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Songwriting Workshop -- Words First, Music Second

I write the words first. Always. The melody finds its way to the words. We'll work on imagery, metaphor, and the art of saying something so specific it becomes universal. Bring a notebook. Leave your guitar at home for the first session.

Gospel Vocal Technique Workshop

The church is where it all starts. I'll teach you to sing from the diaphragm, to bend notes, to build from a whisper to a scream that fills the room. Gospel technique is the foundation of all American popular music. If you can sing gospel, you can sing anything.

Reggae Guitar Workshop -- The Offbeat Skank

The strum that changed the world hits on the upbeat. That's it. That's the secret. But making it groove -- that's what we'll work on. I'll teach you the skank, the one-drop rhythm, and how to make three chords feel like freedom.

Persona Creation Workshop -- Inventing Your Stage Self

I'll teach you to create a character you can perform as -- costume, voice, attitude, mythology. Then we'll retire that character and build another one. The point isn't the mask. The point is the freedom the mask gives you to be truthful.

Writing Workshop -- The Sentence as Architecture

We will take your sentences apart and rebuild them. A sentence is not just communication. It is music, rhythm, architecture. Every word earns its place or it leaves. I edited for twenty years before I published. Bring your best paragraph. We'll find out if it's really your best.

Magical Realism Writing Workshop

Write the impossible as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That's the technique. No winking at the reader. No 'this is strange.' Just: 'It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days.' Stated as fact. Because in Macondo, it is. Bring a family story that nobody believes. We'll turn it into literature.

Memoir Writing Workshop -- Your Story Matters

Everyone has a story that needs telling. I went mute for five years and then I couldn't stop talking. We'll work on memory, honesty, and the courage to write the parts that scare you. Those are the parts that matter. Bring nothing but yourself and something to write with.

Songwriting Workshop -- Eighty Drafts of Hallelujah

I'll teach you to rewrite. And rewrite. And rewrite. Hallelujah took eighty drafts. That's not failure. That's craft. We start with a feeling, turn it into an image, then carve it into a verse. Bring patience. This is a slow art.

Mexican Folk Art Tour & Workshop

Visit my collection of retablos, ex-votos, and Judas figures. Then paint your own retablo -- a small tin painting of a miracle or survival. In Mexico, we thank the saints by painting what they saved us from. What has life saved you from? Paint that.

General Repair Service -- If It's Broken, Bring It

Plumbing, electrical, mechanical, whatever. I've been fixing things since I could hold a wrench. Albert Kenel taught me: don't stare at it, fix it. Bring the broken thing. I'll tell you what's wrong in thirty seconds and fix it in thirty minutes.

Complete Tool Kit (Metric + Imperial)

Full socket set, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, voltage tester, pipe wrench, hacksaw. Metric AND imperial because we're Swiss-Canadian and we work in both worlds. Everything in its place. Return it the same way.

Mini Excavator Rental (3.5 Ton)

Kubota KX91-3, 3.5 ton mini excavator. Rubber tracks, extendable arm, multiple bucket sizes. Perfect for residential foundations, pool digs, drainage work. I'll deliver it and show you the controls. Break something? Call me. I'll fix it.