well . . . . it was morning . . . . . . . . ..the Sphone alarm went off and Gnat hit it . . . ..quiet . . . .. .. .
....................
IS stirred . . . .a little . . . .
Gnat>>...... wakey wakey
IS
>>.....what time is it?
GNAT>> ....its eight . . . time to ruminate . . . . did you sleep well??
Is
>>........more likely time to urinate . . ..yes I slept like a child , , ,now if only I can stay like a child for the rest of the day ...t'would be ga-rate . .
Gnat got up and stretched ....he put on a robe and went into the kitchen . . .
it took awhile but he managed to get two bowls of cherrios along with two spoons and some milk and honey, he took his bounty over to the table and dug in.. . ., ,IS soon joined him and grabbed the other bowl
after Gnat finished he rinsed the bowl and put it on the counter,,,then he filled the coffee maker caraff with water... .. .
then poured the water into the machine . . .he looked around the kitchen until he found a filter and some decaf grounds . . .which he put into the machine and turned it on.... ..a little yellow light went on in the machine . . , , ,soon the coffee was ready...he took two mugs and joined SI on the sofa ..overlooking the world..
GNAT>>:::::..here you go....I had the dream again . . .I was looking around Greem and at the end I looked up in the heavens and all the stars were in man-made patterns ..life was everywhere in the cosmos . . .beside me there was a huge stack of crushed cars one on top of the other and in chronological order . . this stack went up up in the air . . ..my guide picked me up and tossed me up beside the car stack .. .up and up I went until i passed the upper most vehicle which wasn't crushed , ,, it
was a red and white volkswagen van....
its a cool dream . . .we're not alone in the universe . .and . .Greem's VW's are at the top , and renewed.., ,
IS
>>:::::.....yea good planets are hard to find . . .we should take care of the planet we know and love,,,,,..with global warming.. . ..we need to change our ways . change is possible . . ..take covid . . .please. . .. . .for two years we altered our behavior . . we isolated and wore masks to the grocery store and everywhere else . isolating in our bubble , not going into work . .. that was the worst ,, ,. .and getting shots. . .it took two years. but we made it thru and came out stronger , , ,
Gnat>>............just as we took action to quell a rageing infectious virus like covid-19 , , , ,like wearing masks ,, no public places except grocery stores,distancing, quarantine, etc.....maybe we need to do something about global heating . . .
something big . . . i hate to say it . . . .i dont want to say it . . . .its a buzz kill . . .. dare I say it ,,no,,... yes.....ok.
....no more cars................there ,,, i said it ..... .. . . . .. ................Greem gets along without cars , ,,just bikes , , , some E-bikes .. and some VW-vans with water as fuel , ,,..........say something
S
IS>>---Greem is designed to be ICE FREE (internal combustion engine) .in fact life is much better without them..no fighting traffic . . .no fruitless search for a parking spot . . .less noise ,, fewer fumes . ..you dont have to lock up your bike . . . less insurance....more exercise . bikes are pushing less weight around,,. .Earth already has citys without ICE passenger cars . . . New York City ....I lived there awhile...of course they had subways....but I used the subways mainly to get to work . . .downtown...
they heard a clanking sound .. . ...they looked at each other , , ,,, silence.....Gnat got up and went toward the front....by the bottom of the front door were some letters
IS
>>:::::...whats going on???
GNAT>>:::::::its just some mail" .. ..and he took it back to the couch....and sat down . ..
he dumped the mail between them . .
IS
>>::::.....here is a newspaper,,,"the Greem Gazete" its a daily..wow...alot of the paper deals with Earths problems , , ,
GNAT>>:::::.....gnat checked his sphone.."wow here's a text from 1305 Chantilly Lane ..thats us . . ... the text message is from our building
...its apt 308 , , , so its on our floor ,, ,,,,"......he opened the text-message:
welcome new neighbor
from apt 308.....
this is just a note to welcome you to greem and welcome you to the building. I hope you all will enjoy your stay here and know that we are here for you ..come by at 5pm any time just give us a call first at 5 5 5-1 2 43 8... again welcome
sincerely,
BT and YW
gnat showed the Sphone to IS
IS:>>:::::how sweet they are ....how kind ,,,,we should go over there this afternoon.... what do you say???
gnat>>::ok......
they putted around
IS>>:: Oscar......play some Eric Satie please .. ....a little lower ...great....
gnat>>::: whose oscar???
IS
>>::::why he's your butler dont you know.....
gnat>>cool...oscar . . . turn the temperature down a notch."
oscar>>::::good
a musical idea came into gnats mind . . . .a melody ,,, a verse . . . over and over
he decided to capture it quick and so he opened up the Sphone and said "OSCAR ,,please turn the music off..and.....open the recording studio and open a new music file and name it ,,,,,,23-12-17....and arm track one".... that being done..gnat recorded a track with just his guitar playing single notes ,, ,,, after several attempts he had it like he wanted it,, then he said ""OSCAR disarm track 1 and arm track 2 " and now he put in some ear buds and wirh his guitar he added some chords to the melody....over and over...making mistakes .. until he had it just right . . . .
oscar,,,, muter 1 and 2 and arm 3 . . . . . .now he made up a chorus and changed it over and over till it was just right .. .. ..
5 oclock rolled around ..
IS>>:: what say we go out and visit 308 .. . . . .lets go visit.....
gnat dialed 5 5 5-1 2 3 4 8
BT>>:: hi this is BT
gnat>>hi this is gnat your new neighbor in 313 . .its 5PM ..how about a visit.....
BT>> oh .. hi gnat welcome to the building . .oh yes a visit would be fine, come on over,,room 308.. . . the door is unlocked . . ..
IS and gnat went down the hall to room 308 and went in.....
BT>>hello and welcome....I'm BT and this is my partner YW she's a poet/lyrisist and I'm a pianist singer/songwriter...and you are.....
Gnat>> I am gnat and this is my partner IS ... I am a guitar singer/songwriter/new to the piano and IS is a painter...
IS.>>yes I love to paint..been doing it my whole life . . .painting with the Sphone is great.. they are always with me and if I want to hang one on the wall i just print it out .. .
or just project it on a wall . . .
BT led them over to a pair of green couches facing each other .. .next to the window ... there was a lovely view ..
BT>> So IS,,,,what are your artistic influences?? what kind of artist are you ..
IS
>>i love the paris art scene between 1880 and to the start of ww 1...the official Salons the personal salons , , ,the art movements like impressionism,,,cubism,,,,surrealism,,,picasso,,,renoir , , ,monet,,dali , , , , ,montmart the struggleing artist ,, ,gertrued Stien and their salons. . and its great i can create art anywhere any time and theres only a little room taken up on my SPhone ,, ,,
Gnat>> i love the pop/folk guitar style as in James Taylor, , , ,Bob Dylan , , ,seals and crofts..
but mainly James Taylor , , , ,his songs are written and arranged for guitar . . .for the most part I can duplicate them . .some 100%...he has a definite guitar vocabulary , , ,if you play james taylor ,, ,you pick it up, all of it .. .chords ,, ,leading bass notes suspensions , leading tones , ,fifths and fourths ,, ,, everything you need to know . . ..and brilliant lyrics too boot,, so logical , , ,,beautiful really. . .I give a lot of his work an A++......but i also like rawer songs , ,, not so polished with a nice idea , , ,,
BT>>what is your idea about the theory that it requires 10000 hours of practice to get really good???
gnat:>>i got my first guitar at 10 ...but have only started practicing a few years ago..now I practice 1-2 hours a day , , , ,on guitar and writing songs and writing prose and writing lyrics . .. as far as guitar goes...I am as good as I can get,,,and as for performing goes,, i will always have a notebook of music with chords and Lyrics to look at ,while i play , ,I have reached a plateau and I'm good with that,,.., ,I am just thankflul that I started at an early age , so the chord fimgerings are automatic , , ,, ,its like learning a language . . .we're fluent by the time we're 4 but adding another language as an adult can be frustrating , , ,and I've started learning piano . . .i use a keyboaed with miniature keys and always in the key of C..
BT>> I play piano and that is a good instrument to write on .. unlimited...and therefore hard to learn , , , ,my heros are the team --lyrisist Bernie Taupin and pianist composer Elton John ,, ,together they created an impeccable cataloge . . . .they were a team and thats why me and YW work exclusively together . . . we are a tean . . . .and why not ,, ,,mostly she gives me lyrics and I put them to music . . . .sweet . . . . I also like Carol King...again the piano . . . she is supposed to have perfect pitch .. ..
BT passed around the grin seed , , , ,a cat came into the room and rubbed against gnat's leg . . . .
Gnat>> why who have we here????? why its an orange tabby .. .. gnat reached out to pet the cat . .. .
YW>> careful....you dont know him ,, ,, he can be rough if you pet him wrong ,, his name is Sonny and he's about 6 years old .. ..
Sunny jumped up on an ottoman and laid down . . .facing gnat and IS .. ..
BT>>.have you been in greem long???
gnat>>I've been here 2 days .. ..so far i love it...
IS:>>i have been here about 3 years , , , ,I love it here too ,, whats not to love, , ,, , , , ,
YW>>you've only been here a short while gnat...there are many ways to live here .. .. you can live by the ocean , , , ,in an apartment or a tipi . . . .or a cottage , , ,there are boats to sail and kites and para-gliders to fly. .waves to surf , , ,bikes to ride , , ,
gnat>>my brain is a ferrari . . .. my mind is a vw bus . . . . . . ..
BT>> what do you mean , , , like its,,, well red ???
gnat>>no although thats funny .I am well read . . . . .. no i mean that my brain can go fast , , ,and all that, , ,but mainly when I am not focused on anything , , , I should be careful about rmming the engine . .how to sit with the engine in idle , ,, not reved up,,,no high rpm's just sitting still , , be proud of who you are , , , ,, engage in activities that use the mind . , ,like writing songs , , ,reading , ,practicing playing guitar , , ,, watching some TV,,,,listineing to nice songs , , , ,learning piano , , ,
BT>>why dont we play a song ,, what would be best , , , ,something simple , , ,
gnat>> how about "Margarita ville" .
key of C??
BT>>great
BT sat at the piano and Gnat grabbed a guitar ..they started playing .. . , , , ,with four of them singing,, they covered all the lyrics , ,, , it was fun . .
gnat>>and now I'll play one of my songs . .
Gnat>> we dont want to overstay our welcome, but its been wonderful being with you . Hope to see you again soon...
IS>> we really enjoyed our time together...
and they went back to their appartment . .