[stylist] Change It responses

[Chris Kuell]

Thanks to those who took the time to read and respond to my prompt submission. Donna--that was an excellent catch, thank you. In my own defense, this was technically a rough draft. I wrote sections 1, 2 and 4 on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday, and just did a little tweaking Friday. I have made the change you suggested. As for guitar, I started trying to teach myself to play about two and a half years ago. What I've learned so far is I have no natural ability, and what little ability I have goes right out the window when I try to sing and play at the same time. Still, I enjoy it and practice almost every day.    

Brad--thanks for your kind words as well. The details, as you surmised, are a combo of observation and research. Since SRV went down in Wisconsin, I wanted to place my story there, although I've never actually been there. So I googled, best trout fishing northern Wisconsin, found a fishing link with lots of sights, and the Peshtigo River sounded like a good one to me. I've done some fishing in my day (in fact, I participated in the Lions Club National Blind Fishing Derby in the Outer Banks, SC, last October) and one day in the early 90s, while hiking in Yellowstone, I sat and watched some guys fly fishing for a couple of hours. Before writing, I read up on cardiomyopathy (the leading cause of heart transplants) and Stevie Ray Vaughan, who's favorite guitar was a 1963 Fender Stratocaster custom painted a color called 'Fiesta', which I guessed was a red/yellowish shade. I also remember very well the day he died. I was visiting my wife, who had a job at the University of Connecticut (I was still in grad school) and I was tossing baseball with a kid named Lucas who didn't have a dad and had a mom who was, well, very depressed. We were throwing the ball when this guy named Dave, whom I thought of as the yard nazi, because his only occupation beyond standing in line at the methadone clinic seemed to be mowing the yard where my wife's apartment was--came over and said, "Did you hear? Eric Clapton died last night in a helicopter crash!" Stunned, I went to listen to the news, and found out it was SRV and some of Clapton's people. A sad day indeed.      

chris