Today's rambling: Freedoooom...
Written on Sunday, Apr. 11, 2004 at 10:08 p.m.
while feeling a bit

So get this, folks: I asked Mom if I could drive down to see Geoff tomorrow, and she said yes! Well, at first she was all laughingly reluctant about it, but then she said I could...but as of right now, I have to wait 'til after 7, so rush hour will be over. XP She won't be getting home 'til close to 5 anyway, but still! What if we want to go out to dinner or something? I'm sure I'll be able to change her mind, hee hee...I mean, if I start out around 5 or 5:30, I won't get down to his place 'til around 6 (or a little after) anyway, so things should have calmed down! And if not...well, it'll be a new experience for me, anyway! :P

Charlie was invited down to Easter dinner this evening, but he brought his acoustic guitar with him and all these books (including one that shows you all the chords and how to do them). I was too embarrassed to do it while he was there, so I waited 'til after he'd left and played around for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. That was all I could do before my back and wrist started hurting, hehe...But I've memorized the C, D, F, and G chords, so at least I've learned something, eh? The C chord is the one that starts of Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock". Which made me wish I could play the rest of it, instead of just doing the little strummy part that starts it off, lol...

Looking at the books he brought down with him, I remembered exactly why I'd wanted to learn how to read music first. Actually, strangely enough, a lot of what I'd learned back in elementary/middle school music classes came back to me, but those were only the very basic things. I plan on attacking Kevin when I get back to college and asking him what all these other funny things mean. Or if Jam signs on before I leave, maybe I'll ask her, ha ha! They're things that I never understood back when I had classes, but I think I might be able to grasp the concept of it now (especially since I'm actually interested now, lol!).

Some of the fingering for these chords is really difficult for me! I'll strum once and it'll sound good, but then I'll do it again and it'll be really off-key because one of my fingers slid down too much, or started resting on another string. Charlie never took lessons, so he really couldn't show me that much, so my anxiousness to have real lessons has been renewed. I know the instructor Melissa L had told her to bring in a song she'd like to play, and he'd gradually teach her how to do that, and I thought that was pretty neat. Of course, you have to learn the basics first, but I think everybody wants to be able to just sit down and play a song immediately, so that's a neat sort of 'reward' while you're learning, you know?

Unfortunately, I can't start 'til summer. *le sigh* But in the meantime, I could always bring the guitar up to college with me (he told me I could have it, but I'm just borrowing it). I guess even practicing the chords and getting them memorized is better than nothing, right? It would probably give me something of a head start (especially if Kevin gets unbusy and helps me learn how to read music, ha ha!).

Anyway, that's about it. Carley just IMed me, so I think I'll go talk to her for a bit, and then maybe I'll go play Paper Mario. I've only gotten the first 2 star spirits, and I'm bound and determined I'll beat the game before I go back to college! Of course, I'm sure I won't. But it's good to have goals, right? ;)