Sedona-Jerome: Memorial Day 2007

There are like 10-12 perfect weekend getaways that are only 3-5 hours outside of Phoenix. You suck if you don't take the time to enjoy some of our surrounding beauty. Ever since I got my new camera my desire to travel has increased ten fold. A good camera and some imagination changes everything.

Anyways, we decided on doing both Jerome and Sedona since they are so close to each other. Future trips will include: Bisbee, Hauvusapi, Canyon de Chelly/Monument Valley, Sagauro National Park, South Rim, Snow Flake, and the Chiraquawais. We also need to make it over to Santa Fe to do some painting. I've learned that weekend jaunts to regional locations are the best ways affordably to utilize free time.

We went up with another couple that we know. They have been taking some photography classes so I was hoping that some of their education would rub off on me. (You can be the judge of that) We decided that two days was more then enough time to visit an area, enjoy its cuisine, and capture some moments.

Among the highlights:

• Watching the large "biker population" enjoy their leisure at Bisbee.
• Watching the hippies and the bikers peacefully coexist at Bisbee.
• To really see how vast and wide open some of this country is. The Verde Valley is beautiful and had me wondering why everyone chose to settle in Phoenix and not there.
• We visited the Airport Vortex in Sedona. We tried but felt nothing. It does, however, attract quite an ecclectic crowd at sunset. We were in the company of a group of Japanese people perfecting their meditations, an older hippie playing a guitar, some Indian tourists, some young hippies in search for meaning, and a bunch of people that looked just like us. We probably spent an hour or so up there...it was just so relaxing.
• Visited Slide Rock state park. That is quite the working class attraction, very cool. Nature provides some pretty cool and cheap diversions. There were scores of people up there who brought picnics, chairs, and radio to enjoy the day at this natural water park. The Oak Creek has literally carved a smooth path through the sandstone and river bottom that is very much like a water slide.
• And no trip to Sedona is complete without the requisite visit to Tlaqueqapuque. The ambiance, architecture, and shops are unrivaled. I never buy anything there but I always make sure that I visit.

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How 'bout those Jazz

I have watched more basketball this past month then I have for the last 5 years. I guess my viewing habits can be directly correlated to the success or failure of the Jazz. Since I haven’t had cable for the past year, (It’s incredible what one is able to accomplish without such distractions. Take my word.) I never was exceptionally motivated to watch anything…until now.
Both the Jazz and the Suns are doing very well and my interest is piqued. I am especially pleased with the Jazz. Their grit and teamwork can make even the bluest collar NBA purist giddy with excitement. You add that with the fact that their expectations were so low and you’ve got something special. Every win past the 1st round has been like an extra scoop of gravy upon my dinner plate of sports interest.
There’s something about this team. Maybe it is how well they play together as a unit. Maybe it is because they anonymously go about their business without striving for accolades and Gatorade commercials. Maybe, it’s because they look like a bunch of misfits who somehow found a home in Utah, a bad news bear sort of thing. It doesn’t matter to me because they’ve got my full support, not withstanding the heavy powder blue uniforms.

Trying to make music

About a year ago I decided that I was going to do two things that were very new to me: write music and write some memoirs. At the time I was going through some difficult challenges and this seemed like the only way that I could truly express myself. Plus it was a whole lot cheaper then working through my issues with someone who was going to charge me $90 an hour.
Since then I have made some great strides forward but I still feel compelled to follow through on what I started. I have some ideas, both musically and through writing, that I want turned into tangible works. I don’t know whether or not there is an audience for these things. I do know that I want to do them for myself and to hopefully complete a chapter of my life.
I have written approximately 17 songs during the past 15 months. Some have reached the point of completion while others are still abstract ideas. I have played some countless times in front of my mirror. Others won’t come to life without the necessary accompaniment. Either way I’ve started something that I want to finish.
Ultimately my goal is to record these songs and eventually perform them live somewhere. Right now my major obstacles are the time constraints of my cousin/producer and the fact that my voice sounds more like a monotone choir boy with hay fever then an artist willing to pour out his guts. My sound, both musically and lyrically, is also still in its nascent stages of development. To the outsider looking in this endeavor sounds more like a pipe dream. Either way, I am going to see this through. Yesterday I spent some time recording music. While the session only yielded two very rough tracks, there were still some magical moments. You know, moments when you start to hear the song performed the way that you hear it in your head. These moments are still few and far between, mainly because we are only able to do this once every other week at the most.
This project wouldn’t mean as much to me if I didn’t feel that I had something to say. If these were just standard songs about the minutiae of live and memories on the farm then I don’t thing that I would feel this drive. For some reason this music, in some regards, represents a critical passage of time in my life. If I don’t record this then I, in essence, lose a valuable page on my scrapbook. Anyways, I am going to plug forward. Shortly I hope to have a few things that I won’t be embarrassed to share. Maybe some of this stuff can resonate with someone. If not, I will be satisfied that I at least put words and music to the impressions of my heart.

Ode to my guitar

I recently splurged and bought myself an electric guitar, a Paul Reed Smith McCarty to be exact. This purchase was a long time coming and was a reward to myself for such a hellish past year.

I must admit, however, that I am unfamilar with the intracacies of an electric guitar/amp and the vernacular of the rather insular guitar community. I am a bread and butter acoustic kind of guy. Almost all of the stuff that I have written and performed has been on the same old Takemine accoustic guitar that I have had since I was an awkward teenager.

This guitar opens up so many possibilities for me. There are so many textures and sounds that we previously beyond the reach of my old set up. This is very exciting. But at the same time these possibilities can be overwhelming. Why?

Things are far more complex. I don't understand the subtle nuances of tone. I listen to friend discuss the ringing tone of the Stratacaster versus the earthier sound of a Les Paul and I say what? I can't tell the difference. I don't understand words like "play" and "axe" and "shred". I don't know when I want to turn down my gain or employ my "humbucker". This will take quite some time before I can master playing an electric.

The real magic will come when my knowledge catches up with my creativity. I have so many ideas right now but I can't truly make them tangible until I understand my pallet, my limitations, my playing field. Hopefully over the next few months I will make strides forward. Until then my neighbors will have to deal with the shrill sounds that penetrate my walls.