Taking a little break from my Daredevil reviews. I’m eager to continue with the series, but last night was my first time going to an ukulele get-together. I’ve been trying to get more serious about practicing the ukulele. It is such a fun little instrument and I really do think that just playing around and strumming helps cheer me up when thing just seem a little too hectic.
Of course my loveliest little reason for feeling hectic is my baby boy. He is a wonder. He is joy. He is exhausting. (And he is off with his mom while I write this.) Generally speaking if I am with him during the day I don’t have the freedom to strum. In the evenings once he falls asleep I could probably get away with a little practice. Probably. Or my gently soothing strums could wake him up and he would do what any healthy baby does when woken up. Cry loudly and resist going back to sleep. So, I don’t get to practice much in the evenings either. I’m already looking forward to warm spring weather because that will mean an easier time of going outside to a local park around dusk where I can make some noise. Hopefully.
So, finding a little bit of practice can be a little difficult, but so can finding others. Fortunately there is the internet. And after testing out enough keyword searches I found a small group that meets up a short train ride away. Last night there were six of us, which seems to be a few more than usually show up in the groups short history. Six is a small amount but it was also a nice size for the room we were in. The third floor of a bar that had some fun art on the walls. Some of the art was comic inspired, so I felt a bit at home.
It was my first time playing ukulele in front of someone not related to me and the first time playing with a group. Both were quite fun. The group had a nice supportive atmosphere and was willing to take the songs slow to give us newcomers a cache to catch up.
There really is something magical about joining music and voice together with others. Just a relaxing, fun way to spend the evening. I’m already looking forward to the next meet up in three weeks. Looks like I have a new motivator to keep practicing.
Really the only downside of it was even though we were on the third floor, near the end one customer on the second floor started smoking. The odor drifted up and just coated everything on the third floor. The entire ride home all I could think about was how long it would take to wash the stink off. I change poopy diapers on a regular basis and I think it is a pretty even toss up which is the worse smell: baby poop or cigarettes. What might be the decider is that once the diaper is changed the smell is gone. Cigarette smoke sinks into clothes and follows you around for the rest of the day. And it gets in your hair.
Still, the main goal of the evening was meeting some swell folk and playing a little bit of music. That goal was achieved and hopefully it will become a regular habit.
Deadly Troubadour 