If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I LOVE the ukulele. I’m a barely adequate musician, but it’s not just about the music, it’s that the uke is really fun. Crazy fun. And I love the people I’ve met while playing my uke. I love talking about the uke, I love watching silly videos on YouTube that feature the uke, I love the ukulele.

I think you should get a ukulele. Really. Yeah, you can be all, meh, I don’t really need a uke, but it’s not about need. It’s about a funny little instrument that’s happy. “The ukulele is the sound of not working,” an internet pal said to me, and hey, the sound of not working? That’s a good sound. It’s the sound of Hawaii and of not taking anything too seriously and yeah, I’ve been sitting around playing Stairway to Heaven on my uke, not with any kind of skill, but I don’t really care about that. What I’m saying is that the uke is super fun and you should get one.

I have a uke for you. Just one, but it’s a nice one. It’s from KoAloha in Honolulu. It was generously donated to support Passports with Purpose by Al Okami — the Okami family runs KoAloha and builds beautiful koa ukes — I’ve seen their facility and the care with which they build their instruments. I turned the factory seconds over and over in my hands looking for flaws and couldn’t find them — they were tiny scratches in the finish, flaws in the wood, but they were still beautiful instruments. I don’t own a KoAloha, but I can vouch for the care with which they’re built. And I can vouch for the kindness of the folks at KoAloha, after all, they’ve given me a uke to give to you (you, meaning one lucky you, not you, everyone who’s reading this)  once you’ve given a mere 10USD to our Passports with Purpose cause. It’s a koa soprano and comes with a hard case (retail value 590USD) — you need that for taking your uke with you when you travel.

All the stuff you need to know about how to get this uke is one the Passports with Purpose site and every nickel you donate goes to AAfC — it’s a 501(3)c so your donation is tax deductible. And hey, if you’re in Seattle, the fates determine that you end up with this uke, and you have no idea how to play it, I will teach you the basics. Yup, your uke will come with a lesson or two from me, a person who kinda knows how to play and who you will probably surpass in no time, but I want to see you get a happy start with lots of aloha (plus, I want to coo over your new uke just a little). If you’re not in Seattle, you can probably find a uke club near you that would be happy to see you, plus, those folks at KoAloha are so big hearted, they don’t care if your local uke club is in Argentina or New Zealand or Seattle. That means, you guessed it, that no matter where you are the world, you could be there with a brand new uke. I’m tellinya, it’s going to make you happier. I promise.

Now, go make a donation. Good luck.

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