Archive for March 2012
Speaking Of
Speaking of singing, check out this great example of letting the voice loose, from American indie pop band, “Fun.,” and featuring singer Janelle Monáe to wonderful effect on this song that has become a hit for them, We Are Young. I am drawn to the non-traditional song structure, with a melody line that is unpredictable, and a somewhat free-form style that moves outside of the lines of obvious verse/chorus/verse. It does have an infectious chorus. How can you keep from singing along?
According to the digital sheet music published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of F major and follows a tempo of 120 beats per minute in common time.[1] “We Are Young” starts out with a confused, fumbling apology in a bar — a young man trying to atone to someone for a mysterious past offense — before breaking into an anthemic chorus about being young.[3] In the song, “careful arrangements layer sharp, bright piano melodies with big, booming drums and multiple vocal harmonies.” Reuss shifts from “vulnerable verbal tumbling in the song’s sonically sparse intro to the grandiose declaration, ‘Tonight, we are young / So let’s set the world on fire’ in the massive chorus.”[4] from Wikipedia
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Give me a second I,
I need to get my story straight
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State
My lover she’s waiting for me just across the bar
My seat’s been taken by some sunglasses asking bout a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago
I know you’re trying to forget
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I’m trying hard to take it back
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down
I’ll carry you home
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
Now I know that I’m not
All that you got
I guess that I, I just thought
Maybe we could find new ways to fall apart
But our friends are back
So let’s raise a cup
‘Cause I found someone to carry me home
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)
Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)
Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)
Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)
The moon is on my side
I have no reason to run
So will someone come and carry me home tonight
The angels never arrived
But I can hear the choir
So will someone come and carry me home
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
Tonight
We are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down
I’ll carry you home tonight
Written by: Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff, Matthias Bell, Samuel Means
Dream Hesitation
What the heck do I know about owning a horse farm? With the brains of this organization off gallivanting around Boston right now, it is I, your humble correspondent, who am on the front line of decision making. Yesterday, we received the first batch of properties from the realtor we met with a month ago, and I noticed some things about the listings that triggered a little apprehension in me.
“Do we know what we want to spend?” she wrote. Um… no. Well, that’s not true. We would like to spend nothing, but I assume that is not going to bring the results we are hoping for.
Private sewer? This property has a private sewer. Oh, just what I always wanted, a sewer of my own.
One property had a lot of acreage, but within a flood plain. Do I want to open that box?
Then, there are all the improvements we did to our home of 25 years. Looking at this first list of potential properties, I see all the things we’ve already done here, needing to be done all over again. Oy. Siding, insulation, gas fireplace insert, gutters, windows, garage door and floor, new driveway, landscaping, kitchen remodel, bathroom upgrades. Did I mention siding?
And, of course, now we are going to have all the walls and ceilings here repaired, freshly painted, and new carpet installed! How many of you can see John deciding to stay here and rent a stall in a stable nearby for Cyndie to have a horse?
Cyndie is the true dreamer of our team. I’m just a tag-along. I fill in some of the creative blanks, but I also tend to drag in a bit more realism (read “pessimism”) than she wants to hear. I guess we are a good balance, eh?
It doesn’t feel right trying to do this without her around.
But, hey, don’t let me get you down. This is just a normal phase of my processing things. I’ll get over it. Seriously. And, Cyndie visits again in about 3-weeks. In just a few minutes of arriving, she’ll have me back up on our dream cloud and we’ll be designing our little paradise together as if it is what my whole life groomed me to be doing.
Meanwhile, maybe I should sneak out to visit the horses she tends to here, on my own, and just stand near them… see if I can hear what they have to say. I could use a dose of their wisdom.
Bedless Room
The early stages of a project can involve a lot of chaos. Before I can get this house fixed up for showing, I’m making quite a mess of it. Last night, with some help that materialized at the last second, we moved some of the bigger pieces of furniture out of a couple of bedrooms. The most important room is the Master Bedroom, so that means we cleared, among other things, the bed out of that room. I don’t know how long this process will take, but for the time being, I’m going to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor in our library room.
Since this all happened really fast, I wasn’t totally prepared for this move. It is one part excitement, and one part discombobulation. It was like spending a night in a hotel. There are sounds in my home on the main floor that I’m not used to sleeping with. Funny, I never notice them during the day.
I’ve made jokes in the past that I’ve turned this place into a bachelor pad since Cyndie moved to Boston. It’s no longer a joke. The library is starting to look like a college dorm room.
Urban Art
Here are a few images captured in Minneapolis on the day of our bike ride this past weekend. These are the kinds of things I see within the bigger scenes that make up the view.
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Happy Cycling
My cycling friends invited me to go for a ride yesterday. Six days ago, I was suffering an immobilizing pain in my back. I could hardly stand up. On Monday, I tried to take my therapeutic walk, but couldn’t go but a short distance. I stayed home from work, and scheduled my first-ever acupuncture appointment with no idea what to expect.
It was very simple. After a very brief description of my situation, the practitioner placed needles in various places: ears, arms, hands, legs, and feet, and left me reclining in the dim room amid sounds of flowing water and celestial music. I’ve suffered worse procedures.
I had no idea what I was supposed to feel. It was nothing, if not relaxing. After almost an hour, the needles are removed, and it’s “Have a nice day.” That’s it? I just get up and go now? Okay.
I worked half a day on Tuesday, before I tired of trying to function in a semi-normal fashion. At least I was able to do something. There was definite improvement. By Wednesday, I was able to complete my usual distance of therapeutic walk in the morning, and did all my back exercises.
I had two follow-up acupuncture appointments, on Wednesday and Friday. I was feeling very close to normal function. I had not taken any pain medication beyond one last dose of ibuprofen on Monday morning. I have had zero negative side effects from having acupuncture.
In the past, I have been able to ride a bicycle, even though my back was ailing, so I was willing to try joining my friends for a ride yesterday. However, during my mental preparation for the excursion, I realized that my bike was hanging upside down overhead in the garage. I was going to need to reach above my head and hold that weight at precarious angles to get it down. I’m pretty sure that this falls well into the category of things I’ve been advised not to do.
With some trepidation, I carefully managed the task, bending over multiple times as I prepared my bike and myself for the ride. I pumped up the tires, using my manual pump, thinking the whole time that the motion was probably ill-advised. I removed the front wheel and picked up the bike to hoist it into the back of my car. All accomplished with no problems from my back!
We had a wonderful 20-mile ride on trails from Hopkins to downtown Minneapolis, where we lunched at the legendary east European deli, Kramarczuk’s.
I can think of no reason I shouldn’t give the practice of acupuncture credit for giving me such a quick return to one of the great pleasures of my life. I will gladly continue to do more testing of this judgement.
Madness Happens
There must be a law of physics that can explain the difference that exists between regular season college basketball games and the NCAA tournament games that happen in March. Even though I have no allegiance to fuel my interest, I can’t help but be drawn into the excitement of these tournament games. During the regular season, I don’t find anything the least bit interesting in games between two random schools.
Sweet 16, elite 8, final 4… I love ’em all, especially when there is a lower seeded underdog team making a run, knocking out powerful schools with storied pasts. Every game seems to have one or two individuals with heartening tales that add depth to the already exciting entertainment.
Our state high school tournament is this weekend and switching back and forth between the two graphically reveals the development that happens to young men between their late teens and early twenties. Those high school players are just boys, compared to the college players that look like men.
Of course, some of the split-second decisions those college guys make in the games could be seen to support the research that indicates brain development is not complete until about age 25.
Everest Thinking
I stayed up a bit later than I should last night, watching our state high school basketball tournament, the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey game, and 4 NCAA basketball tournament games, while simultaneously playing 4 different games of “Words with Friends” against 3 other people. That is, after I played guitar for a couple of hours.
I never got my head around thinking about what today’s blog post would be about, partially because I was also distracted by a book my daughter gave me that has my mind on Nepal again. I’m reading, “Detectives on Everest” about the 2001 Mallory and Irvine research expedition.
Yesterday, my friend, Pam, pointed me to a great photo at National Geographic’s site, where I discovered their coverage of a 2012 expedition. I have never had any interest in climbing the highest mountain on earth, but I sure love reading about the experiences of others who do.
Take a moment to check out all the amazing photos and other information at the National Geographic site covering Everest:
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Getting Poked
Painful times demand dramatic steps, so, after this most intense incident since my disc degeneration first became noticeable, I followed the advice I immediately received from two different friends, and am seeking acupuncture treatments. It is not something I have any experience with, but I am open to the possibilities and happy to try alternatives to pharmacological routines.
I already practice the treatment regimen I learned from physical therapy, after my initial diagnosis. But that is tailored toward helping long-term. I’m looking for acupuncture to help manage the short-term acute discomfort.
So far, so good. Finished my second session last night, and I have another scheduled for Friday afternoon. It is difficult to tell what aid it is actually providing, but I am experiencing definite improvement, and haven’t taken anything for pain since before my first session Monday. It certainly isn’t causing any negative side effects (unlike the stomach complaints that ibuprofen usually causes me).
At a minimum, it gets me to lay still and rest for 45 minutes-to-an-hour, in a quiet and peaceful setting. Part of me thinks that is the secret.
The needles are just to distract me long enough for the benefits of resting to take effect.
Relative Something 