August 9, 2005

I had my first banjo lesson last night! I brought the banjo with me, because I had a few questions for John, but I wasn't going to bring it up. I thought I'd just wait and see if we played and if it came up. I didn't want to pepper him with questions or anything. Before we played, he asked me about it and how it was going. Then I had my guitar out, John was playing the mandolin, Anna had her fiddle, and his older sister, Katie, had her guitar. After a few songs, John got his banjo out and started playing that. He then started showing me all these different things on there and telling me stuff about it. After a few minutes, I got the banjo out, and John and I ended up sitting down off away from everyone else and talking for quite a while. We talked all about music, laughed and joked around, and he showed me a lot of things on the banjo. He's really excited about me playing. Once when we were sitting back there talking, he told me, "I think it's really fun that you're learning the banjo!" He had a big smile on his face and was rather enthusiastic. It was so sweet :D He was so happy that I was learning to play, it was written all over his face.

My playing the banjo has created this sort of bond between us now. We're the only ones around who play, and nobody else there shows much interest in playing. We're the only ones who want to talk about it, and we both love it and could talk about and play banjos and bluegrass for hours. So it's like there's a bond between us now, with the banjo linking us together, and that's something we have in common nobody else shares. We can talk about plenty of other things we like, such as Shakespeare and music in general, and other people will join in as well. But it's nice having that one thing that we can talk about like that, where it's just us. Having that connection really is wonderful.

I'm going to ask him for more help Sunday night. I had been worried about bothering him by asking him too much, though I know he would always be willing to help, but last night, he was more than willing, and was quite eager to talk about it. He's really excited to have someone else share this interest and to be able to talk to me about it so much.

ooh... I just remembered that I forgot to blog about Wednesday night. Wednesday night, my dad, my sister Hannah, John's siblings Katie, Anna and Seth, John and I went to see a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It at an outdoor theatre in Houston. I ended up sitting by John, and we talked a lot during the intermission. That was a lot of fun

And since some of you have been wondering about the tagboard... I'm moving the site and changing the layout. Thank you so much Elisabeth for hosting me!! The reason for the move... the domain this is on is some free space left on a site I made for my dad, and my parents don't care if I use it. But as I'm paranoid about people I know somehow finding this, I'm moving it. Also, and this will sound really strange, but when commenting on y'all's sites, I'm going to go by a different name so that I don't have to worry about people finding it. I've talked to Elisabeth on the phone before and we write letters and all, and I think my mom has the link to her blog, and I'd just rather not risk anyone else finding a link back to the site and knowing who I am. Even though it's password protected so they wouldn't be able to see it, I might get asked about it. I don't know if I'm even making any sense here, I know this is all rather confusing. But because I'm so paranoid, I'm going to go by an alias online just to be safe, because I don't want to risk anyone I know offline finding the link and knowing it's me. I think I'll just go by the name Ivy, so from here out, when commenting I'll use the name Ivy.

So, in case this has been too confusing for all of you, to summarize, I will soon be moving the site and shall start going by the name Ivy. It's almost 3am and I'm getting rather tired, so I may not be explaining things clearly at all I think I'm forgetting something, but I can't remember what it is I'll try to get the site moved tomorrow and will email all of my affiliates when I do, but now, I'm off to bed!

August 1, 2005

[ EDIT: We're having some serious problems with our internet service right now, I don't knowif it's been hacked or if they're system errors or what. I can't access my email though, so from here out, if anyone needs to email me, please use ivywalker05@gmail.com ]

It's going well with the banjo, and I'm surprised at how quickly I'm going through the book. It was strange getting used to using fingerpicks instead of a flatpick, but the strings are easier to hold down, therefore much easier on my fingers than the guitar. So with the callouses I already have, it doesn't hurt my fingers a bit to play. I already knew I wanted to learn to play, but once I held it and started playing, I was hooked. I love playing it! In case anyone's interested, it's a five-string bluegrass banjo, and I'm learning to play Scruggs-style. I like that much better than clawhammer, and I love the sound the five-string banjo has. It has that delightful twangy sound to it

I realized that I've been neglecting to plug people lately at the end of my entries! I get things(John...) on my mind, and forget a lot of other stuff So a great big plug goes to Larien, and plugs to Elisabeth and Heather. And check out my lovely affiliates, who are listed on the menu! There, that covers just about everybody

July 31, 2005

ooh, I'm rather exctied right now Tonight I was talking to John about music, and asking him some stuff about the banjo, because I wanted to learn to play eventually. Then he said I could borrow his extra banjo! (he has two) So he got me that and the book he used when he first started learning, and I brought them home with me I've been playing a bit, and I love it. It also shows that he must trust me a lot, because I know how important his instruments are to him, and he's letting me borrow it. I love playing the banjo, and even more so because it's his. And now because I have his banjo and the book in here, it smells like their house, lol. He's so sweet. I'll see him again Wednesday. I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but my dad, my sister and I are going with part of his family to see a performance of As You Like It at an outdoor theatre in Houston. It will be a lot of fun! July 24, 2005

I had sooo much fun yesterday! It was wonderful. When we got there, there weren't any classes in the first segment that John or I wanted to take, so Anna went to a fiddle class and John and I walked around looking at different instruments and talking to people there. Though it was a bit awkward at one point... this one guy was introducing us to someone else and asked John if I was his wife or girlfriend! It was rather amusing though. After that, I went to a guitar class and John went to a mandolin class. All day long, people would be sitting around having a jam session. If they had stopped and wandered off for whatever reason, all you had to do was sit down with an instrument, and people would suddenly join you It was so much fun.

After our classes, we ate lunch. They had food there they were selling, so we ate there. After that, we played music for about two hours with a bunch of other people. It was wonderful playing with such a variety of instruments! There were dulcimers, mandolins, banjos, fiddles, a bass, guitars, and even a washboard and a bodhran! I had never played with more than three people at a time, John and his sisters, so it was quite an experience playing with so many. There were probably up to 35 people playing once!

After that was the singing class, then we played music for another hour. We took a break for dinner, eating the sandwiches and fruit we had brought. John suggested we sit outside, so we went and sat on the grass in the shade. After that, we played for another hour, then there was the concert, after which we played for yet another hour! By that time, it was 11pm. The rest of his family came for the concert as well. I was going to ride back to their house afterwards, then my dad would pick me up from there. But as it was getting late and we still wanted to play more, they suggested I just spend the night. So I ended up staying and sleeping in Anna's room.

For the jam sessions, I hadn't even heard of any of the songs, except for the few we requested, and everyone was playing by ear. I had played backup by ear just for a couple of songs before, so it was a stretch for me, but it was fun. It was really good for me and I learned quite a lot, and it really helped my confidence as well, as I started to see that I actually could do it. There were times it got hard and I felt like sitting some songs out, but I never did. I made myself keep trying, and I'm really glad I did. Now I know I did my best and really learned a lot.

It was great being around John so much, and he was so sweet. We weren't sure how much it would cost to get in, if it was going to be $15 or $25. I brought extra money with me, and it did end up being $25. But when we got there, John checked with me to be sure I had enough money and didn't need any, and he would ask me throughout the day what I wanted to do, if I was enjoying it, how the class went, how I was doing playing by ear and various things like that. It was wonderful

More to come later, but I have to leave for Bible study now! I get to see John yet again

July 21, 2005

I'm quite happy right now My mom talked to John's mom to get more details for Saturday, and it's going to be great. They're teaching classes for fiddle, banjo, dulcimer and guitar in the morning, in the afternoon, they're teaching shaped note singing, and that night, there is a concert. Only Anna, John and I are going And best of all, I'll get to spend at least 12 hours around John!

Here's our itinerary for the day:
8:00 - I arrive at their house
8:15 - we leave their house
9:00 - classes start
12:00(or somewhere around there... maybe a bit later) - break for lunch. We're bringing sack lunches to eat
1:30 - classes start again
4:00-6:00 - dinner break. Anna, John and I are going out to eat dinner together
6:00 - Folk music concert


I'm really excited about it, and can't wait! Oh, and we're bringing our instruments with us, because they teach you stuff about how to play and all, though I really don't know what kind of stuff they will be teaching. But I'm sure it will be great fun!

Thank you, Larien! The sun is shining brightly again, both literally and figuratively

July 20, 2005

It's been raining heavily here for a little while, though it's slowing down now. Being in Houston, we're getting hit by the storms on the outskirts of hurricane Emily. We really needed the rain anyway.

I'm feeling much better today. I felt miserable all day yesterday. My chest hurt, I kept coughing and I really felt like I had bronchitis again. But I'm feeling so much better now, and that's such a relief. So hopefully I won't get too sick this year. Maybe I can keep fighting it off

Thank you, Larien!

July 18, 2005

Well, I was going to write a nice, long entry today, but I just haven't felt up to it. I'm fighting off a chest cold now, and just feel bad all over. The worst part of it is when it feels hard to breathe. I'm worried it's turning into bronchitis. Last year and the fall two years before, I had bronchitis for several months, and it started about this time of year.

I'm going to get to spend all day Saturday around John. There's a folk music festival in north Houston, and I'm going with his family. I'll go over to their house then ride out there with them, because it's about an hour away from there. It sounds like a lot of fun. They have workshops and stuff teaching you about music, and they have a concert that night. I don't really have many details on it yet though, but I'm sure it will be great.

Once a month, we go to a folk dance group that John's family leads. He teaches some of the dances and his father teaches the rest. Most of them are circle or line dances from Turkey, Romania and Greece. We had dance again Saturday night, and on the last dance, John came to stand beside me They walk you through the steps, stop for a minute to get the music going, then we dance with the music. John kept holding my hand when they were getting the music ready, when most people will just let go of your hand for a minute while they do that. I was walking on air the rest of the night *sigh* I think I'm hopelessly, head over heels in love now.

I'm glad I can be so amusing and entertaining, Elisabeth!! Heather, yes, it really is wonderful!

This entry has gotten longer than I expected I took some cough syrup, so hopefully that will help me feel better.

July 15, 2005

Alright, this is taken from an entry I wrote at my old blog way back in April, which seems like ever so long ago! And it was rather strange going back and reading it, but interesting as well.

Friday night, all us 'young people' sat around the campfire talking until about 1:30am, and it was great! It was me, four other girls, and two guys. About midnight, John and Andrew started telling us scary stories, making up all this stuff about murderers and other people who lived in the woods and would sneak up on you. It was fun, and though we didn't believe them, it was still scary. They told us about these people who wore white robes and hoods and lived in the woods, and would sneak up on you late at night. Then we saw someone in white wearing a hood coming out from by my tent! It was just my mom though, wearing a jacket with a hood Then right before we went to bed, me and three of the other girls had to make a trip to the bathrooms, which we had to hike to down a dirt road through the woods. We were sooo scared John and Andrew were going to hide and scare us as we walked by! Thankfully they didn't, though the next day they informed us that they had been thinking about it and had really wanted to. Some of them had to leave on Saturday, so that night, it was me, John and his sister who stayed up talking.

Alright, now for the part I promised an explanation for... I've known John for almost three years now, though I never really knew him well. My mom has told me for a long time now that she thought John was perfect for me, but I didn't listen. I explained how "wrong" he was for me, because he's often so quiet and just didn't seem my type. I know this will sound odd to some of you, but my family doesn't do dating, and his doesn't either. Anyway, he has seemed to be interested in me for a while, but I've insisted to my mom for over a year now that I could never like him. Well... on the camping trip, I got to see a different side of him. He's so much fun to be around, and so much more outgoing than I thought! And we have so much in common too. We talked for quite a while about books and movies, and about all sorts of stuff. I have yet to find something we disagree on. And he was rather sweet as well, and just generally great to be around. So I came back rather liking him, and having seen him again Saturday, I like him even more.

Oh, and my mom is sooo funny about it all. She finds me hysterical. She thought I probably liked him the Saturday of the trip. I had been running through the woods and creek, getting all wet and sandy and muddy. Then suddenly, after having not worn makeup for months, I wanted to know where hers was. My face was red so I wanted powder for it, then I kept fixing my hair and being all worried about how it looked. And I didn't have a clue I was being so obvious. And once some of us had been walking down to the creek, and he didn't decide to start walking down there until I did. He was walking several feet behind me and I got all nervous and was thinking about him instead of watching where I was going, and I went down the wrong path. My mom found that hilarious. I suppose it is rather funny, though I felt so stupid at the time!

Now, this part isn't from the blog, it's what I'm just writing now. The Saturday of the trip, I was in denial all day. I thought he was great and all, but I kept telling myself I didn't like him any more than as a friend, and that I just couldn't either. I really was starting to fall for him, but I didn't want to believe it. That night, him and Andrew were playing music at another campfire a bunch of people were sitting around, and I went over there "to listen to the music", or so I told myself. A bit later, John sat beside me, and I finally started to realise I was more interested in him than the music...

Well, a lot more things have happened since then, which show how interested he is, and I've fallen hard for him as well, but this is already really long, and I have to go now anyway. So I'll write again later!

July 15, 2005

Hello everyone, and welcome to my new blog, Blind Faith. You probably wonder why I named it that. I wanted a name somehow related to the movie The Village and the character Ivy Walker, and came up with "blind faith". I thought that would be perfect, because not only does it relate to her, but also to my walk with the Lord. As a Christian, I sometimes have to follow the Lord's leading even when I don't see where He's taking me or what He will bring about. We walk by faith, not sight. Hence the name "Blind Faith".

Some of you probably know me from the site I used to have up, Starlight Nights. This will replace that, only this is password protected because I don't want some people I know offline to read it, and you will soon understand why as you read more entries.

I'm going to explain more about my life in further entries, but I wanted to go ahead and write this one. In order to explain what's going on, I'll have to go back about three and a half months ago. Actually, it all started a couple of years ago, but a few months back will suffice for now. I'm probably rambling on and not making much sense, lol. To explain things for now, I'll probably start by copying things I've written elsewhere, like on my old site, and things I've written to friends, along with typing in some entries from my written journal. That would just be a lot easier than writing it all over again. So, farewell for now, and I will have another entry up very soon(probably before most of you read this one).