My legal temporary high

Okay so I know there are infinitely more important things in life to solve than playing guitar eg: ending poverty, stop war, being green, finding peace with God...... which should actually be top of my list of things to do. Oh dear.

So I admit I'm probably the plainest of the plainest of the plainest of people, I'll always be a mediocre student and will be a mediocre doctor but this thing is my temporary high that I like, so please be supportive. I'm a nicer person to be with because I let my frustration out on the guitar.

Tricks I learn this week from our weekly guitar classes:

1. Anchor pinkie on the body of the guitar and pick using all of your fingers. Don't be lazy and use only your thumb and index finger, all fingers need to be dextrous.

2. Sing when you play so you keep up with the tempo; alternatively play along with the audio so that you're always in beat.

3. Chord progression. CHORD ProGressION. Can't be stressed enough.

I got these lovely guitar associated birthday presents from really kind people. Thank you! I appreciate them very much!

Thanks Farah!

aaaa....I don't the picture of it, but I got a lovely thick book of all guitar chords from Syafiq. Thank you! I will practice more.

To my calluses, you guys are ugly, but I love you so much. Keep laying down those collagen strands and make yourself fatter and harder. And please kill all of the pain and pressure receptors.

xx

SnoW and Guitar Converts

We're not through November yet and it's snowing now. I can foresee a long dark winter, oh I can't wait for Turkey trip it's going to be fun!

So anywhoo, I managed to convert more girls to be guitar freaks like moi. Woohoo, spread the addiction around, Bristol now, the Universe tomorrow. Oh I wish I had taken a picture of her guitar just now, it's a lovely Spanish made classical guitar bought at a charity shop. Somebody had been really disrespectful to it, the head was cracked in so many ways and there were bubbles on its body. It still sounds nice though, and I really enjoyed myself playing it. This addiction is spiraling out of control.


More stupid poems coming up.

The Moon is Chasing Us

Driving through the night,
We drove through the night,
The wind howled so,
In a loudly silent flow.

We said to each other,
Look hey look my dear,
The moon is chasing us.
Quick, he's right behind us!
He's up, he's down and he's all around,
Look he's smiling down,
As we drove through the town.

It's dark yet it's bright,
It's calm yet it's a fight,
With the silver shadows of the lonely lagoon,
We trade the sun for the rays of the moon,
Like the Northern Star, constant we will be,
Time can have our bodies,
But our minds will always be free.


xx

It's tiring to be loud

Yup it's tiring to be loud. I'll stay quietly in a corner next time.

LONELY SPECTATOR

Hello lonely spectator,
Why are you still here?
The lights are gone, the curtains are down,
The one you held so dear,
Is no longer here.

Stop the applause, stop the cheer,
She can't hear you if that's what you fear,
Her time is up, and she has stop,
Singing her song but she tried for so long,
Her pretty voice had croaked, her dress was soaked,
All the time mending,
Her lonely heart you broke.

Hello lonely spectator,
Can you keep a secret?
In every drunken fetor,
You lugged in every winter,
Your muse, your goddess, your lullaby,
She was dying to fly,
In the blink of an eye,
She sang a goodbye,
Meant for you, oh don't be sly,
She flew soon after you died.



I don't want to leave this cold room. Not even for a warm room if it meant not going to the gym for five days! Blubbery blubber laden doctors. HUH! you should give us a free gym!

This blog is stupid.

secret

This is a trick that works for me.



Slow Down! After the major emotional trauma of not being able to play C chord properly, it was all I practiced for 2 days, just try to get the C chord right and on the third day it miraculously got better. Just like that. My C chord sounds nice now. The fingers just know where they have to be to not mute the other strings and with the right amount of pressure, everything sounds like what they should sound like now.

Yes this is the way to go. Back to basics, because we want to play it right and not "sounds like it"

What the hell am I rumbling about?

Yeay guitar neck is fixed!

xx

Exciting yet Dispiriting.

Harumph! What's the point of playing the guitar if I can't even play the C chord right. It buzzes, it mutes, it's painful, and it still doesn't sound right. I've been lazy lately, because I'll put a capo in the 1st or 2nd fret to make it easier, but you're not training your fingers dummy!! Ergh, it's really annoying and very frustrating, it's an easy chord, everyone can do it, yet I can't do it properly. Even my barre chords sound better than my C chord. It has got to a point where I think there are only a few options available now:

a) Cut out the pad of my index finger so it doesn't mute the high E string

b) Practice until my fingers fall to pieces

c) Get an electric guitar because it doesn't sound too bad when I play it on the electric guitar

d) Get a short scale acoustic guitar because the chord sounds lovely on my mini 3/4 classical guitar.

e) Bare with it.

Some people think it's a pointless pursuit, but I feel that playing the guitar gives me a sense of achievement. Many a times I'm embarrassed to play with other players because I know I'll never be good enough, but I've learn to be thick skinned and just play. No inhibition whatsoever. I started from scratch and will be rubbish until I'm old enough to put this down but at least I have convinced myself that I tried!

I love Justin Sandercoe, he is a good guitar teacher, and I got this off his website. A friend introduced me to Steve Vai last year and what a surprise! He's very articulate. I think he says exactly how I feel about guitar so well. See, it's dedication as well as talent. Minus the talent, I might be able to get the dedication part right. Keep practicing!

Trolls and goblins

Am I too old to still be scared of trolls and goblins? Fairies, pixies, kings and princesses... all from the deep depth of time, where everything is bright and lovely.

I want to wake up in the strawberry meadows, set on a background of rolling hills with just a hint of cloudy skies pregnant with gentle rain. Roll around in the sweet swelling fields, where ants and bees don't sting. And when Mrs Rain starts to tear up, I will run  glide softly to the cabin, my mother will hand me a steaming cup of cocoa and I can cocoon myself under a warm blanket, and chase the raindrops on the window pane.

Time is not a nice person. Why do you want to race with me when you know I will always lose? You never stop and stare, in fact, you run so fast I'm out of breath just trying to keep with you. Stop racing with me, give me back what was rightly mine. Stop aging me just because you're old. I want my time back, I want to keep what I lost and I want to feel my childhood again. You just have to take it away from me right? You selfish beast. All you do is age all the lovely things in this world. Why? Are you keeping tabs on who you take? You've got us all. Enough is enough time. Let me be constant for once.


I've got a problem with Mr Time. He's horrible.

Blubber

Why didn't anybody introduce me to Judy Blume? She's great! I finished this book in the span of a day of shopping and dining out; too good to put it down.

Blubber, Baby Brenner, Peanut Butter

Guitar not going too well....*sobs*

For Susie

Susie,
Why do you swim in still waters,
Was it not enough the colours,
Of your beautiful life, So plain to see,
You're too pretty for him.

Now tell him Susie,
He waited for you under the apple tree,
You were ready to sail the sea,
He begged for you to stay,
But again you pushed him away.

You leaned to him silently,
Yet you always wanted to fly free,
So tell him Susie,
While he lays here peacefully,
Time and time again,
You're under and over treating the pain,
Where is the small piece you called a heart?
He knew you did not make the cut,
Please come home Susie,
He misses you dearly.

KILL me now Please. I cannot stand another pathology lecture.

Medicine and Poetry

Saw this article in the most recent Student BMJ. I couldn't agree more. Being able to reflect on one's own experience is an invaluable skill that everyone should have, especially medics. Not only will this stop you from marching your to your own drum, reflection makes you more aware of your surroundings, fine tuning the soft skills needed to make patients/other medical professionals at ease with you. And what better way to reflect than to write poetry? I know I like poetry because I love literature from a very young age. A lot of people moan and groan when asked to do a reflective piece, but hey you're only expected to do creative piece during your 5 years in med school, after this you'll work like robots/slaves so I guess enjoy this while you can. Writing poetry is fun, makes you more alert to how each word sounds, rhythm, metaphors, imagination, music, ... the list goes on.

I love poetry so much. Nobody can take this away from me.

The guitar buzzes so..

It's easy to be angry and muck about, but it's so much harder to be the bigger person. I guess being selfish is easier still.

Still angry, still think people are so selfish, I would never do that, but hey, selfishness is okay I guess. Maybe this is my burden I have to carry for a lifetime of not giving. I would never think it's okay to be selfish. It's okay to be a SHELL- FISH!

It's not right when the  strings still buzz!! Shit, I've got to get this fixed! Or I will die of ringing guitar strings.

xx