For a drink and a few laughs. Then they leave together, all smiley and stuff. Later (not much later<\/em>\u2026) the nice lady returns by herself, makes a new friend and starts over.<\/p>\n I thought I was so worldly at the time. After all I had worked in an emergency room for three years. On the graveyard shift. Where life lessons proliferate with stunning regularity. But I am not prepared for this. Nor are they prepared for me. Miss Goody Two-Shoes. After a couple weeks the manager pulls me aside.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re fired.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWa-Why?\u201d I stutter.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n I should be relieved, but I\u2019m not. I remember making that lonely trip back to Los Angeles in my red VW Bug, mortified and convinced I will never work again. \u201cLook, I can\u2019t even keep a job in a\u2026well\u2026fancy meeting place<\/em>\u2026in Riverside,\u201d I mutter to the big gray void.<\/p>\n When I get home that night, I throw my bags on the floor, collapse on the bed and turn on the television for the Eleven O\u2019clock News. They begin with breaking news, of course, about a big prostitution bust in Riverside. Live. OMG!<\/p>\n I watch the police lead a couple ladies (who look\u00a0oh so<\/em>\u00a0familiar) out the front door of the piano bar. They are wearing handcuffs and bustiers. Mercifully the management has removed my name from the marquee, which is featured in the report. It HAD said \u201cCali Rose \u2013 Cheap Rooms.\u201d But tonight it just says Cheap Rooms, which does seem appropriate\u2026<\/p>\n Now you see why I get a little shiver when someone offers me a road gig. But in this grand adventure of life, I still say \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n All this good ukulele stuff is happening at the splendid and sprawling Hilton Palm Springs, nestled in the heart of downtown, where all the action is. Multiple options are available from full festival passes to Saturday-only passes to Nifty VIP Packages. This is going to sell out. And quickly.\u00a0Here is the link for group rates at The Hilton.<\/a>\u00a0Or find other digs nearby.<\/p>\n The festival \u201cdaddy,\u201d\u00a0Doug Reynolds<\/a>, is offering newbies the coolest deal in town. It includes a starter ukulele, tuner and a workshop with someone who loves beginners. That would be me!<\/p>\n I’ll teach two more classes: \u201cLet\u2019s Arrange A Song\u201d and \u201cKeys to Happiness, C-D-F-G-A, Marvelous Modulation\u201d (or how to find the right key for you to sing and play a song\u2026) Craig, my chord-melody loving guy, teaches fingerpicking and basic chord melody techniques.<\/p>\n If you have never attended a ukulele festival, it’s inspiring and sometimes a little intense. But you can do as much or as little as you want. A plethora of vendors offer eye-popping assortments of ukes and accessories. Folks gather in circles, spontaneous and otherwise, to make music together. The air is sparkling with good ukulele vibes. You really get a sense of connection, of ohana, because the sweetest people in the world play this wonderful instrument.<\/p>\n And I will leave the piano home\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A road warrior I am not! Once upon a time I had fantasies that I was, or could be, but they are annihilated when I actually do my first road gig. My agent tells the folks at the \u201cXYZ Motel\u201d in Riverside, California, which is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, that I am a really good piano player and singer and \u201cjust perfect for your room.\u201d The truth is I have never met the XYZ people, they\u2019ve never … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[91,92,93,94,95],"class_list":["post-1153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-arranging-a-song-on-ukulele","tag-finding-the-right-key-to-sing-and-play-a-song-on-ukulele","tag-palm-springs","tag-palm-strings-ukulele-festival-2015","tag-ukulele-for-beginners"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}],"post_tag":[{"value":91,"label":"Arranging a song on Ukulele"},{"value":92,"label":"finding the right key to sing and play a song on ukulele"},{"value":93,"label":"Palm Springs"},{"value":94,"label":"Palm Strings Ukulele Festival 2015"},{"value":95,"label":"Ukulele for Beginners"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":2,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":138,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":138,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":91,"name":"Arranging a song on Ukulele","slug":"arranging-a-song-on-ukulele","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":91,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":92,"name":"finding the right key to sing and play a song on ukulele","slug":"finding-the-right-key-to-sing-and-play-a-song-on-ukulele","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":92,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":93,"name":"Palm Springs","slug":"palm-springs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":93,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":94,"name":"Palm Strings Ukulele Festival 2015","slug":"palm-strings-ukulele-festival-2015","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":94,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":95,"name":"Ukulele for Beginners","slug":"ukulele-for-beginners","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":95,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/psuf.png\" "\\"psuf\\"")
<\/a>And a great big YES!<\/strong>\u00a0to Palm Springs! Friday, February 6 through Sunday, February 8, 2015, when it is warm and beautiful in the California desert, ukuleles are taking over the town at the very first\u00a0PALM STRINGS UKULELE FESTIVAL<\/a>. My handsome talented husband, Craig Brandau,<\/a> is also joining the party. We will teach separate workshops and appear together in the Saturday Night Ukulele All-Stars Concert. For more information,\u00a0CLICK HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>