Tonight, my brother Scott and I were watching Transformers on Demand and there was an Amber Alert on the Emergency Broadcast System. Haven't seen anything on any websites and we went right back to watching the movie since we can't help. It happened at 7pm, I got to Scott's house at around quarter of, and we were watching the Sixers and playing with Danny and Megan. The alert didn't come on until 9pm. Plus it happened about 7 or 8 miles from us. Two kids, a 3 year old girl and a 6 year old boy, in a car when it was stolen. I don't want to be prying and definitely not scrutinizing, but I hope that the criminals stole the car for just the car, and do the right thing, and not anything stupid. We discussed it for a few minutes, hoping for the best, after the alert stopped. What else can we do?

Today, I got a pair of really comfortable slippers that can also be worn outside, so I don't have to put my shoes on to take Kodie out. Also, I got a sweater, a zipper up sweater, a manger scene for my house because I have no Christmas decorations, and I made a funny today! I was getting my hair cut (Christmas present!) by my Mom, and she says that my brother Pat has turned into an ironing maniac! I said "That's ironic" :P You love it.

Today we're going to the 12:00 mass at St. Bernadette's, the school I went to all my life, until High School... which, it turned out, taught me nothing. Then my Mom's family is having something way up in the Warminster part of the country. Should be a good time. My parents are driving me so I can drink all I want. w00t.

I got my brother Pat, for a Pollyanna gift, a money clip. It's a nice one that has a diamond on it. I gave him the bag with it in it, and he read it with a big question mark on the end, like "Jeweler's?!??" I said "It's your bling" having no knowledge of what bling is :P It's sharp looking.

I also got floss, Scott gave me $50 and a 12 pack of Pepsi for a Pollyanna gift, I got a $20 gift card to Wawa, a zipper down hoodie sweatshirt (awesome), and socks, a belt... I forget everything else, but it was a productive Christmas as always. Of course, I bought myself the Gretsch earlier this month :)

Merry Christmas!

It's got a hell of a tone to it, but any guitar really sounds great brand new. What really separates the great one from the shitty ones is how they sound after a year of abuse. I'm a big fan of Brian Setzer, and he's what turned me onto Gretsch. Of course, his Gretsch is almost 50 years old, made in 1959. I don't know how much longer he has with that thing, because as we all know, wood is not the most durable piece of material. It warps and bends, cracks, splits, splinters.

Anyway, I wasn't planning on learning any Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) songs only because I thought they'd be too hard. There are some tabs out there on the 'net, but on no sites that you'd want to visit (not on Windows with IE anyway), but I figured since I have the Mac and Firefox, I'd be fine checking them out. So I learned Stray Cat Strut all the way through in about 30 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to learn it that quickly, considering how long I've taken to learn comparatively simple songs. I'm talking solos, chorus, verses, everything. Intro, outtro. Bridge. However, relative to all Stray Cats songs, that song's pretty easy to learn. Next up... Sexy and 17. That song is my favorite.

I tried the rockabilly picking again, this time without thinking (because no brain makes that a difficult task)... SO much easier!! I can pick the bottom strings with my index, middle and ring fingers, and pluck the top two strings with my thumb. The pinky is worthless. Actually, I did it so much, that right now I'm typing so fast and not making any mistakes. I can type so fast, I could probably fill this post with a whole bunch of boring stuff. I won't though.

GOOD NEWS! Jim and Kate, in England, had a DAUGHTER!! LillyAnn (one or two words, and/or one or two 'L's, I'm not sure, but you get the idea)!! Welcome to this world, LillyAnn, make yourself at home. I will be her godfather!! Woohoo!! I'll probably get assloads of pictures of her tomorrow. And I'll take some of my guitar.

Last news... I ordered an amplifier. Hartke GT60c 1x12 tube amp. Should be sweet.

No guitar yet. When I ordered it, I was so excited and forgot to get it shipped to my work. I have been kicking myself all day. Well, ever since I ordered it even. But especially today because they tried to ship it. I called Fedex and they said I can have them hold it for me to pick it up, but the hours of operation at the warehouse that it's at tonight are only from 8 to 5. Of course, I called at like 6:30. So, as of the time of this post, I'll have it in 8 hours. I'll bring it into work, they'll appreciate it. Two other known musicians, and at that place, that's 30% musicianship. I'm going to wake up early no matter what time I get to bed, I'm excited to see this thing. So pictures tomorrow (or later today technically).

Should be da bomb. I've gotten the basic fingerpicking down so that's good, time to move onto some more advanced stuff. I will probably make a trip to the local music shop this weekend and see if I can pick up a cheap version of the amps that I've been eyeing on Samash.com.

Of course, I don't have to learn to fingerpick just to own this guitar. I don't have to learn anything. I just want to expand my horizons.

I tried to play my guitar picking it rockabilly style, and my brain fell out.

Not that I'm horrible.



I never really got good with fingerpicking though, so I have to learn that first. Then I have to get the thing down where you do the bass line with your pick and melody with your other three fingers. But, anyway, how about that Internet and its invaluable resources. You can really learn whatever you want. Hopefully there's a brain replacement video out there somewhere.

Today is the day my Gretsch gets here.

I found it hilarious when I read this:

As news of the hostage-taking spread, candidates from across the political spectrum put aside rivalries. Democrat Barack Obama, who has been trading sharp barbs with the New York senator, called Clinton to offer support.

Republican Mitt Romney, who has also been taking shots at Clinton, asked his staff to lock all his field offices and be on alert for suspicious individuals. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those involved in the situation in New Hampshire," Romney said in a statement early in the day.

First, it's like every other candidate wishes something like this would happen to another candidate so they can get good publicity out of showing their support, while the candidate it happened to appears weak. I can imagine Obama getting off the phone with the PR rep or an advisor, saying "call Hillary and offer your support". Then he gets off the phone with Hillary and immediately calls all of the local media. Or his PR advisor.

And the next thing that made me laugh was Mitt Romney locking his offices and looking out for suspicious people. When I first read that, I was like "Who the f@#$ is Mitt Romney?!"

I told Kate that I alternate the party I vote for every four years, so this year I'm going Republican.