Guitar Gone Wrong...

This post is entitled "Guitar Gone Wrong" but it could also be called 'One of the Dumbest Things I Ever Did in High School.' It should really be called 'One of the Myriad Lies I Told in High School to Make Myself Seem Cooler Than I Was.' Eh, that's probably a little too long of a title.

Let's just go with Guitar Gone Wrong.

When I was a teenager my friend Adam had a great house for parties. His parents were nice and didn't mind loud music and teenagers. Plus he had a Rec Room which is really all it takes. So, 'hooray for nice parents' and all that.

One night at one of his parties the music was kind of loud and there were lots of people there that I didn't know. I felt a little awkward and out of place so I sat down and picked up a guitar that was sitting out and started to play it.

You should know that I don't actually don't know how to play the guitar. I mean, besides a smidgen of  'Nothing Else Matters.' Which is a story for another day. 

It didn't matter though because the music was so loud so no one could hear what I sounded like.

It's a truth universally acknowledged...

...bonus points if you can tell me what book that is from...

...that everyone looks cool playing a guitar. It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like - if you stick a guitar in your hand suddenly you're just the bee's knees.

My rocking out was interrupted by a guy sitting down next to me. It wasn't just any guy. Oh no, this was a totally famous local heartthrob amongst my friends.

He leaned in and said "So...You play the guitar?"

Now...I have no idea why what happened next, happened. I mean it was just like the Trek incident! Actually it was a little like the Danny Castiglione incident! 

One minute I was innocently strumming the guitar and the next I was lying like a dog.

I looked up at him and said "Yeah, I can play."

What the what? No! No, Paula! No, you don't play! The opening eight notes to a Metallica song do not count! What was I thinking?

At this point I'm thinking 'Oh, it's okay. It's too loud in here for him to hear. No big deal.'

And here's where it gets really bad. 

He then says "Awesome. Let's go somewhere quieter so that I can hear what you are playing."

"Hi. My name is Paula and I lie to cute boys at parties."

Uh...Somewhere more quiet? Er...So you can hear me play??? Sure...

I was good and truly caught. My mind started to race as I tried to think of some reason the guitar could under no circumstances be taken out of this room. 

In a miraculous score of luck one of his friends showed up at that moment and told him it was time to go.  He left but not without getting my phone number first. 

I fretted for days about what I would say if he called. 

He never did. Maybe he was on to me. 

What kind of wing nut makes that kind of rookie mistake???

Whew...What drama. 

Well, I'll tell you who is not a rookie at the guitar and that's my nephew Tucker. 

Here is a picture of us: 

Oops. I mean, here's a picture of us twelve years ago. 

Here he is now:

He's been playing the guitar now for a few years and last week he made a YouTube video to ask his girlfriend to Homecoming. It was awesome. He's awesome. Dude is Good Will Hunting smart and kind and funny and helpful and oh, you get the drift. 

Here's his video:

The nine year old, James, plays the guitar too. I hope he has enough confidence to do this one day. 

I also hope he has the confidence not to lie to girls at parties to prop himself up because people that do that are really, um, lame. 

Really, really lame.