Cool.

I'm writing a paper on the musicals of Sondheim and Bernstein (oh, what a drag), and in my research found a cool little thread about West Side Story. Brace yourself:

Background info: Originally, West Side Story was to be a version of Romeo and Juliet that instead pitted Jews against Catholics.
Bonus: Leonard Bernstein was also, coincidentally, born to Ukranian Jewish parents.
Where it gets interesting: The first three notes of the prologue* mimic closely the call of a shofar. Shofars announce holidays and processions, sure, but are also a signal for a battle to begin. And this faux-shofar call happens at the beginning of a musical that's essentially one big battle.
Bonus, round two: Additionally (and this one's a stretch for non-music people), traditional Jewish music often has some ambiguity between major and minor, often seen in the third scale degree ("mi," if you were going to sing "do-re-mi"). And that's all over the place in West Side Story, too. Like in "Maria" with "And suddenly that name will never be the same to me" line. ("Sud" gets the third in the major mode, and "nev" gets the flatted third, taking us to minortown.)

Aaaaaaand making up names of fake places is my cue to exit.

Daily thoughts, 2/14

A comment I got for an evaluation: "This is a worthy path to travel; like all quests one never knows where it will lead or how long it will take; all we can do is embark." I'm highly amused that comments like this would even be written as part of any evaluation, but I also find it endearing that the professor put that much thought into evaluation comments.

Daily thoughts, 2/9.

Daily thought: this is too, too accurate.

I ran four miles tonight. What now.

A challenge.

I have decided, on a whim, that I will attempt to complete a challenge for the week inspired by a post I just read: use the word "kickarooni" fourteen times this week. Wish me luck, and I challenge you to do the same.

Update 1/22: 2 of 14 completed.
Update 1/23: 3 of 14 completed (total, not just today).
Update 1/27: So I didn't exactly make it, but it's not because I didn't have opportunities. I'm pretty sure I could have worked "kickarooni" into conversations even more than fourteen times. The problem is that that word is not in my natural vocabulary, so I didn't really think about it during the day. So that's a bummer. Also, happy birthday to Mozart. He's a good guy.

On making the world a better place.

Sometimes I think the world would be a better place if we handled conversations as if they were journalism. This would mean leading with the main idea, the most important fact, and then filling in with all your colorful details. Of course I know this isn't really always the best idea. I, for one, am quite partial to telling stories with dramatic pauses, imitative facial expressions, and a good deal of build-up. In revealing disheartening news, I know that leading with the biggest punch maybe is not ideal. But when it's just an "oh-I-was-talking-to-so-and-so-the-other-day-and-you'll-never-guess-what-happened" sort of story, it can get frustrating to have all this dancing around the subject and interjections of "it was just so funny" before you even know what it is that is such a big deal.

NaBloPoMo, Day 30! The last one!

Howdy.

• Tonight, my piano studio counted 87 cookies we'd baked after we'd all had well beyond our fill. We used cookie cutters for most, but we also cut our own. I made a partridge in a pear tree. We also did a quite accurate depiction of our piano teacher. So that was fun. Exhausting. But very fun.

• You know, when you show up to a rehearsal not knowing what you'll be playing exactly, and it happens to be a number you haven't yet looked at, and you're sight reading at full speed, and your choir director who will also be running the pit also happens to be sitting in for the first time that day, and she asks after a bit if you're sight reading, it's kind of exhilarating, but it's also muy stressful. Because whoa, those notes go fast. And yes, I'm doing OK for sight reading but yikes bikes. It was rough, guys. What a Friday afternoon.
• It's an even more exciting Friday afternoon when a visiting pianist plays one of the pieces you're playing for your jury in a few weeks, and he plays it at about 175% of my speed. And while I don't really agree with that tempo musically, I also know very certainly that my fingers will never be able to do that. And ick. You just don't want to practice after watching that.
• And I didn't practice today. True confessions, yo.
• In other news, November's over! So NaBloPoMo is too. You've all been lovely -- a great audience.
• In other news, November's over. And it hasn't snowed. How am I supposed to finish my 3 South bingo if I can't roll around in the snow or sled on a saga tray?!
• I got paid today for Secret Garden! And while I totally would have done it happily without pay, it's nice to get mail in CPO. And then when the mail is money, it's even better!

I can't promise I'll be posting quite so frequently in the coming weeks (or months, but hopefully it won't come to that). But I'll try a little.