named after a pawn shop guitar

counting the lad's thrashed-upon bass collection and esperanza's daisy, we've now got eight guitars kicking around the house. the kids actually take pretty good care of their gear, despite my unconscionable negligence with regard to the instrument above.

my sweet mother, who was a bit of a romantic, liked to tell me i was named after a pawn shop guitar. more specifically, she told me i was named after the pawn shop guitar that kicked around my parents' house in west st. paul throughout my childhood -- a three-quarter size jackson-guldan model with C H R I S stenciled onto the headstock.

whenever i tell this story, all my axe-wielding friends tell me that i've just gotta get ol' C H R I S back into playing condition. i've made a few aborted efforts to rehabilitate her over the past four decades, but it is time to admit that i'll need professional help. i'm planning to stop by charles hoffman guitars for an estimate. i can't say whether they will take on this project, but i know they've seen worse.

UPDATE: after reading this post, dad told me that he got the guitar at a pawnshop on the pre-gentrified washington avenue in minneapolis -- about a half-mile from my current office. kinda unusual for a st. paul guy to get way over on the pacific side of the river, but the whole story is kinda unusual and it seems to bring a little symmetry to the story.