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Feeling Good for the Holidays

As David pointed out in his recent newsletter, it’s going to be Bastille Day again before we know it. Before we let things get that far, I want to share my warmest wishes for this holiday season. Over the past year it’s been my pleasure to correspond with many Guitar Noise users - by email, newsletter, the forums and now this blog. Best wishes to all my online and real world friends.

It’s my belief that this is generally a good time of year for musicians. Not only do most people get a short break from work and school, but there are often more chances to spend time with family and friends. Those who can’t get together with other musicians and jam, may at least get a little extra time with their guitars. It seems that there are always a few hours to kill on Christmas Day between opening presents and carving the turkey. Past experience suggests that Christmas and New Year’s are the two busiest days on Guitar Noise. Perhaps some of you will be logging in to wish your friends all the best.

While I sincerely hope that each of you has a great holiday, it’s also that time of year to remember that not everyone in the world is as lucky as most of us are. There are plenty of people and organizations out there that make being charitable fairly easy and straightforward.

Fans of YouTube guitar videos may already know about Justin Sandercoe and his website justinguitar.com. This Christmas, Justin and his girlfriend are traveling to Ghana to volunteer in an orphanage. They are paying the entire cost of the trip with their own money but have been accepting donations through Justin’s site. The money raised will be used to buy musical instruments for the kids. Justin wrote to tell me that they have collected enough money for the instruments, and with the leftover money the’ll be able to make a real difference in the village they’re staying in. Any extra money they collect is going to be used to build a new well, buy beds for the orphanage as well as new medical kits.

If you’re feeling good this holiday season, why not stop buy Justin’s site, check out some of the free guitar guitar videos, and read more about his plans to spend Christmas in Ghana.

About the author: Paul Hackett owns and operates the popular websites Guitar Noise and Music Careers. Outside of that he is a writer-director living in somewhere in southeast Asia. He writes a lot about movies and screenwriting on his personal website, which is the best place to catch up with him on his latest travels. In 2003 he directed the feature film Not Much.

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