Musical and divers diversions
Dec. 10th, 2005 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trixtahI just bought a second-hand clarinet! $300, and in perfectly fine shape! Artificial cork may not be the cool lining for one's clarinet keys, but it lasts a hell of a lot longer than the real thing. It could do with a clean - and I wonder if I should do it myself as a wee project, I need to get some jeweller's screwdrivers anyway - but all the notes sound good, and at the speed I play, it doesn't matter if the response is a little bit sluggish.
But why oh why do second-hand instrument sellers always give reed instruments to you with the reed still in situ? Ick! At least the nice man gave me a new one when I asked, free of charge.
So, I'm going to have to find some fairly basic music - wonder if you can get free (clarinet or other B flat instrument) sheetmusic online? - and get into practice. I haven't picked up an instrument of any description for over 10 years, and I was always better at playing the saxophone. Never by ear, though, I never was that good a musician.
In the "other fun news" department, my what-the-hell-do-I-call-her girlfriend and I had a very quick whizzbang trip to Sydney yesterday. She rung up, said "I have tickets to Candy Lips - book us a hotel room!" and off we went. Candy Lips was great fun (I enjoyed being frisked by the femmy "cop", although I had to make sure that no-one took too many liberties with my g/f, of course). We got somewhat tipsy, danced to some cheesy 80s music (the house music downstairs was just as boring as house always is to me) and snogged shamelessly at the bar (inadvertently, actually), like a pair of 18-year-olds. Oh well. Then we just had to leave the party before 1am (I know, we're getting old) and try out the toy I bought for her birthday, ooh, about 6 months ago. It was worth the wait. Well, kind of. Less waiting would have been better. Oh, and we had some awesome tapas at a place on the corner of Victoria and Liverpool St in Darlinghurst. Great sangria too. Shame I can't remember the name.
One thing, though. All the women at the party who were evidently "coupled" had similar body types. The big wide diesel types and their femmes; the tall slim trendy blondes; the cute boyish ones; the lipstick chix. What the hell is up with that? My g/f and I felt most peculiar, surrounded by all this matched morphology. Me - 5'6", Aussie size 14, HWP (if one must), short dark hair; her - 5'2", something over a size 20, very round, and with long curly red hair. Obviously, there's something wrong with us. If someone tried to explain my dykeishness in terms of "narcissism", they'd have a bit of a challenge, methinks. But is there some trend going on in the dyke community I'm not aware of these days? Or has it just taken me this long to notice? (since it's been about 8 years since I was last at a women-only event)
Anyway, for once I didn't buy any books in Sydney, but I managed to grab the aforementioned clarinet in the hour we had available between having breakfast and running to the train station. We did wave at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
damned_colonial's street as we whizzed past. Shame we didn't have time for anything else, but my g/f's son's Xmas concert was calling. But I have been assured we'll be doing something similar again. I hope so; I had a fab time.
But why oh why do second-hand instrument sellers always give reed instruments to you with the reed still in situ? Ick! At least the nice man gave me a new one when I asked, free of charge.
So, I'm going to have to find some fairly basic music - wonder if you can get free (clarinet or other B flat instrument) sheetmusic online? - and get into practice. I haven't picked up an instrument of any description for over 10 years, and I was always better at playing the saxophone. Never by ear, though, I never was that good a musician.
In the "other fun news" department, my what-the-hell-do-I-call-her girlfriend and I had a very quick whizzbang trip to Sydney yesterday. She rung up, said "I have tickets to Candy Lips - book us a hotel room!" and off we went. Candy Lips was great fun (I enjoyed being frisked by the femmy "cop", although I had to make sure that no-one took too many liberties with my g/f, of course). We got somewhat tipsy, danced to some cheesy 80s music (the house music downstairs was just as boring as house always is to me) and snogged shamelessly at the bar (inadvertently, actually), like a pair of 18-year-olds. Oh well. Then we just had to leave the party before 1am (I know, we're getting old) and try out the toy I bought for her birthday, ooh, about 6 months ago. It was worth the wait. Well, kind of. Less waiting would have been better. Oh, and we had some awesome tapas at a place on the corner of Victoria and Liverpool St in Darlinghurst. Great sangria too. Shame I can't remember the name.
One thing, though. All the women at the party who were evidently "coupled" had similar body types. The big wide diesel types and their femmes; the tall slim trendy blondes; the cute boyish ones; the lipstick chix. What the hell is up with that? My g/f and I felt most peculiar, surrounded by all this matched morphology. Me - 5'6", Aussie size 14, HWP (if one must), short dark hair; her - 5'2", something over a size 20, very round, and with long curly red hair. Obviously, there's something wrong with us. If someone tried to explain my dykeishness in terms of "narcissism", they'd have a bit of a challenge, methinks. But is there some trend going on in the dyke community I'm not aware of these days? Or has it just taken me this long to notice? (since it's been about 8 years since I was last at a women-only event)
Anyway, for once I didn't buy any books in Sydney, but I managed to grab the aforementioned clarinet in the hour we had available between having breakfast and running to the train station. We did wave at
damned_colonial's street as we whizzed past. Shame we didn't have time for anything else, but my g/f's son's Xmas concert was calling. But I have been assured we'll be doing something similar again. I hope so; I had a fab time.