A Musical Plot Twist

Saturday was my favourite day of the week. It began with Dino Streamfest, which spanned from 9:00 AM to Midnight. There were a few of the channels that weren't really the kind of content that I was looking for, so I did other things in between. Things like self care (showering and eating), relaxing (video games - Fenyx Rising and Lost Ark), and music (keytar and writing).

This week, I decided to stop doing music lessons. There were a few factors going into this. The cost was putting me into financial hardship. That was a big one. But I also wasn't getting to learn the instrument I really want to focus on: keytar. And much of the curriculum wasn't made for piano even, so I couldn't really even just learn that well. And given the cost to new material to me ratio was not worth it, I decided to take my money and time back.

And I've done more with my music in one day than I have since April.

But it wasn't a total loss. It got me motivated and I got just enough information to let me know what I didn't before.

So I started writing a song. I have no idea when it will be done, but I'm really excited about it. I don't even have the story of it sketched out yet, but I think I have the key and I'm going to play around with chord progressions to help guide the note end of it.

I still have a lot to learn about keytar and will want to play around with the sound of mine, likely through pedals or something, but I had so much fun!

What will I do next? Well, I'm thinking that I'll just have fun with it during the summer and then take some online courses during the cool months. There are so many free or lower cost options online that I can use to further my musical journey.

Please check out my digital to-do list: https://trello.com/b/RM8yD3eq/rae-roy-general

2020 Vision

Mostly, I’ve been planning for the new year, but I discovered I know Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was a recollection under the influence that brought this to light. I also discovered I still suck at drawing, but I’m okay with that. I used to think I had to be good at everything, and I’ve realized that’s just not so. Some friends and I recently hit up a local board game pub. It was a pretty fun night. The first game was Balderdash and I was terrible at it. Because I was the writer in the group, some of my friends thought I should be more embarrassed about it and hide the fact that I don’t spend all my free time learning advanced vocabulary. But I’m not upset about it. Why? Two reasons: 1. I now know what I don’t know. 2. If one takes a close look at the top selling novels on the market, the level of the language used is not the level of many of the words in Balderdash. Not that I’m comparing my own work to those, but audience is what matters in writing. To me, it is far better to e...

Fortifying Friday - Rejection

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Thoughtful Thursday - Dental Access

I haven't made use of it yet as I discovered it only this week, but there are free dental screenings in Ottawa for people who have a low income. I'm not sure what happens at these things, but I imagine they're rather like the once or twice yearly visits we had in grade school from the health unit where they checked our teeth. Anyway, I thought I'd mention that in case anyone is in need. There is a schedule with the locations listed and I'm guessing it's hard to get there early enough to get seen, but I'll check it out soon. I've been using dental products that are supposed to repair and whiten. I'm unsure they are working, but I figured they were worth a try. Also, I hear if you add activated charcoal to your toothbrush before the toothpaste, it helps whiten too. It makes a hell of a mess, but I tried it. I think it might take a while to whiten, but my teeth are definitely cleaner, so I think it really does help with plaque. Activated charcoal is als...

Rae Roy

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