Guitar awakes. Great joy!

I guess this isn't even a monthly blog since I missed November.   What can I say, that my thoughts stays mainly in my brain?  Pen to paper, must do.

Meanwhile, I found the book Zen Guitar ( by Philip Toshio Sudo) for one dollar at one of my favorite thrift stores in San Rafael -Hospice Hodgepodge.  It's been the most significant find in years for me.   I read a new chaper every day before practicing.  One "misstep" he talks about is speed, important for me since I have a tendency to rush. Sudo talks about hyoshi, the feeling of natural rhythmn and that a song has a true tempo and within that is pacing (how we play within the tempo), timing (a sense of the moment) and quickness (thought and action happen simultaneously).   Awesome.  

January promises to be a month of many appearances at open mics, going more public with my singer-songwriter self.  Will report back about this.  I appreciate the Bay Area Open Mic Calendar and Joe Rizzo's Musical Open Mics in the San Francisco Bay Area.    Also I may rejoin the West Coast Songwriters' Association, I got some really helpful feedback from the industry judges when performing at their Song Competition nights.

The daycare business is still stalled.   I think now that I will start by being a babysitter and take one family's children in at a time during school holidays.  Then I can keep plugging away with the work needed to pass an inspection and get the license.   Eventually will want to do the Aunt Sarah's Sleepover idea with small groups of kids.   Was on the wonderful Berkeley Parents Network website looking at what nannies charge for keeping children overnight.   Interesting.  I think I will need to get a bit more systemmatic with goal setting to keep this one moving forward.    Retirement has fueled the procrastination tendencies in me.

Now going over to Alameda to the Frank Bette Center for the Arts to look for a piece of jewelry for my sister for Christmas.   Big gift shop there this time of year of the work of local artists and craftspeople.