Busy day

Saturday began early for me--7:30 a.m., to be precise, when I started getting ready for my first guitar gig outside of Bible study or church in more than five years. I played at an outreach just south of the Oceanside pier with Jim Hollingsworth, a really experienced and talented guitarist from Fallbrook. On Thursday night, he showed me the songs we'd play, then we practiced yesterday morning for about an hour and a half. So, with about four hours of practice, we did eight songs ranging from John Mayer to Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis. Yes, Miles Davis. Jim has an eclectic taste in music.

It was fun, but it was also challenging. For example, when I play guitar, a pick is like a blankie. I don't feel right if I'm not using a pick, but the first thing Jim did on Thursday when we practiced was tell me to put down the pick. The songs were mostly outside my frame of reference, and one was in 3/4 timing, syncopated. But I think we sounded OK. We got plenty of compliments afterward, but that could have been church folks just being nice. Overall, it was a great experience, and I look forward to playing more with Jim in the future.

After playing the gig, Dori and I headed over to her brother's house and then to the county fair with Dustin, Ashley and Danielle. We ate plenty of unhealthy food and browsed the shops. The hypnotist was funny but his act got kind of inappropriate a couple of times. It always amazes me that so many people want this guy to mess with their subconscious in front of five hundred spectators.

Dustin got plenty of compliments on his shirt, advertising the next installment of the Halo video game series.

We also walked through the photography exhibit so I could get my dose of humility. Just when you start thinking you're a good photographer, march your big head into a competition and it'll knock you down a few notches. Some of the pictures in there were unbelievable. So I walked out inspired, and took this:

Not the most difficult picture to take, but it was still fun. We ate some more and went back to Dustin and Ashley's house to watch a movie. When you start nodding off during Die Hard, you know you've had a long day.