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Finding my way back to a drumming practice, letting myself have fun again (even though I'm working through the brain/hand coordination warhorses of Chester's THE NEW BREED and Stone's STICK CONTROL – if I'm going to do relearn this beloved instrument, I'm doing it with the best foundational texts out there). Wish the iPad'd been around when I was gigging and in music school: would’ve saved me more than a few embarrassing page-turn crashes.

Bandcamp death rattle(?)

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Sad to witness Bandcamp's slow unraveling: they had – have, until they go dark, I suppose – something so good, so special – and now, well, I don't know. Something… less. I've become reticent to post new EarBliss here because I've a growing fear I'm going to be left with pages of broken players. Whole situation seems like a golden opportunity for... something / someone – though I'm not sure who: Etsy's the first one that springs to mind, but there has to be a better option. Patreon? Really shouldn't be this hard.

Excellent article summing up the whole thing and reasons for skepticism about Songtradr, via Pitchfork:

There are reasons to doubt that Songtradr will be able to pull off its business goals. Founded in 2014, the Santa Monica company has raised roughly $101 million in financing, much of which it has put toward an aggressive strategy of mergers and acquisitions—that is, driving growth by bringing other companies under its umbrella. CEO Paul Wiltshire claims that the company nearly doubled revenue in 2020, but Songtradr’s revenue appears to have flattened out for the past three years. So far, the company’s communications regarding its acquisition haven’t been totally on the level. When announcing this week’s job cuts, Songtradr said that “50 percent of Bandcamp employees have accepted offers to join Songtradr.” In fact, only half of Bandcamp’s employees were offered employment in the first place; the other half were summarily let go.

seven years ago today my blood sugar was 877 and i was ten minutes from dead

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But now it's doing fine – unless NuHerbie and I have marital issues – and, barring freak turns of nature and/or anvils falling on my head, so am I.

Short recap: lost 40 pounds -> always thirsty, always pissing -> angular face, couldn't move, fire breath -> ER, guess what youve got T1D, ICU for two days, ice chips (motherfucking ice chips), regular hospital for two days -> homecoming, handling 2016 election and Leonard Cohen's death sober, four months of retraining myself to run again (yoga FTW: I'd be lost without my 13 years of it) back in the swing of things -> move forward, one foot at a time, into the years ahead that were nearly gone in ten minutes.

Regular posting marking this personal holiday duly posted and marked. I still hate motherfucking ice chips.

"'I don’t subscribe to the idea that the cover should illustrate the book.’"

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Beautiful and intriguing design principles here (via Print Mag):

a bunch of pretty books in pretty colors
Looking at an Unbound Edition Press book, all I see are possibilities. Because the covers are about color, you absorb the mood and tone that sparks your imagination without, for example, an image of a screaming eagle hitting you over the head. That doesn’t mean the team at Unbound Edition Press doesn’t respect the work of book designers. “There are brilliant book covers designed by talented designers. But I don’t subscribe to the idea that the cover should illustrate the book,” Davis says. “We prefer a simple approach that conveys the book’s tonality, mood, and spirit through text and color.”