An Axe to Grind

As a follow up to the "40" post, I'd like to comment on my fantastic birthday party. My wife and our good friends arranged to surprise me at the Sea Dog Brew Pub in Topsham. With family and friends on hand, we enjoyed good grub and good beer (and the occasional wine and lemonade) and celebrated me. (I guess this is a worthwhile endeavor, but I'm not always sure!) Everybody was very generous with gifts, which is much appreciated. The gifts fell generally into four categories: Red Sox stuff, golf stuff, "40" things (e.g. 40 plastic cups), and cooking gear. The granddaddy of them all, however, was from my wife. She apparently has been following my not-so-subtle hints (read: I haven't shut up about it), and she got me a beautiful Fender Toronado guitar. It's got a sunburst finish and a tortoise shell pick guard, and (unlike the model shown) has two single coil pickups rather than the humbuckers shown on the current model.

Oh, it's not the Jag-Stang that I've been lusting after since I laid eyes on the Sonic Blue beauty at the Music Center in Brunswick last winter. But it's a very similar guitar, and it's available (the Jag-Stangs were limited edition and aren't available through the standard retail channels at this time). It was also much more affordable (much to my relief). It's a second-hand model that is in terrific shape, but still cost about half of the retail price of a new one. Good shopping, honey! It's a wonderful instrument, and paired with the Ibanez practice amp that she purchased, it sounds great. It especially sounds great with the Overdrive button pushed. Distortion covers up for a lot of missed notes!

So now I'm 40, and I'm rocking, and I'm fully embracing my mid-life crisis! I hope to not overly annoy my ever-suffering partner with my poor guitar playing, but I'm really psyched with the gift. Thanks to her, and thanks to all who turned out for my party!