The Glory-Beaming Banjo

It's been five months. That was when my son's school decided to transition to online learning for the remainder of the school year. That was when I started working from home full time. That was when the quarantine began.  I'm not telling you anything new. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything for everyone. Wearing masks, social distancing, staying home. Every day feels the same, like we're stuck in the movie Groundhog Day . Wake up. Find my son on the couch watching videos. Log in for work. Make coffee. Answer emails. Sit in on video conference calls. Complete tasks. Log out. Endure.  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.  My wife is unable to work from home. After being furloughed for about a month, she has returned to work. She wears a mask all day, but she also gets to interact with people face to face. I never thought I'd be jealous of being able to socialize at work.  I never truly knew the meaning of "ennui" until now. In fact, I didn't even know how to pr...

You remember how I botched that calf skin head installation last year? Well, I finally replaced it. Because I currently lack the funds and patience to install another natural hide head, I decided to reinstall the Fiberskyn head that came with my banjo way back when.  It's been a good decade since I've had a synthetic head on my banjo. There was a part of me that just couldn't deal with the bland look of the Fiberskyn, so I decided to try staining it with coffee to give it an aged and mottled aesthetic.  I took a small glass of water and mixed in two giant spoonfuls of Maxwell instant coffee and applied two coats with a paintbrush, allowing the head to dry between applications. If you want a more scientific measurement, I'd guess it was four ounces of water and three heaping tablespoons of coffee.  I'd recommend applying a minimum of two coats. I was considering a third coat, but I liked how it looked with two. Keep in mind, the coffee smell stays pretty strong for...