Many of you may know that in the early 80s, I had the biggest crush on Edgar Cruz, and yeah, I would have married the man if he had (a) taken notice that I liked him (b) taken the least bit of interest in me, and (c) had he asked. Edgar was and is one of the world's best (and I mean that) flamenco guitar players. He is just amazing, I'll leave you a link to his site so you can check him out on your own. It was Edgar who inspired me to buy my first guitar and try as I want, I just can't remember much about it. I really can't. I want to say it was a Fender. I know I've owned a few. When you own a guitar you're really supposed to play it too, it sort of works that way, but I think having one in the house was good enough for me. It kept me thinking about my youth, and of course, about Edgar! (OK, if he ever finds himself single again, I may have to approach.) I used to say that Edgar was the GREATEST guitar playing I've ever met, but I have actually met Eddie Van Halen, so maybe I should give Edgar 2nd place since he never taught me how to play.
So, years ago I had a guitar that I really loved. I bought her at a pawn shop when I went in to sell the owner a bit of insurance. She was really old by musical standards, but I didn't think much about it. She was a Spanish guitar, I know that. I named her Stella because I lived in an apartment complex called Lake Stella, and she fit right in with the ambiance of that place. The complex was older, relaxed, just sort of friendly, and in an urban setting, not rural at all. Stella was stolen from me right after I had her cleaned, restrung, and tuned. I am not sure, but I think the owner of the guitar repair store waited until I went to church, and then he snuck into my house. I can't prove it, but a man fitting his description was seen at my apt that day. So sad. I guess he actually knew what I had, and knew I wouldn't really ever use her the way he could. He could have asked! I may have just sold her to him.
Well, I've gone through a few guitars. I gave one to my granddaughter Sailor last year; one that I love so very much. I call him Checkers for a reason. He's a black and white checkered guitar. He's of lower quality, but that's because I didn't want him stolen like Stella was stolen. She was kind of expensive, to be honest. Checkers was right at $100; so yeah, if he was taken I wouldn't have felt it so hard in my wallet. OK, about 2 or maybe 3 years ago now, I was just looking online and found a guy on Facebook who was selling his Yahama acoustic; I always have acoustic guitars. He was selling it for $100 and I knew the model was worth more than that. The guitar was new, it was never really used, and I thought I needed to go get it. I'm glad I did.
I named the guitar Wallace and call him Wally. I have been playing at him for about 2 or 3 years, not really making anything happen. I just like holding a guitar and playing with it, you know, pretending I know what I'm doing. The dog likes it too. She sometimes nudges my elbow and looks at Wally when she wants me to play him. I love that. Today, I took Wally to Guitar Center in Oklahoma City to be cleaned, restrung, and tuned but I told the guy (Hector) I wanted to stay while he did so I could look around. He agreed and got right on it. It didn't take him 30 minutes and that was in between customers. Good kid. He did a great job.
The guitar tuning and new strings ran $24.99, and I ended up buying two shakers to drive the dogs crazy, and they had a clearance sale on a few things too. I bought my first EVER pair of drumsticks. Why? Do I play the drums? No. I do not play the drums, but I do have dogs and cats, and I love teasing them. I can beat on things around the house, knock them together, and just really be annoying. I like that. For $4.99 I think I got the best deal in the store! I also bought an LP of Simon and Garfunkel. I asked Hector (he's 19) if he had ever heard of them. He had not. I nearly cried. They had a double LP of Credence Clearwater Revival, and I didn't need to buy it because I have it. I asked him if he had heard of CCR....he had not. I don't know who Hector's parents or grandparents are, but they really failed the man. My kids knew EVERY S&G song from the day they could sing. They knew the Bee Gees, The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, and of course Eric Clapton, Kansas, Foreigner, Journey, and Boston.
Sadly, and I mean this, not one of my children plays the guitar. I absolutely failed them, but then again, I can blame Edgar for not marrying me. If he had we would have had at least two or three kids and they would have in the family band. I can't get any of my kids interested in forming a band with me. I'll have to go solo. That's the only choice I have. At least with the little shakers I can drive them nuts and force them to either join me or leave me alone to my madness. The dogs both hate and love me at this point. The cats don't care. They never care.
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