Almost another three weeks have past since my last update, and although a lot of stuff has gone on, I don't have too much to add.

First, I did buy that bass guitar. It's a Fender Squier J Bass, which was part of a package that included "everything I needed to get started." Basically it was just about everything I needed; an amp, a tuner, a strap, a cable, a DVD, and a bag (for the guitar, obviously). Even though I went in the music store with the intention to buy a book and just look, then research, I ended up spending about an hour looking and asking questions (it was a small shop though, and I didn't spend much time talking...) before I made the decision to buy. As I said, it wasn't what I was originally going to do, but I don't regret doing it at all and I did buy a book on playing bass (though I haven't read through it completely yet).

Anyhow, I think I've been picking playing up pretty quickly, and like most of the things that interest me, I spend a lot of my spare time researching as much as I can. So far, using mainly Wiki, I've learned quite a bit. Unfortunately I haven't devoted much time into learning standard music writing, so I've been using bass guitar tabs. They sometimes not accurate and you need to be familiar with the song in order to play it semi-accurately, but in addition to being easy to understand, they have the benefit of being free and easily accessible.

Another thing that's been pretty fun is trying out different kinds of picks. At first I played with my fingers, and when I tried using a pick it was very awkward and I couldn't play as well, but I noticed that I got a much better sound from the pick, so I adapted a bit, and now I actually can't play as well without one.

My brother actually also bought a drum kit, though so far he's not learning as quickly as I. But playing together is fun, although very challenging. Biggest problem is that he can't play any quieter, so in order to even hear what I'm doing on the Bass while he's playing the drums, I have to crank up the amp all the way. This results in a deafening noise that can be heard outside of the house, although there's enough space between us and our neighbors to drown out enough of the noise to keep people from complaining. We've been careful to play only in the day, as well.

I've been thinking, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to give up on that themed collection. In fact, I'm probably going to sell a lot of the stuff I have, since I could really use the cash for supporting my new found hobby, as well as getting back into another hobby: video games. I haven't played a lot until recently, but with the release of GTA IV coming up, and a few other things going on, I've really become interested again. So with the cash that I've been getting (and will hopefully continue to get) form sales I shouldn't have much difficulty buying a PS3, which should get me started again. I actually was given an X-Box 360 a while ago, since the previous owner was apparently bored with it and owed me a bit. Recently, however, it showed the dreaded ring of death, something which I was extremely upset about. I was a PS3 fan from the start, but with this happening, and with the recent discovery of several websites that are specifically dedicated to the repair of X-Boxes, I've decided to get rid of it somehow and buy a PS3 (which, as I've noticed has a near zero failure rate compared to the 'Boxes estimated 33%, and no websites dedicated to repair).

Anyhow, speaking of sales, I've actually made a bit more money than I thought. No where near as much as I had originally spent of course, though I wouldn't complain about that. Biggest problem so far has been the amount of time it takes to even get a buyer interested. I'm sure most people have sold something, but for those that haven't, it's a lot like fishing, and I really hate fishing. Negotiating and the actual selling is actually almost fun though (again, like fishing). To continue the metaphor, how about I try a better lure, and give 8% off to anyone that mentions my blog for a purchase?