Forum Activity for @susie

Reviving an old topic here. Like I needed another instrument to dive into, I picked up a tenor uke last Saturday. In the first week, I've really gotten to know it. My first love is guitar, and that's helping immensely. It's a fun little instrument. The dulcimer festivals that I attend have uke jams and workshops. I'm looking forward to attending those with my own instrument. I joined a uke forum wich is as much fun as the instrument itself. To quote a member of that forum, "I uke, therefore I laugh". I agree with everything Dennis said in his original post about the uke.

My uke stuff is on Mrs.Wanda's You tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/wjc1952

My channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/dulcimerplr?feature=mhum Not a lot of dulcimer stuff up yet, as I have had problems getting enough volume with the regular dulcimer. I expect to put some up with my bass dulcimer soon.

Paul

I like my tenor uke a lot. I haven't played it with either of the dulcimer clubs I'm in, but it has turned up at a couple jams with other friends. There's even some YouTube stuff of it, courtesy of Mrs. Wanda.

Paul

Yeah, nui is close, but sometimes certain things are done in certain ways. I'm not real clear on all the different aspects. For instance manu is bird. manu nui is a large bird, while nui manu is a flock of birds. Wiki is fast, wiki wiki is very fast. I'm not positive, but I think nui is used with nouns, while doubling is used with adjectives and verbs. Again, I'm not an expert in Hawaiian language. Much of what I know has come from songs. This line comes from a song called Henehene Kou `Aka:

Ka`a uila makeneki
ho`oni oni kou kino

in English: "The street car wheels turn

vibrating your body"

oni is doubled here,indicating a lot of shaking. Oni has multiple meanings, used for similar though not quite identical words. Actualy, this is where Mrs. Wanda got the name for oni. It's a favorite song of hers.

Paul

Sam said:

Could get close, I guess by adding 'nui' ... as in "malihini pupula nui". Nui being much or very much if memory serves. I like Oni Oni better though.

Thanks. I use internal rhyme and alliteration quite a bit. Glad you noticed!

Flint Hill said:

Nicely done. Love the internal rhymes, especially.

Nicely done. Love the internal rhymes, especially.

Could get close, I guess by adding 'nui' ... as in "malihini pupula nui". Nui being much or very much if memory serves. I like Oni Oni better though.

Oni is Hawaiian for bouncy, wiggly and other such concepts. In Hawaiian, to make a superlative,there's no word for very, or extra, etc. The original word is doubled instead. So Oni Oni means extra bouncy.

Paul

Dear Robin ... Glad you enjoyed Turnup. He's not really a bad cat ... just smells that way.

Aft'noon Paul ... 'Catfolk' understands huh? I planted catnip in the yard. Our current cat 'Maybe' became an instant junkie. Loves the stuff. He's really funny when he's buzzin' too.

Strumelia ... Don't feel too badly for Turnup. He's a survivor. No tellin' where he'll 'turnup' next. BTW, he wishes EVERYONE at FOTMD a very Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season.

Paul Certo said:

Ain't that just like a cat? Mrs. Wanda makes her own greeting cards, and does a lot of scrapbooking. Oni Oni likes to "help", too. That's Oni in the picture with me.

Paul

Too funny! Poor Turnup!

lol!

Ain't that just like a cat? Mrs. Wanda makes her own greeting cards, and does a lot of scrapbooking. Oni Oni likes to "help", too. That's Oni in the picture with me.

Paul

Oh, Sam, thanks for sharing this! Yes, a laugh at poor Turnup's expense. Pet kitty for me, please. :)

Turnups Christmas Card

Recently

The wife was makin Christmas cards
To send, come Christmas next
In Turnups thoughts, the ribbon box
Was the perfect place to nest

So

He snuck inside the tangled mass
An curled up in a ball
This curlin took some furlin
He is chubby after all

When

The wife run out of Elmers
She went lookin fer some glue
Sure enough she found Super stuff
It was frikkin sticky too

Well

You might know the phone would ring
An it would be her sister
Yackety yak fore she got back
Turnup woke an missed er

Yaaaawwwnnn

He thought hed check the table top
Fer unattended treats
But what he got, sure was unsought
Stuff was stickin to his feets

What th ???


Hed stick one out an shake it
But when he set it down
Tinsel, glitter and other litter
To his toes was bound

It gets worse

In amongst the clutter
Were brightly colored balls
When Turnup sat, imagine that
Got the picture yall

Helllllp !

With a bowleggd, straddle, waddle
The poor cat tried to run
With hiss an spit an tizzy fit
An decorated buns

Stop, drop an roll Turnup !

The room was gettin smaller
As Turnups tensions grew
As super glued an paper shoed
Up the drapes he flew

Helps on the way

Thats where the missus found him
Atop the curtain rod
She left the room to fetch the broom
Ill get you down, by God!

Epilogue

To clean a cat by shaving
Might seem akin to sin
But scissors cuts around his nuts
Took me an two good men

Hey ... if anyone finds this intrusive, invasive or offensive I certainly have no objection to moving it to my blog or removing it entirely. Turnup (because he just 'turned up') is a character from my anthology 'Tumble Creek Tales'. He is a survivor of several poems and short stories.

A copy of this post is also found on Everything Dulcimer. Please excuse the repetition.

On the eve of Thanksgiving and the coldest day of the year so far in Northern California, while chopping vegetables in preparation for tomorrow's feast, I watched my daughter sitting on our couch in between my parents as the three of them wrote the fifth or sixth chapter of what has become an on-going story about two families of grasshoppers who learned to put aside their differences and get along together. The joy they all obviously felt in their collaboration, though, pales in comparison with the joy I felt observing it. Indeed, my family is healthy and we have many relatives and friends to be thankful for.

But I am also thankful for all of you.

With the exception of one day in July 2009 when I attended the Redwood Dulcimer Day, my entire dulcimer experience has been digital. I first discovered the instrument in a YouTube video by Stephen Seifert, I located a luthier online and contacted him via email, and I learned my first half-dozen songs by copying YouTube videos. Other than that one day in Santa Cruz, the only dulcimer I've ever heard live has been my own, and I know no one in my "real" life who plays.

But here I am, over 18 months after obtaining my first dulcimer. I still play as often as work and family allow, and I am still enthusiastic about the instrument.

The fact that I am still so excited about playing this instrument is certainly due in large part to the support and camaraderie I've discovered at ED and FOTMD. These two websites have remained an important part of my dulcimer life for the last year and without all of your friendly and supportive enthusiasm, I don't know whether I would still be playing the dulcimer. I would like to think my love for the instrument is genuine and would have lasted anyway, but I don't know whether I would have continued to study the instrument if I had no one to share that interest with.

So I say to you all, thank you. You have helped sustain a joy in my life that I hold precious.

I do indeed hope one day to meet many of you in person, but even if that day never happens, I will always be thankful for the interactions we've had online.

And no, I'm not crying; I've just been chopping onions.

Furman Thornton dulcimer from 2002

Upper bout

Lower bout

I have Blair 285

Mark Jones said:

Check out more Mark Blair Dulcimers online at www.markblairdulcimers.com and also see the Facebook page forMark Blair Dulcimers. My name is Mark, I was named after Mark Blair, he was my Uncle. I hadn't tracked down #290 yet!

Dave shattuck said:

I just bought this on eBay, and I am thrilled. It was built by Mark Blair, #290. He made around 600+. All walnut I believe. These holes he uses are patented. Also the Smithsonian bought one of his dulcimers

Eastern Kingbirds. These were the first sound holes I ever cut.

So many different sound holes designs, mine also now.

yes, very nice

Dana R. McCall said:

I love natural knot holes for sound holes and have several dulcimers that way. I don't think it make any difference in the sound they are just pretty.

My neighbor just gave me #285 for FREE!

Dave shattuck said:

I just bought this on eBay, and I am thrilled. It was built by Mark Blair, #290. He made around 600+. All walnut I believe. These holes he uses are patented. Also the Smithsonian bought one of his dulcimers

I just bought this on eBay, and I am thrilled. It was built by Mark Blair, #290. He made around 600+. All walnut I believe. These holes he uses are patented. Also the Smithsonian bought one of his dulcimers

Sharon, I like your instruments/sound-holes, especially the Scheitholt!

Sharon Setzer said:

I have hummingbirds, circles, and f/Celtic knot sound holes.

John D Hedrick said:

I like your designs. Do you use ink or burner for the outlines?

Jack Ferguson said: I wood-burn the design.

Nice rosettes, John. I've found my "blossom" designs to be popular.

Nice rosettes, John. I've found my "blossom" designs to be popular.

Nice rosettes, John. I've found my "blossom" designs to be popular.

So now I can contribute something to this interesting thread as well...

These are the soundholes of my modified Cedar Creek kit dulcimer. I drilled them myself yesterday. A simple, timeless design made with three wood drills of 6, 12 and 18 mm (about 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 inches).

Hi Robert,

the "diamond" pattern on those psalteries look great!

Here are some of my psaltery sound holes. The diamond pattern I got off a psaltery web site long ago sorry I don;t remember who's. I enjoy making this pattern with a 3/8" wood file. The hummingbird came about after I inlaid a hummer marquaty on a cedar top... Bob.

Here's a few from my dulcimers. The top one is from my first dulcimer, which was made in Scotland in the mid 1980s. Next one down is from a David Beede "eedy beedy" dulcimer and the last two from my Ken Bloom 5 string

Cool, thanks!

Barbara P said:

Mandy, take a look at this paper written on the Huntington dulcimer. The inverted hearts have a meaning (or more than one meaning). Here's the link:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum/topics/huntington-dulcimer-r...