Keep on keepin' on

Here's the endpoint of a turbulent year (although not a bad year by any stretch of the imagination) for me. Let's see if I can relay the glimpses in a reasonably coherent fashion:

Started with an awful job that was taken out of desperation just to work, vague promises between Chris and I about making music again, large bills/debt mounting and me not generally giving two fucks about my health (I had been eating in an unhealthy fashion; I was smoking a pack and a half a day again and I was an emotional mess). Started doing Sahaja Yoga in a more disciplined manner and started to mentally diffuse. A bitter winter, endless interviews for a better job and consistently getting rejection letters. At the start of spring, The Undertones came to town; saw them and had a great time meeting and talking with them--the moment when I started to get "it" back and was fired up with inspiration. Bought a Squier Tele Custom and told Chris I was ready to work. Bang--three songs done in no time and suddenly we were The Punch Line again, albeit with only the two of us.

May comes, beautiful weather and just like that, I get a new, full-time job with really good pay. Start climbing out of the hole and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Turn around and The Punch Line have a website and then a headlining gig--WHAT? With what bass player? Pow--there's Bob, after 21 years, ready without hesitation. Wow--we ARE The Punch Line. Bills getting paid; show getting played (Liz and Brian front and center--a dream come true and a proud moment for me). Synchronic West, which was a minor idea tossed out in passing over drinks at our Maxwell's meetings became a reality and then we have most of an album finished. Work=pay, bills diminishing, medical coverage for Liz and myself. Okay, so Bush was elected...something had to actually go wrong this year--but THE YANKEES LOSE TO BOSTON WHO WON THE WORLD SERIES...not that I really give a shit, since I am a Mets fan, but the sweet irony, oh yes... I quit smoking (for the last fucking time) and re-awaken my vegetarian leanings.

Finally, we get to this point--while The Punch Line suspend operations at Synchronic West due to "location difficulties", I re-do Synchronic East and re-discover a treasure trove of original songs to dust off and polish for the next Punch Line album. Look in the mirror, say "I'll be 40 in just two weeks--I look awful"; then lo! Work offers a gym membership and I jump all over it.

2003 was just a cruel year for so many of us. Rather than go into it, I'll say it was a year fraught with frustration and endless sadness. Not depressing--just very hard. It even put a strain on my marriage, but this year was the complete opposite. So this was a year to savor, really.

On the other hand, this was a year bereft of any decent music. I think I bought 3 "new" albums all year by older artists. Brian Wilson, Paul Weller, U2 and that's it. The rest were abysmal. I did spend a good portion of the year re-discovering the beauty of bands like Joy Division, Gang Of Four, Killing Joke, Psychedelic Furs and so on. Basically revisiting the golden years of my youth as I stand back and PROUDLY, with NO FEAR say "I am no longer young, but my heart, musically, still is".

And so as I reach for another Who album, you may ask me "what have you learned?"... My response, as I stroke my graying beard--belief is all.

I wish you all a healthy and love-filled Happy New Year.