So, today is the 1st day I’ve been off John Mayer’s digital cleanse, since 9am EST precisely. It really wasn’t as hard or dire as i imagined it would be before I took part in it. The first day was a challenge not to go on my phone and check my Facebook and Twitter, as I’ve been so accustomed to. But luckily I was at a friends house, and it helped tremendously. We talked, laughed, and played video games for most of the day. I must tell ya… Silent Hill really helps the time fly by. Day 1 was over before I even noticed.
Day 2 was more of the same. It was a Saturday, and I spent most of it playing old video games on my PS2… namely Shadow of the Colossus and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Such time sucks. I rode my horse around aimlessly for a few hours, before I actually beat the next to last colossus. In San Andreas, I entered all the cheat codes I could. Flew around exploring with my jetpack, crashed a stuntplane a few times, and tried in vain to win the motorcross. Good mindless times.
Day 3 was a Sunday. I actually spent it experimenting with some recipes in the kitchen. Nothing amazing, but edible. I noticed by this day that I rarely went on the computer for anything besides checking and responding to email. I had only 1 text message so the temptation wasn’t that high either there. I only spoke on the phone once to my friend. She’s not a phone person either so it was mostly short and sweet. Also, my daily written journals took a backseat. I just don’t enjoy actually writing with pen and paper anymore. I did manage to get a cramp in my thumb muscle from only 2 pages of writing. Goes to show how little I actually write.
Day 4 was a Monday, and that meant my guitar was finally arriving! I spent most of the day watching tv. Was too excited to do much of anything else. When it finally got here, I ripped off the packaging like a starving person. Ran to my computer and Googled beginner guitar chords and got straight to business. I think I played 2 hours on the 1st day of having it. My fingertips were painful, but it was so enjoyable, I managed to push through another 30 minutes after the initial pain had faded to a dull ache. After I couldn’t physically play anymore, I grabbed one of the books my friend lent me and read for a bit. I noticed I was beat at about 12am. Doing this cleanse, my bedtimes got earlier and my up times got earlier too. I think one morning I rose at 6am and job hunted for 3 hours until it was time to take out the dog. Productivity… YES!
Day 5, a Tuesday. More guitar. Mostly fumbling around with making sure the strings were pressed down all the way. More pain of course, and now a weird numbness to accompany it. So I settled on playing more video games and reading. Standard.
Day 6, Wednesday. I got bored of the video games I had so I took myself to Gamestop, an hour bus ride 1 way, to buy more. Used games of course. I’m all about bang for my buck. I came home with: Resident Evil 4, Hitman and God of War II. By far, God of War II was the best game I’ve ever played. So entertaining, glorious graphics, excellent controls. That blew a few hours after I got back home. Then early to bed as usual.
Day 7, Thursday. Almost done. But surprisingly fine. I wasn’t itching to jump back on Twitter or Facebook with a vengeance. Most of my day was very low key. Guitar, TV, Video Games. I ended the night watching Jersey Shore again.. Gotta love “The Situation” LOL.
Which brings us to present day. I woke about 7am. 2 hours to go before I could officially end the cleanse. And that is when the urge hit me. I guess because it was so imminent, I was raring to see what was happening online. 9am hit and I immediately went on MySpace to see if my message was responded to. Nothing. Then on Facebook. Ahhh my friends missed me, what an awesome welcome back! I came back to multiple wall posts, a picture post, and numerous inboxes. I replied to the urgent ones and sent a few of my own, just catching up. Then to Twitter… Very quiet… Then I realized I’m usually not on here until 2 hours later, so of course it’s quiet. 7 @ replies. Most cursing John Mayer for taking me away from them. Hilarious!! I missed my friends there immensely.
The daunting task now is getting back up to speed. I remember thinking if i was logged off for a day, or even a few hours I would be so behind! Now 7 days have passed, I feel a bit disoriented… and strangely enough, I don’t feel the overwhelming pull to be online all waking hours of the day. I enjoyed this time off, much more than one would expect. I do intend on keeping up with my book reading, guitar practicing, and even getting in some of that awesome PS2 action. Not to mention I’m still in dire need of a job ASAP. Unemployment runs out in about a month and a half. I’m trying like hell to avoid returning to retail, but it sadly looks like I will be forced to join those ranks again soon. Sad but true, my bills need to be paid, and I gotta do what I gotta do, no matter how morale draining it may be. Sorry to anyone who may love retail, it’s just not my ideal job situation.
So yea, I guess that’s all in a nutshell. The Digital Cleanse was a roaring success. Thanks John, for giving me the push to get back to what’s most important. Not saying everyone I talk to on social networking isn’t important… just saying that there is more to living life than being “connected” all the time. I think everyone should give it a try if you can!
And by the way, if you were wondering… my guitar’s name is Violet.















They did only 6 songs, which included my all time favorite, “Ghost of York”. Not too many people knew who they were, but by the end of the set, people were cheering and clapping along for them. I’m sure they made quite a few fans tonight. The lead singer has an incredible voice and range, I was impressed with them. Also, the two in the back took turns playing those keyboards, trumpet, and various other instruments. Highly entertaining. I’d pay to see them again, without a doubt.
The crowd was quickly energized and transformed into a hurtling mass of bodies all bobbing up and down to the beat, myself included. This was what I’d missed. The reckless abandon of all care for your own person, and just letting the music guide your movement. MUTEMATH has always been that band for me, where I could just say “fuckitall” and rock out like nobody’s business. Their energy is infectious!
Can I take a moment and talk about how insane Darren King is? Seriously, is he from another planet? Injected with some experimental drugs? Because how in the bloody hell does he play like he does? I’ve not seen nor heard a drummer that’s impressed me that much in so long! Darren has been my favorite drummer ever since I found out about MUTEMATH, and when you see him in action you really appreciate how talented he really is.
I mean, seriously. He knows he is gonna be drumming harder than any man known to beat a drum, hence the duct tape. Notice the sweat? Yea, that was after like 2 songs. By the end of the show, it looks like he’d just threw himself into the nearest pool, got out and sat down to play. I’m not even kidding. He was so sopped with sweat, he was nice enough to put his blazer on before crowdsurfing so we didn’t get his sweat all over us. What a stand up guy.
Do you see this? There were like 4 spare drumsticks out in the audience at this time, and he let whoever got one play with him. I was awed. Not only because I wish it were me who got a drumstick, but because he made sure those people actually stayed on beat and kept time with him.
Do you understand that one minute he was onstage, dancing and clapping and the next minute he was right next to me in the crowd? I swear it was like I blinked and he was right there! It’s almost like he teleported himself there. I don’t understand how he was able to propel himself + mic stand that far, that quick. LOL