A good day, today, I think.
I revealed myself as a piano teacher in yesterday’s Day Log; I was pleased with the happy responses of sensei and shmOOnkie pOOnks. Although I like to think that I am not just a piano teacher.
I bought my pot roast--I’ll have to get the recipe straight in my mind before I attempt a culinary masterpiece. I am usually not a bad cook.
Made two planned nodes today:
And several unplanned nodes, sort of targets of opportunity:
Had something of an indirect dialogue with Saige through the two technology nodes. Saige seems to believe technology can remedy the problems caused by technology. I don’t; I think remedial technology will simply cause new problems--called unforeseen consequences--the two most obvious: more knowledge
will become property of corporations (the patents and copyrights), and the parts of the world so described (including food, and even life) will also become property of these self-same corporations.
For all I use technology, I am clearly a luddite, or more accurately, a neo-luddite.
More scheduling headaches. I wish that someone else would do that.
Now is the week that my students are showing their year’s achievement: all are doing the year end Recital, many--13!--are taking exams given by the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto starting this week. All will do the Recital well, but I don’t think all the
exam candidates will do well--unfortunately.
Some students, after a year of good work, are beginning to defect; no longer do they practice as they should, as they have been. And, of course, both their parents and I encourage them. At least the youngest ones. As they approach 12, it is counter-productive, I believe, to push too hard. Especially if they have taken exams before, they should have begin to understand their own part in it. This is always the hard part--but I have done my part. I have so many students, now, that I have to take a more detached approach--or I will go off the deep end.
Got a new book of songs--The Groovy Years, 53 Songs of the Hippie Era. I got it especially for the song "And When I Die", by Laura Nyro, who I didn’t remeber doing it. I remember David Clayton-Thomas and Blood, Sweat, and Tears doing it--but not as big as "Spinning Wheel", also in this book.
No noding of The Golden Sayings of Epictetus today, or The Man with the Blue Guitar by Wallace Stevens. Tomorrow.
Yes, its the anniversary of D-Day. I asked one of my older students about it. She didn't know--do you know--that the beaches the Canadians landed at were Gold, Sword and Juno. Everyone knows which were the American beaches, though I've forgotten them for the moment.