I’m running out of thank-you cards. That’s a good thing. I suspect that the last month has surpassed my lifetime’s output of analog correspondence. One more temporary replenishment should hold me until the real deal arrives.

I’m meeting my friend, John, to turn in the 3 string guitar tomorrow, so I’ll have my last session with it today.

This morning I headed out for a walk with my dog, Gracie, in hopes of jump starting an idea for the portrait. On my way down Clairemont Ave., I spotted a young troubadour with an acoustic guitar on his back bearing a Beatles sticker. Under your nose….more about that later. When I arrived at the square, he was with a friend and playing some music. You could say, in the words of Joni Mitchell, he was ‘playing real good for free’. I complimented him and struck up a conversation about music. I am convinced that music is the one thing that links us all. Common ground can always be found there. And where there is common ground, there is forgiveness.

So, I asked him what his musical influences were and he rattled off a few, among them Cheap Trick. Now let me prove my point. I shared with Connor that I grew up in their home town and, in fact, knew them. Stories of spending Saturday mornings at Rick Neilson’s father’s music store downtown, playing guitars, hanging out and generally making noise. Ahhh, to be 17 again! He said he had just cut a demo of some original work and was shopping it around trying to get noticed. Best of luck! It’s a fun ride no matter how it turns out.

A note about the photograph: There is a popular philosophy of late birthed by Chase Jarvis: “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” http://thebestcamera.com/ So today’s portrait is brought to you by my iPhone… not the 4, just the humble and antiquated 3Gs. Enjoy.