Not much to say. Slept little, worked hard. Practiced guitar a little bit, I have the baby Taylor with me. I love the way that guitar sounds. Like buttah. Sleep now.

NP: TCOL. It is something like this, oddly enough, that helps me organize my thoughts and to feel better. Its having heard so many train wrecks on this song in Nashville that remind me that these guys are human and music is hard work.

Along for the ride- Live at the Key Club. Heavy ConstruKction. Greenthumb. Trick of the tail. Peter Maffay Live. Joy of Molybdenum. Peter Gabriel Revisited. In the car: Tony G, Jamey F, LCG, Jon and Vangelis, Yes.

Dinner tonight with my new friend Madhu. Good wine, good company. Why am I such an object?

Regaled Madhu with a bad rendition of One of a Thousand Regrets and some other stuff.

Ugly problems at the site today. Off to Erie Sunday, I don't expect pleasant conditions there, either. Cheryl's on Thursday, visiting sheep and cattle for a change of pace. Sitting amongst livestock, will this be a good thing? I think so, I'm always relaxed around Cheryl.

I think I am avoiding comment on current events because mentally I am avoiding them. I cannot deal with all that is going on.

It looks as though I am going to miss both Hanuman, and CGT. To top it off, I am probably going to miss Curt's trip east and I won't see Bill for a while either. This is the level of disappointment I can handle right now. It does not bode well for my mental status.

Pretty good day today. I got a lot done. Fun crew, but lots of strife between departments. What is best for the client? What is best for the patients? What is best for the hospital and what is best for my company? These are hard questions.

I like the cold weather. I am looking forward to my trip to Ubly to visit Cheryl and the herd.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

A week of teaching in Toledo. When I left Erie, the overhead speaker at the airport asked us all to have any pens or pencils out for security to inspect. When I am teaching, I carry in the neighborhood of 30 pens and pencils. Security uncapped each one and wrote with it. The people in line behind me howled. Oops I meant to warn Curt about this. Oh well. I'm sure he got to his destination just fine.

Steve and Greenthumb kept me company on the way to Toledo. I keep thinking that I hope he knows how wonderful that album is. He should be very proud of it.

I feel a migraine coming on and I can't find any of my meds. Hockey season has started. Time for grown men to dress up in padded shorts, put on ice skates, and glide full on into walls. Yes, dear, you are a grown man.

Looks like they won't need me back the week of the 29th, so no Trio in Ann Arbor. Maybe I'll work something out. I really want to see the guys.

According to Martin's diary, Level I in Italy is January 24. Guess who has a business trip that week? He hints at a Level I in the US in February. This is all good, but I have concerns. I wanted to go to Italy for Level I. Besides the obvious reason, I really wanted to get away from the familiarity of the Curt/Tony/Frank combination. I love Curt, Tony and Frank. I can learn a lot from them. I just wanted to get out of that comfort zone. I feel comfortable with them. I feel comfortable in the U.S. I know all of the usual players in the U.S. I wanted something completely foreign. But, we take what we can get, so February most likely will be it, unless Saint V's delays their live date (always possible). Wherever and whenever, I will gratefully accept what is imparted to me, by whoever is there to impart. Besides, Curt/Tony/Frank will not put up with any shit from me, and neither will Robert, I suspect. self edit: "won't put up with any of my shit" (a distinct difference)

Tomorrow, a long trip to the planet Houston.

I played some Soundscapes for Mom, she liked it a lot.

Here, listen for yourself: I belive this was recorded last year at the WTC.

It's been a while since I've posted. Bad bad. Wednesday dinner with Tim and Tamy, die-hard CGT fans. What could be better? We went to the Duck. Good stuff. Friday I will get back together with Tim and his friend Eric and we will play at Crafty things. I think I will show them my favorite Tony G. exercise. Tim wants very much to attend Guitar Craft. So does his wife. I encourage as much as I can. I think they would benefit greatly from it.

Dinner this evening with Janelle, who is just one cool chickie. We had a good time talking about men, former men, possible future men, what assholes men can be.

Because of the possibility of some guitar work, I am staying through the weekend.

Today, we set out to buy a CD-RW for Mom and Dad, came home with a 1.7Ghz computer instead. Why spend $300 when you can spend $1000 and get more functionality? I wired a home network. It's all good, or mostly. Steve's right about XP, I think, although the OS is dumbed down to an extent that it's difficult to troubleshoot for me.

Some thoughts today on guitar teachers. I say often that I have two guitar teachers: Curt and Tony. I work with Tony when I am fortunate enough to visit the NJ Circle. I haven't seen Curt since the NST weekend, although we email fairly regularly. So are these two really guitar teachers? What is a teacher? Are they teaching me anything? What am I learning? Does someone have to be sitting in front of me in order for me to learn guitar from them?

From Tony I learn technique. Tony works the physical part, even when he's not here I'm working on exercises he has taught me. His music inspires me. From Curt I learn the intangibles, as this is all he can offer me from so far away. All of this comes back to me as I listen to some of Curt's (scream) music. Today I learned about the vulnerability of the artist. When I am listening to this, I feel like I am invading his privacy somehow. Now, when I listen to something by the Trio, or even by Tony, I don't feel that way. Perhaps it is because I met them first as performers, up on stage. Before the NST weekend, Curt was just the "Bicycling to Afghanistan" guy. I've never seen him up on stage. This music feels intensely personal, like somebody's therapy session. At any rate, it's very good for me to listen to this, I think. On the other hand, this is angry stuff. Kind of makes me feel the same way AC/DC or Metallica does. Whatever the effect, the outcome was that I sat down with my guitar and actually started to compose. And that can't be bad.

Tomorrow the Triangle Circle will attempt to have its second meeting. There are possibilities of more people, some of whom have no GC experience, but are CGT fans, or KC fans. Which leads me to my other thought of the day, which is: am I in any position to be representing, presenting, speaking about, recruiting for Guitar Craft? I haven't even attended Level I. For sure, I have enthusiasm, but that can be a bad thing. This isn't right for everyone.

Finally, I really have an infinite number of guitar teachers, because each of the people in Guitar Craft teach me something, even without guitar in hand.

Meeting with Dave today, a bright spot in an otherwise dismal life. A good meeting, I came away with lots to practice. Hopefully next time there will be three or four of us. Oddly enough, there is a fellow that lives nearby that I may end up showing the basics to. How ridiculous is that?

Lesson in ear training from Curt via email. I need help with this. He is taking his time to help. I feel like I should provide something in return. It is a bit like having a friend who's a doctor and calling him up for a diagnosis. I will have to discuss this more with him when I can find a way to be non-verbose about it. However, he reads my diary, so maybe he is considering it too.

I hate my job. I don't hate what I do, I hate the circumstances I do it in. My company owes me over $3000 in back travel, and I'm struggling for funds. $3000 is a LOT of money.