2003-06-17 - 9:32 p.m.

Observation: my grandparents are old-fashioned. Heh. Like, of course, but I don't mean that in a good way. And I don't think "old fashioned" is really the right term. We were just watching the game show (I think) "Dog eat dog" and one of the contestants had a really gothic look to him: lip ring, dark eyeshadow, chest-length braids, goatee, multiple earrings, tattoes, etc. They kept commenting on how crazy he looked and even went so far as to say they didn't want him to win. As a matter of fact, he did win, and they were both quite disappointed. I told my grandmother I didn't understand why they wanted him to lose just because he looked different and she just repeated that he looked crazy. I told her I didn't think it was right to judge him by how he looked, and she said "I'm not judging him". I laughed so hard she relented and said "well, a little".

After that, a newscaster mentioned that the government was entering legislation to legalize same-sex marriages. My grandfather up and proclaimed, out of the blue, that it was crazy that that was allowed, and that the next thing that was coming was people wanting to be able to legally marry animals.

Now at this I laughed, and hard. I thought he meant that it was as immoral to be gay as it is to have sex with animals. However, when I asked him, he turned out to actually have a point. He said that a lot of people treat their pets like people and sometimes put pets above other humans. This is only too true. I've heard of strange things like people having chefs for their pets and other equally extreme treatments of their animals as humans. I also know that many people would say they do love their animals, and not in the least in a sexual way. I know what it's like to love an animal that way and want to have it around all the time. Now that alone doesn't seem to lead to people demanding legal marriage to their pets, but if you stop and consider it, greed is such a powerful pressure that it's a matter of time before someone argues that since they support their pet and plan to have it for the rest of their life, that they should have legally recognized marriage benefits. I mean, having a pet is a sort of arrangement, isn't it? The thing is, it's so crazy an idea, yet when you think about it that way, it could certainly come to be in 20 years or so.

When I told him I thought he meant that is was as bad to be gay as to be with an animal, he said "oh, that's pretty close too". Well. What can you say about that opinion.

Not that I love my grandparents any less, but it's frightening to think that I might be so closed minded when I'm their age. I hope not, but I've learned enough in my mere 27 years to know that things often do turn out the way I don't want them to, even when I mean them not to turn out that way with all my heart.

Hmm, haven't used a horizontal line in a while.

To resume the theme of my last few entries, I'm utterly content. Yesterday I broke a string on my guitar while I was tuning it and I was surprised at how 'naked' it made my guitar feel. Naked isn't really the right word.. ahh 'crippled'. It's like when you cut the end of your thumb and are surprised at how many things you can't do just because of one tiny cut. Shampooing your hair, doing dishes, tying shoelaces, so many things depend on that little patch of skin. In the same way, one string out of six, and one at the end to boot, shouldn't have such an impact, but.. it does :o)

So anyway, it became an adventure. I started playing only songs and ditties that I made up that don't use the smallest string, but there aren't many... so I soon started improvising and coming up with new stuff. I suddenly came up with a serene and beautiful little few bars of music, little method of fingerpicking with a pull-off that sounds better than anything I've come up with in months. This forced improvisation helping imagination reminds me so strongly of an autobiography I'd read. "The boy with the golden flute" (exact?) was a book about ... shucks.. forgetting.. famous flautist... hmmmmmmmmMmmm... I have a song of his on my mp3 list.... hmmmmmm.... He's Irish, has a beard, had a golden flute.... Hmmmmmmm Godfrey? No.... James Aha! Galway... yes, James Galway. Well, I'm sure of Galway. Anyway, in his autobiography he tells a story of when he was just a youngster, already pretty hardcore into the flute. He and some buddies blew up a blasting cap for gags, but he did it stupidly, with a rock, and badly hurt some of the fingers on his right (unsure?) hand. Anyway, anyone who's played the flute will know that you need all your fingers, at least to play the standard way. Unable to stop playing, since he loved it so much, he developed alternate fingerings so he could continue to play Mozart et al. The cool thing about this is that having alternate fingerings in your repertoire can help you to jump between odd notes more easily, to more fluidly flow through a difficult section. In the book, he says that year later he decided to try the old fingerings again just for kicks and was surprised that he could still do it.

So anyway, I made it a priority to get to a music store and I managed to do that today. I felt so much better once that string was back on there. Of course, the first things I did was play the newest tidbit which didn't even use it, but I felt much better just having my guitar be whole again.

On the subject of the guitar, this trip has been a watershed for renewed love with my favourite instrument. I've gotten to the point where I thoroughly entertain myself for a half hour or so by playing, and I am amazed at how far I've gotten in less than a year. Playing next to beginners who have been playing much longer but are impressed by my skill, and seasoned amateurs who are quite skilled but still impressed by how far I've come so fast has given my a much needed boost in musical self-esteem. At the same time, playing so much with others and around others has strengthened my self-assurance and made me able to consider playing and singing in front of an audience. Next year's family reunion would be the perfect forum for a first concert ;o)

And with that, I'm off to read or something. Something that doesn't involve sentence formation focus and typing ticatacs.

Oh yeah, golf went great today too. I do think I want to go out for a round while I'm here. My hits went straight rather than crooked as a rule, and it seemed effortless to get a lot of distance out of my longer clubs. I've really been forcing too hard down south. When I relax and slow down and fall into the groove, it's amazing how much more I accomplish.

ps. I haven't been keeping up with anyone else's diaries. I doubt I'll spend much time on the internet this summer, except for pre-scheduled times. We'll see, but I want to express my regret at not keeping up to date with my new friends' happenings, even when they may be keeping up with mine. My thoughts go out to you anyhow, Shawna, Vinaceous, Lisa, if you happen to read this. I think of all of you :o)

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