowers any appeal that four middle-aged rock ‘n rollers have.
Becky must have seen this coming. She has shifted her managerial and promotional efforts over to Tiki the Bichon. Photos. Videos. She is taking him on the road in June. Tiki’s star is rising with her while the Lava Pups’ star fades.
Tiki recognizes that he is the star in our household. He is not going to give that up. Recently, I practiced at home in front of Tiki the Bichon -- eight or nine songs with no amplification. After entertaining him, I put my guitar in a gig bag and set it in the corner.
Maybe he felt cheated with only eight or nine songs. Maybe they were not as entertaining as I thought. Or maybe my skills are not up his expectations. Or maybe my playing was really bad. Or maybe Tiki just wanted to assert his dominance.
Irrespective of whether he was opining about my playing or showing who is the top dog in the house, at least the gig bag was water -- or more accurately urine -- resistant!
Three straight weeks of working did not mean the total neglect of rock ‘n roll fantasies. Nor did our fading star in Becky’s eyes impede us from keeping the fantasy going. Nor did Tiki expressing his opinion, or dominance, dampen -- pun intended -- planning. We learned last year that a week or two of procrastination turns into months of inactivity.
We booked a show at the “new” Shine. “New” because its ownership changed and its interior was remodeled, but more about that some other time. A weekend free of day job demands and resort to cliche brought forth a poster for a March 14th show.
Okay, you may be thinking, “O’Lava Pups? O’Funicellos? St. Patty’s Surf? A couple of shamrocks? That is way too obvious. Can’t they come up with something more creative? The Pups are giving into convention.”
But do we really want to join in that debate? Our approach today is really simple: Progress beats inertia. And all is well in Pup land. After all, just like Tiki the Bichon, everybody is entitled to an opinion. Just leave my gig bag and guitar alone!