Summer break is over!!

                                  The long break taken from summer's beginning till now is over!

The summer began with family related distractions that included my mother's cancer treatments, work on my photography business and an assortment of things. This seems to be a common thing with me and musical instruments, making it tough to really progress beyond the beginner stages to intermediate. So as usual, I immerse myself in the music, gaining back the desire and thrill that had
overtaken me before. Before you know it, I have returned to the place previously at. This is not a bad thing but not good either, certainly not positive. What I NEED is to have a daily practice routine that
takes my soul to another place. For two years I did this and enjoyed it.

Then, life and other interests creep in and there it goes. Add to this the hair dynamic. Yep, the hair dynamic. As has been mentioned before, adding lip facial hair to the appearance does NOT prove to be positive for playing. Simply put, it is difficult to get the embouchure right on the shakuhachi with a "soul" patch on my lower lip. But damn, I really like the look currently and need to practice and find a way around this. With my Celtic flute and whistles, this is never a problem at all. 

    So, now to work around this feature and make the shakuhachi sound good with said hirsute addition! This moustache combo is a mere 8 weeks old and isn't going anywhere for the time being. Time to accept it.


Well, there is an update. Now all I need to accomplish is a new calendar of practice times and get out the books, CD's and sheet music. Again, I am determined as usual, let's see how it goes.