P is for Practice
Posted by Lanea on Sunday, August 17th, 2008
P is for Practice. And here is my new baby.
I had a lot of options for this letter in the ABC Along: pottery,
preachain, puttering, pastry . . . but then the new guitar showed up on Wednesday, and practice is again mandatory here at the Mean-Skutai Manse.
Picking up the guitar again is very challenging, but challenging is good. I’m having a hard time building my callouses back up, and I’m pretty embarrassed by how much I’ve forgotten and how weak my hands feel. Do not speak to me of pull-offs, I beg you. (Yes, that is me complaining less than a week after becoming a guitar owner for the first time in over a decade. I admit it.) I did get to hang out with a bunch of my tune-head pals this weekend. I mostly held the guitar while they played fantastic tunes near me, but I managed to get a few chords into the right spots, which is what counts. And I have a better concept of what tunes they’re playing and what keys I should focus on for a little while. I hope to start taking lessons in the next week or two.
I did experience a futile, disheartening search for a guitar strap suitable for this darling. Holy crap, I knew that 80s hair bands had made a resurgence, but I didn’t realize they force all of the normal, sane instrument strap makers out of the market. No, no thanks. No flames, no bad fake tribal patterns, no chili peppers, no fake fur, no . . . just no. I will probably have to make my own.
One more picture with Kayo, since I know he has fans.
In case you’re wondering, Kayo and the cats are not impressed. They all voted for a rockabilly-style arch-top like The Reverend’s but, you know, pets don’t really get a say in such matters.
Filed in ABC along,Music | 13 responses so far
--Debon 18 Aug 2008 at 10:54 pm 1Very cool. I technically have a guitar, but could never get past bar chords and eventually gave up. Good for you!
lacochranon 19 Aug 2008 at 9:04 am 2At least Kayo is willing to be around when you play. That’s gotta say something.
lacochranon 19 Aug 2008 at 9:04 am 3At least Kayo is willing to be around when you play. That’s gotta say something.
lacochranon 19 Aug 2008 at 9:05 am 4At least Kayo is willing to be around when you play. That’s gotta say something.
elleryon 19 Aug 2008 at 10:34 am 5the wood grain is beautiful. a felted strap with some embroidery would be cool…of course, i don’t know anything about felting so maybe not…anyway cool guitar
Junoon 19 Aug 2008 at 1:24 pm 6That is a very, very pretty thing.
kon 19 Aug 2008 at 9:51 pm 7We won’t talk about my violin. Or my guitar, which is calling again.
rachelon 20 Aug 2008 at 8:40 pm 8Oh my. So pretty. The dog/instrument combination is almost too much excitement for me to handle.
Jinannon 24 Aug 2008 at 5:13 pm 9Lovely guitar! I hope to get a chance to hear you sometime….soon I hope!
Jinannon 24 Aug 2008 at 5:13 pm 10Lovely guitar! I hope to get a chance to hear you sometime….soon I hope!
Jinannon 24 Aug 2008 at 5:14 pm 11Lovely guitar! I hope to get a chance to hear you sometime….soon I hope!
Bullwinkleon 27 Aug 2008 at 5:58 am 12It is a good sign that the well-eared critter will hang around while you practice.
My mom used to make all her own guitar straps. And for others. Mostly for the same reasons you state. This makes me wonder who buys the others?
lellaon 28 Aug 2008 at 11:27 am 13That is a beautiful instrument. Have you tried the trick of wetting our fingertips and just tapping them to a hot iron? Fast tap? That’s how I used to build up my callouses again after letting them go too long. Best wishes to you!