Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I've recently started to see war and violence as a bit archaic.
A few weeks ago I read about soldier Henry Fleming's battle with fear in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and couldn't help but think how unfortunate and hypocritical war is. But actually, how often do parents and teachers tell children to "Use your words?" Growing up children are taught that violence is not the answer yet it's something adults turn to as a solution, I guess, when people won't listen.
It seems like the message they're sending is that when people won't listen, we should hit them.
Any thoughts on the effectiveness of war in conflict-resolution? Or a utilitarian reasoning of the costs and benefits of war or a specific war?
Until my next postworthy thought.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Musical Ban Lifted
Hello friends!
Due to some health problems, more than a year ago I was banned from playing my beautiful clarinet. However I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, the ban has been lifted!
Tonight I stuck a reed in my mouth, pieced my Buffet R13 back together, and played 5 minutes of long-tones. While my clarinet could use a little cork grease, my embouchure many more minutes (hours) of long-tones, and my fingers some cleaner transitions between octaves, it felt nice to place again and a little more than mildly invigorating. So after my long-tones I dug out a good old Hite study, put a fresh battery in my metronome, and stumbled through the study stopping nearly ever 2 measures because my embouchure was gushing air.
I was impressed at my ability to blow a few throat tone As with really nice tone quality and a few nice Es just over the break. Last week when I wasn't sure if I would play again I thought about how I would really miss that E and I was happy to start to re-acquaint myself with it tonight, even if only for a fraction of a second.
I ended my session by skimming a few pages of the Bonade book I bought right before I stopped playing. I skimmed a few pages but paused and more thoroughly read the section on reed adjustments. Like most clarinetists, I've always been very picky about reeds and often struggle with warping, reed irregularity and inconsistency. Bonade recommends a reed rush for scraping reeds as opposed to razor blades, knives, or sandpaper (though he mentions the proper use for a sandpaper file later). Now I'm considering investing in a reed rush. They seem pretty reasonably priced and might be fun to play around with.
Any recommendations on reed rushes?
image from: http://www.runyonproducts.com/reed.rush.html
Due to some health problems, more than a year ago I was banned from playing my beautiful clarinet. However I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, the ban has been lifted!
Tonight I stuck a reed in my mouth, pieced my Buffet R13 back together, and played 5 minutes of long-tones. While my clarinet could use a little cork grease, my embouchure many more minutes (hours) of long-tones, and my fingers some cleaner transitions between octaves, it felt nice to place again and a little more than mildly invigorating. So after my long-tones I dug out a good old Hite study, put a fresh battery in my metronome, and stumbled through the study stopping nearly ever 2 measures because my embouchure was gushing air.
I was impressed at my ability to blow a few throat tone As with really nice tone quality and a few nice Es just over the break. Last week when I wasn't sure if I would play again I thought about how I would really miss that E and I was happy to start to re-acquaint myself with it tonight, even if only for a fraction of a second.
I ended my session by skimming a few pages of the Bonade book I bought right before I stopped playing. I skimmed a few pages but paused and more thoroughly read the section on reed adjustments. Like most clarinetists, I've always been very picky about reeds and often struggle with warping, reed irregularity and inconsistency. Bonade recommends a reed rush for scraping reeds as opposed to razor blades, knives, or sandpaper (though he mentions the proper use for a sandpaper file later). Now I'm considering investing in a reed rush. They seem pretty reasonably priced and might be fun to play around with.
Any recommendations on reed rushes?
image from: http://www.runyonproducts.com/reed.rush.html
Friday, May 4, 2012
Addictive Musical Mystery
Have you ever heard a song on the radio, playing in a store, in a movie, wherever and while it's playing all you can think about is how you want to hear it again? I love when that happens, except when it takes me years to figure out what the song was. I'm always on the lookout for new music and today I was graced with a new song to add to my Spring 2012 Youtube playlist.
We gave presentations in my organic chemistry class on important named reactions in organic synthesis and one group showed this video called "Enolate Love Story," with Calvin Harris's "Feel So Close" as the music; it was great. The movie was also really well done and obviously a laborious process using lots of stills of pipecleaners.
Other notable music mysteries:
"Let the Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope was probably the song that took me the longest to figure out. I think this mystery spanned about three years in high school. I was really drawn in by the piano. I heard it in a car commercial on TV twice. A few months later I heard it in a clothing store and then finally I think I found it by looking it up a movie soundtrack.
What's your latest addictive musical mystery?
P.S. I'm so obviously behind in pop music trends. I thought I discovered this awesome new pop song (for all you pop song haters, no, awesome new pop song is not an oxymoron) and both people I shared my new music find with already knew the song.
We gave presentations in my organic chemistry class on important named reactions in organic synthesis and one group showed this video called "Enolate Love Story," with Calvin Harris's "Feel So Close" as the music; it was great. The movie was also really well done and obviously a laborious process using lots of stills of pipecleaners.
Other notable music mysteries:
"Let the Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope was probably the song that took me the longest to figure out. I think this mystery spanned about three years in high school. I was really drawn in by the piano. I heard it in a car commercial on TV twice. A few months later I heard it in a clothing store and then finally I think I found it by looking it up a movie soundtrack.
What's your latest addictive musical mystery?
P.S. I'm so obviously behind in pop music trends. I thought I discovered this awesome new pop song (for all you pop song haters, no, awesome new pop song is not an oxymoron) and both people I shared my new music find with already knew the song.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
SLAM!
My kind college professors welcomed me and my classmates back from spring break with research papers, lengthy lab reports, and midterms. This past week I took a midterm Wednesday morning and after a leisurely lunch, as a virus bypassed my immune system, I began to study for midterm number two, scheduled for less than 24 hours later on Thursday morning. Needless to say I did manage to survive the week though it will be another couple of weeks before I find out if my GPA survived.
Friday evening through Saturday my body was converted into a war zone; I wasn't sure if the virus or my body would win. I did all I could to help out my immune system by sleeping 5 hours Friday night and spending Saturday on my bed watching season 3 of One Tree Hill on my parent's Netflix account while eating Twix, Twizzlers, and a Cookie's and Cream chocolate bar. Later on Saturday I forced myself to leave my bed; I had promised some friends I would go into the city to watch Anis Mogjani, a poet, perform at a local university.
At 5:20PM I gave my dear friend Olivia a ring to ask when she wanted to leave. "10 minutes," was the answer I received. 10 minutes would have been manageable if I hadn't been incubating in my own filth all day. She amended her initial statement and I was given 25 minutes to make myself presentable/socially acceptable. I hopped into the shower, skipped the hair wash (am considering going "natural" and switching to baking soda and vinegar), and cleansed the rest of myself. I threw on a pair of jeans, black flats, a white linen button down, and some gold earrings before grabbing my beat up old Coach bag stuffed with tissues and heading out the door.
After a savory dinner of pho and spring rolls at Le's we paid for our tickets and snagged seats in the second row in the lecture hall where the poetry slam was to take place. The student performances definitely warmed up the stage and the audience for Anis, with their poems on love and sex. But when he came out on stage, Anis Mogjani spoke about more than love more than sex, he spoke about childhood, patriotism, racism, and of course: the underdogs. Here's a link to a video of Anis performing perhaps his most well-known piece Shake the Dust.
One of the many things that I enjoyed about his performance was the clarity of the language of his poems. Yeah, I get that metaphors can make poems seem so creative, beautiful or funny but the meaning of poems can be tough to decipher especially when you have to rely on your ears to take in the words and you can't necessarily replay each line until it makes sense. I also really liked his voice and his sense of humor. It was a great performance and for those of you who were there "I'm glad I came."
Friday evening through Saturday my body was converted into a war zone; I wasn't sure if the virus or my body would win. I did all I could to help out my immune system by sleeping 5 hours Friday night and spending Saturday on my bed watching season 3 of One Tree Hill on my parent's Netflix account while eating Twix, Twizzlers, and a Cookie's and Cream chocolate bar. Later on Saturday I forced myself to leave my bed; I had promised some friends I would go into the city to watch Anis Mogjani, a poet, perform at a local university.
At 5:20PM I gave my dear friend Olivia a ring to ask when she wanted to leave. "10 minutes," was the answer I received. 10 minutes would have been manageable if I hadn't been incubating in my own filth all day. She amended her initial statement and I was given 25 minutes to make myself presentable/socially acceptable. I hopped into the shower, skipped the hair wash (am considering going "natural" and switching to baking soda and vinegar), and cleansed the rest of myself. I threw on a pair of jeans, black flats, a white linen button down, and some gold earrings before grabbing my beat up old Coach bag stuffed with tissues and heading out the door.
After a savory dinner of pho and spring rolls at Le's we paid for our tickets and snagged seats in the second row in the lecture hall where the poetry slam was to take place. The student performances definitely warmed up the stage and the audience for Anis, with their poems on love and sex. But when he came out on stage, Anis Mogjani spoke about more than love more than sex, he spoke about childhood, patriotism, racism, and of course: the underdogs. Here's a link to a video of Anis performing perhaps his most well-known piece Shake the Dust.
One of the many things that I enjoyed about his performance was the clarity of the language of his poems. Yeah, I get that metaphors can make poems seem so creative, beautiful or funny but the meaning of poems can be tough to decipher especially when you have to rely on your ears to take in the words and you can't necessarily replay each line until it makes sense. I also really liked his voice and his sense of humor. It was a great performance and for those of you who were there "I'm glad I came."
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Monotonous Weather and Footwear
Hello friends!
While I enjoy retaining feeling in the less well insulated parts of my body (i.e. my ears, nose, and toes) when walking to class, this weather is making college seem even more unnatural than it already is. I feel as though I'm on another planet where the majority of the population is 17-24 year old women who are constantly doing homework and are achieving great things in every aspect of life while the daily high is a stable 40F.
I fear that this lack of variation in New England weather has created a sense of monotony that exceeds wearing my winter boots from December-March to wearing my Sperry mocs all year. It's bad, I know. I used to mix it up with my Asics faux wrestling shoes, Adidas classic grey tennis shoes, and Birks with wool socks but I left the first at home (somewhat intentionally, subconscious style change?), got rid of the second because they hurt my feat, and have pronated through the cork on the third.
Occasionally I'll wear my black flats or my black Uggs but I can only wear either of those with tights (sometimes I can get away with thing athletic socks), and I don't like to wear either to lab. Essentially, I'm wearing my Sperry's every day. I've come to the conclusion that I need another pair of day-to-day shoes. Perhaps a pair of oxfords? Ankle boots? Dansko clogs? I want this pair of shoes to look cute with straight leg or skinny jeans and a t-shirt but also look nice with tights and a feminine skirt.
I found these shoes at Nordstroms but I fear they'll be too narrow. But aren't they super cute? Oxfords with a buckle? I totally like them. I think they're like a softer/slightly more feminine oxford.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/dv-by-dolce-vita-micky-oxford/3191421?origin=category&resultback=2751
What are your favorite day-to-day shoes?
Peace.
While I enjoy retaining feeling in the less well insulated parts of my body (i.e. my ears, nose, and toes) when walking to class, this weather is making college seem even more unnatural than it already is. I feel as though I'm on another planet where the majority of the population is 17-24 year old women who are constantly doing homework and are achieving great things in every aspect of life while the daily high is a stable 40F.
I fear that this lack of variation in New England weather has created a sense of monotony that exceeds wearing my winter boots from December-March to wearing my Sperry mocs all year. It's bad, I know. I used to mix it up with my Asics faux wrestling shoes, Adidas classic grey tennis shoes, and Birks with wool socks but I left the first at home (somewhat intentionally, subconscious style change?), got rid of the second because they hurt my feat, and have pronated through the cork on the third.
Occasionally I'll wear my black flats or my black Uggs but I can only wear either of those with tights (sometimes I can get away with thing athletic socks), and I don't like to wear either to lab. Essentially, I'm wearing my Sperry's every day. I've come to the conclusion that I need another pair of day-to-day shoes. Perhaps a pair of oxfords? Ankle boots? Dansko clogs? I want this pair of shoes to look cute with straight leg or skinny jeans and a t-shirt but also look nice with tights and a feminine skirt.
I found these shoes at Nordstroms but I fear they'll be too narrow. But aren't they super cute? Oxfords with a buckle? I totally like them. I think they're like a softer/slightly more feminine oxford.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/dv-by-dolce-vita-micky-oxford/3191421?origin=category&resultback=2751
What are your favorite day-to-day shoes?
Peace.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
A Good Meal and Some Nice Dessert
Dear readers,
Last semester I learned something about Wellesley traditions from my father. According to his memory, back in the day Wellesley students would invite guests for a late afternoon Sunday meal followed by tea and piano playing in residence hall living rooms. My father was invited by a student for a few meals. While he didn't remember her name or why it didn't work out, he posited that they were ultimately looking for beaus from elite colleges while my father, well, "You know me, I was just looking for a good meal and some nice dessert."
Tonight I experienced the unpleasantness of being a neglected, and dare I say, unwelcome guest at a nearby college. While the social skills and manners of the students throwing the event were severely lacking, their budget for the meal obviously wasn't. The dinner was catered: thinly cut and flavorful brisket, seasoned mixed veggies, warm apple crumble, and a dessert table with rich chocolate cake and quality tea. While, to quote a RHO NY (Real Housewives of New York), "Money can't buy you class," it certainly can cater a good meal.
It is with a satisfied tummy that I bid you good night.
-L
Correction: February 11, 2012
Today when I was researching Jill Zarin from the RHO New York, I realized my catastrophic miscrediting of "Money can't buy you class" to a RHOA, it actually belongs to "the countess" from RHO NY.
Last semester I learned something about Wellesley traditions from my father. According to his memory, back in the day Wellesley students would invite guests for a late afternoon Sunday meal followed by tea and piano playing in residence hall living rooms. My father was invited by a student for a few meals. While he didn't remember her name or why it didn't work out, he posited that they were ultimately looking for beaus from elite colleges while my father, well, "You know me, I was just looking for a good meal and some nice dessert."
Tonight I experienced the unpleasantness of being a neglected, and dare I say, unwelcome guest at a nearby college. While the social skills and manners of the students throwing the event were severely lacking, their budget for the meal obviously wasn't. The dinner was catered: thinly cut and flavorful brisket, seasoned mixed veggies, warm apple crumble, and a dessert table with rich chocolate cake and quality tea. While, to quote a RHO NY (Real Housewives of New York), "Money can't buy you class," it certainly can cater a good meal.
It is with a satisfied tummy that I bid you good night.
-L
Correction: February 11, 2012
Today when I was researching Jill Zarin from the RHO New York, I realized my catastrophic miscrediting of "Money can't buy you class" to a RHOA, it actually belongs to "the countess" from RHO NY.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Cell Phone Etiquette
Often I need to go the library to study. I go there because I need a quiet place. Unfortunately any noise such as a sneeze, flip of a page, or student walking by seems to have the same effect as an air horn would at Pete's in Harvard Square. But over time I've come to accept people and their flaws that make them incapable of studying like corpses: motionless and silent. Generally I can concentrate on my work with these unavoidable sounds in the library.
I'm currently have trouble accepting people and their cell phones. That token noise of an iphone receiving a text or a facebook update really breaks my concentration. Sometimes I jump when the table vibrates from a buzzing phone. I'm not talking about the occasional text, like 1x an hour. I'm referring to the extended text conversions where the distractions occur at least 1x every 5 minutes. Before assuming that people were in the wrong with their distracting phones I first asked myself: Do I have any real basis for being more distracted by these cell phones than I am by page turning? Have I just had less time to habituate to these noises and vibrations? Or should people keep their phones on silent in study areas and place their vibrating phones in a pocket instead of the table?
And then I wondered if I should focus on why people don't switch their phones to vibrate or take them off a shared tables when they're having frequent interaction with others through their phones. I think some people genuinely are not distracted by their phones or the phones of others. But I also think that allowing everyone around you to be notified that you are in constant communication with someone not in the room may be a way of showing that you're popular or well loved or just super social.
Regardless of other's intentions for allowing their phone to behave in a way that is distracting to others in public areas that are meant to be quiet and for studying, I would prefer that people silence their phones and keep them off the table when they know they're going to be in communication with a lot of people.
What are your thoughts on phone etiquette in public settings?
-L
I'm currently have trouble accepting people and their cell phones. That token noise of an iphone receiving a text or a facebook update really breaks my concentration. Sometimes I jump when the table vibrates from a buzzing phone. I'm not talking about the occasional text, like 1x an hour. I'm referring to the extended text conversions where the distractions occur at least 1x every 5 minutes. Before assuming that people were in the wrong with their distracting phones I first asked myself: Do I have any real basis for being more distracted by these cell phones than I am by page turning? Have I just had less time to habituate to these noises and vibrations? Or should people keep their phones on silent in study areas and place their vibrating phones in a pocket instead of the table?
And then I wondered if I should focus on why people don't switch their phones to vibrate or take them off a shared tables when they're having frequent interaction with others through their phones. I think some people genuinely are not distracted by their phones or the phones of others. But I also think that allowing everyone around you to be notified that you are in constant communication with someone not in the room may be a way of showing that you're popular or well loved or just super social.
Regardless of other's intentions for allowing their phone to behave in a way that is distracting to others in public areas that are meant to be quiet and for studying, I would prefer that people silence their phones and keep them off the table when they know they're going to be in communication with a lot of people.
What are your thoughts on phone etiquette in public settings?
-L
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