Success in this curious venture seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

Just the other day I received a phone call from a former client. He had replaced me, at the regular once a month gig I had at his venue, with a variety of other acts. He assured me, at the time that I was being replaced, that he'd call me about other opportunities to perform there throughout the year and was making good on his promise. Unfortunately the situation was not rewarding enough financially nor artistically for me to consider his offer.

Now, perhaps to someone who has never had a regular gig somewhere, maybe my just having had one could make me a success in their frame of reference. Maybe the fact that a former client would call me back at all is a determination in someone's mind that I've achieved some level of success. It's a relative thing. I think we all determine success differently. For someone just starting to learn to play guitar it could be simply being able to make a barred F chord correctly and that may be the extent to their desire for success in everything musical or that could be just the beginning of their quest. There are endless levels of expectation and satisfaction to quench with regard to success. Everyone determines their own level of satisfaction and this may change from year to year, day to day or even moment to moment. Mick Jagger, for instance, can't get NO, satisfaction.

It's a wholly personal endeavor this thing we call desire. It can easily consume a lifetime and still leave ya with a burr in yer britches. Some of us can get used to the agitation, agravation and irritation that goes along with it, others keep scratchin' at it their whole lives through and never reach any level of ease, still others just go out and find another pair of britches to wear, something more comfortable.

Do these make me look fat?