This song is called “Another Night”. It’s about loss – and a little defiance, too. I wrote the lyrics for it a few years ago after my Dad passed away. No one can tell you it’ll be okay when something like that happens. No one. It just takes time. I didn’t play much when he was alive. I hope, somewhere, he is listening now.
Live live. Hug a loved one.
-Scott
I take care of all the house plants in my house, so yeah, I feel a little guilty being a vegan when eating in front of them.
I’ve been a vegan for a few years now – since being diagnosed with prostate cancer. I can’t prove that it’s helped keep the disease at bay, but it has helped my well-being tremendously. It took a while to “find my stride” – find adequate recipes and all, but I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t miss the foods I left behind anymore. I just wish my house plants would stop giving me the stink eye..,
Live life. Stay healthy.
-Scott
#vegan #houseplants #illustration #greenthumb #ranchobernardo #sandiego #drawnandcoded
This is a song I’ve been working on. I call it, “Blacks”. If you’re from San Diego you might recognize some of it.
I’ve been writing and playing a lot over the last year. It started with Survive, a song I wrote the lyrics for – but leaned heavily on Suno, an AI service, for the melody. This one is much more organic.
I hope you enjoy it.
Live life. Stay Healthy. Create something.
-Scott
#singersongwriter #originalsongs #blacksbeach #blacksbeachsandiego #blacksbeachsong #torreypinessong #ucsd
Yup. Ashley is driving. She loves it, too. Last night she even drove us on the highway so we could go shopping at Costco.
The benefits are two-fold.
First, it’ll take some of the responsibility off of Mom and Dad during next school year as she’ll be able to drive her sister and herself to school. Second, I have a whole new muse for comics!
I do worry, though. There’s more distractions and traffic than when I was her age. I guess part of her growing up though is trusting her not be that person playing Wordle on their mobile phone while weaving through traffic.
Oh, wait. Thats me…
Stay healthy. Live life. Put the mobile phone down.
-Scott
#NewDriver #Sixteen #DistractedDriver #WorriedParent
This is real, folks.
I don’t know what property management company approved of this, but it definitely made me stop in my tracks before following my ravenous family into the restaurant for dinner.
The sushi was actually pretty good ( although the restaurant closed a few months later ). I imagine the bait was even better because that shop is still in business.
Live live. Stay Healthy
– Scott
#powayrestaurants #baitandsushishop #sushirestaurants #sushi #familydining #poway #cityofpoway
Well, the good news is that my daughter, Ashley, got Rancho Bernardo High School to invite The Rubber Band back to play for a Basketball Fanfest. The bad news is that ticket sales weren’t enough to justify the cost of having us play.
… and we’re free, so, yeah – that was a gut punch.
But, I get it.
No hard feelings.
It takes a lot of coordination and sweat to get everything set up. Heck, I was amazed when the band were all able to commit.
So, it was the gig that never happened and all I have to show for it is a cool flyer that made.
Live life and stay healthy
-Scott
#dadband #ranchobernardohighschool #rbhs #therubberband #illustration
Good-bye, 2025, you were a good year. I guess I am in the minority as 25′ seemed to have a bad rapport amongst a lot of my friends and family, but for me it was good.
I’ve seen my girls grow up a little more and become their own not-so-little people.
I saw my wife’s business, Vandervort Realty, grow and expand.
My band, The Rubber Band, has been playing more ( and bigger ) gigs, and I’ve taken on more vocals and acoustic guitar to fit in a little better.
I’ve been drawing a lot more. Although a lot of it is hidden away in a sketchbook, here’s a couple fresh of the press!
I’ve been composing my own music and accompanying myself.
I’ve started playing music with a new, smaller, group of people with the hopes of doing some open mics next year.
I’ve been happily employed at Poway Unified for the better part of a year now. It was a nice change of pace compared to the last couple of employers I had. The people are great, the workload is manageable, and for the first time in a long time, I believe in the product ( education ).
Lastly, I, along with my friends and family, walked in my fifth Prostate Cancer Walk.
So 2025 set the stage for 2026, which I have big plans for. Hope to see ya’ all around next year.
Take care of yourselves. Live life. Stay healthy.
-Scott
#newyears #goodbye2025 #illustration #costco #costcofreebies #costcosamples #therubberband #singersongwriter #vandervortrealty
When I was working at a certain company under a certain boss not so long ago ( Crazy Train, Clearing out the files, Straight from the top, Budget Cuts, Heel! ) an under desk treadmill was my “static” pathway to sanity.
I’ve now been working as a Programmer Analyst with the school district for seven months ( The Coolest ) …and the difference is night and day. I feel like a valued human again – not a cog or number. The work is all on-site – so no more treadmill, but I’m also not walking 14.6 miles daily in frustration, either.
Happy as I am – it’d be a waste of a good comic to not post it, so here ya’ go!
Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.
-Scott
#worksucks #underdesktreadmill #exercise #badbosses #burningoffsteam
September was prostate cancer awareness month. For me, and every other person that’s ever had, known, or loved someone that’s fought cancer – every month is.
Like Star Wars? ( Hate cancer? ) Me, too. Here’s another one from almost four years ago : That’s no moon!
Take care of yourselves, people. And please, get checked.
-Scott
P.S. I’ve posted ( and drawn ) a lot on my cancer journey over the last six years. If you want to know more go here : Prostate Cancer
#prostatecancer #survive #cancer #prostatezero #psa #hormonetherapy #gleasonscore #cancersucks #starwars
Happy Halloween!
Alacran Court invited “The Rubber Band” back to play for their annual Halloween block party. This year we had a band of middle-schoolers, called “Dencity”, open for us. Dencity played through a set of five songs – including a couple of originals – before we took the stage. I wish I had their guts back when I was their age. It took me another 30+ years to gain the courage, I guess. Better late than never. We played for an hour before retreating to our respective halloween festivities.
You can follow The Rubber Band on Instagram ( the.westwood.rubber.band ), or through on YouTube ( @WestwoodRubberBand ).
… and as always, live life and stay healthy!
-Scott
#TheRubberBand #WestwoodRubberBand #DadBand #GarageBand #Music #RockBand #Halloween #WerewolvesInLondon #RanchoBernardo #SanDiegoMusic #PowayUnifiedSchoolDistrict #PUSD #Westwood #SupportLiveMusic
drawnandcoded.com 