In the words of the immortal George Carlin, “Sometimes I have Evil Thoughts.”
It’s the Dark Side, and it’s been called that long before George Lucas. Nothing to be ashamed of; we all have one. You think Ghandi, on a bad day, didn’t think about forgetting all that non-violence long enough to kick some colonialist butt? Doubt that and you’re kidding yourself. That’s what we do, day in and out. We kid ourselves that we’re not like that. Those other people (pick a target: Democrats, Republicans, Junior Leaguers, NRA, Liberals, Conservatives, Congress), they’re like that. Not me, boy.
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As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a beginning guitar player. But there’s an aspect of this musical adventure that I haven’t mentioned before, and I do think this simple fact needs to be acknowledged—as a guitar player, I suck. A reader might be forgiven at this point for observing the obvious—“You’re a beginner. Of course you suck.” Sorry, no, it goes far beyond lack of practice and experience. While I’ve always loved music, I discovered early on that I have little natural aptitude for making it. If there’s a musical gene, it does not run in my family and I for sure don’t have it. Yet here I am taking up guitar and massacring “Smoke on the Water” like any beginning fourteen year old (and yes, they still do). Only, of course, I’m a looong way from fourteen, when such things might be considered part of the normal course of events. There’s nothing normal or natural about what I’m doing. So why am I doing it?
