I went out for dim sum today with a group of friends.
One of the guys in the group was a dim sum virgin. He also turned out to be one of the best people I've ever dined with.
He only learned to use chopsticks a few years ago. How? He bought himself a pair, and ate with them every day at home until he mastered it. (He was picking up mango pudding with chopsticks!)
As a kid, he didn't like the taste of shrimp. But one day, at age 21, he decided not to dislike any foods. So he ate shrimp until he learned to like it.
He even tried chicken feet. (Didn't love them, but he was a great sport about it.)
I don't think I've ever dined with anyone so open-minded. I've dined with plenty of people who love food and will eat anything, but never someone who's so persistent in getting over food aversions. I really don't like picky eaters. He was the opposite.
When I was a kid, my dad asked me what an orchestra conductor does - other than just waving his arms. I didn't know.
I’ve been involved in choirs for the last ten years, and had the opportunity to guest conduct a couple of rehearsals and masses with my church choir. So now I know.
The conductor PLAYS the ensemble, the same way a musician plays his instrument. It’s more than waving your arms and keeping time. It’s about shaping the music.
I’m fascinated by the whole process. As a pianist, my brain tells my fingers and hands to move in a way that causes the piano translate certain sounds.
Thought > movement > sound
Conducting is similar, but way more complicated because of the extra middle man. The conductor translates his musical vision into what I like to call the "conductor's dance". Then the musicians have to interpret the dance, figure out what it means for sound, then play their instrument to produce that sound. Then good ensemble musicians check if they’re in sync with the conductor by seeing if the conductor is dancing along to what they are playing.
Thought > movement > (interpretation into) thought > movement > sound > movement
All this translation of one thing into another reminds me of any organization with a leader and some minions, or supply chain, no? And so the world continues to spin.
An excerpt from Handel's Messiah that I performed in two years ago, conducted by my dear friend, Matthew Otto. Check out his broad strokes for the majestic "Surely" and "And With His Stripes", his crouch and smooth movements for the gentler parts "He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows", his lively bounce in "All We Like Sheep", and his precision for "He trusted in God". And you can't even see the faces he's making at us.
It's time for a new washer. Mine is about ten years old and no longer remembers how to stop filling with water.
Small space living (I'm talking 550 sq ft) has its unique set of challenges. Shopping for furniture and appliances is one of them.
I'd imagine that when normal people need to make a major purchase, like an appliance, they follow a series of steps, something like this:
Think about the needed features
Set a budget
Ask friends and family for recommendations
Do some research into different brands and models, and shop around at different stores
Compare models and prices, and narrow down the field
Settle on the model and the store, and place the order
As for me?
Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't make such a major purchase without any research at all. But after asking my lovely Nesties and poking around on various websites, I realized that it came down to this:
"Hi. Can you show me the smallest (insert appliances here) you have?"
"Sure. There's this one, and that one."
"This one will fit. I'll take it."
And that's how I settled on this cute little Whirlpool number. Capacity = 2.3 cu ft of glory. Oh yeah.
Mr. Ringy and I decided to leave town to avoid the G20 Summit in June, and visit the Maritimes.
Our last leg of the trip took us to Cape Breton.
Other than the famous sights like the Cabot Trail and the Fortress at Louisbourg, we made a point of checking out the Mira River and crossing the Marion Bridge. Our choir had recently performed Song for the Mira in a concert, and we wanted to see this place that inspired the lovely tune.
The Mira River
The Marion Bridge (there probably used to be an older, prettier one)
We soon learned that the charming people of Cape Breton (which includes the Rankin Family, Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, and Rita MacNeill) sing about EVERYTHING. Literally. We attended a ceilidh (a community party with fiddle music and often dancing) at the Gaelic College in St. Ann's, where a local fiddler and singer were performing songs about inbred families, highways bypassing small towns, commuting to the Fort McMurray oil sand mines...
Rachel Davis & Buddy McDonald at Gaelic College
To borrow a popular ad campaign: There's a song for that.
We decided not to continue trying to visit everything for which a song had been written.
That being said, I can't blame them at all for being inspired by a place like this. Could you?
I am a musician so I play for a handful of weddings at my church each year. I always enjoy hearing the priest's reflections to the couple because it seems like there is always something new to learn about love and marriage.
Today's homily was about how love can always continue to grow, even if you think you're already as much in love as you can possibly be.
It's a common sentiment at weddings, but I loved this line the most:
"If you live your lives as if the best to yet come... what a gift!"
Every time I cook one of my mom's dishes for dinner, or wrap a little spoon in a paper towel and rubber-band it to my lunch box the way she did, or iron my shirts the way she taught me - I get the warm fuzzies thinking about everything she's done for me.
Popped up tonight on my Facebook newsfeed: the opening sequence of the show Ghostwriter.
In case you never watched it, Ghostwriter was a show that aired from 1992-1995 about a bunch of kids in New York who had a ghost friend that communicated by writing. They used his skills of whizzing through air and through words to solve mysteries like, "Who's behind the smear campaign in the school president election?"
Back in the day, I wish I had a ghost friend to keep me company. I wanted a lanyard pen. I had a desperate crush on Rob Baxter. [Sigh]
I immediately searched Youtube; lo and behold, entire episodes came up.
I've just spent the entire evening indulging in my childhood.
