Ukelele

My friend Robert just figured out how to post to Youtube. Here he is with his new ukelele.

That Moose Group

I've been sick for two weeks which has given me lots of times to think about my dreams, and how out of reach so many of them are. One of my goals was to read 100 books this year and here it is December and I've read about 20. I don't regret the books I read or having the goal, but I do regret that I didn't do better at it. There is a saying that man plans and God laughs. I believe it.

Musically I've been inspired by a duet my boyfriend shared with me on Youtube. I'll go find an example and post it here. I have a lot of instruments and would love to do something like this, but I don't know how to do the electronics. I don't know how to lay down sound tracks and harmonize with my own voice and so on. I can never remember the band's name, only that it has the word Moose in it.

CIrcular Breathing

Here is a breathing tutorial that makes a lot of sense.I'll try this next.
 

Make a Didgeridoo

I took my didgeridoos out in public last Sunday and the general consensus was that I'd made the mouthpieces too big. Drats. So today I melted the beeswax with my hair dryer and reshaped them. I'm letting them cool now. I still can't figure out the circular breathing to save my life so it's discouraging. Especially when I see a kid on youtube that must be all of 16 playing like he was born with a tube in his mouth. Let me see if I can find that for you.

Tone Deafness

I thought maybe the problem with my singing was that I was tone deaf. Not according to this: Hearing Test Results

You correctly identified 26 tunes (out of 26) on the Distorted Tunes Test. Congratulations! You have a fine sense of pitch.

Thank you for taking the Distorted Tunes Test. More information about the the NIDCD's research into tone deafness is available from Dr. Dennis T. Drayna's web page.
So what is my problem then?

Write a Song a Day

As a personal challenge, I've been writing a song every day. Today was day five. Then I put it on youtube or Flickr. I wish I could say I sound great but I don't. I guess all those years of being in choirs didn't really stick. But I still want to be a singer. But it's kind of messing with my head. We all want to put our best selves out there but what if we don't measure up to even our own expectations? So I keep trying to squirm away from writing a song a day, which is the very reason I should keep on making them. Conquering my fears is a big part of it. Some people fear skydiving. I fear singing in public.

If you want to hear the rest of my songs, just double click on the video and it will take you to my Youtube page.

Book About Bob Dylan

I'm still hanging in there with my 100 books a year goal. I'm fascinated by Bob Dylan. Tonight my boyfriend said the reason he was mad at me last night is because I wouldn't shut up about the person and the book. People either seem to love Dylan or hate him.

My Day (Wed)

Yesterday I wrote an article on Hubpages that made me think I should keep better track of how I use my time. So I thought this blog was a good place to put such an experiment.

So today started at 7:30 when I got up to move my truck for the street sweepers. I'm pretty tired. The birds were making a racket this morning and I didn't sleep well from 5:30 AM to 7:30 AM.

8:30 Check email
9:00 Boyfriend needs me to make a post office run.
9:30 Joann's for a book
11:00 Eat at Panda Express
12:00 Stop at dollar store for craft supplies for embroidery project
1:00 Race home sick from food I ate. Ugh.
2:00 to 3:00 Read the new books I just got.
4:30 Work on line.

My daughter just called saying her plane from Jamaica/Florida is landing at LAX at 9:30. I thought she was coming back on the 6th, not the 3rd, so I've had to drop everything to go get her. It's an hour drive each way at least. I still have 4 1/2 hours to do stuff though.

Another Book Read

I'm happy to report I've finished the third book in the Twilight Series 'Eclipse' by Stephenie Meyer. I already checked out the fourth book 'New Dawn' too, so I'll start that tomorrow. I'd love to talk about the book but I don't want to mention any spoilers for those that haven't read it yet.

Library

I finished the New Moon book while I was in San Luis Obispo and just checked out the next 2 books in the series at the library. I'm not sure which number I'm on on my 100 books a year list. It's getting hard to keep track of. I just know I'm way behind. I keep picking long books, and sometimes I don't get around to reading every day. If you want to read about what a hassle the library was, click on the link that says library above.

New Book New Moon

I've been reading the 2nd book in the Twilight series called New Moon. I'm liking it a lot better than the first. I have 2 or 3 chapters to go. It will have to wait until I get home and go to the library on Tues. If they don't have it available I'll put a hold on it so I can read it ASAP.

I'm behind on my reading goals but I tried not to get any further behind while traveling. My first mistake is I didn't bring a book with me. I didn't want to risk losing a library book on the bus or on the train. So I've had to haunt the local bookstores in San Luis Obispo. But I'm going home tomorrow and I can finish the 3 books I'm reading at home.

Knit Fast Die Young

Yay I finished another book. It's called Knit Fast, Die Young by Mary Kruger. Of all the books I've read so far, this is the thinnest one. And I needed to play catch up anyway. Even so I'm still behind. Life has been hectic with family visiting from out of town and weekend jaunts and trying to fill 3 Etsy shops with merchandise. This mystery revolves around a wool festival, so if you like to knit, you might give it a spin.

Bitterwood & Coyote Waits

I just finished reading Bitterwood a few minutes ago.It's a fantasy story of a world where dragons rule over humans.

I've read a few chapters of Coyote Waits so I guess I will continue on hoping to catch up with my goal of reading 100 books a year.

Druids

I finished Druids. It's the 2nd time I read it. It's pretty complicated, especially at the end.

I could have sworn I took a photo of each book as I was reading it, but now I can't find the photos of Inkheart or Ender's Game or Changling. Hmmm.
Right now I'm reading Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman and Bitterwood by James Maxey.

Druids and Da Vinci

Yesterday I finished reading Druids by Lewellyn. It took me a long time because I kept getting bogged down in the battle scenes and the pronunciation of Roman and Celtic names. I would never want to read that book outloud. I'd be tripping all over my tongue. I need to check if that was my fifth book or sixth book.

I'm still reading a book about Da Vinci. I have two Tony Hillerman books waiting in the wings. And someone gave us a big box of LaMour books so even if I'm not really into westerns that much, I'm thinking it wouldn't kill me to read them. I've been tripping over them in the hallway for a year.
What are the rest of you reading?

Finished another book.

I just finished Changling. It's about a Werecat. The last book in the trilogy is Darkling, about a vampire. One of my screen names was Darkling. Should be a fun read if it's anything like the first two.

Next book

I finished my Inkheart book and I'm going to read Changling next. It's a shorter book than the last two I read so hopefully I'll get to catch up. This will be book number 5 I think.

I was at a birthday party when out of the blue a friend started talking about Ender's Game. For once I could say, "I just read that."

I was at the library again today to pick up Green Mars for my boyfriend. He's already read Red Mars out of his own collection and was happy to get the sequel in the trilogy. I already checked out Blue Mars so he's got 2 books to read before he runs dry again. He's a fast reader. I was going to read Red Mars, but I already have five or six books lined up to read.

Book Goal Title #2

Happy to report I finished my second book called Witchling. I'll keep my eyes open for the sequel that is called Changeling. It was a fun read but on the R-rated side. I'm halfway through Druids as well. I picked up Red Mars and Blue Mars at the library but when I got home my boyfriend told me there was a book in the middle called Green Mars, so I'll look for that while I'm reading Red Mars. He just finished his own copy of Red Mars only to find out a page was ripped out just before the end. So I got the library copy so he could read what he missed.

Reading Goal

I read some tips from other readers that managed to read 100 books a year. First off, they are in the process of reading more than one book at a time. Which makes sense. You can have a book near anywhere you tend to sit, so by the bed, by the couch, and in the bathrooms, and in the car. You spend more time reading instead of hunting for the book. So I'm down with that.

I've also started reading with a bookmark. I don't need it all the time, but when the TV is on or people are talking, I can put it under each line I'm reading and then find my place a lot quicker if I have to look up and talk to someone.

Right now I'm in the middle of reading Druids. And I have Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman sitting by my computer so I can read that when I get a chance.

I also want to go to the library soon. I'd like to read Twilight and Inkheart so I can at least get on the waiting list for those.

43things helps me to keep track

I updated my goal list on 43things.
I realized how very many goals I have. No wonder it is so hard to get to any of them.