So, Christmas with the family was a little more interesting than I care to detail here, but… I do have a story time to share with you all. See, in the process of my move, I mega-busted my keyboard and found out that the warranty was poof. I then spent the last several weeks longingly looking through the inventory of a local music store staffed by musicians (some of whom I’d gone to college with) and found something that was, admittedly, not the most expensive thing I could buy, but was better than what I had and would definitely do the trick.
Merry Christmas to me, yeah? Yeah. Except, when I was getting ready to hit the ‘checkout’ button, having spent less than I planned and quite proud of myself, something caught my eye along the sidelines. It was a ukelele, with the front painted to look like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”
Side-bar here, because 1) That’s basically my favorite painting ever, and 2) My now-retired service dog Vincent was named after Van Gogh, His registered name is even an adaptation of a Van Gogh quote.
To me, this was a sign. Now, I will preface this with saying that I have never owned a ukelele in my life. I don’t know how to play one. So, I called my rep at the store – they assign you a person to answer questions and even help you out after the fact. And I told him, “Hey dude, I’m having a shiny syndrome moment. Talk me through this, please.” So, he told me about the different kinds of ukeleles, how the size and the sound would be different, little extras I might want to have on hand should I decide to let my shiny syndrome win, and even gave me resources to learn how to play.
Needless to say, the ukelele went into the cart. It got here the day before the piano, and I spent the next several days putting things together. Then, I called my mom. I told her I was quite proud of myself. You see, my crippled ass had gotten down on the floor to put the piano together and managed it on my own – a job my rep says probably would have been easier, faster, safer with two people – and managed to get back up again…but that’s for another time. Then I sent her a picture of my ukelele. She called me crying to ask why I’d purchased it.
Why was my mother crying over a Christmas impulse buy, you ask?
Because her mother – my nana, whom we lost to cancer in 2008 – had played it when my mom was a little girl. This only furthered my interest in it because I played flute when I was younger… all the way up to college. I’m damn good at it, if I do say so myself, and my very first flute was an antique… and a family heirloom – it had belonged to my nana when she was a little girl learning to play. She also bought me my first keyboard when I was about nine years old. It had 61 keys and I had it up until the day I moved away to go to college, when I gifted it to a little girl in the neighborhood. My beloved nana was always my number one supporter, especially when it came to anything having to do with music. She encouraged my journey, encouraged me to continue to learn and grow and try new things… and my impulse-buy super pretty “Starry Night” uke is the third instrument I’ve owned that has origins tracing back to her in some way. Not a direct gift, like my flute or my first keyboard, but still special in its own right, I’d say.
So, while Christmas with the family was just about as stress-filled as I imagined it would be, the beginning of this new year has given me a few things to look forward to, and that’s exciting. It’s something new to focus on… and sometimes, that’s just what we need to put the past behind us and forge ahead. Don’t you think?
Credits:
[Shape]mine
[Head][LeLUTKA]Gaia
[Body][The Shops]Legacy Mesh Body Special Edition (1.3)
[Skin][Glam Affair @ Collabor88]Zara (Closed Eyes)
[Hair][Tram @ Uber]k1225 Hair B (Hud C)
[Lips][Velour]Beth Lips
[Top][Vinyl]Foodie Tee
[Shorts][Osmia]Rachel Denim Shorts (washed light blue)
[Pose][Amitie]Gipsy Festival (pose 3)
[Location][Lost Lagoon]
[Tune][Jason Mraz – I’m Yours]
I Promise I Know What I'm Doing 