Things I have learned today about the (or my) violin:

• The tuning is very sensitive, far moreso than a ukulele or guitar. This is not unexpected, but it’s not the most high quality of violins, and it does tend to detune itself with regularity.
• I’ve always held the bow slightly wrong.
• My E string was fucked, and has now snapped during said tuning. Years of barely any use have left the E string a brittle, corroded shred of wire, and that has taken its toll.

Luckily I have a spare, and by a spare, I mean a much higher quality instrument. It’s electric though, which means setting up the practise amp. And, er, finding it in the first place. I might have some spare strings with it. I know I bought some a while back but whether I kept them safe is another matter. Later I shall go and look.

Pretty Famous In Michigan is dead. The blog served me well, to an extent, by which I mean barely at all. This was, of course, my fault for rarely updating it but right now I feel that’s besides the point. It was time for a change; something more sedate, more professional, a nice portfolio piece that summarised who I am and what I’m about. Pretty Famous In Michigan started life as part of the ‘One A Day’ network, originally set up by Andy Kelly in which a bunch of bloggers would post one entry a day, every day for 365 days. As you can see from PFIM, I lasted about a week before I started breaking the rules (accidentally, I might add, I was never aware of these rules) and eventually stopped altogether. Sure, I updated sporadically after that, but it was mostly nonsense and a fresh start was needed. So here we are.