Diary of a Dick Vet

I’m looking forward to moving abroad in many ways, but there are a lot of items that I really regret having to leave behind. More than anything else, I’m upset that I can’t take any of my instruments with me. I have:

1. My violin, Chester, which I’ve owned since 5th grade. He’s been with me for going on 12 years now, and even though I no longer play as often as I used to, I still enjoy pulling him out every so often to see if I’ve still got it (I haven’t.)
2. My bass, Rubber Sledge (+ amp). He was a gift from my sisters and I love grooving with him. He’s a Galveston, which is a no-name brand that I can’t seem to trace anywhere, but he’s surprisingly good quality for the price and gorgeous.

1. My Ibanez acoustic guitar, Lorraine. She’s new to the family, since I’ve only been playing guitar for about a year. I might miss her most of all, if only because she’s best for songwriting.

I’m considering shipping either Lorraine or Rubber Sledge over (there’s no way Chester is going through the courier, the lightweight) but I might just buy a cheap-o instrument once in Scotland. I’ve been playing music since I was 10, and I know I would miss that outlet. I’ve seen postings at the Edinburgh gumtree.com (the Brit equivalent to craigslist) for acoustics for 45GPB and less – really a small price if I’m going to go four years without music! Besides, what’s more inspiring to the artistic part of the brain than a new environment? I will need a guitar if I’m going to write lots of sullen, depressing indie tunes about loneliness and alienation.