Ghee-tar

I've never taken a guitar lesson, so I don't know if my teacher was relatively weird or not. I do know that he said things like, "I might suspect you of the sin of sloth."

And when I said something about how our eyes are able to interpret color because of rods and cones, he delicately explained how wrong I was and then proceeded to explain ROYGBIV as it pertains to the rainbow.

When teaching us how to pluck, he conducted us with enthusiastic arm motions that gradually evolved into the zone out stare of a human metronome. We only played one note repeatedly for about five minutes.

The way he watched us was as if he could hear a magic in the notes, or maybe in all the other notes we weren't playing. Maybe he heard something powerful in any music and was just easily enchanted, like a toddler with cartoons. But I think maybe his former passion for music has evolved into a passion for teaching.

Why My Hand is a New Shade of Purple

I was visiting my friend Paul Berry for the first time in a few months yesterday. I opened the door to see him and his dog yapping at me from a leash that his mom is holding. “Don’t worry, he’s not as dangerous as he looks,” says Paul. The dog is acting a little aggressive, but he is a pet, so I reach out to pet him thinking I’m not afraid of dogs. Next moment, the dog bites the shit out of my palm leaving a swollen white mark that faded into a dark purple bruise. Naturally, I yelled.

“Why did you try to pet my dog?” Paul asked.