GimletBlog

The time has come for Thing Two to move from a 1/4 size violin to a 1/2 size.  Now that he can play a few tunes and is learning what he likes and doesn’t like about particular instruments and bows, the sizing up process has been a little more complicated.  We took home two violins and three bows on a limited trial basis over the holidays, but for various reasons none were quite right.

At the beginning of the process, Thing Two teared up at the thought that his 1/4 size violin would be returning to the violin shop.  He said, “My violin is like my friend, and I can’t send my friend away!  I’ll miss it, and it will miss me!”  Fortunately as he has spent more time with the 1/2 size violins, he has grown used to their size and the smaller violin feels more like a toy, as he describes it.

We found a 1/2 size violin of the appropriate make and model on Craigslist and set out to look it over.  Our visit was everything one could hope for from Craigslist:  a journey across town in the dark of night to a neighborhood best left unvisited in the dark of night.  When we found the address on a dead-end street, we parked behind the hearse in the driveway, climbed a steep flight of stairs through a garden populated by broken statuary (an unnerving experience for Whovians), to a tiny front room packed with a dizzying array of tchotchkes and of reeking of incense and other substances.

While it did appear to be authentic, the violin had been sadly neglected and was not in playable condition, although it appeared to be repairable.  Our visit became a rescue mission:  much like finding a stray, bedraggled kitten or puppy, we decided it was worth the risk to remove this violin from its current circumstances and give it a good home where it would be well cared for and played.  Given its condition, we were able to bargain the price down by half, and the violin was soon on its way to a new life.

When we first brought the violin home, the pegs wouldn’t turn.  We were worried we had thrown away our money, but another violinist suggested that this could be simply the result of storing the instrument in a cold place (like the storage unit we suspect it had been in).  She recommended leaving the violin out in a warm, dry room.  After a few days, the pegs turned!  Things were looking up and we took the violin to the shop for repairs.  The damage assessment from the shop read as follows:

• New soundpost
• New bridge
• Glue back to body again
• Neck broken at some point.  Decent repair of that.
• The violin had come with a 3/4 bow, which was beyond repair, and a mouldy 3/4 case.

After a week, the violin was ready.  When we picked it up, Thing Two tried out several of their available 1/2 size bows until he found one he liked.  At his first lesson with the new violin, his teacher was very pleased with the results.  It has a nice, rich sound.  With a little effort (and some anxious moments), Thing Two is the happy owner of a good quality violin and a new friend.

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It’s been a while since any Jane Austen-related entertainment has come our way, so we were excited to see that Wing-It Productions was producing Austen Translation, an improvised 90 minute play inspired by the characters and stories of Jane Austen.  The play is unscripted and begins with a few suggestions from the audience before the story begins, so every performance is different.  The actors also switch around characters so the entire cast gets the chance to play lead and supporting roles.

From the official press release:

Austen Translation tells the story of a bright young heroine’s journey to navigate the designs of her family and the delicacy of her heart. Each performance, the trained improvisational actors will give prominence to the name of one lucky audience volunteer before gathering other suggestions to create a new cast of suitors, sisters, and spinsters for every performance. Some volunteers from the audience will even have the chance to sit down on stage for tea with the more respectable members of society to give their take on the gossip of who’s engaged and who’s not.

Guess who was the lucky audience volunteer?  I was chosen to name the heroine’s family.  Hopefully my paternal grandmother, an English teacher, appreciated the homage!

As can be gathered from the blog post title, the Brazilian martial art form, capoeira, was another audience contribution.  Our intrepid heroine was in search of a worthy sparring opponent when a group of eligible bachelors (including a ninja) moved in to the manor next door.  How excessively diverting!

The actors played so well off each other and with such lively timing that it was hard to believe the scenes and characters were improvised.  The banter between the characters was clever, funny, and fresh.  Jane Austen herself would have been quite at home in our audience.   Austen fans who “dearly love a laugh” along with Elizabeth Bennet will thoroughly enjoy the nonstop wit and subtle innuendoes that aptly honor the spirit of the author.

Returning to our performance, would our heroine’s overly sensible sister succumb to the deadly “feather lung” contracted during the village Wings and Wheels festival?  Could a gentleman in possession of an effeminate sneeze ever hope to find a wife?  You had to be there to find out the answers, but don’t miss out on the next story!  (It was such a fun evening, I may have to return.)  Austen Translation runs through February 8 and will be featured at the Seattle Festival of Improv Theater in mid-February.

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This year’s Christmas season was much simpler than usual.  Between a second holiday season where the Gimlet is still searching for work and my new Relief Society duties, Team Gimlet had neither the resources nor the time to send cards, bake cookies, or shop for gifts.  I’ve always heard about families who opt for a service-only holiday season and while finding it admirable, it was a surprise to find ourselves having exactly that experience this year.  It was a joyful and humbling experience to have the opportunity to bring cheer and happiness to others, especially when our own circumstances are similarly reduced this year.

Thing One performed in his school orchestra’s annual Hollyberry concert, where the chamber orchestra played Beethoven’s Sinfonia No. 7 in D – Allegro.

The Sunday evening before Christmas, we welcomed Santa into our home for an early plate of Hå’s cookies and a short visit, as he has done every December since Thing One was born.

Thing Two has grown progressively more excited about Santa’s visit over the years, but he still keeps a respectful distance when Santa is actually in the house.  Note that this year he is using the armchair and his big brother as a buffer.

Santa requested a little holiday violin music, and it is safe to say that Thing Two was much more nervous about playing one tune for Santa than he is when playing a set for a full room.

Christmas Eve was the usual family party with plenty of delicious food and lively conversation; we didn’t return home until midnight.

Originally we expected that Christmas Day would be unscheduled and quiet, but the Sunday before Christmas, we learned that the LDS missionaries assigned to our congregation didn’t have anywhere to go for Christmas.  This looks like a job for the Relief Society President!  And how do you throw together a Christmas dinner on short notice?  Hå offered to sponsor our favorite (and ridiculously easy) holiday meal:  Dungeness crab.  One of the missionaries was from Alaska and his Utah companion had learned to love seafood, so they were as excited about the delicacy as we were.

We joined the crowds at the grocery store on Christmas Eve morning to throw together the rest of the menu before the shops closed and we had to begin the drive south to our own party.  Hå also contributed some Christmas crackers to the festivities, which were a new experience for the missionaries.  Their favorite part of the evening, however, was the time they spent Skyping their families, as Christmas is one of the two times per year that the missionaries are allowed to talk with family.  One missionary chose the desktop and the other used the laptop, so they didn’t have to take turns and both could enjoy long holiday conversations.  Next Christmas we will be Skyping or FaceTiming with Elder Thing One from wherever he ends up serving his mission, and we hope his Christmas host family takes good care of him.

Our New Year’s Eve also ended up being more fun than expected!  Hå decided she would like to see the zoo’s WildLights Winter Festival and invited us to join her.  The night was cold, but it wasn’t raining, which is enough incentive to get outdoors for a good walk.  The light displays were pretty and we’re looking forward to doing the WildLights walk again next year.

After dinner at a nearby burger place, we drove Thing Two to a New Year’s Eve party where he and his teacher would play together to start the dance.  This was Thing Two’s first experience playing for dancing, but his teacher encouraged him to keep his eyes on her and not be distracted by all the activity and noise around him (in Scandinavian folk dancing, the musicians stand in the center of the hall and the dancers move in a circle around them).  He played three tunes with his teacher and managed to keep up, although he was a little tired by the end of the set.  Then he got to watch his teacher play for two more dances, including one tune he is currently learning.

Thing Two enjoyed a cookie after his performance, and he and his entourage (formerly known as Thing Two’s parents, but we can see that entourage is in our future, so we’re trying to get used to it) visited with the party guests.  After the hosts set the glögg aflame and poured a few fiery ladles into the pot for dramatic effect (Thing Two was asked, “Isn’t this better than Harry Potter’s Goblet of Fire?”), it was time to drive a sleepy Thing Two home and tuck him into bed just before the beginning of the new year.

It’s been a while since we’ve managed to take a photo of the entire family, and here we are, all bundled up at the zoo on a frosty New Year’s Eve.  When did Thing One get so tall?   For that matter, isn’t Thing Two about the size Thing One was when the blog began?

In the spirit of moving onward and upward, best wishes to you and your families for a happy and abundant 2013!

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We’re happy to report that the Gimlet residence has officially been rat free for one week!  Hooray!  The exterminator caught six rats, we rat-proofed our house as per the exterminator’s recommendations, and we are ready to move into the cleanup phase.  For now we try not to think about how many pounds of rat droppings are just over our heads in the attic.

Christmas is a busy time for churches, and in addition to the expected holiday festivities and charity for families in need, it was also necessary to coordinate another memorial service (that makes two in two months for my tenure).  As our congregation meets in a different building now, and we’re still getting used to where things are, the Sunday before the service we planned to check out the resources in the kitchen and cultural hall.  At the entrance to the cultural hall we stopped, stunned by the sight of a massive Meso-American-style pyramid which took up almost one-third of the space in the hall and reached almost to the ceiling.  The ward council was of one mind in calling it a Rameumptom.   We soon found out that it was actually Samuel the Lamanite’s wall from the other ward’s Book of Mormon-themed Christmas party, and as the party had already taken place, the Rameumptom/Samuel’s wall/ziggurat could be removed before the memorial service.

Fortunately the very impressive structure was still standing the following day when we were doing some preliminary setup, so it was possible to take a photo:

Before the (Rameumptom-free) memorial service, we attended the annual ethnic brunch at Thing Two’s school:  a holiday party for all the first grade classes to celebrate world cultures and friendship.  The children sang several holiday songs, and then Thing Two played his violin.  Earlier, when the children were practicing for the brunch concert, Thing Two told the music teacher that he played the violin and volunteered to participate.

Thing Two was eager to perform and enjoyed himself immensely, playing a set of three tunes from Denmark and Sweden.  We seem to have a showman on our hands!  (Meanwhile, Your Humble Narrator was probably nervous enough for both mother and child.)  Long time GimletBlog readers may recognize Thing Two’s festdrakt, or Norwegian folk costume, as the one that Thing One wore when Thing Two was a baby.

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Late one night after Thanksgiving, we heard a scratching sound inside the bedroom wall.  Not a good noise!  The next day, The Gimlet inspected the roof and couldn’t find any holes.  We had pretty much justified the scratching as cat noises that echoed strangely in the house as if they were in our wall (but of course there really wasn’t anything in our wall, right?), but The Gimlet figured he’d better check the attic just in case.  As he opened the trap door, he was greeted by a shower of droppings:  we had houseguests.

A little reggae soothes the nerves

A second outdoor inspection turned up a very small, hard to find hole in the roof … but it was big enough.  The exterminator confirmed that we are hosting a thriving population of rats in the attic, who have depleted our insulation and filled the space with their droppings.  He did not tell us how many rats he estimated were in the attic, but he set ten traps and made an appointment to return in one week.

Recommended Reading:  The Church Mice Adrift from the Church Mice series by Graham Oakley.  This children’s picture book series about Arthur, Humphrey, long-suffering church cat Sampson and all the other mice who live in the Wortlethorpe Vestry is packed full of adventure and humor.  The super-detailed illustrations are a hilarious treat.  In Adrift, the mice and Sampson are forced out of the vestry by a pack of rowdy rats and must think up a cunning plan to get rid of the squatters and win back their home.

Meanwhile, Chinook and Nanaimo have been oblivious to the party in the attic, focusing their attention on the Christmas tree.  They compete to sit under it:  usually Nanaimo is clever enough to lure Chinook away from the tree by playing with a squeaky toy, and when Chinook runs over to investigate the noise, Nanaimo quickly takes his place under the tree.  Lately Chinook has been taking the low road to secure his territory:

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Thing Two and his Tiger Cub den visited KUOW radio in Seattle!  Some of his fellow Cubs sang, “Row, row, row, your boat” in the studio for a recording.  One cub was asked a “man on the street” question.  Thing Two was interviewed and asked, “Why did you join Cub Scouts?”  He replied that he joined the pack because his big brother Thing One had been a member of it, and Thing Two was having a great time in Cubs!

He also got to see where radio shows are recorded and broadcast.  Finally he saw where the satellite feed from NPR and BBC come into the studio and then is sent out over the transmitter.

All in all a fun time with a den of busy little Tiger Cubs.

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Thing One’s high school is known for its world-class drama department, and one of the department’s great traditions is its annual fall festival of student-directed one-act plays.  Thing One was very active in drama when he was a middle school student, participating in almost every play, but aside from taking drama classes it was challenging to fit after-school rehearsals and performances into his high school schedule.

Now that Thing One is in his senior year, he had time to audition for and participate in Dramafest.  He was chosen for Garrison Keillor’s one-act play, The Prodigal Son, and played the part of the narrator (aka Garrison Keillor).   Bopa was a great fan of Garrison Keillor, never missing the Writer’s Almanac or Prairie Home Companion, so he would have been especially pleased to watch his grandson’s performance.

After several weeks of after-school rehearsals, it was time for Dramafest!  Two or three plays were performed after school every day for one week.

Friday night was “Best of the Fest”: repeat performances of the top-judged plays and an awards ceremony.  The Prodigal Son won awards for costume design and best direction of a large cast.  The cast had a lot of fun and celebrated their success with a pizza party.

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On November 9, the OA lodge hosted Fall Rally, an annual event that was at Camp Brinkley.

I got there at 6:00 PM, and the first thing that happened was a presentation on unit elections, which is where Arrowmen go to troops and have the scouts vote for eligible members of the Order of the Arrow.

Then, after playing board games for some time, we watched The Avengers. I slept in the loft in the dining hall and the next morning, it was snowing and sticking until about 10:00 am.

I went to some training classes for things like ordeals, and being a chapter officer, and then after lunch, everybody played capture the flag around camp, with chapters grouped together to make teams.

Later, we had dinner, more board games, and then there was a concert performed by some members of the lodge.

Fall Rally is fun every year, and you can learn a lot.  This year we also learned about how to design and build a totem pole for the new OA longhouse that is being built at Camp Pigott.

The next Monday was Veterans’ Day, so our chapter joined other scout troops in the area to put up flags at Evergreen-Washelli.

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