And I shall call him... Fredrik. With a 'K'.

There really is no point to this post other than the warm fuzzies you'll get from my gratuitous sharing. So this weekend I'm going piano shopping. Not to *buy* a piano per se but to *look at*, *love on*, and generally *rub up against* pianos in a non-discriminatory, non-harrassing manner... all in preparation for the big purchase sometime later this year. I guess since I'm not actually planning to buy something this weekend it means I'm actually going piano... watching? That's right, I truly have not spent enough money this year between new glasses, contacts, a brand new car, several new cameras, a trip to Europe, and a couple of other mini-vacays. My 2005 won't be complete until I've spent more money than Steve. And Lord knows I'm trying!

When I was much, much younger I played the piano and one of my piano teacher's was named Mrs. Gillis. She was a nice old lady but as my dad stated so aptly on his blog learning from her was about as much fun as lancing a boil. He's right. She probably hated me and every other kid who came to her house because we never practiced and weren't old enough to have figured out that our mission in life was to become a concert pianist. Which truly was a coup because this was likely her only source of strength. That maybe, just maybe, one of these little brats would become her prodigy.

This person was not me.

So I took lessons for many years anyway and greatly enjoyed secretly playing "Home Sweet Home" by Motly Crue against her wishes. I learned all my scales and chords, I learned to play a bunch of pieces (but they were mostly useless boring, piano lesson shit things) and even shined for a mere moment when I won some sort of a competition and got to play in an honors recital in Steven's Point, Wisconsin. Of course I was about 12 at the time and had no idea what was going on cuz I was too busy wondering if Kyle Fisher thought I was cute. He didn't, just in case you were wondering how that turned out.

Fast forward to now. It has been a few years but I am ready to tackle the piano bitch and trust me when I say there are things I want to do to the piano that aren't suitable for the eyes of small children. So after stalking this whole piano-playing thing again for the past couple of years I've made the decision that I'm going to invest in the fruit of my musical womb. Feel free to take from that last sentence whatever you choose but there is music to be had. Oh yes, much music. Not to mention excitement - lo, the excitement!!! "Turn Back O Man" played live? Damn. Ya'll will be impressed is all I'm sayin'. Never underestimate Sophie.

Let me reiterate that first part again though... I'm *not* buying this weekend. Not buying. Not buying. Not buying. Not buying. Just looking. And thinking about financing. But not buying. Certainly not buying. But talking to them about financing surely won't hurt, right? But maybe next weekend I'll buy. Or next week. No no, next MONTH! I won't buy this weekend. Not buying god damnit!#$*&%!