Do you think ZZ Top would let me join their band?

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2oBhGmc

When Crafting and Playing the Guitar Merge

12.22 Three More Sleeps

Today is the 1st day in over a week that I've felt well enough to venture out for a walk, searching for my daily Christmas tree.

I've been keeping mental a list of trees I wanted to see, but since I missed that whole week, I won't get to all of the spots I had hoped to.

But I did make it to the 50+ foot tree in Neiman Marcus at Union Square.
It's so tall, I couldn't fit it all in a single snapshot. We've lived here for 4 1/2 years and this was the 1st time I've been in this department store. I've walked by it a hundred times, but just never had the need to step inside till today.

I think today was the 1st time in over a week that I saw sunshine. It was a beautiful day!

So beautiful, I couldn't help but admire the blue skies behind the scary crane.

I wrapped the last of my Christmas presents tonight. Check!

And I'll end with a little silly camera fun...
Jimmy got this hockey nutcracker a few years ago from his sister.

And I couldn't resist making these heart bokeh lights around my guitar. Still obsessed with learning how to play. Honestly, I don't have the talent for this. It's still a huge struggle, but I'm super focused and have a lot of determination.

I stumbled on these quotes somewhere and they are the epitome of how I've been feeling about my guitar playing:

Day 2 Gratitude

-More than ever, I'm grateful for the power of music. It has surprised me how much learning an instrument seriously broadens your music awareness. I never listened to blues or jazz before, but it's become a part of my training and I love it. I listen to all different kinds of music all day. And I cannot have silence while I'm at my desk, I must have some kind of tune playing in the background.

A soundtrack can make or break a movie or tv show. Jimmy and I are watching the HBO show Treme and it might be the best show I've watched all year. It's about New Orleans right after Katrina hit. And music is a huge part of it. Just thinking about one of the songs nearly brings me to tears. But most of it has both of us tapping our toes...you can't keep still while watching it. Music is a powerful thing.

-Like all of us, I love water. I'm glad that we have clean drinking water, water to take a refreshing shower, water to wash our clothes and dishes. I love the Pacific Ocean, feeling the cool water beneath my feet and waves hitting my knees. I love being a the lake in the summer, swimming, boating, laughing, being with friends and family. I love the rain. The sound of it, the smell of it. Hopefully this fall and winter will bring a lot more of it.

-Fresh linens. Another favorite for everyone - a fresh fluffy (but not tooo fluffy) towel...and in the wintertime, if you happen to get one right out of the dryer as you're getting out of the shower...heaven! And slipping into clean sheets at bedtime when you're tired and ready for dreamland...sigh!

The Moon Song

Here's a beautiful song that I just heard for the first time last weekend. I listen to it differently now than I would have pre-guitar learning.


Jimmy and I watched Her, the movie this soundtrack was in. It's an odd love story. I was reluctant to watch it because I knew it would be depressing, but I'm glad I did.

And. So.

Not entirely sure how I feel putting this out there. I've been practicing and playing for 6 months. Feeling very insecure about it, but feeling like I'm making some improvements. Still completely obsessed. Sometimes I wonder why I wasted 30+ years not playing. Wishing I were more musical and wishing this came easier. It's so very not intuitive for me. It's a struggle, every moment of it. Some parts are much harder for me to grasp than others, but all of it is tough. But I love learning. I love hearing music differently. I love listening to different music than I ever did before.

This is Pearl Jam's "Last Kiss". A sad song, but nice to play. It's easy to 'feel'.

I'm struggling with my strumming more than I do with chord changes. I can't seem to keep my strumming consistent. Even though it's still very rough, I can see slow improvements. I'm pretty passionate about this right now. Passionate enough to keep working through the tough parts.
Yup, video is flipped. Don't know how to flip it back.

A New Obsession

A couple of weeks ago, I started taking guitar lessons. I'm extremely excited about it and have been practicing so much my fingers bled. That's not really true, but they hurt. A lot. I can understand why they say that. But it's so worth it. It's so hard. The hardest thing I've tried to learn since college. I don't have dreams of taking the stage with my favorite rock band, but I'd love to pull out the guitar while everyone gathered around the campfire roasting marshmallows and be able to break out a little Kumbaya.