It's "make it work" time

I'm watching episodes of Project Runway on DVD - it's the fashion design reality show on Bravo. Peter Gunn, the stodgy fashion teacher who encourages and gives instructions to the designers, often tells them "two hours to go; make it work!" I've started using it to encourage myself,when I have little time or resources to complete what seems a huge task (like learning how to teach - 16 hrs and counting, folks!) in a short period of time. I like it because he doesn't say "half-ass it", or "get it done, it's too late to get it right". When you take music composition lessons, the best compliment you can get from your instructor is "it works." Contrary to popular belief, there is a degree of objectivity that can be used when judging a piece of music, or art, or fashion. You can make a judgement on whether or not your piece makes aesthetic sense - whether the pieces fit with each other, and the whole. When those elements work together, they communicate; they work.

I don't like the phrase, "do your best." What is your best? Now THAT'S subjective. Focus less on your limits or potential, perceived or real, and focus on the task at hand. And make it work.

Is that all there is?

Yesterday I had a party at my house - most people had said they couldn't come, but I had already bought wine and taken out time from packing to plan it, so I figured I'd put out the food and stuff and see if anyone showed up. A few people did, and they at first looked at me sort of sympathetically, like, "awwww, nobody came to her party", but soon enough they were trying wine, eating snacks, and joining a spirited conversation. Sitting back in my chair with my glass of wine, watching my friends talk and laugh in my living room, I was reminded of that annoying movie, "As Good as it Gets." The title comes, of course, from the scene in which Jack Nicholson, whose character is hopelessly OCD, walks into a psychiatrist's waiting room, and announces to the hapless patients "Did you ever think maybe this is as good as it gets?"

Maybe struggling to find the right job, meet new friends, having poorly-attended parties, and occasionally losing the love of your life is just what happens. As the song says, "Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride."

discover your inner nerd

Last Sunday I performed (yes, it's performing, you pretentious church musicians, who say it's "worshipping through song") a few songs at the little church I go to in Mt. Vernon. The first piece (a trumpet and soprano duet by Handel) went really well; I managed to hit all the high notes, and enjoy the buzzing overtones between the instruments. The minister then preached a funny sermon, about geeky people who aren't fun at your party - the vegetarian that makes everyone kind of feel guilty about eating meat, the girl who's abstaining from alcohol to show support for her alcoholic brother, the killjoys, the virginal, squeaky-clean, pains-in-the-ass. Each description got a lot of laughs in this church - Mt. Vernon's Christians aren't the kind that don't party, drink or smoke, and wait 'til marriage. They're the kind that hold peace rallies and gay rights parades, and buy fairly-traded goodies for their wild parties.

Nonetheless, she argued that the world needs those sort of people. She ended with a story about Mr. Rogers, in which a radio host paired him up with the most offensive guest possible, hoping to bring out an angry, vengeful side of the sweet children's show star. Instead, the guest told Mr. Rogers sad stories about his childhood, and ended up crying. Now, don't get me wrong - a lot of people pretend to be all goodness and light, and it's pure hypocrisy. But when that sweetness comes from a sincere place, it's irresistable.

My second song was "At the River", a slow version of an old spiritual. Usually I sing it with a little too much bravado, trying to force the power and emotion that it calls for. It really would best be sung by a huge black opera singer, with a rich deep voice. But my voice isn't like that - if I was in an opera, I'd be the little dorky soprano that sings a warbly song about fairies or some shit. I realized that I'd have to embrace my geekiness and face the fact that my voice is more Charlotte Church than Jessye Norman, and hope my sincerity would be enough to sell the song.

It worked. I was me, in all my badly-lit-PBS-Special glory. I was actually able to put more emotion into my less-affected singing. After I was done, the trumpet player said, "I cried. You made me cry."

Musicians can mess around with people's emotions, if they want to, but bringing people to a catharsis through an honest rendering of a wise and beautiful song? That's what it's all about.

Someone confiscate her press card, quick!

Idiots should not be allowed to be journalists.

In this article, we discover that teens are not using condoms as often as they should. But there's a discrepancy - the girls are using contraception during sex less often than the guys. The "experts" hypothesize that the reason for the disparate results of the survey are that the girls are having sex within committed relationships, so they are using birth control and such, and not using condoms. However, the guys are having sex with more random partners, so they, obviously, would feel a greater need to protect for STDs.

Hello? Who are the guys having sex WITH? Unless both the girls and guys in the study are homosexuals, this conclusion makes no sense at ALL. Either the kids they interviewed felt the need to lie a lot (certainly a possibility), or the study was so poorly done as to be completely inconclusive. Someone needs to send these "experts" back to elementary school math class.

It's a no-brainer

A war rages between two countries:

One country has had 68 casualties.
The other has had 516.

A non-government-sponsored terrorist faction within the first country began the violence.
The second country has launched a state-sponsored retalliatory strike with little regard to civilian cost.

Guess which country we're arming?

It's a no-brainer.
And by that, I mean that there's a significant lack of brainpower behind the current administration's policies.