D. Lee Jackson

New Album Coming in 2020 – “Derivations”

Posted on 2020-02-01 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

CDSeamless Almost two years after the publication of my first album, Calibrations, I am now ready to announce the upcoming release of my second album, Derivations.

Dictionary.com defines “Derivation” as:

the act or fact of deriving or of being derived.
the process of deriving.
the source from which something is derived; origin.
something that is or has been derived; derivative.

I see Derivations as an extension of Calibrations, with Calibrations being the source.

When finished, Derivations will contain ten tracks (I’ve got eight in the bag now and am working on number nine), including the previously-released single, “What It Shall Be.” The completed album will be released for physical CD and streaming distribution via CD Baby. Later, high-resolution versions of almost all of the tracks (more on this as the release date approaches) will be released via the Bandcamp service.

The CD will be released prior to the end of 2020 (with any luck, significantly prior to the end of 2020). Watch for updates and further announcements!

“Goin’ Down the Fast Way” Remaster Up On Bandcamp

Posted on 2020-01-06 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

ROTT Symbol If you remember the game “Rise of the Triad,” you might remember one of the more popular songs from it: “Goin’ Down the Fast Way.” If so, then today is a red letter day for both of us. I’ve just released a high-quality 96KHz/24-bit remaster of the song through the Bandcamp music distribution service!

I’ve taken the original MIDI file, played it back and recorded it using Cakewalk by Bandlab, then remastered it using Steinberg’s Wavelab 10 and iZotope’s Ozone mastering plug-in. The result is an audio file that includes the originally intended loop, plus it has the clear sound I was looking for.

The HQ version of the song is available in WAV, AIFF, and FLAC formats for only $2 per download. You can get an MP3 version, but it won’t be in the full high-quality resolution (MP3 only goes up to 44.1 KHz on Bandcamp, I believe). Best to stick with the other three formats. Here’s the link:

https://leejackson1.bandcamp.com/track/goin-down-the-fast-way-2020-hq-remaster

Please grab your copy today!

Left Knee 2019-12-23

Posted on 2019-12-26 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

Here is the gallery from inside my knee operation:

Yes, We Kneed a Little Christmas

Posted on 2019-12-12 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

Generic Knee X-ray Time for another health update. I view these as writing exercises, so please bear with me as I go through this one.

You’ll note that this update’s picture is of a knee X-ray (not of my knee). That’s because I’m having arthroscopic knee surgery, two days before Christmas. I’ve had problems with my left knee since 1984, when I crashed a bicycle into a curb and went flying ten feet over a sidewalk and into a parking lot. I tore my medial meniscus and scraped the back of my kneecap in the crash. They did arthroscopic surgery, which was still very new in 1984 – in other words, it didn’t go well. Now, I’ve got more torn and degenerated meniscus, severe arthritis on the back of my kneecap, crepitus in my knee, and severe pain when doing daily activities.

It’s going to be a rather rushed job when you factor in our family Christmas trip. How’s this for a schedule:

December 19th – Pre-op appointment with surgeon
December 21st – Drive to Austin for family Christmas
December 22nd – Family Christmas, then drive back to the D/FW area
December 23rd – Knee surgery
December 25th – Christmas
December 27th – Physical therapy

Quite the compressed schedule, eh? To make things worse, my surgery is scheduled for the afternoon, which means I’ll be fasting (no food, no water) all day long on the 23rd. I’m going to be miserable. The doctor’s assistant has advised me to “hyper-hydrate” for 48 hours prior to surgery, so that a) I won’t be so miserable, and b) I’ll have a good vein somewhere for them to start the I.V. (I have terrible veins – they run and hide at the mere sight of an I.V. needle).

This isn’t the only issue pending surgery. My back is screaming at me again; specifically, my left lumbar region. I’ve had a new MRI done under a 3 Tesla machine (my last one was under a 0.75 Tesla machine), and I’m waiting for an appointment in the new year to schedule another lumbar rhizotomy (due to insurance restrictions). I’m hoping the new MRI will give my doctor a more accurate map of where my problems are so that he can perform a more precise rhizotomy that will last longer this time.

I’m also looking at the possibility of surgery on the bottom of my right foot. I keep getting calluses in the spot where the doctor removed the metal shard, and a recent MRI showed that there might be a deformity below that are that he could shave down which would prevent them from building up in the future. He gave me a cortisone shot in the sole of my foot first (yikes!), but that’s wearing off. I don’t know if he’ll operate or not.

Finally, I’m recovering from an endovenous ablation of my lower right leg. The vascular surgeon accidentally damaged a nerve as she performed the procedure, causing numbness at the top of the skin and pain below. There’s also swelling along the outside of my leg from the bottom of my calf to my ankle, for which she has no clue as to why that’s happening. She could only recommend the passage of time for the swelling, but for the nerve damage she gave me gabapentin – yes, my favorite drug again – and ordered me to take 300mg 3x a day for a month.

That’s about all for the major situations going on in my life. I know none of them are really major major, but they sure add up quickly. I’ll be happy enough to subtract a few rather soon.