Month: January 2014

Night After Night

A new song for the mother-to-be and son who will be here in a month’s time.
written and performed by me.

Gear Review: Wicked Good Scuffs. L.L. Bean Slippers

Heck yes I’m going to do a gear a review about a pair of slippers. Especially when there are this good. How good, you ask? Wicked Good… Scuffs, that is.

These slippers came into my life late December, and my feet have been happy ever since. Whether it is running outside to get the mail or take out the trash, or lounging on the couch typing away, I’ve been pleased with the comfortable, sturdy nature of these puppies.

The slippers do seem to stretch a bit as you wear them in, so I ordered a size 10 as I tend to run about a 10.5. They were tight for about a day or two and then they molded to my tootsies perfectly.

LL Bean also has free shipping and is located in Maine, both of which are really cool things.

Cons: At $69 you could get by with a cheaper pair of slippies but they probably wouldn’t be made of sheepskin.
So let’s think about this a bit. It has been a cold winter. Your floor, if uncarpeted has not been kind to your bare feet. I haven’t read the farmer’s almanac, but being that it is still January (or, Juan-uary, if you prefer… yes, I’m keeping up with Juan Pablo’s search for love, and I’m comfortable sharing that with you), and we probably have plenty of cold months left this year, consider doing your toes a solid and looking into a nice pair of slippers. If you do, give these a thought. I have a feeling, I won’t be going back to bare feet in the winter, and LL Bean Wicked Good Scuffs will be my slipper of choice for years to come. 
*Disclosures:  I have no financial interest in LL Bean, but I do have both personal and financial interest in my wife, who bought me these Wicked Good Scuffs. 

Monday Roast

A month or so ago, I decided to give roasting my own coffee a try. Two things are for sure. One, it is not convenient. Two, it is fun.

How’d it happen? I did some research on a great website called Sweet Maria’s. They have a LOT of great info and videos.

Next, I bought a used air popcorn popoer for $2 from a thrift store.

you want one without a mesh bottom.

Then I went to a local coffee roasting shop and convinced the owner to sell me 5 pounds of un-roasted columbian beans. They were good to me at Norfolk Tea and Coffee.

Then it is a matter of just roasting some beans. Letting them sit over night, grinding, brewing, and drinking.

Mmmm…

green

roasted

 It will take some time to get through this 5 lb bag, but when I do, I’m excited to try some different types of beans. I think whole foods sells green beans. We’ll see how it goes. If you are interested in trying to roast your own beans, I’d say give it a try. It is, honestly, pretty easy. Just like fly fishing, you can make it as complicated or simple as you like.

Taking Painting Through Prosek a little further

My buddy Kevin wanted me to try painting a Shenandoah Brookie for him “Prosek Style.” Meaning, he wanted the swatch of color and pattern without the fins and such. That is good, because I can’t paint the other bits of the fish.

Using Prosek’s Labrador Brook Trout as a guide along with the picture from Kevin, I came up with a version I like. Hope you do too!

If you read the post before this, you’ll know I made a CD and put it on CDbaby. Well guess what? It is also on Spotify and iTunes. I’m very impressed with how quick that all happened. If you get a chance, go have a listen. Search “David Nash Dormroom Sessions”and you should find it. It was pretty fun to put together. Spotify works a bit like pandora, so you don’t have to pay to listen as opposed to iTunes and CDbaby which will make you buy it to hear the entire thing. iTunes also has longer song previews than CDbaby.

Something Special for the New Year

So, do remember that person in college or high school who would always grab the guitar as the night was fading? You thought, “Oh great. This guy again.  Maybe I can refill my drink or find somewhere else to be for the next 10 minutes.” They might play a couple bad versions of “Wonderwall,” Bon Jovi, or Jack Johnson, eyes closed, looking way too serious. You could sing along a bit but then they’d play an awkward “original” and you’d be stuck, on the sunken couch, too afraid to just get up and walk away.

Well, guess what? I was that whiney guy with the guitar, but, I whine a little less these days. I started playing during high school and got pretty into it for while. I’ve written probably close to 100 songs. Heck, I wrote one for the Owl Jones Rise fishing contest back in 2011, the contest that got me into making fly fishing videos. Thank you, Owl, by the way. (See the whiney song here).

This year, for my 30th birthday, my wife encouraged me to record some of my better songs “just for fun.” Mostly she wanted me to record a song called “I Love July” that I wrote for her early in our relationship and played at our wedding. We had some friends visit this fall and one of them brought some recording equipment. We turned the living room into a studio, and the Dormroom Sessions was born.

On the CD, you’ll find original songs, all written and preformed by me. I personally feel tracks 4, 5 and 6 are the strongest, “Little Red Squirrel” being the one that turned out best, but feel free to prove me wrong.

I hope two things come of this. One, I hope my friends and family and you all enjoy the music. I’ve enjoyed playing and writing for years, and it has been great fun for me. Secondly, I hope this album gets huge in Eastern Europe or Asia
and 2014 is the year of the Dormroom Sessions and I become famous like Jake Bugg or Psy (oops, looks like I dropped a few names there… I might have to pick those up before this page gets associated with those more popular search terms…. or I might just leave them).

Anyway, Happy New Year! I wish you all the best!