The room was bathed in fanned rays of yellow light, the glare of the
streetlight outside the window only partially shuttered out by the Venetian
blinds. It wasn’t a terribly cluttered or fancy room; bunk bed at one end,
desk at the other, two closets and chests of drawers, mirror, and bookshelves.
The walls were grey cinderblock, and the floor was institutional brown tile, a
choice of a practical rather than esthetic nature. But that wasn’t to say that
the room had no character; far from it. It wasn’t easy for a lowly teenager to
make a dent in the Establishment’s effort to create anonymous conformity, but
it could be done. The center of the floor was covered by a huge Persian rug,
and the walls were adorned with Roger Dean landscapes: here an ethereal stone
staircase over a cloudy sky, there a desert island floating in the clouds, and
over there a huge mesa, a lake at its top, sheeting down water on all sides.
And there weren’t many other rooms in the building that would have had
furniture like that next to the desk: a keyboard stand with a small
synthesizer, a pair of boxy guitar amps, a beautiful old Les Paul on a stand,
and a hideously-customized old Rickenbacker bass beside it, a sort of
“American Gothic” with guitars instead of the old farmer and his wife. (more…)

I await for Sam to get here. An old friend dating back for some
35 years. I do not know what happened to him, flying high on the
Texas oil boom for so many years and now without a penny to his
name, I do not really feel sorry for him but I can not leave him
in the cold since he really wants to come back to the area to
live. Hope I can help him get back on his feet!

Its around 9PM when he arrives, his gleeful smile and happy-go-lucky
attitude mask the depression he must be feeling. “Hi Dan how’s every
little thing?” he asks then turning to her he say “Hi Karen”. My wife
does not want him staying with us as she feels that the drain on
our finances will be to great. She manages to utter “Hello Sam, glad
your finally here we were worried about you on the long trip!” What
tripe but it sounded warm and friendly, what more can I ask for. “Let
me show you to your room so we can put you bags there and you can get
use to a hard floor under your feet again.” I said feeling happy that
all the ill had been melted and things were off on the right track! (more…)