Not Grinchy this year!

Hi folks! Sorry for the quick hit, but I've been busy having lotso fun this holiday season!

Where I've Been:
12/23 - Backyard bash with old pals!
12/24 - 1st annual family gift exchange and jam!
12/25 - Christmas Day foodjoy with extended family!
12/26 - Day at the Huntington!
12/28 - Chinese dumplings and bettin' on the ponies! Bonus: Late night improvisational puppet theatre!
12/30 - Hiking in the hills!

Where I'm Going:
12/31 - Rufus! Rufus! Rufus!
1/1 - Road trip of insanity to (hopefully) snowy Colorado!
1/9 - Fly to Hawaii, marking the end of my best Xmas to date!

Thanks to everyone for your company and holiday cheer! See yalls in 2008!

Wow! Thanks everyone!

Thank you all for your happy words and birthday wishes.

Highlight of the evening was... *drum roll please*

...chocolate covered cheesecake.

Pretty good in theory, even better in real life!!

YUM!

I love you, Squeezy.

For the past few years, I've been toying with the idea of learning to play the accordion. Two months ago, I saw an ad on craigslist for a used one and decided to take the plunge. Today, I am totally infatuated with this instrument! It's so fun and intuitive!

I've been learning from a series of children's music books which contain progressive exercises and solo pieces. They're great! I pretty much breezed through the first two books, and now I'm starting to get into the repertoire that challenges me more (and also causes me to make that distinctive "hee-haw" accordion sound :P). In addition to the traditional oom-pah-pah stuff, I can also play a decent number of rock and folk tunes. Thank you, G, C, and D!

Yeah, so I'm pretty much obsessed now. Do you want a rep list? Oh yes, you do.

Paint it Black (Rolling Stones)
Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)
easy part of Bohemian Rhapsody and guitar solo (badly) (Queen)
Wild Thing (The Troggs)
Amazing Grace (?)
Talk To Me Of Mendocino (McGarrigle Sisters)
Gentle Annie (Stephen Foster)
Plaisir d'Amour (Faure)
Everything from Accordion Course Books 1 and 2 (Palmer-Hughes)

I also take requests! Please, no Stairway.

Ow.

Weight-lifting is fun, but I think I got a bit over-enthusiastic with the Hip Abudction and Hip Adduction machines.



Now I have sore legs.
And I'm walking with a limp.
Ow ow ow ow ow.