Time of My Life

I guess I can call myself a musician. I've been playing the flute for about 27 years now (yes, even in church in my adult years). All my attempts to ditch this instrument failed. I begged Mom and Dad to let me quit in the 4th grade because I couldn't STAND to practice 30 minutes a day--getting those practice cards signed by my parents was mandatory for band class. My other band geek friend and I tried to abandon our musical talents in the 8th grade in hopes of joining the "cool" pep squad in high school. Our then-band-director sat us down and gave us a firm talkin' to. We were too talented. Why did we wanna give up on something we had worked so hard for? We both rolled our eyes at him, but in the end we listened. Band was good to us in high school, both musically and personally. Some of my best friends and best high school moments were in that Taft High School band hall and on the football field performing the half-time shows.

So, when I decided to fulfill a life-long dream and learn to play the guitar, I thought I had it made. I mean, I could read music well, so how hard would this instrument be to tackle? Piece of cake, right?

Wrong. Turns out that reading music doesn't help you ONE IOTA when it comes to the guitar. It's a whole other monster. And a sometimes frustrating one at that. Here it is--a year later--and I am just now feeling like I am SORT OF getting the hang of this. Sort of. Thank goodness for Richard, my guitar teacher. Laid back, easy-going, hilarious Richard. He comes into our house once a week and doesn't care if I've practiced 5 hours or 5 minutes. He is relentless in helping me reach a goal of mine...to play Green Day's "Good Riddance." In that song the lyrics say "I hope you had the time of your life." While learning to play the guitar, I really am.


When we married, I told Animesh that he would NEVER get me to drink red wine. Ever. In a million years. He reminds me of this now about 3 times a week when I am enjoying a glass of a Cabernet (yes, I even have my red wine PREFERENCES now...). It's truly an "I-told-you-so" moment for my husband. And, he's not had many of those in the last 10 years. : )

However, about 3 weeks ago I started sipping on THIS Mexican delicacy (loaded with fresh limes) while I had my lesson. Miraculously, I began playing better. I guess I felt more relaxed--less inhibited--less embarrassed that I hadn't practiced everyday for an hour and that I didn't have those callouses that are so trademark of die-hard guitarists. Richard says that drinking a beer while I play is a good start to becoming a tried and true rock star. Rock on, I say. Let the music play.