Month: October 2012

Letter to the luthier

Peter Cox wrote back letting me know that Otto’s rosewood and red cedar.  I could already tell the back was maple, so now I know what Otto is made of.

Dear Peter,

Thanks.  I think the neck and back are maple and red cedar.

He has a name now, Otto.  I have customized it a little.  I put copper foil on the top as a pick guard (trying to make it look steampunky) which gives it a really interesting appearance, and I plan to paint the tailpiece bronze.

I have written many many songs on that instrument since I acquired it.

Maid of Tarth (pseudo trad folk from the Game of Thrones universe)
My Needle and I (contemporary style folk from the Game of Thrones universe)
Midnite Moving Co. Theme song for an imaginary TV show
Theo’s Theme – Character theme for that imaginary TV show
Grateful (standard issue folk song)
Margaritas on Wreck Beach (ersatz Mexican style folk song)
Lemming’s Twofer (a jug band style tribute song to the multi-instrumentalist Blind Lemming Chiffon)

With the possible exception of my first guitar, which was destroyed by my daughter’s suboptimal boyfriend some years ago, I have never loved an instrument more, and I can’t thank you enough for making it.

Disturbed night of sleep

I woke at 2:30 and stayed awake for a couple of hours, then slept again.  I woke up and thought “I know what time it is – it’s 9:30!”  Then I checked my computer and it was 9:25.

Jeff has YAY made more coffee, so I think I’ll stagger out into the kitchen and review my to do list.

I had a lovely long chat with Keith last night.  He had a wonderful time in Toronto and had many stories to tell of old friends and family.  He very much enjoyed hanging out with Peter and Sarah, and said that getting Kaileagh and Sophie into the same room was pretty funny (they are both high energy wirey blondes with attitude).  Grandma Phyllis is about the same as always, only a little less mobile, but she must have been very happy to have so many of her family and family friends about her, given that she’s had two dreadful losses in the last few years.

My new song on Otto is NOMMING ME BRAYNZ!  It uses 7, count ’em, 7 chords, all in rapid fire succession, and also requires finger picking, so it’s at the outside edge of my ability to play.  Oh Muse darling you are a cruel and uncaring personage.

I continue to await with interest the comments of the minister on the new toon.

 

WEEEIRD

So I go outside with Otto to work on what is rapidly shaping up to be Theo’s Theme (for the evol villein of Midnite Moving Co).  Within four bars, there is a robin FLYING TOWARD ME AND CALLING MADLY.  Robin then perches in a tree, never removing gaze.  Robin attempts to keep up with me in the music generation department, getting louder but eventually quitting in disgust.  Then it moves to the dogwood, and then the top of the tree stump.  I felt uncomfortable and went indoors.  Despite everything the tune is sounding great and my finger picking is coming along nicely.  I think I’m kinda the Meg White of mandolin players, althought that’s definitely a slap to Meg.

Keith and Paul should show up shortly with corn and tales of Paul’s mom’s successful nth birthday (I can’t remember exactly and I don’t know if she’d thank me to…) I hear another family turned up en masse, which should have rendered things much more festive and apparently were awesome in that Keith got to see Peter, his oldest friend.  And the vampire family!  woot.

Also, this morning Margot tried to get into the dryer  Man, how HAS she lived this long?

Productive day of errands including two overdue ones.

more toonage

I wrote a very tongue in cheek song about drugs nearly two decades ago and woke up with two more verses in my head this morning.  I take no pride in finishing that which I should not have started.  I’d put it on youtube but it’s so darned catchy that I just do NOT want to be explaining in my nineties how it is that I’m the little old lady who wrote ‘that drug song’.