Photo by Jessie Johnson, December 2011
AND NOW FOR THE PURELY PERSONAL SIDE OF ME...
The piano is my God.
(Blasphemy?)
I am beholden to its whims, and am wont to offer sacrifice so that it might play the way I want it to, whether the pitches are ever-so-slightly out of tune, or the keys are extra-heavily weighted. I have discovered that no two pianos play the same. And once I get used to playing on a grand, I find that no matter how lovingly tuned the upright piano is, it absolutely sucks.
(Blasphemy to my 'God'?)
Yet still I play, hour after hour, and sometimes I'll be stuck on one measure and other times I can play an entire piece through, and some days I just feel like sight-reading. I'm getting good at that, by the way. But no matter how good I think I am, some passage will always be waiting to sneak up on me, cut me down, toss me aside, and tell me I'm no good. So I have to learn how to practice a different way, and build different muscle memory, and keep going and going until I'm on top once more.
Only to fall again when my professor puts a new piece in front of me.
A never-ending cycle of pain and tears and frustrations and practice, practice, practice...
And you ask me why I do it?
Because I love it, of course.
And now, for something completely different.
MY TOP FIVE ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVIES
17 Again (Yes, I'm serious.)
Disney's Sleeping Beauty
Disney's Beauty & the Beast
Under the Tuscan Sun
Tortilla Soup (also good is the Chinese version of this: Eat, Drink, Man, Woman)
Byousoku 5 cm [5 Centimeters Per Second] (Yes, I know that's six, so sue me.)
I will also recommend any films with Danny Kaye and Rosalind Russell.
MY TOP FIVE ALL-TIME FAVORITE ANIMES
(Yes, I went there.)
Nodame Cantabile
K-ON!
Paradise Kiss
Usagi Drop
Toradora
Saki (Again, yes, it's six, whatever, I could go on, and you know it.)
MY TOP FIVE ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOKS
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Birthright, by Nora Roberts
Sunshine, by Robin McKinley (though Spindle's End is pretty wicked too)
Abhorsen Trilogy, by Garth Nix (oops, guess that's three books, isn't it? haha)
Though basically anything by Nora and Robin is good, and I also recommend Jennifer Crusie for some light reading as well.
MY TOP FIVE ALL-TIME FAVORITE SONGS
(This list subject to hourly changes)
Don Giovanni, "Madamina, il catalogo è questo," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
L'Orfeo, "Ritornello," by Claudio Monteverdi (I don't know if it's actually called that, but that's what the piece of music is classified as.)
"Never Going Back to OK," by The Afters
"Tant que vivray," by Claude de Sermisy
"Piano Concerto No. 2," by Sergei Rachmaninoff (especially the first movement)
Most of Monteverdi's choral work is amazing, and anything by Tomás Luis de Victoria is good listening as well. You may note I did not list any JPop songs, but it would be cruel to decide on a select few of those, don't you think?
MY TOP FIVE SMALL SMILES
CURLING UP WITH A CUP OF TEA AND JUST LISTENING TO MUSIC.
I am, as you might have known, not the most relaxed person in the world. However, give me some Lipton and a good melody, and I purr like a kitten. Now if only I could figure out how to make that cucp of tea never-ending...
BLASTING JPOP IN MY ROOM.
It's so upbeat and poppy and I love to sing along, and get distracted and then I turn around and find I've finished my homework, or cleaned my room, or cooked an entire meal without really feeling the effort.
PLAYING WITH THE THEORY PROFESSOR'S DOGS.
The biggest drawback of campus life --and often the only one I really see-- is not being able to own a dog. And then I go into theory class or composition and those pups are just so happy to see me, and I don't care about anything else in the world except scratching behind the ears and cuddling up against those warm bodies.
PUTTING ON A PRETTY DRESS.
Okay, so maybe I own fifty-plus dresses, and maybe they're all pretty. But sometimes, you need just the right one that will make you turn to the mirror and go, oh, hi there. Aren't you just as pretty as a princess? Why yes, yes I am, thank you.
BROWSING THE LIBRARY SHELVES.
The incredible luxury of all those stories, all that information, all those beautiful pictures! Someday, someday, I'm going to have my own library, and it will be bliss...
PLAYING A SONG PERFECTLY. (Yes, I went on to six again.)
There's just this sense of awe, and relaxation, and the thought crops up, "I really can do this, can't I?" And I'm high for days from something that perhaps took no more than five minutes to play.
Could life get any better?
Perhaps.
But I'm pretty happy now anyway.
Until next time...
