First post, writing about an obsession, and starting my 10,000 hours over again.

I had abandoned music in so many ways.  I had plenty of excuses.  No time.  Unable to find reliable musicians to jam with.  No Time.  No money.  No time.  Arthritis.  No time.  Classically trained musicians are asshole prima donnas and painful to deal with. No time.  Mostly I told myself I just didn't have time and I really did fall back on arthritis and painful hands as an excuse.

Last year the primary cause of my arthritis symptoms was eliminated.  I didn't do anything with music beyond the occasional halfhearted attempt to jam with others.  Rock, blues, indie... it didn't matter I just wouldn't commit.  I would often wonder how I let something so important to me become so trivial.

Then I had a re-awakening just about 7 months ago.  A friend of mine was playing guitar and working on some classical music at the coffee shop.  It was just some simple stuff like a guitar voicing of Fur Elise, but something stirred in me.  I suddenly remembered a piece by Isaac Albeniz, Asturias.  Most people probably know it as Leyenda.  In my mind it is one of the most definitive pieces of classical guitar music ever written.  I suddenly remembered how much I loved classical guitar.  I suddenly remembered how badly I wanted to be able to play Asturias.

I went home that night and remember not sleeping.  I kept wondering where my Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) books from over a decade ago had disappeared.  I struggled to remember the melody to Espanoleta,  a piece I lovingly recalled being either the 2nd or 3rd piece in the 2nd RCM guitar volume.  I never throw a book away so I had to have them. Somewhere. But I didn't. Tearing the garage apart and scrounging through each and everyone  of my drawers and boxes I couldn't find them.  I think I'm glad I couldn't find the books.  I felt like I lost something important and suddenly I found myself on an obsessive mission to replace what I had lost.  The next day after work I rushed to the only decent music store in town.  I bought new nylon strings and the first two books of the newest RCM editions.  I didn't realize it at the time, but that day a fever started in my brain and guitar became a nagging obsession.

My dog was suddenly going to learn what true neglect is.  I had started my ten thousand hour journey.