Karissa's only been gone two days, but it feels like longer, and I'm getting hungry (kidding, I'm eating). If anyone's curious, though, Is took the flight pretty well. She fed during takeoff, and behaved pretty well the entire flight. Some people think infants shouldn't fly (it was even in an Ask Amy column, which in a rare occurrence, I agreed with her opinion). These people ain't thinking about how much worse a car trip would be for that kid. Sure they're screaming, but the parents have to deal with them, not you. Karissa's post about the Christmas party should be proof that it sucks more for the parent than for the others.
Anyway, I've obviously been a little bored. I'm babysitting Cupid, Karissa's mom's dog. For anyone who didn't get to visit April's lake cabin on July 4th last year, he is VERY choosy in who he lets be his buddy. It took up to that point to even let me puck him up, and that was because Karissa and I were the only ones he knew and trusted. He doesn't like loud noise sudden noises, or sudden movements, and is an old crank. But we get along. I also got to babysit Karissa's sister's guitar. It's one of those Wal-Mart First Act guitars, but I always wondered how they played. They're not the best, but I've played much worse. So I've been playing guitar. Perhaps the ONLY thing good about me bachin' it this weekend is that I got to bring in my big amp and really open it up. My ears rang for a few hours after the first time, but it was nice. I haven't been able to do that in a long time.
So, anyway, I was playing Pantera and getting good practice in with my pinch harmonics, when I realized that I can't remember how I learned them. I know who I learned them from--which makes it even more mysterious. Amadon showed me years ago how to get artifical harmonics (is that right?) by plucking the note and touching the string lightly with your picking thumb (not your nose-picking thumb, stupid). Unfortunately, anything Amadon tells me enters my brain in fragments of broken English and mostly Aramaic, which I never bothered to learn in high school, so I can't understand most of what he says. I don't know why I don't know what the fucj he's talking about, but when someone else explains it in slightly different wording, I'm like 'Oh, I get it now.' Then Amadon huffs at me and starts playing (insert riff here) three times faster than it's supposed to be played.
But I don't remember how the fuck I learned pinch harmonics! I just remember all of a sudden being able to do them. It helps that I play By Demons Be Driven (Pantera) incessantly--the verse is pretty much one huge, evil squeal, like a devil-pig dancing in flames. Then there's Twist of Cain (Danzig), which really only has one pinch that lasts a second during the riff--but it's 7th fret, A string, which for some reason is a bitch to get down properly.
And then it's not just learning the pinch harmonic, but also getting the vibrato with your fret-hand to make that squeal sing (no offense, Amadon, but that I didn't learn from you--you alwyas had trouble with your vibrato). I just remember being able to do it at some point. That's weird. It's a bitch to learn how to "deaden" a string just right, you'd think I'd remember the beginnings.