Skip to main content

Welcome 2020

It's a New Year once again! 2020 how can that possibly be? The Y2K (2000) computer scare was just yesterday, wasn’t it? Impossible . . . 

No matter who you are, what you do, where you go, or what you plan - time simply slips away. Don’t believe me, let's take stock in what you may or may not recollect, as a reader of this blog and count the years.

High School, remember those days? August of 1970, I became a freshman (50 years ago)!

Songs always make an impact, “So tonight I'm gonna party like it's nineteen ninety-nine," 1999 by Prince. That song was released September 24, 1982 (38 years ago). Or maybe for you, it was Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin (1971).

Greg LeMond is the only American to win Le Tour de France, in July 1986 (34 years ago). After moving to Los Angeles in 1985, I met my hero at Two Wheel Transit Authority in 1987.

Radio Shack launched the Tandy 1000 computer in November 1984. This was my first personal computer. A 7.16 MHz 8088 processor, dual floppy disk drive with a revolutionary 300 baud Modem, which I purchased used in 1989 (31 years ago).

On January 31, 2014 (6 years ago) I became a Free Agent after 27 years of loyal service to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

And of course, we cannot forget August 16, 2016, my 60th birthday. The day we made the trip to Los Angeles where I received my new Fender Telecaster.

It’s going on four years now and I’m having the time of my life exploring, the world of music with my beautiful guitar . . .

You see, in my experience, to remain curious, active, and young at heart, life is about learning and teaching new skills. That reminds me, I need to get back to my YouTube video channel Guitar Gems (launched May 23, 2019). The emotional and physical rewards are simply undeniable. And if I might add practically unexplainable, but let’s try.

Lately, I’ve been reading on FaceBook a number of my high school classmates from the class of 1974 (46 years ago) are retiring.  I can’t even believe that. What exactly does that mean - retirement? 

Is retirement about doing what you’ve always dreamed of doing but we're afraid to try - or lacked the time? Or is it about walking away from a job that you’re tired of? Most would like to believe the former. Throughout my life, I’ve been an avid listener of many motivational speakers; Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Robert Schuller, all gone now.

Everything I’d listened to or read kept encouraging me. Dare to dream! Re-invent yourself! Go back to what you loved as a child. It’s never too late to learn something new, so I did. Every morning I practice guitar. First, it’s as simple as warming up your fingers; A Blues Scale, G Major Scale, or simply run the neck of the guitar over three octaves. Forward and backwards. Then it’s practicing the transition between chords, G, C, F, D, A, and E in time.

Little by little - by doing; trying out new riffs, practicing many different scales, and just doodling on the guitar I’m getting better. Every breakthrough an epiphany, simply magical.

There comes a time when you, once again, like it or not, must adopt the student mentality. Not because you’re expected to - because you have the desire to want to. No pressure, no grades, no criticism, no shit.

So as we move into this new decade, embrace your inner child. Go out and DO something different today. Learn a new skill, meet new people, play an instrument, volunteer at a foundation, work at what you love to do and you too will welcome in the New Year.

Happy New Year!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

Confidently Wrong: The Art of the AI Tall Tale

In this episode, A chat with Adamas the Chef on hidden recipes causing digital hallucinations. Pull up a chair and pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee—and please, for your own sake, taste it first. We need to have a quiet chat about why your computer sometimes decides to reinvent reality with the confidence of a five-star chef who has clearly lost his mind. In the world of technology, we call it a  hallucination . It sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it? As if the computer decided to ignore your instructions altogether in favor of a vivid, technicolor imagination that simply hasn’t met reality yet. But in truth, an AI hallucination isn’t a breakdown; it’s just a very confident, very polite mistake. Think of it like our friend Adamas , the Chef. Adamas is a master of the kitchen, but he is also a bit of a romantic who refuses to say “I don’t know.” When you ask him for a classic recipe he hasn’t made in years, he doesn’t stop to consult a cookbook—that’s far too pedestrian. Instead, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Opening Day Magic 2026 . . .

It’s back. Baseball—yes, baseball ! If you’re someone who finds themselves inexplicably drawn to this peculiar ritual, let’s be honest with each other: it’s a bit odd, right? I mean, 162 games. That’s a lot of hot dogs, a lot of standing around, and a lot of grown men in oddly tailored trousers spitting with remarkable precision. And yet, here we are, poised on the precipice of another season. Thursday, March 26, 2026, to be precise—Opening Day. It’s a curious thing, this Opening Day. You walk into a stadium, or turn on the TV, and suddenly, everyone is infected with a highly contagious strain of . . . Optimism . It’s a spectacular form of collective amnesia. All of last year’s fumbles, the endless losing streaks, the existential dread of watching your bullpen implode in the eighth inning—poof. Gone. It’s entirely replaced by a wide-eyed, childlike belief that this year, finally, the baseball gods will smile upon us. The Cycle of Hope and Despair As a Cubs fan, I know this cycle intim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Overcooking the Grid

In this episode, terrified of smart toasters, yet demanding infinite electricity for potato personality tests. Pull up that chair again, and let’s hope your coffee is safe this time. In our last chat, we talked about our well-meaning but occasionally delusional AI friend, Chef Adamas, and his penchant for hallucinating blueberries into your Carbonara. We learned how to manage his quirks by keeping our “digital pantry” organized. But today, we need to look past the chef and take a hard look at the sheer size of the kitchen we are building for him. And folks, that kitchen has gotten completely out of hand. Down in Louisiana, tech companies are currently building an artificial intelligence data center the size of 70 football fields. It is a four-million-square-foot digital brain that requires so much electricity they are building three new natural gas power plants just to keep the servers from literally melting down into a puddle of expensive silicon. And what are we using this god-like, ...
1 comment
Read more

Vintage Vinyl

In this episode - Vintage Vinyl . . . Turntables are making a big comeback; why? Listening to music should be a multi-sensory experience. Harmony, rhythm, and the deep expression of emotion. Like a warm, gentle rain in the springtime cascading around you the room is filled with a resonant, rich, melodic sound. My emotions welled up, and tears come to my eyes. Ok, I get it, we need to step back to get some perspective here. Recently a visit to Lou's Records in Encinitas, California, inspired me to dig out my Vintage vinyl LP record collection. I selected the Carpenters Singles 1969- 1973 . This musical duo reigned from 1969-to 1982 with the rich, full melodic voice of Karen Carpenter. They were one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1970s. "No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units." The tactile sensory experience of music begins with the album cover it...
4 comments
Read more