A Long Time Hobby: Music
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Music, NaBloPoMo
Plinky asked, Which of your hobbies have you been doing for the longest amount of time? When did you start?”
That would be music. I’ve been singing since I was a small child in church choir. The way my mother’s family makes music, I could hardly avoid it (not that I wanted to). I learned to play the ukulele with the rest of my second grade class, but held on to my instrument and kept playing it for some time. I began piano lessons in the fifth grade, I think, and continued for a couple of years and through three teachers (we moved, one quit, and I outgrew the last). The flute came with sixth grade and middle school band.
At some point my parents acquired an organ in addition to the piano and I taught myself to play that, which was interesting. In high school I flirted with the oboe and bassoon, but didn’t really take to them very well. I gave them up altogether after reading something that claimed that double reed players suffered loss of brain cells due to oxygen deprivation (I haven’t fact-checked that since, so it could be utter nonsense). I acquired a wooden flute at a Renn Faire that has a much sweeter tone than the metal flute, but I’ve never pushed myself to really learn to play it.
Now I want to return to the ukulele, but I really need a new instrument. That poor little student uke that has been used as a “guitar” by children isn’t in perfect condition after all these years, and won’t stay in tune in addition to having some broken bits.
Tags: bassoon, flute, Music, oboe, organ, singing, ukulele, voice
Happy Birthday, Daddy & Matt!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Family
I spent most of today with my family at my parents’ house. It was a wonderful visit!
I got to meet my youngest nephew, Eli, for the first time. I was ill every time my brother and his brood came to town after his birth last fall (turned out I had pneumonia—I really should learn to go to the doctor instead of trying to ignore should things). He’ll be a year old next month, and he’s such a doll! He looks a lot like Matt did as a baby, but even more like his older brother, Jack. He’s sweetly ticklish even though he is teething a bit, and I got to nibble on his toes! (He gnawed on my hand a bit too, so it all evened out.) He has a very strong grip and is at the “grab everything” stage, but I anticipated that and didn’t bother wearing earrings. I’m glad that I got my hair cut short again this week, as it left far less hair for him to pull at.
Seeing Jack next to my sister’s boy, Will, though, is a trip—they look more like brothers than cousins! Jack’s twin, Sadie, is beautiful. She reminds me of Katie at that age in some ways, but she’s very much her own person, with very strong opinions. Matt and his wife have lovely, well-behaved children. And just in the last year, Will has gone from looking like a little boy to, well, not! And he’s only 7 years old! Although he says, “I’m seven now, you know,” with a gravitas that makes it sound as if he’ll be joining the military any day now. He definitely lives life at one speed, and that is full ahead!
Mom and Dad cooked way too much food for breakfast—SOS, biscuits, eggs, lots of fruit, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and I can’t even remember what else. Later on we had cakes and ice cream, of course (yogurt for those of us who don’t do ice cream so much). I wimped out and trying both cakes, but I was being daring enough to have a small slice of one. Then Mom told us that Daddy had been cooking all day Saturday, using the smoker! I rode up there with Katie and her boyfriend, who had plans for later today, so we left before anyone else did. I don’t think I could possibly have eaten another bite, but I hope the others stayed for another meal. I know the food certainly smelled good.
Even though the kitchen and dining room tables are huge, we filled both of them. Unlike the holiday meals of my youth, we didn’t separate into adult and children’s tables. Per Will’s wishes, we had the “men’s” and “women’s” tables for breakfast, but ended up all mixed for cake and ice cream (he was so disappointed). From that I figured him to be at the “girls have cooties” stage, but apparently boys and girls don’t necessarily go through such a stage any more. Who knew?
I took an iPad, because I was asked to review an app and needed help from children. I had absolutely no idea just how popular it would be! We could have kept several more busy. On second thought, if there had been several more available, it might not have been as fun. After the boys discovered the camera function, there was a lot of silliness. I was glad the gadget has a case, but for further family occasions, I think it needs one that’s more child-grippable. Maybe something rubberized? In any case, the device is even more fun with kids. I feel much younger now as a result. We played silly games, colored, took pictures, and played more silly games. I should have loaded up some Trout Fishing in America and other good music. I will certainly do so for future occasions!
I gave the twins their copy of Clean Water for Eli Rose by Ariah Fine, and they must have liked it. They each had each of their parents, Mom, and me read it to them at least once that I know of in less than an hour. They may have also gotten Katie and my sister to read it to them, as well. It looks as though it’s going to be in heavy story time rotation for a while. I could see some wheels turning for Sadie, so I’m hoping she’ll get more than just a story out of it. If she asks questions, Jack will definitely follow.
It was the best family day I can remember ever having. I’m getting the photos off my phone and the iPad. I hope they came out well, but whether they did or not, we’ll have the memories.
Tags: birthdays, Family, Fun, games, iPad, kids, Music, Trout Fishing in America
Music from Defying Gravity?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Music
We’ve been watching Defying Gravity on Hulu, and enjoying it. The music is one of the appealing factors, but I can’t find any information about what songs by which performers are used in most of the episodes. TV.com has information for two of them, but not the rest. I don’t suppose any of you know where to find more information?
Tags: Defying Gravity, Music, tv
De-Lovely
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Movies
Sam and I just finished watching it–the 2004 Cole Porter biopic/musical. It was, absolutely, De-Lovely and Delightful and every other positive adjective you can think of! Porter is my favorite composer, but honestly, I put this one in the Netflix queue after seeing a YouTube clip of John Barrowman singing “Night and Day” with Kevin Kline as Porter.
Sam watched it with me and enjoyed it, too. How many men will sit through, not just a chick flick, but a musical one, and enjoy it just as much as you do? It was just over 3 hours long, too!
Tags: Cole Porter, John Barrowman, Kevin Kline, Movies, Music
Semester done!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under College, Fun, Geekery, Music, RPGs
I took my project management final tonight, so I’m done with the semester! Now I’m trying to download the textbook files for next semester, but the ebook server is having Issues.
In the meantime, I’m listening to some lovely new music, free and legal, over at TheSixtyOne. I don’t know how Sam found out about the place, but it’s neat.
Tags: brother-in-law, ebook server, Gaming, Love, Music, Sam
Video: George Hrab, The Assumption
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Music
Fun video from George Hrab. I’ve heard of the guy quite a few times, and seen a fair number of photos, but this is the first time I’ve actually heard his music. I like!
Many thanks to Chris Miller, who sent me a link to this video via Pownce.
Tags: Chris Miller, George Hrab, Music, The Assumption, video
A Cappella Music, Babylon5, and Firefly, Oh My!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Critters, Movies, Music, Podcast, Reading
This afternoon, I opened the blinds on the windows behind my chair, thinking it would draw Kioshi off the monitor (his tail kept obscuring the screen) to look out the windows. Nope. He turned around, so at least his tail wasn’t in the way, but he was inordinately pleased with himself because he could then survey his world from his nice, warm perch.
I download a ridiculous number of podcasts, then forget to listen to them. I can’t find my MP3 player, and it’s tiny anyway (512k), so it doesn’t hold much. Sam has the same kind, and he gets by, but he’s more motivated: it keeps him sane while he’s “out there” every day. I normally take the lazy way out and listen to Pandora or Last.FM.
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Tags: a cappella, Acapodcast, Babylon 5, Firefly, Joss Whedon, Kioshi, Music, Podcasts, Sam, Serenity
Relearning How to Play the Piano
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Family, Music
I can’t remember whether or not I burbled about this already, but if this is a repeat you can get extra hugs the next time I see you or something. We have a working, marvelous, beautiful piano! It’s the freecycled Korg 88-key digital that I mentioned way back in November, all clean and functional thanks to my sweet Sam. It sounds so good! It even feels right, unlike any electronic keyboard I’ve ever tried to play. I learned to play on an acoustic piano, and the feel is just different. This piano has nicely weighted keys to help oldsters like me, and they’re even touch-sensitive, like a “real” (acoustic) piano. And it has two pedals! (There’s a picture of a similar model down there under the “read more” link.)
It won’t go out of tune. We can record anything that’s played on it. There are not one, but two headjack ports, so that, say, a teacher and student could hear the student’s attempts without bothering anyone else in the household.
Yes, I like!
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Tags: Books, keyboards, learning, Music, Piano
Further Prof of Insanity: Blog365
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Blogging, Family, Fun, Geekery, Health, Holidays, Home, Homeschooling, Music, Reading, RPGs, Writing
I got through NaBloPoMo, as ridiculous as it was to commit to posting at least once a day for a month. So of course that small success has led me, in a moment of more-than-usual-lunacy, to sign up for Blog365 (otherwise known as “Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire”).
The purpose is fairly clear: to post at least once every day of 2008. February 29 is a “rest day.” Posts may be written on any site, rather than sticking to just one blog, so I’ll try to spread them around on mine/ours. If I can’t get something on the actual site on a particular day due to net connection issues or whatever, I have to write (yes, write! like, cuneiform or something!) a journal entry and transfer it to a blog as that day’s entry.
It would be far simpler to have a system of some sort. Maybe I’ll create a rotation:
- Fibrant Living — health, living with a disability, podcasts
- Academy Caritas — homeschooling, education, college
- House Fireheart — polyamory, particularly my and Sam’s approach to it
- Heartsong Handicrafts — home of my original needlework patterns, and soon to be home for the rest of my stitching information
- Cyberstalked! — internet safety and privacy issues
- Cynthia Armistead — my professional portfolio, where I put the geeky stuff
- Enemy of Entropy — here, of course, where I put general stuff, book reviews, and the like.
Hopefully there will be new podcasts up soon. There will definitely be more music, as we have that lovely concert piano we received via freecycle all repaired and put together. It’s beautiful and sounds great! Not at all bad for one drive to pick it up and less than $200 in repair fees! (Sam wanted to just take it to the nearest authorized repair center rather than doing it ourselves.)
2007 wasn’t a stellar year, but neither was it terrible. Sam has a steady, secure job that he enjoys, in an organization that’s allowing him to advance. , Katie had a lot of health problems, but I’m hoping that we’re on the right path to resolving them. Shelley passed away a little shy of her 18th birthday, but since we’d been told in 1999 that she only had a year (at most) left, we felt that we’d gotten an “extra” 8 years with her anyway. Kioshi has grown into a nice companion, too.
We really kept to ourselves a lot through the past two years. When you’ve been betrayed and hurt as deeply as we were by our former housemate’s sudden craziness in 2006, there’s a lot of healing to be done. I don’t know if I’ll ever approach Thanksgiving without trepidation again, but we had a good one anyway. The stress did contribute to the deterioration of my health, and that does make it harder to get out. We’re working on it, though. We certainly learned who our true friends were, and we’ll never forget that.
So on to 2008, which we hope to be full of more time with friends, better health, much more music, Katie spent last night and almost all day today with friends from the school she was attending as well as her new beau. Sam and I spent the day gaming, upgrading some web sites, eating good food and watching movies. If it’s true that whatever you do on January 1 indicates how your year will go, we should be just fine.
Tags: actual site, Blog365, Blogging, Cynthia Armistead, Design, Disability, food, Friends, Gaming, Health, internet safety, Katie, Movies, Music, NaBloPoMo, Piano, Podcasts, Reading, Sam, Stitching, thanksgiving, USD, Web Sites, Writing
KT Tunstall’s “Big Black Horse & the Cherry Tree”
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Music
Sam just sent me a link to this video. Incredible! I’ll definitely be looking for more of her music.
Tags: guitar, KT Tunstall, Music, video