Where the Hell Have I Been?

I've been preoccupied the last few days with my new friend.  I will return to Kimmyville to write about arts and activism at some point, I'm sure, but I am consumed with learning how to play the ukulele right now. I do not foresee any change in my habits, either. 

I might eat. I might drink. I may smoke a half a cigarette, but I really don't want to - I just want to play on the uke all day...no kidding. Oh sweet Ukulele, if I knew you were going to be such a blessing, I would've picked you up long, long ago! 

Accordingly, the word discovery has taken on a whole new meaning as I have memorized chords, practiced transitions until they sound decent, put callouses on my fingers, and played the same song over and over again until I finally got it right. I can even sing and play at the same time (which heretofore I thought was impossible).  Today, the good news is that my repertoire increased to three songs: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I Can't Help Falling In Love, and Imagine.  Yeah, yeah, they are  fairly easy songs, but all have wonderful lyrics and the melodies are unmistakable. You cannot hear them without thinking of Judy Garland, Elvis and John Lennon.  Am I a lucky gal, or what?  


Something else I've learned is that my neighbors, who I will go ahead and say I THINK mean well, will not knock on the door or pester the hell out of me as long as I'm playing the uke. Before, it didn't matter if I was cleaning, cooking or playing the piano, the knocks would come, day or night - and one would even bring her cigarettes and smoke in MY apartment, never in her own place. 

I am so smitten with my ukulele, my friend James is calling me Tiny Kim, and my friend Becky, who is a fabulous guitarist and singer, even told me she was jealous of how quickly I've learned to play.  That, my lambchops, is something I never dreamed would happen. So, I will post this blog, soak my hands in ice, and once the swelling goes down, I will play some more. 

Yes. It's an addiction - and it's THAT bad...or good, depending on how you look at it.  I look at it like this: