But how does it read on the john?

THERE'S A NOOK IN MY WATER CLOSET.

That would be the headline if there were a newspaper for my life today.

Last week I broke down and bought my first eReader, the lovely (if admittedly old-school by now) 1st Generation Nook 3G/WiFi unit from Barnes & Noble.

Cut to the chase, Gaucho.

I've been reading via Nook for about four days now. I enjoy it thoroughly, and don't identify very much with those who say "I could never part with my hardcovers." Folks, the ebook police are not going to come to your house and confiscate your hardcovers. And they're not going to quit making new hardcovers any time soon either, however inevitable their eventual demise may seem. You can read your Tom Clancy hardcover in your easy chair, and take your Nook on the road, the plane, but subway, to the soccer game, whatever.

Cut to the chase, Gaucho.

Not until this morning after breakfast did I think what should have been the most thinkable thought the very first time I even HEARD of an e-Reader:

BUT HOW DOES IT READ ON THE JOHN?

As uncouth as we are loathe to be in this day and age, we can still be rather Victorian about some things here in this great land of ours. One such thing is reading on the can. We all do it. OK, all of us who read do it. And if you say you don't, either a) you are lying or b) I pity you, oh how I pity you.

At the risk of being called the Prince of Non-Sequitirs (it's OK, I know you were thinking it) I have recently slung a boatload of guitars around. To clarify- A year ago I bought an electric guitar. A few months later I bought another. Within a month I had traded electric guitar 2, a red one, for another one, green/blue (electric guitar 3- I now own #'s 1 and 3). Not too much later I thought I would sell #3, but I ended up trading it for a 4th, root-beer-brown guitar. I now own electric guitars 1 and 4, but #1 is for sale at Brookstown Stringed Instruments, purveyors of fine...stringed instruments.

With the exception of the red one (#2) (maybe), I played all of these guitars on the john. I have even developed a philosophy of "you really don't know what you think of a guitar until you play it on the john." Some days I take it further- "You really don't know a guitar until you play it on the john."

Cut to the chase, Gaucho.

So this morning I realize that I've apparently been suffering some massive neuro-disconnect in that I had never thought of my Nook or eReaders in general in the same way. Enter today's elimination excursion with attention to education.

The bottom line: Not until after hands were washed and the entire event was over did I even REMEMBER that part of my purpose in there was to see how the Nook reading exprerience in that context compares to a pbook (physical book) experience. It took me a second to realize, but that was a veritable epiphany, and one that fares very well for eReaders- both the devices and their devotees.

So if you did not suffer the same mental eclipse that kept me from wondering about this crucial regard of e-readerdom, wonder no more. You needn't worry that 21st century reading technology will put an end to 20th century reading pleasures.

Happy trails.

Time for a Change

So I'm at work Googling "I hate my job." I don't hate my job. I quite like parts of my job. But I really really don't like parts of my job, and more to the point, I know it's a dead-end street- time to change streets, even if only to join a short street that connects me to some other street...that connects me to the highway I want to join eventually, which I won't know until I get there. Or maybe it's always a web of back roads....In any event-

Google "I hate my job" and you'll actually find oodles of useful perspectives on life, work, career, purpose, satisfaction- big stuff. By far the best I found was a little chestnut called escapingthe9to5.com. The gal's name is Maren Kate and I find myself insanely jealous of what she has accomplished in just a year more than I have on the planet, and perhaps more so by what she AIMS to accomplish by 30. Her site and her posts remind me very much of the life changing book (that I need to re read to keep my life changed) "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David J. Schwartz.

Finding a brand, finding a sound, being so you that no one else can mistake it for anything but....if I could just get my guitar gear settled so I can figure out that sound. In the words of "Ignore Everybody's" Hugh MacLeod- "The idea doesn't have to be big---it just has to be yours."

Happy trails...

the Gaucho Joshua Shelton

The Dream Machine

After pining after this guitar for nearly a year, I am now the proud owner of late 70's Ibanez Les Paul copy that was on consignment at Ralph's shop, King Music Center. This was one of the results of Ibanez flat out plagiarizing (if I can use that word for a guitar) the Les Paul- being sued- and then barely changing enough things so that they couldn't be sued any more.

The guitar came at a high cost- namely selling my (formerly my brother Ben's) SG to Mike "B" Bennett at The B String guitar shop downtown. I hope the "Solid Guitar" is on its way to some other aspiring electric guitarist and it will help them with their music as much as it did me.

The next chapter of the story just happened. I'm currently downtown at Chelsee's cafe, across from the B String. Moments ago I stopped into the guitar shop to show Mike the reason I sold the SG. He had told me before that he is familiar with these Ibanez Les Paul copies, including ones like mine that differ from real Les Pauls mostly in the neck- Gibsons have a "set neck" design where the neck is physically set into the neck (more expensive, stable, and resulting in the incredible note sustain that Les Pauls are famous for); my Ibanez has a "bolt-on" neck (you get the picture) like Fenders, which results in a little bit brighter, snappier sound. The end result is lots of the beefy tone of a Les Paul but with a bit more versatility and brightness like a Stratocaster.



I set the case up on Mike's counter, and a curious look came over his face as I unlatched the top and opened it up. He inspected a few parts of the guitar before concluding that this is the very Ibanez Les Paul copy he had owned and sold at The B String a few years ago!

I'll get my first chance to see how it performs tonight at Elliot's Revue for their weekly jam. So far I am unbelievably pleased with the instrument. With all love and respect for my beloved former axe, this guitar is as much a step up as my acoustic Gibson was from my first guitar, that little Epiphone acoustic-electric some of you remember.

On we go!

the dawning of the age of aquarius

Well really it's not that grand but I did notice today that we are fewer than 18 months from 2012. I am thinking about gathering up non-perishable foodstuffs.

An update...

I continue playing acoustic music with folks in King, NC. I'll have my first real gig with Ralph & Rex McGee, storied musical brothers of Stokes County and beyond, on July 31 in Clemmons. Here's hoping I can hold down my end of things.

Otherwise I'm enjoying electric guitar muchly again, after a hiatus, more or less, from the instrument. Currently I'm looking for other like-minded musicians with which to start an electric outfit, aiming to get rooted with blues and folk-derived music and see where it may go from there. I also have tons of little musical clippets and snippets stored in my loop pedal, and am seeking venues to get some of that stuff out of that box and into other spaces. We'll see.

it has been brought to my attention that the photo below didn't work out right. Here we go again.

Eight and a Half Months Later

OK...

Two major updates- one is that my brother Ben sent me this real live picture (that's really his finger on the left hand side) and folks let's just say the sign speaks for itself. I never thought much of free thinkers myself.

Second is I am at the Green Bean coffeehouse in Greensboro, North Carolina and just saw a bumper sticker for the band "Marks On Most Surfaces." The most astute audience will note that their acronym is "MOMS" and indeed they are taking advantage of that in their advertising.

In other news-

Now twice delayed, I'll be playing my first concert for the NC Triad's folk music society, the Fiddle and Bow (http://www.fiddleandbow.org/) sometime in April, or so it looks currently. I may have the honor of opening for the terrific Chuck Brodsky (http://www.chuckbrodsky.com/). We shall see.

Next Friday I will open for the inimitable Jon Watts (www.jonwatts.com). Information on his front page- towards the bottom in the Tour section.

Besides these things, I now have an 8 month rearview mirror in which to view my experience of the Kaufman Kamp, the incredible acoustic music camp I attended for the first time this past June. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about it. I knew it was great at the time, but I had NO idea how influential it would be for me, to become my one most looked-forward-to event of the year (and I anticipate for many years to come), and to help me come to finally settle, more or less, into a good description of myself as a musician- flatpicker.

Visit Steve Kaufman at www.flatpik.com (yes "pik") and see for yourself if you have any interest in acoustic music, the traditional mountain-based music of the eastern US, or if you are baffled at what the term "flatpicker" may mean.

I am thrilled that this year at the Kamp I'll be working with Russ Barenburg, king of sweet-tea-sweet acoustic tone. Awesome.

Take care all.

Piety Street!!!!!

This is just a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it, likely, but I am listening to John Scofield's spring release "Piety Street" and I am SOOOOO EXCITED to hear this record at this moment! Everyone run out and acquire it however you see fit as long as you do it NOW! This is amazing roots/soul/country/jazz- yes!

In other news, I'll soon be playing at Whole Foods and, more excitingly, at Foothills Brewing Company in downtown Winston-Salem. Details forthcoming.