Sherlock Holmes

I've been playing the harmonica for quite some time now, and I've been getting pretty good at playing with the guitar. however, sometimes when I try to play notes on a harmonica after it's been in the rack, certain holes won't even respond to either inhaling or exhaling. the holes do this randomly, and I can't figure out what the problem is. I usually end up having to put a sharp blast through the hole to clear it, and this takes a few good efforts. I think the springs on the rack may be too tight, but I'm not sure as to whether the problem lies with the rack or the harmonica itself, seeing as both the comb and shells have no wear on them at all. it can't be the springs, though, can it? even if the shell is as perfectly straight as it was when I got it?

my friend keeps insisting that the reason I can't find a girlfriend is that I wear sport coats and suits all the time. I'm about to turn sixteen, so I'm looking at that age range. I keep trying to tell him it's because of my freshman year, when I was so socially awkward that girls just gave up on me. by the way, I know it's not the problem, because we wear USN uniforms (NJROTC) everyday at school. if a girl my age who doesn't know me sees me in a suit, what does she think? I wouldn't call myself overly attractive, to be fairly modest, but I'm not bad looking. do girls like guys who take pride in their appearance, or is wearing a suit giving off a negative impression in any way? by the way, I only really wear ties when I feel like it, so I don't consider myself completely dressed up 24/7. and because I wear them so often, I can pull off the casual suit look, which I think fits my style quite nicely. what should I do?

I'm going to Parris Island, South Carolina. I'm not a recruit, just to make that clear. I'm on a school trip, and it lasts for a week. I go to a military academy, so it makes sense. I'm going to go through what the recruits go through for a week. just so everybody knows, Parris Island is the Marine Corps recruit depot, and it's stressed that the Marine Corps is one of the hardest branches to get into when it comes to training. is there anything anyone wants to say to me before I go? any advice or comments? I know it's only a week, but we've been well informed that it's going to be hell, yet fun at the same time. I don't quite know what that means, but I guess I'll have to see.

the two songs here aren't finished, and I'm asking for help/opinions.

Disappearing in the dark

Hopping stations

Don't leave a mark

Living life in the underground

A twisted midnight calls

With no direction

It fogs the walls

Living life in the underground

Lonely voices sing a tune

A harmony

With just the moon

Living life in the underground

I'm not alone

I have a song

And I atone

To where I belong

But I long to roam

Without a home

And my only friend

The tracks that don't end

A homeless man brings a song

The years grow dim

It moves along

Living life in the underground

From that man, I've learned a tune

I sing between

The train and noon

Loving life in the underground

I'm not alone

I have a song

And I atone

To where I belong

But I long to roam

Without a home

And my only friend

The tracks that don't end

next one:

The end

All my loose ends

Are tied into bends

An epilogue smiles on me

Go on, it's the end

The end

Many good men

We won't see again

Living our lives, moving on

Go on, it's the end

What do we see on the far lands?

Passing souls take their commands

With ages slipping through old hands

Never to see the same seas again

any opinions? I'm a bit of an interesting writer...think of a cross between Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Lennon, and Donovan. at least, that's what I'm told.

a man was killed in his car with two gunshot wounds, both from a pistol. there were no passengers in the car with him. all the doors were locked, the windows were up, and there were no bullet piercings in the window. there are no powder burns in the car, though a gun was found in the glove compartment. the most obvious explanation is that he was driving in a convertible, and the murderer shot him from outside the car. the gun in the glove compartment was just a coincidence, as the man had a concealed weapons permit. this clearly wouldn't have been a suicide, because there are no burns in the car, nor on the body. case solved. this is an example, of course, and a very easy one. anyone have any clever ones that might make my day? getting a bit bored over here.

I don't feel like running Cross-Country for another season next year, but everyone's expecting me to. what exactly do I do?

this may be a bit of a long read, so I apologize in advance. I wear suits, blazers, and sport jackets all the time, and it has not been a problem, considering that I am only 15. today, however, my stepfather went through my wardrobe and took all of my shirts, saying that I am "going to stop living in a fantasy world". now, I can't wear any of that. he thinks I'm too awkward for society, and is trying to change me by taking things away? I don't get it. I feel naked in jeans and a tee-shirt, and my wearing of suits was in no way a problem. so...what just happened?

this is a bit of an opinionated question, so it it impossible to have any one right answer. my friend says I'm just in-classifiable. I'm only fifteen, by the way. I wear a variety of suits, sport coats, and blazers with dress slacks everyday as casual wear, usually with a tie, and sometimes a waistcoat. I wear a variety of pocket watches, and am learning horology, which is the art of fixing clockwork. I am learning to fix and clean my own watches by hand, so I know how the mainspring, balance shaft, hairspring, and jewels all work. I also once converted an old surplus military greatcoat into a civilian overcoat, of which I have a few. the only problem with it was that I thought it was West German, but it turned out to be East German border patrol...so now my friend thinks I'm a Soviet, not because of how the coat looks, but on general principle. because of my formal dressing, I have been likened to that of a late nineteenth century Englishman, probably because I drink tea heavily. on a mild day, I probably go through about seven or eight cups when I make it, which is often. (and I hate tea bags. they make pale tea that nobody wants to drink anyways. free leaves are much more flavorful, which makes them think I'm going even further back....). I even shave with a 1912 safety razor, which is a single bladed razor with a metal handle and head. the head doesn't come with it's own razor, so you have to buy replacements and put them in yourself. and, to add to all the oddness, I like a variety of musicians, but nothing past the mid 70's, and mainly the 60's. I listen to just about anything before that, even going back to the 1800's with the Red Army Choir...still not a communist, just like the music. the politics suck, but you have to admit that they do have a good choir. my favorite artists, however, are Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, ect. and I go to a military academy, and I am considering joining the Marines when I get out if I can't get into the Naval Academy. this is, of course, if I don't become a Naval engineer-for I am getting a job in Carderock, a naval testing facility- or a horologist, or possibly a songwriter/musician, for I'm also a fluent poet. that reminds me, I also read Shakespeare, Homer, Plato, Dante, ect. so...what does this make me...a Soviet horologist ex-Woodstock military/Naval engineer hippie poet from the 1800's? that's how my friend describes me, by the way. oh, and I'm also a bit quiet, so when I say friend, you know he's one of the few people I talk to. oh, and I do deductions like Sherlock Holmes, which is where I got my username from. obviously...

It's a quiet afternoon

The sun bakes bricks of red

The people know rest comes soon

As the sun sinks her holy head

The sun is crying

The air is grey

Her love is dying

She rains away

And like a feeling

She slowly fades

Giving the evening

A lonely shade

It is now a muted night

The restless air runs cold

I long for the morning's delight

Where breaks the rising gold

The sun is rising

The air grows warm

And unsurprising

It runs a swarm

A broken man

Rejoice today

We know we can

Curtain dismay

I look to see the rising sun

Rising above the morning's fog

Yet I know she hasn't won

For she soon fades to an epilogue

Sorry, not the genre you were probably expecting...I know. this is sort of an urban-folk thing, sort of like S&G for those who know that I'm talking about.

The leafs come back to the trees

Greener each time I pass

And the winter weather must flee

As snow melts from the grass

The birds send calls to their lovers

While I go searching in vain

A cloud, about me it hovers

As I must welcome its rain

But with every spring comes some rain

Though I've found my heart remains

With you, though you're so far away

The sun may set on this day

A cage may rise in the night

Forever my watch ticks away

I fear it may curtain the light

But with every spring comes some rain

Though I've found my heart remains

With you, though you're so far away

Will your heart ache with mine

As love succumbs to the cold?

Together we might write our lines

But I will never be told

But with every spring comes some rain

Though I've found my heart remains

With you, though you're so far away

So far away

Anyways, if this seems like it's any good, but needs criticism, criticize it as much as you want. I'm open to suggestions. and don't say it won't work as a pop song, I know very well it won't. I write a sort of S&G urban folk-pop. anyways, what do you think?

it's not actually a song about someone who left his home to come to America. it's about moving on in life, realizing the monotony of it. it's about looking for hope knowing that nothing is ever what it seems, which prevents him/her from ever hoping beyond wanting a better life. and even these hopes are shattered by the fact that a better life would still become monotony in its own way. there's a lot of hidden meaning in it, so don't try to take the literal meaning for a grade. anyways...

I see my home so clearly, yet

Drifting from reality

Floating away upon the sea

On America my eyes are set

And I'm longing to be free

And I've come to find a job

We must all play our part

A new life of work, I'll start

I'm so weary, but I cannot sob

The morning lives within my heart

I've found my life to be so stagnant

Everything just gives me pain

All my efforts are in vain

Of my life, I've left fragments

Everywhere I've played the game

I'll leave a fragment in New England

I've left a fragment at home

I'll never be where I have roamed

In visions my new life glistened

For in America I atone

In a land where I belong

it's sort of a urban folk-pop song. it's hard to explain the genre. think of Simon and Garfunkel...

keep in mind that when you read these, they are not be of the genre you may be familiar with. these are vocal harmonies in a sort of urban folk-pop style, much like Simon and Garfunkel, my inspiration. anyways...

Floating across the winter

With the summer in my eyes

Fall has come to its demise

A path ago

Times are moving forward

A politician gives command

Lying his way to the stand

And nothing changes

A new age we are in

A new day we begin

But when we try to make a change

Nothing happens but the lies we arrange

Now a man, I was a boy

A broken family comes to haunt

Only innocence it will taunt

And nothing changes

I am older, I was young

My face is changing with my age

All that remains is my plague

in words now forgotten

A new age we are in

A new day we begin

But when we try to make a change

Nothing happens but the lies we arrange

And nothing changes

rain to the narrow street falls

pressed against the city walls

silence echoes in the calls

from the streetlamps

I know the night will never stay

and so I wandered down the alleyways

by night alone, never day

to the harbor

water trickles from the docks

setting back my broken clock

but the daylight will forever stalk

my long, dark road

but the clock from the tower chimes

and I must pass delightful times

as the advertising slowly climbs

from the shop displays

and now the shops are open

and customers come hoping

try, but the city streets aren't coping

with all the people

with all the people

it's a folk-pop song, as is my genre. think of S&G.

The first one is written in a sort of "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM" style, with the speaker lamenting his foolish actions as a new day starts, hoping to forgive himself in the light of the morning. the second one, however, is a bit contemplative, and I started it a while before the death of my grandfather, finishing it after his death. because of his death, I sort of changed the meaning of it to reflect on what happens after we die, using melting snow as a euphemism in a way. it's about someone who ponders where we go when we die, and if the dead will know our appreciation. I know, I sound like a morbid writer. anyways, song no.1

The sun blossoms behind the trees

As the moonlight fades from the leaves

Slowly, a new day must come

Yet I only reflect on what I've done

Yesterday's clouds still shroud me

Wrapped in the tears I cannot free

As I loosen the folds I come undone

Yet somehow I know the battle's won

And I must face this newborn day

Hopefully my pains will fade away

The sun now speaks through the trees

And it's empathy is freed unto me

song no.2

Falling snow

Tapping on my window

To the roads below you must go

Funny how soon you turn to ice

Falling snow

When you melt, where do you go?

And if so, how am I to know?

Do you know my gratitude?

Falling silently, wearily

Having no boundaries

Except that I may hope You may stay

Yet you have now gone away

Solitude

It is what I must conclude

My life has been drawn so crude

Winter now turns to spring

Falling silently, wearily

Having no boundaries

Except that I may see you once more

But from this life, you've left the shore

anyways, I don't know what to say about either. I don't think they are my best work, but then again, I can't grade my own work, lest I should cheat. if you have any question as to my genre, it is an urban-folk-pop sort of thing, much like Simon and Garfunkel, who inspired me to write. here's a link to what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bNLt_Kx8fs&feature...

anyways, you should also check out some of the other songs I've written if you can find them.

It's still a dark, foggy winter in the city

Though I know that it's long been spring

Wandering lonely streets in self pity

The saddest sounds do the poets sing

And I'm walking down a quiet street

Shadows following me, my friends

Reaching out to me in my weary feet

I know that every road must end

City after city, street after street

Graveyard after graveyard

Where everyone I meet

Reminds me of home

Looking at the water's reflection

Why must I watch what's not there?

Memories lingering without connection

On my face, must this shame I bear

City after city, street after street

Graveyard after graveyard

Where everyone I meet

Reminds me of home

Where everyone reminds me of home

Don't think this one went very far, but I will never know without inquiring. it's a vocal harmony, like S&G if anyone knows what I'm talking about. that's the genre I write. only S&G fans know, because they sort of had their own genre, sort of a urban-folk-pop sound, with much of their songs filled with lament. anyways, just asking for some opinions...

keep in mind, I write vocal harmonies like Simon and Garfunkel, so these are not intended to be pop. anyways, it doesn't have a name yet, like many of the songs I have written.

The moonlight seeps through my window

But it's crowded out by my lamplight

I wore down the road chasing a glow

I watched an empty day fade to night

Why can't I sleep?

Wandering deep

Through the midnight's keep

I stagger

My eyes may shut, though I can't sleep

And I hope that my slumber comes soon

There's a memory that I must seek

Yet I know that it cannot be true

Why can't I sleep?

Lonely thoughts creep

In the midnight's keep

They hold her

The moonlight seeps through my window

Now the hesitant pen comes to write

Life's loneliest songs like the winds blow

Let my silent ways kiss me goodnight

Let my emptiness hug the moonlight

I know. I was always a more melancholy writer...

not all of my songs have titles. on fact, most don't, and I'm working on it. but I write in a way that contrasts only slightly from poetry, which makes thinking of the tunes a little odd. what do you think of these lyrics? I am putting two up, and I haven't gotten names for them.

Dreaming of a melody

Gentle and sweet

In the darkness a soldier weeps

Shrouded in the blankets of a child

Crying tears soft and mild

Thinking of you

A candle shivers, light-less

Leaving memories of a rose

Glowing faded as it flows

From my window do moonbeams creep

As I distance myself from sleep

Thinking of you

Your caress lingers like that moonlight

Floating as it seems a dream would

Running as it seems a stream should

And while tears burst, I stood

Lost, a boy in a soldier's world

Lovelorn, the banners of war unfurled

And I recollect sentiment new

And I run to you

I love you

next is:

Looking down from a mountain

Onto a street's quiet night

A blossom blooms so as the light

Passes on the candles

Passing over the hills

A thundering tune of drumbeats

No, the cadence of the general's feet

Soldiers Shackled to their lines

Columns of the men weep

And in the rows am I

The boy in the front is the first to die

Bleeding tears for his nation

What will you fight for?

The days of innocence are lost

What will your friend's life cost?

Could it be yours?

Taught to kill, but not to learn

Yet we lay heavy in thought

For what lesson has war taught?

Not to fight

Literature marks the days we have lost

Yet above all else, poetry survives

Even as shadows shroud the eyes

of a wasted life

anyways, I'm more of a Simon and Garfunkel writer, and these are meant to be harmonies, but not only do I not have a partner, I don't have any ideas for tunes. could someone please give me some suggestions?

I have not seen this friend in a year, and since I last saw him, my wardrobe has changed considerably. now, I tend to wear suits, blazers, and sport coats, even on a casual basis, with or without a tie. the tie is worn depending on what I am doing. I also tend to wear pocket watches now, and I just in general seem to be a bit awkwardly dressed when compared to the average person walking down the street. I wear an overcoat when it is cooler out, such as today. I have a few, but I was thinking of a dark grey herringbone, double breasted, full length coat. I am also considering a medium grey suit, white shirt, and no tie. I do not have a waistcoat for this suit, so I will wear my pocket watch off of the buttonhole on my lapel. I do not have any pictures, though I can say that I look a bit like Sherlock on BBC one, save the scarf. and, of course, the pocket watch. is this at all normal, considering that I am only fifteen?

I need to know what the widest point of a ship is called, as well as the middle line between the upper deck and the bottom. the areas between the middle and the main deck and the area between the middle and the bottom are called what?what is the bottom called? and what is something behind a ship? USN personnel only. I do need to know what regular sailors call these parts.

I met this girl at a dance at my school. she already had a date, and she was from another school. as it turns out, I think she liked me better than her date (quite obvious, actually). anyways, I am sort of a quiet, shy intellectual of a person. I went there because my school works on a participation-point based system, with a minimum of three to come back next year. I seldom go to dances to dance. I did not know to dance until I met her. I usually sit and wait for the dance to be over. but then, I met her. we danced. I had the most amazing feeling, like something I have never felt before. as an intellectual, I tend to distance myself from the others, so it is hard to find love, let alone keep it. in the end, we had a good time together. but, in the end, like all things, the dance ended. I did not know her name, and I did not know if we were to see each other again. she had found some ways to subtly hint that she was into me (not so subtle after all). and, as it turns out, I feel the same way and I want to know her, but what am I to do? I do not know where she goes to school, I do not know her name, and I do not have her number. I do not know if I will see her again, so how do I find her? where do I start? should I ask her date? should I ask a mutual friend? as you can see, I am not one for relationships, as I do not know where to begin, but I want to. by the way, I am fifteen, if this helps, and I go to a military academy.