Today I went to the Sound Works to buy a tuning fork or a pitch pipe or something. I didn’t really know what I wanted, but I was sick of booting up my computer and playing the cd that came with my lesson book every time I wanted to tune my guitar. They were sold out of everything but electronic tuners, and for some reason I didn’t want to buy one of those. Maybe I’m just being a Luddite, but I figured after 10 years of playing musical instruments when I was a kid I shouldn’t need a machine to tell me I was a bit flat. Now that I think of it, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.
Anyway, I ended up buying a harmonica. It’s a diatonic harmonica in the key of E, and blowing into the first hole plays the same E as the lowest guitar string, so I am very happy with it. It only cost $9 and has a couple of air leaks in it, but at least it plays the one note I want! Maybe I will try doing a Neil Young impersonation with it one day…
By the way, harmonicas are insane instruments.
Wow. Somebody on MySpace just told me about Sufjan Stevens, and I am amazed at how much I like his music. I just downloaded 10 or so songs from the Gnutella Network and love them all. Listen to this one. I’m going to have to buy all of his CD’s now.
Here’s a video of me playing Ode To Joy on the guitar. That was a couple days ago, and I’m better than that now. I’ve learned the notes on the E, B, G, and D strings so far and I’ll get started on my first chords later tonight or tomorrow. Note: Gustavo Guerra cut his hair to look like me. 😉
Yesterday Christine and I took the ferry to Wolfe Island and rode our bikes out to the beach. It was 10km each way, and maybe a couple more kilometers of hiking along the path to the water. We had a really nice afternoon of swimming and relaxing in the sand. The water level was much higher than I’ve ever seen it there. I took lots of movies instead of pictures with my camera, but they didn’t turn out very well. Maybe I’ll edit some of the better ones and make a short one or two minute montage.
After work today I bought myself a guitar. I got the cheapest one at the store that wasn’t made of plywood. It cost me a couple hundred dollars and I’m not sure if I can afford it with my student loan payments starting this month, but I figured I’ve got more money now than I will after I start making my payments. I’ve been feeling pretty restless lately and really wanted to start playing an instrument again. I was considering buying a keyboard, but I think I’d rather start with a stringed instrument. Maybe all those years of playing violin will make it easier to learn. I also bought book of guitar lessons and worked my way through the first one. Now I can play three notes and I have a blister on my finger!
Peter and Gina decided on a name: Alexander Victor Raymond Lehotay. I think it’s a very good one. There are some more pictures on Peter’s web page too. Wow. I’m so emotional right now.
Peter made a web page with some pictures of Little Angus. It’s weird how looking at those photos makes me feel. I’ve seen lots of baby pictures and always thought they were pretty boring, but I really like these. When I look at Angus I wonder what he’s thinking and how he feels. He must feel happy when he sees Peter and Gina, and maybe he doesn’t like the nurses so much. I’m sure they’re nice to him, but they probably also do some things he doesn’t like. I wonder how his little mind works. How much does he understand about the world around him? What does he think about his stuffed animal? I can’t wait to meet him.
I need to stop spending so much time on my computer.
My nephew Angus (not his real name) was born at 11:30 this morning and weighs 7 lbs 2 oz. It’s very exciting, since he’s the first baby in our family in 36 years. Peter and Gina are sleeping now, but when they wake up they’ll try to choose a new name for him. I’ve grown to like the name Angus, but they probably won’t pick that one. Peter thought it would be cool to give his baby the same initials as a computer acronym, like XML or SQL. I’m hoping for Samuel Quincy.
I can’t seem to get enough of Chelsea Peretti. I laughed for five minutes straight when I read this post on her blog. The Variety Shac really makes me laugh too.
I’ve decided to stop drinking until I get my body fat down to 15%. I figure that means losing 27 pounds. I think I’ll start running again too. And cycling. In fact, I’m going to go for a bike ride right now!
