All in all, a good week
Yeah, I know. It's been a long time since I blogged at all about my life in any detail. But this past week has been both eventful and peaceful enough that I thought some folks might like an update.
For me, the thrust of this past week has been MUSIC. A friend handed me an MP3 of a song by Jimmy Webb entitled "Someone Is Standing Outside" that he wanted to do for an anthem at the Theosophical Temple - but that he couldn't figure out the chords. Could I do a piano arrangement. Searched the Internet for a couple of hours only to find that sheet music for Webb music is non-existent at best, which left me flipping back and forth between Windows Media Player and Noteworthy figuring out the chords/arrangement by ear. Not an easy chore in the first place - made more difficult by son JJ listening to "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies with the associated soundtrack blaring in the living room. I'm afraid I snapped at him a little sharply more than once: "When the hell is that movie over? I want to work!!"
Anyhoo, long story short, figured out the arrangement to my own ear's satisfaction, took the time to transpose it up 4 half-tones, and took the lot over to my friend's yesterday. He's jazzed - I managed to figure out the less-than-logical chord progressions that had him stymied - and we'll do it on the 23rd. So now I get to tweak the arrangement a bit to sound more full, and start on the next Webb project for him: "Paul Gauguin In The South Seas". That one will be VERY difficult to noodle out, as that music doesn't exist to be ordered anywhere either that I can find. *sigh* I guess it's too new, but then, I'm not certain. I'm looking at it as a challenge, forcing me to listen to the "insides" of a piece of music so I can write down what I hear. I haven't worked this hard on this kind of stuff since my violin teacher had me doing it decades ago!!
Had my normal Wednesday afternoon yak session with engarian. I do enjoy our conversations immensely, and wouldn't miss them for the world. We have a lot of things in common, and our conversations range from the sublime to the ridiculous and hit just about every possible point in between. This past Wednesday, we had such fun talking that our usual hour ended up being an hour and a half! I'm very grateful to the Internet Gods that made it possible for me to meet such a dear friend.
Then today, I helped another friend go out and buy a piano. She's been thinking of getting one for a while now, and is in the position where she's moved to a house that one will fit into and has the financial health to pick up a used console piano for $1K. It was fun going to the stores and playing the candidates, I'll have to admit. There was an old Steinway upright grand that I'd be willing to kill to own - but evidently CA has a law against selling anything with(or containing) real ivory. Dunno how much the price was, but I *might* get away with it if I immediately began rebuilding the thing and handed over the keys with the ivory. *Another sigh* Ah well, I have a fairly good console piano at home; and when I start jonesing for something better, I have the keys that get me into being able to play a Steinway 7ft concert grand. I can live with that (it says in the fine print.)
My orthopedist has told me I need to start using a cane when I walk any substantive distance, thanks to the progress arthritis has made in my right knee - so Hubby is now making me a custom cane. It's gonna look so cool, I really won't mind using it so much. Had the three-month cortisone shots in the shoulders and now in the knee too - thanks the Universe my doctor knows how to do them so they're not agony. The arms are still bothering me enough that I don't feel competent to try to practice the harp, though, dammit. I keep hoping that I'll be able to hold my arms up for longer than just 10 minutes at a stretch so I can get in some decent practice time, and I guess I'll just have to be patient with the shorter times in the interrim. Dammit. Again.
I've also made the conscious decision to go on a gluten-free diet, mostly because gluten is an inflammatory agent. Daughter Súl went gluten-free a while back, so she was able to warn me about some of the sneaky and unsuspecting places that it hides - but at times it's very hard to think that I'll never again have regular cookies or pies, or gravies. Going to restaurants becomes an adventure of being really careful. Went to one today and asked the waitress to ask the cook if the cornbread that came with my salad bar was gluten-free. (It wasn't - which was surprising and disappointing.) Still, my knee aches less when I stick to it, sooooo...
On the family front:
JJ is between jobs - the bad economy finally hit the little postal store run by an agency that helps the disabled. Sooo... we went on a tour of another organization on Monday, and he found out that a whole bunch of his old school friends work there. So it looks as if we'll be working to get him placed there - and he gets to ride the bus early in the morning the 15 miles to the job site. However, comma, he's also going to be needing surgery on his backside in the very near future to repair a cyst at the base of his coccyx, so maybe it's not a bad thing that he hasn't started working yet.
Súl loves the salon she works at now that is within walking distance of home. She told me she gets to smell the flowers along the way, has two or three different routes she can take for variety, and doesn't have to worry about traffic or lights or having enough gas. Her health is still not completely stable, but she has a good nutritionist working with her to keep her from adrenal collapse. She's had to give up her weekly runs on the beach on Saturday mornings, though - something she resents greatly giving up.
Vanna, up in OR, seems to be doing well. She's gotten a couple of tattoos since JJ and I were up there - they dont' look that bad. She's told me she's actively saving up now for the needed surgery - which will take place mostly likely in San Francisco - and hoping to have things together for it in maybe 2 - 3 years. Hormone therapy continues apace, as does the visits with the psychologist that all trans folks need to go through as part of the process. She loves her job, has actually managed to reclaim her art Muse so that she's drawing again, and is looking forward to moving with her partner to a nicer apartment in the very near future.
Writing-wise, I'm chugging away at finishing my Doctor Who fic and IDD - and when I'm not doing that or working on music, I'm preparing for my o-fic novel with the organizing software. My Muses are... well... reluctant to work very hard, but at least they will answer when I call them (even if it is to tell me "Later, Mom.") But they feed me enough to feel like I'm making progress, even if it's SLOOOOWWWW progress.
For me, the thrust of this past week has been MUSIC. A friend handed me an MP3 of a song by Jimmy Webb entitled "Someone Is Standing Outside" that he wanted to do for an anthem at the Theosophical Temple - but that he couldn't figure out the chords. Could I do a piano arrangement. Searched the Internet for a couple of hours only to find that sheet music for Webb music is non-existent at best, which left me flipping back and forth between Windows Media Player and Noteworthy figuring out the chords/arrangement by ear. Not an easy chore in the first place - made more difficult by son JJ listening to "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies with the associated soundtrack blaring in the living room. I'm afraid I snapped at him a little sharply more than once: "When the hell is that movie over? I want to work!!"
Anyhoo, long story short, figured out the arrangement to my own ear's satisfaction, took the time to transpose it up 4 half-tones, and took the lot over to my friend's yesterday. He's jazzed - I managed to figure out the less-than-logical chord progressions that had him stymied - and we'll do it on the 23rd. So now I get to tweak the arrangement a bit to sound more full, and start on the next Webb project for him: "Paul Gauguin In The South Seas". That one will be VERY difficult to noodle out, as that music doesn't exist to be ordered anywhere either that I can find. *sigh* I guess it's too new, but then, I'm not certain. I'm looking at it as a challenge, forcing me to listen to the "insides" of a piece of music so I can write down what I hear. I haven't worked this hard on this kind of stuff since my violin teacher had me doing it decades ago!!
Had my normal Wednesday afternoon yak session with engarian. I do enjoy our conversations immensely, and wouldn't miss them for the world. We have a lot of things in common, and our conversations range from the sublime to the ridiculous and hit just about every possible point in between. This past Wednesday, we had such fun talking that our usual hour ended up being an hour and a half! I'm very grateful to the Internet Gods that made it possible for me to meet such a dear friend.
Then today, I helped another friend go out and buy a piano. She's been thinking of getting one for a while now, and is in the position where she's moved to a house that one will fit into and has the financial health to pick up a used console piano for $1K. It was fun going to the stores and playing the candidates, I'll have to admit. There was an old Steinway upright grand that I'd be willing to kill to own - but evidently CA has a law against selling anything with(or containing) real ivory. Dunno how much the price was, but I *might* get away with it if I immediately began rebuilding the thing and handed over the keys with the ivory. *Another sigh* Ah well, I have a fairly good console piano at home; and when I start jonesing for something better, I have the keys that get me into being able to play a Steinway 7ft concert grand. I can live with that (it says in the fine print.)
My orthopedist has told me I need to start using a cane when I walk any substantive distance, thanks to the progress arthritis has made in my right knee - so Hubby is now making me a custom cane. It's gonna look so cool, I really won't mind using it so much. Had the three-month cortisone shots in the shoulders and now in the knee too - thanks the Universe my doctor knows how to do them so they're not agony. The arms are still bothering me enough that I don't feel competent to try to practice the harp, though, dammit. I keep hoping that I'll be able to hold my arms up for longer than just 10 minutes at a stretch so I can get in some decent practice time, and I guess I'll just have to be patient with the shorter times in the interrim. Dammit. Again.
I've also made the conscious decision to go on a gluten-free diet, mostly because gluten is an inflammatory agent. Daughter Súl went gluten-free a while back, so she was able to warn me about some of the sneaky and unsuspecting places that it hides - but at times it's very hard to think that I'll never again have regular cookies or pies, or gravies. Going to restaurants becomes an adventure of being really careful. Went to one today and asked the waitress to ask the cook if the cornbread that came with my salad bar was gluten-free. (It wasn't - which was surprising and disappointing.) Still, my knee aches less when I stick to it, sooooo...
On the family front:
JJ is between jobs - the bad economy finally hit the little postal store run by an agency that helps the disabled. Sooo... we went on a tour of another organization on Monday, and he found out that a whole bunch of his old school friends work there. So it looks as if we'll be working to get him placed there - and he gets to ride the bus early in the morning the 15 miles to the job site. However, comma, he's also going to be needing surgery on his backside in the very near future to repair a cyst at the base of his coccyx, so maybe it's not a bad thing that he hasn't started working yet.
Súl loves the salon she works at now that is within walking distance of home. She told me she gets to smell the flowers along the way, has two or three different routes she can take for variety, and doesn't have to worry about traffic or lights or having enough gas. Her health is still not completely stable, but she has a good nutritionist working with her to keep her from adrenal collapse. She's had to give up her weekly runs on the beach on Saturday mornings, though - something she resents greatly giving up.
Vanna, up in OR, seems to be doing well. She's gotten a couple of tattoos since JJ and I were up there - they dont' look that bad. She's told me she's actively saving up now for the needed surgery - which will take place mostly likely in San Francisco - and hoping to have things together for it in maybe 2 - 3 years. Hormone therapy continues apace, as does the visits with the psychologist that all trans folks need to go through as part of the process. She loves her job, has actually managed to reclaim her art Muse so that she's drawing again, and is looking forward to moving with her partner to a nicer apartment in the very near future.
Writing-wise, I'm chugging away at finishing my Doctor Who fic and IDD - and when I'm not doing that or working on music, I'm preparing for my o-fic novel with the organizing software. My Muses are... well... reluctant to work very hard, but at least they will answer when I call them (even if it is to tell me "Later, Mom.") But they feed me enough to feel like I'm making progress, even if it's SLOOOOWWWW progress.