In the Beginning . . . − 20 August, 2000
August 20, 2000 was my birthday. It was also when my life began again.
A lot of what came before was in shades of dull gray disappointment and blood red dashed expectations. There was a bright ray of light in my life, my wife, but we had both been through a horrible ordeal in trying to buy our first house (it's a long story, and one I'll never tell again). Finally we escaped that bad situation and succeeded the second time around. In August of 2000, we were settled in the new place.
I had, months before, played a friend's guitar at a party, and remembered everything I'd ever learned. Prior to that moment, it had been at least 15 years since I'd even touched a musical instrument.
I started learning guitar early, but I was sorry at it. For one thing, the proper music influences weren't there. When I was a kid, let's not put it gently, I liked crap, and there's no way to play crap any better than its starting condition.
But as I grew older, I discovered the real world of music. Classic rock led to blues; blues led to jazz; jazz led to latin, funk, R&B, motown. Fifteen years after my awful musical beginnings, I had grown far, far beyond 80s bands and hair metal.
So on this day, in 2000, I bought a guitar, an acoustic, and that night began learning to play all over again. Some things had never gone away. But most things, I'd never had in the first place.
By the way, Dandelifers, this is as far back as I'm going in my timeline. I'd just as soon pretend the earlier life never happened, and that I sprang from the brow of Zeus on this day ;-)
A lot of what came before was in shades of dull gray disappointment and blood red dashed expectations. There was a bright ray of light in my life, my wife, but we had both been through a horrible ordeal in trying to buy our first house (it's a long story, and one I'll never tell again). Finally we escaped that bad situation and succeeded the second time around. In August of 2000, we were settled in the new place.
I had, months before, played a friend's guitar at a party, and remembered everything I'd ever learned. Prior to that moment, it had been at least 15 years since I'd even touched a musical instrument.
I started learning guitar early, but I was sorry at it. For one thing, the proper music influences weren't there. When I was a kid, let's not put it gently, I liked crap, and there's no way to play crap any better than its starting condition.
But as I grew older, I discovered the real world of music. Classic rock led to blues; blues led to jazz; jazz led to latin, funk, R&B, motown. Fifteen years after my awful musical beginnings, I had grown far, far beyond 80s bands and hair metal.
So on this day, in 2000, I bought a guitar, an acoustic, and that night began learning to play all over again. Some things had never gone away. But most things, I'd never had in the first place.
By the way, Dandelifers, this is as far back as I'm going in my timeline. I'd just as soon pretend the earlier life never happened, and that I sprang from the brow of Zeus on this day ;-)
Comments:
kga245 (February 25, 2007. 04:10pm)
Zeus would be proud.
bmccosar (February 25, 2007. 05:28pm)
Actually, I think I'm probably more closely related to Loki ;-)