Day 16: Guitar Hero

I took my first guitar lesson today.  My sister gave me a guitar for my 40th birthday and now, six years later, I am finally taking lessons.  The lesson was 30 minutes long and chock fill of information. I played a few notes and a couple of chords, and now, the fingertips on my left hand hurt.  My right hand never really figured out what it needed to do, so it feels fine.  I figure it will be a bit touchy once I learn how to strum.

Essentially, the lesson was designed to give me an overview and some guidelines, then send me home to practice on my own.  Since my finger tips are so soft, I will probably only be able to practice 10-15 minutes in one sitting, and maybe as much as two sittings in a day.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm trying hard to learn by feel, rather than sight, since looking at the strings puts your guitar in a bad position relative to your fingers.  Or so said Danny, my instructor.  More details later. 

Now, more about my new laptop.  It is really small and light, yet just as powerful as our regular sized laptop.  It is Windows 8, which takes a bit of getting used to, but since I've used a tablet for a few years now, it is very similar to that.  I love the fact that there is a keyboard, a mouse pad and a touch screen, so you can go back and forth between them, depending on what you are doing.  Love it!  Also, when Buckley sits on me while I'm working on this, it is much less aggravating then when he sits on me with the larger laptop.  I guess because the smaller one is easier to balance.  Hooray for the new laptop!!!

My finger tips are a little sore, but I have a couple of thousand words to type in my story. Before I go, I have to share dinner.  Brian and I took the dogs to Forest Park for our walk tonight and I was daydreaming about food. Again. We just bought some orzo at Pike Place Market while in Seattle, so I thought that needed to be the base for our dinner. When we got home, Brian was sous chef for me.  As I cooked 3 pieces of bacon, he chopped 1/2 and onion, a bell pepper and some broccoli. I got rid of the bacon grease and switched to olive oil to saute the vegetables, adding just a bit of garlic to the mix. Once the veggies were sauteed, I added a can of rinsed great northern beans and a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes, along with a ton of oregano and some basil.  I added about 2 cups of water to that mix and about a cup of orzo.  The orzo sucked up all of the water, and cooked beautifully.  Finally, we added about 1/3 cup of grated extra sharp cheddar to the mix and served it with crusty bread.  YUM!!!!!

Be happy and healthy!