My weekend

It seems to be true that gay guys are crap at ball sports.

On saturday, I was playing captain ball on a team of women in their 40s and 50s, and we managed to beat a team of young (well, around my age) gay guys.

OK, so we did lose to the gay cops team. But considering that one of our team members can't squat and that probably only I could run 100m in under 2 minutes, I think that's saying something.

At this point, you may be wondering where I was that I was playing ball games with middle-aged women and gay cops.

Well, yes. I would wonder too if I were you.

On SundayI had another jam session with Mark and our new drummer friend, Trevor. We're really coming along nicely, I must say. Much better than I had expected, to be honest. We have a song list now of 8 or 9 songs and they're beginning to sound alright. Trevor's drumming really adds so much to our guitars that we no longer sound like two guys playing in our living rooms. I can't say we're 'a band', but there are definitely moments when we sound like one.

One thing I'm trying to do (besides generally becoming a better guitarist) is finding 'my own voice', so to speak. I mean, when Ryan Adams sings Wonderwall, it sounds like Ryan Adams doing his version of Wonderwall. But I feel like when I sing Wonderwall, it sounds like a guy trying to sound like Liam Gallagher, which is a hard habit to break and a bad one to have. I know we're all just starting out, but I guess I'm just thinking out loud.

Speaking of the Gallaghers, sure they might be tossers, but playing their music has made me appreciate more that some of their songwriting are just brilliant. Their melodies and chord progressions are simple but they just work. I mean, the pre chorus of Don't look back in anger is just beautiful, and when the same chords are played underneath the solo, it still sends shivers down my spine no matter how many times I've heard it before.

This music thing has really been a godsend to me and I wish I had started much earlier. There are times when I'm playing and singing (especially with the psuedo-band) when I can genuinely get lost in the moment. I can't say that many other things in life can do that for me. Maybe there is something to that whole 'dance like nobody's watching' saying. I always just assumed it was cliched crap.

I'm loving this because it's something new that I'm learning and it's creative and it's collaborative and sometimes you get that whole 'the sum is greater than the some of its parts' feeling.

My tutor told me that he envies where I'm at right now because I've just cracked the surface of what I can do with the guitar and there's a whole new world under there. Oh, I do hope he's right.