biking

Went biking this morning. There were hardly any cars on the roads at 7 a.m., so I could leisurely practice using the left turn lane instead of crosswalks, navigating, etc. without the additional pressure of trying not to get hit by taxis. :-) And because there were very few pedestrians on the Martin Goodman, I could ride hard for bits (David taught me about sprinting on a bike), which was fun. Major clouds of little bugs along the lakefront in parts, though...it's a bit disconcerting when they start hitting your face (yuk). On Wednesday I asked David if he ever had problems with bugs flying in his mouth when he was biking. He replied, in typical David-style, "Well, my mouth isn't open as often as some people's." Hm...I wonder how difficult it would be for me to secretly carry a water balloon in my fanny pack? >:-)

Going to Jodi's first housefilk today, woohoo! Looking forward to it.

jodi's housefilk

Jodi's housefilk was lots of fun. Allison and I showed up early and we did a little bit of prep shopping (snacks, pop, paper plates etc.) before having brunch at The Pickle Barrel. Then we went back to hang out at Jodi's, waiting for people to arrive. Bob Guest was Jodi's first official housefilk guest (only appropriate, considering his name). Speaking of name, Bob says that his name was on the passenger list of the Titanic (the person with his name was one of the passengers that died). As more people arrived, Jodi's living room filled up pretty quickly; we had to move some furniture out to make room. Guests included Karen Linsley, Lloyd Landa, Howard Scrimgeour, Sally Headford, two women I didn't know but who made Jodi a very nice braided thingy while they were there, Bob Guest, Patrick and Eric, Pat and Andrew Williams. Lloyd was pleased to discover that Jodi had a keyboard, and we all thoroughly enjoyed listening to him play during the filk...I even got to hear a movement of his piano concerto, quite amazing. Lots of great music, chatting, munching on pizza (wow, quite an involved discussion of pizza toppings before ordering! Scott...I kept thinking of our Pizza Topping Blues song. :-)). Many thanks to Jodi for hosting this filk! (Note from Jodi: I was very pleased with the way it turned out and had a *wonderful* time
besides. I'll certainly be doing this again at some point! Great music
and lots of great conversation. What more could I ask for? Thanks to all
who came by and made the day a really special one. :))

guitar exercises

Got my copy of Ookla The Mok's new CD today. I LOVE it. You must all order a copy right away. :-) For more info, email Rand. You can find out more about Ookla at theOfficial Ookla The Mok Fan Club Page.

Working on Inklings today. Recently, by the way, I've actually managed to work in some regular time on my own writing. Some of you may already know that I write novels for young people. I've had some short stories and poems published, no novels yet. I have a wonderful agent at Curtis-Brown who writes encouraging remarks on the rejection letters I get from various editors re: my first manuscript. Anyway, I'm trying to finally finish my second book so I can send it off to her. Time is the main problem, since I've been very busy with Inkspot/Inklings. One of my columnists recently wrote a wonderful column entitled "Time and the Writer", if anyone's interested.

I'm also trying to work in a bit of regular guitar practice time, though this has had to take a backseat to my writing. I'm still working on barre chords, trying to memorize the two basic forms of barre chords and how I can use them across the fretboard. There doesn't seem to be an easy way of learning these thoroughly except by rote exercise. My current method:

I choose a key e.g. C. I play it via open chord. Then I find two other ways of playing it using barre chords using the "A major" form and the "E major" form. I know there are other forms and inversions and whatnot, but these two are all I can handle right now. :-) Then I move up a semitone and do the same thing with C#, then D, etc. After I know the majors, I'll go through the minors, 7ths, and minor 7ths. Right now it takes me a minute or so to figure out where on the fretboard these chords should go. Hopefully, this process should become more automatic with practice. I don't have much extra time for this, but I try to do at least 5 minutes (I know I know! this is pitiful!!! but it's better than nothing :)) a day, usually when I'm waiting for something to download etc.

I'm finding this exercise very dull, though I'm gradually starting to learn all the barres. Does anyone have any other suggestions for learning how chords fit across the fretboard? Using them in a song is much more interesting, of course, but I don't cover all the barres that way, and it also becomes too easy to memorize the song rather than learn the chords.

Of course, some people may ask, "Why learn the barre chords at all? Why not just play all open chords"? Well, Allison already plays guitar. We're hoping to work up some songs with two guitars as accompaniment, and rather than play exactly the same chords as her, I'd rather add texture by using a variation in at least chord structure if not strumming/picking pattern. Also, I find that barre chords give you some more flexibility in writing some kinds of songs...you can damp them much more easily, add percussive effects, etc. Interestingly, it seems that jazz guitarists rarely use barre chords, preferring instead to add interesting-sounding colour notes rather than doubling up tones, which is what barre chords tend to do (which is probably why playing jazz guitar is so difficult...they use such bizarre chords! :-))

Anyway, I'd better shut up now and get back to work. :-)

deep impact

Jeff and I went to see "Deep Impact" last night. Has anyone else seen it? It was pretty much what I expected. I know it's been getting mediocre to lukewarm reviews, but I quite enjoyed it...I suppose I wasn't expecting as much as the reviewers. :-) Jeff has shaved off his goatee, even though everyone (including me!) told him it looked good. He said it just wasn't him....how could I argue with that? :-)

Ruth called yesterday and said that Annie can walk! Ruth says she suspects that Annie has been able to walk on her own for a while, but just likes having someone to hang onto anyway.

Still yukky weather in Toronto (rain). Hope it clears up by tomorrow morning, when David and I are hoping to go biking again.

Wisdom of the Day: Never drink cranberry juice after brushing your teeth. Tastes AWFUL.

Congrats to Andrea Dale on her new gig (opening for a folk-rock band on May 16). Do check out her Andy's Chatter, too, for an FKO report! :-)

Urban Tapestry's next con, by the way, is Contata on July 10-12 in New Jersey. Steve Macdonald is GoH, and Mark Osier is Toastmaster. We'll also be involved in the programming...should be fun!
Send email to Bruce Adelsohn for more info.

cycling

Went riding this morning with David. This time we met at 7 a.m. and biked to Palace Pier, past the Humber Bay Bike Bridge (to David: it does have a name, I looked it up on my map). We stopped by a small monument thingy for a break...GREAT view of the Toronto skyline across the water; wish I had brought my camera. Lots of traffic on the way back, unfortunately. I still get freaked out by cars driving so close to me; I know it just takes practice to get over this. Still, enjoyed the ride tremendously, got back by 9. Next week we're going to try going east along the Martin Goodman instead of west.
Sites of the Day:
Toronto Bicycle-Commuter's Handbook (has links to Los Angeles and Vancouver cyclist sites as well as general cycling links), Critical Mass (mass bike ride in Toronto on the last Friday of every month; the starting point is apparently only a few blocks from where I live...hm...)