Archive for September, 2010

AnglophiliaPsychoanalysisSinging

September 30, 2010

Whining Helps

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You know what I don’t like?  People who say, “Can’t complain,” and people who wear those buttons that say “No Whining.”  Of course you can complain.  And whining helps. The British say “whinging.”  Isn’t that a great word?  It’s got the nasal irritation of the word whine, the messy soft g; and in addition, you  Read the Rest…

HolidaysPsychoanalysisSpirituality

September 27, 2010

Free Associating With the BVM

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There’s nothing like busting open the head of the Blessed Virgin Mary to remind you to slow down.  Here’s what happened:  I was having one of those mornings when I was not in the moment.  There were way too many moments trying to be represented in every in-breath.  I had a chiropractic appointment and a  Read the Rest…

PianoPsychoanalysisTeaching

September 24, 2010

Aching with Brahms

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One of my students (Jackson) recently inspired me to learn Brahms’ Intermezzo Opus 118 No. 2 in A.  It’s one of the most difficult pieces I have worked on in some time.  In recent years, I have done more sight reading than I have dug into juicy classical pieces. Another of my students (Jenni) singlehandedly  Read the Rest…

Curmudgeon

September 22, 2010

Curmudgeon Slightly Sub-dued by Speeding Ticket

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I was on my way to Traffic Court this morning when I thought, “I feel a blog coming on.”  When I got the speeding ticket, I didn’t get to talk enough about it because everyone had a story about their own ticket.  My friend Joan, the one with the theological chops, was 8 months pregnant;  Read the Rest…

Cats

September 20, 2010

Food is a Feline Issue

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People always comment on how huge my cats are.  They are rescue cats, mutts, hefty survivors.  Since I work at home, they know how to work me for food and I am the first to admit that I am intimidated by them.  While my cats may be the size of farm animals, there’s a hint  Read the Rest…

BooksPianoPsychoanalysisTeaching

September 15, 2010

On Justifying Hours of Free Cell Solitaire

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I’m on my second hour of Free Cell solitaire.  Ok, my third, maybe.  I really don’t keep track.  But here’s the thing: there are Life Lessons in Free Cell solitaire.  I’m not saying I play it to find them;  but I do think about brain wiring when I play, especially since I figured out that  Read the Rest…

Curmudgeon

September 13, 2010

Curmudgeon Product Review

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When did everyone start talking about Core Muscles?  Was it around the same time everything we put on our bodies became Product?  I only ask because my back problems became intolerable in the late1980’s, but it was twenty years before someone told me that I needed to suck up my gut—only the terminology was “engage  Read the Rest…

CatsPsychoanalysis

September 10, 2010

A Post Freudian Cat

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One of my cats is called Freud because I like to give weighty names to my cats and because I am completely enamored of psychoanalysis.  I have travelled all over the world, but the five years I spent in analysis was the most fascinating journey of all. I put Freud, along with Darwin, Nietzsche and  Read the Rest…

PianoSingingTeaching

September 7, 2010

A Paean for Desire on the First Day of School

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I was in the middle of a project when I ran out of those little tab thingys for hanging files so I buzzed over to Office Depot for supplies.  The place looked like a storm had blown through it.  Of course. Tomorrow is the first day of school for kids in the Seattle School district.   Read the Rest…

Ah, HumanityAnglophiliaBooksEnglandTravel

September 5, 2010

Cake and Wales

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I am an Anglophile.  It started early in my life and was enhanced by finding an address for my Cornish relations in my great Aunt Ann’s address book after she died in the 1970’s.  I wrote to my distant cousin Hazel, then 68 years old, and we began to correspond.  Since then I have made  Read the Rest…