Gah.
what a weekend.
Saturday was a fiasco. It was the first time the band met in a couple of weeks, due to family gatherings getting in the way of the only days we could practice.
My love and i pack up the car and head out to Huntington. There are two ways to get there: side streets and the highway. We figure on the highway, since we were already running late.
Unsurprisingly, the highway is jammed.
Even less unsurprisingly, traffic lets out right before the exit we would have gotten on at were we taking the side roads.
Practice starts out notably sluggish. We work our way listlessly through about half a dozen songs before calling a break. We all gather around the lead guitarist's table and start to argue about where the sound is going. The lead guitarist was introduced to Radiohead by his ex-girlfriend and now wants a band composed of a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a bassist/drummer to perform these complex, intricate songs that just aren't possible with said lineup, especially when the rhythm guitarist is the bandleader and a big time Iggy and the Stooges fan. We yell about the differences between what we can do live and what in the studio, and the capabilities of each, and how we (ok, i) arrange the songs, and blah blah blah until we're about ready to kill each other.
The rhythm guitarist and i go outside to play basketball and unwind a bit. We come back in and set up the recorder to lay down a more complex arrangement of one of our songs. We get about five tracks down before we lose patience and essentially dissolve for the night.
Then, when i get home, my girlfriend complains that i've been ignoring her for some time, unbeknownst to me.
Sunday was better. It didn't start off too fabulous, because LS (with whom i had since made up) had to go back to school to proctor an exam (which ruined both her day and the day of about 250 students), which means she also missed the gathering that day.
I had a blast. I met a whole bunch of noders; some who i respected, some whom i've actually never heard of. I played frisbee, helped fly a kite, participated in my first game of eat poop you cat, piled six people in a compact car, and tried not to hide behind my guitar too often.
The night sucked, though.. not only was the gathering over, but LS was still at school and spending the night there so she could study.
I woke up alone Monday morning. As usual, my body overcompensated for the good time i had the day before by making me really depressed today.
The day just dragged by, but i ended up coming home to greet my sweetie.
So i guess it was kind of a happy ending, even though i'm still bummed. Damn chemicals.