Last weekend, I competed in my second U.S. National Scottish fiddle championship. As expected, I didn't place. It was a much bigger field, 10 contestants, and former National and Junior National champions locked up all four places.

I got nervous again, but my technique had improved so much over the last two weeks that all in all, I think I put in a good show. I lost the tune in the A-part of Banks the second time through, but made up stuff and stayed on beat until I could recover. Despite the nerves and messing up a tune, I feel I did very well, and one of the judges, Janny Kirk (who had judged me last year), said that my performance this year was a huge leap over last year's. That's good to hear; it's hard to gauge incremental improvement from people who hear you frequently, but a discerning listener who hears you once a year is a good measure of how far one has come.

Almost as flattering, a gentleman with a thick Scottish accent tapped me on the shoulder after my set, and said that my strathspey and reel sounded "very Scottish, I loved your lilt". That's what I'm going for. I may not have the technique down 100%, and I may not be the most confident competitor, but I think I get the style.

The pipe contests were more successful. I took a 2nd in the 2/4 march and a 4th in piobaireachd, and was just a few small fingering and timing flubs, and some small blowing and tuning issues away from winning both contests. I know what to concentrate on for the rest of the season, but I'm feeling good so far.

This was also the weekend of the massive site update. I love the new logos.