What is the difference between a train of thought and a stream of consciousness? A stream of consciousness is a succession of ideas generated out of a person's head. The ideas don't have to make sense, and a person may go back through the ideas and pick out a few good ones to develop further. A train of thought starts with a question and moves through a succession of answers and questions that link together in a logical way.
Here's an example of a train of thought: I was watching the Dave Matthews Live DVD that came with the "Away From the World" CD, and I noticed that Dave's not playing a Taylor in the video. Also, the guitars in the CD photos all have a flat headstock, so I wondered what kind of guitar he's playing. I googled "dave matthews guitars" and found a link to Dave's gear. I know what the guitar isn't: A Taylor, Martin, Fender, etc., but I see the last one on the list is Rockbridge, and it says that Dave has five of these guitars.
So I look up Rockbridge Guitars, and there's Dave, right on the home page. It's a custom shop, and I can see why he'd want to play the guitars. They don't require artists to sign an exclusive contract with the company. On the artist section of the site, there's this video of "Bartender," and I wonder who's in the video with Dave. It looks for all the world like Jane Goodall. It takes a quick google search to find out that Dave joined Thomas D. Mangelsen and Dr. Jane Goodall in April 2011 on their annual trip to Nebraska to watch the sandhill crane migration. So it is Dr. Goodall, and it is an incredibly awesome video that I would have never found if I hadn't wondered about that guitar.
Also, it looks like a pretty easy song to learn, so I can go down that road another day. Or, maybe I'll just pick up my guitar now, but it's not a Rockbridge.
