1990 was another banner year. I took Mike up on his offer, and not only did I pick up some marketability, learning to illustrate using a Mac, I also met my wife Sharon within two weeks of relocating! We lived in Brooklyn, where I met dozens of guitarists and jammed a lot.

A bro from church (and a Juilliard-trained trumpeter) invited me to join his Chicago tribute band - with a full horn section. We didn't make a cent, and only played one show - we didn't even sound that hot - but we had an incredible time! I soaked it all up like a sponge.

Sometime in '91, a friend lent me her nylon-string Yamaha for a small benefit concert. I was exploring new sonic terrain, and I'd written a couple of quasi-classical, new-agey pieces. Later, when I tried to return the guitar, she refused, encouraging me to use it for God. That guitar is one of the most special gifts I've ever received, and to this day most everything that I write has its beginning on those nylon strings.

Sharon and I left Brooklyn in April of '92, when I accepted an offer to work as Art Director for Kevin Darby, who had started a multimedia company, Applied Digital Media, in North Carolina.