Nah

[nodogen]

Just got back from my check up with a neurologist. I've had dalliances with epilepsy and now I need to set a new PB for how many digestive biscuits I can dunk in a big mug of Earl Grey....

[Omicron9]

My wife and mom-in-law, being artists, keep later hours than can I, what with my reporting in to The Man every morning My mom-in-law very thoughtfully makes a carafe of coffee in the French press last thing at night (well, I am asleep by then, so last thing at night is a figure of speech).  I don't know that it really wakes me up by virtue of the caffeine, but starting the day with a warmed-up cup of coffee, I find good comfort food.  A most agreeable ritual.


First thing I get to the office, I put the kettle on, and brew a cup of green tea;  another most a. r.

Cool.  Thank you for sharing the drink rituals.  Brewing coffee or tea = good ritual.

[NikF]

I went into town to buy a potato peeler. On my way to the emporium of artisan potato peeling devices I stopped in http://www.cca-glasgow.com/ and after a browse took a seat in the cafe for lunch -



Face fed, I walked along the high street passing clothing stores, where I spied an unstructured jacket/blazer. I tried it on but didn't like the weight of it. Then I tried a second and bought it.



Finally, heading home I made two stops. The first at the tailoring lady to hand in my new jacket and have it altered, then into the whisky shop where I bought an Islay single malt.
All in all a fruitful outing, despite failing to come home with a potato peeler.

[Karl Henning]

When one thinks of a piece of music being "commissioned," one is apt to think of money changing hands (to the composer's advantage).  For an unknown such as I, being paid to write music is quite the rarity.  More often, I am asked to write a piece, with the intangible return of, the promise of a performance.  A year-ish ago, when my friend, veteran flutist Peter H. Bloom, asked me to write a piece for his trio, Ensemble Aubade (playing the instruments of the celebrated Debussy Sonata for flute, viola & harp), I knew (a) that I could write a technically challenging piece, and (b) that it would indeed see multiple performances.

– even more performances, thanks to their suggestion that the new piece be written such, that the harp part could be executed on a piano.  The Ensemble often tours, and some of the venues to which they travel do not have a harp readily available.

Well, this is all ancient history, in a sense, because I wrote the piece (and its piano adaptation) last summer.  The Ensemble were planning to perform it in November, so when serious rehearsal was under way I was invited to attend a late-ish rehearsal, in part so that I could answer a couple of questions.  There was a suggestion or two (cast a couple of flute notes an octave higher, here;  modify the attack of the viola notes, there).  There were a couple of typos in the MS. (a C-flat which needed to be C-natural, an incorrectly marked metronome marking, e.g.)

I took note of all the emendations which I should need to make in the score.  I did not do the work just then, because the date of the première of Oxygen Footprint was the same weekend as (a) the première of The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth for ten players (which I was going to conduct), and (b) that season's pair of Triad concerts.

Therefore, I had not made the changes to the score, before papers got shuffled, and my notes went I knew not where.

Time passed.

Ensemble Aubade took the (piano version of the) piece on their tour of the Midwest in April of this year, and also played it as part of a May Henningmusick event in Somerville, Mass.  When I learnt that they would play the harp version in Vermont this month, I marked my calendar.  That concert was this past Sunday, and it went beautifully.  One downstream beauty (as it were) is, that the occasion drew the attention of my publisher (who had already created a catalogue number for the piece), and at a time when he has some capacity.  So I got e-mail from him yesterday saying that he needs the Sibelius files of both versions, to make them available ASAP.  (A composer likes it, and likes it very much, when the publisher says "available ASAP.")

It so happened that I carried with me into the office a sack full of stuff to sort (because, yes, I had gotten tired of seeing this sack taking up space in a corner).  While sorting this stuff, what should I find, but the three-ring binder with the score of The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth (from which I had conducted in November, and tucked into the pocket of the back cover of the binder, my list of emendations for the score of Oxygen Footprint.

Really: I had "just happened" to have the pile of stuff – in which I had 'lost' these crucial notes – with me, and I had found this sheet, at the time that e-mail from my publisher came in saying, "send me the Sibelius files instanter."

So directly I arrived home yesterday – I rested my eyes, actually . . . I lay down, closed my eyes, and listened to the Sibelius (the composer) Fourth Symphony – and once I had thus taken a little rest, I fired up Sibelius (the music notation software) to make the necessary changes, and sent them along to my publisher.

Last night (past my bedtime) he sent a PDF to proof, and this morning I sent in my list of corrigenda.

[Karl Henning]

All in all a fruitful outing, despite failing to come home with a potato peeler.

One spud step at a time.

[kishnevi]

I went into town to buy a potato peeler. On my way to the emporium of artisan potato peeling devices I stopped in http://www.cca-glasgow.com/ and after a browse took a seat in the cafe for lunch -



Face fed, I walked along the high street passing clothing stores, where I spied an unstructured jacket/blazer. I tried it on but didn't like the weight of it. Then I tried a second and bought it.



Finally, heading home I made two stops. The first at the tailoring lady to hand in my new jacket and have it altered, then into the whisky shop where I bought an Islay single malt.
All in all a fruitful outing, despite failing to come home with a potato peeler.

Veggie haggis fritters? A triple contradiction in terms!
Good work on the jacket.

[NikF]

Veggie haggis fritters? A triple contradiction in terms!
Good work on the jacket.

Yeah, it's a vegan cafe, beloved and frequented by my neighbour and her little twit friends. The food is fresh and not bad at all, but yes, vegetarian haggis probably shouldn't exist. Also, the place it's located was one of the galleries that a lifetime ago I had a few pieces exhibited in during my 'I want to be a combo of Brando, Rocky Marciano and Jeanloup Sieff' period.

Jacket - I have an unstructured black linen suit (and another in what's described as 'ecru') but today's purchase is heavier in merino wool, and as you know the cut is only half the battle with the weight going a long way to determine much of how it appears when being worn.

[Karl Henning]

Jacket - I have an unstructured black linen suit (and another in what's described as 'ecru') but today's purchase is heavier in merino wool, and as you know the cut is only half the battle with the weight going a long way to determine much of how it appears when being worn.

There is both technique, and room for art.

[Karl Henning]

Conquer!

[Omicron9]

When one thinks of a piece of music being "commissioned," one is apt to think of money changing hands (to the composer's advantage).  For an unknown such as I, being paid to write music is quite the rarity.  More often, I am asked to write a piece, with the intangible return of, the promise of a performance.  A year-ish ago, when my friend, veteran flutist Peter H. Bloom, asked me to write a piece for his trio, Ensemble Aubade (playing the instruments of the celebrated Debussy Sonata for flute, viola & harp), I knew (a) that I could write a technically challenging piece, and (b) that it would indeed see multiple performances.

– even more performances, thanks to their suggestion that the new piece be written such, that the harp part could be executed on a piano.  The Ensemble often tours, and some of the venues to which they travel do not have a harp readily available.

Well, this is all ancient history, in a sense, because I wrote the piece (and its piano adaptation) last summer.  The Ensemble were planning to perform it in November, so when serious rehearsal was under way I was invited to attend a late-ish rehearsal, in part so that I could answer a couple of questions.  There was a suggestion or two (cast a couple of flute notes an octave higher, here;  modify the attack of the viola notes, there).  There were a couple of typos in the MS. (a C-flat which needed to be C-natural, an incorrectly marked metronome marking, e.g.)

I took note of all the emendations which I should need to make in the score.  I did not do the work just then, because the date of the première of Oxygen Footprint was the same weekend as (a) the première of The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth for ten players (which I was going to conduct), and (b) that season's pair of Triad concerts.

Therefore, I had not made the changes to the score, before papers got shuffled, and my notes went I knew not where.

Time passed.

Ensemble Aubade took the (piano version of the) piece on their tour of the Midwest in April of this year, and also played it as part of a May Henningmusick event in Somerville, Mass.  When I learnt that they would play the harp version in Vermont this month, I marked my calendar.  That concert was this past Sunday, and it went beautifully.  One downstream beauty (as it were) is, that the occasion drew the attention of my publisher (who had already created a catalogue number for the piece), and at a time when he has some capacity.  So I got e-mail from him yesterday saying that he needs the Sibelius files of both versions, to make them available ASAP.  (A composer likes it, and likes it very much, when the publisher says "available ASAP.")

It so happened that I carried with me into the office a sack full of stuff to sort (because, yes, I had gotten tired of seeing this sack taking up space in a corner).  While sorting this stuff, what should I find, but the three-ring binder with the score of The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth (from which I had conducted in November, and tucked into the pocket of the back cover of the binder, my list of emendations for the score of Oxygen Footprint.

Really: I had "just happened" to have the pile of stuff – in which I had 'lost' these crucial notes – with me, and I had found this sheet, at the time that e-mail from my publisher came in saying, "send me the Sibelius files instanter."

So directly I arrived home yesterday – I rested my eyes, actually . . . I lay down, closed my eyes, and listened to the Sibelius (the composer) Fourth Symphony – and once I had thus taken a little rest, I fired up Sibelius (the music notation software) to make the necessary changes, and sent them along to my publisher.

Last night (past my bedtime) he sent a PDF to proof, and this morning I sent in my list of corrigenda.

Excellent, Dr. Henning.  Another testament to the healing powers of Sibelius 4th.

[Karl Henning]

Jacket - I have an unstructured black linen suit (and another in what's described as 'ecru') but today's purchase is heavier in merino wool, and as you know the cut is only half the battle with the weight going a long way to determine much of how it appears when being worn.

Your jacket quest sets my easily distracted mind to thinking about neckwear.  It might be an eccentricity, but I do enjoy wearing neckties. (I have a theory about disaffection for ties, which I may relate later.)  I do not, though, like spending much money on ties.  There's a boutique a short walk from the office, and twice a year their window sports a sign "All Ties ½ Off," but at their prices, even 50% is more than I like to disgorge for a tie.

Happily, it is always easy to find a tie I like at Marshall's (one of a number of cheap-retail chains) for <$10.

What am I about, posting all this here?  Sometimes, it is my misfortune, once I have bought a dashing tie which I like, the first time I wear it, I manage to water-stain it (e.g.)  Technically, I could "get away" with wearing it to work, where hardly anyone would notice such a detail.  But my wife and mom-in-law are artists, and nothing escapes their eye. "Also," as I hear Nero Wolfe say, "damn it, there is my self-esteem."  So I have two ties, which I like, very much, but which I have only worn once, for the above reason.

Well, where is the problem?  Take the ties to a cleaner!  There is a cleaners a short walk from home, and I took the ties there . . . a couple of days later, I picked them up, paid the modest $5 apiece.  And (silly of me, of course) not thinking that they were difficult articles to clean (and the stains not being of any trying variety), I did not check them until I got home . . . and the stains had not been removed.  I might have taken them back, but when I had dropped them off, I did specifically ask, "You can take care of these, yes?" (another reason I did not bother verifying upon pick-up).

My feeling is that I do like to patronize local, if they do the job;  I was not in the humor to micromanage this business relationship.  There are things I just won't sweat.

There is a cleaners near the office, and Wednesday I finally organized myself enough to bring my ties to them, pointing out the objectionable stains, and wishing to confirm that they can make it right.  Peculiarities of our mismatched schedules mean that it will be Monday before I pick them up.

But hope waxes strong.  (Wearing another tie here.)

[NikF]

Your jacket quest sets my easily distracted mind to thinking about neckwear.  It might be an eccentricity, but I do enjoy wearing neckties. (I have a theory about disaffection for ties, which I may relate later.)  I do not, though, like spending much money on ties.  There's a boutique a short walk from the office, and twice a year their window sports a sign "All Ties ½ Off," but at their prices, even 50% is more than I like to disgorge for a tie.

Happily, it is always easy to find a tie I like at Marshall's (one of a number of cheap-retail chains) for <$10.

What am I about, posting all this here?  Sometimes, it is my misfortune, once I have bought a dashing tie which I like, the first time I wear it, I manage to water-stain it (e.g.)  Technically, I could "get away" with wearing it to work, where hardly anyone would notice such a detail.  But my wife and mom-in-law are artists, and nothing escapes their eye. "Also," as I hear Nero Wolfe say, "damn it, there is my self-esteem."  So I have two ties, which I like, very much, but which I have only worn once, for the above reason.

Well, where is the problem?  Take the ties to a cleaner!  There is a cleaners a short walk from home, and I took the ties there . . . a couple of days later, I picked them up, paid the modest $5 apiece.  And (silly of me, of course) not thinking that they were difficult articles to clean (and the stains not being of any trying variety), I did not check them until I got home . . . and the stains had not been removed.  I might have taken them back, but when I had dropped them off, I did specifically ask, "You can take care of these, yes?" (another reason I did not bother verifying upon pick-up).

My feeling is that I do like to patronize local, if they do the job;  I was not in the humor to micromanage this business relationship.  There are things I just won't sweat.

There is a cleaners near the office, and Wednesday I finally organized myself enough to bring my ties to them, pointing out the objectionable stains, and wishing to confirm that they can make it right.  Peculiarities of our mismatched schedules mean that it will be Monday before I pick them up.

But hope waxes strong.  (Wearing another tie here.)

See, this is where the value of having a cleaner guy (or tailoring alteration guy/lady or used book guy or guitar repair guy or whatever) that you can unquestionably rely on becomes increasingly apparent. When you find a tie (or in my case, a silk scarf) that suits your look, broadens your horizons, affects the local property values, or simply tickles yer fancy, it can be hugely disappointing to have it put out of commission and then when it's returned to your wardrobe to still not be fit for purpose.

My solution to this is kind of drastic. If I find a scarf I really like, I buy two of them. Then I wear one that I've nominated as 'dead man walking' so that when the inevitable happens I can bring the other off the bench without missing a beat. None of this 'Darrin is played by Dick York Sargent' nonsense - it fools no one, aye, and certainly not your wife, who would probably be able to spot it in poor lighting and from the other side of the room.

Also, I'm all for hearing about 'disaffection for ties theory'. But at your leisure, of course.

And I can't quote attachments, but, good stuff.

[Karl Henning]

To approach the theory in a roundabout manner . . . I have an unusually tall nephew (now a sophomore in college).  In a family of generally tall men, he now towers at least 8 inches above any of the rest of us.

In retrospect, I've felt for my brother, trying to keep his boy in clothes that more or less fit him, a young man who grew out of clothes before they had a chance to be worn.

. . . On the odd occasion when I have heard a chap say that he hates ties (and, mind you, everyone is at liberty to like or dislike any accessory or garment, for any reason he or she finds suitable) chances are high that the reason given is, finding that it constricts the neck.

I propose that neckwear is not the culprit in this complaint.  I mean, it is the simplest solution, not to tighten the tie's knot past one's comfort, right?

No, the problem is, a shirt whose collar is too tight.

And the more I've thought about it, the more I am inclined to consider this a prejudice formed as a young man, when one was compelled to wear a tie, but was wearing a shirt whose neck size was grown out of.

So there's my theory:  if we all made sure to buy shirts of the proper collar measurement, the incidence of complaints of neckties being "too tight" would be reduced to zero.

This is my goal.  I have a purpose in life.  Now.

[NikF]

To approach the theory in a roundabout manner . . . I have an unusually tall nephew (now a sophomore in college).  In a family of generally tall men, he now towers at least 8 inches above any of the rest of us.

In retrospect, I've felt for my brother, trying to keep his boy in clothes that more or less fit him, a young man who grew out of clothes before they had a chance to be worn.

. . . On the odd occasion when I have heard a chap say that he hates ties (and, mind you, everyone is at liberty to like or dislike any accessory or garment, for any reason he or she finds suitable) chances are high that the reason given is, finding that it constricts the neck.

I propose that neckwear is not the culprit in this complaint.  I mean, it is the simplest solution, not to tighten the tie's knot past one's comfort, right?

No, the problem is, a shirt whose collar is too tight.

And the more I've thought about it, the more I am inclined to consider this a prejudice formed as a young man, when one was compelled to wear a tie, but was wearing a shirt whose neck size was grown out of.

So there's my theory:  if we all made sure to buy shirts of the proper collar measurement, the incidence of complaints of neckties being "too tight" would be reduced to zero.

This is my goal.  I have a purpose in life.  Now.

Yeah, sounds like a perfectly valid theory. And a noble cause. Let me know if you set up a Patreon.

[kishnevi]

I propose a competing theory.

Ties are almost inevitably part of "dressing up", and in my experience not liking ties is a stand-in or symbol for not liking to get "dressed up", and probably links back to those days of boyhood when immature youth was forced into shirt, tie, dress shoes, suit jacket and pants to attend church or some function at a "fancy" restaurant--and when the termination of that necessity, the first burst of liberation, was signalled by undoing the tie as rapidly as possible.

[NikF]

I propose a competing theory.

Ties are almost inevitably part of "dressing up", and in my experience not liking ties is a stand-in or symbol for not liking to get "dressed up", and probably links back to those days of boyhood when immature youth was forced into shirt, tie, dress shoes, suit jacket and pants to attend church or some function at a "fancy" restaurant--and when the termination of that necessity, the first burst of liberation, was signalled by undoing the tie as rapidly as possible.

I'm not made of money and can only support one Patreon at a time. 

[Karl Henning]

I propose a competing theory.

Ties are almost inevitably part of "dressing up", and in my experience not liking ties is a stand-in or symbol for not liking to get "dressed up", and probably links back to those days of boyhood when immature youth was forced into shirt, tie, dress shoes, suit jacket and pants to attend church or some function at a "fancy" restaurant--and when the termination of that necessity, the first burst of liberation, was signalled by undoing the tie as rapidly as possible.

Perhaps they complement rather than compete?

[Karl Henning]

Must say that I believe that neckwear must be elective!  Liberté, Fraternité, Vêtements Chics de cou!

[aleazk]

I'M FRIGGIN' TIRED OF SEEING DONALD TRUMP'S FRIGGIN' ORANGE FACE EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN' DAY AS I WAKE UP AND OPEN THE NEWS!

And I'm not even from the US... nor live in the US...

I knew this would happen, that's why I wanted him to lose the election (besides, of course, all the racist, misogynist, astonishing retrograde, awful stuff... duh)

AND THAT'S HIS FACE... I TRY TO NOT READ THE STUFF BELOW HIS FACE BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING INCREDIBLY, BRUTALLY, STUPID AND IGNORANT.

[NikF]

Due to a distraction causing a lost exercise day I'm making up for it by going for a run (including some sprint intervals) right now and then later taking a walk with my neighbour. We've decided we're going to walk no matter how accurate the forecast for rain proves to be. Having said that, if it stays dry we can gallivant as far a veggie cafe that she likes in town and have breakfast there. If not, it'll be a short round trip to the nearby 24hr place for eggs, bread and milk, then on our return I'll cook a couple of omelettes. After that? Well, her little twit friends are visiting this afternoon and I might join them later to pffft at any and all of their over enthusiastic hyper exclamations.