Hello, my six-string senorita!

Cherry.

She's just cherry!

I named her Cherry because...well, she's my little darling.

She's my new guitar.


I went out to buy one a few days after New Year's Day as a suitable replacement for who I used to be, what I used to do, and why I used to do it.  I retired from gaming, said bye-bye to social media, and put wrestling to rest.  So, what replaces these fine hobbies that have lead me down a primrose path?  Drawing, reading, and playing guitar.  Yup.  I'm finally going to do it.  I'm finally going to learn how to play guitar.  No holding myself back.  This is the new found passion of my life.  I am going to learn how to play guitar by the end of this year.  That is my goal.

This isn't my first foray into guitar practice, let alone music for that matter.  When I was but 7 years old, I took a shine to both piano and guitar through the musicians at my church.  I loved to sing back then and still do.  But, I wanted to do more.  Thankfully, I had some chance to at least feel the instruments.  I have had a red piano my family got for Christmas once when I was 8, and then we got a mini organ when I was in 6th or 7th grade.   I didn't really get a good chance at playing or learning to play piano.  When it came to the guitar, I believe our family owned about 3 to 4 toy guitars.  I never got to learn it, and we went through those pretty quick, too.

As I got older, I always marveled at those people who could play, in hopes that I could too.  I loved watching videos of my favorite bands at the time.  Seeing them wail on the guitar or jam on the piano gave me chills.  Since I could do neither at the time, I focused more on my singing.  As of this moment, my voice still remains viably intact.  I haven't mastered the breathing aspect of singing yet.  However, I do have a copy of The Voice video game, which actually has breathing exercises in it.  Looks like I chose a good time to retire from gaming and go casual.

It wasn't until I was 14 that I got to formally get into guitar practice.  There were guitar classes at my high school.  I learned how to play one song and I learned 3 chords in the process.  I also made some cool friends as well.  I never kept with it, though, as further practice required me to own a guitar.  Between pricing and parents who wanted me to stay on the ball with my studies to the point of having no social life, that was out of the question.  Heck, my mom shot down my love for drawing, too, once.  In my college days, I saw some fellow students carrying guitars.  I hoped to sing my favorite songs covered with these wandering minstrels.  However, not all of them knew the songs, and carrying chord sheets in hopes to find these guys and sing, well, proved to be a fruitless effort.  Finally, I got off my butt and did something about it.  In the summer of the early 2000s, I bought an acoustic guitar.  I had the money, the time, and a place to practice.  It was time to get it going.  Or, at least I had hoped.

I bought a guitar, a case, a strap, a bunch of guitar picks, and a guide book or three to learn from.  My endeavors got me as far as learning the C chord.  Awesome!  I didn't keep with it, though, sadly.  See, at the time, there wasn't a lot of privacy at my Mom's house.  In fact, to this day, there still isn't.  I would want to practice in my room, but with my older brother still visiting/living there, it wouldn't pan out.  I couldn't go in the girl's room for the same reason.  All I had was the living room, and interruptions were abound.  Oh, and let's not forget the various other things that took up my interests, like video games, wrestling, and my computer.  Not only interesting, but the best avenues for escape from the doldrums, stresses, etc. of life. Still, I forged ahead as best as I could.  I didn't go elsewhere to learn or practice as my travels were limited to school, work, and anything in my area.  I was just glad to have it as an option.  Then, we had to fumigate for an infestation.  Uh oh.  As we did just that, I had made the plan to finally move out of my mother's house and live on my own.  The guitar, sadly, could not come with.

So, how did I come across my new guitar?  After living in my apartment for 3 years, I had a chance to grow, change, and bear new responsibilities.  I learned lessons.  I accomplished new things.  I achieved some pretty good goals.  However, guitar practice took a backseat for a bit, for a litany of reasons.  It wasn't until I learned that my wife had planned to buy me one for Christmas or my birthday that I was seemingly re-interested in trying to learn one of the few things I always wanted to learn.  A few days after Christmas, I passed by a pawn shop just to do some window shopping.  That's when I found Cherry.  It was too good to pass up.  I paid for her, and for some picks.  It was time to get back into the swing of things.

Currently, I have a new case, 3 picks, 3 books, a strap, and some chords and tabs for songs I want to play.  I'm also going to a meetup for guitarists.  I got a chance to do some singing, but not playing...yet.  I'm very excited about this new endeavor in my life.  It's high time I put more focus on practicing something more enriching in my life.  Guitar practice is the way to go.


So, me and my six-stringed senorita, Cherry, are on an adventure.  I hope to reach our destination within a year.  Then, it's back to harmonica...