While visiting my mother, I heard someone playing gayly on the grand piano in the dining room. I walked over it was an older woman good at stride piano. I walked over to her left side and watched her technique. She played 1-5-8 in her left hand and I realized that is much simpler than calculating many different inversions on the fly. That always confused me about how to play this style. I never saw it as clearly before. Maybe it was a cheat but I cannot wait to try it too. A simple solution I never grasped. I complimented her and she said she was 93 years old and originally from New York and when I asked if she played with any of the big wigs from where she hailed she said one time with members of the Harry James band. I was hoping she knew Erroll Garner. She became a bit testy when I asked if she composes. Started lecturing me that her improvisational skills merits calling herself a composer. I did not dispute her but changed my questions as if all along I thought this way too and we got on again better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Couldn’t sleep last night because I had a 7am cab coming to take me to the airport. I cannot take the pressure of missing the cab and screwing up the flight. All the ruin that would follow if I screw up. It is a big joke, my disaster fantasies. I stayed at an Air BnB in Wolseley. For almost an hour I heard a raving madman screaming about someone he hates while sitting on the steps of a church across the street from where I was staying. It was not surprising. I didn’t bother adding that to the summary of my stay nor the inefficient heat. If I had probably the owner would reject a future application and aside from those complaints it is cheap and perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are elements of madness on those streets, even walking down Sherbrook a year ago, I said something well intentioned to a young man walking ahead of me. Like maybe I complimented his coat and he turned around and said something threatening back. He was out of it and trying to figure out if he should beat me up. He became more convinced I had wanted to insult him and he needed to save face. So much conflict isn’t worth it. I try to put more effort into understanding the point of view of people who want to fight me. Whether my pal supporting Mehdi Hasan’s pathetic attempt to discredit Matt Taibbi or my daughter insisting cooked vegetables should never find their way into her lunch. It is not so easy to embrace the other side but it also is a useful fighting strategy and a method of practising how to get the big joke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"