26 February 2009

The First Nice Day in a While...

... and guess who didn't get to walk home?

Me, you say?

Lucky guess.

Yep, it was sunny and well above freezing (last I saw it was something like 52), the snow was melting and ice was slushing up. And yet mi madre wouldn't allow me to walk home. But she had a point: I have a big piano competition coming up in nine days, my bag's an absolute brick (and therefore throwing the center of gravity), the entire walk home's downhill/potentially icy. The last thing I needed to do is tempt Fate, she said.

I understand that completely, but can you blame me for my insistence? It's been bitterly cold, it's coming onto March, I love my walks home (all downhill, as I mentioned, and it's very good "think time"), and I'm just tired of snow. There was a warm spell a few weeks ago, and it was absolutely gorgeous; I was convinced, as were many others, that spring just might be here.

And then?

BAM!

Congratulations! More cold and snow!

I just want to be able to do what I can to enjoy the "warmth" while I can. I mean, who knows how long (or how short, as the case may be) this warmth will stay? (About a week, maybe less... I saw weather reports this morning.)

But, I did get to go around the block once I got home. And, boy, it was gorgeous. The sun was warm, there were birds singing, I didn't have to worry about wiping out on the sidewalks. Then, once I got home again, my brother said my mother had called again, and wanted him to go on a walk with me. So in all, I pretty much got my walk home time in. I just happened to pass all the same landmarks twice.

Perhaps spring'll come for good before the Ides of March.
-wistful sigh- And maybe I'll finish Les Mis before the school year's out
(in other words: at this rate, based on past experiences, "not very likely" is right on top of, and nearly indistinguishable from, "yeah, as if that'll happen.")

23 February 2009

Musings of a Pianistic Sort

I say I'm the Irish pianist, and yet I've only mentioned my piano once or twice. For shame, me, for shame! I think I should devote a whole entry to my instrument of choice, don't you agree?
Well, even if you didn't I'd still go ahead and do so.
Now then, I think it's only fair to talk a bit about my personal instrument. My piano, but I think of him (yes, it's a he) as a really, really good friend. I mean, how could he not? I spend upward to two hours daily, you kind of have to be able to put up with someone. A beautiful matte finish, a gorgeous tone, a marvelous touch (when it's not stiff in the summer), and the original ivory-topped keys. There's some thing about the feel of ivory that just can't be matched by plastic, that velvety touch cannot be manufacured. There's a great deal that can't be made by machine, especially in an 1889 Steinway.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention... -swallows, slightly embarassed- it's kind of a Steinway concert grand piano. We had to "give up" our dining room to be able to fit this nine-foot piano (that belongs in a concet hall, mind you) into our tiny house. It was practically a gift from friends of ours who were downsizing and only had it as a piece of furniture. They were thrilled that I'd be playing it as much as I have, and do. I've recently decided to name him Oliver. Oliver Cross, in honor of the friends who gave him to us. I've also decided to call him Ollie for short.
With the help of our insanely awesome piano tuner, we've been trying to piece together the story of Oliver, an I think I may want to write about it someday. We haven't gotten too far, but it's coming, and we've also found a few signatures here and there on the actual piano.
He's really helped me develop, Ollie has. I've prepared for a couple local competitions, one international, performed a few times, and began my college audition pieces on that piano. There have been a few conversations at that piano, a couple rough moments over the ivories, but Ollie's never faltered. Aside from the occasional out of tine key or sticky bit of the action, or even those two snapped bass-Fs,but it's not his fault. He's 120 years old, what do you expect?
I've told quite people I've yet to be in a relationship, and I say I'm perfectly content in that circumstance, but now that I think on t, that's not true. I guess theres quite the "thing" between Oliver and I, but there has to be that kind of relationship between a performer and her instrument for there to be any success.

22 February 2009

Inexplicable

This piece simply must speak for itself. No words can be said about it, really.
Seriously. Just click the link and decide for yourself, let me know what your response is.

20 February 2009

And Now, For Something Completely Different (Shameless Plug)

Hey all you people!

I hope nobody minds a shameless self-plug... and even if you do, I'm going to plug anyway, and there's not much you can do about that.

Right! Well! I've been posting my writings now and again on Protagonize, and I have posted a challenge.

My first really successful challenge on Protag was the Diabolically Villainous Challenge. It always blows my mind how evil some people can think, really. Both on Protag and on Ficlets, I believe this was my most successful challenge.

But now, it's time for "something completely different."

Yes indeed, it's a Monty Python Challenge! Simply put, entrants must write a short piece/sketch that could very well be a Python sketch, complete with nonsense, silliness, absurdity, and/or British awesomeness. Or any combination thereof.

The last time I did this challenge was on ficlets, and I was told it was a good idea, but nobody could think of anything. I ended up having to award a winner by default (the entry can be found here, while my admission to winner-by-default can be found here). Regardless of past results, I'm trying the challenge once again on new turf.

So far, nothing. But, as I've notified some people who've expressed interest before, that'll probably change.

I hope.

Photographic Pick-Me-Up

As I'm trudging through a day of piano, homework, and uncertain weather in the direction of my piano lesson, I checked into Instant Messenger. My friend left me a link to a picture she found. I'd seen it before, but seeing it again made my day.

Then I got thinking: there's another picture that usually makes my day.
The Irish Pianist
It's oddity, literature (in the form of This is Your Brain on Music), music (yes, that is actually my piano), and all that red hair of mine. All rolled into one fairly awesome photograph.
Can it get much better than that?
Probably, but at the moment this will just have to do.

19 February 2009

43 Things About Me

Inspired by a recent post from Ana Cristina, which I changed just a teensy bit... thanks Ana for letting me borrow this!
1. Do you like blue cheese?
eh.. not really.

2. Do you own a gun?
Nope.

3. What flavor do you add to your drink at Starbucks?
I haven't had a flavor added, but I do like chocolate.

4. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
It depends. Sometimes I'm not, but other times I get all "nyaaah" inside.

5. What do you think of hot dogs?
Unless it's those little ones in the cresent rolls, fugedaboudit!

6. Favorite Christmas movie?
A Charlie Brown Christmas

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Milk or OJ

8. Can you do push ups?
HAHA! HA! HA! No.

9. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
One of my favorites is a multistrand pearl necklace I received for Confirmation from my oh-so-wonderful neighbors.

10. Favorite hobby?
Writing-Reading-Piano

11. Do you have A.D.D?
Hm... do I have A.D.... OOH! Shiny object!

12. What's one trait you hate about yourself?
If I think about something (i.e. the amount of work I have to do in a certain amount of time) too much I freak out.

13. Middle name?
Catherine

14. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:
Man, I love this song [playing on my iPod, it's "La Paga" by Juanes)
Maybe I should wash my hair soon...
Gah, my forehead itches, so does my back...

15. Name 3 things you bought yesterday/today?
Book
Mex. Hot chocolate (mmmm...)
Muffin

16. Name 3 things you drink daily...
Milk
Water
Milk

17. Current worry?
Will I be ready for my college audition next year?

18. Current Dislike?
"Reality" TV

19. How did you bring in the New Year?
Watched Best of Will Ferrel and Monty Python and the Holy Grail with 2 of my friends.

20. Where would you like to go?
Spain and/or Ireland again.

21. Name three people who will complete this?
Maybe I'll prod OrangeOreos to do this... and, whoever else wants to do it, I guess.

22. Do you own slippers?
Probably. They're buried in the black hole/bomb site known as My Closet

23. What shirt are you wearing?
An LLBean deep-periwinkle 3/4-sleeve

24. Favorite color?
Cerelean blue

25. Could you be a pirate?
Arr, I could learn the talk, but I don't think I could last on the actual ship.

26. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Whatever the Mental iPod decides to fire.

27. Favorite food?
Blueberries and Chicken bites (not at the same time, mind you)

28. What's in your pocket right now?
Left: Signo pen, Mirado Black Warrior pencil, flash-drive, old borrowed cell-phone
Right: hair tie (I was looking for that!), lip balm, 3Muskateers wrapper, local library card, tissue, $20.60 (no, I'm not lending you any money).
And yes, I absolutely love my pockets. They're there, why not use them???

29. Last thing that made you laugh?
Something my friend Z said.

30. Favorite sheets?
Blank notebook sheets.

31. Worst injury you have ever had?
Falling off a chair when 2yrs of age. I can still feel the scar on the back of my scalp.

32. Do you love where you live?
What's not to love about a small, cozy house?

33. How many TVs do you have in your house?
Two.

34. Who is your loudest friend?
Michelle, probably.

35. How many dogs do you have?
Zero.

36. Does someone have a crush on you?
Not to my knowledge.

37. What is your favorite book(s) ?
If I must pick, it's a tie between Les Mis & Great Expectations.

38. What is your favorite candy?
Chocolate, or Skittles

38. Favorite Sports Team?
Can a tennis player count? It'd be Rafa.

39. What songs do you want sung at your funeral?
Serious: "Amazing Grace," traditional hymn
Ironic: "How Lucky You Are," Seussical the Musical

40. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping.

42. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke this morning?
Huh. Meh. zzzzz.

43. Favorite place to be?
Somewhere with easy access to the outdoors, books, a piano, and plenty of writing utensils. And with a ton of windows. There simply must be windows.

17 February 2009

Roshambo, Embellished

I imagine the imaginary audience is familiar with the game Roshambo... known to us little people as Rock-Paper-Scissors. It's fairly simple to understand:
Rock crushes scissors,
Scissors cut paper,
Paper covers rock.
Yeah, that last one never made sense to me, either.
However, since I've discovered The Big Bang Theory, I've found a variation of Roshambo: Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock. It's the same idea, with two additions.




Didn't quite catch that?

The Rock-Paper-Scissors part is the same. Here's where it's different:

Spock crushes Scissors, and vaporizes Rock.
Paper disproves Spock, and Lizard poisons Spock.
Lizard eats Paper.
Rock crushes Lizard, and Scissors decapitate Lizard.


Y'get it?
And, according to the Rock-Paper-Scissor page on Wikipedia (I know, reliable source, right?), there's an "Ultimate Rock-Paper-Scissors Chart."
I swear, I can remember a multitude of pages of music, but for the life of me I have no clue who would go to the trouble of remembering all of those symbols. I'd prefer to remember the combinations of RPSLS, truth be told.

Curiosity Augmented to Point of Impressive Discovery

It's kind of odd, going out of one's comfort range. But sometimes it can be rather rewarding.

Last night, whilst I was out and about, I decided to go see the movie Coraline with a relative. Now, I'm not usually a fan of "weird" movies, but I was curious. I'd heard from several people that this was a good movie, but most prominently from my good friend OrangeOreos. Besides his blog post on Coraline, we'd discussed it a few times. He suggested I look into it.

I must admit, I was extremely impressed. More than a couple parts were "odd," border-lining "creepy," but I think that was the charm of it. But if there were only two things that were good about it (there were more, but for the sake of conversation), it would be the visuals and the music. Music always adds an emotional layer to any performance of any kind, and this movie's soundtrack really enhanced the action. And the visuals, in 3-D I might add, were absolutely astounding. There was charm in the twitchiness of the stop-motion, and the level and amount of 3D used was absolutely perfect. It wasn't overdone, but it wasn't underdone either; just enough and subtle enough to go for a lifelike quality.

Perhaps I should yield to my boundless curiosity more often.

That, and maybe I should go to the library today to check out original book...

13 February 2009

Public Radio+YouTube=Visual Radio!

Ah, the wonder that is NPR.
I know, most people groan at the acronym, mostly associated with repeated news stories, culture segments, and absolute boredom. But in the mind of a geek or nerd such as myself, it's one of the greatest things to happen to the media. One of my personal favorite shows? Garrison Keillor's weekly variety show A Prairie Home Companion, with its musical acts, the highlight that is The News from Lake Wobegon, and the radio drama. You don't hear that much anymore.
Likewise, I say this: ah, the wonder that is YouTube.
If I were to mention this among the same group of people who shuddered at public radio, I'd probably get a totally different response. This is perhaps a staple of pop culture, a sponge of free time, as millions watch clips or vintage TV shows, or stop-motion Lego adventures, or even sneezing pandas.
Some may think, "Man, I wish I could see a radio show." I know that sounds stupid, but I don't blame those who have that thought. I myself have seen Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and A Prairie Home Companion live, and it is quite fascinating, watching the people you couldn't pick out of a crowd by face alone, but upon hearing his or her voice there would be immediate recognition do their radio thing.
Now, you may be wondering: how could NPR and YouTube be intertwined? Is this even possible?
Oh, it is, my friend, it is!
Relatively recently, Prairie has been posting videos of some of their skits and/or acts on YouTube. Now you can actually see a radio show, without leaving the soft glow of your computer screen!



This here's the Guy Noir segment from the 1/30/09 show.

Or, if you're looking for something much shorter:


But don't be afraid to poke around the actual website!
http://www.prairiehome.org/
If you're a sworn "enemy" of public radio, but you're dying of curiosity, I won't tell anyone you visited the site.

A little-known fact: NPR actually interviewed Cookie Monster. I kid you not.
Need proof?



I'll leave you with that, my friends.
Isn't it fun to watch radio?

12 February 2009

Half-Asleep Greetings from the (Very, Very Sleepy) Music-and-History Monk

Alright, due to a hugely immense, insanely ginormous history project, I've pretty much had time for eating, sleeping, homework, two hours of practice (if I'm lucky), and The Project. So I've been living like a monk, essentially.

The Brother of the Piano and the Brother of History have been keeping me on a stringent schedule: waking up around 5 or 5:30 am, working until school, then practicing (if I can manage it, this week's been absolutely brutal to be honest) or working on other homework. And then I must toil away at the mountain of a history project, armed only with my strength, wit, and what feels like an applique needle.

Which isn't all that big, folks.

According to my initial calculations, most of the rock that made up the mountain were comprised of quartz.

Quartz is a pretty tough rock, my friends.

It ain't easy to pick away at that with a sewing needle.

But, now I am finally on the home stretch. I hand in the project tomorrow, once I finish it, of course, and it will finally be out of my hair!

-cue Hallelujah Chorus-

But for now, I must depart, for the monastery bedtime-bell is tolling, and the Book of Foner is gnawing at my ankle. I shall hold my tongue from crying out to the book: "Give Me Liberty!"

-pulls up hood, picks up Book of Foner-


"pie Jesu Domine..."

-THUNK-
"...dona eis requiem..."

-THUNK-

09 February 2009

Early Morning, Last-Minute Research

Top o' the mornin'!
Another reason people probably think I'm out of my mind: Unfortunately, I forgot to do some of an assignment last night (-gasp in horror!-)... so what do I do to correct the problem?
Hit the sack early to wake up at five a.m.
No, I'm not joking you. I'm a morning person, what more can I say? I salvaged some sleep, and (hopefully) saved part of a project. I plan on knocking out the rest of it as quickly as I can... here's hoping that goes well!
But, what research I kinda didn't do last night in history I made up for in research of the pop-culture variety: I TiVoed and watched a couple episodes of "The Big Bang Theory."
That's right. I actually recorded and viewed a tv show not on PBS or Discovery Channel.
-more gasps!-
I'd heard about the show from two friends and my physics teacher, and figured it was worth a shot. I swear, it was absolutely great.
A short demonstration can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J43lAESftPs


Intelligence and humor... along with a pretty sweet theme song by the Barenaked Ladies. How could it not be awesome?