April Diary ~ 14 year anniversary edition

I had to keep the diary going when I realized April 1st was wikiloops 14th birthday..... and to stop TeeGee from crying :)
I thought if would be good to hear your stories, songs, pictures and memories relating to wikiloops. Don't be shy, everyone is welcome to be a diarist if only for a day.
[img]https://images.thortful.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=410,format=auto,quality=90/card/61101bc5eb0efc0001521277/61101bc5eb0efc0001521277_medium.jpg?version=1[/img]

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I was a pandemic looper. Fresh off some Moderna vax juice, I stumbled across WikiLoops. She was looking good. Not fancy but straight to the point...I figured I'd give her a try. 5 years later, I'm still giving her a try :)

My early recollection of my first Wikiloops encounter was the nice people. Axenvocs, Mikebanez, and Fishinmissio come to mind, they were very welcoming and helpful.

I've had a very pleasant experience here, dare I say I've made some online friends here? :)

Cheers to Wikiloops, Happy Birthday you sexy gal!

:W

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True story!! I had a dream about "finding the others". Theres more to it but you wouldn't believe me! When I awoke I googled a very specific search based off the clues in the dream which led me to da loops. This was April 2014. Its almost my 11 year anniversary. As someone stuck at home all the time because of a condition I have...Wikiloops has been a lifeline and I treasure my friendships Ive made here.😁💙

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Wow 14 years and still going strong! Thanks to Dick we have this pearl of a great community it's like a beautiful good weather island surrounded by all the chaos in this world. A place where you can listen to really good original music, and not get harassed by anyone :) I joined in September 2014 and I probably logged on on most of the days ever since. Long may it continue.

It took me a while to sort out the recording, and to gather up the courage to upload something. It was a track by wilf, bhunt, jmrukkers and lovely Shi. I got to say, it still sounds good to me 10 years after :)

[wl]31833[/wl]

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Happy 14th Wikiloops and congratulations:W
I discovered you one hot July day almost 7 years ago when you were half the age you are now. You were such a welcoming breath of fresh air back then and your breeze has grown stronger with each passing year. May your cool harmonic breezes continue to blow. <3
[img]https://successmusicstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Intonation-and-Supplemented-Equal-Temperament-Guitarist-1024x720.jpg[/img]

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14 years of Wikiloops... the the Loops is a teenager. I hope it behaves better than I did at this age :D :D :D

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I checked this out. When you're 14 years old you seek more independence from guardians, express deeper emotions, feel rebellious, take on more responsibility and feel more stress. You are analytical and easily influenced by your peers. You experiment with your style and image. You alternate between boundless energy and optimism to laziness and excessive sleep. You have insatiable appetites.

I know plenty of wikiloopers who must still be 14 at heart. Happy Birthday <3

This song is a rarity. I didn't know MrSnutz in 2012 but he challenged me to join in this early wikiloops jam. I've had plenty of fun and shared lots of bonhomme here thanks to wikiloops.

[wl]3209[/wl]

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Yesterday I hosted the bi-monthly poker night at my place. 6 tall beer, whiskey and coffee drinking old school men. When I say tall, consider that I am 188cm (~6ft 2") tall, and I am the second smallest of the bunch :D

I have been playing with 3 of these guys for over 24 years, and the other 2 for around 15 years.

We only play for a small entry of 10 Euros each, so if you lose, not a big deal. The fun one has in those few hours, priceless. The thing is, because we know each other so well, it is hard to bluff, hard to win. So if you lose one week, the next week you get it back. It is pointless in a way, but fun nevertheless.

We ate some junk food, drank some single malt whiskey.

I made 6 large Cappuccinos for the guys on 2 coffee Macchinettas simultaneously :O - did not go as planned. I spilled a heap of ground coffee on the floor (I dread what Mrs. Gee will say to me tonight when she discoveres it even though I cleaned it as good as I can. She has x-ray vision for my mess-ups :D ), ran out of milk (luckily there was some more in the storage room), did not tighten enough one of the Macchinettas so steam started to escape - but I noticed it quickly and sorted it out. However in the end the coffee was good and strong, and everybody happy.

After all went home I tidied up, and went to the red sofa to watch a recording of the football game from earlier in the evening. We lost, but played some ok football here and there. Oh well....

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Sounds very macho and very messy TeeGee, but the perfect boys night in.

Wednesday April 2nd - Apparently this month (April '25) is designated "Stress Awareness Month" I suppose it means you should be aware of stress in others. I know people who are going through stress in their lives but I find I'm unable to help them. People with deep stress don't usually want to talk about it.
I'm going through various stress issues at the moment, mainly because I'm trying to move house (sell & buy) all in one go.
There's a Japanese practice called "shinrin-yoku," "forest bathing" which encourages spending time in nature to reduce stress and improve well-being. It works for me. So today I walked to a park and sat quietly watching a pigeon flying into a nest hidden in a bush. He/she kept flying in and out to get food and feed the babies presumably. I was envious, birds have no internet, no bosses, no financial worries. Home is just the most convenient sheltered place. If only humans could be that free.

So if you're feeling the pressure of life, go out and watch a squirrel climb a tree or a bird singing it's heart out on a branch in the Sunshine. Then go to that tree and hug it. A tree will listen to all your problems and not be judgmental. Lie down in fresh sweet smelling grass or if you're really lucky bury your stressed head in some soft sand and listen to the gentle tide rolling in and out.

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No poker here, only small betting when I watch Ice Hockey games. Finnish ice hockey has been really interesting, because my favorite team is doing well. Usually team has been bad, but this year has been an exception.
(I never make big bets, just enough to make watching the game more fun).



I've only listened to a little bit of music on Wikiloops because I've been busy. I'm a little ashamed, but I promise to change my habits this weekend.


By the way, I just noticed that Wikiloops has a birthday. So happy birthday Wikiloops!
I've said this before, but without Wikiloops, I wouldn't be playing bass. I tried to learn the basics on my own when I mainly played in Songster, but it was really boring..
So i really started learning the basics when I accidentally discovered Wikiloops. So thank you all for that.

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Perfect, yes, messy for sure, and there was indeed blowback from Mrs. Gee yesterday evening when I came home. However I was mentally prepared, I worked on it during the day B)

A quick web search for macho: "...In UK English, macho generally refers to a man (or behavior) that is aggressively masculine, often in a way that suggests toughness, dominance, or an exaggerated sense of masculinity..."

Having thought about it, it seems all 6 of us are very similar, never thought about it that way before. I would say that none of us are the typical "macho man" type that comes in mind. We are all family men, have lovely wives or partners that tell us what to do all the time (which we reluctantly do more or less), we all live in nice houses with gardens, and we all have very similar views on the world and politics. Most of us ride or rode bikes, we do love a good motor, we go to the hardware shop and put up the shelf ourselves and don't need to call up a handyman when the tap is dripping. I don't think any of us have (many) tattoos, and, except myself, are all quite fond of good German beer (I like it but not as much tbh). We all love a good single malt whiskey.

I suppose you could summarize it that we are a bunch of traditional men, old school style. We have all been working continuously since we were teenagers, we pay our taxes (and moan about it), we go on holidays with the wife, we are not religious, we love our way of life and we love our country.

In some parts of the world that would be considered bad, toxic, whatever, I know. But for good or worse, that's what we are...I am not shaving my legs!!!

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@ Aito, you sound very sensible :) @ TeeGee, you sound very scared of Mrs Gee :D

@ Leicester City Football Club - you are absolute rubbish, I can't support you any more. Not a single goal in about 11 hours of play (7 games) you've made me sit through. Enough is enough, you are going down for sure but I'm not going down with you :(

@ Big wasp in my bedroom - please go away, after the misery you put me through last year how dare you come back again - BUZZ off and take your friends with you :o

Had to go with someone to a hospital appointment this afternoon. Those places are so depressing, I wasn't the patient but after sitting in the waiting room observing the weak, elderly and infirm, I saw my destiny, not something to look forward to :|

I apologize if anyone sees one of my new uploads for a short while before they disappear. It's odd but somehow I always have seconds thoughts as soon as I play them back to myself :) If I were you I would stop following me, I'm a very unreliable wikilooper.

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The fear of Mrs. Gee is real, if you met her you would think she is the sweetest polite woman you can ever meet, but it is like Mrs. Jeckl and Mrs. Gee :D :D :D She nasty :D I am joking of course (just on the off chance she will read this). She is ok. After all she put up with me for so long ;)

Football, Leicester, I'm with you. My club United is not going to be relegated, but it is dire. DIRE! Can't wait for next season, maybe it's going to be better.

Regarding the uploads, if you want to I can add you to a my private band testing place, you can upload it there, listen to it and if you still like it you can then upload it again in a public place.

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That's a good idea but actually I have a private band (Song Tree) myself but I couldn't work out how to use it. I'll check it out again, thanks TG.

I don't think I do enough to put into a diary these days. Maybe I'll just start Blogging with daily thoughts and observations when the mood takes me. Unfortunately, today my head is quite blank ,,,,, apart from things I shouldn't talk about publicly :@

Why don't I just fill up some space with some of my poems

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Whenever I see a poem or song lyrics here, I get a little jealous. I would also like to write, but my English is not good enough. :)


By the way, I tried to write a book a couple of years ago, but it was left unfinished.
In fact, it was the third attempt. I wrote two books for more than 200 pages, but the end result was so bad that I never finished the books.

Maybe I'll look for my third book on the computer and look at what I wrote two years ago. Probably something i don't want to read. :D

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Not much to report but here are a few snippets

*last week I built a control cabinet for my lathe, I put in all the components for the new motor control. Had to cut cables, extend them, solder them, insulate, there were a lot of wires and surprisingly, when I finished and plugged it in, it still worked :D

*But then came the downer. I proudly showed my work to my buddy who actually works in a company that makes electrical stuff, and he gave me a "fail" because I used luster terminals. "Tze tze tze, it iz against ze German DIN norm to use ze luster terminals in a cabinet like zis!". I said "yes but this is only for a 48V motor bla bla home use bla bla not a fuse box" and he said "yes but no but yes but no" and another friend, who is an insurance guy, said "tze tze tze if there is a fire, ......!!???"

B****s :O!!!! I had to do it again, not because I am afraid of the insurance, but my technical pride was hurt :D . So I went online and ordered parts, took it all apart, reassembled it and now I got a thumbs up :W

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TeeGee attached the following image:

-I ordered new Japanese textbooks. That series includes five books, I have now ordered the fourth.
I repeat myself, but I should have chosen another language, Japanese is too difficult.

-My gym friend joined Wikiloops, but hasn't uploaded anything to the site yet. I hope that he will get his computer to work the way he wants it, so that we can hear new member's music.

-I'm ashamed of myself, I'm lazy. I've been thinking about buying new bass strings for over two months, but I still haven't bought them. Maybe I'll buy cobalt bass strings, I've never tried them.

Well, new strings are not mandatory. I can play the old bass strings for the next few years if I have to. :D


-In the last few weeks, playing has been really fun, But maybe I should just calm down. I'm becoming more and more aggressive. (I mean the sound of my bass, not that I kick things and go on a rampage when I play. :D:W).

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Slap that bass Aito :D Good for you :W

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I've not been my usual cheery self this week. I haven't wanted to come online or listen to music. last night I slept for 9 hours. I even fell asleep watching Leicester play today which was a shame because they broke their non-scoring patch and got a point... too little, too late. I sit in the cemetery in the quiet when I feel a bit down.... just thinking in an existential kind of way. I'm trying to decide where I want my life to go from now on because I know I'm not where I want to be but I don't know where that would be. I'm sure something will come along to shake me out of this ruminating self analysis.

There are so many nice, normal folk at wikiloops I'm not sure anyone wants to read my c**p but I'm really being selfish and using the diary as a sounding board. I also know there are people going through what I go through sometimes.

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A few hours ago, I wondered where you were. I'm glad you came to visit the site so we know you haven't disappeared. :) I was about to go looking for you, but now I don't have to go all the way to England.

Although I have never been to England, it could be nice. But don't disappear because of that, I'll come up with some other reason to travel there someday. :D

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