• Category Archives Guitar

  • “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.” Frank Sinatra

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    As I am slowing recovering from my two hour nap – and waking up, I’m going to update this page rather than clean my desk, do homework, practice guitar, feed the cats or any of the other mindless things I “should” be doing. Tuesdays are the only days that I have that I don’t have to wake up early to do anything – so essentially, Monday night is my Friday night. I can study late tonight (should I choose) and sleep late tomorrow…..and study tomorrow.

    School is going well. Until the first test anyway….then we’ll see how well I’m understanding my commitment to the process.

    My Iceman is on its way – and technically I should receive it tomorrow, but there was a shipping error, so it may be another day. I’m not sure how I always manage to fall into these “pay well below market” situations. It’s always “right place right time” with me and guitars. I have too many, way, waaaay too many now. I’d feel bad, but I’m not going to. I’ve paid the price in other ways. >wicked<

    I’m supposed to get my upper GI scoped on Thursday (again) and it’s going to be expensive without insurance. I set up COBRA, but the gears of bureaucracy turn sloooowly. I’ll have to pay out-of-pocket and then be re-imbursed for it.


    Guitar 📎and tagged

  • “The reactions from people when they see our stuff is always positive. Wherever we go, people seem to be drawn to us. It feels so good. It makes me feel like maybe I’ve made the right choice,” Sharon Hill

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I picked up my Chemistry book today – again, I’m relieved that I made the right choice.

    Reading through it, it’s more “interesting” and I don’t have that sinking feeling.

    I’m still waiting for three books that were ordered from a separate campus last week – and have yet to be delivered. I’ve already ordered them at textbooks.com, so I should get the remainder in tomorrow.

    My guitar shipped today, and I should be getting it in a few days. Hopefully I can request a pickup at the UPS hub on Tuesday. *crosses fingers*

    I need to update my guitar page – I’ve acquired a bit of gear.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Before you try to convince anyone else, be sure you are convinced, and if you cannot convince yourself, drop the subject.” John H. Patterson

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Alright – my first class dropped.
    I was able to sneak into a Saturday Chemistry class (one of my core requirements) and drop the logic class. The logic class was probably going to be interesting, but I could tell that from the first two chapters that I would be pretty buried. It didn’t help at all that the teacher was not tremendously orgainized. Quote, “I’m not going to be a teacher, but more of a coach…..well, I’ll teach also but….”  Nothing was really laid out too well (at least not to my liking) so that I could expect relatively what was going to happen.  After experiencing this, my history and government classes seem very easy. So, I did manage to find the Chemistry class – while I’m not super excited about it being on a Saturday, it just means that I only have to take four more classes for my Associate’s degree – then I can transfer into University of Texas Arlington.

    Having had the previous experience of bombing classes, I know better now when to cut and run. There’s a difference between sighing because of the workload, and having a horrendous sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.  Last night was one of those nights in the Logic class. Since I was taking it to fill an elective spot (foolish me), I did visit with the academic counselor yesterday so that I could fully understand what I was doing.  I pretty much just jumped into it all without looking too closely, but that logic class was a little too close to the edge.

    Maybe if I had been in school more recently, I could have handled it, but having not been in school in about thirteen years,  overwhelming myself is not a good plan.
    All in all, I’m very happy with the choice I made – I did it before it was too late, and I’m still on my way.
    The music class should be fun.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.” Mark Twain

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    SO – How was the first day at school?
    Not as nerve wracking as I expected it to be.  While it is assumed that I’m some punk “kid” because of my green hair (which did go over very well by the way) I know that I’m a little less than twice the age of most of these kids. It’s definitely nice to have this kind of perspective – every single class had a “get to meet you” and the majority of the kids in there sounded just like me when I was their age: “I don’t know what I want to do/be”

    [UNDECIDED]

    So it’s nice to at least kind of know what it is I’m going to do.

    Current plan: Xfer to UTA and get a degree in music production/recording.  Couldn’t hurt.
    My classes seem pretty straight forward. The “Concepts of Physical Education” I’m kind of looking forward to. It’s being taught by a track teacher and he said we can work out however we want to. I’m already working out four times a week – so this should bump it up a bit. Not sure how the information is being graded though in his class. The other two classes are pretty self explanatory.
    Sooooo…..I probably need to be practicing guitar right now, but unfortunately, I’m not. I made a semi-mistake on eBay and ended up snagging a J Yuenger sig model Ibanez…..that will be pretty much like the guitar that I’m having custom painted right now….to look like a sig model J Yuenger guitar. My “custom” won’t have a floyd rose, but the sig model probably needs to be repainted anyway.  Apparently it was damaged when being shipped to the current owner and he had it airbrushed. You can see it in the photo which looks a little blue/green right by the knobs and the stars are a little more shiny – which is probably why I got such a good deal on it.  Depending on how well my “custom” is coming out,  I may send the sig model to him to redo the entire front. We’ll see when it comes in.

    !BYs4Ou!B2k~$(KGrHgoOKisEjlLl5Pu2BKi-gT!fog~~_35

    *sigh*


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart” Eskimo Proverb

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Sundays appear to be good days to update. Again, I’m not sure why.

    I’ve got a student coming over in about an hour and a half – and I’ll be giving another guitar lesson.

    Yesterday, my brother picked me up and we went to a small get together with some of his friends from school – I’m a at good place in my life, and didn’t feel as …..inferior….. as I normally do. Over time, I’m finally getting to the conclusion that as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing, then the rest falls into place. We drove around a bunch in Ft Worth and went to the stockyards. My green hair went over pretty well there – in a lot of ways it was like being in Houston. The really “square” folks stared – everyone else pretty much ignored me. It was definitely a fun time – Ross’ buddies are all pretty quick on the draw.

    School starts tomorrow. All my credits have been accounted for. After I finish this 13 hours this semester, I’ll only need four more classes to get an Associates Degree. I’m not stopping there though – I’m going to transfer into the college around the corner and go for a degree in Music Business/Recording. Not quite sure of all the different parts of it, but that’s the plan. Having the plan is good enough right now.


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “It’s a labor of love,” Mark Franz

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I managed to get my hands on some material that I’ve been looking for – for quite a while.

    Originally, I had only caught two columns in print – then ran across them while running some searches. I thought, “I’ll get back to them”. I never did and they pretty much disappeared.
    Rescued, reformatted and reposted.

    “So You Wanna Join a Band? by J Yuenger”


    Guitar 📎and tagged

  • “How many people make themselves abstract to appear profound. The most useful part of abstract terms are the shadows they create to hide a vacuum.” Joseph Joubert

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I wish I had something interesting to report.

    Things are kind of slow when my daughter isn’t around, and my green hair only entertains me so much. I hear from my lawyer that I will need to go back to blonde before the probate hearing. Yay me. Then it’s back to green.

    Being unemployed is a little surreal. It will be good to go back to school, giving me a daily goal (wake up, go to school, repeat).

    I’m using a book that teaches fretboard logic – and it’s working very well for me. I’m really happy with it.

    Picked up a ton of $2 bills at the bank today. I wiped them out. Why? Why not? It’s legal US currency – it’s time to reintroduce it into circulation. C’mon people! Do your part!

    Going to have a parent/teacher conference tamale. Little one made “student of the hour” last week – of which I am extremely proud. The things you do for your kids…..

    She’s enjoying the whole process which is awesome. This is exactly what she needed. I can enthusiastically endorse Sylvan Learning Center.

    Am considering doing the P90X program – my insurance agent/guitar teacher does it and he loves it.

    I’m trying to use every Category that I have…..here we go – I’m close.

    Installed a new toilet the other day – life is so much better with a new toilet. Don’t underestimate the power of a new toilet.

    Speaking of humor….just kidding. I honestly have had more conversations with this hair than I can count. People say the oddest things. Which is great, because it’s sharpening my response skills.

    “Which came first, the chicken? Or the egg?”


    Guitar School 📎and tagged

  • “I shot the sheriff” Bob Marley

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Not sure why Sunday has turned into such a peaceful day….

    It used to be because most of our customers were least busy, so I would get the least amount of phone calls. I was jolted earlier today when I thought, “Where is my work phone?”. In some ways, I’m still getting out of “work mode” – in other ways, I’m way, way gone.

    Right now it’s quiet, the TV is off, my daughter is still asleep – I’m thinking about pattern one scales in the way that this one book is telling me…..and wanting to write a song.

    There was a police officer across the street – and knowing my neighbors are out of town, I went to see if everything was ok. Everything was fine – including the officer. *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*. I could have easily crossed over in our tiny insignificant conversation and asked for her number, but I passed that tipping point where it felt natural, and just let it go.

    Also, I never feel comfortable doing that kind of thing when my daughter is within say, 500 feet?

    Sunday is supposed to be a religious day. I was definitely thinking about the big “R” the other day when someone asked me if I used to be a priest.

    These days, I consider myself a non-theist. I’m a practicing non-theist. LOL.

    Atheism, to me, prescribes a kind of knee-jerk reaction to whatever religion is being presented.

    The only god I pray to is the porcelain kind – and speaking of which: I was replacing the wax seal (again) because I undertightened the bolts on the toilet, and ended up breaking it (the toilet). Bummer. My new one is in route to get here in the next hour or so – then I can install it. I’ll be kind of glad since I’ve been meaning to replace the disgusting seat that’s been on there since we moved in.

    I gave my first guitar lesson on Friday – and I think it went well. I don’t know how the student thought it went, but overall we covered some things, and started down the path.


    Guitar 📎and tagged

  • “Babies don’t need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I’ll go over to them and say, ‘What are you doing here, you’ve never worked a day in your life!’.” Stephen Wright

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I’ve been a pretty busy dude.

    Obviously.

    Friday was my last day at work (have already covered that).

    Didn’t really feel like doing anything, but drove out to Houston on Saturday. Monica and I stopped at Mai’s for food – and picked up some for Tam and Chelsea. My daughter ate steak at the Hilton – where I managed to get them a room for the night after the Green Day concert. I think I tried to eat fish the entire weekend. Went to the show –

    which was obviously cool. They blew ticker tape all over the place – it had skulls on it. I think I just washed the few pieces I had. Or I dropped them – I don’t remember. my kid got some, which is really what matters. I got Terry a Green Day sticker (per request) and got a shirt for the kiddo. She loved it.

    Drove to Galveston on Sunday – had a lot of fun. We went to Seawolf Park which was pretty much decimated by the last hurricane. It was all dirt. I got pretty pink in the 20 or 30 minutes we were out uncovered. Got some great pictures in the submarine – but didn’t get to go into the conning tower. Used to be able to look through the periscope when I was a kid. 🙁

    Walked on the beach (2 miles) at night which was really, really cool. Got a lot of exercise walking, but picked up about four pounds over the weekend. 🙁 Since it’s mostly beer, I suspect I’ll lose it by the end of next week. Time to start drinking a lot of water – and quit eating food after seven pm!

    Great news! On the way back from H-town, I decided to tempt fate and contact my GI guy (not the GI Joe guy, the General Internist or whatever he is) and they said that I had “allergic espohatitis“. That’s good – it’s not cancerous. I now have an inhaler that I have to use for the next 6 or 8 weeks – and then we’ll go from there. I will surely laugh at the prospect that it may be coffee that I’m allergic to.

    Got back and then I REALLY got busy. I shipped the IC300 out to be painted, and got some hair bleach at Hot Topic, went to Sally’s Beauty Supply and picked up some Green Manic Panic. Stage One:

    Being unemployed is so freaking cool. (Until the bills roll in……)

    I also picked up some music books and a music stand – getting ready for LESSON # 1!

    LOL.


    Guitar 📎and tagged

  • “The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.” Moliere

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Wow.

    Today was my last day of work. They held a great little luncheon for me, and I cracked jokes pretty much the entire time, probably to try and convince myself that I’m not nervous about the leap I’m taking. Oddly enough, we had some conversations about my age. Apparently pretty much everyone there thought I was in my mid-forties – and were very surprised that I’m not. LOL.

    After it was all over, I came home and passed out for four hours. It honestly was pretty emotionally draining. After spending five long harrowing years pouring blood and sweat into this job – I walked away.

    Some people kept saying, “It’s going to be impossible to fill your shoes”. I don’t truly believe that’s the case, I think there will be a relatively natural evolution that will occur. It will just be different (for them). I didn’t expect the place to go up in flames without me at all. It remained standing as I slowly pulled myself away over this last few….uh…er…..weeks. Ha!

    In other news:

    * I went to a golf driving range last night. The twist? All the balls were RFID’d and you had a monitor next to you that would track how far and how accurately you hit the ball. Since I haven’t golfed in 25 years (pretty close to not ever golfing) it was pretty rough for the first 60 balls. I finally got my swing in a little bit and managed to hit 4 out of 5 balls (in a row) pretty much where I wanted them to go. It was a lot of fun and there were lots of cute girls there too. Apparently driving ranges are the new meat market! Beer helps too…..except when my brother is bellowing “You suck BALLS???”. It was funny though.

    * I’m having my Ibanez custom painted to look like a White Zombie model that’s no longer in production. I’ve owned a guitar with a floyd rose, and I’ve never been truly excited about getting another one with a Floyd, so I might as well get my cheap stop tail painted custom and save myself $3000.

    The guy that is doing it is pretty excited about it – so am I. I’ve been posting on every guitar forum that I’m looking for one – no go. They’re HARD to find. I even e-mailed Jay Yuenger – since it’s his signature model – to see if he had one, but he didn’t have one to sell! I’m mailing the body off next week – crossing my fingers that all goes well.

    * Green Day is tomorrow. I begin the trek down to Houston tomorrow morning some time. The way that I feel RIGHT NOW is that I’m so worn from this last two weeks, I almost want to crawl into bed for a week or two and not get out. I’m sure I’ll feel differently tomorrow morning, but I’m still mentally a blob right now. We’re going to go to Mai’s for some spring rolls (yay for Mai’s!!) and then hit the show. Heading for Galveston on Sunday, and will be spending the night. Mini-vacation if you will. Coming back Monday to see if anyone tried to test out my Brinks alarm system.

    * One of my former employees is interested in learning guitar (zero experience) so I’m going to use this as an opportunity to try my skills at teaching guitar, which is one thing I’m pretty interested in doing. Being interested in it and doing it are two separate things, so we’ll see how this works out. Should be pretty fun.


    Guitar 📎and tagged