The Bards Will Save Us All

...is my prediction for this pandemic, because music and games perform the invaluable service of structuring human interaction just enough that it stays enjoyable without being overly stifling. If you're singing you're not forced face the awkward question of how much social interaction you really, really need with people who call it the China virus.

To that end, I have bought a guitar. It was $50 on nextdoor, it's a Yamaha 310-f with a warped neck and far too much action for my weak and flaccid fingers. I don't know the first thing about playing guitar, and a previous career in live audio has left me with too much taste and not enough skill, and I'll be teaching myself off whatever tutorials I can find on the internet.

I'm pretty sure they don't teach this style in Guitar 101.

But, whatever, I own a guitar now. I've had it for 2 days, I know 2 chords (D and A), and my sources tell me that with a third chord (E) and a capo*, I can work my way up toward a simplified version of Dire Straits' Walk of Life. And while I'm doing that, I'm not refreshing twitter.

So now, Jim has to live with someone learning a new instrument from scratch. It is a really good thing that I built the outdoor office. Please keep him in your thoughts during this difficult time.

*and a decent sense of timing and a lot of practice doing chord changes and more callouses and maybe a small miracle.