Ukulele, Lamp, and Fire Disjointed Post

All weekend, I played hooky from working... which is bad since I am trying to get tax stuff ready for some clients. Instead this weekend, I had fun. After spending several hours in Granddaddy's Antiques in Burlington and fighting the urge to buy a HUMONGOUS folk art boat made out of twine and tiny sticks, I went to Elizabeth's and played a little uke with a handful of folks. I really struggled at first... having to look down at my chord book for every single chord change and missing most of the notes. But, after awhile (and for the first time in my life) I felt like I was starting to get it. I could actually play along and be a part of the group as I struggled through "Folsom Prison Blues." Eventually, I got most of chord changes down and was able to concentrate on the rhythm and play along. And it felt amazing. Oh my gosh! What a rush. (The snip of whiskey helped as well.)

After playing the ukes, Elizabeth, Noah and I rode over to Hillsborough to see my inspirational friend, Lightnin' play some amazing stuff not only on a regular ukulele, but also on his BANJO UKULELE. He makes it look so easy and sound so good. Just thinking about him playing the ukulele makes me want to keep trying no matter how much I feel like I suck. My goal is to get "Wabash Blues" and "12th Street Rag" down... but that is years off at the rate that I am going. Lightnin' tells me that he's been on a Donovan kick, too. I'd like to learn to play some Donovan on the ukulele, but again... that is YEARS away.

So this evening, after an afternoon of bocce and a tragic basketball loss, I tried practicing my banjo uke and I suck all over again. The freakin' tuning is just messing me up. The "standard" GCEA tuning just doesn't sound right to me. For some reason, I seem to prefer the outdated Roy Smeck tuning of ADF#B. I don't understand how one tuning can sound "better" than another, but somehow that is what is happening. I really tried to play some GCEA songs tonight on my own and it was really discouraging. But I know, I need to keep trying. AND HOW DO YOU KEEP THIS THING IN TUNE!?!??! I think I need to make more of an effort to make it to Uke Jam Night at High Strung. I need some major help... even if it is just sitting and watching other people play while holding my uke in my lap.

Oh, and where the hell did this lamp come from? I walked over to Elizabeth & Kevin's house (Different Elizabeth and not Ukulele Elizabeth) to watch the basketball game. I left during the last minute of overtime because it was just too painful to watch. When I got home, I found this lamp on my porch. It is kinda ugly, but I also kinda like it. I don't like the shell finial, which is actually cut off in this photo. If the finial were an olive shell, I'd like it more. But is this lamp really ugly? I might like it with the right shade.

Follow up to the fallen tree: Elizabeth took this photo of the tree that caught fire last weekend. I was a little doubtful about the tree catching on fire, but this picture proves it. Never a dull moment in our neighborhood. Whee!