Dear Beckence.

Site or Gossip?

Manhattan
Lost

Wow. A couple of days of some pretty focused and dedicated practicing, and a whole lot of repeated patterns, and I more or less have "Dear Prudence" under control. The key was getting the fingerpicking pattern to the point where I could do it by feel instead of by looking at the strings. I still need to hammer out the transitions between the different parts of the song, and every once in a while my brain locks up and won't let me play things correctly - but the difference between tonight and yesterday morning is in several ways astounding. It's a set of fairly typical Travis Picking patterns, so I learned each of them individually and now I'm trying to jump from to another. Good stuff; it's nice to be able to play a song that sounds surface level complicated like that, even when a, I know it's just smoke and mirrors accomplished with a pattern, and b, I'm still hacking my way through it a bit. Patience. Yeah. Word.

Beck got back to SA tonight; she is pulling onto Huebner Road as we speak. She had a good if relatively unenlightening time at the clinic(s) from what I can tell. So she will spend tomorrow hanging with my parents rather than feeling horses from the inside.

I finished Season One of Lost today and am adequately "Charlied" to the show. Ha. I am also thoroughly smiling at the fact that things like this happen in the 21st century. You can join me in my Stats class this semester if you would like to learn why it's stupid to use the lost numbers to play the Lotto. Geez-uhs. Speaking of the Son of God, Beck had the following conversation yesterday, more or less. Note that "Techie" is the clinic tech who doesn't really practice things like "Sterile technique" or "wearing lead in front of X-rays" - Beck even tried to helpfully advise her not to stand with her reproductive tract in front of the direct beam if the X-Ray machine. So here's that convo:

Dr.: How do you feel about gay marriage?
B: Oh, it's a real controversial issue in Mass right now.
Dr: I think it's ridiculous. We've got better things to be worrying about right now.
Techie: Well, I just think it's wrong.
Dr.: Why do you think it's wrong?
Techie: It just goes against everything this country stands for.
B: Like what?
Techie: You know, Christianity.

This is funny by itself, but what's better is that Beck follows up the account of the Techie's political views with:

"Maybe she should keep those ovaries in front of the X-ray after all."

Damn. Is it cold in Navasota, or is just the mean Yankee who just did a rotation there? Ha.

I also watched the Stephen Colbert Roast of George W. Bush today, a roast he delivered live and in person. Two feet from the president. Here's the transcript - and here are some sample great lines:

"I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

"Jesse Jackson is here, the Reverend. Haven't heard from the Reverend in a little while. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he's going to say what he wants, at the pace that he wants. It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is."

Alright. The 7 Beckless Days and Nights in the Grafton Wilderness are nearing their end. I've learned some guitar songs, watched some Lost, and transported some Nuts. I've watched some movies, written a bit on the website, and outlined some story ideas. I've gone running in miserable heat and then come back to an apartment where I sat in miserable heat. I got lost in a forest and came back with bugs that suck blood. Today, I ate a burrito. As you can easily tell, the TBN ship floats on Beck-fueled waters, and without it, my Graftonite existence exhibits a buoyancy quite unlike that of limes. Without the beautiful Beck, I am quite museless. We await her return with great antici...

Join us tomorrow, when we teach you how to keep a turkey in suspe...

It's been one, so I'm going to go do this now.