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Day Forty (Year Two)

I've been doing a lot of thinking in the last few days.  I know I've said it before here, but things have gotten seriously out of balance since the band came back into the picture.  What had started as a way to catalog my progress in learning (or re-learning, as the case may be) to express myself through my music has felt recently like a chronicle of things that are happening (or not happening) with the band and the record.  This is all well and good, but only to a certain extent.  The band should be a part of what I'm doing, not all that I'm focused on.

Part of what's brought on this realization has been watching JP as she re-connects with her artistic self, and watching as she dives in head long.  I know that, to a certain extent, I've done that in the last 400 days, but at the same time, I know in my heart that I haven't dove in as deep as I could/should have.

The other part has to do with my brother.  He got into the music program today at school.  Having started as a criminal justice major, he's now switching to music.  I'm proud of him.  He's following the path that he's passionate about, chasing his dreams, wherever it is they may lead him.  Plus, he's really good.  He put in the work that I wish I had put in as a teenager.  And he now has to practice at least 4 hours a day.  I'm jealous.

This whole thing has brought me back to the initial list I made when I started this... the one of things I needed to learn.  The original (likely posted in the first week of the blog's existence) had 10 songs on it, and went like this:

1) Red House - Jimi Hendrix
2) Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan
3) Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
4) Fine (acoustic) - Alkaline Trio
5) Classical Gas - Mason Williams
6) Preacher's Daughter - The Refreshments
7) Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
8) I'm Tore Down - Eric Clapton
9) Have You Ever Loved A Woman - Derek & The Dominos
10) Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out - Derek & The Dominos

Out of that, I've learned "Fine," worked on "I'm Tore Down," and could justifiably put off "Preacher's Daughter" and "Sweet Child."

At this point, an updated list would look like this:

1) Red House
2) Little Wing
3) Girlfriend
4) Classical Gas
5) I'm Tore Down
6) Have You Ever Loved A Woman
7) Wanted It To Be - Sister Hazel (one of the first solos I wanted to learn that came out when I started playing... started to try once a long time ago, never finished).

Considering that J. won't get back to us about band stuff until next week sometime (at the earliest), I figure now is the time to try and start mixing up writing with improving again.  I've waited too long.  Gotta make up for lost time.  First on the list: Hendrix, I think.

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