T-Day Weekend Video Clips

And, the best for last:

ZOMGBEATLESROCKBAND

Frankly, all the reviews are right: it's amazing. The sound is unbelievably crisp, the song choice is great, and the animation is more like a feature film than a video game. You know what this means: Bundy Kid Thanksgiving is gonna be OFF THE HOOK THIS YEAR (can I get a "what?what?" up in here??).

The neighbors came over last Sunday night to help us break in the new peripherals, including Beatles-themed drums, mike with mike stand, and a supersweet Hofner viola-style bass controller.


Franklin likes the drums, too, but not as much as ...

... the box they came in. It was a great opportunity to I talked to him about how awesome it is to build forts.

Blues at the Barn and St. James Hotel, Red Wing

Thanks for a lovely time, D & D! :)

Fourth of July at D&D's New Home

Happy Birthday, Addie Ray!

She's been around the sun three times!



Happy birthday, sweet girl. We miss you.

Flashback to March: Out with Meghan

Mason's cousin and god-daughter Meghan stayed with us on her Spring Break from Gustavus; we had a great Saturday night downtown. We started with appetizers at Key's ...


... then sushi and s'mores at Zahtar ...



... followed by Too Much Love at First Avenue ...



... and finally, because we happened to be dog-sitting, home for snuggles with Sam.

Addie et al in Florida

Looks like the gang had a great trip to Florida -- check it out! :)

Matchy Match

Nice vest, guys. :)

When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble ...

… I go to the piano.

We’ve had the piano for several months now. I play nearly every day, especially when I’m stressed or sad. It’s become a very personal ritual -- which is probably why I haven’t written much about it -- that occupies my restless mind and heals my winter-weary heart.

And yet, the comfort it brings me hasn’t prevented me from developing new (or rediscovering old) neuroses, especially in the category of how my abilities line up with what I think they should be. I try to remember not to be too hard on myself; after all, until November, I hadn’t touched a piano in twelve years. But I’ve found is that not only am I out of practice with getting my fingers to do what they should, but also with reading bass clef (which was never my strong suit, thanks to ten years of focusing on trumpet), deciding how to break down difficult passages so I can start to chip away at them -- all that stuff.

So last month, in need of some insight, I called Dad, hoping to mine some tips from his five decades of guitar playing. We talked about how to structure a practice session, the fact that plateaus are a natural part of making progress, the idea of running through your list of problem passages every day -- that kind of thing. And while all of that was great (there’s now a note on my music folder that reads PLATEAUS HAPPEN), the best thing I got from the conversation was some perspective by way of a music history lesson.

We’d been speaking in pretty general terms about my concerns and frustrations ("If you’re struggling with a piece for weeks and weeks, how can you tell whether it’s out of your league or you just need to work harder?") and I finally volunteered some specifics: "I’m doing well with the Sarah McLachlan. With the Beatles, I’m mostly working on later stuff from Paul: 'Golden Slumbers' -- "

"Oh, all that piano at the end of 'Abbey Road' is just gorgeous, isn’t it?" Dad asked.

"Definitely. But I’m about to walk away from 'You Never Give Me Your Money.' The left hand is just killing me. I swear, I can tell that Paul has bigger hands than Sarah McLachlan because I can reach all the notes in her bass lines."

"And don’t forget," Dad added, "he’s left-handed."

Holy crap! "Dad, I’d completely forgotten that! How could I forget? He’s Mr. Lefty Flip!"

"That’s right!" he answered. "So you can cut yourself a little slack on that, okay?"

I continued: "The other one that’s pissing me off lately is 'Let It Be.' Not the whole thing -- mostly it’s going well, even the bass part, which jumps around a lot. But you know that pretty little organ part in the middle, way up high?"

"Sure, sure."

"It’s so beautiful, but I’m just having a hell of a time putting the left and right hands together. The left-hand part is so tricky, but when I simplify it, it really loses something. I want to get it right, but this seems hard even for Paul."

"But that wasn’t Paul," he said. "That was Billy Preston."

"No! I knew he did the awesome solo on 'Get Back,' but I thought that was it!"

"Oh, he’s all over that album!”

Does it make sense that I felt really comforted by this? That I pressured myself to be able to hang with Paul (one of the greatest of the greats), but could forgive myself that Billy Preston was out of my reach?

Maybe it’s not logical -- unless you listen to the electric piano on "Get Back" -- but it sure helped. Thanks, Dad. :)

Kitchen: Top Cabinets Done!

Given that I've only finished the top row of cabinets, the photo comparison below is a bit premature, but because I lurrrrve doing a before-and-after, I'll go ahead and jump the gun.

Here's a look at the original cabinets.

And, now: ta da!

Why, yes! That little framed item is an Addie Ray original -- thanks for asking! :)

Birthday!

Had a terrific birthday this year, including a fun happy hour with The Band, dinner at the new posh sushi place in downtown (which was beautiful, but the sushi was just "meh") and some great prezzies!

Dad and Bunny got me another Bachman's gift card (YAY!! it's so nice to dream about gardening with the weather so cold), which came with tons of balloons ...


... so I tied them to furniture all around the house. :)

Mom and Bill, along with Mike and Laura (who had already given me an awesome Cupcake Royale tee to match Addie's) gave me lots of sheet music for the piano!! In addition to the staff paper (so I can transcribe things into different keys or score out stuff by ear, which I've been doing a bit) from Mom, I also got:

• Radiohead's Kid A ("Everything in its Place" seems perfect for piano);
• The U2 Piano Collection (ditto "Sweetest Thing"); and
• The Beatles' Best, an "easy piano" collection of Beatles songs (really nice because the "real" version of "You Never Give Me Your Money" was making me pull my hair out!).

Thanks, everyone! :)

T-Day Highlight

The best part of yesterday's Thanksgiving gathering at Aunt Loretta's? Hanging out with Maddie, pictured below.

Out of the Blue, A Piano (Chapter 3)

Here's the foyer before.
Hauling are Paul (who is remarkably strong!), Mason, next-door Tim, Midwest Mountaineering Peter, and Mason's dad, hidden behind Peter.
Here are Phyllis and Paul (Phyllis is Grandma Sue's niece).
Check out the awesome piano stool!
It's a perfect fit.Bonus history lesson: As the piano was being moved in, out fell this tiny button from the 1927 Hoover-Curtis presidential campaign.
And taped to the back of the piano was a small piece of yellowing paper, on which was typed:

An item from the Dec. 28, 1902, paper: Miss Kate Plummer [M's paternal great-grandmother] surely got on the right side of Santa Claus. A brand new piano is a gift that Santa doesn't bring to everybody.

Out of the Blue, A Piano (Chapter 2)

Now, how to get the piano here from Iowa? Paul was hoping to have it out of his house before snow. Mason start talking about a road trip with some guys to help him bring it back when the e-mail below arrived.

__________________________________

From: Paul
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 3:06:04 PM

Mason,

I have another option, that is if you like it. I am willing to look into the cost of renting a U-haul trailer, and to get help locally to load the piano and drive my pickup and trailer to your place, for I also have a roto tiller that needs to go to my daughter's house in Cottage Grove. I will get back to you soon. Paul

____________________________________

From: Mason

Sent: November 20, 2008 3:42 PM

Paul,

You are amazing! That would be great. Let me know how I can help coordinate. Thanks,

Mason

Soon, everything was arranged. The piano was to arrive less than fifteen days from the original conversation with Mike.

____________________________________

From: Laura

Sent: November 22, 2008 05:56 PM

Hi Paul -- this is Mason's wife, Laura. First, let me thank you for the piano and let you know how really excited I am about this! ... Glad to hear this process has gone well on your end. Again, I'm so excited about this and really honored to be taking care of such an important piece of Lewis family history. Thank you very much. Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow!

Laura Sorenson

____________________________________

From: Paul
Sent: Sat November 22, 2008 7:03 PM

Laura,

Great to meet you. I am so looking forward to seeing you in person tomorrow. I know only a little about Mason and everything is fantastic. Honors received, academic record, travels around the world, etc. So, since you are the person he chose to marry, (oops, it could have been the other way around - rather mutual, whatever), you will be the perfect person to continue to enjoy what was given to Kate by her parents when she was a girl of 18! ... See you tomorrow! Paul and Phyllis

Out of the Blue, A Piano (Chapter 1)

While we were playing in the music room in Seattle, Michael asked me whether I still had a piano. (We’d had a small upright in the house growing up that I used to play, and I brought it to college with me my sophomore year. But it was prohibitively expensive to move -- I ended up switching apartments quite a bit in college -- and I eventually sold it one year to help with tuition. )

I told Mike that I didn’t have it anymore and he said that was a shame, that he thought I’d really enjoy just noodling on it if I still had it around. I hadn’t thought about it in ages, but it felt like he was right.

“Maybe you want to keep an eye on Craig’s List,” he suggested. Sure, why not, I thought. I mentioned it to Mason on the flight home and then sort of forgot about the whole thing.

Lo and behold, a mere three days later, this e-mail string with the Lewises (Mason’s paternal grandmother’s family) kicks off.

____________________________________

From: Paul

Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:13 AM

Calling all Lewis'

I do not have any use for Grandma Lewis' upright piano anymore and hope someone will want it. ... I'd like to hear from you ASAP if you want it, for I will be moving it soon ...

Paul, the one who married well....that is when I picked Phyllis from the Lewis clan

____________________________________

From: Grandma Sue

Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 11:38 AM

It will be wonderful if someone in the family would want the piano. It was given to Grandma Kate Lewis when she was 18 years old - from her parents. ... I took piano lessons when I was in 9th grade - so I played it a bit. Every once in a while Mother would sit down and play hymns.

Sue

____________________________________

From: M

Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:13 PM

Hi Paul,

Laura and I might be interested. Laura grew up with a piano in the house. We would need to find a place in our house - could you send the measurements? ... If one of the real pianists in the family is excited to have it, go for it.

Thanks,
Mason

Another cousin named Ilo expressed interest, so everyone exchanged some more e-mails, including this one:

____________________________________

From: Paul
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:52:43 PM

Mason,

Thanks for the note. I will trust Ilo to let you know her decision, but if not, I will certainly be in touch with you. Paul P. S. I now see even more evidence of why your Gandma is so proud of you.

Ilo later responded that although she’d be interested at first, her son and yellow lab both expressed concern, so the piano was ours if we wanted it. Woo hoo!

Seattle 08: An Ab Workout