March 4, 2023
Day 50. It should feel like some kind of landmark but every day is its own kind of landmark really. I do feel like celebrating joyously, but not because of a number.
Today I brought home Roger Rabid and Jessica Rabid. They are a married couple and I made sweet, loud love to them for hours. Roger is a little Vox Valvetronic amp, and Jessica is a gorgeous black Yamaha guitar. I played my heart out as soon as I brought them home and got them all cranked up. They respond to my touch with great enthusiasm. They growl, they roar, they hiss, they purr, and I love it when they scrrrreeeeeeeaaaammmm.
It has been many years, 15 or more, since I last picked up a guitar and really played. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I remembered and what chops I have left. That said, I’m still not very good. But I’m good enough to like the sound of my own playing, and that will be more than enough. I plan to play every day I can until my fingers hurt too much to play any more.
Speaking of which, I’d forgotten how badly steel guitar strings cut up your fingers, at least for the first couple of weeks. My left fingertips are still raw and sore as I type this, and my hands cramped up as I was cooking dinner today. And I love it.
I played guitar, my fifth instrument (before that I played piano, clarinet, saxophone and drums), starting at age 16. Unlike with my first four instruments, I never learned to read guitar music, I just play by ear. I played in a few different rock/punk/alternative bands through high school and college. After college I kept playing on my own for off-work entertainment (the company bunkhouse where I lived had no TV). So I only know how to play like a young person who has a lot of steam to blow off. In other words I rock the fuck out.
I played a lot of the old standards today like Heartbreaker, Wasted Years, and Anarchy in the UK. It was fun to recall them, and it was even more fun to write new riffs as I noodled around all afternoon. I felt like a teenager again, expressing my feelings, allowing myself to rage and cry out and shout exuberantly. This is a good path for me.
Bike Newbie 