Banjo!
Ben got me a banjo for Christmas. I know, right? I've had this affinity for banjos for a long time, since before frequenting the Cantab Bluegrass night in Cambridge in my early/mid twenties. I just like banjos: the shape, the sound, the mood. But honestly, I don't know a whole lot about Old Tymey, bluegrass, banjo kinda music. I just don't. But I've occasionally mentioned wanting to play the banjo. I just never expected to actually get one or learn to play.
He bought me a beginning banjo book, too, and found a video at the library to help me learn. A really incredibly sweet gift, all around. I almost cried.
It's been a long, long time since I've been truly surprised and delighted by a gift. I usually know what I'm getting, like a gift certificate or some book or CD I've asked for, or money from my parents to go towards what I want (like the adult trike a couple of years ago). This was the first out of the blue, totally thoughtful, big gift since I was a kid, I think.
I have one asshole, selfish, slap-me-now complaint about it, which I am not voicing to him. It's a new one, a "beginner's" one, and I think I would have preferred an older used one. He did mention that the older ones they had were all really nice ones, and not near this (lowest) price range, but I kind of wish he had checked around at other banjo stores a bit. I like the idea of an older, previously played, one a bit more, for whatever musician karma and greasy fingerprints it might have. Ok, jerk time over. I do love it. I have a banjo!
He bought me a beginning banjo book, too, and found a video at the library to help me learn. A really incredibly sweet gift, all around. I almost cried.
It's been a long, long time since I've been truly surprised and delighted by a gift. I usually know what I'm getting, like a gift certificate or some book or CD I've asked for, or money from my parents to go towards what I want (like the adult trike a couple of years ago). This was the first out of the blue, totally thoughtful, big gift since I was a kid, I think.
I have one asshole, selfish, slap-me-now complaint about it, which I am not voicing to him. It's a new one, a "beginner's" one, and I think I would have preferred an older used one. He did mention that the older ones they had were all really nice ones, and not near this (lowest) price range, but I kind of wish he had checked around at other banjo stores a bit. I like the idea of an older, previously played, one a bit more, for whatever musician karma and greasy fingerprints it might have. Ok, jerk time over. I do love it. I have a banjo!