Tuesday

My methods of learning music are expanding by the day. It's becoming even easier to learn those weird intervals, now that I have my fabulous piano app on my phone and and play the passage and record it, and then listen to it ninety times, or as long as it take me to get it into my head. SO much more efficient than rewinding recordings hundreds of times. I know it sounds silly, but it also helps to just carry a score around with me wherever I go. That way, if it is in my hand and I have a few minutes, I can speak the French to myself, making use of whatever extra time I have that I would normally be texting my friends or playing tetris or some other thing I really should not be doing. Also, I fancy that maybe it will seep into my brain magically through osmosis.

Valentines Day is one of those days that people in relationships marginally enjoy, although it seems to come with a lot of expectations that can sometimes make even those in relationships feel shitty, and people who are single tend to feel really bad about. The problem is that I think that maybe, the holiday is supposed to actually be about all forms of love and not just the romantic kind. Sadly, it's not marketed that way, and lots of people feel horribly left out when they shouldn't. My V-day was really lovely, but I am always sensitive to the fact that it feels like a kind of unfair day to a lot of people. One of the reasons I loved yesterday so much, is that after about ten days, it was the first time my voice felt back to normal.

Tonight, I am doing something truly weird-- participating in a focus group! when I heard that I could make a couple hundred bucks for two hours of my time, my first instinct was "Sign me up!" I mean, that will pay for my voice lesson and a therapy session! Then I started to think...oh man. What if it involves painful medical procedures or me being forced to reveal embarrassing details about my life? So, I asked a lot of questions, believe you me. And now that I have been satisfied that it isn't going to be like that, and it is just going to be talking in a group with a "professional moderator," I can go, do my duty, take the money, and run.

Just another exciting chapter in the riveting saga I call my life.