Charlie_Quinn Avoids Hibernation

[Charlie_Quinn]

 

I'm officially done with winter. Unfortunately, winter hasn't got the message and seems to be doubling down on the miserableness. 

I don't do well in the cold, so my main goal over the next four weeks is to fight the urge to hibernate.

 

FEB & MARCH EVENTS

Things start to kick up a gear this month. I have Maverick Race on the 24th, which is a 13km run along the South Downs (hills of the hilliest kind). Then at the beginning of March, I’ll be at Winter Nuts (cold of the coldiest kind) with The Hubs, @jonfirestar and @Jarric. I’m still not entirely sure why I signed up for this, given my dislike of all things cold. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, Jon posted a video on his challenge that sums up how horrid it is.

 

RUN!

 

No matter how shitty the weather is, not matter how cold. Just, run.

4 Runs a week

1 Technical-Trail Run - not incl Maverick Race

 

CLIMB, JUMP......er...PUSH?

 

BMF (British Military Fitness) once a week. No matter how shitty the weather is, not matter how cold....you get the idea

Bouldering at least 3 times

Push ups twice a week (on top of BMF push ups)

 

GET UP!

 

Get up with alarm. No snoozing! 

I want to start running in the morning again, but first I need to defeat the evil snooze button. So the first stage is to get up with the first alarm and not hit snooze. Once this habit is formed, I'll look at moving the alarm back 10 mins at a time until I'm at a point where I'm up early enough to do a decent length run.

 

SIDE QUEST: UKULELE PRACTICE

 

Practice ukulele twice a week

Learn one song by the end of the challenge and post a video of me playing it

I picked up my ukulele again after I gave up trying to learn a long time ago. I want to see it through this time and not just give up after learning a handful of chords. I'm setting the video challenge to make sure I keep up with practicing this time.

[Salinger]

Hey CQ great challenge. I’m also fed up with winter and just want it to be light and warm!!! 

 

Great goals and I know you will do awesome! Can’t wait to see uke videos

[Maigs]

Here!

 

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Get up with alarm. No snoozing! 

Another non-snoozer! If we get enough people shunning the snooze button it might run away in shame  

 

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Practice ukulele twice a week

Learn one song by the end of the challenge and post a video of me playing it

You people and your instrument learning are not helping my Rangerbrain. I don't even have an instrument right now since mine is far too big to fit in my small house but I've been tempted to pick up a clarinet (that I started on waaaaayyyy back in 5th grade) and start playing again

[Charlie_Quinn]

1 hour ago, Salinger said:

Hey CQ great challenge. I’m also fed up with winter and just want it to be light and warm!!! 

 

Great goals and I know you will do awesome! Can’t wait to see uke videos

 

I'm not enjoying this sudden cold snap. Either snow so I don't have to leave the house, or warm up a few degrees so I'm not freezing waiting for delayed trains!

 

I started to learn Jason Mraz's "I'm yours" on the uke at the weekend. It's an easy beginner song with only 4 chords, but there is one chord change I'm struggling with. I'm sure I'll get it eventually. 

 

14 minutes ago, Maigahane said:

Here!

 

Another non-snoozer! If we get enough people shunning the snooze button it might run away in shame  

 

You people and your instrument learning are not helping my Rangerbrain. I don't even have an instrument right now since mine is far too big to fit in my small house but I've been tempted to pick up a clarinet (that I started on waaaaayyyy back in 5th grade) and start playing again

 

I think I need to disable snooze on my alarm and then rely on the fear of oversleeping to get me up. 

 

I got thiiis close to buying a digital piano a few weeks ago and I live in a 2 bed apartment! TBH, the main thing that stopped me was the thought of Stu's face when it arrived. Well that, and I wasn't quite sure where I would store it when not in use, or where it would fit when I wanted to play it. I've wanted to play the piano since I was a kid, but my parents couldn't afford lessons. One day I'll have the space and the time to learn. Maybe!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following.

@Cheetah you need to get in on this, someone is learning the uke.

[jonfirestar]

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I’m still not entirely sure why I signed up for this, given my dislike of all things cold. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, Jon posted a video on his challenge that sums up how horrid it is.

 

It's the one thing really keeping me on point but I'm having moments of 'why do I want to do that to myself again?' to torture me  I claim that we were coerced into it and I'm sticking to it! 

[Salinger]

54 minutes ago, Maigahane said:

Here!

 

Another non-snoozer! If we get enough people shunning the snooze button it might run away in shame  

 

You people and your instrument learning are not helping my Rangerbrain. I don't even have an instrument right now since mine is far too big to fit in my small house but I've been tempted to pick up a clarinet (that I started on waaaaayyyy back in 5th grade) and start playing again

 

My housemate has a piano, so im tempted to learn that too! haha need to stick with guitar first though!!! 

[Raxie]

Oh man I can't wait to see the ukulele video!!

[Salinger]

26 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

 

 

I started to learn Jason Mraz's "I'm yours" on the uke at the weekend. It's an easy beginner song with only 4 chords, but there is one chord change I'm struggling with. I'm sure I'll get it eventually. 

 

Awesome, im learning the intro to Hurt by Johnny Cash at the moment!!!!!

[Maigs]

 
I think I need to disable snooze on my alarm and then rely on the fear of oversleeping to get me up. 
 
I got thiiis close to buying a digital piano a few weeks ago and I live in a 2 bed apartment! TBH, the main thing that stopped me was the thought of Stu's face when it arrived. Well that, and I wasn't quite sure where I would store it when not in use, or where it would fit when I wanted to play it. I've wanted to play the piano since I was a kid, but my parents couldn't afford lessons. One day I'll have the space and the time to learn. Maybe!

A digital piano has nothing on this baby. And I'm still tempted to make it fit in my office but I know realistically that's silly and I won't play it enough to be worth the hassle

[Charlie_Quinn]

34 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following.

@Cheetah you need to get in on this, someone is learning the uke.

 

Hey hey! 

Yes! I need more uke inspiration!

 

29 minutes ago, jonfirestar said:

It's the one thing really keeping me on point but I'm having moments of 'why do I want to do that to myself again?' to torture me  I claim that we were coerced into it and I'm sticking to it! 

 

Yeah, @Jarric you couldn't have just wanted to go to the pub for your birthday? 

Who am I kidding, I probably would have done it anyway. I needed to pop my Nuts cherry eventually.

 

18 minutes ago, Salinger said:

 

My housemate has a piano, so im tempted to learn that too! haha need to stick with guitar first though!!! 

 

You should so do it after you've learnt the guitar. You could be a one-woman-band!

 

18 minutes ago, Raxie said:

Oh man I can't wait to see the ukulele video!!

 

I guess there's no back tracking on that now!

 

17 minutes ago, Salinger said:

 

Awesome, im learning the intro to Hurt by Johnny Cash at the moment!!!!!

 

Well that's way cooler than mine. 

 

9 minutes ago, Maigahane said:

 

 

A digital piano has nothing on this baby. And I'm still tempted to make it fit in my office but I know realistically that's silly and I won't play it enough to be worth the hassle

 

 

Oh my god, I don't think I've seen one of those since school! That would be so much fun to learn.

[Maigs]

2 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

 

Oh my god, I don't think I've seen one of those since school! That would be so much fun to learn.

I have to be clear: This is not a xylophone. it's a marimba which is approximately 8,498,132x more awesome than a xylophone.

 

Unfortunately when we moved into our smaller house we decided that we didn't really have room for it and gave it back to my mom (it was originally hers). Now that I've thought of it though, I'm really tempted get it back and put it in my soon-to-be-mostly-empty office. Mom is trying to declutter and downsize anyway.....

[Cheetah]

6 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

but there is one chord change I'm struggling with. I'm sure I'll get it eventually. 

 

It's the G, right?  That one took me forever, but it did get easier.  Now it's not a problem.

 

6 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

you need to get in on this

 

Here I am!

 

5 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I need more uke inspiration!

 

You asked for it!  You probably already know about some of these, but you just gave me permission to UkeDump in your thread, so I'm gonna.

 

Let's start with every song you ever wanted to play:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6Sv6hnM0FW7ekwxWGQxWHllSTg?usp=sharing

Okay, it's not *every* song, but there are hundreds of chord and tab sheets here.  It's my local area Uke group.  Very nice folks.

 

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/

The NF of the Uke world.

 

http://mugglinworks.com/chordmapsArchive/index.htm

This site takes a while to read through, but it's a very concise explanation of basic chord theory.  It dramatically increased my understand of the music I was learning.  It's also a phenomenal reference if you ever get the bug to write your own song. 

 

http://www.theoreticallycorrect.com/KeySwitch-Song-Transposer/index.html

For transposing songs into different keys.  Very handy

 

https://ukuworld.com/about/

This is one of my favorites.  They have a large database of songs, and you can transpose the songs into different keys right on the site.  There are a few songs I love to play that have really screwy chords in the original key, but when you take it up or down a couple steps, it's much easier to play.  Or, you know, if you want to sing along in a key that works for your voice, or whatever.  The site also has a comprehensive chord chart, and a bunch of beginner guides and other neat stuff.

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.smartchord.droid&hl=en

This is the all-in-one app that I use.  I originally dl'd it for the tuner, which works really well, but it has an insane number of features for a free app.

 

These are my favorite Uke teachers on YT:

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2q6i-C0ZLJUK-VCp49TJA

Cynthia runs an actual studio, so she's legit.  She focuses on beginners, and has a lot of great song tutorials.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNkm8o5LiEVLxO8w0p2sfQ

Justin is a very personable Aussie who is primarily a guitar teacher, but he did a really great Ukulele beginner series for a lark.  You know you want to learn to play "Rainbow Connection".  It's not as hard as you'd think.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswGuz6dUg9txUmHvla1GFg

Lots of song tutorials here, very easy to follow.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyAlwTH-8IRI5Kct453TL-A

I'll be honest.  This guy annoys the crap out of me.  But, I'm subscribed to his channel because he's a good ukulele teacher, and he has a lot of song tutorials that other people don't have.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1ua9JYTLpcQn3QtocNOww

This, I believe is an honest-to-goodness hippie.  If you ever get the itch to learn fingerstyle or clawhammer ukulele, this is where you go.

 

Fun Stuff:  Videos spoilered because this post is long enough.

 

This is what you'd be doing if you had started when you were 4:

Spoiler

 

 

When people say "ukulele" and "Jake" in the same sentence, this is who they're talking about. 

Spoiler

 

 

You can play this one!  Three chords, no problem!  It's my kids favourite.

Spoiler

 

 

Okay, I'll go now.  If you have *any* questions about *anything* you know where to find me.  Have fun playing! 

#ukulele4life

[Charlie_Quinn]

7 hours ago, Maigahane said:

I have to be clear: This is not a xylophone. it's a marimba which is approximately 8,498,132x more awesome than a xylophone.

 

Unfortunately when we moved into our smaller house we decided that we didn't really have room for it and gave it back to my mom (it was originally hers). Now that I've thought of it though, I'm really tempted get it back and put it in my soon-to-be-mostly-empty office. Mom is trying to declutter and downsize anyway.....

 

*searches YouTube for videos of people playing the marimba* Ah I hear the difference. Well of course I'm going to say; DO IT! Because why wouldn't I?

 

55 minutes ago, Cheetah said:

It's the G, right?  That one took me forever, but it did get easier.  Now it's not a problem.

 

Yep, it's the G. My problem with everything is I expect to learn everything too quickly. Practice and patience, practice and patience.

 

57 minutes ago, Cheetah said:

You asked for it!  You probably already know about some of these, but you just gave me permission to UkeDump in your thread, so I'm gonna.

 

Holy cow, Cheetah! This is amazing! Thank you so much. This is just, I can't even put it into words. You're a wonderful human being.

 

59 minutes ago, Cheetah said:

When people say "ukulele" and "Jake" in the same sentence, this is who they're talking about. 

 

Well that was amazing. I'm never going to look at a uke in the same way again. I thought of it as a kind of a gateway instrument, but it's so so much more.

 

Once again, thank you. 

[Cheetah]

22 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Yep, it's the G. My problem with everything is I expect to learn everything too quickly. Practice and patience, practice and patience.

 

Prezactly.  When you get there, it's so worth it.  The challenge for me was that I usually pick up a hobby, obsess about it for a while, then drop it completely.  I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to do that with the uke.  So instead of going crazy with it, I just tried to play a little bit each day, some days more and some days less, and let it come together in it's own time. That's what worked for me.

 

22 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

You're a wonderful human being.

 

Aww, shucks.  I don't know about that.  Strummers got to stick together, you know.  ;-)

 

22 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

thank you.

 

ETA I FORGOT ONE!

 

I don't know what' you're playing now, but eventually you'll want moar ukuleles.  I got my Ohana from Mim:

http://stores.ebay.com/Mims-Ukes

She does a complete fine-tuning set-up on every uke she sells, for free, and her base prices are as good as you'll find anywhere.

[Maigs]

57 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

*searches YouTube for videos of people playing the marimba* Ah I hear the difference. Well of course I'm going to say; DO IT! Because why wouldn't I?

A clarinet is much more reasonable though.

 

There's lots of awesome YouTube videos of nerdy marimba songs
 

 

[Kestrel Grey]

Following! And I think the world needs a cheetah-CQ ukulele duet video. Just putting it out there. 

 

What is your mileage like these days?

[Cheetah]

22 minutes ago, Kestrel Grey said:

What is your mileage like these days?

 

Well, in the little car we get about 2o per gallon, but we do mostly stop-and-go driving.  In the truck, I'm not even getting 10, but she spends as much time warming up in the driveway as she does actually driving anywhere.  So the results are slightly skewed.

[Charlie_Quinn]

10 hours ago, Cheetah said:

Prezactly.  When you get there, it's so worth it.  The challenge for me was that I usually pick up a hobby, obsess about it for a while, then drop it completely.  I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to do that with the uke.  So instead of going crazy with it, I just tried to play a little bit each day, some days more and some days less, and let it come together in it's own time. That's what worked for me.

 

I do the same thing with hobbies, which is why I'm picking this up again after a long time. My challenge goal is to play twice a week, but I'd like to pick it up every evening if I can, even if it's just for 10 mins before bed.

 

10 hours ago, Cheetah said:

I don't know what' you're playing now, but eventually you'll want moar ukuleles.  I got my Ohana from Mim:

http://stores.ebay.com/Mims-Ukes

She does a complete fine-tuning set-up on every uke she sells, for free, and her base prices are as good as you'll find anywhere.

 

Right now, I just have basic Maholo Soprano from Amazon and I upgraded the strings on it. If I keep up practice and get good enough, I'll invest in something a little better. Just looked at shipping to the UK from that ebay shop....$71! Ouch! 

 

10 hours ago, Maigahane said:

There's lots of awesome YouTube videos of nerdy marimba songs

 

When I searched YouTube, the first thing that came up was "Legend of Zelda theme" It seems like a good instrument for recreating classic plinky-plonky video game music.

 

7 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

Following! And I think the world needs a cheetah-CQ ukulele duet video. Just putting it out there. 

 

That would be one expensive duet! I need to get a whole lot better before I'm comfortable filming myself. Even when I am a bit more experienced, the idea of filming myself and putting out for all the world to see is a terrifying prospect! 

 

7 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

What is your mileage like these days?

 

Assuming this question was for me and not Cheetah  My weekly mileage over the last few weeks has been between 15-20 miles. This week I'm taking a break but I'm still planning on getting a long run this weekend. I want my average to be about 20 miles a week and then it'll start to increase once marathon training kicks in.

[Charlie_Quinn]

Well, I've had a fun morning. Got a text about an hour ago from my bank telling me there was suspected fraudulent activity on my account. Thankfully, it looks like the fraudsters were testing the card with small transactions and they caught it in time, so the most they've managed to get from me is a grand total of £3.33, and even that should get refunded. 

 

My debit card has now been cancelled, but I don't have any cash on me! Going to have to use a credit card to get home - as I was using contactless payments for my commute - and for lunch today, which is irritating. 

 

On the plus side, this situation proves that my CBT therapy was successful. No panic attacks or anxiety attacks other than the thoroughly understandable "what the fuck! Oh shit!" moment. I'm a little pissed, but I'm not having all those unhelpful thoughts flooding my mind that old me would get in these situations. Progress! My therapist would be so proud!

[jonfirestar]

12 hours ago, Cheetah said:

The challenge for me was that I usually pick up a hobby, obsess about it for a while, then drop it completely. 

 

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I do the same thing with hobbies, which is why I'm picking this up again after a long time.

 

I'm fairly certain that this is a symptom of RangerBrain  I'll be honest it's one of the reasons I"m amazed at myself for keeping up this fitness thing for well over a year. 

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

 

Assuming this question was for me and not Cheetah  My weekly mileage over the last few weeks has been between 15-20 miles. This week I'm taking a break but I'm still planning on getting a long run this weekend. I want my average to be about 20 miles a week and then it'll start to increase once marathon training kicks in.

To put a positive spin on things, it should be cold enough (and maybe wet enough) for you to give that wetsuit a try! It's really amazing at how much more unnerving I'm finding the cold weather with Nuts right over the hill. 

[DJtrippyT]

following! sorry about the debit card nonsense. that just happened to my boyfriend a couple weeks ago.

[NeverThatBored]

Following!! I can't wait to see your ukulele performance.

[Charlie_Quinn]

2 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

To put a positive spin on things, it should be cold enough (and maybe wet enough) for you to give that wetsuit a try! It's really amazing at how much more unnerving I'm finding the cold weather with Nuts right over the hill. 

 

It was -5c this morning when I left for work. A morning run in that should be a good wetsuit trial. Now if I could just get my butt out of bed in the morning!

 

1 hour ago, DJtrippyT said:

following! sorry about the debit card nonsense. that just happened to my boyfriend a couple weeks ago.

 

Thanks. It's just so annoying that it's happened right before I'm due to go out for the night. Stu will be there to pick up the tab, but I really hate having to rely on other people for money. 

 

8 minutes ago, NeverThatBored said:

Following!! I can't wait to see your ukulele performance.

 

Hey NTB! I'm suddenly all excited about learning again thanks to all the enthusiasm of people on here. I've been browsing posh ukuleles on my lunch break. Maybe it's a good thing my card got cancelled after all!

[jonfirestar]

10 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

It was -5c this morning when I left for work. A morning run in that should be a good wetsuit trial. Now if I could just get my butt out of bed in the morning!

 

I know I went out running in it