MadMup.com

A week ago I took a sort-of electric guitar lesson from a friend of mine. It was more of a “how it works” than a “how you play it” kind of thing. I’ve been interested in electric guitars for several years now (Guitar Hero and Rock Band are to blame, I think), but didn’t really know how they worked. I was familiar with acoustic guitars and the strumming and even a few chords, but I couldn’t really wrap my brain around how it worked. I asked Scott if he wouldn’t mind showing me some things. He was happy to, and I learned some neat stuff (neatest to me was that the amp you use has more to do with the sound than the actual guitar).

The most important thing I learned, though, is the electric guitar is not for me. Yes, it was fascinating to learn about, but I knew after the half hour we spent on it that I didn’t want to learn how to play it. I’m not sure I can explain that, I just knew. No big deal, I still learned.

It struck me, though that there are many things I know I don’t want to do, more so than I know what I do want to do.  It’s a lot easier to put things in the Nope column than the Yep column. It isn’t a fear of trying new things, either. I’ve considered them, thought about them, even learned about them, and knew for a reason or several that I wouldn’t enjoy them. Hobbies, jobs – same deal.  I am equally sure that I want to be neither a janitor nor a surgeon.  Both jobs gross me out.

I feel like I’m starting to be defined by the Nopes, though. That doesn’t feel like a good thing. But I guess at the same time, you need to know the Nopes to get to the Yeps.

The next things on my list to see about are cross-stitch and model building.  I’ll let you know how those go.

I have become the world’s most delinquent blogger. To tide you over, here’s a picture from a few weeks ago of me riding a bike.

It was the first time I’d been on a bike in… well, let’s just say longer than I’d care to mention.

I joined a softball team for the summer.

I will give you a minute for saying “whoa” or laughing or having whatever reaction you choose.

Okay.  Truth be told, I had pretty much the same reaction.  I was on the baseball team for two seasons in high school, but I haven’t picked up a bat since then.  If I’ve picked up a glove since then, I don’t remember it.  My whole exercise regime could be summed up similarly.

There were three reasons I signed up:

Somewhere in the house is my baseball glove.  I saw it the other day, but I can’t remember where and I can’t find it again.  Finding it is one of my main goals for the weekend, because we have practice on Wednesday.

I’m looking forward to the experience, even though I fully expect to get injured and/or embarass myself.  I’ll keep you posted.