Doctor Horrible

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Full of awesome

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Stairway

I just wanted to try posting from a new browser - Flock.

Blogged with Flock

Wonder Wanderer

When you are young, you are bombarded with new experiences.  Do you remember your first play?  Your first symphony?  The first time you went to an art museum?

 

When you are young and haven't been tainted by the world, experiences can be full of wonder and undiluted enjoyment.  You can be whicked away and caught up in the sensations of the moment.

 

And that is a good thing.

 

I am a musician, I think that is one of my defining attributes.  I pursued the study of music aggressively.  Classes in composition, history, conducting, theory filled my days for many years.

 

And as a result, my musical world changed.  The sense of enjoyment was still there but now there was knowledge behind my experience.  A little voice started telling me "Oooh, that's a hard part.  That took skill.  See how the phrases balance.  Wow, the tone that soloist is producing is incredible!".  The voice is almost impossible to turn off.  Did I enjoy the music any less?  I would say no.  But my appreciation of the music deepened.

 

I have dabbled in acting.  Even at the superficial level that I attained, my experience of the dramatic world changed.  I gained more of an appreciation for the art.

 

I've taken to sculpture lately.  Can you guess what happened?

 

A good artist can make you forget the process.  A good one can whisk you away and let you experience the wonder again.

 

It is easy to miss that initial sense of wonder that you get when you experience something for the first time.  Maybe that is why we need to seek out new things and new experiences.  Maybe that is why we need to seek out better and better artists.

 

Maybe that is why we should do everything we can to support the arts.

Lift that Barge! Tote that Bale! (from the knees!)

I'm finding that I am a ball of tension this holiday season.  My back has been tweaking the last few weeks and it is really getting annoying.  Each morning, I wake up at 4AM with pain near the center of my spine.  It feels like if I could just crack my back then everything would be fine.  Sigh.

 

So, why all the tension?  I blame the season...Hah! Bumhug!

 

Actually, I like the season just fine.  I am just stressing about what to get people, the amount of times I am flying home and the disturbing conversion of my signature holiday dishes turning directly into fat.

 

Then there is the self-imposed stress.  I have a dozen little projects that I have imposed on myself and it looks like I'll miss my deadline.  You'd think that if I was the one holding myself up to the deadline, then I would be able to shift the deadline to a more reasonable time.

 

Apparently, I am a stubborn wench of a taskmaster.

What I did on my Summer Vacation - An Essay

It's a stereotype (legend?) that when youngsters go back to school after Summer vacation, the teacher always assigns the essay entitled "What I did on my Summer Vacation". I think the teacher was actually being sneaky.

First, it's a great initial lesson plan, a gimme. When you start your lesson plans for the year, it is probably a great way to bust writers block. Also, I think these plans are passed on year to year so it becomes ingrained in tradition.

Second, all the kids (who did something more than just watch TV for the Summer) want to tell their friends about what they did. When you get back to school, you may see some friends that you haven't seen for awhile. There is a lot of chatter in class until all the greetings and storytelling is done. This essay circumvents much of that discussion.

I've essentially been gone a year so I probably owe more than an short essay, right?

Nah, here's a list. Essays to follow.

Took some classes on something completely new.
Took some classes on something that I've been working on awhile.
Became a Mac geek.
Dealt with some serious illness in my family.
Altered the 'World Domination' bullet in my 5 year plan to 'World Influence'.

More to follow...

If a blogpost falls in the woods and there is no one there...

Seriously, if I wrote a little here (I know it's been a while).

Is anyone going to read it?

Where???

You've heard me say it before. My college mentor told me (often):

"Music is what happens between the notes."

I've been trying to build a playlist.