Monday, October 27, 2008

elevator games

Sometimes when I'm in the elevator all alone I pretend I'm trapped.
I beat my fists against the doors and scream.

Okay,
I Usually don't scream.
Still.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

a walk in the 'park'

Erieview cemetery is a peaceful place to visit during lunch hour. I've never seen any ghosts there, and very few people for that matter. So many of the graves are for people who died so long ago. It makes me think "who still remembers this person?" and things like that.

Monday, October 13, 2008

why "Two Dollar Guitar?"

A couple of weeks ago I went in to work a bit later than usual. I was driving west on Lake Road and noticed a sign: "Yard Sale."
I usually don't bother with such things but I had been on the lookout for a couple of items I need around the house so I turned around to see what they had.
The length of the drive, the garage, and the whole of the backyard was full of stuff. Tools, photography equipment, books, Record albums (vinyl), CDs. Just loads of stuff. I walked around the yard and had decided there was nothing I couldn't live without and was headed back down the driveway. As I walked I glanced toward the backdoor and spotted the guitars. One was pretty much only "good for slide." That's a guitar which cannot be adjusted for regular playing because the strings are just too far off the fretboard. The other guitar had no strings, indeed, no tone pins and not even a saddle. But the neck seemed to be pretty straight and the frets showed some wear, which, to me, meant that it was decent enough in its day that someone played it a good little bit. No prices were on them so I asked and the man in charge said, "You spotted the best deal in the yard. Two guitars, two bucks apiece!"
I bought the one I thought had possibilities (it came with a case!) and I took it home.
After several hours of cleaning and restoration work I must say the old boy is not too bad. It almost plays in tune and it almost stays in tune. I derived as much enjoyment resurrecting the old fella as I do strumming on it.
This is, in a nutshell, my attitude toward things most of the time. It is better to fix than to toss, and that's true even when it seems that it's more trouble than it could possibly be worth.
By the way, that's the two dollar guitar in my title photo...