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You don't know what horrors you've subjected yourself to, but I've sent the invitation nevertheless.

You don't recognize songs that were written and not even popular before you were born... that's weird.

As for John Hiatt, I do a song of his called "The River Knows Your Name."  I have never heard it, so it's fairly unlikely that my arrangement is anything like his.

None of that makes a lick of sense to me, but I'm happy because you're happy. 

Speaking of which, I got together with Jets60 a month ago or so to hang out one evening.  He played that song you wrote about the homeless man, and he put the chords on it.  Man, for a folksy storyteller and a metalizer, you guys make a great team. 

- Zurf

I'll send you an invitation to a Dropbox with some songs I recorded for Miss Dondra. 

Edit: Constructive criticism encouraged.

Edit: Some constructive criticism encouraged. 

Edit: You know, a little constructive criticism would be good.  A little.

- Zurf

For Cherry Cherry, I'm using Justin's easy peasy Youtube lesson. There are two nearly identical rhythms with the same chords but different orders in each part. Either part is simple. Both parts back and forth and transitioning between them is not.

It's not a bus, but I went to a bar in Chicago, The Underground Wonderground, where musicians went to hang out together after their other shows. It was an amazing night of music.

Looks like it holds bourbon as well as my bass amp.

That would be a party!

Yes you do.

Virginia also has a native grape, viognier, which is very popular in my county. Chambourcin and petit verdot are persnickety grapes that do well here in the Piedmont. Come on over, we'll take some acoustics and a picnic and have a big day.

Well, the two things you know aren't actually things any more.  With a world wide cork shortage for food grade cork, there are a fair number of wine brands using screw tops.  Many also use either remanufactured cork or vinyl stoppers.  So you can't tell too much about a wine from the kind of top.  Also, while most box wines are so-so at best, the bladders used in them have been refined to a point that they don't put any taste in the wine, and they keep oxygen away from the wine so that it stays good longer after having been opened.  Some better brands have started to use boxes.  For example, Pinot Evil is a decent French Pinot Noir available in a 3L box.  For your "glass a day" use, a box wine may be just the thing for you. 

Now, as for recommendations, it all depends on what your wife likes.  I like bold, fruity wines with very low to no residual sugar.  For whites, that means I'm generally in favor of wines made in Washington state, especially the Columbia and Yakima valleys.  Hogue and St. Micheal are reliable and affordable brands.  If you like lighter wines like BGD, Sauvignon Blanc is a good varietal choice.  If you like bold, fruit forward wines like I do, then Gewurtztraminer and Reisling are good varietals to try.  If you don't know what you want, go with a California Chardonnay.

If your wife prefers red wines, then I still like big, bold, fruity wines with low to no residual sugars.  The world opens up for reds, but the price goes up a bit too for modest reds.  Though I've been having a competition with a friend for the past 20 years or so to find the best bottle of red wine under $10 (which has gotten much harder as inflation has taken its toll).  A few have slipped over $10, but some of my favorites are Bully Hill's Love My Goat (which is actually sweeter than I usually like, but I like it anyway), Bolla's Bardolino or Valpollicelli, Cigar Box's Malbec, Little Truck's Big House Red, and because it's obligatory given our mutual hobby, Red Guitar (which uses Tempranillo (sp?) grapes).  I am lucky to live in what is probably the U.S.'s best region for Cabernet Franc, but that starts to slide up to $20 or $25/bottle.  I made Topdown taste a few Loudoun County Cabernet Francs when he visited over the summer and he decided that he did in fact like wine. 

If you are going to only have a glass per day, do yourself a favor and go to a wine shop to get a Vac-u-vin stopper system.  You can evacuate the air from the bottle and make the wine last longer.  Or you can get a little bottle of nitrogen, and you squirt the nitrogen in the bottle before recorking it.  Nitrogen is heavier than regular air and will settle on top of the wine and keep the oxygen away.  Or so they say.  I have never weighed Nitrogen or Air to know for sure. 

Something that might be fun is to buy a few kinds of wine and have your friends over for a wine and cheese party.  This will allow you to taste a few different kinds.  Take some notes on which you like and what you like about them.  Armed with that information, you can go to a wine shop, tell them what you like about wine, and how much you want to spend per bottle, and they'll set you up.  Wine shops are not snooty - though that is often the impression.  My favorite one delights in finding high value wines.  He has everything from "you get it cold and you drink it" wines up to as much as you'd ever care to spend.   

- Zurf