Last night I met my friend Branton for dinner (fish tacos at Cajun Dave's), then we played a game of pool at Dominick's (I won for a change).  Our ultimate destination though was the Kent Stage where Jimmie Vaughan would be playing (it was JV's birthday by the way).

Vaughan put on a great show. It was a privilege to watch him and his band (the Tilt-a-whirls) play.  Too much fun!

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Today I'm going make a mega-batch of spaghetti sauce so that the freezer can be restocked.  The elements: crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, ground beef, lots of mushrooms,zucchini, carrots, garlic, oregano, basil, bay leaf, red wine and time (it simmers for around 3 hours).  Tonight it'll be served with spinach salad, good bread and wine.  Parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers will be available also.  Can't wait to get started.

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Vaughan plays with a capo, effectively adjusting the neck of the guitar with every song.  Interesting.  He can rock but he knows how to swing too.  The trumpet, sax and stand up bass played with him in really rich ways that I'm still thinking about.

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There was a hiatus there while I got the sauce started.

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Interesting moment in guitar class on Wednesday.  We were warming up with chromatic scales in triplets.  Jim, the teacher, after a while, said "Stop and watch what Tom's doing."

Of course, at that point, I was jolted out of doing into consciousness of what I was doing and my hands went klafooey for which I apologized.

Jim said what he wanted to point out was my economy of movement as something to shoot for--I was at once proud and mortified.

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Guitar playing, I'm starting to understand, is very much about positionality.  Knowing where you are on the fret board and where you need to go next..

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Spaghetti sauce is more like a poem than a fret board.  It's all about layers.

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