Musicians

January 1979: R.J.'s mother had been a music major, and so when they joined the small rural church, perhaps it was natural that she volunteered to lead the music, since they had nobody to play piano or organ.

However, since she'd been a vocal major, in fact she couldn't play piano or organ either, but that didn't slow her down. She got a three-ring binder, and wrote in the lyrics, and above the lyrics she wrote the chord symbols such as "C", "D7", and "G". Then, she'd strum her autoharp and lead the choir, singing sweetly together.

About that time, two brothers who were truck drivers started attending the church, and in a rural church, since it's the custom for everybody to pitch in, it soon developed that they were standing behind R.J.'s mom with their two guitars.

She'd start playing the next song, and they would listen for a measure or two, and then they would follow along. And follow along they could, quite well.

One day, she saw them huddled around her three-ring binder, and she overheard their discussion.

"What are those letters written above the words?" asked one of the truckers. His brother gaped at him.

"What's wrong with you?", his brother replied, "Can't you read music?"

How I Became Cronos

Tiny apartment near Carl and Cole, San Francisco, March, 1984: Approaching my 40th birthday, again I began thinking about changing my name.

I'd been born 'Richard French', and known that way back in Henrietta Texas, in college, and on my travels, but ever since I was 30 I'd been thinking about changing my name.

My theory was that we humans tend to 'act out' our name. The only reason that this is not always so totally obvious is that each person's idea of what his name means is very personal, quite idiosyncratic, and not always visible to an outsider. I figured that, if this were so, maybe it would be a good idea to consciously choose the name you'd like to act out.

Although I'd had this theory for ten years, I'd never found a good name to choose.

Until now.

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