Chris Pearson’s Thesis theme, which I currently use on this site, is rapidly gaining popularity. One of the reasons for this is that its appearance is so easily customizable. For example, just compare the difference in appearance of the following, all based on Thesis:

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I received a call a little while ago from Buster B Jones’ girlfriend, Nancy, who told me that Buster passed away today. He passed while Bobby Gibson was playing See You In My Dreams for him. His liver failed … he was only 49 years old.

I am shocked by this sad news.

Buster was one of the most fantastic guitarists in the whole world. You should check out his MySpace page and listen to some of his fantastic guitar picking. (Nancy is obviously torn up by Buster’s passing and it will be a while before she updates his MySpace page to reflect his passing.)

He was a huge influence on me, and I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit. He was a fine man. He will be missed greatly, not only for his remarkable guitar talent, but also because he was a special guy, a kindhearted man with a wonderful sense of humor and a generous nature.

The picture above shows Buster playing my guitar, which he autographed for me. Nancy wanted me to know that my guitar is now invaluable because it was the last thing he signed. I am honored beyond words to have his signature on my Godin. I am even more honored to have gotten to know Buster a little bit.

Anyway, Thom Bresh will be doing a tribute to Buster, and I will link to it when it is available. I also will try to compose a tune in Buster’s honor and record it later this week, and I’ll share it with you. Obviously I will play it on the guitar Buster signed for me. In the interim, here is a tune I recorded in appreciation of him a few months ago, on my 30-year old Alvarez acoustic: For Buster. It was just something I put together as a sort of appreciation for Buster and for his inspiration.

Please keep Nancy and Buster’s family in your prayers.

Rest In Peace, Buster. We will miss you!

Courtesy Carla F. Castagno

Stress can get people down so much that they can’t even think clearly. Have you ever had that happen to you? It might not be a common occurrence but it can happen, even to people you would not suspect it would happen to.

I recently saw an example of this happening. With all the stress that this time year brings on people, now compounded by a bad economy, I thought it would be good to talk about this.

Recently someone asked for my advice on making a choice, because he said that the stress of having to make the choice was too great and that he could not even think it through. His job is going away, at least in its current form, and he is faced with two alternatives for income, with neither of them being desirable.

I asked him if he had done the math, to see which alternative provided the better income. He had not. This surprised me, because I knew him to be a person who is normally good at thinking about which alternative is mathematically (financially) more sound. And, it is also when I realized how sinister stress can be, and how much it can impact the ability of our brains to function. Continued…

I suspect that most people live their lives in reasonable accordance with their values, at least most of the time. It’s not always easy to do, of course:

• You may value independence, yet, when your daughter has grown and is ready to move out on her own, you are not sure you want her to be so independent.
• You may value creativity, but find that you stifle your own creativity because you also value security, which makes you not want to take chances.

But, I also suspect that most people could not set down and list their values. So, if you are included in that group, I encourage you to take some time to list your values. It can be very enlightening. And, it can let you see that you might have some values that you are not living up to as well as you desire.

To help you think about your values, I’ll share my current list with you and we’ll use a couple of examples from this list to illustrate some important points. My current list of values is as follows: Continued…