After returning from fall break, I am amazed by the generosity people have towards others.

First, a little background. I had been wanting to bring my car to school, because walking everywhere has severely limited me in some cases (that 3 mile walk to the church to get an Easter basket last spring nearly killed me). The only problem is, the car has been sitting dead on the driveway for years. With the help of my grandfather and a couple of phone calls to my uncle, we replaced the alternator and fixed the windshield wipers, the two most crucial repairs needed.

To get me all set to head back to school, my parents graciously paid for routine maintenance repairs on the car. All in all, I think every drop of fluid in the car may have been replaced, and with good reason, for they had probably nearly crystalized with all the time spent unused. My family was really looking out for me.

I know that I haven't mentioned my progression with bass guitar very often in my blog, but it's been coming along well. I've certainly advanced a lot from the buzzes and squeaks which characterized my early songs. My tone has gotten better, I've gotten faster at strumming and can play across the strings with relative ease. The problem is, I've reached a plateau.

At this point, I can sort of play any tablature which gets placed in front of me. It may take a little while to work up, but the basic mechanics of how to play and makes notes come out is there. What I currently lack is the ability to take those notes and really make music.

The other day I bought a gigantic book of music theory for the bass. Looking through it, I got very excited. The things in this book are what I've severely lacked in my own playing: actual music. It's been so long since I had formal music lessons that I had forgotten how important the basics such as scales and chords are. But now, with an actual course of study ahead of me, I might just be able to someday pass myself off as a musician.