my aunt's with my grandmother. my grandmother's doing okay, too. my close friend who was in the ER is now out, and doing a little better. my dog is more himself. the vet says we can (very slowly, very gradually) start to take him for walks again.
yesterday i had band practice and things are on track for our next concert, but just locking in with my section, the six of us making a wall of glorious sound — it was good. i needed that.
i haven't had a drink for over a month. at some point i'd imagine i'll have one again. but seeing one friend's health exacerbated by alcoholism, seeing an old acquaintance kill herself with booze; let's just say the luster's worn off.
yesterday before band practice i stopped by the music store, picked up a carbon copy pedal. spent half an hour in the evening fiddling with it, figuring out where it would launch into self-oscillation, how to make it sound slapback, how to do longer delays, or even something like reverb. i'm very impressed. i like it a lot.