April Showers Bring Not Much to Talk About

Well, April Fool's Day has passed with little fanfare. Contrary to what I may have convinced a few people of, I am not moving out of state, nor did I buy a 3 month old goat named Reginald, although now I kinda wish I had (buy the goat, I mean).

I hope your April Fool's Day was how you envisioned it to be. Taping the light switches so they won't turn on and making prank calls to your stock broker are definitely the best ways to usher in a new month.

But now it is May, and it is the time to mature and leave the childish pranks behind (until next year, of course). In case you weren't aware, summer is just around the corner! To folks from my neck of the woods, summer means 90+ degree days and an endless stream of beach pictures invading your social media feeds. This would all be well and good if the California weather didn't decide that high winds might be a nice way to switch things up after the good dousing of rain and hail from a few months ago! The folks out in the eastern half of the country have also been experience a bit of rain so I hear. Fun times!

At long last, we at Wimberley Manor have finally got our garden planted! I'm looking forward to harvest time when I can indulge in some purple hull peas, okra, bell peppers, tomatoes, and corn on the cob! Another sign of summer, and just another way we move on from the childish (but ever hilarious when non-destructive) April Fool's pranks. Just as we will be cultivating nourishing vegetables, in our lives we will be cultivating not-vegetables.

Oh, before I forget, I'm going to be participating in an event next week that will be really different for me. I'll tell you about it in a later post. Stay tuned.

But "that" time of year has come, and I hear your questions. I feel your inquisitive thoughts. "Mark," you say, "will you be doing another tour this year?" My answer is super super simple: "I really hope so, it may or may not definitely or not definitely is maybe almost possible if we can sorta almost take mostly care of a few kinda small but humongous issues that will take little to a ton of time and a Mack Truck load of resources to fix so how does next month maybe or maybe not sound?"

Ok, so actually, I have no answer. If you remember my blogs from last year, you'll know how much difficulty we had getting on the road then. It's even harder this year!  But never fear! Remember my New Years Resolution? No? (Neither did I...I had to go back and check) The long and short of it was dream big to achieve big. So I'm just going to go into the month of May with that mindset regarding a tour.  I'll let you know if anything good happens.

One last thing before I close: We don't actually call our home Wimberley Manor. I just couldn't think of a really cool name that was accurate.....besides "that house I live in".

Pleasant Dreams....maybe.

Some say I'm a dreamer.  No really. Some actually do say that.  I have to agree with them, too.  I have ALWAYS had an overactive mind and aspirations as lofty as the forehead on a giraffe with glandular issues.  But, we all find out sooner or later that our dreams and reality are sometimes two very different things.

Basically, I don't ask for much.  My bucket list has three things on it:

1. Play the Opry
2. Play Carnegie Hall
3. Grow a beard

So far, nothing has been crossed off.  Very depressing, I know.  Do you have any idea how long I've waited for a beard?

Besides that, we as human beings tend to make lists for ourselves. Lists to remind us to do things, to not do things, and to make list of lists telling us to list things to do or not.  It gets exhausting!  I could try and offer sound advice like "Stop with the lists already" but then you would have to put that down on another list of reasons why you should get rid of your lists.  MAKE IT STOP!

Behold, I have come up with a revolutionary way to achieve your dreams, no matter how wild, utilizing minimal strategic lists and painful memorization!  Here are three basic plans:

Plan A: The Under-Over-Achiever

    Here's how this works:  Lump all your dreams into one generic achievement. This way, the interpretation of your goal can be ambiguous and you'll soon justify crossing everything off your list!  For example, my above bucket list could just consist of one item: "Grow up and get a job".  This is sure to be crossed off soon, and depending on how you look at it, I could cross it off right now!


Plan B: The Over-Under-Achiever

     This may seem a little bit like the previous plan, but it is totally worth giving a try anyway.  Break up all of your goals into teeny tiny little baby-step-goals.  You're bound to cross off the majority of your list as you write it!  Observe Plan B going into effect with my previous list: GOAL#1:  1.) Buy a guitar, 2.) Learn to play chords, 3.) Learn a song, 4.) Start a band, 5.) Work up a repertoire,  6.) Play gigs, 7.) Play the Opry. 8-14.) Repeat previous steps and play Carnegie Hall, 15.) Grow a beard
Did you see that?  I can cross off most everything but the last few items! Cyber high-five! (Now go explain why you just gave your computer screen a high five)


Plan C: The Finisher

     Open your mouth and scream "I'm finished!" and tear your list of goals into shreds.  Done. Forget goals. Can't you be satisfied with what you have?

This hopefully inspired you to do things you can be proud of and to keep your dreams happy ones.
I hope I was of some help to you.  Keep on keeping on!

Bluegrass Musician vs. Money

What a fight!  What a battle!  What courage! What nerve!  What an ending!  Oh wait!  He's up, folks!  This could be the match of the year!  He's up again with a vengeance!  Mr. Musician, the one in the blue sequin trunks, takes a serious blow as Mr. Money in the green trunks socks him in the ol' bank account.  Mr. Musician is down for the count! And a one-a and a two-a and a three-a...he's up again!  I can't believe the determination and diligence on display by Mr. Musician! He's actually fighting back after knowing that the struggle to manage Money is a never-ending saga and even a losing battle most times for people named Musician!  Here we go again, folks: Mr. Musician holding Mr. Money in a headlock--looks like a very good strategy to me, but look!  His grip is loosening!

This epic feud has been going on since the early days of the Bluegrass Musician "fighters". Always up, down, up, down, and then up again until one or the other gives in.  Ask anyone associated with a Bluegrass Musician.  I've asked, too!  My conversation went like this:

ME (sarcastically): C'mon, How many bluegrassers do you know with day jobs, huh?

GOOD LOOKING AND PERFECT FRIEND OF MINE (dead serious): Um, a lot.

ME: You're not supposed to agree with me.

Okay, so I realize this snippet of conversation doesn't prove much.  It is kind of embarrassing that  I even had a conversation like this.  I don't even know why I put it in here.  But my point is, Bluegrass music in general isn't exactly a gold mine.  The list of people who had to drop out of the business for financial issues could stretch all the way from Fort Knox, to the Denver, Colorado Mint and back in time for payday.

You may (or may not) be asking right now "Mark, WHY ON PLANET EARTH would people still play bluegrass for a living when there is no sniveling way they could ever make enough money at it?!?!?"  If that is what you were asking, my answer to you would be "You can take the soul out of bluegrass, but you can't take bluegrass out of the soul."  If that is what I answered, good luck on what it means.  Bottom line is, the art of bluegrass music is unarguably an art form many people are willing to make a sacrifice for. Even if it hurts.  That's what makes it an art worth patronizing.

Let's be honest.  I wouldn't trade my job as a bluegrass musician for all the money on earth.  But if you do have access to all the money on earth, maybe we can talk....