The reason she liked using open tunings was for the same reason that Joni Mitchell did; the intentional short circuiting of what one already knows. For Susan it was like running a marathon blindfolded, a reconsideration of the usual, heightening one’s listening and at the same time positioning sensitivity to locate new patterns based on chance. It is a type of freedom, pleasurable especially, since who has the authority to say you are doing it wrong? Not long ago she was a teenager in Garden City, taking guitar lessons with both Sammy Keegstra, the rotten lecherous family friend who insisted on putting his fat arms around her from behind and helping her hands “position properly” or hippie Majio de Fleur, whose guitar lessons consisted entirely about him ranting about how he almost made it once upon a time and how frequently everyone else’s career was advancing using ideas that originated from him. Even the excitement she felt about a breakthrough, a finger picking style she made up in three voices, resulted in Majio trying to re-frame her efforts as though the credit belonged to him. Inferring she got these ideas from being in his orbit and this was natural, “if you are around greatness things rub off, that’s how it works. You’re also using my idea when you go to the G, that’s okay I don’t mind.” This music came from her explorations, none of it stemmed from working with him plus she went to the G because it resolved in G, she marveled at how delusional he was. All he did was assign major or minor barre chords or chord charts to pop songs. .Working in open tunings was also beautiful because people like Majio or Sammy could not claim they invented it. It’s too fluid, it isn’t a static musical piece of theory. Her corner room overlooked Jean Sibelius park, where often she saw Archie playing chess. Archie had the next room down the hall, he was in his sixties and she wondered if playing chess was his job. All the time he seemed involved with either that or else going in and out of the liquor store. There were three regulars. The punk rocker past her prime, with very dramatic eye make up, wildly teased hair and an ample helping of glitter on her white leather jacket. The tall pasty man who wore an Afro wig and a too tight trench coat and the third man who was very skinny, blue jeans and blue jean jacket with a long black pony tail. He looked up sometimes and surprised Susan who upon realizing she had been caught spying immediately motioned her hands against the glass as though she was just cleaning the window. .Archie very sweetly tapped at her door after she moved in and introduced himself, “Hello, I’m your neighbour, Archie Leach, but I don’t do British accents.” His face always looked flushed and he had an especially red bulbous nose with small blue veins floating near the tip. He could tell she didn’t understand what he meant by his Cary Grant joke so he added , “Archie Leach is also the real name of Cary Grant but it’s actually my birth name. That’s why I don’t do British accents” he smiled as though she now understood but she never heard of Cary Grant. An uncomfortable moment passed, “is he a chess player?” she asked trying to be polite. “No. He is an actor,” but Archie pondered, “but then again who isn’t an actor. I see you have a guitar. You probably act on it right?” Susan thought about her book on how to be assertive. What was she supposed to do when she felt this awkward? She didn’t know, maybe she’ll always be shy, maybe it isn’t anything to feel bad about. She agreed with Archie, everyone is acting or perhaps writing songs is also acting. This introduction inspired other ideas about what to sing about and she knew what she would do after the door closed.