King (for a day) of Mahjong

I had my best ever day of mahjong today. It was my birthday, and all I wanted to do was hang out with my friends and play mahjong.

So that's what we did.

Besides, it was too frigging hot outside today to do anything else...

I won three hands. But all three of them were pretty unusual, and, if I may say, impressive.

My first win had Chung baat fa:

M...Read more

Gaining Speed Downhill

August 2, 1966. Manchester, Connecticut, USA:Several weeks late, I make my way into the world so rapidly my mother says I was out before the spinal anesthesia took effect.

My first act on earth: I urinated on the doctor.

Which proves conclusively that New Englanders are born, not made. Thank you to everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes.

I will spend the day in a decidedly mundane and middle-aged manner: the gym and a very small mahjong/dinner party.My friend and chiropractor (a sure sign of advancing age is...Read more

Do Not Claim a Dearth of Diversions

No matter where in the world you live, you must never claim that there is nothing to do on any given night.

Unless you live on North Korea, in which case you'll never read this blog or see this photo or, for all we know, be aware of the Internet or nights out recreating and procreating...No man is an island, and neither is South Korea.

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You Don't Have Big Feet

Among the many things that women do, one of the more mystifying is the seemingly common habit of thinking you have big feet, and, correspondingly, feeling bad about it.

Although in some ways, I can commiserate. I've had big feet my whole misspent life, and I've felt bad about the way that acquiring footwear has often been a Sisyphean task.

I've felt bad about how people think its okay to make fun of them ad nauseum. Like I never heard the "rent them as boats" line before, you moronic sh*tsa...Read more

New (to You) Music

I finally got My Music straightened out (see upper right), and in celebration (?) I put up a couple of new-to-you songs.

They are both original compositions, though the first one is really more of a songthan the other.

"Wasted" is a song I wrote a long time ago. It only got called Wastedfor the specific project I was involved in; it needs a vocal melody and therefore new lyrics.

"Loud Velvet" is essentially five-plus minutes of me going 'weedly-weedly-weedly' over chord changes. But i...Read more

Pickguards: Less For Noses Than Guitars

I was debating whether or not to put a pickguard on the Less Paul.

Eddie Van Halen's had one, but that doesn't mean I have to do it.Besides, the pickguard on his guitar is not necessarily accurate. Which I confess sounds terribly anal retentive, but remember that my intention is to try and make a miniature Les Pal and not to slavishly reproduce his guitar.

Y...Read more

One More Reason Not to Look Like a Slob

Tuesday I was walking in Tai Wai. I had been to the gym with Rick, it was hot, and I said "F@#$ it" and just wore my gym clothes while running some errands. So I looked like I had just come from the gym, i.e. sweaty, etc.

Which is probably at least partially to blame for the fact that I saw Ng Man Tat outside his restaurant across the street from the Tai Wai KCR station.

I didn't even bother him. I looked a mess and was sweating like a stripper in church.

I'll have to do my ce...Read more

Less Coverage Means More Concealment

A small but significant step in the Less Paul project was accomplished last week. I recessed the control cavity covers. That way, the back of the guitar doesn't have any protuberances.

Because we all know how uncomfortable that can be...

Using three screws, a pencil, an X-Acto knife, and a Dremel tool, I accomplished this step with varying degrees of success.

I didn't exhaustively photograph this process because I was a little pre-occupied doing it. Step 1: Put the cover over the hole, lin...Read more

I Hate Myself in Pictures

I'm posting this entry as a pre-emptive confession that any photographs of me during a script reading I attended yesterday will very likely cause me paroxysms of self-loathing. t's not an esteem issue; I just really don't like photos of myself.

But never mind that blather...

I was lucky enough to be invited to a script reading yesterday by Yung Yung Yu. Thomas Lo has writt...Read more

The More I Do, the Less I Create

This is a real Les Paul headstock:

I wanted something similar, albeit with a flippant twist:

But how to put it on the guitar's headstock?

I decided to print the decal with only black and clear, and use gold paint underneath...Read more