Playing by Instinct

Bicycle built for two?

It’s spring, so like every other homeowner I know, I think about getting rid of some of our clutter. That inspires the idea of a garage sale. And the garage sale makes me think of what “big-ticket” draws we could offer, and that brings me to our tandem bike.

This is no ordinary tandem bike. This is $2,000 worth of sleek Cannondale high-tech machinery, only ridden twice. I bought it for Steve for his birthday early in our life together, well before my eventual acceptance of Steve’s hatred of all “Outside Magazine” style adventure sports.

His biggest complaint when we went mountain biking was that I rode too far ahead of him, so I thought this solved everything. I’d seen other couples gliding along in perfect sync when we’d gone to Kettle Moraine, so the idea really appealed to me. Until we actually rode it. The first time, we just took it out for a quick ride and discovered that it was very hard for me to balance both of us. The second time, Steve took the helm. It wasn’t long before the stress of trying to control it and deciding how fast and where to go got us bickering.

Finally, Steve decided this had gone on enough and squeezed the hand brakes — hard. Unfortunately, only the front brake reacted, and the back end, with me still pedaling, was thrown high in the air. I will never forget the horror of staring down at the top of his head. I think after that moment we decided to walk it home, and it’s never been on the road again.

What’s even more funny, aside from my complete misreading of what the bike would offer, is how we view it now. I will bring up the garage sale idea at least once a year, and he’ll mumble that we really shouldn’t sell it because “maybe the kids will take it out some day” or “maybe we’ll try it again.”

For me it represents a really stupid purchase so I just want it gone. But he has more loyalty. It’s an admirable trait. Maybe we’ll pump up the tires and take it for a spin this weekend.

Different learning styles

It’s been two months since I started J and J on piano lessons. Mrs. Victoria commented on how different their learning styles are. I guess that refers to Julia’s method of goofing around on the keys versus John being more end-result oriented. I have heard the first part of the Star Wars Darth Vader march theme at least 100 times.

I don’t know what their musical futures hold, but Mrs. Victoria is an encouraging instructor. And she has to be, because these days, music lessons today battle with a host of extracurricular activities, and band funding is down.

I started playing clarinet in third grade. Our instructor Mr. Rahn had an outstanding reputation. He was also, in some students’ eyes, a jerk. (My older sister egged his house once.)

He didn’t suffer unmotivated students well, and I was one of them. I never practiced at home. Of course, we played every morning in addition to section lessons once a week, so I still squeaked my way to second chair.

By eighth grade, my relationship with Mr. Rahn was truly strained. One spring day, Ms. Avalon, a young student teacher, attended one of our section lessons. Fifteen minutes into it, Rahn gave me a “woodshedding” for my lousy playing on Kensington Overture. He’d yelled at me many times before but no other adult was ever present to add to the humiliation, so this time, I started crying.

But that’s not why I remember the day. It was because of the next moment, when Ms. Avalon lit into HIM about berating me. The first chair, Heather Hall, and I sat there stunned, watching the fight unfold, ending with the angry departure of Ms. Avalon.

Looking back I always worried about what happened to her. And I want to tell her, thank you, but he was right. I deserved all of that. For six years I was lazy and probably brought down the entire section’s morale. I really should have quit. But my father loved clarinet so I didn’t want to disappoint him.

I just wish my learning style was more conducive to the tough love approach so I’d be a better model for J and J now. Let’s hope they keep at it.

Just friends — and please stop calling!

I was scanning cyberland for excerpts of Med’s acting to add with his interview and came across a Bonanza fansite boasting 3,200 members with names like “Adamsgirl” and “Joesmyhero.” One of the members, “Daydreamer,” had written a biographical sketch on Med, who played several roles during the course of the 14-year-long western drama. She complained she couldn’t find anything recent on him.

Flush with the pride of insider knowledge, I started typing a response about his playing at Charlie O’s, the Med Logansport Jazz Festival, his alumni article, etc., but before I posted it, I took a look at a thread below the dialogue and spotted this addendum from Daydreamer:

“Thanks for the kind words everybody. I was so relieved when I got this [biography] posted, but my Med obsession lives on. Last night I dreamed that I found a magazine with Med on the cover and his complete life story inside of it. Then I dreamed that they made the story of his life a made for tv movie of the week.

If Med only knew the fangirl angst he’s causing!”

I decided right then, out of respect (and a little fear) for Med and Rex, to leave her in the dark.