i am so in love

This bass reminds me of Dalhousie University.

When I applied to go to library school, I applied to U of T and to Dal. At the time, I was living a 10 minute walk away from UofT, had been for three years. I loved the area, I loved my friends there, I loved my one-room apartment with my crazy neighbours in my crazy neighbourhood. I only applied to Dal because 1) I am not the sort of person who puts all her eggs in one basket and 2) Sloan.

One day at the Office Job That Sent Me to Library School, I got a phone call. From a nice woman named Judy Dunn at the School of Library and Information Studies at Dalhousie University. She complimented me on my transcripts, offered me a whopping scholarship and was generally lovely.

This was an instance of good timing. To call me at a job that I hated and offer me a way out? With lots of money to do so?

It was a lightning moment. All of my excitement about leaving the job and embarking on a new and exciting phase of my life all got rearranged with Dalhousie and Halifax at the centre.

When I got a form letter from U of T three weeks later offering me an eigth of the scholarship money, I considered it seriously for about 3 seconds. My heart was already in the 'Fax.

As soon as Jennifer asked me to play bass with her and Misse I was on google, trying to figure out what kind of bass I wanted, who had a sound I liked, what I should be looking for in terms of shape and strings and pickups and amps, etc. My big hopes were for a used Fender Precision.

Then Andrea emailed me. Would I want to borrow her bass that had been collecting dust for 5 years?

Why yes, yes I would.

Jennifer took me to pick it up yesterday. When I came out of Andrea's house, holding the bass victoriously aloft, through the car window I could see J. let out a squeal of delight, the one I had been trying to control in front of Andrea's roommates.

When I opened the car door, she said "I thought it was going to be just some crappy bass! I didn't know it was going to be a Danelectro! I didn't know it was going to be so YOU!"

I wanted to cradle it like a baby. Instead, I sat with it nestled between my splayed legs. A different kind of love.

We ran around getting all sorts of gear, and the boys at Songbird were kind and I was being stupid for being shy. My ex-roommate Paul steered me in the right direction for a book, and Scott helped me not dither by saying "You want this amp." He sent us on our way with directions: "Rock on, ladies."

Sir, we shall.

Last night I restrung the bass and sort of tuned it (the one thing I forgot at SB). As soon as I strapped it on, I knew that this was the bass I was meant to have. Even holding it makes my hands vibrate pleasantly.

The next phase of my musical life is now centred around Andrea's beautiful Danelectro Longhorn re-issue, with its light light body, short-scaled sweet action and lipstick pickups.