riding the uke wave

ok, so here's the deal. the uke. it makes me smile unlike anything else i've ever really experienced. i was turned on to the uke by two fantastic people. and last month, i went to see the The Mighty Uke with them, a documentary about the ukulele and all its glory. now, i'm aware that i'm a wee bit behind the uke revolution of late. people all over the world heart this little endearing instrument. it's what keeps the amazing ms. amanda palmer up late writing songs about madonna and lady gaga. even the Canadians love it and use it as a gateway to musical education for kids. and in our fair city, in this bay we know and love, there are so very many hilariously wonderful people strumming along together just for the love of the uke.

on pi (pie) day this year (you know, 3/14), i was privy to one of those fabulous groups at a great party in west oakland. replete with literally scores of pies--sweet and savory, of course--the lovely and talented ukaladies performed a variety of pie-inspired tunes, many of their own creation. my favorite by far, aside from the rockin' rendition of warrant's 'cherry pie' they did while sexy pie ladies in red fishnets danced through the crowd offering teeny individual cherry pies--was '3.14159' sung to the tune of '867-5309.' who knew the uke could be so fun?

well, i'll tell ya. it is. i dare you to not smile when you hear someone sweetly strummin on this lil thing. it's pure joy. life hasn't been so easy this winter, and watching 'the mighty uke' may have been the first time in months that i had smiled and laughed quite that much.

tomorrow i've got my first strumming date. today, on a gorgeous, sunny spring san francisco day, i bought my first uke at Noe Valley Music. it's a makala concert uke. i spent the afternoon on pineapple pete's uke school site. i mean, really? it's just awesomely silly and fun. got myself 3 chords and some strummin done. looking forward to tomorrow. yay to making music.