tea berry-blue

So, yesterday was my 35th birthday. It feels like it should have been a monumental celebration-- I had a really insane birthday when I turned 30, with lots of people from all over the world coming to New York to celebrate with me, and it lasted several days. This one was much smaller and quieter-- I had a small picnic with a few friends who are not big party types on Sunday, a bigger party at Ward III as has become tradition on Monday, and then yesterday Connie took me on a small lunch adventure to see the Central Park Zoo clock chime at 1:30, and then to a wooden gazebo, and then we got gelato. Then I went and played ukulele by myself for an hour at the park near the Intrepid, and then I met my dad and Angel for a really nice fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant in Hell's Kitchen.

I went home and packed some boxes, called my mom, and played ukulele some more.

My ukulele's name is Elaine. I'm not sure where that came from, I just started referring to it as Elaine. I don't remember who I was talking to, but I was having a conversation about All The Elaines in King Arthur, and I think it might partly have come from that, and partly from the bit where Elaine Romain is one of my favorite roleplaying characters I've ever written. (Elaine, for those who do not know, is a 16-year-old half-Yoruba, half-French, Sea-Witch-in-Training who is calculating, manipulative, stormy, and has an insanely erratic sense of self-preservation.) But I think the ukulele just kind of named itself.

I am so excited about the ukulele, I can't even start to explain. I mean, I'm obviously going to. I played cello when I was a super little kid, and then I switched to saxophone and oboe, and then taught myself fife on the side, but really all the instruments I play are wind instruments and therefore not really good for, well, accompanying oneself. And I want to be able to play my own songs for people, because I write songs pretty much all the time. I think in songs; songs show up in my dreams, there's a constant stream of music in my head.

I guess maybe I've never had the courage or conviction to learn before? I don't know. I because convinced as a teenager that I was already too old to learn to play a guitar or the piano, because I heard the kids who were talking about their piano lessons and how "twelve was really late to start." And I just kept getting older, of course, and then I was really too old to start. But that's nonsense.

Brendan, my boss, once said to me that adults are told that they need to learn certain skills as children, or that children can absorb and learn faster than adults, but that that's not so, that it's just that progress feels slower to an adult, because they have a more refined idea of what "good" is. But you can practice and learn just as well at 35 as you can at 10.

I got this ukulele and was convinced I would maybe learn a few chords and it would sit in a corner and be another testament to my failure to play a musical instrument, but that I had to try. Had to try, you know.

And I'm learning it faster than I ever expected. I know a full complement of major chords, and some of the minor chords. I can read tabs well enough to pick up a song and at least fumble my way through it. I know how to pluck one song and I know the chords for two others by heart. I'm learning three more. I am working through figuring out the chords to a couple of the songs I've written, but I also have come to accept that that might take a while. I am working on a ridiculous project which you will all hear fairly soon.

I think two weeks into having a cello, I could play one note over and over. Maybe two.

I am so excited to see where I am in a month.

Tomorrow is my birthday. Last year on my birthday, I wrote this.

It's funny because I didn't remember what I said last year until I went to look, and looking now, I could write the same thing again. I did remember writing it, and that I wanted to say something about my birthday this year.

But I could write the same thing again. And oddly, I think this year has had higher highs and lower lows, more adventures and firsts, more flights and more falls. I think this has been, in a lot of ways, one of the most significant years of my life. I did more, learned more, went more places, met more people, made more friends, and fell in love with New York City all over again.

I rode a bike in Manhattan for the first time. I learned to play the ukelele (in the last WEEK). I focused on music a lot more than I have in ages. I stayed out late, I got up early, I actively chose to be brave and adventurous and say yes to things I might not have said yes to in the past.

So many of you helped me have those adventures. Thank you so much. I would not be me without every single one of you.

I made a list of things I want for my birthday which you can see here. A lot of them are just things I want to see more of in the world and cost no money.

I love you all. Thank you so much for this year.

Yes, so! On Sunday is my birthday! I will be celebrating by shipping myself to Austin to speakeasy it up with katieupsidedown and rainy_day depending on her new work schedule and pikacharma depending on whether she is attacked by aliens.

If you are in the area Austin and would like to try to meet up with us at some point, let me know! I'll be there until Sunday!

HOORAY HOORAY. I am so stoked.

Yes, so! On Sunday is my birthday! I will be celebrating by shipping myself to Austin to speakeasy it up with katieupsidedown and rainy_day depending on her new work schedule and pikacharma depending on whether she is attacked by aliens.

If you are in the area Austin and would like to try to meet up with us at some point, let me know! I'll be there until Sunday!

HOORAY HOORAY. I am so stoked.

Whoa.

So, The graphics for the Shiver My Timber message board are complete. This means we can start putting up the informational pages and people will actually know what it is about!

Admittedly, though, the secrecy is fun.

It is also, in other news, my 25th birthday. Thanks nadav for the cute little gir, and Mikey got me a light box! WOO this means I can actually ink things. WOO.

One. Quarter. Century. When you put it that way, I sound aged.

Safe trip home to saxtonownzyou. EEEEE WRITING. Best birthday present.

And now, two more of my Backward Interviews

by batchix( Interview 6 )

by bavieca( Interview 7 )