Pecinpah

I did capoeira for 3 years. Eventually I dropped out in favor of a practical martial art, but there really is nothing that can take the place of capoeira. It’s a dance, a fight, a song, a work-out, and a social circle all wrapped up into one lively whole. Super fun and worth checking out.

I still play around in the park now and again, but it’s really something you need to do every day to be any good at. I may get back into it at some point, but it can be a time-sink if you let it. Still, fun though.

I finished a cross-country trip from Tallahassee, Florida, to San Francisco, California about a month ago. I used my move to San Francisco as an excuse to take the long term motorcycle trip I’d been wanting to take anyway, and I’m so unbelievably happy that I did. It was an amazing trip and I learned a lot; a lot about my bike, a lot about preparedness, a lot about this country and a lot about myself. I’d do this again in a heartbeat.

I blogged the trip at http://quicklyacrossthenation.blogspot.com/, incidentally. Enjoy.

‘Amazing Grace’ (of course) and I can play it almost all the way through on four breaths. Huzzah! I’ve been given two others to study, ‘Martyrdom’ and ‘Cold Siloams Shady Reel’, and I’ll get into them this week…

...But I am finally playing an actual tune on a bagpipe chanter! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

I’ve still got some crossing noises and other small issues to work out, but I’m over the moon about hearing myself play something that sounds like an actual song. I imagine I’m still a good way off from the full-sized pipe, but this is very encouraging. Whee!