"I feel good today."

As a kid back in the 1960's, I remember watching Red Skelton on TV.  After his show went off the air around 1970, there weren't any rebroadcasts or reruns for many, many years, not even on cable.  Then came the new century and streaming, and the need for content on any one of hundreds of FAST channels.

The Skelton estate has gone directly to its audience of aging boomers like me via YouTube, so I've looked at a few of them.  When I was 10, they were funny.  Now, the humor is corny and cringeworthy (I'm too old to just say "cringe.").  That doesn't include the Silent Spot, his mime section.  But his monologues aren't funny to me in 2025. 

But the reason I'm writing here about Red Skelton is one line of his that I remembered when I was getting paid to entertain people.  Red would begin his monologue with "I feel good tonight."  It's good and positive, but from what I've read about him since then, he wasn't always at the peak of health or sobriety.  But he said it anyway, maybe as much to convince himself as anything else.  That's what I used it for.  Even if I didn't say it, I'd remember it before beginning my gig, whatever it may have been.  "I feel good today," and off we'd go.  

Now, how do I feel tonight (and why am I writing about it)?  It's been a good day.  I found useful things to do during the daylight hours, including taking a mile-and-a-half walk, and marking "DONE" against a few items on the to-do list.  

Then after sunset, I repeated three 10-minute Singeo lessons, then clicked over to the Drumeo side and continued with para-diddle-diddle apps.  I'm not close to the designated speed, but now I can do each of the three apps correctly.  I'll work on speed through Sunday, and that will end the Rudiments unit of Drumeo Method level 4.  On Monday the 29th, I'll begin "Better Hands in 10 Days" and see how much I can learn there, then back to Method to begin the Moeller unit.

So drumming doesn't come easily, but now it's in perspective and I'm enjoying it.  It'll take me longer to learn something than for someone who was born to play music, and that will frustrate me, but if I press on, I will at least learn how the trick is done, even if I can't play 32nd notes at speed any more than I can run the hundred in ten seconds.  Curiosity over mastery, remember?