Must. Play. Music.
Realized that in all the time I've been spending at work and on the Freelance Gig and all the other assorted distractions I call my life, I haven't picked up my guitar lately. I need to fix that soon.

The instrument is a black Fender Telecaster -- a Japanese model, not an American Standard, unfortunately. It was the first thing I bought with my first paycheck as a full-time newspaper writer in October 1988. I play it through a lunchbox-sized Fender Blues Box amp. Fifteen watts of unstoppable power.

Despite the fact that I've been playing off and on for almost 20 years, I'm not very good. I'm the personification of the Guitar George character in Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing." I know all the chords, but it's strictly rhythm; I don't make it cry or sing. I play southern rock, blues, country and a mix of my own stuff; I'd play a few of those songs in public, maybe, after about 10 beers.

Back in Anytown, I used to sit in with a bar band after work and play covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Cars and Doobie Brothers songs. When we came upon a song I didn't know, I just turned the volume down and guitar-synced. Noboby noticed.

I've never had formal guitar lessons. What ability I have is mostly genetic. Pretty much everybody on my dad's side of the family can play, to varying degrees of proficiency. My dad was OK; his twin brother is quite good; one of my crazy uncles taught me how to build an entire song around a "D" chord, techniques I still use today; another one of my crazy uncles, the one who gets married every five years whether he needs to or not, is the best of the bunch. He can make it cry and sing, despite the fact that he's missing most of the first two fingers on his left hand.

My Telecaster is in desperate need of new strings (for the record: GHS Boomers, .011 to .048; I used to play .009s but I don't feel the need to try to play fast anymore. It's all about depth) and I need to repair the volume knob. The pickguard is cracking, the intonation is a little bit off and I probably should have it re-fretted. I've been saying for a while that I'd buy an American Standard and a real amp with my next big bonus from work, but something else always seems to get in the way.

And even if I did get another guitar, I'd never part with this Tele. It symbolizes some accomplishments of which I'm very proud. It's the only possession that has followed me through all the various stages of me over the last decade and a half.

Time to wrap this up. I gotta go buy some strings.