Notebook: My Red Lady

My Red Lady

By Blake Tan

It’s amazing how much things can change.
Nights I used to wake up in torment, you hanging over me,
a spirit conjured up by my sleep,
white, cold fingers wrapped around my heart,
crushing and squeezing until it fought no more.
I couldn’t let myself heal over. No one else to fit
the wound in my breast, to staunch the bleeding.
All I’d see was your face superimposed over theirs,
golden, brown, or black hair – it didn’t matter –
you were always there. Half a hundred girls
all wearing your face.

Ukulele Songs for Nerds

You may not know this about me, but I am something of a ukulele enthusiast. I've always been interested in the instrument. It's like a guitar, but little and cuter! So, last year I was perusing the local stores in Athens when I came upon a little place called the The Tone Zone where I found a series of ukuleles hanging on the wall in the brightest and coolest colors you could conceive. I immediately purchased one (I named her Lady Violet) and have since slowly plucked my way to learning how to play.

I would like to emphasize that I've had no formal training whatsoever, other than what videos and "how-to's" I could find on the Internet. So, if I sound really bad, please give me the benefit of the doubt.

I practice and play whenever I can and have learned a few songs. However, I'm proudest of discovering the chords of songs from Skyrim and Game of Thrones, which I posted to Facebook and now would like to include here, below. Please tell me what you think!