Well, as my friend Justin pointed out in his blog, Halloween is right around the corner.  This year, my life has been more tricks than treats, sorry to say.  But, I'm not writing this to dwell on past sorrows.

Here's what's happened since I last wrote:  I had several emotional crashes due to the apparent loss of my best friend.  I have a surrogate son in England who gave me a much-needed kick in the ass and told me I need to stop trying to get Keith to communicate with me, and I have.  It's hard to let go of a six-year friendship, especially when Keith and I went through so much together - one rock band and album, two of my solo albums, and an album of covers that's now stalled.  That's just the musical side.  On the personal side, Keith and I weathered each other's ups and downs - for him, the breakup of his first long-term boy/girl relationship, family troubles, and moving out and on his own for the first time.  On my side, it was the death of two of my sisters, one near Christmas '06 and my little sister this past August, plus a couple of medical setbacks.

We got through those, and I thought we could weather just about anything.  I was wrong.  He hasn't spoken to me since Sept. 13th, which ironically would have been my now-deceased older sister's birthday, except for a couple of generic responses on our Facebook pages that he soon deleted.  So, he's apparently thrown the past six years away, and I must put them in the past and get on with things, for the sake of my own emotional wellbeing.

On the positive side - there's always at least two sides to every story - the band is rewriting itself.  Our original drummer, Alex, is with us again, and we're in search of another guitarist.  We had a keyboard player for about three days, then he decided he couldn't commit to rehearsing one night a week and pulled out.  We haven't rehearsed since bassist Brad had a meltdown three weeks ago, which pretty much caused the breakup of the band.  Brad almost instantly regretted having the meltdown, but he wasn't quick enough in telling the rest of us before Alex got another offer and was gone.  But, I tasked Brad with the responsibility of putting the band together again, and he's done a great job - and found out it wasn't as easy as it looked! :)  So, I've got that to look forward to.  As TJ would say, it'll keep me occupied through the winter.

Teaching is going well.   I may soon become a home-school teacher.  More on that as things develop, if they do.  The music students are all doing well.

That's pretty much it for this update.  My frame of mind, which has admittedly been lousy since my fallout with Keith, is improving.  Like most other things in my life, it's a day-to-day struggle.  Till next time, remember that I love you all!

I just posted this Maxxforce TV widget for 500 credits. You can earn free credits too!

.....will Corky ever finish his "Growing Up In The 60's & 70's Music Scene" series??   YES............but not right now.  Things are a bit hectic as summer projects, my new band, and sci-fi club all need my attention, as well as the "Music Major Forum" that I moderate with my friend Justin.  I haven't forgotten about the series (there are two or three entries left), but I hate trying to write in depth at 4 a.m., which is usually about the time things settle down here, especially on Fridays with the sci-fi club.   

Also,  I wanted to quickly update everyone about events going on here.  Writing has begun on the third solo album; we'll hopefully be in the studio by late summer.  TJ says working on the new album will "get (me) through the winter", but he's said that about all of my albums!  However, he's probably right.  Keith is co-writing some of the album with me, so what he'll do with my lyrics is anyone's guess at this point.  I have complete faith in him, obviously, or I wouldn't have asked him to co-write.  He's also going out with my former band over the summer, doing some gigs to make money for college.  Look for them at Canal Days on July 9th.   Sci-fi club is going strong, and I'm knee deep in forming a new band with Nick Smith and Brad Hoffman, plus trying to catalog my DVD collection, get ready for TJ's visit next month, and keeping the neighbors happy, moderating the Forum with Justin, teaching my students, and, as I said, writing the new album.  Plus, occasionally someone will come in and cut a track for the cover album (now going into its' second year of production).   I do tend to keep busy. lol

All right, I'm gone for now.  See you in a little while.  Till then, remember, I love you all!