Learning the Mighty Ukulele

 

 A little over a month ago, I heard the local Arts & Culture Committee was looking for people to sign up as a members of the community orchestra.  I was intrigued and almost wanted to join but then I thought to myself, what instrument would I play?  A better question was, what instrument would I want to learn?  The only instrument I have learned to play as a kid was koto, a traditional Asian stringed instrument, which I have not touched for more than 30 years.  Nevertheless, I thought a stringed instrument would be a little easier for me to learn.  I have attempted to learn guitar in high school, but it was difficult to stretch my fingers to play the chords. Suddenly I remembered - ukulele! I always thought it would be fun to play an ukulele!  It's small, cute, portable, and cheerful. It has only 4 strings.  In compare to the 13-string koto I used to play, it should be manageable.

I started looking through Youtube tutorials on ukulele including its history and what to look for when buying a uke, etc. I started looking at ukuleles on Amazon and local stores trying to decide which one to get.  About a month ago, I happened to stop by the Goodwill store in Downtown Berkeley. I spotted one used soprano size ukulele in dark purple - my favorite color! I looked at it carefully to make sure it was in decent condition other than superficial scratches and dings. I bought it for $8.00 and started playing it by watching online tutorials.  I found Cynthia Lin and Bernadette to be my favorite teachers after watching countless tutorials by people around the world.  Little did I know that both of them are from California, my home state.

A clip board is all you need to turn an extra tripod into a music stand

After playing the $8 uke for a month, I visited the iconic Subway Guitars in Berkeley, which I have known for most of my life but never had the opportunity to go in.  I left the shop with an Amahi slim body concert ukulele.   Last week I also converted one of my tripods into a music stand.  I just glued the part that would attach to a camera onto a clip board.  I removed the screw that was meant to screw onto the bottom of a camera from the removable plastic unit. I also scraped off any loose component on it before applying Crazy glue to it.  I also used duct tape for additional reinforcement.  The tripod of course is fully adjustable in height, direction, and angle.  It's much more sturdy than a cheap music stand. It also didn't cost me any extra money. 

After leaning the ukulele for more than a month, I learned a few things that I never realized before. One, my fingers are short compare to my two favorite ukulele teachers.  Two, singing and playing an instrument at the same time is much more difficult than I thought.  It's been very hard for me to do both simultaneously so I focus mostly on playing the uke.

Last weekend I attended my first Youtube livestream to celebrate Cynthia's 300K subscribers.  I am not good enough to play along all the songs, but it was fun and inspirational. I also got my ticket for Holiday Uke Jam in Berkeley. I can't believe I will get to see Cynthia Lin in person, and I can't wait to meet other local ukulele enthusiasts!

Life with Dogs

Cracus and Sace running around at Pacifica Esplanade Beach

2018 was a year of Goodbyes, and one more goodbye came in April this year. In June 2018, my boss at work had to take a medical leave due to cancer. She was in and out of ICU for months.  In January, I heard that she only had a few months to live regardless of any more medical treatments. In early April, just a month before her 60th birthday, she passed away. I think about her often just like I think about Kelsey.

Cracus has a new sister now. Her name is Sace, and she is about the same size as Cracus.  We want to enjoy the life we have before it's too late. A couple weekends ago, we took a day trip to Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in Guerneville. It was one of my boss' favorite places to go.  It was our first time there. We took a nice walk and had a picnic in the redwoods in memory of her.

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

Armstrong Redwoods State natural Reserve is also the entrance to Bullfrog Pond Campground, which allows dogs.  We plan on going back and camp on the top of the mountain when the weather is cooler. In the meantime, we will continue to explore beaches and other dog friendly destinations whenever we can get away.

Life is too short to just sit around and watch tv.

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline

Goodbyes in 2018

 

2018 has been a year of goodbyes. In February, after my 2003 PT Cruiser stalled several times, it was traded in for a 2014 Subaru Forester. Even though most people would be excited to get a new car, I feel sad of letting go my transportation of 15 years. There were many memories associated with the PT Cruiser, and I miss the car. I never thought I would miss a car this much.

In March, after waking up with a sore neck and painful shoulders for weeks, and after consulting with my doctor, I purchased a new mattress. I had the same mattress since 1996, I think. I think it was purchased the year I got my own apartment. I watched the mattress delivery people taking away the old mattress with sadness. It was with me for so long; however, since we don't normally look at the mattress, it was not as painful as letting go of the car. 

 

 

At the end of June, we said goodbye to Kelsey.  I cannot remember when she stopped going for walks. She had spent the past year in bed most of time.  Her hair had become matted and dirty since I was not able to give her a proper bath anymore in her condition. She cried frequently from her aching bones. We miss her so much, and I hope her spirit will always be with us. 

On July 10th,  one of my uncles passed away unexpectedly. Although I had not seen him in many years, I have many fond memories of him as a child.  It's hard to believe he is no longer around. I can't imagine what my cousins are feeling now that their father is gone.

Revisiting Rodeo Beach

On December 25, 2015, we all went to Rodeo Beach. It was probably the last time Kelsey went on a hike, and we didn't go far with her bad hips. This morning, Cracus revisited Rodeo Beach in memory of Kelsey, who passed away yesterday. He roamed around on the beach next to the waves.  We also hiked a bit further up the hill. It was getting pretty hot around noon. As we stopped to admire the view, I noticed a tick crawling in Cracus' hair! I frantically brushed it off after several tries. That was my queue to turn around.  We went back to the beach again before heading back.

 

On the way back home, we stopped by one of the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Points.  It was a nice day for photographs of the bridge.  After we got home, Cracus had a bath to get rid of all the sand and make sure he had no other ticks on him.

Healthy Frozen Dessert Maker

Gourmia GSI180

A couple months ago I got an "ice cream" maker from a neighbor. I was intrigued because it looked like I could just plug it in, put in frozen pieces of fruit, and ice cream would come out from it. The maker claims the result would have texture similar to ice cream. I have another ice cream maker that has an inside bowl that needs to be frozen prior to use, and I would need to prepare a list of ingredients in order to make ice cream. How could this new machine be so easy? I read some of the reviews, someone mentioned it takes a lot of force to push the frozen fruit down the machine. 

I looked at the parts and read the manual carefully. I thought before I get carried away, I would just use a bag of pre-packaged frozen pineapple chunks to test it out. According to the manual, the frozen fruit should be removed from the freezer for about 5 minutes before making the dessert in order to ensure a softer consistency. I let the bag of pineapple chunks sat for at least 5 minutes before pouring them into the opening on top of the machine.

After I push the chunks all the way down with the plunger, a yellow ribbon of pineapple unfurls from underneath. It was like magic!  I actually didn't need to use that much force. Since the machine is pretty light weight, I had to make sure that I did not push too hard. I think letting the frozen fruit sit out for a few minutes really helped.  The consistency is however far from ice cream since there is no cream involved.  I might be able to trick little kids into thinking this was ice cream but it's definitely not ice "cream". It's refreshing and fun to make. For lactose intolerant people,  this is a good alternative to ice cream or frozen yogurt. For people who can't chew, this would be a good way to enjoy fresh fruits on hot days. The machine is easy to take apart for cleaning. Since there is no cream, the parts just need to be rinsed off. No detergent needed.