Where Pianos Roam

Early On a Sunday Morning

I have had a full week of activity and discovery.  It's been quite fun actually.   Today, I wanted to share a little bit of what I've been up to! In my room, I have two potted plants that were in dire need of some tender loving care.  

With the expert help from my Mom who's been gardening for years, we were able to spruce them back up and give them new life.

I think James Dean would approve. 

Admittedly, I am a thrift store junky.  Mind you, I don’t buy oodles and oodles of pointless stuff.  I have a rule to only walk out of a thrift store/Goodwill with no more than two items.  I absolutely have to either really want them or really need them.  Each items gets a full trial in my head as to whether or not it is guilty of becoming a possession of mine.

Once in a while, I come across a true find.   This week I stumbled upon a vintage gem amongst a dusty and weary heap of old gadgets and gizmos.  I found a tiny vintage Casio keyboard.

OMG.  It wreaks of bedazzled awesomeness.

The Demonic Ducky is not included.

So portable.  So pretty.

On the reading front, I have to admit that I've been keeping things kind of light.  I am still completely enamored of this:

I love this book.  I love this book.  I love this book.  Did I mention that I love this book? Out of a total of 24 Chapters, I have only reached 17.  I am seriously dreading getting to the end.  I wish it could go on forever.  Anybody who has ever played a piano and loved every second of it, bathed in it's depth, richness, suppleness, and power, will LOVE this book.  It's gonna be in my top ten for sure.  On the day I finish reading it, I may just weep.

On random mornings here and there, I've been dabbling in this book also.

I’ll never pretend to know everything.  In fact, I most definitely do not; however, I take great pleasure in always learning new things, even when I am actually re-learning things I should have remembered.  Small doses of wisdom are a tasty remedy for the occasional madness that might ail us all from time to time.

Temper the madness by knowing it better than it knows itself.

I await the incidental arrival of a really good book.  In the past, the best books I’ve ever read were ones that I stumbled upon or were given as gifts.  I found The Piano Shop On the Left Bank while rummaging through a small bookstore in Alabama last year.  It’s title intrigued me, and I’ve been hooked ever since.  One of my favorite books of all time, The God In Flight by Laura Argiri, was found on a library shelf when I shoved it over to get to another book.  I don’t even remember what that other book was.  Another great book, The Time-Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger, was a sweet birthday gift from my friend Leigh out in Seattle.  (One of several books she has recommended that I loved.)

So, I wait, ever so patiently, as one will soon bump into me on its path.

On the knitting front, I completed two small baby scarves for boys.  There seems to be a shortage of great clothing items for baby and little boys out there.  Girls have massive VOLUMES of options to choose from.  For the boys, eh, not so much.  (Though I must say that toys made for boys are pretty badass.)  I hope to do my small part to change this.

Here’s a tiny, adorable step.

Uncoiled.

I am a cheesy, blubbery sucker for a splash of color and mood lighting.  Quite rarely, I get to achieve both of these ends.  I happened to do so this week.  I've been wanting to add a more modern reading lamp next to my bed.  The one I had was more sculptural and traditional than I wanted. 

So, I found a small lamp on the clearance rack at a craft store near my house.  (Paid less than ten bucks for what was originally closer to $25)  I grabbed some yarn from my yarn basket.

So, who's your lamp-making Asian Daddy?

One strand of yarn to rule them all.

Maybe there should be more blue lamps in the world.

And here, my friends, is the intended effect, Oreo and Buttercup OOh-ing and AAAh-ing all the while.

Wow.  This blog post is pretty darn long.  I guess I had a lot to share.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that this blog will be changing.  Later this week, it's going to undergo some fairly sizable construction.  More on this later as I won't be able to blog much due to all of the construction.  It'll all be back to normal within a couple of weeks.  (Though it's gonna look infinitely cooler.)

Happy Sunday, folks.

P.S.  Feel free to leave me a comment if you like.  I'd love to hear from you.  An Asian gets lonely once in a while.

Untangling

It seems like my life lately has looked like this .  .  . By this photo, I mean that there seem to be so many different parts of my life that are just jumbled together right now without any resolution in sight. Well, I'm committing much of my weekend ahead to untangling the particular glob of yarn you see in this photo.  I desperately want to finish this scarf!!!  It's a beauty and gosh darnit, I have to finish it!!!! I'm working on undoing other globs in my life and creating more of a seamless and cohesive existence. Congruently, my room has also been in a slight state of disarray, and so, I've spent much of today putting it in order.  Here is evidence of my hard work.  A lovely corner by my window .  .  . I also just recently finished knitting that cap I was working on.  It was a bit of a doozy near the end--a pain in the tookus really.  Somehow, it got done. Here is my first cap with hopefully many more to come .  .  . Part of untangling my life of late has been catching up on stuff I've been meaning to do.  I paid some bills off in the last couple of days, and I FINALLY bought this .  .  . Last night, I finally purchased the brand-spankin' new album from the legendary Tori Amos.  I've already heard all of the songs courtesy of myspace, but now I have the album safely in my possession.  I can't believe I waited several days AFTER the release to get this.  Ugh. I'm going to listen to it all week and have my review up some time late next week.  So far, it's seems to be a moody, atmospheric, and almost slightly ambient affair.  I really like what I've heard so far.  She really is quite good at what she does. I'm spending the rest of this week preparing for my Cafe Coco show on Friday night.  It's gonna be SO FUN!! Lastly, I'm going to leave you all with a photo of a person who is not afraid of mixing things up.  My little fashionista strikes again .  .  . Yes.  She put this little ensemble together herself--wearing that top upside-down and mixing different patterns together.  Well, at least she stuck with neutral colors.  Bless her heart. More to come soon. -gordo

Early On a Sunday Morning

I've been focusing lately on trying have a little bit of something joyous every day.  Now I don't mean anything extravagant necessarily, but basically, something that I derive great joy out of doing. Life often presents enough challenges that are tough and disappointing.  I blogged recently about taking responsibility for my own happiness.  I'm try to do more of this each day. Occasionally this might mean eating something decadently  sweet and delicious like ice cream, or it could be listening to my favorite song in my car.  Lately, I've been incorporating various little joyous things into my daily life. Here are a few: ---Reading a chapter of a book in bed before falling a sleep at night. I love reading in bed.  It's one of my favorite things to do especially on an overcast and cloudy day.  I've been doing this every night for the past few weeks. ---A cup of warm coffee in the morning. I think I just love drinking something warm to start off my day.  This is extremely comforting. ---Watching HGTV, especially my favorite show "House Hunters" (and "House Hunters International"). Television is a luxury I don't often allow myself.  I consciously try to live more of an active life than a passive one.  However, I watch HGTV on the ellyptical machine when I go to the gym.  This makes exercising so much more fun.  I LOVE HGTV!!!   It is my tv drug of choice, but I only watch it at the gym as kind of a gift to myself for working out.  Whoever came up with the bright idea to attach tv screens to cardio exercise machines was a genius!! ---Blogging I've only been blogging over the last year, but it gives me a chance to do some actual writing.  At my core, I've always been a writer of words and a poet before anything else.  It is also a way to keep an ongoing record of what is happening in my life. ---Hanging out with my family I get to do a whole lot of this now that I live in the Nashville area.   As I get older, I am becoming increasingly aware of how impermanent all things in life are.  I treasure the many meals, conversations, laughter, and fun shared with my sisters, nephews, niece, in-laws, and my mom.  These are joyous moments that I don't take for granted. Overall, I don't consider myself an extravagant person.  I only allow myself to splurge on something once in a while.  I've learned not to depend on other people or physical objects to make me happy.  Joy has to be cultivated from within.  I pay great attention to this now more than ever. Have a flower. -g

Early On a Sunday Morning

So, I had a delayed epiphany lately.  I've been thinking about the idea that we are all individually responsible for our own happiness.  This is delayed because this concept came into my head a while back, and it finally filtered in to its fullest extent in the last few days. I've taken great comfort in this concept.  It's given me more pep to my step.  I've just been thinking .  .  . "I am responsible for my own happiness." What this means to me is that not only can I determine my own course, but ultimately, no one else has the power to rule over my life.  No one has the right to disempower me and who I want to become.  This line of thinking overules any sense of victimization, shame, and self-loathing.  If you are responsible for your own happiness, then you are responsible for everything--even some of the bad things. I have to make clear that there is a distinct difference between taking responsibility and taking blame.  Blame is often accusatory criticism either from someone else or directed towards oneself.  Blame is actually very destructive if it is internalized because it grows into a huge glob of shame.  I don't think it's an accident that these two words rhyme.  They walk hand in hand. In contrast, taking responsibility means claiming ownership of something--whether it is a wrongdoing, a task, a dream, and even a sense of happiness(whatever that may be).  It means that you will protect, nurture, maintain, or depending on the circumstance, undo whatever that "something" may be.  In all of these cases, you are essentially taking control of the situation and not letting it either slip away or wreak its own hellish havock upon you. Taking responsibility means being proactive.  There's nothing passive-aggressive about it.  I don't know why, but all of this is incredibly comforting to me. Life will throw it's curveballs.  There are often many disappointments and setbacks, but I am taking great pride in owning up to all these things.  It means that I can also own up to all the amazing moments, accomplishments, and joys that have and will come my way.  (There are just as many, if not more, of these.) So, this has all been stuck in my head.  I've been thinking about it while stuck in traffic, on the treadmill at the gym, while knitting on the couch and watching tv, and while playing on my keyboard.  All of this makes me smile. Hope you all have a great week. -g

Early on Sunday Morning

It's a hazy, lazy day today.  I'm in my pajamas yawning, groggy, and still really tired.  Out of habit, I woke up at 6AM.  I really should just sleep in, but I'm not wired that way right now.   Ugh. I'm constantly thinking about the year ahead.  I'll be promoting the new album, doing shows, traveling, and being as busy as humanly possible.  I'm trying to remember to try to be happy and have fun through it all. In this context, what I mean by "Happy" would be stress-free, physically healthy, and full of enjoyment.  There are certain key elements that I am thinking of in order to accomplish this.  I've been thinking a lot lately about how to keep my life simple in spite of the madness of being a musician in the music business.  Here are the thoughts in my head thus far: 1.  Excercise regularly. Yup.  I'd like to stay as thin as I have always been.  I still fit in clothes that I wore in highschool and even just ten years ago.  Besides, this helps me reduce stress.  Going to the gym is also one of the few times in the week that I allow myself to watch TV.  When I'm on the ellyptical at the YMCA down the road from my house, I plug in my headphones and watch HGTV (my current favorite network) on the attached monitor.  I sip my coffee and walk about 3 miles.  It's so much fun watching homes transform as I exercise.  I love it. 2.  No more stuff-itis In America at least, we are a capitalist, consumer-driven society.  Everywhere you look, you are encouraged and coaxed into buying something.  There are billboards out on highways selling cars.  Quirky tv commercials touting big sales for the holidays.  At the check-out aisle, there are rows of odds and ends encouraging you to buy something on impulse.  You turn on the radio, and there's a song that you find out is available on i-tunes.  When you log on to your myspace account, there are adds for weight-loss programs.  All of it is inescapable. Now, mind you, I love to shop just like anyone else, but I've lately become much more selective about what I buy.  I've come to a personal understanding that as a consumer I'm really just accumulating a bunch of stuff--most of which is really quite unnecessary.  Conveniently, because I've been saving up money to pay for my album, I've sort of forced myself only to buy what I know I really need (along with an occasional treat once in blue crescent moon).  This set of circumstances has lead to a few personal decisions. --From now on, I will only buy what I need and what is really useful and practical.  This helps me majorly cut down on stuff-itis (the desire to want and buy too much useless crap). --From now on, I will make sure I save money before I spend money.  I'd rather have the piece of mind in knowing that I have savings in case of an emergency or to get me something expensive that I REALLY want.  This is a better alternative to having a bunch of useless nicknacks. 3.  Live on a budget This might sound like a depressing notion, but I've been doing some research lately.  Budgets don't have to be oppressive.  If anything, it is a really useful tool to help you manage the way you spend money.  I have a lot of goals that I want to accomplish in my life.  This is a major step towards that end.  Besides, there will be a "fun fund" in the budget.  This is a small allowance of money spent only to reward myself for sticking to my budget.  This is all a work in progress. 4.  Stop eating so damn much!!! It may not look terribly obvious about me, but I eat a lot!!!  Fortunately, I'm a very active person and somehow all of it dissipates instead of congealing into a role of bodily blubber fat.  After doing the math, I spend more than I should on food.  Those damn impulse buys get me every time--a small and oh-so-tasty little bag of Doritos, a yummy slim jim, those new flavored water drinks, gum, an espresso at Starbucks, those heavenly white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies at Subway, FREAKING SUSHI (!!!!!!!!!), a decadent Mcgriddle from McDonalds, the ENTIRE menu at dirt cheap Taco Bell, divine chicken nuggets and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers from Wendy's, Oreo cookie shakes from Jack in the Box (THE BOMB, by the way!!), breakfast bacon burritos from Sonic------------------OH MY GOD!!!  I'm getting hungry!!!!!!!!!!! Well, okay, I love food--maybe too much.  So, yes, I must be more selective about what I eat.  Not only will I save money, but I will also be much more healthy.  Bacon McGriddles be damned!!!!!! By the way, I just ran downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack.  How much do I suck?  Eat less?  Me?  Oh, we'll just have to see. 5.  No more TV!! This is actually something I've been practicing for a while now.  It depresses me completely to think that millions of people sit in front of a tv screen for countless hours watching other people make something out of their lives.  It numbs the mind and makes thinking much easier than it should be. Besides, I really just don't have the time.  I would not have ever finished my album if I watched tv all day. I do make a couple of exceptions.  Thanks to the cultural phenomenon that is Tivo, I am able to make the time to catch up on "Heroes".  This is probably my favorite tv show right now.  It's essentially a show about people who act upon the goodness and the greatness within themselves.  It's purely brilliant. Then, there's the entire HGTV network.  If anything has the power to get me to veg out for a day, it is HGTV!!!  They should just rename the network.  It should be called "FABULOUS!!!". Naturally, who could resist the occasional episode of the Golden Girls?  I grew up on these seemingly harmless older women, but boy do they have sass!!!  Everyone should have an Italian Grandma like Sophia. Aside from these glowing exceptions, no tv, period.  I'm actually quite happy without it. 6.  Finally, give myself time to relax. I suspect that I am a bit of a workaholic.  I'll have to look up what constitutes workaholism, but I think I might fit the bill.  In any case, I have a hard time getting myself to do nothing.  I need to get better at this once in a while--just to frolic, hang with friends, have lunch with family/friends (okay, maybe not lunch!!), take Oreo and Buttercup out to the park.  Oh well, we'll see.  This, along with food, will be the biggest challenges. I think this covers the thoughts in my head about trying to simplify my life and enjoy it more.  I think it helps most that I am at least aware of these things. In any case, I hope to have one of the best years of my life. Have a flower .  .  . Please have yourselves a lovely week and stay away from those McGriddles!!  They'll get you every time. -g