Notes from the Edge of the World...
I decided to change the name of the journal for no real reason. Anyway, I didn't really fall off, but I've been really busy. Pool three nights a week, full-time job (Yea, job!), all the commuting (Boo, road-rage!), and learning to play the mandylynn —er — mandolin.

I was at flower76's Halloween Party on the 29^th. It was loads of fun, and lots of people were there. I have a lot of pictures that I still haven't done any editting on, and since they're all high-res, I need to shrink them for the web. I will get them up, but it might not be before next Halloween. (j/k, I hope.) Seriously, my computer is so slow now that it's a real pain to even open Photoshop, much less use it.

I did take a few quick shots of the tattoo Patti got me at the Inktoberfest tattoo and piercing convention, which was on my birthday. The pentagram in the pic is 1"Ø.

I said earlier that I have a job. That is a true fact. I'm working in the dungeon, that's File Room, at Mercy Hospital in IC. I really like it, and the people I work with appreciate the fact that I picked up all the minor details so quickly. They seemed afraid that I'd run away screaming, or just not come back for the second day. Work is good. Maybe soon I can afford that new computer I've been needing for so long. (See above complaint re Photoshop.)

I've also been learning the mandolin, even though I can't type it on the first try. Bob Saar, an old friend of Patti, and a new friend of mine, heard that I had attempted to play the mandolin when another of Patti's old musician friends came over to jam. He said if I could learn to play well enough, in six months, I could play on his next album. He lent me a beautiful mandolin that he'd gotten for $10 when he was on a journalism assignment in Vietnam a few years ago. He showed me a few things and left me to it. Patti showed me what she remembered from playing the banjo (same tuning: GDAE). Now I can play the opening from "Dueling Banjos," the theme from The Godfather, "Greensleeves," "Danny Boy," and a bunch of others, including "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" (it has only 4 simple chords: C, G, D, Em). I'm also getting pretty good at improving Irish style and Dixie style. It's really exciting.

Anyway, sorry I haven't been commenting on everyone's journals. I hope to get out of a couple nights' worth of pool after the session ends next month. If I get a wireless laptop, the two combined may be enough to get me reading all of those posts and even making snide remarks! So long for who knows how much longer.