August 16, 2004
Dreaming of Road Signs
No really, I was dreaming last night of road signs. Merge. No Parking. Stop. Wrong Way. Yield. Go Away. Don’t Do Donuts On My Lawn. Ok, just making sure you were paying attention. It amazes me how crappy the roadways are in the NY/NJ/PA metropolitan area. I’ve now driven across the country and up and down the east coast, and didn’t get lost anywhere until I was 40 minutes from home last night on the way back from Maine. I think there are just too many damn highways and interstates. The maps I have don’t even list many major ones.
So, I’m glad to be home, but I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy a road trip by myself. On the way up I took a direct route, but on the way back I took some detours that I otherwise might not have if I was with someone. It was really nice not to have to rush (even though I got back in just 2 days.) If you would like to see my 160 pictures – I LOVE my digital camera – let me know and I’ll send you the ofoto album.
The week at Guitar Intensives was really awesome. I didn’t realize when I signed up for this workshop that I would be studying with such a great teacher in Howard Morgen. I would recommend Guitar Intensives – he plans on teaching again next year – to any guitar players that I know. Ask me for more information if you’re interested. Also, Howard and Alice Schiller (directer of GI) could use some help with their websites. If you’d like to help them out, maybe you could get some type of discount on some very high quality guitar lessons. =)
GI was held in Bar Harbor, which is on Mount Desert Island. That was a very nice, but very touristy, crowded town. After a week of intense learning, I was a little “guitar’ed out”, so I packed up and headed further up the coast to Schoodic Point. That was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in my life. Up past Bar Harbor, there were very few tourists. The only bummer was on the way to Schoodic Point (pronounced Skoo-dik), in Winter Harbor. Looked like a great little town with a great view, I just happened to pick the one day of the year they had a parade, and the streets were packed, so I got the heck out of there and kept going. I spent a lot more time in Schoodic Point than I originally planned, but kept driving till ~10:30pm and ended up in New Hampshire that night.
The next day I spent a lot of quality time in the Connecticut River Valley at Nehantic State Park. I drove about half an hour on a dirt road with tons of pot holes and puddles (I think I need a truck), and then came to a really nice, quiet camping area by Uncas Lake. I finished my sightseeing at Gillette State Park , the castle of William Gillette, the original Sherlock Holmes. I know, sounds corny, but the grounds there were awesome, and the castle overlooks the Connecticut River. Nice backyard dude.
Time to stop typing. I know you’re all extremely interested in the minutia of my life, but I have a lot of guitar practicing to do.
ps – Some great music to check out:
Etta James – Etta James Rocks the House
Be careful, this cd has the ability to burn down your house. (Thanks again Paul)
Pat Metheny – First Circle
This was played for me at Guitar Intensives and knocked me off my feet. (Thanks Tom)
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Ok… Sorry for the delay… Just now beginning to read all of your new posts!
Awesome. Glad you had a good time here. You’re weird with the whole road sign dream. Yeah, really weird.
timsamoff () (URL) - September 07, 2004 at 09:45 am
I’m interested in your comments about Guitar Intensives. I’m thinking about going next year. The instructional program sounds great! Could you tell me a little about what happens outside the program? What do folks do in the evenings? Are there planned activities or do people just get together? Is it friendly? Were there a lot of professional musicians in the group? Did it feel intimidating or did everyone work well together? Thanks so much.Lynn Randall () - August 19, 2005 at 05:55 am
