beautiful, funny, sad & true

I only didn’t write about the cello until now because I’ve been too busy playing it lately to write about it.

I took it in most importantly to get one of the tuning pegs fixed, because every time I’d turn it to tune up, it would slip and go completely slack, which makes the cello useless. So I’d been unable to play for weeks.
(With the exception of the other day, of course, when my friend Sam loaned me his cello for rehearsal with Steph. Thank you, Sam!)
Since I was taking it in for that repair anyway, I had a new end pin (the ‘pin’ that the cello sits on) and tailpiece (where the strings attach) installed at the same time. Now it sits at the correct height, the strings stay in tune, and it’s much easier to adjust the fine tuning also. What a difference!

I picked it up on Thursday afternoon, and had rehearsal with Jaime & Becky that night. Ohmygosh, we had so much fun! They haven’t been playing any gigs for probably a year, because Becky was in Russia teaching and volunteering, but now she’s back, and they’re back. So look for us to start playing out a bit.

Last night, Alyssa and I sat out and talked for a while, then used a two-for-one coupon and went to get a slice of pizza. I had the first pepperoni I’ve had in six months. (Before that, it had been about a year and a half, on my birthday.) Kelly called while we were still at the pizza place, and I told her about the Pepperoni Factor. She said, “You know there’s pork in that.”
“That’s what I hear.”
“You know you’re gonna go to hell.”
“Tchyeah. I knew that, ’cause of all the taking-the-Lord’s-name-in-vain and the copious amounts of pre-marital sex.”

Anyway.

The pepperoni tasted good, but I don’t think it really agreed with me; I’m feeling it this morning. After that, I ended up with a couple of hours to myself, so I pulled out the cello and just sat and played my little heart out. I have to re-learn everything, because it feels like a completely different instrument now. I have to learn how to hold it between my knees, how to make my left arm go to just the right places on the neck, and how to make the bow go to just the right places on the strings.

Funny how I’ve learned to play on such an unconventional instrument. Cello’s a difficult instrument to learn anyway–and this is from someone who plays piano, accordion, guitar, bass, drums, organ, keyboards, AND cello–but throw in all the weird quirks and incorrect angles that mine has, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of habits to un-learn.

The good news is that when I play on someone else’s instrument, suddenly everything feels right, and it makes playing incredibly easier, but their instruments aren’t usually of the same quality as mine. Mine may look all banged up, or not be as pretty as most, but it’s really a superb instrument. You can tell, even by the way it resonates when you pluck the strings. It’s an Ernst Heinrich Roth, from 1963. Loveitloveitloveitloveit.

And it won’t be much longer before it’s completely fixed and adjusted to standard specifications, which will make it sound even better and play even easier.

I can’t wait!

Alyssa’s on her way to Fiji.

Actually, she’s on her way to the Portland airport at the moment, where she’ll sit around for another hour or two before her actual flight leaves for L.A., by way of San Francisco. Then from L.A. it’s a really effing long flight directly to Fiji. She’s going to meet Luke for the first time, despite the fact that they’ve written, talked on the phone, and fallen in love–or so it seems–for the last four months. It’s really the trip of a lifetime. And what an earth-shaking way to have a first meeting.

Kelly’s up in Seattle for the weekend, for her friend’s wedding. She went to college there, and she’s still got a lot of friends there, so it’s always a bit like a home-coming when she goes.

Last night’s Susie Blue gig was fun. It was just Susie singing and playing guitar, Skip on cello, Jen Bernard on backup vocals, and then I played accordion or acoustic guitar. I invited Kelly’s aunt and uncle to come to the show, and they did. Alyssa sat with them, and they seemed to get along and have a great time. Keith was at the show, and I got to talk to him for the first time in months. He told me that he’d quit Dirty Martini after the most recent show. He said that he really missed playing with me (DM couldn’t afford to bring me on their California tour in December), and that it isn’t the same band when I’m not there. Also, their show in Eugene last week was disappointing. It seems that a staggeringly boring reggae band opened up for DM. DM finally took the stage, and just as they had finished the first song and were starting into the second, a guy in the front yelled, “Show us your tits!”

But personal reasons aside, he said that the three songwriters who are the core of DM are making the band less and less of a priority. They all seem to be feeling the pull of their other projects and solo careers, rather than putting their energy into DM. So we’ll see what happens.

I’m going out to do some clothes shopping today. Gotta do something to get out of the house and take my mind off the disappointingness and lonelitude (wow. . .I just invented TWO new words!) of the day. The weather is extremely gloomy and rainy today too, which isn’t exactly helping my mood either.

BlahBlahMeMeMe. I should change the name of my blog to that.

I’m outta here. . .wish me luck in my search for some cool clothes.

So last night, I was feeling bad from the day, and things kept going wrong at home. . .knocking things over, being unable to find things I needed, hurting myself in a bunch of small ways, that kind of thing. It’s what my friend Andrea calls “Coincidental Misfortune Syndrome”; a bit like the snowball effect.

So I was getting really bummed, and finally decided I needed to do something to make myself rally and feel better, so I grabbed the accordion and just started playing any old thing that popped into my head. That felt great. . .at least until one of the keys started sticking. Grrr.

So now I have a potentially expensive accordion repair to schedule and get taken care of, in addition to the handful of other things that have been stressing me out lately. Fantastic.

At that point, I was done with yesterday, so I went to bed at 10:30 or something.

The good news. . .is. . .uh. . .I went and looked at a really cool and inexpensive recording studio space the other night. THAT’S good news. The other good news is that I’m feeling better today. I’m still kinda ‘residually’ bummed, but it seems to be passing. I think the last few weeks have been catching up with me.

The best news of all: only two more days left of working in purgatory.

FINALLY, some good news on the work front; I’m being reassigned.

Every day for the last four months, I’ve felt as if I were back in grade school.

It’s been proven that if a child isn’t challenged enough, and is consistently given tasks that are too easy for him to do, and he has difficulty completing them, it can look (from an outside observer’s standpoint) as if the child is “delayed”, not being able to handle even those simple tasks. He may be passed over for advanced programs, and indeed have to suffer countless remedial training programs instead, often feeling as if there’s something wrong with him for not being able to handle these tasks. This may go on for months or years, until such time as either the child or the teachers realize the mistake, if it is ever realized.

Assuming that it IS realized, the child will thrive and continue to grow and learn exponentially. Assuming that it is not, the child is in for a life of drudgery. This is what I’ve felt like at work for the last four months: a delayed child.

Wow, that was a little too cathartic. And this was supposed to be a celebratory entry.

Well, truth be told, even if it’s just for a few more days, the situation I’m in is the same, so I still feel just as squeezed. Constantly going through long lists of bizarre and arcane minutiae, constantly flipping between five or sometimes even six computer programs at the same time, constantly being pressed to work faster and “focus” by my supervisor (who has me keep track of all my time and activities throughout the day). . .it’s just fucking endless. Or at least it WAS, until last Monday at 4:00.

Starting this coming Monday, I’ll be starting in a new position. I’m thrilled; I’m at the point where I almost don’t care what it is, just as long as it’s not THIS one.

My horoscope today. . .

“For the next few days, it may seem as if you can do no wrong in the eyes of the people around you–quite a change from earlier this week!”

For the record, I put zero stock in astrology, but I have to admit that sometimes it seems uncannily accurate. I mean. . .LET’S HOPE. Cause nothing’s happened yet. But I mean, ‘fingers crossed’ and all that. Work this week has been terrible and stressful. I’ve come home tied in knots every single night. Even music-related stuff has been kinda stressful, or at least frustrating.

I’m reallyreally hoping that the horoscope is as accurate as some have been. My favorite one of all time was in 1998–after three years of not owning a car–the day I got my Toyota truck:
“You are no longer a prisoner of inertia.”

Either way, I don’t really care so much about ‘the eyes of the people around me’, but here’s hoping the end of this week is better than the beginning was.