Not Heidi
Not Heidi's JournalCalling Guitarists & Guitar Teachers (long; hopefully not DR)
I need some help.
I've played since 1976 (minus the last 15 years). Although I hadn't played for so long, three years ago I bought a Martin D15-M (mahogany six-string dreadnought), hoping it would encourage me to get playing again. It didn't work.
Up until 2000, I was a member of a vibrant music community, and with a mixed chorus performed 3-4 times a year, bursting with pride and joy. In two concerts, I performed with two friends a comedy song, "Regretting What I Said," written by the clever and talented songwriter Christine Lavin. This song never fails to bring the house down. One of the things that gave me such pride is that I accompanied my trio on my guitar.
Again: fifteen years have passed without playing my guitar. Yesterday a friend from that chorus PM'd me. The chorus is putting on a cabaret. She's assembled a trio who are going to audition Regretting in two weeks. She asked me if I would teach them the song and accompany them at rehearsals and in the show. This fool jumped right in and said, "hell, yeah!" So . . . .
Just a few minutes ago I put my guitar back into its gig bag, crying. I'm beyond rusty. I still know the song and can form the chords, but sometimes the strings buzz or are dead. Although I'm alone, I'm embarrassed. As for finger-picking - 🙄.
I'm hoping a few of you might have suggestions. Finger-strengthening exercises, drills, YouTube sites specific to re-learning, or anything else you can think of. I won't stop short at taking lessons, but would have to find a teacher.
Got any ideas? I'll appreciate all suggestions. Thanks so much.
Ever tried to quit Coca-Cola?
🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤
I am addicted to Coca-Cola - badly. I need to quit. I've worked my way up to 5 - 8 cans, with the occasional bottle or fountain drink, per day. I've gained 14 pounds since I started this nonsense in September.
If you've ever quit Coke when addicted, please tell me how you did it.
I started today with this pledge: "I'll have one Coke per day." I have about as much faith in this pledge as I do in . . . well, pick something you have no faith in.
I had one Coke today. Day One accomplished. We'll see about tomorrow.
Got any ideas? Lessons? Suggestions? Your stories?
Thanks.
question re what a pro aquarium cleaner will do
I've previously asked about how to do a water change. I started to do it, but I got so anxious after removing maybe two gallons, and after one of my rasboras got too close to the hose intake, that I had to quit. I remembered to match the new water's temp to that in the aquarium, and to put Prime into the new water, but after that I had to quit. I didn't get any cleaning done, either, except for what little gravel cleaning I could do while removing two gallons.
Does anyone know if a professional fishkeeper - someone who goes to homes and businesses to clean large aquariums - would do a water change and clean a 15 gallon aquarium? I could surely use the help.
If you know, please reply. If you're a fishkeeper in northern Orange County, CA, and might be interested, please PM me. I'm not looking for someone who'd do it for free.
Thank you.
my niece - I'm scared
My sister and her daughter share a home with my wife and me. My niece, who stands 5'4", is heavier than I ever was (my high: 283).
I just saw her leaving the kitchen with her lunch: a roast beef & cheese sandwich, a hard-boiled egg, potato chips, a yogurt, and M&M's. She eats all hours - my bedroom is close to the kitchen; I hear the refrigerator door, the microwave, and clattering dishes & running water.
She won't listen to anyone, not me, not her mom, not my other sister.
My other sister said, "She's making her choices and there's nothing we can do, so just think happy thoughts!!" I guess it's all I can do - unless any of you has any ideas.
Do you keep fish? I need help.
I have a new aquarium, my first in two years, and it's time for the first water change. Thing is, I don't remember how to do a water change.
I recently had four months of ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) and it robbed me of my memory. I've watched YouTube videos, but none was very thorough and none gave me any courage. I'm nervous.
I don't even remember how or when to use the chemicals for testing the water.
I know this might sound ridiculous, but it's true. It's embarrassing, but I really need the help.
If you know of any online encyclopedias of fishkeeping that give step-by-step water change instructions, I'd be grateful if you'd post a link. Thanks.
question about outdated (?) technology - seeking advice
I have a pedal computer control (don't know what it's called; it's for writing [word processing]) and a docking station. I want to get rid of them, but I don't want to throw them away if they can be used.
Can they be used? Is there a forum or something somewhere where I can list them, whether for sale or for free?
Any advice helps. Thanks!
Shallow and Superficial
This post will reveal to you how shallow and superficial I can be. (I used to have a button reading "shallow & superficial." I wish I still had it.)
At age 60, I hereby reveal that I am a huge fangirl (fancrone?). Of whose, you ask?
Of Tyne Daly, goddess of stage, screen, and television.
I have a minor beef: I want to know who decreed that Tyne Daly should wear a perm all through the last season of Cagney and Lacey (CBS, 1982 - 1988). During that series, she was so attractive in the ways they styled her short hair. In that final season, she wasn't unattractive, but that perm . . . ugh.
So there. Fancrone lives! Thank you for listening.
BTW, if you have any interest in watching the series, skip seasons One and Two. The series really came into its own (in my opinion) in season Three and took off from there.
Fancrone signing off.
Looks like I'm going into the psych hospital
I can't get a handle on my thoughts, can't organize them or explain to anyone what I'm feeling or why I can't participate in life like an average person.
I was hospitalized a couple of years ago, primarily to try to work out the trauma of having to take almost all of my pet cats to the humane society (we had many and were moving cross-country). I don't recall any work I did toward getting over that trauma - and it's not exorcized. So I guess I will be working on that again.
Mostly I need a safe place to let my feelings out. It's not safe here at home because they are too extreme. My sadness is impossible for anyone to understand - including myself. My depression is such that I can't understand it. I don't know how to deal with it.
All I have to do is talk to my psychiatrist and get her take. I know I could go check myself in, but I don't have the nerve for that.
A question for aquarium aficionados
If you've been reading my stuff lately, you know my mental health is ruling me in a most unpleasant way. I'll elaborate if you need to get caught up.
Before I began the ECT sessions earlier this year, I got a new aquarium. To my shame, I have not been able to keep up with taking care of it. I have three fish and no plants or decorations. Who knows what the existence of a captive fish is like, but when you don't even have any plants, well, I imagine sheer boredom & misery.
I'm asking if anyone knows of:
A service that will do all the upkeep of a small aquarium (20 gallons), including water changes, planting, etc.
-or-
Some kind of organization that will take my fish and find them a good home.
Weird? Maybe. But that's where I am these days.
Please let me know if you can think of anything that might help me. Thank you.
Pharmaceutical prices are out of control.
I know, I'm not telling you something you don't know.
Walgreens sent me a text to say one of my psych drugs is ready. Their site says it'll cost $99.60. That's ridiculous. I figure someone at the pharmacy forgot to run it through my insurance.
So I decided to go to the pharmacy tomorrow morning and talk to Leah, their most fantastic pharmacist (who doesn't mind clerical tasks). I know she'll get right on the phone to my insurance company and straighten it out, and I'll be able to leave Walgreens only $7.50 poorer.
Having made that decision, another thought occurred to me: in case the insurance company is intractable, I'll use Good Rx. (Good Rx is a website that somehow manages to affix reasonable prices to expensive meds.)
With Good Rx, my meds would cost $399.00.
If you heard someone screaming in Orange County, CA, at about 7:20 pm this evening, that was me.
Profile Information
Name: K.J. HeidebrechtGender: Female
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Home country: United States
Current location: Fountain Valley, CA
Member since: Wed Jun 19, 2019, 03:15 PM
Number of posts: 1,288
