On a loosely related note, last weekend I lost my ukulele, Petunia. These two situations are incomparable in magnitudes of importance. Yet, the idea of celebrating the loss of something instead of mourning it really appeals to me. She was an amazing gift that was giving to me by a lifelong friend to later became my low maintenance traveling companion. When I got myself into some strange international confusions, she was in my hand waiting to strum away my moments of panic. If you've payed close attention and know me well, you know where this is going...
Petunia's top ten list!!!!
10 ) Eau Claire : The first time I saw Petunia I didn't know anything about ukuleles. I didn't know how to strum nor could I decipher the finger placement for a single chord. Fortunately she was sitting next to a chord chart so I picked her up. At this moment in time, I carried a very heavy heart because there was something big in my life I needed to let go of but hadn't yet found the courage. Anyway, I picked her up, started strumming casually as I continued to talk with my friends. Five hours passed without me setting her down. The lovely Jaycee suggested that I borrow her. The exact details of the personal events following are unnecessary but I must say that thanks to Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah, and Petunia, the steps were significantly less painful because I was able to keep my downtime occupied without too much thinking.
9 ) Chippewa Falls, Segny : C'ukubabies. The combination makes me grin.
8 ) General airport friendliness : security officers, customs officers, flight attendants, and pilots all the same worldwide would ask me to play. It makes the entire awkward language and customs problems melt away. There was one time that I was nervously waiting in a customs line while the person in front of me was getting interrogated. As I stepped up to the counter, I prepared myself for an experience similar but instead the man simply asked me to play. A basic law of science states that anyone who can play a ukulele is harmless so the man stamped my passport without another word.
I've also had adorable and young Danish girls make the best of their basic English to ask me why my guitar is so little and missing strings.
7) Segny, France : When I was working as an au pair, I shared my birthday with the father of the family. This particular family of four had more language skills than my entire high school combined. So of course after dinner, Petunia led us through the birthday song in a variety of languages. This may be the time to mention that I never played well, but that was never the point. :D Sorry about the link but I came across size issues I didn't want to deal with. But you can still see it with a little persistance! Video on facebook!
6) Chaumont Sur Loire, France : After being lost on my bike in a giant forest for hours on a particularly rainy day, I came across two Parisians who didn't mind my company. We biked through a cats and dogs style downpour until we finally came across a campsite. Here we had a picnic, warmed up, hung out with the other campers, and enjoyed Petunia's pretty purs. (Notes from the velo : Chapitre Trois for photos) Also see Notes from the velo : Chapitre deux for an additional Petunia story during this bike adventure.
5) Amsterdam : After a long night out, my friend, John, and I were hanging out in the lounge of our hostel. There were a few other people in there hanging out when somebody asked me to play something. Naturally, I played Three Little Birds by Bob Barley, as I had been practicing it for weeks before going to Amsterdam. It turned into this awesome musical jam session as other people started picking up the instruments provided by the room. I had so much fun and stayed up so late that I missed my airplane the next morning and had to spent an extra beautiful sunny day riding a bicycle around Amsterdam.
4) Segny France : The first time that it snowed while I was living in France Klara was home sick from school. We were so excited about the snow that we decided to learn a Christmas song together. I even taught her how to play the keyboard. It was magical.
3) Nappa Valley : When my family was cruising around checking out some vineyards in a giant van, my niece was a baby and got a little upset about all the time in the car. She loves music so My brother, Summer, my cousin Lindsay, and I all made the Chinese Animal Song for her in the car.
2) Istanbul : My bags were of course lost during my entire stay here. But the night before I was leaving the airport called offering to drop off my bag the next afternoon. I asked them if I could instead pick it up the next day on my way back to France. However, when I went to look for my bag at the airport, I was brought into a room for about 45 minutes with a very friendly man who gave me the bad news that my bag was on its way to my hostel. Of course it took me 3 weeks, daily phone calls, an angry email, and a friend yelling at the airline company before my bag returned. That's not the story here. The story is that this man asked me play while we were waiting. While I did he clapped and made up funny lyrics in his thick accent, made me tea, and introduced me to every person who passed through the room. After days of not having my soaps nor clean clothes to change into this was easily the happiest that I felt while in Istanbul.
1) San Francisco : My cousin, Lindsay, and I were on the bus when the amazing Bambi Lake picked a fight with my cousin. It went on and on she even mentioned how she would like to shoot her until I offered to buy Miss Lake a pack of cigarettes in exchange for one of her cds. Immediately following, she blamed the moodiness on her needin' a nicotine fix and her attitude flipped as quickly as crepe and she began loading us full of compliments. She went on and about how rich we will be because Lindsay has model potential, and me an obvious successful career ahead of me as an actress. Once she buttered us up, the three of us began a little street music on a sidewalk on Haight.
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