Man, these stories of bloodied hands and ER visits are really making me rethink pursuing guitar ;)

1) younger- 28
2) "playing" is generous- about 2 months
3) yep
4) perhaps
5) sure

You're doing great. No worries. And, you're using terminology I've never heard in my life, so it's forcing me to learn so I can attemp to catch up :)

Mark, I'm so stoked about this series! I've been practicing on my own with the aid of a book I bought. I have zero musical background (except for when I had to learn to play "Hot Cross Buns" for an elementary music class in college), but I'm making do. My fingers have gone past the "wow, they're sore" stage to the "wow, they're kinda numb" stage. And...I have saved the princess on Super Mario Bros. (over 15 years ago). I guess I'm on the right path!