Intimidated by strings

Pulled my guitar case down from our garage storage today, where it’s been sitting for YEARS and dusted it off in the sunshine on the gravel driveway.  The acoustic Washburn guitar itself sits on a stand, unused in my bedroom, missing a string and all the others far from in tune. The black case was covered in dust and dead bugs. It has half of a “fragile” sticker on it from when I let United store it during a flight to Oregon from Vermont. It’s got duct tape around it in various places and it has other old stickers. My old band, Nutria, Greenpeace ’92, Winnie the Pooh holding a balloon, and a few others.

 I got it down because I was thinking I needed to just finally take it in to our local guitar shop and have them put new stings on it, tune it up, etc… My kids are ALWAYS asking me to play it for them but it’s just in rotten condition. The guitar is actually in great condition, but I suppose guitar strings intimidate me. I’m a drummer: I can tune a drum, I set up my kit in like 3 minutes, and I can take it down and set it up in a new space with my eyes closed, I can find exactly what I want to hear with my Pearl drums with ease, but when it comes to strings for my acoustic guitar, I am a bit baffled. Always have been. So when I opened the case today and found a complete set of brand new strings, all six, in their original packaging just sitting there along with the chords to a couple early Blues Traveler songs, I was inspired. I did not take it down to the guitar shop just yet. I’ll give it a shot at home.

 My kids are excited at the possibility. I am, too. Maybe I can actually put my guitar to use and tune it up tonight.  Then I’ll need to learn some easy kids songs to strum and play for them…any ideas?

The Today Show

I was on the Today Show this morning in a segment featuring the summer’s Best Road Trips in the USA according to Travel + Leisure. I’m the kayaker in blue around the 3 minute section of  this video.

The three times I should have died.

Here are three times I probably should have died. I’ll try to think of more, but these are a good start.

Roofriding – on summer nights with nothing to do back in high school we would drive our cars to the top of this long, straight hill out on a rural road where one (or two) of us would lie down on the car’s roof, head just above the windshield, arms outstretched with hands holding onto the roof rack if there was one or the roof of the car (though open windows) and then hold on for dear life and scream in delight and terror as the driver sped back down the hill, reaching speeds of 60 and 70 mph. Some of the record-holding roofriders in town would wear ski goggles. Others like me would hit 45 mph (you’d be amazed how fast 45 feels holding onto the top of a car, going down a hill at night) nearly die of fear, and kick the roof, thereby telling the driver to slow down.

Nobody ever crashed. Nobody ever fell or got hurt. But we damn should have. Funny – now I live on that road and drive it every day, much slower and with 3 car seats in the back.

 The Water tower – I was a freshman in college at a small school in central Pennsylvania, where I was recruited to play soccer. For underage kids like me there wasn’t much to do in terms of partying except for frat houses and their parties. Being on the soccer team got me into a lot of frats and a lot of parties. One night one of those parties ended up with me and a couple dudes from the frat taking a backpack of beer up the ladder of the water tower on campus. I wobbled up to the top and remember just sitting down on the top, at the edge, with my feet resting on a very small cable beyond which was probably a 90-ft drop, sipping cans of cheap beer.

 Too drunk to be nervous. One of us really should have fallen. We were wasted and up very high. Some innate fear must have blocked it as an option after that evening because we never even talked about doing that venture again.

 Car Sledding – back to high school. One winter night after a fresh dump of snow, we went down to the high school parking lot and tied a rope to the back bumper of Grub’s dad’s Toyota. I laid down on my belly in a red sled and held onto the rope. Grub put it into gear and began driving, making turns and dragging me joyfully around the deserted lot. It was a blast. Eventually he turned left and then too-quickly turned right again. I was sliding right like a water-skier when he went left and when he came quickly back right again I was still heading right. Last thing I remember is seeing the right rear wheel directly in front of me and neither me nor the car slowing down. I threw up my hands to block my face from the wheel and that’s when we hit.

 The car slid to a stop in the snow and I could hear Jess in the passenger seat saying, “Dude, you killed Pat!”

 Turns out I was fine. My hands hit the hub of the back wheel and I was somehow blessed with amazing strength that very moment and was able to actually push myself back off of the moving car in reverse of my sliding momentum.  It was pure magic I survived. Not a scratch on me but we left the parking lot soon after to laugh about it, everyone still in shock.

So maybe I shouldn’t have died in all three instances but I easily could have. Easily. I’m glad we eventually smartened up and all I can hope is that my kids never get as bored as I was on those nights…

To Inspire & Entertain

Yes yes, the unseasonal rain and a week at home has inspired me to write and not only to write but to start a new story. Unlike in the past, I actually have a whole page of notes regarding plot and ideas and characters. Might be a bad sign, I usually only write like jazz, purely improvisation and I make it up as I go. Anyway, I’ll try to stick to my vaguest of notes and make something of it.

I have put further editing of “FINDING IT” on hold while I continue to look for an agent. I think it’s in great shape as it is – nothing that would turn anyone away if they read it at least. My book is like this 1840s farmhouse we live in: It is unique, it has character, it could use a little work, but mostly it has incredible potential and I hope that’s what someone sees when they read it. Potential. I don’t pretend to have written the greatest book ever, but I think I’ve done a fine job of writing a few great stories and put them together in a package that will both inspire and entertain.

Off to write…

One Query Every Day

Literary Agents prepare to hear from me shortly. The query letter for my novel will find its way to your inbox shortly if you appear to have what it takes to represent the book.

If you don’t hear from me and would like to know more or read my completed, commercial fiction manuscript, drop me a line, I’ll check you out and let you know if we might be a good fit.

Yes, One Query Every Day.