It was quite a few years ago when I saw a resonator guitar with a moon and stars cover plate. I remember the guitar store and everything else that happened that week. I did buy a resonator guitar, but in hindsight not the one I should have bought. I was very much pre-occupied with other things. There were certainly more important things than a guitar at the time. I am very happy with that guitar. I still have it and everyday it reminds me of those days. I guess that is how everything goes with memories, reminders and keepsakes. That guitar was a blonde maple round neck Dobro with a spider bridge, built in 1986. It sounds great and always will. Sure there is a buzz here and there but that covers up my shortcomings.
I have seen moon and star resonator guitars over the years, but not too many. Then I would see some on the internet here and there. Not too long ago I came across one from a company out of Texas called Republic Guitar. Best of all, these guitars were/are parlor sized guitars which means they are a small body style. The tone is out of this world. It is a single cone resonator and sounds similiar to a National Resophonic (the top end). I couldn't have asked for a better model. So I jumped in and bought one. Of course, the wait was unbearable, haha. It came to my office and I took photos of it with my Blackberry Storm while it was laying on the floor. One of those photos is included here. This guitar is nothing less than a thing of beauty to me. Maybe it dates back to a time, that for awhile everything was perfect. When everything made complete sense.
Maybe it was a time when if I could have, I would have given the moon and stars. Maybe this guitar takes me back or maybe just brings it all forward. Maybe I still would if I could. Maybe I should stop writing and start playing a little moon and stars slide guitar. That would probably be best at this point.
Where do the days go... the answer to that may come at a later date. I know they go by fast and I wonder if I made a difference at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the answer most days seems to be no. Maybe that is my perspective. Maybe others see it differently. Maybe it's just the measuring stick I'm using. In that case, I am not sure being completely satisified at the end of the day is the answer. Maybe always wanting to do more is a better place to be.
What do we do with ourselves? We don't remember the average, ordinary day as time passes. The days are simply gone. We remember the days of grand achievements but what about all the others. The days forgotten. What kind of day will today be? One of grand achievement? One forgotten? We have a say in that. Can you imagine asking yourself that question each morning? Can you imagine that question floating around in your head all day? Could we stay focused enough to bring it down to our daily decision making? Are we up for that? Are we prepared to hold ourselves accountable to that? That could be one tall order.
So what do we have to lose? One more fogotten day? So why not? Maybe it takes some practice, some training. Just like anything it just may take trying it regularly until we get better at it. You cannot run a 5K or a 10K as well the first time as you can the twentieth time. Pick any athletic endeavor, any academic endeavor or just about anything. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Why not apply this to our day? How do we, on a daily basis go from a forgotten, ordinary day, to an extraordinary day or to even a day of grand achievement?
I think it starts first thing in the morning. Start asking yourself, "what kind of day will this be?" I am not talking about external events. I am talking about what we have control over. What kind of effort is put into every single action. Maybe asking ourselves constantly, "was that my best?" Talk about being in control of your day. That is a lot of power. Make your actions, words and works from each day important to you. Make them your statement for the day. Wake up the next morning with the same thing in mind. It will take some time to make this happen, some daily practice, some focus and determination. It will happen only if you want it to bad enough. Think of all the lost days, they're not coming back for a do-over. They are gone. Today is perfectly good to change all that. At least we can try it... just for one day.
So here I am writing and posting this thought in a public venue. What would I be if I didn't follow through with this myself. What good is putting this out there if I didn't believe in it. I didn't say it was going to be easy. However, I believe it will become easier with each day. The water is never that cold once you've jumped in. I will find out if I can transform a grand social experiment into one of grand achievement.
Let's see if I can pull this one together. For me, Monday nights consist of adult hockey. Sure there are other things. Things around the house, things with the boys and things I completely neglect that I shouldn't. One thing I do not neglect is the hockey game that sits smack dab in the middle of my Monday night schedule. This Monday night is no exception and neither will any other Monday nights during hockey season (and yes there is a summer league).
I'm playing in a league at a level higher than I should be. That doesn't matter (by the way, where is the flippin' spell check?). That was locker room beer talking, my apologies. This is my night to hang out in the locker room again. Spend time with guys on a sports team. If you have ever experienced it growing up, you probably know what I'm talking about. It's that two or three hours where life becomes simple again, where things are cut and dried. It's a place where the world doesn't go away but where your world becomes a better place. Now it's not pretty and it shouldn't be. No one usually comes to watch, except for our team captain's wife. That is considered a good thing by our team as well it should be. It's a sport you can play into your declining years and most people don't know that. It is hockey afterall, which is like a secret club. Once you understand it, you wonder why others don't. Yet, you are secretly happy that it falls a bit outside of the mainstream. It's hockey.
As I sat at my desk working today the thought hit me, "I have a game tonight!" The other thought that hit me was that my gear had been in the back of my SUV since last game. Not a problem other than it was four degrees this morning. This next bit is not for the easily queasy or the faint of heart. My gear was frozen solid. The sweat that had not dried out was frozen and my gear was ice cold. The minute I got home, my hockey bag came inside with me. Then I scattered my gear across the floor in the entry way. I left it to thaw and warm up with even some things going through the wash cycle in the laundry room such as an under armour shirt, socks and a jersey. All the while the stench of that gear invaded the main level of the house like nothing else on earth. I had plenty of time to warm up the gear. Adult hockey games tend to start late. Tonight's game had a start time of 9:20 pm.
It's near 12:30 am now. We won our first game tonight 1-0 after losing the first four games. There was much laughter in the locker room afterwards and the reminder that we play next Monday night at 10:40 pm. That's adult hockey... in the wee hours.
Just like everything, moderation is good in most cases. Take this blog for instance. I have had some websites and blogs that at some point become forgotten. Posts eventually fail to happen. Then a wave of motivation comes triggered by whatever and I mean whatever. And whatever it is I am happy to be motivated. Such is the case today. I found myself looking at blog template after blog template to give my blog a makeover. Now I have three blogs out there. Two run in somewhat of a parallel universe with different hosts and different posts. One got a makeover, one is brand new and one is new and to be played with at a later date.
So now I am bent on dumbing down the blog by posting on insignificant thoughts that come and go. Now because of the blog, they come and stay. Fortunately there is a delete mechanism and they can easily go away. I guess the point I am trying to make is now I am posting like my days are numbered on this blog. Maybe it is to make up for the time when three months pass without a post. Oh and by the way, where is the spell check?
I thought I was done for the night and then I found this... a song and clip. Gotan Project - Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre). I thought it was great.
With the convenience of technology these days it is so easy to get as many photos taken as you possibly can. The quality of digital cameras in cell phones have really created some big changes for many people. You can get a photo or video of just about anything at anytime. Good or bad, that is just the way it is. If you take enough photos you are going to get some very good one and some unique shots. The odds are very good that you will have some that will last a lifetime.
This evening the snow started falling. It was the kind of snowfall that drop large flakes down. They don't fall to the ground, they float to the ground. I thought I would try and get a few photos. Considering it was around 10 pm and dark my expectations were fairly low. It really doesn't matter when it comes to a digital camera. It's not like I am running to the store and paying for the film. Normally, my Blackberry Storm takes really good pictures but like most cameras, it can suffer from low light conditions. I was able to get a few that came out ok and one that came out with a red sky effect. So that photo mixed with a new blog and nothing else to keep me busy at the moment, has found its way here. Timing is everything.
Tonight I came across a video and version of a song I have not seen or heard before. I thought I would try and post it here. I enjoy the music of a band from Arizona called Calexico. The song Quattro may be my favorite that they have done. Tonight while attempting to start this blog as well as multi-tasking on four other computer projects, I came across this video on youtube. With that being said, it seems like a good idea to try and get it to post here so all of my followers (none) can enjoy the fruits of my labor.
I really have no idea how this thing will post or format. I think it will, but it may not do it the way I like the first time. Since I'm really not out to do anything grand with any of the blog sites/pages I have, well, I've got a built in luxury to not get things just quite right. So I will just finish this up and give it a go. Then throw a line out to some friends who may be inclined to stop by.
The song is quite a bit different from the one that appears on one of Calexico's albums. The video is black and white and historical in nature it seems. One of those things you find on youtube that you would have never seen else where. So on with the show.
Having always stumbled with personal webpages and blogs. Mostly because I set them up and gradually lose my way back to the page. I am trying to find a format to best serve my intentions of maintining a blog page. Some of that goes with maybe some focus and planning.
What do I actually want it to be? I have always kept these things kind of free flowing and less formatted. Covering mostly things that pop up in my life. Usually family things. The boys, their sports and things along those lines.
My intention is to steer clear of something a real literary quality, since that will certainly extinguish any kind of motivation inside of me. So for now this will be a place to just see what happens.
For now I am just testing the blog, it's options and settings. This may not look anything like it does today as it may tomorrow.
I have seen moon and star resonator guitars over the years, but not too many. Then I would see some on the internet here and there. Not too long ago I came across one from a company out of Texas called Republic Guitar. Best of all, these guitars were/are parlor sized guitars which means they are a small body style. The tone is out of this world. It is a single cone resonator and sounds similiar to a National Resophonic (the top end). I couldn't have asked for a better model. So I jumped in and bought one. Of course, the wait was unbearable, haha. It came to my office and I took photos of it with my Blackberry Storm while it was laying on the floor. One of those photos is included here. This guitar is nothing less than a thing of beauty to me. Maybe it dates back to a time, that for awhile everything was perfect. When everything made complete sense. 
