Sunday, August 24, 2008

Guitar Lesson - Week 6

...goooooaaaaaaalllllllllll....

That works so much better with soccer games. Ok, my first guitar goal has been met. Lesson 1 I told Jeff I wanted to learn to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".....and now I can. Granted it has a couple of tinsy pauses as I try to find "D" but I can play it. My life is complete. Not....

So Jeff has not given me anything new to work on, other than a couple of practice studies I've had for a couple of weeks. Finger are still fumbling, so it's practice, practice, practice.

I'm really more excited that I can say. I told Mike I could play "Twinkle" and now I could quit lessons. Being the guy he is, I get "So, do you think you'll be satisfied with that?" Well no. Mike envisions me jamming Christian doom metal. Uhh...Mike...I'm light and poppy....99% of the time. However, by virtue of knowing each other for 10-11 years, he gently reminded me of a very early conversation centered on the impact of "My Own Prison" by Creed had on us. It tapped both of us emotionally, musically and spritually. Ummm, isn't there something in the guy book that says guys aren't supposed to remember things like that?

Anyway...I'm kinda playing guitar now!!

You go girl!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Women Get on My Nerves

....we need to use our inside voices....

Don't get me wrong, I love being a woman. I can be girlie or a tomboy. I can dress to the nines and wear sexy high heels or I can shlump around in sweats. I can paint my toes, get false nails, flutter my eyelashes and cry on a dime.

Really, I love being woman and 99% of what being woman entails. But let me tell you something, after this weekend, women get on my nerves.

I attended the Women of Faith Conference. Imagine being in an arena with 18,000 other women listening to stories of faith, grace, forgiveness...humor, song, dance, tears, hugs, applause. We had it all this weekend. And friends, let me tell you, I am wiped out. Sitting for one and a half days in a stadium seat can be painful. I do believe my butt is numb. But I digress.

Let me say it again...women get on my nerves. My friends and I availed ourselves of the Trinity Railway Express to arrive at the American Airlines Center. Getting there was no issue. The return ride, now that was another matter.

Thursday night, I couldn't sleep, so I was up until 1:30 AM. We were catching the 8:46 train Friday morning, so I had to be at my friend's house at 8:20. From where I live, that means leaving at 7:45...I woke up at 6:00. That was 4.5 hours of sleep. Bad sign. I didn't eat breakfast or pack snacks. Bad sign. They did not have any Cinnabon cinnamon rolls ready...Bad sign. I didn't have my usual coffee. Really bad sign.

Obviously I'm having a rough start to the day. The pre-conference was great!! But now it's over and I am ready to be home. The event ended around 10:10. A mere 10 minutes late, but it was enough time to make me regret our unfortunate decision.

So, we get to the train, we find seats and then suddenly 1000s of women gang rush the train. All talking about the night's events, pumped up, loving Christ, feeling His infinite grace. Whooo!!! The back story to this is that we are on the special events train. They run one for events at the American Airlines Center. But on weekdays, there are also regular scheduled commuter trains.

There was a regularly scheduled that would arrive at 10:18. We were told the special events train would be pulling out at 10:10...a check of the watch showed it was 10:10, but we weren't moving. Here comes the 10:18, chugging to a halt beside us....then whoot! whoot! it whistles as it leaves....we gaze longlingly as we continue to sit on the special events train.

Let me share some wisdom garnered from this weekend. DO NOT RIDE ON A TRAINFUL OF WOMEN WHO HAVE NEVER RIDDEN THE TRAINS BEFORE!! First, they have no idea which trains are going east or west. Second, and women, hear me on this...we speak at a decible level that dogs can't hear.

Seriously...it's 10:25...it's late, I'm tired and cranky. I want to relax, run through the evening's events...but what do I get...I get to hear other conversations, other phone calls, other running commentary of the night. Shut up, I was just there.

And it is probably a very unChristian way to feel, but I was so completely annoyed at my gender. I don't speak at such a high decible. And when in public, I try to mind my manners and not share my conversations with other.

It was so painful to sit there for 30+ minutes listening to my fellow women shrieking.

Ladies, I have one sentence for you...it will ultimately save you from me telling you to shut up....

Inside voices.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Guitar Lessons - Week 5

...better late than never....

Jeff is a mean, mean man. Here I am trying to learn the notes, so I wrote the corresponding letter for each note on my sheet music. Great idea until Jeff saw it. In a split second, he erased my letters. When he realized I marked all my sheets, he took them away. Really? Jeff, babe, did you have to go that far?

Apparently, learning to read music means you can't make notes on your notes...memorization is apparently my friend. Yet, in this fledgling stage of learning, trying to remember time, which fingers to pick with and which strings to press to make the various notes...well it's a bit much for my old brain. Seriously though, I have a greater appreciation for people with musical inclinations. How do you get your brain to do so many things at one time?

Jeff said I'm doing really well for only 5 weeks of lessons. Whoohoo!! I might be on the verge of playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" after all.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Random Thoughts at 12:12 AM

It's Saturday morning, early!!! Wired up, but I suppose the iced tea I just finished is contributing to my awakeness. That, and I'm watching the Olympics on my DVR. God Bless the DVR. Such a nifty creation. I can blow through inane commercial and past athletic performances I don't care to see.

The beauty DVR is being able to rewind Michael Phelps AMAZING 1/100th of a second GOLD medal win in the 100m free...unfreakingbelievable....at least 20 times. The kid is simply amazing. A freak of nature, but amazing nonetheless.

Guess I should try to go to bed now. I'm off to my church's newest campus in Roanoke. I have no idea why they picked Roanoke, but God does the leading. Except for Sundays' after service...I'm leading myself straight to Babe's Chicken for the BEST fried chicken and/or chicken fried steak...mmm mmm good!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Texas V42-YGM

...a jerk in a green, rag top Jeep wrangler...

It's not nice to 1) cut people off, 2) cut them off again when they try to pass you, and 3) flip them off when you are the *delete expletives* who doesn't know how to drive.

Dude, I have your license plate number....

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Jersey Boys


...Stay...ahhhh, just a little bit longer....

In a word: WOW!!! Ok, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were popular way before my time, but I have to say this was a great musical. The cast in Dallas was phenomenal. They could sing, play their own instruments, act, dance...but most of all, they told the story of four guys from Jersey who made it big.

I have worn the CD out. Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like A Man, Dawn, Rag Doll, My Eyes Adored You, You're Too Good To Be True...the list goes on.

Whether you heard them when you were young or you are now discovering the songs, there is something ageless and pure about the music of that era.

Go see the musical....you won't be able to get Frankie Valli's falsetto out of your head for the entire night.

Guitar Lessons - Week 4

Well friends, I had a three week break from guitar lessons. The school closes for three weeks in the summer. Nice!! I practiced like a fiend for weeks one and two. I was a complete slacker for week 3. I'll just say it showed when Jeff asked me to run my scale.

Milli Vanilli may have blamed it on the rain; however, I will blame my suckiness on my missing nails. The solar nails finally came off. Ok, so I helped them come off and my natural nails are a sad sight to see. In two months, if not sooner, they will be back to normal. Until then, I will shred them on the strings.

So, I break out what I learned. Big mistake. I now have more difficult material. I've spent three weeks with open strings. Now I actually have to use the fret board. Seriously, I have to pick with 4 fingers on my right hand and fret with the left. I'm lacking some coordination.

Jeff, God bless him, says I've gone from walking to jogging. Jeff doesn't know this, but I don't jog. I think I'm crawling. Anyway, I spent an hour practicing tonight. I called my bestest guy friend in the whole entire world and forced him to listen to me totally screw up "Study #12." Mike was nice enough to say kind things about what I played for him. I'm sure he was making it up. That's ok, he'll have many more opportunities to hear me practice on the phone.

On a positive note, I replaced all the strings on my guitar. All by myself! Thank you internet. Jeff said the wraps on the headstock were as professional as a luthier. I may not be able to play "Study #12" well, but I can change my strings with a fierceness.