Nature finally gave in! We got a frosting of snow last night. I purposely took this through the Christmas tree. I’m still playing Christmas songs. I purposely played White Christmas, because I feel lots of December flows over. Look, I live in Christmas Valley! I still believe.
By the way, the forecast says we should have more of the pretty white stuff by Wednesday.
My bitmoji and I are ready.
First of all, I want to lead you to Barbara’s take on ‘Magnify’ as it reflects my own journey with screens and reading and tools that can help those issues. Click here.
The reason I love the acoustic piano more than my electronic keyboard is that you can express emotions on it. With signs, you can guess how hard or soft a touch you need to bring out the depth of a song.
See the less-than sign?
It means to gradually
minimize your
touch.
The greater-than sign <
<
It means
You play quietly and
Magnify your touch
I have not found the ability to do that on my electric keyboard with feeling. Nor can I do that on my recorder. I know you can with a violin. But it is most satisfying when singing with a choir, and the director and music ask you to unify as you and your fellow singers magnify the sound.
The voice magnifies so well. Sometimes you need to whisper. But there are times for an actual
Yell!
When we need to be heard we need to
MAGNIFY
Well, that’s easy! It is Finishing Friday! A great way to keep track of hobbies and passions. A way to see progress when, at times, it seems the end is as far as infinity. Row at a time, an inch at a time, a chord played right, or a rhythm that stays where it belongs is fun to keep track of. Many keep track of grievances or pain. I have. I probably will again and again. But I feel more fulfilled if I can see good and beautiful things done from the same place as the bird’s song. It feels right. It gives me pleasure. Not because I am looking for praise. I thank you for that, but it is more for me to feel like I am moving forward.
This felt good as it hit. Some days I do a lot of lessons. For others, I just do the one to get the points. I love languages, so it is fun for me.
The last two hats were for smaller heads. So I decided to make one a little bigger. I just finished the ribbing and started on the basket weave part. It is easier on my hands than crocheting or knitting, so while I am feeling the arthritis, I’m being gentle on the fingers.
My brother’s socks are coming along. Less than an inch to the end of the arch ribbing. Then, an inch to the beginning of the heel. I feel I am at the beginning of the end of this pair.
The middle section of the ‘smiling turtle’ diamond painting is almost done. It is a fun project. I love all the colors.
I have, in all essence, finished this book. Most of it was a review of things I’ve learned all my life, especially as a music major. But toward the end, it started meeting my needs. It has a lot of ways to improvise. I still find myself trying to play every single note rather than play, but I’m seeing ways to do it. I’ll be doing the review for this book soon. Mostly, at this point, I am in love with the last song presented. It’s called Coming Home.
So my favorite songs to play right now are Baby Elephant Walk, Just the Way You Are, God Bless the Child, and Coming Home. They drive me to the piano. I actually spent an hour there today. Remember in the summer or fall when I stated I could barely get five minutes in before pain or boredom pulled me away. Now, I have the joy of actually hearing and feeling the earworms that crawl through my head the rest of the day. My own music!
My ukulele, violin, and recorders sit sadly, waiting for my hands to feel better. I miss the learning process with them.
Well, that’s my Friday report. Fini!
It is said that he who hesitates is lost. But I am here to say hesitation is important. A wise decision needs a moment. Sometimes, the moment taken to crawl back down the high-dive ladder is important to build the courage needed to try again.
But sometimes, when the Kim Chi, tasty though it was, wants to escape, hesitation can leave you to rue the day. Sorry. Must go!
How many years does January take?
This seems to be the longest month in history!
And not because of JJiJ. That was the fun part.
And, sorry, this one-liner is staying with the longest-month theme!
The Afterlife Series Box Set by Willow Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have finally finished reading not only this but the fourth book. This book was supposed to be the complete series. And probably when I got it, it was all the author had ready. But the ending was a cliffhanger. Had that been all, I would have been very disappointed.
Still, the three-book set was fun. One has to put aside theology and think of this as fantasy; the characters’ abilities were so fun. I loved the main character, Meghan, and how she cared for others.
On the other hand, the antagonist is too much.
Oh, the people you meet along the way. Einstein, can you believe it? No? Well, it’s fantasy, okay?
This is definitely a young adult series. There is far too much romance. Ugh! But hey, it’s a story, and it was a fun read.
~~~
ย
So, to add the Jot to the above review, it was one of the abilities that appear in in fantasies is the gift of glamour. Bingo! It is used in this book set.
My other hobbies are musical in nature. Having gotten back to piano this past summer, starting at one song or five minutes, only as long as it was fun. Now I can go as long as an hour but seem to average half an hour to 5 minutes.
After summer and fall, working on classical, suddenly winter brought some fun carols. I loved some of the more modern rhythms. So when I had to put them away, I made a bit of a resolution or goal to learn more modern beats. I want to be able to improvise and even compose my own music. So I started working through a few books like
Much of it is elementary. I assume I am of intermediate level. But my rhythm is horrid. Especially modern beats, blues, or jazz.
I pulled out another book and started at the beginning with the song, Just the Way You Are, from this book:
It seems easy enough, but it sounded nothing like the beloved Billy Joel’s golden hit when I started. But gradually, the beat is growing in my soul.
I was trying other instruments to get back into music. Recorder, soprano, alto, and tenor. Ukulele. And finally, a violin. When my thumb, elbow, and shoulder started hurting, these also had to go by the wayside. I miss them, but the piano doesn’t hurt my arms or hands. My back, yes. But I am working on posture and yoga to help with that. Hence the shorter sessions.
I love being 75. Retired. Older than my piano teacher was when I was 12, older than my mother, who never got to play for fun. I’m trying to play for them now. And my inner sprites and muses.
Thank you all for participating. When I did the random word generator, I rejected many, like ‘fork’ and ‘then,’ but finally, a word that could move my muse. Or so I thought back then.
When you are a reader, and your parents only made it to eighth and tenth grade, you soon learn their answer is to go to the dictionary. And rather than break up the story with the tome of words, you pronounce it out yourself. So, I learned words wrong. Often, I put emphasis on the wrong syl-LA-bol. One of the reasons I adore audiobooks is that someone reads words correctly, even foreign words. Even Kindle Text-to-Speech gets things wrong. Like the soft G in ‘finger.’ What?
Yeah, that blog part jumped out at seeing the word. Then, the crazy streaming thoughts drifted away.
Rhythm has always been the hardest part of music. Nope, not a dancer here. Since I went back to the piano, I think it was this last summer that my sight-reading has improved, and many of the songs I revived are reasonable. As of this New Year’s, I made up my mind to make the goal of being able to improvise and compose music this year. I have always admired the people who could just sit down and riff out music. But I tend toward reading and playing every single notated note.
Today, one of the books I’m learning from was about teaching how to do blues and jazzy bass lines. See, most of the classical stuff I play is 4/4 time, emphasizing the first and third beats. I’m learning the second and fourth beats and stagger out beats for syncopation. I remember my piano teacher, Mrs. Skinner, teaching me Alley Cat and Baby Elephant Walk. To my young, early teen self, she looked ancient. And she told me to do this little wiggle to get the beat right. As I tried these beats today, I saw and felt her emphasizing that wiggle. I’m smiling right now at the memory. I can’t wait to make her proud.
Creatures of the Abyss by Murray Leinster
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
It looks like my friend Ralph recommended this to me in 2013. Sorry for taking so long, but I will finish it today, as I am in the last chapter. Yay!
This was probably one of the most yawn-worthy books I have read in a long time, yet it didn’t help me go to sleep. I kept hoping the story would get more exciting, but it didn’t.
Still, it could just be me. Check out the blurbs and comments. Many were quite positive. Well, at least I gave it a chance. It wasn’t horrid.
While a lot is going on in the world right now, I am just content reading books and watching Jack Black movies (Gulliver’s Travel and The Big Year) and then Friends. My health is worth the energy it takes to stay light. It is the wrong time of year to let things get to you. Winter, dark days. Colder than most, with a lack of snow here. Snow at least makes everything look clean and is rarely as cold as the no-snow days.
Noa’s Ark by C. Gockel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the continuation of a fun Sci-fi series. In the first, the main characters are planet-bound for the most part. In this book, we are space traveling. It is very much a space opera. I could almost see this as a television or movie series.
Emily Woo Zeller (Narrator) changes voices seamlessly. She is amazing. Never once did I wonder who was talking or from whose point of view we were looking.
I can’t wait to listen to the next book.
If you like sci-fi, especially space travel, please seek out the Archangel Project.
Hi! Itโs time for our twentieth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, we have a prompt gifted to us by the incomparable Kim. Thank you, Kim! Please be sure to visit Kimโs blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while youโre there if youโre not already.
Your prompt for JusJoJan January 20th, 2025ย is โantipodean.โ Use it any way youโd like. Have fun!
If a review of sci-fi that speaks of planets couldn’t use the word “antipodean,” what could. But the main characters never got to the other side of the planet. Oh, but look! I used it anyway! ๐คช
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2013 Reading Challenge! 115 of 100 (115%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 225 books for the 2012 Reading Challenge! 225 of 225 (100%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 200 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge! 204 of 200 (102%)
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IYKYK
"Collect moments, not just destinations. Travel well."
Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.
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