Today Travalon and I debated about catching some more of the Madison Irish Fest, which today was at Garver Mill, but it was too nice out so we went for a walk on Governor's Island instead and then got iced coffee at Zippy Lube. My Brazilian drumming lesson went much better for me than last week. Beforehand I was talking to a classmate and mentioned how during the last class I felt like the scapegoat, always being used as a negative example, and she said she had been the class scapegoat the week before. I thought about it, and she was right. Then today yet a different woman was the one who was being called out for making mistakes. Maybe it's like a hazing, and only those of us who are new get this treatment, since the majority of my classmates have taken this class before. Today several of us ladies got to use these tiny drums that were tambourine-sized, and for some reason I could do the complex rhythms on this drum. I even got a "Good job!" from the strictest teacher. And by the end of the class, we were all playing our different parts together, and it sounded great. I am glad I had earplugs, though - we are so loud!!
After that I went to the Slow Irish Session, which was a little smaller than usual because one of the leaders is out of state, and some of the regulars were at the Irish Fest. However, my Irish teacher and the red-headed flute player were both there, and they are my peeps, so I was happy. Then, to my surprise, one of the people from my Brazilian drumming class came with a fiddle! And there was a very friendly new guitar player. These are such a great group of people. We did a lot of sight-reading today, so that was good practice. In my band, I rarely need to read notes or play melody anymore. I did skip band practice today because I thought we had voted to all go to the Irish session, but they practiced while I was out of town last weekend, and even though I had said multiple times, in person and by email, that I would be out of town, they decided while I wasn't there that they would have practice. It is a bit annoying that when our bandleader is on vacation, we don't even have practice, but if I go on vacation, she hassles me. She said she forgot I'd said I would be out of town. Maybe... she is in her late eighties. She says it's very important to come to all the practices because we have a new member... who wasn't there today anyway. Also, we have a gig coming up, but it's a non-paying gig with no set audience, we just play in a band member's driveway, and maybe people passing by will stop and listen. For this we need to practice songs we have played for decades? Hmm, I'm not sold. I guess there is always drama in bands, whether they are famous rock bands or a motley little contra dance band that hardly gets any gigs anymore. Sometimes Hardingfele and I talk about quitting, but I've been in this band almost half my life. Other bands I've been in have come and gone, but this one keeps chugging along somehow. We've had members come and go since I joined, but I've been here for a quarter of a century, so I'm probably not leaving anytime soon.
Famous Hat
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