Filed under: Gawk
I saw this on one of my friend’s FB post. Thought I’d share. Absolutely amazing.
The artist is a hot tamale, too! Makes me wanna grow my hair long again, get blunt bangs, and play in the sand box.
If you’ve been following my tweets, you know that I’ve been entranced by Yann Tiersen’s music. One song in particular has engaged me to listen to this short piece over and over again and even learn how to play it.
As you know, my baby grand is left at my parents home. The only time I get to practice on the piano is when I would work close by, which is maybe once a week. After work, I would stop by and practice half an hour at a time. Altogether, it wasn’t enough because I had to quickly relearn what I taught myself from the week before. One day, I decided to practice the song for 3 hours straight and finally, I learned it. It took me a total of 5 hours to learn this lovely simple piano piece.
This is how Comptine D’un Autre Etre L’apres Midi came out after the 3 hour session. Be forewarned: My piano has not been tuned in over a decade and the acoustics in the room does not translate too well on video.
I could have played faster as I prefer a faster tempo for this piece. But my fingers started cramping. I must have played the song about 50 times. My whole family knew the song all too well enough to discern a misplaced note.
Seeing as I haven’t learned a song on the guitar yet and I have still yet to accomplish something on my list of resolutions, I am inclined to count this as 1 song learned this year (even if it wasn’t on a guitar). I want to learn more songs on the piano but we shall see. I get distracted easily when I’m visiting my parents.
One song down, two to go.
Filed under: Create
I’ve neglected this blog – partly due to microblogging. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up. Who knows? I can’t keep it up forever. I’ve actually got things to do in life than to report my daily thoughts, interactions, activites, and what nots. But because I’ve started, I’ve got to reach some type of goal. Sort of like FB’s application of Farmville…it’s addictive at first. Then after awhile, there is no point to it. But you keep playing for the heck of it…because you know it’s there waiting for you…unless…you’ve got a goal. With microblogging/twittering/what have you, my goal will perhaps be a 1 year mark or maybe I’ll try to make it to 1,000 tweets…whichever comes first. And then I’ll stop.
This doesn’t mean I will stop my regular blog. I still like to speak my mind, sometimes reflect, and most often share with you the things I find interesting. So let me start of this year’s blog entry with my annual resolution list. But before I make my list, I have to address my 2009 resolution list. I’ve completed all but 2 on my list (actually, I should add a third).
- #4 Organize my sanctuary–> it became disorganized again. Don’t know how it happened but the mister has designated it a disaster zone.
- #7 Sell my books and other junk–> do the college kids still even need my old genetics textbooks from undergrad? It’s probably outdated but it doesn’t hurt to try. This will have to be low on my priority list.
- #9 Make a beanie, scarf, mittens, and socks under Stephanie’s tutelage–>I was fascinated with what my friend, Stephanie, can do and all the clothes she had made that I wanted to try my hand at this. Alas, I never got ’round to it. Does making a baby quilt count?
Well, the 3 old resolutions have now been “rolled over” onto my new list. And here we go with my list of 10 for 2010:
- Read my 1650 page textbook by the end of the year. I’d like to maintain my knowledge on matters pertaining to my career.
- Run in a 5K/10K possibly building up to a 1/2 marathon, if schedule allows. A 5K would be easiest, though.
- Relearn manual driving. I’ve learned a handful of times but I’ve never driven stick shift unsupervised. That would be my goal…for the mister to trust me enough to drive his car without him watching over my shoulder.
- Try rock climbing. Anybody want to come with?
- I hate guns but I’d love to go to a shooting range or shoot clay.
- Play guitar more. More specifically, learn 3 songs by year’s end. I’d play more piano but there’s no room at our place for my baby grand. Too bad I sold my upright years ago.
- Improve mi espanol para el trabajo.
- Organize my sanctuary.
- Sell my books and other junk.
- Make a beanie, scarf, mittens, and socks legwarmers under Stephanie’s tutelage. I get better use from legwarmers than socks.
Let’s see if I’ll actually get to complete my list this year.
Filed under: Create
Having put on a few events and attending other events in the past, I have seen the gamut of poor to successful functions. So I’d like to help those out who don’t have a clue on how to throw an event or putting on an event for the first time. I have made a list of things I would like all hosts to know in order to put on a successful event, casual or formal.
When you are hosting an event…
…please do not wait for everybody to be present before starting the grill or serving the main food. Expect a few people to come late. Do not make the guests that arrived early to starve to death. …please tell your guests to dig into the food instead of waiting for your guests to ask. Some ppl won’t know what they can or cannot do in your house unless you say so. …if you are using a grill close to the party, make sure the smoke is going away from the guests. No one likes to smell like a charbroiled meat. …please try not to fry foods during the event if the event is held indoors unless you have an extremely good range that sucks all the fumes and smoke from the stove top. I made that mistake one time. I suggest frying foods about an hour to half an hour before the event and just keep it warm in the oven, that way it will maintain crispiness and not go cold. …along the same lines, try to present all foods at the same time rather making foods during the event. Some will become full from the other appetizers and by the time your next finger food is ready, very few will eat it.…make plenty of room in your refrigerator if you are having a potluck. …turn on the stereo or television station to contemporary if you have guests with different tastes in music. Not everybody will like heavy metal but almost everybody will know contemporary. …make sure your guest bathroom is stocked with an extra roll of TP and have fresh hand towels to dry hands with. …designate a photographer for the event. It’s always fun to see pictures and document people’s reactions. You’ll always see me with a camera. …chill drinks and always have ice on hand. …always include a vegetarian appetizer or main dish. You never know. …set up different activities for guests so their not just sitting around watching TV unless that is the whole point of the get-together.
…designate an area where people can put their jackets and purses. A coat rack might come in handy. …have take out boxes on hand for guests so you don’t have tons of leftovers that need to be eaten in 1 or 2 days. …understand that breakage and spills will happen when it comes to food and drinks. So have rags or paper towels and/or carpet cleaner on hand to quickly clean it up. …have a large recycling bin and a separate trash bin available in plain sight. Change it out when they start to become full. …if you’re having a pizza party, always have parmesan and red pepper chili flakes on hand. For some reason, there is always one person that asks for those items. …if it is a birthday party, please state if gifts are welcome or not.
You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to have a successful event. Just make sure your guests needs are taken care of.
For those who love making lists or checklists like I do, I came across this Martha Stewart’s party planning checklist the other day. Might come in handy.
Filed under: Gawk
Hey, folks! Leonid Meteor Shower is happening now! Supposedly, the meteor shower started at dawn ~4am on November 17 and will last until midnight tonight. Observers from Asia will get the best view but North America can get a nice show, too. The dark sky from the new moon will give watchers a great view. Be on the lookout!
Visit earthsky.org for more information about leonid meteors. The site also tells you when, where, and which direction to look for the leonids.
Filed under: Gawk
Heard this a lot on the radio and it always makes me think of the mister. So I’m dedicating this song to the mister on this special day.
Interestingly, Michael Franti hails from the Bay Area.
