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Be Safe Out There, Sailors.

A large red lobster sculpture on the roof of a building with a sign reading 'The Taste of Maine,' and an American flag pole in front.
There be monsters out there.
A smiling couple posing for a selfie by the lake during a sunset, with trees and a boat visible in the background.
Kristen and I on the lake before getting up and out of Brookfield, NH.
A person working at a bench with various tools and equipment, focusing on a musical instrument, surrounded by boxes and a work area illuminated by lamps.
Monday we went to visit NS Designs in Nobleboro, ME. Kristen’s cello is 16 and it’s never been setup, and since she’s an NS Designs Artist (humble brag) Cory here did some work, sussing out buzzes and various little tech issues. There were a couple of unexpected perks to the visit…
A Boba Fett helmet displayed on a shelf made of wooden planks, with a black speaker positioned below it.
I get the impression that one of OTHER techs was the Star Wars fan, but when I spotted “a Mandalorian helmet” he was still quick to correct me “no, that one’s Boba Fett. We can chat about that.
A person playing a cello in a workshop setting, wearing glasses and a dark t-shirt, focused on the instrument while holding the bow.
Kristen was asked to critique a new pick up system that Ned Steinberger had just prototyped. She had notes and they will be incorporated into the final design. She also got to troubleshoot a new strap system for their cellos that should hit the market in another year or so!
A man examining a unique string instrument in a music setup, surrounded by amplifiers and equipment, with a Nobel Prize poster on the wall.
I didn’t really expect to meet NED STEINBERGER today. Famous to every glamrock guitar god Lover as the guy who took the headstock off of electric guitars, I remember being surprised that that was the same guy who’d designed Kristen’s cello and all those Romulan Warbird-lookin’ stringed things. He also designed my 5-string apparently! We were surprised to get the call at the workshop “when she’s done there, send her up to my workshop – I want to talk to her about what she doesn’t like abouut my new strap!” Ned checked all the Eccentric Genius boxes, down to strange prototypes and quirky conversations that jumped from point to point. It was really cool seeing the original prototype for Kristen’s cello (above)…
A cluttered workspace featuring various handmade string instruments, including a large wooden guitar-like instrument, a couple of smaller string instruments, and several guitar cases in different colors, alongside sketches pinned to a board.
And various bass experiments. It was an absolute pleasure
A musician playing a bass guitar in a cluttered music studio with various instruments and equipment in the background.
I was ALSO surprised to be handed the first of 12 prototypes of a new NS bass guitar, 6-strings and radiused fretting and 100% carbon fiber. It was an absolute dream to play.
Two smiling individuals posing for a photo in a workshop or studio filled with wooden shelves and musical instruments.
Kristen and Cory.
Close-up view of the interior of a guitar-like instrument, showing electronic components and a battery installed inside the body.
A cluttered workspace featuring two electric violins mounted on a wooden wall, surrounded by various tools and materials, including boxes, musical CDs, and crafting supplies.
Two individuals smiling together in a workshop setting, surrounded by woodworking tools and materials.
Kristen and Ned Steinberger.
A person standing on a beach with sand sculptures in the foreground, under a sky with pastel colors at sunset.
Heather found us a great place to stay betwixt Nobleboro and our next stop in Cape Cod. After settling into our extremely cute hotel, we walked down to the beach and appreciated other people’s sand castles.

Yesterday should’ve been an excellent day. Right from the get-go Heather found a turtle and I fed it a tomato. We spent some time with our excellent host as we dropped her off at the ferry. Kristen took me on a scenic train ride. We had ice cream at a place that was nostalgic to her and then came back and had plenty of time to eat gourmet pizza while setting up for the Lair as it misted outside. The rain ended in time for us to have a leisurely moment to make sure everything was set up and solid before running the Lair, came back inside and had a quiet evening before going to bed.

And the box turtle WAS a beautiful creature. And though he ignored my gift at first, by the time we’d returned from our day’s wanderings it had eaten the tomato.

And it WAS wonderful getting to chat further with our host. She is an incredible example of what we should all aspire to: an elegant and driven 84-year-old woman who sparkles when she talks of an incredibly Lived (and still Living) Life. Travels and stories and a tale for everything in the house.

Once we’d dropped her off at the ferry port Kristen and I went around the corner to the train station and checked in for our Scenic Cape Cod train ride. This is where things began to metaphorically come off the rails a little bit, but I’m planning not to dwell.

A serene riverside landscape at dusk, featuring green grass along the bank and a small boat moored on the shore, with a pastel sky and gentle water ripples.
A person standing on a beach at sunset, reflecting on wet sand, with another individual in the background.
A calm ocean scene at sunset with gentle waves and a sailboat in the distance against a pastel sky.
A peaceful sunset scene over a beach, with soft clouds illuminated in orange and yellow hues against a blue sky, and a silhouette of grassy dunes in the foreground.
Serene river scene at sunset with colorful skies reflecting on the water's surface.
A man and a woman standing on a beach during sunset. The woman is holding a small black stone in her raised hand, while the man takes a selfie with a serious expression.
Wandering Ogunquit, ME.
Illustrated promotional poster for a music event featuring Dan Blakeslee, with a musician playing guitar, a mermaid, and a lobster. Event details include dates in June, location at Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, ME, and timings.
A peaceful beach scene featuring a sandy shoreline, green grass, and people enjoying the sun under umbrellas. The water is gently flowing near the shore.
Wandering Footpath Bridge Beach and the town of Ogunquit, ME we ran across some familiar posters scattered around town!
Two concert posters displayed in a window frame. The left poster features an illustration of a mermaid and details about a performance on May 11 and 25 at Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, ME. The right poster depicts a scene with musicians and includes information about a performance on May 22 at Swell House in Cape Hedrick, ME.
Close-up view of a black Hyundai car hood with speckles of dirt, reflecting trees in the background.
Feet wading through shallow water on a sandy beach.
A person using scissors to cut a piece of tape attached to the fender of a black car parked on a driveway.
Car repair with leatherman and duct tape.
A woman wearing glasses and a shirt with 'Rebecca Berlin' holds a bottle of gin, smiling at the camera, while an older woman with short hair, wearing a light cardigan, gestures happily beside her.
Our wonderful host, Julie. She owns a place on Cape Cod and is our brother-in-law’s mother, and I don’t know what that makes her to us. She was overjoyed to have us stay at her place as she was going to be spending most of the week up at a book festival and we could drop her off at the ferry! We were invited in for cocktail hour and dinner, and had some gin that her family distillery makes. Julie is the fiery, sharp-as-a-tack 84 that I shall aspire to be in another 33 years.

However, for my own Lair notes: what went wrong? Well, first off, I think I have a limited patience with a New England accent in a tour capacity. But that’s neither here nor there.

The CQ20B does fine just plugged directly into the computer, though the output is absolutely low – but this may be (should be) my new model at the SPARK, simplifying the setup by one piece of gear and two cables – but something was definitely amiss with the camera going into my laptop. The R8 has been used with the last several Lairs with that cable sans mishap. I dropped it earlier today but it seemed to be operating fine. I taped in some relief, so I don’t THINK there was anything amiss with the cable, but we kept getting blackouts. I think perhaps the HDMI adapter was what was failing? Usually if it’s the adapter that fails, we start getting test patterns, so either the input on the adapter or something new with the camera or the cable. I think the former’s most likely, with the one additional possibility being a failure of the USB ports. The only reason I even THINK of that as a possibility is we’re getting similar gapping / blackouts at the SPARK which is where I use this laptop, but none of the rest of the equipment I used today (cable, camera, adapter) was in play last night. I switched USB ports and, for as much as I’d like an excuse to replace this laptop, I think it’s a peripheral component. Additionally, the problems at the SPARK seem to be happening in advance of the BlackMagic, AND if it was a USB port failure I’d kind of expect to receive a “disconnect” notice from StreamYard.

A framed print asking 'ARE YOU DRUNK?' with checkboxes for 'YES' and 'NO', and an 'X' marked next to the 'NO' option.
This shouldn’t amuse me as much as it does.
Two people standing on a porch at night, one in a gray shirt and jeans, the other in a brown top and a long red skirt, with a decorative sculpture beside them.
Okay, knowing we might get rained on, I’ve wandered the environs and checked wifi signals from various spots and think this shall be our “Lair”.
An osprey flying near its nest on a wooden platform against a clear blue sky.
I visit this osprey nest every day we’re here. It’s got hatchlings in there and flies off in alarm the moment it notices me, screaming at me.
An abandoned small boat resting on a sandy shore, partially covered with grass and seaweed, with a calm body of water in the background.
This bench washed up to shore years ago and Julie’s husband anchored it to their beach.
A woman in a black crop top and a long red skirt stands next to a black car with the trunk open, holding a drink and snacks, against a backdrop of trees and a house.
Close-up of a turtle with a patterned shell, resting on soil surrounded by green plants and purple flowers in a garden.
Turtle #1!
Pictures from Cape Cod…
A vintage train with the number 2011 is parked at a station, with passengers walking along a platform surrounded by trees and a wooden structure.
The Cape Cod Scenic Railroad doesn’t tell you much about it’s trains, so I can’t tell you anything other than this diesel locomotive was ACQUIRED in 2011, that’s not it’s actual engine number. I’ve been sad that there’s not more information given or available on the trains. I was ALSO sad to learn that the most famous cryptid in the area are the mermaids of the Cape Cod Canal and this wasn’t mentioned in the tour at ALL! Bah!

Blah. Thank you for letting me think out loud. I guess I should count the positives: my camera failed but I could use my phone as a back up AND Heather’s guitar cable, which had failed at Sunday’s house concert, seemed to be up and running for last night. Oh Holy Trinity of Technocore, Omnissiah and Cyberdyne Systems, how I hate intermittent electronic failures.

In the night I had a nightmare that we were setting up on a big stage that kept getting smaller and smaller to the point that I was having trouble setting up. At first I thought everyone had forgotten that Joey was on the gig and set up without leaving him a space, and then I realized that Joey was already there, but a LOT of the stuff that was on the stage was new Joey gear. He had ramps that went around his kit, TWO sets of rototoms, a set of electronic triggers and a second kick drum and I was being crowded off the stage even before we tried to mic the new behemoth.

A selfie featuring two people with sunglasses standing in front of a vintage red and white train numbered 2011, located at a train station under a wooden shelter.

I woke up worrying that I didn’t have enough channels.

Sometime overnight it clearly rained some more and wiped out a gigantic branch that had been hanging over the really beautiful garden sitting spaces at our host’s house. I’m pretty sure it didn’t happen during the Lair, but it would’ve swatted us down pretty effectively if it had, so we made good location choices last night and I’m glad that (most of) the lawn furniture had been moved out of swatting range.

The fog is thick on Buzzards Bay and I’m very surprised to see how much activity is going on out on the water. As my eyes adjusted to the grey-on-grey palette I saw at least three boats go by at speed amongst the half-dozen that seem to be at anchor.

Stay safe out there, sailors. Today ilyAIMY will NOT be joining you!

A view from a performance stage with a microphone in the foreground, garden scenery in the background featuring green grass, blooming flowers, and large rocks.
Our view from the Lair on Wednesday night on Cape Cod, MA.
A large, white seashell held in an open hand, with green grass blurred in the background.
A scenic view of a grassy shoreline along a river, with boats navigating the water under a clear blue sky.
An osprey perched on top of a large nest made of twigs and branches against a clear blue sky.
A view of fallen tree branches and foliage covering a stone patio, with overcast skies in the background.
A close-up view of lush green oak leaves and branches, with some moss visible, set against a cloudy sky.
A stone pathway leading to the water with boats in the background and greenery along the shore.
A spotted turtle resting on the ground surrounded by green plants and rocks.
Turtle #2! Heather and Kristen compared photos and confirmed that it was a DIFFERENT beast!
A scenic view of a coastal landscape featuring grassy shores and gentle waves lapping against the sandy beach, with boats in the distance and a tree-lined horizon under a cloudy sky.
robilyaimy

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