Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Lines Written on the 15th of February, by marnanel, 2008-02-15:

Today's just a day
That's not Valentine.
No roses, no wine.
Today's just a day
I still want to say
I'm glad that you're mine.
Today's just a day
That's not Valentine.

[And (unrelatedly), to any of my friends who celebrate Bloomsday, may it be an entertaining one. (I'm not really sure what an appropriate Bloomsday greeting would be.)]

The short version: as of Wednesday night, I play banjo.

(a) Thanks to syntonic-comma generously lending me one, and a Homespun Ceilidh Band project that kinda called for it.

(b) Not at performance-quality skill level yet, but what I did in rehearsal the night I picked it up basically worked^[*] and I have a couple more weeks to polish up a few tunes. I've got a whole lot of practicing ahead of me, but no significant worry.

(c) It's fun. I need to find a way to acquire one of my own when I give this one back!

Are folks interested in the long, rambling version?

[*] Learning a new instrument that quickly is easier than it sounds, when it's basically yet-another-lute and you already play half a dozen other lute-type instruments. Even easier if you've messed around on a guitar in sort-of-banjo-like tuning a little bit ahead of time to learn some of the chord shapes.