November Learning

November has been a month of finishing for me. Finishing my last major Highland dancing exams, finishing autumn, finishing the regular routines before the craziness that anyone involved in theatre can tell you comes with having a show starting in just over two weeks, finishing this weird and wonderful novel I've been writing this past month. Cello is finishing too, soon, at least for the winter holidays, and although I'm less than enthusiastic about some of the music we've been playing (London Bridge in B Flat, anyone??), I'm still plodding along, still progressing, as slow as it may seem.

That's the thing with NaNoWriMo, at least for me. It's a rapid amount of learning all at once. I have no idea how to write a novel, I just go for it, because if you don't you'll be left behind, left with no words at all. You must pick up the notebook or laptop, iPad or typewriter, and pound the words out, as silly as they may seem. There are painful parts to the learning, when you are half way through the novel and hating it, when you realize you've used the word "Italian" hundreds and hundreds of times (true story), but all you can do is pull through and in the end you look back and realize, hey, this time I actually had dialogue, had better pacing, and I really love my characters. A lot of learning occurred, and maybe most prominently at that "hating it" point.

And I need to remember that cello is the same thing. London Bridge in B Flat is my Week Two, my tough spot, my "steepest part of the mountain" to use a popular metaphor, but maybe it's where I will learn most. Maybe it's just hands to the keyboard, bow to the strings, no hitting backspace.

Boots and other updates

Sorry I haven't posted in nearly a year! I have been busy, but mostly I was just too lazy. Blogs are one of those things (at least for me) that I fluctuate wildly between very excited about and kinda meh.
But this post isn't about lazy bloggers, or my busy year. This post is about my new kitten Boots!

(sorry for the lack of a good photo/giant towel on the left)

We got him very spontaneously while driving home from a very frustrating trip to the doctor's (I was plagued by a mysterious wrist injury that I'll probably post about later). My mom suggested the idea of a third cat, and so we went to the local humane society and there he was!
I tend to be a bit of a cat lover, obviously, we do have three cats now, but Boots is just lovely. I love that he's cuddly but also playful, and his little white paws are adorable. Okay, I'll stop the kitten ramble now. Corbie and Vinda are tolerant, but not especially pleased. They're okay with him as long as he doesn't come too close, but they get pretty upset if he gets in their area. (He loves to taunt them, though!) It's really neat to have a young cat, I haven't had a kitten in 8 years, it's incredible how much energy they have!

Anyhow, I think that's all for this post. Potential upcoming posts include:

My Bizarre Wrist Injury
I'm Terrible At Snowboarding
An Update On the Cello-ing
Jazz Dancing etc.

(Is it just me, or do these sound like TLC shows?)

Tired!

This is just a quick post to tell you guys about my crazy but awesome day!
I had my big year-end show for dance today, and it went very well! We had our dress rehearsal this afternoon and then the younger dancers had their recital first, so I was backstage helping them change. I don't think there was a moment when I wasn't changing one of the children except when I had to change myself! (We were the sort of "senior number" of that show near the end).
After all that I had my show, with some crazy costume changes, but a lot of fun as well. It was my first time performing en pointe!
At the end I got what's basically the top student award for the school! I couldn't believe it.
Anyway, that was just my ramble for the day, I promise I will post ukulele pictures soon!
Dorothy

Cello!

A couple weeks ago I rented a cello! It's an instrument I've wanted to play for a long time now, and when we found out that one of my mom's friends was an experienced cellist and willing to give me lessons in exchange for babysitting her kids, it looked like a great opportunity!


So far I've had one lesson, which was awesome, and I feel like I'm starting to slowly get it. I find the fingering part pretty easy (probably from ukulele) and also because my cello has these nifty stripes that tell me where to put my fingers. Eventually I'll probably take them off if I'm still on this cello when I'm more advanced, they're just for beginners, but for now I love them.



On the other hand, I find the bowing part of it REALLY hard. My hand keeps cramping up and I find it hard to hold it. It just feels so odd to me still. I think it'll get better as I progress, though.

Last summer my goal was to be moderately-okay at ukulele, and this summer I have a bit of a grander ambition, cello. I think it will be quite a bit more difficult to get proficient at, but I'm willing to put the work in. I love the rich, deep tone of it, and even though right now all I can play is the basics like "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" in a very scratchy way, I'm loving it.

Sorry my posts have been so sporadic, I will have a new post coming up as I've just purchased two new ukuleles. (I know. That makes 5, though I am planning to give away my Mahalo.) Those little things are so darn addictive! On the ukulele forums I go on they call it Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome, if you think I'm bad, some of the people there have over 10!

As always, thanks for reading!

Dorothy

Toronto 2010!

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time! I have a (moderately) valid excuse, though, and that was that I was in Toronto!

I flew out with a bunch of my awesome friends (including Nicole, Daniel, and Calla) and there we participated in a national Shakespeare festival. We also had some extra time to sightsee, and I decided to stay an extra few days to visit with my sister Sarah. While I was there for my lovely 9-day holiday, I went to the Toronto Zoo, Toronto Island, Lawrence Market, Eaton's Centre, I saw Mamma Mia and I got to go to the Corktown Ukulele Jam along with a bunch of other fun stuff! Needless to say I have over 300 photos, I'd love to post them all, but I think it would take too long to scroll through them, so here are just a few from my trip.

This is the street our awesome hostel was on!


The streetcar pulling into it's underground station


This is a geocache we found on Toronto Island! It was massive and really awesome. I got the album Voulez Vous (ABBA) on vinyl and it actually plays!

Stickers from the uke jam! And no, I don't actually have glasses, but I plan to pass it on to someone that does if they'll get around to learning the uke. (*cough* Nicole *cough* :D)

All my subway transfers! I took one every time I passed a machine.

Finally a Fluke post!

Okay, I finally have pictures for you guys! Introducing my Fluke ukulele!


It has a plastic back, which you would think would make it sound horrible, but it's a gorgeous instrument.



It has friction tuners, which I'm still not used to. My Oscar Schmidt has geared tuners, which means that the tuner literally has little gears that are used to hold it in place. Friction tuners use, guess what, friction! :D They're a lot more finicky than their geared relatives, a tiny turn and you're up a half-step. I'm not sure whether I like them too much, but it's definitely worth it for the Fluke-ness!

And mine has pretty flowers!

It's super super durable, I saw a review where the guy threw it behind his head! Personally, I treat it like it's made of glass, but after I've owned it for a while that'll probably change.

So yes, definitely worth the purchase and if any of you guys are considering a uke I would highly recommend a Flea or Fluke.

Another lame apology post

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! It's been over 2 months since I've posted!
This is just a quick post to apologize and to say I will be posting when I can find my camera, I got a new ukulele, and I'll put pictures up soon.

So yes, incredibly short post, but I'll try and make a few good, long ones to follow later.