PS Blog

Speaking of Projects

  • by Drew

I was, right? Speaking of projects, that is. I actually think the next one is going to be soon upon me. The next crowd funding one, I mean. Mad Science the Card Game was a riot and many of us had a ton of fun with it. There is a music project I have in mind right now… and it is a massive one. But before I get to that I will probably do a somewhat smaller one, a publishing venture. One of the many books I’ve written mostly for my kids has gone through enough edits and iterations that I think I need to start looking into trade printing. I’ll let you know. It’s all about fairies. Tooth Fairies in particular. You’ll totally dig it.

Confessions

Personality Test

  • by Drew

Are you more of a “how to clean hard drive” person or a “which hunk of metal do I hit repeatedly with an 8 pound maul” sort of person? I kind of think I’m more of the latter than the former. Do you think that makes me a bad person? I mean, not the part about smashing things with a big heavy hammer. That’s just an inner-Hulk rising sort of thing. It’s more the “if you smash it you probably won’t recycle it” part of the equation. I mean, I don’t want you to think I don’t care about the environment.

Noise

So many choices

  • by Drew

I’ve had a number of young people asking me about guitars lately. I guess it’s somehow related to my oldest getting to an age where some of his friends are starting to play. Now they need solid instruments to really get going on. And since it is an age when parents skip right over the standards and go right for the bling, most of these kids have never played a real acoustic. Most of them have half-plastic Walmart specials that have a machine made paint job that looks like Anjelina Jolie’s tramp stamp.

Sure, it may impress a room full of 12 year olds with its looks, but it sounds like an ass. (As in donkey… that’s not a flatulence line – though on the other hand…)

I could easily say new Epiphone DR-100 acoustic guitar at Musicians Friend and hope they actually apply some reasonable practice hours. But I’m old school and believe in the value of working for it. Or working toward it. And actually playing it and feeling it.

The reality of your first “Real” guitar is that it can color your future instrument choices for years to come. Better make a good one. This is a time to beg, borrow, and… well, borrow a lot. Hit the music shops and play their new and used instruments. Find the right fit. You’ll carry it with you for years to come. Maybe even forever, if you’re like me.

Of the 15 or so guitars I have owned in my life, I have sold only 2.

Noise

Livin’ in the Projects

  • by Drew

I have this tendency to surround myself with open items. I speak now, of course, outside of work (the good ol’ day job). I have a couple of books I need to do a last edit on. I have hundreds of songs I want to focus on and record. I have at least 5 comic book minis/graphic novels to find artists for. And then there are the hybrid works… don’t even ask. And at one point I was going to pull out a couple of additional card games to complement Mad Science the Card Game.

Oh Kickstarter, where do I begin? The home studio is in great shape. Can I do a record or two. Or ten. I don’t even need a new preamp or great akg at musicians friend to make the rock rock. I’m all set, baby. I just need the time.

Wasn’t it supposed to be on my side?

Life

Real Real Gone (Estate)

  • by Drew

If you’re not on board with my hating on big biz like the health insurance ridiculousness in the good ol’ USA, you may want to check out Camp Lejune real estate and pretend that Florida has cast out welfare druggies and is now somehow “pure.” The only druggies in Florida now are the seniors on Viagra and Oxycodone, rockin’ Bocce at the senior center. It’s flapjackin’ awesome.

Life

Back seat with Simone

  • by Drew

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the intent of a program like COBRA, but let’s face it, people, we’ve put things in the wrong hands. Seriously. If you want to keep health care accessible to the average person, you really need to put it in the hands of someone other than insurance companies.

Think about it. They make money providing potential coverage. Not actually covering people. If everyone takes full advantage of coverage, the rates will go through the roof or some of those insurance company executives will need to take hefty pay cuts. This isn’t rocket science. When you stop and think about it, don’t you see that the insurance companies only profit when the insured DON’T use the service. Sure, paying for insurance is terrific. It buys all kinds of hot tubs, hookers, and private jets. But when individuals start filing claims, well… goodbye cross country flight with Cherry and Simone to rock the whirlpool jets. If you were googling limo service St Pete FL, well you can just forget it because sick people need meds.

 

 

Life

COBRA wants you

  • by Drew

OK, maybe I opened a can of worms, but you know how I know COBRA sucks? They named the frickin’ program after G.I. Joe’s nemesis. Seriously, you think the Commander gives a crap about your continuation of coverage? Grow up. Cobra Commander doesn’t care at all.

But why, you ask, do I hate COBRA (the extension of benefits thing, not the international terrorist organization)?

I hate COBRA for one reason – I had  to pay thousands of dollars to keep my family of 5 covered for about 6 weeks because breaking coverage would have resulted in having certain (ahem) congenital defects labeled as pre-existing conditions. And that’s not even what burned me up. If that was the price to pay for coverage, fine. My issue is that they never provided me with the proof of coverage I would need (without hours spent on telephone hold with “trained” representatives) until a week after the coverage ended.

Wha-huh?

Yup. In fact, the last check I sent them was for a final week of coverage (because they really do milk you for every last second) was written and mailed a week after I no longer needed it. But that’s how we work these days. Everything is on a credit schedule. As long as you pay… eventually… you get to skate.

So while I asked about the concern over health insurance in NC last time, I could just as easily been asking to investigate carpet cleaning Durham NC, because either one is useless to me in NY… just like COBRA.

Life

H-h-h-health?

  • by Drew

Are you worried about health insurance NC? are you worried about it NJ? Not me, up here in NY. I gots me a full time job with benefits and all that good stuff. Of course, a recent transition of ownership of my corporate division meant I had to COBRA for a month. Lordy, Lordy, don’t get me started on that fiasco! Seriously one of the most ridiculous experiences of my life. I appreciate the idea. I understand the reasoning. But seriously, COBRA as it is currently set up can only benefit the insurance companies. It doesn’t effectively cover individuals and families, and it really doesn’t help caregivers.

Life

Family Values… Whale Watch style

  • by Drew

My complaining about the number of Whale Watch parents dodging their kids yielded a funny comment from a friend who joked that a 3 day trip in close quarters with his son might make him look for an immigration lawyer Los Angeles style… having nothing to do with immigration into the US, but rather what he could do to immigrate to another country. Leaving the family behind.

It was a joke of course, but seeing how some of those parents dodged their own kids, maybe they had a similar thought… but without the “ha ha” at the end.

Life

Then again…

  • by Drew

Now that I think of it, informal as our cinematic gathering may be, coffee pots may come into play. The only problem with yard movies, regardless of screen size, is that you have to wait for it to be pretty dark. It just won’t work otherwise. The plight of the drive-in movie theater as well. So any movie night is going to work best if the next morning is somewhat… relaxed?

Can’t let that 9am hike in the morning cramp my style, right?

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