Me, David Copperfield and other disappearing acts

I've turned into a bad blogger. Again. The four people that actually care to remain updated with all things Long deserve better. But, it is what it is. Sorry. Again. 

I was just talking about this with the wife. The thing is, I'm going through a non-caring phase right now. Not that I don't love writing or sharing or whatever. I really do. However, my time is totally consumed with other things. Namely, my guitar. I started learning to play in April of this year and have become completely obsessed. I tinker constantly. I'm playing on Sunday mornings when I lead worship. Just today, I played in front of a room of relative strangers. And it wasn't even remotely embarrassing. Seriously, I'm an absolute addict when it comes to my dedication to all things guitar. 

So, blogging and pictures of the day and the such have completely taken a backseat. Actually, they were probably shoved from the car while I was cruising down the interstate at 90 MPH maniacally laughing as I high-tailed it to the nearest Guitar Center to lust after that Breedlove I'm hoping will soon be mine. I'm sorta not kidding. My 40th birthday is coming up and I accept PayPal. 

My guitar obsession will more than likely recede a bit in the next few months years decades.  I'm learning so much and loving it so much that I know it will permanently be part of my DNA. But, I'll find a way to get my groove back. If Stella did it, so can I. Maybe. Maybe? Right? Riiiight. 

I will, however leave you with this. A shot of the beach behind the Tradewinds Beach Resort where Friends of Giants played a show tonight. It was fun, albeit very poorly attended. Oh, well...at least the chick in the band is hot. 

194/365...Worn out

I've owned my guitar for a little over a year and have been seriously playing for about two months. I'm actually quite proud of the progress I've made in the last couple of months. It's amazing what can happen when you actually start applying yourself and paying for lessons. The drawback? You end up blowing through strings much faster than normal.

175/365...Pick

So, so much of my time lately has been spent with a pick in my hand. I love learning new things and guitar has definitely been one of my very favorite things to learn.

122/365...Lesson learning

The year of procrastination is over. I'm finally taking guitar lessons and soon hope to be an instrumentalist as well as a vocalist.

My Easter

I know I've mentioned this a couple of times, but I'm a worship leader at the St. Pete Vineyard Church. So, for me, Easter is so much more than only the spiritual emphasis that the holiday holds for, well, pretty much the ENTIRE Christian church.

Don't get me wrong, I love the spiritual emphasis and reflection that we, as Christians, engage in each year. But it also means weeks of prep work, building four or five weeks of song lists that point to the person, ministry and work of Christ. It means a 5:30 AM alarm and solid "stuff" to do from 6:45 AM until around 12:00 PM.

You know what? I love it all. I sincerely do. I love what I do as my part-part-part-time job. I love the people, the excitement, the anticipation and celebration and all the details that go on behind the scenes. I love hanging out at Guitar Center for an hour or two on Saturday morning picking up cords and wires and looking at all the goodies there so we can seamlessly pull off a block party/easter egg hunt/concert the day before Easter. I love the kids hunting easter eggs as well as the stuffing and hiding of the same eggs. And I love all the extra chocolate Easter brings.

So, my interpretation of what part of Easter means to me may be different than the typical eggs and bunnies and peeps and stuff. But, this is what I do come Easter time. I setup and break down and create and tweak and get to be an integral part of the Easter celebration. It's part of my life and part of my DNA and also the greatest (part-part-part-time) job I've ever had. So I love Easter and I also love all of my Easter.

113/365:

FYI...I'm linking up to the Live Every Moment photo challenge with this post.

111/365...Dusty guitar

Easter Sunday, 2010. I bought this wonderful guitar. I know exactly 3 chords. One year, three chords. And that's why the guitar is so dusty.