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missroseroseComing home from Tucson late Saturday, Brian looked at me and asked, "Have we really gone from having one guitar that we never play to having seven, most of which we play regularly? Within a year?"
Strangely enough, we have. Admittedly, a couple we don't play much - Mary Jane's a little too big for me to play comfortably, and Kalia's much nicer-sounding anyway; and Brian traded for a 12-string Ovation because he wanted to try playing 12-string, but didn't end up liking the feel of that particular one. But the 12-string Eastwood we got him for his birthday he plays regularly, along with (of course) his Les Paul. And in addition to Kalia, with some help from the wonderful people in my life, I managed to scrounge up the cash for that GS Mini I was eyeing. So I don't have to feel guilty for taking up 2/3rds of the overhead bin when we go visit Brian's mum in April.
Tucson was a fun day - we went to the Festival of Books for the first time. (I'd meant to go last year but hadn't managed it; I nearly didn't go this year but at the last minute checked the list of guest authors and realized Patrick Rothfuss was going to be there. Given that he's one of my favorite authors, and that I've a full set of first printing hardcover copies of all his books so far, this meant we were definitely going.) Somewhat entertainingly, the weather was cold and drizzly all day; the poor booksellers were spreading tarps over their wares and the guest authors got none of Tucson's much-vaunted lovely winter weather. Still, though, it was a fun trip - Mr. Rothfuss was a thoroughly entertaining individual, both in person and as a panelist. And he was most gracious about signing all four of my hardbacks plus a paperback I bought from the booth hosting the signing (as it only seemed gracious to support their shop).
After wandering around there and attending a rather interesting panel on gender roles in fantasy, we went down to Rainbow Guitars in the hopes that they'd have the guitar I wanted - a Taylor GS Mini, the only travel guitar out of the many I tried that didn't sound like a travel guitar at all aside from perhaps being a little weeny on the bass. I got their last one, in fact; apparently they normally keep a few in stock as they're quite popular, but it had been a busy Saturday. The popularity, at least, is understandable; this particular guitar's a really nice balance of features, being compact and lightweight and inexpensive (for a Taylor) while still very good quality and with nearly a full guitar's worth of sound. Plus it comes in a very nice thick-padded soft-shell case with backpack straps. The guy at Rainbow, in recognition of the fact that we'd been in there a number of times, even gave us 10% off the price, which made it slightly less than it would have been online with no tax. Score one for developing relationships with one's local retailers.
Then we went to Feast, with the intention of eating for (nearly) free on the remainder of a gift card a lovely friend had bought us. Instead we ended up paying for dinner and using the gift card for a bottle of amazing Scotch they introduced us to. It ate up the rest of our restaurant budget for the month, but still. Totally worth it.
Strangely enough, we have. Admittedly, a couple we don't play much - Mary Jane's a little too big for me to play comfortably, and Kalia's much nicer-sounding anyway; and Brian traded for a 12-string Ovation because he wanted to try playing 12-string, but didn't end up liking the feel of that particular one. But the 12-string Eastwood we got him for his birthday he plays regularly, along with (of course) his Les Paul. And in addition to Kalia, with some help from the wonderful people in my life, I managed to scrounge up the cash for that GS Mini I was eyeing. So I don't have to feel guilty for taking up 2/3rds of the overhead bin when we go visit Brian's mum in April.
Tucson was a fun day - we went to the Festival of Books for the first time. (I'd meant to go last year but hadn't managed it; I nearly didn't go this year but at the last minute checked the list of guest authors and realized Patrick Rothfuss was going to be there. Given that he's one of my favorite authors, and that I've a full set of first printing hardcover copies of all his books so far, this meant we were definitely going.) Somewhat entertainingly, the weather was cold and drizzly all day; the poor booksellers were spreading tarps over their wares and the guest authors got none of Tucson's much-vaunted lovely winter weather. Still, though, it was a fun trip - Mr. Rothfuss was a thoroughly entertaining individual, both in person and as a panelist. And he was most gracious about signing all four of my hardbacks plus a paperback I bought from the booth hosting the signing (as it only seemed gracious to support their shop).
After wandering around there and attending a rather interesting panel on gender roles in fantasy, we went down to Rainbow Guitars in the hopes that they'd have the guitar I wanted - a Taylor GS Mini, the only travel guitar out of the many I tried that didn't sound like a travel guitar at all aside from perhaps being a little weeny on the bass. I got their last one, in fact; apparently they normally keep a few in stock as they're quite popular, but it had been a busy Saturday. The popularity, at least, is understandable; this particular guitar's a really nice balance of features, being compact and lightweight and inexpensive (for a Taylor) while still very good quality and with nearly a full guitar's worth of sound. Plus it comes in a very nice thick-padded soft-shell case with backpack straps. The guy at Rainbow, in recognition of the fact that we'd been in there a number of times, even gave us 10% off the price, which made it slightly less than it would have been online with no tax. Score one for developing relationships with one's local retailers.
Then we went to Feast, with the intention of eating for (nearly) free on the remainder of a gift card a lovely friend had bought us. Instead we ended up paying for dinner and using the gift card for a bottle of amazing Scotch they introduced us to. It ate up the rest of our restaurant budget for the month, but still. Totally worth it.
