The seasons changed. We turned off our gas hearths and connected the swamp cooler. And you know what that means: it is now time for indoor grilling. However, like someone lost in the woods, our cooler has to get its bearings, so there is a small delay. I don't have an exhaust fan so I can only use my grillet (my portmanteau for my grilling skillet) with the cooler as it will eject all the smoke. I bought some chicken thighs and zucchini and I am ready.
I went out at 6:30 for my weekly shopping and it is an expensive week because I have to spend my periodic $20 for gasoline. I know that seems base but, hey, custom baritones don't pay for themselves when you're working two jobs and not too affluent. Nevertheless, out I did go and was bristling at the unfairness. The western part of the valley was awash in sunshine whilst I in the east was swathed in shadows. I don't care what anyone says; that violates everything we learnt in kindergarten about getting in line. I am closest to the sun and first in line, but the last to get sunshine.
I drove up and over the overpass spanning the train tracks and found myself in the realm of sunshine. But, being a shadow-dweller, my car windows are filthy and the glare of the sun on the dirty windows was quite imposing. Satisfaction is so fleeting.
Before I forget I also wanted to document a thought from a dream. Dreams are so insightful sometimes. In a dream my wife idly gave a disquisition on her view of femininity. She never uttered this screed in reality, but the cleverness of my mind was able to piece it together and present it nicely. In case you're curious, it just centers around eschewing all forms of emphatic femininity such as pink, lace and frills, form-fitting clothing. My wife has never actually given voice to this moda-manifesto but I was able to put it all together from decades of observation and put it in her mouth. How clever of my subconscious.
Not so cleverly, but with more forethought and effort, I wanted to play around with the D# Lokrian bb3 bb7 merely because the name is so imposing and obscurity is purity. So I was playing the D# on the 15th fret which I love because it is so loose and makes some nice bends. I decided to support it with the E blues progression at a higher pitch. That was easier said than done because chords high on the fretboard are very difficult because of the cramped space. I used EΔ rooted on the 16th fret, A7 rooted on the 14th and B7 rooted on the 16th.
The chords worked well together and I picked attainable shapes. The mode is very different from the chords, which are totally standard. Although the mode derives from a major scale, it is very funky. On the C string, you get 3 successive frets; on the E string is a typical major scale shape; on the A string you get two notes separated by 3 half steps.
And when you arrive at the D# on the 18th fret, there are a few options. You can then go up to the E on the 19th fret and resolve everything. Or you can descend through the D# dim7 arpeggio to the A on the 14th fret and from that A it is very easy to descend further down the fretboard or to re-enter the higher frets on a different footing.