Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com March 4, 2020 Saga of an inept ukulele student #5 HOLLYWOOD PETS Pamper your pet in our state-of-the-art fully mobile grooming parlor Mobile Grooming Professionally groomed by Robin Barbour Award winning groomer! 26 years experience! Best Rates in Town! 218-426-5317 NOW OPEN! TYSON RV PARK - 350 W. Main We have great lunch menus, serving at 12 noon sharp! Suggested donation is only $3.50. There's cards, books, games, puzzles, Wi-Fi available. Community Services, Volunteers Needed! Come join the fun at Quartzsite SENIOR Center 40 Moon Mountain Ave. For more information call 928-927-6496 Senior Center open all year! Monday - Friday, 9am – 3pm By Jackie Deal It's not funny! It looks so easy, but it's not. Now all you folks who play fi fty different stringed instruments just go away, don't bother reading this. Let me drown in my misery. But you, who don't play anything with strings (not even cat's cradle) or think you might want to play something with itty, bitty wires. Listen up! It ain't easy. There must be a gene for playing stringed instruments. It's a recessive gene I'm sure and I'm not recessed enough to have it. Okay, okay, I can hear you-all, "Shut up the complain- ing, stop griping, enough with the whining (I told you before, I don't whine!) and PRACTISE! So okay, I turned off the computer, plucked Ubie (that's my ukulele-banjo) out of her basket and practiced. OOOps! It seems if you're go- ing to play the ukulele you have to SING!! Oh, horrors. I can't sing, I don't sing. Here I am in Quartzsite surrounded by thousands of beauti- ful singing voices. And I can't sing. I sound like a frog who had a laryn- gectomy (vocal cords removed) and has a cold to boot. You say you've seen me singing "God Bless Ameri- ca?" Well, I fake it! Yes, I mouth it. Nobody knows but me (and now ten million readers!) Conclusion after practice: there may be some progress. I faked sing- ing a couple of simple two chord songs (stop laughing all you real musicians) and Ubie did her part much better than she used to. She has improved. But I don't know if I have. Something strange though: I found myself rocking back and forth and almost-almost enjoying it! I watch some of the musicians with that beatifi c expression on their fac- es (like they're just seen an angel) and I wonder, HOW? How can you beam like that while your fi ngers are undergoing torture? And your ears are turning inside out. I read just recently that "mindless repetition" doesn't make for prog- ress. You've got to "reward yourself for progress." Okay, let's see: what's a good reward for me? CHOCO- LATE!! I remember once I had diet- ed for months, got down to my goal weight, and went to a dance with my husband in a brand new, fancy dress. And I won the door prize!! Five (5) pounds of chocolates! Bye, bye diet. Hello! Pounds! Really, I think Ubie deserves the reward so I try to pat her (not on her bottom, you pervert) after a session and tell her she's a good girl. If you don't believe in anthropomorphism (ascribing human traits to non-hu- man entities) than you may not ap- preciate my caring and concern for Ubie. It doesn't seem to make Ubie perform any better either. Anybody want to join me on a chocolate binge? Quartzsite, AZ - Leaders of lo- cal Nonprofi ts are forming a new networking group to discuss all aspects of running nonprofi ts corporations. The fi rst meeting will take place 3pm Thursday, March 12th at AWC (Arizona Western College) Quartzsite Learn- ing Center. Topics discussed would include Arizona & IRS taxes, legal requirements, advocacy/educa- tional organizations, marketing, accounting, grant funding, insur- ance options, donor retention, fundraising, managing volunteers, and more. This group is open to anyone who wants to learn more about effec- tive nonprofi t leadership. Working together brings out the best solu- tions and strengthens the fabric of our community. Please join us 3pm Thursday, March 12 at the AZ Western College located at 695 Kofa Ave, Quartzsite. For more information or to reserve your space, please contact Lois Dupre at ldupre1@aol.com. Or call 928-927-5479. Nonprofit leadership meeting planned March 12 To the Whittaker Family: Please accept our deepest and most heartfelt condolences at this most challenging time. Hubert will be missed. Desert Gardens Rock, Gem and Mineral Show Vendors, Friends and Staff Quartzsite Events Online: www.QuartzsiteCalendar.com

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