U-could-lele Class: Review

Last week, I took a super-basic introductory class to the ukulele. It was truly basic; the instructor didn't even flinch when I asked exactly how I'm supposed to strum (do i use my thumb... okay, she's using her nail... and now there's a pick... what is happening?) I was pretty frustrated for maybe the first hour of the class. Even though I went into it with low expectations, my brain just is not accustomed to not being able to do something. 

Slowly but surely though I started to kind of figure out what was going on. And that is 100% because the instructor, Frank, was fantastic. As a former high school music teacher, he was perfectly patient and attentive, able to pick up on everyone's learning style and offer appropriate feedback all around. He arrived at the space early and tuned everyone's instrument (remember: super beginners here) and set a very easy, calm atmosphere for the class.

Frank paced the class perfectly - it really felt more like I was hanging out with a friend of a friend, just learning the ukulele on a lark, which is really the best environment for someone who maybe gets a little anxious and worked up about things not going according to plan. (The "plan" being that I'd leave the class able to play the ukulele!) A small class (kind of Dabble's thing) allowed us to all feel comfortable with each other and to receive personalized attention from the instructor.

There's no reason someone like me, with no musical experience, should be able to just "pick up" the ukulele, I know. But with the foundation of this introductory class, I can commit to teaching myself. I left the class confident that I can spend the next three months practicing chord drills and tip-toeing into playing an actual song. 

Frank provided packets of useful information - chord drills, chords for popular songs, diagrams for different tuning, and then emailed that information to us all the next day, too. So, I am truly prepared to try to teach myself how to play the ukulele! Note: Hallelujah is a great song to use to learn with just four or five chords and it probably being something you've heard a hundred times or so.

U-could-lele: An Intro the Uke was offered through Dabble, a wonderful Chicago start-up you should all check out. Other class topics include: knitting, career advancement, stand-up comedy, craft beer, fencing... you name it, you'll find it! (You can also find Dabble in Milwaukee and Denver.)

Have you learned any new instruments as an adult? Any other new skills you had to really work at in the beginning?

Starting Sense and Sensibility

Both Summer of Austen and Project Ukulele took a back seat to another exciting adventure as I traveled to Boston last week to attend and celebrate my friend's successful defense of his dissertation. Congratulations, Dr. Dan!

Necessary champagne celebration! 

(Photo by Kristen P. via Facebook, as I managed to leave Boston without any pictures... again.)

While a flight is surely a perfect time for reading Austen, I needed to finish Lisa Randall's Knocking on Heaven's Door, in the hopes of establishing some sort of very basic understanding of physics. And it worked! On a very superficial level, I understood what Dan's research is about and was able to more fully appreciate his contribution to science. (So very proud of my friend.)

I found a little time for reading in Boston, while I was forcing myself to stay awake until dawn in sheer terror of a bird-size insect that had made its way into the house. That kind of free time demanded lighter reading and I dived into yet another Sookie Stackhouse novel (a series which I'm not even a little embarrassed to say I love).

And when my next chunk of free time popped up - five hours in Boston's Logan International Airport, it seemed much more pressing to re-watch some season six episodes of Doctor Who ("The Curse of the Black Spot," "The Impossible Astronaut," and "A Good Man Goes to War"), and then the first two episodes from season one of Bored to Death. (Note: that show makes me want to live in New York City, but not Manhattan - Brooklyn is so pretty.)

Okay - I boarded the flight (thank you, pre-boarding because of the boot) and finally resigned myself to starting Sense and Sensibility. Why was I fighting it? Maybe I knew how slow it was going to start. I'm only 15% or so in (oh Kindle, already shaping how I talk about books) and I'm so annoyed. Too many Dashwoods to keep track of. 

However, interspersed in this (I'm sure very important) novel set-up text are some moments of the Jane Austen I met in Northanger Abbey.

On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provision for discourse. In the present case it took up ten minutes to determine whether the boy were most like his father or mother, and in what particular he resembled either, for of course every body differed, and every body was astonished at the opinion of others. (Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility)

Oh, Jane Austen - speaking universal and persistent truths. How little social interactions have changed!

I'm pushing to finish this by Friday night so Anna and I can watch the Emma Thompson adaptation before it leaves Netflix Instant. 

Project Ukulele

Originally, I had assumed I'd only take on a new project after I finished one. And then my doctor sentenced me to six weeks in a walking boot to heal a stress fracture (that I had made significantly worse by "working through the pain" for several months). I'm taking my recovery seriously - better six weeks of no activity (even if it's the absolute best six weeks of the year to be a Chicagoan) than several more months of pain, or possible injury beyond repair.

As one of my most significant hobbies has been dance and dance-fitness, I now have an overwhelming amount of free time available. I love to read and I have been doing so much reading and writing - but my brain needs a break. From the written word, at least. (I have not given up on Summer of Austen! I'm starting Sense and Sensibility on my flight to Boston tomorrow night.)

I don't want to get too carried away with overlapping projects - and I realize not every undertaking in my life is a "project," but this one is worthy. Project Ukulele. Tonight, I will take my first ukulele class, really my first music class since compulsory elementary classes. The extent of my musical instrument experience is a four-month stint with the violin at age ten and the permanently etched memory of how to play "Mary had a Little Lamb" (3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3...).

I was going to write in this paragraph about how nervous I am. But I'm really not. I watched some YouTube videos last night and practiced the basic chords. I have no doubt that the instructor and other participants will be lovely, welcoming people. (I'm taking the class through Dabble, a lovely Chicago start-up.) And if it doesn't go well, if I can't play the ukulele even after hours and hours of practice? All I've lost is somewhere around $60 and some time - worse things have happened.

Project Ukulele has a specific goal: "Moon River." (You recreate your favorite movie scenes and I'll recreate mine.)

It's not an overly ambitious goal, and I might not-so-secretly hope I can master the song in something closer to a month. But it's so new to me, I have no idea!

I make no promises for the quality of my singing though. Here's a sneak peek (ha, kidding - she's fantastic.)

Review of Northanger Abbey

I am not going to provide a long or detailed summary of Northanger Abbey. As I read this book with absolutely no idea what it was about, I recommend you do the same. If you desire a summary, read on...

Catherine Morland is the heroine of Austen's story, a sweet and naive girl of seventeen who ventures on her first extended stay from home with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Allen. In Bath, Catherine and Mrs. Allen, after some delay, find society with which to pass their time. Catherine is adopted as a confidante by Isabella Thorpe, who turns out to be taken with Catherine's brother, James. Before long, James and his friend John Thorpe, Isabella's brother, arrive in Bath, and John is quite taken with Catherine. Catherine has no romantic interest in John Thorpe though and, as Isabella is busy in her annoying courtship with James Morland (wherein she consistently denies being interested or noticing the interest of her suitor), Catherine turns to Eleanor Tilney for friendship.

Incidentally, the young Miss Morland is rather intrigued by her new friend's brother, Henry Tilney.  This attention does not go unnoticed and everyone, except for the object of affection herself, recognizes there is competition for her attention. Catherine's naivete leads her to thinking everyone wants to be her friend and no one would employ trickery to woo her away. She, somewhat annoyingly at times, believes the best in everyone's intentions, despite the clarity to the reader that the entire Thorpe family is meddling in her affairs. Finally, she somewhat figures out Mr. Thorpe is trying to woo her and shuts him down. (Thanks, but no thanks - and he does come across as kind of creepy.)

From Bath, Catherine journies to Northanger Abbey with her new confidante, Eleanor. To our young heroine, Northanger Abbey is awash is mystery and... perhaps a tragedy? A scandal? Catherine's consumption of popular novels has sparked in her an imagination which is unsupported by all but the smallest details. It is so much like today's teenagers and their Twilight Justin Bieber fantasies that the reader often pauses to muse on the expected old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ultimately, because it's Jane Austen, a few small scandals do arise and more than one person, including our heroine, is truly impacted. But they are small bumps in the road to a happy ending. 

Really, Jane Austen has written something of a soap opera here, though the quality of writing and our appreciation of classic literature elevates it to a "romantic comedy." Don't get me wrong - I loved it. The plot moved quickly, and while twists were pretty easily anticipated, there is genuine delight in the protagonist's constant surprise at finding out the blemished truth about the intentions of her acquaintances. Catherine Morland is adorable and identifiable. Who among us did not have daydreams rooted in literature or film in our teenage years?

One of my favorite aspects of the novel are the pages in which Austen breaks the wall and talks to us directly. The historian in me was delighted to learn there was something of a cultural debate going on about the appropriateness or intellectual level of novels. My summer is proving to be busier than anticipated, but I am hoping to dig into this a bit more in the near future. Isn't it amusing to think that Austen's level and intent of writing was demeaned by her contemporaries but now revered? 

Verdict: You'll tear through this Austen novel quickly, beach read worthy

Reading in 2012, June Update

One of my resolutions this year is to read 52 books, one per week. I have not done well with the one book per week aspect, but I've kept pace pretty well overall. We're finishing up our 24th week of the year and I have read 28 books (with three in progress). (Disclosure: four of those books were started in 2011.)

I know I still need to write about Northanger Abbey... the thing about book reviews, even informal reviews on blogs, is that you don't just write it. You have to sketch it out, think about it, do some research. I don't expect that even when I get around to it I will do a very good job with Northanger Abbey, but I hope it's decent and I hope I get better... and I hope I get going.


Goodreads profile: cassie on goodreads

Reading Northanger Abbey

Note: As I move through this project, I will write and publish posts as events unfold. But at this point, I have already finished Northanger Abbey and am about to start Sense and Sensibility. Posts will be more frequent now, to catch up.

The conversation about annual readings of Jane Austen novels fresh in my mind, I started Northanger Abbey on a whim Friday morning. All I knew about this novel, going into it, was that it had been made into a BBC miniseries which popped up in my Netflix recommendations all the time (presumably because of my viewings of Downton Abbey).

I was immediately struck by the humor. Jane Austen is sarcastic, y'all. I had no idea (which leads me to believe I have not been reading Emma very closely and that I will find it an entirely new experience this summer). I am going to credit my repeated viewings of BBC's Pride and Prejudice for developing my interest in actually reading Austen instead of skimming through for plot points.

Anyway... Northanger Abbey is, essentially, the story of a young, naive protagonist with a proclivity for creating fanciful daydreams while remaining blissfully unaware of some of the more obvious and actual plot developments in her own life. Catherine leaves home for an extended stay in Bath with her friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen and encounters all the exciting things a young girl should on her first stay away from her family: new friends, unwanted romantic pursuit, seemingly disinterested but very desired love interests, and something of a scandal (or two) for good measure.

In many ways, I feel like this is the first Austen novel I'm truly reading. Will this become my new favorite or will this improved comprehension and appreciation extend through the rest of my readings? I don't have any desire to replace Emma as my favorite novel, but I won't deny it if it should slip down the rankings a bit. (Well... this is all a bit premature.) 

I spent the rest of the hot summer weekend reading about Catherine's small adventure whenever I could. It's fair to say I was addicted to Austen this weekend, though I did not let her tempt me into staying home from all the summer street festivals Chicago is famous for. 

Happily, I finished the book Sunday evening, which is above all other days, my favorite time to finish a book. (What a satisfying end to a fantastic weekend!) I was a bit sad though to finish the story. The ending is remarkably rushed compared to the length dedicated to the first part. Catherine's time in Bath takes up nearly two-thirds of the tale, despite the title. 

Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland in the BBC's Northanger Abbey.

I am quite interested to see how the BBC adapted the novel for the screen as so much of the story takes place in the protagonist's own inner musings. Of course, this miniseries is no longer available on Netflix Instant View. Hopefully the library will have this available. (Or I suppose I will just have to purchase it - sadder things have happened.)

Summer of Austen Begins

When Clueless came out, DMC (my then-very-best-friend) and I were the very first people at the local theater for the very first showing. (This surely betrays my age a bit since we were allowed to go alone and did not need chaperones.) Of course, we then spent the entire summer quoting the film (as if!) and pining for a closet like Cher’s. 

Oh, how I wanted that yellow plaid skirt!

And so it came to be that my first Jane Austen novel was Emma. Truly, I did not fall in love with the book upon this reading. I’m not even certain that I finished it. This is not a story of an adolescent love affair with the love affairs of Jane Austen’s imagination. But I’ve always held on to the book, and I did re-read it sometime in college - at which time, I guess liked it.

And then I read it again. And again. And somewhere along the way, I realized that I truly love this book. Recently, I exaggerated to a friend that I read Emma every summer, in August. That’s not entirely true (confession!) But I have read it several times, and typically in the late summer: those hot, lazy days when reading in your home with the curtains drawn to plead for some kind of relief from the sun is about all you can manage to do. The idea of reading Austen annually triggered a romantic curiosity though, and an idea - surely, reading any Austen novel in the summer is an enjoyable way to pass the time.
And so begins my first three-month project: Summer of Austen. I have read Emma, of course, and Pride and Prejudice (though I’ve seen the BBC miniseries countless more times than I’ve read the novel). I have not read any other Austen novels though and really know little about her life and contemporaries, beyond common popular knowledge.

I will immerse myself in Austen for the next three months: her novels, film adaptations, biographies, contemporary and current reviews and criticisms. I will read (and watch) with the eye of a historian, an amateur literary critic, an easily amused hopeful romantic.
First up: Northanger Abbey.