Monday, September 24, 2007

random updates

*** I got a Mandolin on Saturday. I've never played an instrument, tried guitar at about age 12, but gave up almost immediately. I'm really excited, and also feeling totally lost. I dont' read music at all, so it's an interesting challenge. I just emailed about lessons, eeek!

*** I still have a crush, on the same person, but haven't done a thing about it, except eaten a lot. I thought this would be easy by the time I was this old (actually, I guess I used to think I'd be happily married)

*** I've been wanting to talk about sex with my sunday school class, but we've decided to just let it come up naturally. Yesterday it came up once when we needed to find a second teacher, even though there were only four kids there. They asked why, and I explained it's about dealing with the (hopefully remote) possibility of sexual molestation. It's very weird to sit there and say to 4 middle school girls, essentially, "we have to do this because there are people out there who want to hurt you, or at least kids like you" ick.

Also, discovered that one of my kids really hates sex ed class because she DOES NOT WANT TO KNOW what boys "go through" in relation to puberty.

Hopefully more and better opportunities will arise, and I/we won't make a complete mess of them :P

10 comments:

Plain Foolish said...

Ha! Banjo and mandolin! If we get Alethea in, we've got dulcimer. Now, we just need a fiddler to get that old-time string band sound. Oh, yeah, and you and I have got to get good... *grin* Good luck with the lessons. Kinda scary, but really good and satisfying at the same time. And whoever teaches you to play will help on the reading thing, too. All I could remember was that the spaces between the lines spell FACE, but I actually *read* "Oh, Susannah", if slowly.

Actually, I would imagine a crush to be even harder to deal with if you were already married. Just sayin'. (Sorry. Part of my job is divorce cases, and it does leave a mark.)

If this person is currently free, how about an invitation to coffee? (Or to a sandwich at the Hard Times Cafe? Yum.) One of the disservices I think our culture does is to discourage women from asking for what we want/need. I seriously thought I was going to die from embarrassment when I asked someone I had a crush on out. The few seconds before the "yes" seemed to drag on for years.

Good luck with the class. I was terminally embarrassed by just about everything from about 5th grade through maybe Junior year in High School. It really is a hard age to go through.

ef said...

Hey

I was thinking the same thing, the three of us will take the world by storm! - in a few years, when I've learned how to play the dern thing.....

:)


The random notes I"m still trying to learn sound "right" more often now - on the third day, but my friend keeps asking me what song I'm practicing, which is amusing and intimidating, yikes!

Plain Foolish said...

Hey, don't laugh. My instructor did not grow up thinking he was going to be a musician. He was most of the way through college when he first picked up a guitar and began playing it. Next thing he knew, he was picking up other instruments as well, and...

Well, now he has a home filled with instruments and plays music and gives lessons to support the instrument habit he got.

Little Black Car said...

Hey, I'm a very handy back-up guitarist. Dulcimer and mandolin compete too much, anyway (same sound range)! Word of warning, though: Once people see you have instruments, they start unloading more of them on you. I recently got an orphaned viola. It's almost as bad as free kittens--you never end up with just one.

Hey, the sandwich idea is a really good one.

Plain Foolish said...

Oh, too true. I already have 2 now, instead of 1, though the other instrument isn't even in the same family. I have a really nice, possibly antique silver flute. (It's sitting near my sewing stuff, and I admit I've used the cleaning and tuning rod to turn a waistband. Oh, bad fool...

ef said...

Well, I'm all for extra instruments! where do I sign up? But really I should get so I can play one first, dang.

Hmmmm... Hard Times. I think she might be scared, but then, if she is, she's probably not the girl for me (see, canine, I did say girl, I'll have to think about this more...)

ef said...

Oh, and the Hard Times seems to be closed.

They closed for a bit to get a new ventilation system, and now apparently the city is putting them through a whole process again and they may not be able to get licensed (like there are other applications for the same space or something)

the city has been trying to close them down since they first started, as if it will get rid of punks. it's awful. I don't understand the situation or what to do about it yet, but I'm trying to find out. grrrr....

Plain Foolish said...

Oh, for pity's sake! That place was *not* that scary, at least the couple times I was there. We took my granny there and she enjoyed it.

Did these folks go to college? Because nearly every college town I've ever been in had a place like that (not all of them vegetarian, but with a similar atmosphere). The worst thing that ever happened to me in one was that I was nearly bored to death by a guy who was trying to impress me when what I really wanted to do was play darts with the friend I'd come with in the first place, who was encouraging him.

Lorcan said...

Can you all use a slightly threadbare Uilleann piper?

A mandolin and a crush - a great combination! Rent Matewan, learn the tune from the scene where the miners are all playing together in the camp... full moon, playing out side a certain window... and bob's yer uncle. Who can resist a mandolin!!!

ef said...

lor-

thee is always welcome to play with us, once i can play!

:)

good idea, serendaing, how romantic is that?

I've never heard of matewan, have to look it up!