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Fate's Piano Adventures - Unexpected Discoveries in American Music History
I don’t often venture into ‘race’ here, but I thought I’d take a few moments to write about my current piano adventures, and the topic seems even more appropriate given that it’s currently Black History Month.
Getting back into piano, I’ve found a strong desire to learn more than simply old-school “classical” music (Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart…) Last weekend, my wife and I visited a rather large estate sale, and I happened to stumble upon a collection of sheet music. Thinking some of the pieces looked interesting, I grabbed the stack and took it home. Out of the entire stack, one piece in particular drew me in. Yellowed paper, much older than I, marked on the top as “The St. Louis Blues.”
NFL shows no talent in finding talent
I like watching the ads and the game. Unlike most people, I’m also interested in the half-time show and the national anthem. Mostly, I’m curious how the singer will present the national anthem, and what tweaks they’ll do to it. I also like live music, so I’ll pay attention to the half-time show.
I’m not a tweed wearing patchouli splashed hipster who discusses obscure indie-bands in some sorta effort to win a pissing content on being anti-establishment. Nor am I some conservatory trained brat that discusses at length how Lang Lang is an overrated pianist and that any real musician would understand the proper interpretation of some obscure classical piece (and then gripe it wasn’t actually classical). I have no aspirations of being a professional musician. I simply enjoy music - I don’t really care what form or if it’s popular or not. I like major commercial labels, indy, and stuff played at smokey bars in scary areas of town.
Fate's Piano Adventures
Fin recently decided to dive into aquariums and has been some awesome things with our tanks. We now have four active running aquariums, with varying degrees of decor. For a while, we’d both been just coming home and watching TV. But, seeing her interest in taking up a hobby, I’ve decided to get reinvolved in another long running hobby of mine: the piano.
I’ve “played at” the piano for roughly 20 years now, and after 2 decades of playing, you’d think I would have achieved some mystical level of awesomeness. While the knowledge of piano has been floating around my brain for 20 years, I’ve only actively played for roughly 9 or 10 years. And of those, I received formal training for roughly 2 or 3 years. Playing actively for multiple years, then taking a multi-year hiatus results in going back in time abit and having to relearn.
Fate's 2011 Resolutions
Yesterday, I told Fin I wrote a couple blog posts. Her immediate response? “So, did you post your Resolutions recap and are planning on posting resolutions for next year?” Me: “….” Well, why not? It’s tradition… So, new years resolutions, again:
1. Better manage eating out and bringing lunch to work
Fin and I have a basic “frozen leftovers” system where we freeze main courses for me to grab with my lunches. Still, I find I’ve slipped on my lunch grabbing for the office. This year, my goal is to get back to eating out only 1x a week, and making that a more planned event.
Fate Gets A New Job
I don’t talk much about work here for a couple major reasons. First, I’m not a big fan of writing ‘blog-as-therapy’ entries. Second, my old employer forbade work-related blogging. Big companies generally try to keep their outward facing image consistent. Individuals muck that up.
Now, I’m sure all 3 of our readers will likely have noticed something of a sharp decline in the amount of entries here. I like writing, and when I started this blog, I had high hopes the experiments Fin and I were doing in our daily lives (trash reduction, used vs. new, composting, soap) would make interesting reading. We continued the experiments but I never really wrote about them. And really, the experiments continued more from Fin’s stick-to-it-ness than my efforts. For the past year or so, I’ve been fighting depression.
Fate's 2010 Resolutions Recap
Recap of last years resolutions:
1. Reduce / Eliminate trash at the office
Success. I started bringing in dish towels instead of using paper towels. At the my new job, I’m throwing practically nothing away on a daily basis. :)
2. Go camping / outdoors more often
Mixed. Fin and I spent more time outdoors, but spent less time camping. We did a LOT more outside though, with the garden.
Dear Target,
Why is it that everyone must purchase the same mass produced crap for the holidays? I’ve seen the premade costumes, and it doesn’t take much for homemade creations to trounce them. As a society, we should be encouraging creativity instead of bashing it.
After seeing this commercial:
I question if I’ll be doing any Holiday shopping at your stores.
In short: shame on you.
Anti-Environmentalism - Grocery Bags
Fin and I are fairly big about taking reusable trash bags to the grocery store whenever we shop. Green grocery bags are interesting to me for a few reasons. As far as “going green” goes, switching to reusable grocery bags is one of the easiest moves to make. More amazing to me is how telling people’s reactions about trash and the checkout line can be.
Funny enough, grocery bags put me over the edge from thinking about the “anachronism” concept here, to actually living it. A few years ago, I lived in a small apartment within walking distance to a super market. When I say walking distance, I mean visitors to the complex sometimes used back spots of the market for parking. As uber-bachelor, I kept my kitchen with the required necessities: ketchup, mustard, alcohol, pickles, and random baking stuff years old carted from each move and woefully out of date. Moving next to a store let me stop by, pick-up dinner for the night, and simplify my epic fail meal planning.
Please be a video from April 1st
365 Days Of Trash: Potato or Tomato?
I lack words.