I began exploring my aspiration to play music on a traditional instrument about two years ago when my daughter gave me, per my request, a mandolin for Christmas. I wanted a small instrument because I live on a boat and travel on trips by motorcycle. I have tried and failed of and on throughout my life to pick playing music. This time I decided to approach like I would a drawing or painting or any thing I would make, just start, get the feel of and build from there. I quickly became mesmerized by micro successes and hooked on trying to solve the same old problems of getting stuck on what I know rather then moving into the unknown. The first thing I do is often wonderful, beginners luck as they say. Everything after that is an attempt grow onward, a long and often monotonous journey trying to push beyond the little I know and crate a feeling of dimension and beauty. Not liking sameness is what compels me to move forward, it also makes it difficult to perfect a product as I am perpetually in pursuit of the novel. Over the past two years I have gone from total ignorance to a smattering knowledge of Music theory, an introduction to reading music and many many hours of noodling around on the Mandolin, the Mandola, the Banjolin and a bit of Banjo and Guitar. I recently reached the point where the seed has just popped out of the earth. Much much more to go, but it sounds consistently like music, and my hand/ear coordination is such that I am more and more able to respond to what I hear might be next in stead of just running in circles around a few notes and chords I am become trapped in. Still happens of course. But I have methods to break out with, and my invented chords, accidental findings of real chords, random note patterns, have lead to a intuitive musical vocabulary and freedom to just make noise until I find music. I will try to use this space to explore my thoughts of Art and Music, how they are similar and not, and post recordings of my progress... such that it is.