Thanks to both of you.
Jesse Joe: yes it's another "Martin," but I put that in quotes because it's one of their budget models. It's called a "DCX1E" and is made mostly of formica. Considering how cheap it is, it sounds pretty good, but it doesn't compare to the real thing. But I wanted a cutaway and it's the best I could do budget-wise. Someday I'll buy something better to replace it with. I've been using it lately because the D-35 has some serious problems that make it difficult to work with for recording and once again - no money to have it fixed.
About the cd. I've been wanting to make one for a long time now. The reason I haven't is because I have so few songs to put on it that are my own. I've been simultaneously both very picky and very lazy about writing. The reason I decided to start posting originals is in the hope that the feedback I get might spur me on to write more (or alternatively convince me that I should stop!) If I can get 10 or so songs that I think are recordable then I'll start looking into making a cd. Your kind words help a lot in convincing me to keep trying.
RM - My own experience is that the song turns out better when I write the music first then look for words to match. This particular song's melody was something I came up with years ago, believe it or not, and I just waited until I was satisfied with the words that I finally found for it. I have other wordless melodies like it that are still waiting for their lyrics. The words and music for Laurianni arose simultaneously except for the bridge. In the case of the bridge the words came first, then I had to find something for it that matched the mood of the verses without imitating them too closely. But by then I had something to go on.
I still see myself as a song writing novice because I have so few finished songs that I feel are worth sharing. I'm waiting for a few more before I'm willing to start calling myself a "song writer." But I think my chances of becoming a decent one have improved since I started posting songs and getting the encouraging feedback that you two and others have sent. Thanks for that!
Tim