(Lookin' at you, KW. And Poncier. And Speedy "Where's my pancakes.")
Started my second half-century with a run up a mountain in Maine, where I watched the sun rise with a couple of friends from work.
Was greeted by my work team with 50 balloons and assorted gifts including 50 strings of mardi gras beads, 50 exquisite origami dogs, 50 tea bags, 50 decorative band aids, 50 M&Ms, 50 gummy bears, and 50 chocolate covered blueberries.
Then lunch with a couple of great friends at a cool tea house, followed by browsing around a farmer's market and being intimidated by some of the creepy root vegetables. Jerusalem artichokes look like something Stephen King should include if he ever writes a "'Salem's Lot" themed cookbook.
The very nice farm stand lady tried to interest me in horseradish, which also was evil-looking in its natural form. I've only ever seen the domesticated version in a glass jar on a supermarket shelf. In the wild, it's far more impressive and sinister. She said "You just wash it, grate it, put it in (something or other, I forget), with some vinegar and salt and (something else, I really wasn't paying attention any more at that point)." She kind of lost me at "grate it," which seemed like a lot of effort for something that I could buy already tamed at Market Basket.
Anyway, on my ride home from Maine I got stuck in traffic in a section of highway that had been closed because a plane landed on it. Alas, I didn't know about the plane, and so was stuck for an hour until they finally got one lane by. The pilot was fine, apparently had some engine trouble or some such thing.
The plane was cute, very small and yellow. Kind of like the ukelele I bought on my way up to Maine on Tuesday.
I bought the ukelele on my way to a work retreat at a conference center on the Maine coast. I was driving up Tuesday when I saw a sign on the side of the road that said "Oriental Rugs / Acoustic Strings / Violins / Guitars / Ukeleles" and so I skidded to a halt, did a U-turn, and pulled in. Strode into the store and announced, "I'd like to buy a ukelele!"
Ukelele clerk: "Do you play the ukelele?"
Unlost: "No!"
Ukelele clerk: "No problem! Do you play any stringed instruments?"
Unlost: "No!"
So he set me up with a beginner ukelele then asked if I could read music.
Unlost: "No!"
So he set me up with a beginner how-to-read-music-and-play-the-ukelele.
Since Tuesday, I have learned how to tune the ukelele. I think.
I can play "C."
I can sometimes play "F."
"G7" is wicked hard and makes my fingers contort in unnatural ways.
I can only strum in a downstroke way. The upstroke sounds like yowling cats.
So, if anybody know of a song that I can play that's only in "C" and only involves strumming in a downward way, please let me know.
I had not previously considered buying a ukelele, but I figured when you see a sign as intriguing as one offering both Oriental carpets and ukeleles, you should stop because there's clearly some kind of karma involved, and you must take action. That is how I plan to live my next 50 years.
Anyway, it's been a great birthday, a fun start to my second half-century, and now I get to look forward to PJ in Vancouver and Seattle in December, and a colonoscopy in January.
I hope you are planning on bringing said uke with you...we can sing uke songs on the way to Vancouver!
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
Happy birthday, Unlost!! I hope the rest of your birthday was great! Your birthday story is so amusing, as your posts usually are. I hope to meet you in Seattle!!
Chorzów 2007 - Berlin 2009 - Berlin 2010 - Gdynia 2010 - Berlin 2012 - Berlin 2012 - Stockholm 2012 - EV Manchester 2012 - Milan 2014 - Trieste 2014 - Vienna 2014 - Berlin 2014 - Gdynia 2014 - Rio 2018 - Sao Paulo 2018
Comments
Except for a few of you.
(Lookin' at you, KW. And Poncier. And Speedy "Where's my pancakes.")
Started my second half-century with a run up a mountain in Maine, where I watched the sun rise with a couple of friends from work.
Was greeted by my work team with 50 balloons and assorted gifts including 50 strings of mardi gras beads, 50 exquisite origami dogs, 50 tea bags, 50 decorative band aids, 50 M&Ms, 50 gummy bears, and 50 chocolate covered blueberries.
Then lunch with a couple of great friends at a cool tea house, followed by browsing around a farmer's market and being intimidated by some of the creepy root vegetables. Jerusalem artichokes look like something Stephen King should include if he ever writes a "'Salem's Lot" themed cookbook.
The very nice farm stand lady tried to interest me in horseradish, which also was evil-looking in its natural form. I've only ever seen the domesticated version in a glass jar on a supermarket shelf. In the wild, it's far more impressive and sinister. She said "You just wash it, grate it, put it in (something or other, I forget), with some vinegar and salt and (something else, I really wasn't paying attention any more at that point)." She kind of lost me at "grate it," which seemed like a lot of effort for something that I could buy already tamed at Market Basket.
Anyway, on my ride home from Maine I got stuck in traffic in a section of highway that had been closed because a plane landed on it. Alas, I didn't know about the plane, and so was stuck for an hour until they finally got one lane by. The pilot was fine, apparently had some engine trouble or some such thing.
The plane was cute, very small and yellow. Kind of like the ukelele I bought on my way up to Maine on Tuesday.
Here is a link to video of the plane: http://www.necn.com/11/21/13/Plane-land ... edID=11106
Here is a link to a picture of the ukelele I bought, it's Yellow Burst Gloss: http://www.kalabrand.com/Models/Makala/ ... sPage.html
I bought the ukelele on my way to a work retreat at a conference center on the Maine coast. I was driving up Tuesday when I saw a sign on the side of the road that said "Oriental Rugs / Acoustic Strings / Violins / Guitars / Ukeleles" and so I skidded to a halt, did a U-turn, and pulled in. Strode into the store and announced, "I'd like to buy a ukelele!"
Ukelele clerk: "Do you play the ukelele?"
Unlost: "No!"
Ukelele clerk: "No problem! Do you play any stringed instruments?"
Unlost: "No!"
So he set me up with a beginner ukelele then asked if I could read music.
Unlost: "No!"
So he set me up with a beginner how-to-read-music-and-play-the-ukelele.
Since Tuesday, I have learned how to tune the ukelele. I think.
I can play "C."
I can sometimes play "F."
"G7" is wicked hard and makes my fingers contort in unnatural ways.
I can only strum in a downstroke way. The upstroke sounds like yowling cats.
So, if anybody know of a song that I can play that's only in "C" and only involves strumming in a downward way, please let me know.
I had not previously considered buying a ukelele, but I figured when you see a sign as intriguing as one offering both Oriental carpets and ukeleles, you should stop because there's clearly some kind of karma involved, and you must take action. That is how I plan to live my next 50 years.
Anyway, it's been a great birthday, a fun start to my second half-century, and now I get to look forward to PJ in Vancouver and Seattle in December, and a colonoscopy in January.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes.
Unlost
- Christopher McCandless
(I expect this to be greeted with the same confusion as camel toe and moose knuckle)
Happy Belated Birthday
glad you had a great day!!!
hope to see you again soon!
1995 San Francisco
San Jose
San Diego 2 shows
2003 Missoula
2005 Missoula
2006 Denver 2 shows with Tom Petty
Gorge 2 shows
2009 Utah
LA1
LA2
2012 Missoula : Meet and Greet : "Instant Classic show"
2013 Portland
Spokane
2018 Missoula