Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of me BEING IN A BAND (and the rocking Thunderstorm)

As soon as I started typing this, a flash of lightning lit up my window, and thunder is rolling around me. About half an hour ago, the winds picked up tremendously and sounded like rain. Only after a few minutes did the rain actually start falling, adding to the ambience. And of course, the booming thunder. However, the wind is practically silent know and I believe it is passing on by. Never-mind, that boom of thunder was the loudest so far and now seems to be chuckling like a dragon.

But yes, our mini cover band that formed during the K-ON barbecue had our first practice together in a studio. For two hours, it was less than $8 per person, including free instrument rentals. It was amazing!

The guitar I rented was the color of custard or banana cream and, once it was plugged in and I strummed my first chord, I got this rush of excitement. It wasn't all happy-go-lucky though. Figuring out how to practice with other people playing and then actually playing along with them, finding rhythm and so on, was very difficult. Most of the time, I couldn't hear the bass, and because I am not lead guitar, it is a bit hard to hear my part in the recording I took (next time I'll try to set it up differently). But I think we made a lot of progress in those two hours. It was so neat to be playing relatively in sync with everyone.









Some various notes from the day:

• When working with an amp, make sure all the dials are turned to zero before turning it off or on, or else it will break.
• Following the drummer is so much easier than trying to figure out the beat by yourself!
• I saw a dead crow today while I was walking down this steep set of stairs on my way home. Another crow was cawing continuously, hopped up to it with wings spread, and then started dragging the dead crow a bit. It was a bit mysterious. I couldn't tell if the crow was angry, cocky over a murder, or was concerned for a friend (but the body looked a little ruffled). My host family said they have never seen a dead crow and that crows usually fly to a forest to die. Why do I keep having mysterious encounters with crows? Am I becoming a Disney protagonist and my crow is my chosen animal? I don't know! And then, since tomorrow's trash day, I saw about twenty of them down my street while walking towards the meeting place for our cover band and, let me tell you, after that one swoop-happy crow, it was an intense stroll. 
• Ordered a bento from Robin Hood for the first time today - it was filling and delicious
• As of today, I'm doing bicep curls with a little bar instead of dumbbells (totally did it to help with balance and keeping my muscles even, not to look cool at all~)
• Also, here is a picture I took on my phone yesterday, but I want to include it because....it's pretty. That's all. 
  

 Anyways, I must get to bed. Good night and good day!