Brooksville, Florida, USA.

Edition #26 — Fri, 30 Nov 2001

In light of so many friends and acquaintences being on my mailing list, I felt that a little more personal "Well, enough about me, now let's hear you talk about me" approach might be appropriate for this newsletter. Think of this as a mass-personal email to you, all my e-friends. As such, there may be a theme/moral here, but it wasn't there when I started typing. Hope you enjoy...me.

ROLAND'S ROAD REPORT

Good day and/or evening wherever you are, and welcome to edition 26 of the Realitycheckers Newsletter. I'm writing from my motel room in Brooksville, Florida, USA. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt; there's a light sweat on my brow from the humidity; I am very, very happy to be here. Our band is playing Brooksville for a total of 5 weeks, so this will be "home" for at least 2 newsletters. Then it's off to Bradenton, and other Florida destinations. Looking forward to orange harvest in February.

Exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I'm getting.

It's so cool when these convergences of desire and manifestation occur. It only took 11 years from the first time I visited Florida and said to myself "I'm going to spend my winter here soon!" before it actually happened. This is even better: I'm working here, legally, and I get 3 days off a week to see the sights. Not bad, Roland. Not bad.

Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssss... (damn these thorns!)

I spent part of the afternoon fixing a flat tire on my bicycle after my latest discovery of yet another variety of American thorn. I also put some special heavy duty plastic liners inside the tires to prevent further penetrations by these pesky little puncturers of all things inflated; they're like little land mines that I usually run over when I'm miles from my patch kit (as happened to me in Casper, Wyoming and Grand Junction, Colorado) I'm starting to adapt; getting smarter, more deliberate. I've put 4 patches on my front tire already. Enough is enough. Damn the thorns! Full cycling ahead! (Hope these plastic thingy-s work!)

I guess that the thorn issue is a metaphor for how I'm managing my life in general these days. It's not "easy" being on the road this long. There's not much time to rest or reflect upon my existence between putting the sound system in the truck and taking it back out again for the next show. And there's always a "thorn" to contend with: whether it's going to bed at 5:00 AM after load-out and getting up robbed of sleep at 8:30 AM to pack up personals before the 11:00 AM checkout (this happens pretty much every Sunday or Monday); or bar owners trying to charge us for an extra day of staying at their run-down band house (hey, it was an outhouse with windows); or just a simple flat tire on my bike when it's least convenient.

Oh well: shit happens. I am forced to adjust, and I'm doing OK with the adjustments. My discomfort is a small price to pay for all the things that have come my way for saying "YES" to this great adventure. Any change in the direction of my having more peace within is an evolutionary change that brings me closer to a full-time happiness and only a part-time frustration. "YES" — such a powerful, transformational word.

Sure, if I look for them, I can find the sources for unhappiness everywhere like anybody else: but I'm becoming better at filtering out the crappy stuff and sifting for the things that bring me joy. Florida makes me happy. Are you surprised? But it took 6 months of constant grind and sometimes much discomfort to get me here.

Ah, the fruits of my labours. In spring I planted; in Autumn I harvest.

THE MAGIC OF MUSIC

If I look back upon my life thus far, I can see that of all the money I've spent on anything besides life maintenance, such as rent, food, bus tickets, etc., most of it was spent on musical instruments or, as in the case of my former partnership in a commercial recording studio, on music-related ventures. There was a diamond engagement ring — but that wasn't really my idea...

So, it comes as no surprise that I want to maintain this tradition of mine with another purchase. I've been saving up my weekly allowance and am about to buy myself a personal recording studio of professional quality. The trick is that it's completely portable. What used to take a warehouse I can now fit inside a suitcase. What once cost hundreds of thousands of dollars can now be achieved with less than ten thousand dollars — and no "business partners" from whose egos and greed I must protect my own interests from.

The computer age is doing wonders for my long-standing ambition to record an album of my own original songs (some of which I've been working on since 1984). This, too, is the manifestation of a seed that I planted several years ago when I got out of the studio business and wanted to have my own private digital recording domain. I couldn't record my material at my old studio because I wasn't ready yet emotionally, I lacked the discipline, and I didn't like the atmosphere. I have been following the audio market for years on digital equipment: there seems no better time than right now to make my move. The products are at a level they should be; my wallet's in need of a weight-loss program — it's time.

That'll be my Christmas present to myself this year. Well, that and the Florida winter working vacation, without too many further thornings. But that's what those plastic thingy-s are for, right?

SILENT NIGHT? YEAH, RIGHT!

The streets of every Florida town we passed through are decorated with Christmas lights and the other seasonal ornaments. It'll be weird to be away from my family and the snowy cold of Canada this Christmas Eve ("Eve" because we Germans are too competitive to wait for our presents to arrive in the morning...) This will be my first time, far as I recall, not being home for the holidays.

Don't cry for me, Toronto. Heck, I get to have sweat on my brow instead. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone on this list.

Hallelujah, pass the ketchup. I'm finished for now.

Roland, The Floridian. (GOD BLESS (the world) AMERICA!)

P.S. We — The Rick Justice Band — may take a couple of weeks off in the early part of the New Year, so I may fly home to visit family and friends, restock bookstores, etc. Let me know if you want to get together and I'll pencil you in for a visit.

P.P.S. Thank you, George Harrison. See you next time around.


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