Musical instruments I do not play

 So, here's the thing:

Some years back - more than I care to calculate at this point - I bought the ukulele pictured above in a mad flight of island fancy during a trip to Maui. As time passed, I practiced irregularly, took a few lessons from time to time, and even recorded a video or two of my playing during one more active period, but really, the uke spent a lot of time idle. I am not sure if I don't have a musical soul at all, or if I just never had a long enough stretch of consistent practice to reach critical mass, or what, but I can't say with any honesty, even after all this time, that I play the ukulele.

Of course, since owning a ukulele worked out so well, I went ahead and got a mandolin, which you can also see above.

This decision was made in the service of charitable giving at an online gala supporting the Whatcom County Humane Society, and was encouraged by the enthusiasm of friends (if not spouse), spurred on by a little auction rivalry with one "Amanda", and perhaps abetted by some consumption of peanut butter whiskey. But paying entirely too much for an instrument that I cannot play was all for a good cause, so there we are. I hope the kitties and puppies are happy.

Oh, did I mention it's an electric mandolin? It came with this sweet amp and bunch of other stuff.

So, what have I learned about mandolins since making this commitment? Well, first, that they are tuned completely differently from a ukulele; that they have metal strings instead of nylon; that they are strummed or plucked with picks; and that the likelihood of my actually learning to play one is certainly no worse than my learning to play ukulele, but hardly any better.

In any case, I can't play either one right now, over even tune them, since my thumb is broken. At least that's a legit excuse, eh?