Still around.

philpot

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I've managed to keep up my ukulele obsession for awhile now. I'm the resident "ukulele guy" in my area now. I show up at open mic nights every now and again, play a few songs on my eleuke and then duck out. I've had lots of interested people talk to me about it, and even directed a few in the UU direction, but I don't know if any have actually followed through. I haven't been around here much lately because school has been so rough, but I'm still hanging on to the habit! I haven't stopped learning, loving, playing, or teaching lessons.


In a few short months I'm going to graduate high school... There's a possibility that I might be able to treat myself to a little graduation present come May... I'll keep you guys posted on how that goes ;D it's all planned out already, just gotta secure the funds.


Anyways. For anyone who cares, I'm still alive, barely ;)


-Phil
 
Good for you! Yep, the uke thing gets to be second nature. I don't do as much, but still generate as much interest. Hope your graduation gift pans out. Will be looking to see what you've decided on.
 
great to hear from you brother, glad you're still into the uke and enjoying life Phil, and much to look forward to with graduation coming too. Blessings mate. :)
 
Aloha Phil,
It's been a while eh, Nice to see you back...glad to hear you been playing your uke and having fun still ...and woo hoo graduation time is coming soon....Happy Strummings
Yes Of course I remember you....with some catchy user name, who wouldn't....:)
 
NIce to hear from you Phil.. I saw you post on the seasons thread the other day and wondered where you have been.. Good to hear you are well..
Graduation.. hurray.. :look forward to hearing what you are going to treat yourself with.. Mya-moe? :)
 
PHIL I MISS YOU.

That's all I wanted to say.
 
Hey Phil...that day will come sooner than you think! You should treat yourself after all that hard work...!
 
Good for you! Yep, the uke thing gets to be second nature. I don't do as much, but still generate as much interest. Hope your graduation gift pans out. Will be looking to see what you've decided on.

It's really fun when random people in drive-throughs or at Walmart or something ask about my bumper sticker :p that's always fun.

great to hear from you brother, glad you're still into the uke and enjoying life Phil, and much to look forward to with graduation coming too. Blessings mate.

And congratulations to you, Mr. Moderator! I've still kept up with your videos, and you never fail to put a smile on my face.

Aloha Phil,
It's been a while eh, Nice to see you back...glad to hear you been playing your uke and having fun still ...and woo hoo graduation time is coming soon....Happy Strummings
Yes Of course I remember you....with some catchy user name, who wouldn't....

My mom keeps wondering when I'm going to get over this "ukulele kick," but I don't think it's going to happen ;)

NIce to hear from you Phil.. I saw you post on the seasons thread the other day and wondered where you have been.. Good to hear you are well..
Graduation.. hurray.. :look forward to hearing what you are going to treat yourself with.. Mya-moe?

Never know ;) I'll be sure to keep you guys posted as that develops.

PHIL I MISS YOU.

That's all I wanted to say.

I MISS YOU TOO. It's been way too long since I was on the mini jams. And last I checked, it looks like they've died out a bit... You really must come to Tennessee sometime. It's a terrible place.

Hey Phil...that day will come sooner than you think! You should treat yourself after all that hard work...!

That's the plan xD we'll see how it works out :)


Thanks for the kind words everybody! :D
 
GOod to see you're still kickin' - Hope to get to meet you at UWC this year!
 
I haven't been around UU much lately either. As far as my musical pursuits go, I recently started teaching lessons at a music school. I don't have any uke students yet, but I've been teaching guitar, drums, and piano. I've also been playing some local places--small venues and open mics--and using my uke as well as my guitar and my harmonicas.
 
Where the H@+- have you been- we have a Curfew here on UU!
 
Just a little update on my planning for a "graduation present..."

To give you an idea of where I'm at, I've applied and been accepted to college for the Fall 2013 semester. I'm so excited about the opportunity to further my education, but the cost is a little daunting. It's a private institution that doesn't accept government funding, so my scholarships have to either come from private entities or from the college itself. As such, most of what I have right now in savings will need to be placed towards college to ensure that I can pay my way through without loans. However, as I start figuring out how much I'm going to get from the college based on academics, high school forensics experience, etc. there's a possibility I may be able to squeeze out enough from savings to order my dream ukulele and still be able to afford college.


I have a pretty firm idea of who I want to order the ukulele from, and I already know exactly what I want it to be, regardless of where I get it from. I've played a lot of instruments and gotten familiar with what I like, and you know, I just can't get over that base love of beautiful koa wood. The sound is just so distinctive, and I never fail to be impressed by the coloring and looks of the wood. So koa for sure. I would like to get a tenor. As much as I love my concert, I've enjoyed every tenor I've ever played, and I quite enjoy playing my eleuke. I'd love to have a great acoustic tenor at this point. And as far as a completely aesthetic issue... MAN I love slotted headstocks. I just can't get over them! If I'm going to be spending this much on an instrument, by golly it's going to have slots in the dang headstock! I also want to have a small personal touch, a symbol inlay on the fretboard to make this uniquely MY instrument. I'll leave that one a mystery until such a time as I actually place an order :p

So. For all of you who enjoy knowing this sort of thing, I'm looking specifically towards Mya-Moe. Hopefully by the time graduation rolls around, I'll be in a place where I know whether or not I can afford such a beautiful instrument, and if I can order it, I might have a wonderful instrument shipped to me whilst I'm at college :) I've asked about inlay work, and they informed me of how that process works with their inlay artist. It will be an added cost, but it will certainly be worth it to me. I'm not going to upgrade unless it is EXACTLY the kind of instrument that I want.


For those of you who pray or wish to send good thoughts my way, I'd love it if you could pray for me as I look ahead to the end of my senior year, finish up schoolwork, and get my finances in order for college. Obviously education comes first, but a great instrument to have during my time away from home would be a real blessing. Thank you guys so much! I hope you have a great holiday season.


-Phil
 
I remember this private school with an over-zealous recruiter... "But we'll give you these five scholarships!" Yes, but you're still 3x more expensive, AND the school isn't strong in my chosen major! Quit calling me! There was one that was strong though, and my parents were very much, "No way." It seemed soooo important at the time.

Not to throw a wrench into the works, but are there any other schools that would be appropriate, that aren't private and closed off from public funding? Remember when you fast foward ten years, it's not where you went, it's what you learned.

If that's where you want to go though, then I send positive thoughts your way and cheer you on to your goal. :) I don't think you could go wrong with a Mya Moe though.
 
Nice to see you around, Phil!

Hope your graduation goes okay and you're able to treat yourself :D
 
Phil...best wishes and good thoughts.. I didn't know MM did inlays... I'll have to keep that in mind as my build is coming in May... congrats on the HS graduation. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and have big plans..
 
Best wishes Phil - school is far more important than ukes at this point in your life and I applaud you for taking such a mature approach to getting the education you want without burdening yourself with debt.

As for the public vs. private school debate - I've seen first-hand a rather drastic dip in the quality of graduates from public universities over the last twenty years. In some fields, a degree from the right private school is much more valuable than that from most public universities. In other fields, not so much but still respected. A private school that does not accept government funding gets my respect, because so many schools, private and public, exist primarily to rake in government student loans and grants and then those of us in industry are left to try to find a few graduates actually worth hiring - and frankly that's getting darned hard.

John
 
I remember this private school with an over-zealous recruiter... "But we'll give you these five scholarships!" Yes, but you're still 3x more expensive, AND the school isn't strong in my chosen major! Quit calling me! There was one that was strong though, and my parents were very much, "No way." It seemed soooo important at the time.

Not to throw a wrench into the works, but are there any other schools that would be appropriate, that aren't private and closed off from public funding? Remember when you fast foward ten years, it's not where you went, it's what you learned.

If that's where you want to go though, then I send positive thoughts your way and cheer you on to your goal. :) I don't think you could go wrong with a Mya Moe though.

Well, I'm pretty set in my school choice. Their government degree is a really strong program, plus they're situated close to DC, so internships abound! It's looking very promising for me to be able to cover it though. With my test scores, I have 1/3 covered already as long as I keep my grades up. I can get up to another third with a mock trial scholarship, which I believe I'm likely to get. The rest I can get through smaller scholarships the college offers and other private scholarships. So yeah, it's promising!! Thank you for the advice and the good thoughts :)

Nice to see you around, Phil!

Hope your graduation goes okay and you're able to treat yourself

Thank you so much! I appreciate to well-wishes :)

Phil...best wishes and good thoughts.. I didn't know MM did inlays... I'll have to keep that in mind as my build is coming in May... congrats on the HS graduation. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and have big plans..

You'll have to email them to see what the timeline is for their inlays. They send the fretboard out to a third party inlay artist (his work is phenomenal), so any price deals are between you and him, and once the inlay is done, he sends it back to them. I'm not sure how long that takes, so email them quickly and talk about it! :D

Best wishes Phil - school is far more important than ukes at this point in your life and I applaud you for taking such a mature approach to getting the education you want without burdening yourself with debt.

As for the public vs. private school debate - I've seen first-hand a rather drastic dip in the quality of graduates from public universities over the last twenty years. In some fields, a degree from the right private school is much more valuable than that from most public universities. In other fields, not so much but still respected. A private school that does not accept government funding gets my respect, because so many schools, private and public, exist primarily to rake in government student loans and grants and then those of us in industry are left to try to find a few graduates actually worth hiring - and frankly that's getting darned hard.

John

Thank you so much, John. I appreciate it. I'm confident that I can get set up in a good career out of college if I want to, or perhaps continue on to law school if I feel led that way. The "no government funding" thing is a bit difficult, but to me, it shows that they do have principles. Thanks again. Will I get to meet you at UWC this year? ;D
 
Great to hear you're doing well and your future is bright, Phil. Congrats!

Best of luck keeping your focus as graduation approaches. (I certainly wasn't able to do that. Heh.)
 
Thanks again. Will I get to meet you at UWC this year? ;D

I'm sincerely hoping so but not certain, yet. We're testing a major project right now with tight timelines and a great deal of regulatory emphasis (sometimes the aerospace industry, even the training end of it, can be a bit painful). We're supposed to be full-on into distribution by UWC and if things go well then I'll be able to get away. If things are crumbling I probably won't. :(

I just turned down a cabin invite because of the uncertainty. Even if things are going fairly poorly I may be able to get away long enough to fly in on Friday and out on Sunday, but I'm still crossing my fingers that I'll be able to drive up and stay most of the week.

John
 
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