THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

[bungalowbill]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Keith, What are your strengths and weaknesses as a guitar player/musician?

[Arkitkt]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

...The CAD software my company makes is pretty awesome...

May I ask what software that is? I work with CAD software 75% of my workday and we just switched to something new.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Do you have a favorite guitar cable?

It's 8:50, my wife woke me up over two hours ago when she left for work, and my kids have subsequently woke me up for real in the last hour or so. Now they want to eat. That's why I'm up.

[Rich_T]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Being a Boston man...


...Tea or Coffee?

[Aceman]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

What is your "go to" guitar hero-impress the chics/punks at a guitar center lick/riff/move?

[ratherdashing]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

I like Boston a lot. Sometimes I feel like the entire city is made of brick. I've always thought Boston is to England what Montreal is to France.

That is the lead-in to my next question: have you ever been to Montreal?

[ginormous]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

OK, I'm gonna say it... re: your prevoius avatar. Lawrence Welk?

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Using multi-quote for the first time. Look out!

Keith,

What makes you tick?

Here's a short list of things that make me tick:

• Sushi
• Walk-off homers
• Telecaster > cranked BF Fender
• Mostly sunny, 65ºF, wind 10-15 mph, 20% humidity
• J.S. Bach's "Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor"
• Blueprints actually printed on blue paper
• The smell of chimney smoke
• Hermann Hesse's short stories
• Shakespeare's sonnets
• Bub's Bar-B-Q
• Quirky psychological thrillers and murder mysteries
• Practicing foul shots
• The weight of piano keys
• Hugs from my wife and kids
• Compression + Delay

Keith, what were your ambitions when you were younger, and what are they now?

When I was a kid, I loved music and drawing more than anything. I actually had visions of rock stardom. Bands like Kiss, Aerosmith and Black Sabbath planted that seed early on.

Later on, I started playing a lot of basketball. I was small for my age as a kid, but I was quick and had a pretty good jump shot. With basketball, I had hopes of playing in high school, but ultimately I was just too small. I shot up to average height my junior year, but really it was too late by then -- the varsity squad had been well established.

Now, my ambitions are much different. I'm not looking for fame and fortune. I hope to be a great husband and father (and I think I am). I want to raise happy, confident kids.

I'd like to improve my guitar playing on many levels, and I hope to be part of a regularly gigging band. I'm hoping to find and hone my own sound, but I feel very. I love metal, blues, jazz, rock, chicken pickin' -- all those are fun to listen to and play, but are they really helping me find my sound? I hope I get it someday.

I have 2 questions.

If you could go back and change one thing in your life what would it be?

and

Everyone has one guitar they let go of that they wish they would have never let get away. What is it?

It's 7:18 and I just got our 4 week old back to sleep. That's what I'm doing up this early.

If I could change one thing in my life, I would've pushed for a quicker adoption of my ex-wife's oldest son. (Look back on an earlier post in this thread for details on that.) Barring that possibility, my second choice would be to have chosen a different major and career path. I have a degree in electrical engineering, and I work in information technology, but I wish I had pursued something like architecture.

As for letting go of a guitar, I honestly don't have one I wish I'd held onto. If I had sold my '86 Kramer Focus, I'd feel remorse for that today. I almost did sell that guitar, but I luckily changed my mind at the last minute.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Keith, What are your strengths and weaknesses as a guitar player/musician?

My greatest strengths as a guitarist/musician, by far, are my passion for music and my ability to learn music by ear. I really do have an excellent ear, and I don't often compliment myself.

My greatest weaknesses are my ability to focus and commit to a personal practice schedule. I also have a hard time buckling down and working on exercises or difficult passages, when it's so much easier to play (again) something that I already know and sounds good.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

May I ask what software that is? I work with CAD software 75% of my workday and we just switched to something new.

You betcha. The name of the software is SolidWorks.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

Do you have a favorite guitar cable?

Well, I suppose I'd have to go with Monster Cable, not because they're the best, but because I bought a bunch of them before I realized there were such differences among cable brands. Monster is all I know, and I'd rather spend money on other aspects of my rig before I spend it on replacing my guitar cables.

Being a Boston man...


...Tea or Coffee?

My body reacts poorly to caffeine. I take unsweetened iced tea with lemon.

What is your "go to" guitar hero-impress the chics/punks at a guitar center lick/riff/move?

I don't think I have a move. I think I start most shows self-conscious and wooden, then as the adrenaline rises I start to loosen up and have better stage presence as the show progresses. I'm not one for flashy moves or impressive poses.

When I'm checking out a guitar at GC, I usually play parts of "You Know What I Mean" (Jeff Beck), "Hideaway" (Yardbirds) and "Write Me a Letter" (Aerosmith). They're a good yardstick for me to measure tone and feel on a guitar, and they're tunes the GC staff hopefully hasn't heard in the last week.

I like Boston a lot. Sometimes I feel like the entire city is made of brick. I've always thought Boston is to England what Montreal is to France.

That is the lead-in to my next question: have you ever been to Montreal?

I went to Montreal and Quebec City on my honeymoon with my first wife. We only stayed in Montreal for two days, and I had just come down with a cold, so I have fuzzy memories of Montreal. Quebec City, however, was just beautiful. I can't wait to go back, and when I do, I want to spend a proper amount of time in Montreal on the way to QC.

OK, I'm gonna say it... re: your prevoius avatar. Lawrence Welk?

Yeah, someone posted Welk's pic in a thread a while back, and it really cracked me up. It was so kitschy that I had to make it my avatar, at least for a little while.

I'm a very visual person, so when I'm posting to a thread and addressing someone specific, I have their avatar in my head when I'm typing. I always think of PFDarkside, for example, as a guy who looks like Johnny Cash; I forget that he's a huge Pink Floyd fan. I know what Skarekrough looks like in person, but I still see his dog with those goofy socks on his ears when I think of Skarey. Does anyone else do that?

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

BTW, sorry for taking so long to get back to you guys on this morning's questions. It's been a very busy morning for me, and Keira (out newborn) has been extra-fussy. Now I'm sitting in front of the TV, watching the Patriots kick butt, about to switch back and forth between that and the Sox game, and posting to you guys.

Keira's asleep.

[ratherdashing]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

That raises another question: why is there no Bruins or Celtics logo in your avatar? Do you only enjoy boring sports?

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

That raises another question: why is there no Bruins or Celtics logo in your avatar? Do you only enjoy boring sports?

Yes! Boring sports only. I couldn't find a team logo online for the Nantucket Chippers, 1998-99 National Tiddlywinks Champions. Big fan.

[newking70]

Re: THE WELL: For Real This Time...I'm an Open Book

sounds like you live a blessed life, i still think you look like dean cain....