It’s been about two years since I last posted to DanLovesGuitars. Why has it been so long?
I haven’t died. Yay for that. It’s difficult to pinpoint why I haven’t been publishing new posts to the blog without making up some rationalizations (excuses). So, here are some excuses—all true but none probably the ultimate reason.
My wife and I got a puppy. Our female Goldendoodle will be two years old soon. What were we thinking? We’ve each owned dogs when we were young but we forgot how much work a puppy is. Tillie (the dog) is wonderful and sweet and we wouldn’t give her up for anything. Except, occasionally when the puppy in her is full of energy and she’s barking at the air.
Another reason I haven’t thought much about this blog is because I’ve been writing novels. None have been published yet. Three science-fiction novels are at a first draft stage (completed first draft but a lot more work is needed to polish them up). A fourth book is about half-done. It is supposed to be a murder mystery.
I’ve played at least one of my guitars almost every day for the past two years. However, the third reason, and closest to the real one is I lost interest in guitar playing and music. I haven’t bought any new instruments. I rarely listened to jazz or blues over this time. Several things recently happened to change this.
First, my wife gave me my Christmas gift early. The Apple Airpods with a wireless charging case make it easier to listen to Spotify or watch YouTube videos on my computer or phone and I have been listening to a lot of jazz.
The second thing is after six years I finally decided to tackle fixing some high frets on my Eastman AR371CE archtop guitar that were annoying me by the string buzzing heard on selected strings and frets. I also adjusted the relief, the pickup height, and the action of the guitar. It plays wonderfully now and I’ve been spending a lot of time working on Wes Montgomery licks.
Hopefully, I will be posting more often now. But, if it is sometime before my next post, I still have a puppy and four novels to finish. I assure you I’m not giving up my music and guitars.
