open strings are so cool. someone that plays loud and confidently can sure fool a lot of people into thinking that they are adept or musically accomplished when in fact they might just be having a blast and not be either of those things and that's ok, too. java chip ice cream is so good. roy clark showed up on the beverly hillbillies now and then and played his butt off. playing bass is an absolute blast. i almost believe that bass players and drummers must belong to a secret club. what, that chord again? try finding a new note. or: oh, good, that chord again--i love that one. hey, who took my F#? you know when you take your finger off of the first string when you're playing a D chord and it sounds cool, but you kind of miss that F# that got sacrificed? try making a barre across the first three strings on the second fret and then add the E on the 5th fret of the second string. you'll get your pretty "9" sound but you won't have to lose the good F# in the process. on a different topic, there will be a new acoustic guitar magazine article/lesson/song of mine in an upcoming issue. not sure when. last year during spring break, i got injured in my own back yard. this year, i'm going away. every now and then my dog reminds me that she is indeed an animal. and by every now and then, i mean a lot. i have a mandolin. i don't practice much. if you turn your guitar upside down and try to play like that, that's how i feel with my mandolin. it's a blast. in the morning, my dog wakes me up singing eric dolphy licks. on days when i have to work at home writing, i spend the rest of the day wearing her out. at night, she sleeps in the big chair in my office and lets me type. if i try to rush that process at all, i get eric dolphy-ed again. expressive and artistic and real and raw. give me a D-7 in third position with F on the second string and the open high E string singing along. give me a decaf grande mocha. sshhhhhhhhh the yellow dog is sleeping.