The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

lilyWhite said:

I hope it's not too deep of a rabbit-hole, or else you'll fall through the other side and...

...actually, I dunno. Maybe there's gravity on the other side of the flat Earth. Or just a vast, empty void. Or water. Or lava.

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So the floor really is lava?

Lissibith said:

I think that's close, except it's not gravity, because these videos inform me gravity is fake. It is instead a force that happens to act exactly like gravity, except that science hasn't gotten its dirty "theories" into it. Somehow...

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"If gravity doesn't exist, then how come I fall after I jump?"
"An invisible sylph is pushing you back down into place. DUH."

It makes perfect sense

Can't talk, busy scripting my YouTube video on the push-sylphs.

Tuesday, just past noon, and about to dig into more site revision stuff.

The weather continues to be springlike and sunny, with copious layers of pollen on every outdoor surface. At least I remembered my Allegra this morning.

Had to drive Mom to her PT appointment today, but I got lunch out of the deal. Otherwise, nothing worth noting.

Okay, let's see if I can finally clear the Mc.. reviews today. Then I gotta poke at that story.

Editing today, catching up on my beta reader comments from Scribophile and Betabooks... Also, there is a new restaurant opening in town in a few weeks... Thai seafood. Yum! Previously our local Asian options were two take-out Chinese places, a rather sketchy Chinese buffet, a reasonably good sushi restaurant, and a decent Indian place. Adding Thai to the mix is a good thing.

I feel like the above is half of my job.

*Rises from the pit of despair that is known as statistics*

Well, thesis writing is going pretty good, other than the whole "Argh! My results are almost significant but not quite" and my advisers are all "Well, why didn't you set up your experiment like this?" and I'm like "Uh, you're the ones that signed off on it. Why didn't you bring it up when I could have still changed it?". Oh, and my stats professor keeps harping on how arbitrary my data tables are named. So the most recent one I sent him was named Jessica. I'll show him arbitrary.

Anyways, main adviser signed off on the first draft, so I'll be defending in two weeks. Not going to submit the actual thesis until the summer, though, 'cause adviser decided he wanted to spend five weeks rafting and I didn't want the stress of trying to get it fully finished before he left. Plus is that I'll be joining him for a few days of some sweet Tuolumne River white water.

And in final news...Summer Job starts next Monday, so I'll be moving this Friday. Yay! Offer to Cantinites still stands--if anyone is coming to Yosemite and wants a personal tour, let me know!

*Descends back into the pit*
*Grabs bottle of red wine on the way down*

greendragon - Hooray for increased culinary variety!

tjwriter - Don't worry... the wall's gotta give up eventually...

Kitkididizzi - Sounds like a fun summer job! (Yosemite's a bit out of my driving range, unfortunately... plus I hate crowds. Looks beautiful, though.)

Later the same Tuesday, and I knocked out 14 review page transfers. (Surprising number of graveyard reviews in that stretch, as in reviews of books that no longer apparently exist according to Amazon... what's with the M's, anyway?) Stopped at the Meyer page - that's a big one to transfer. So I'll probably reward myself by watching something tonight. Still mulling over that story; forgot how mushy the later bits were, but I still believe it's worth saving. Gonna take some serious work, but it needs doing. Even if it doesn't end up coming down to novella length, the work needs doing.

Well, dinner's done, site work's done, story's been skimmed and placed in the hindbrain for mulling over. Guess I'll figure out what I'm going to watch as my personal reward for productivity. (Toss-up between starting a rewatch of the Expanse or one of my other DVDs, or maybe seeing if Roku has anything tempting.)

Lissibith said:

Can't talk, busy scripting my YouTube video on the push-sylphs.

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So, does this also explain my difficulties with sit-ups and push-ups? Please say yes.

*flops over and starts snoring with eyes open due to exhaustion*

Justobuddies said:

Any recording studios in your area? Studio musician gigs aren't necessarily fun, you won't get you any recognition for what you do, and you'll get to see the ugly side of the musicians appearing on the radio...but it's a paycheck if you pass the audition.

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Unfortunately I can't read sheet music, so being a musical gun-for-hire is... difficult. Being a session musician just isn't plausible for me. If the band wanted a pianist to just improvise for 5 or 10 minutes, I'd be their guy, for sure. But playing a part perfectly as it's written down? Not gonna happen... *sigh*

Thanks for the thought, though.

On my end, played a bit more of Darksiders earlier. Just checked, and the game is supposed to take about 20 hours... So theoretically I could get it finished in a week, no problem. Probably not gonna happen, though... Still in the mindset of "If I'm gonna game a lot, then I also need to do something worthwhile. Ie. a job. But I have no job, so gaming is the devil and stuff! Roar!"

Cliff - maybe that's your next project. Learn to read sheet music. It might widen your available options, AND it's related to an area for which you have passion.

Kitkit, what a lovely offer! Yosemite has been on my bucket list a long time. Some day I'll get there. I finally saw the Grand Canyon last month, so things DO happen on my list! Also, Iceland happened in 2015. Norway and Denmark are next year.

I'm led to believe that it's easier to learn to read music if you already have command of the instrument first, so a worthy goal to further the career. Also, if you don't hang out with a few other musicians it's time to burst that personal space bubble and go make a few friends. There's always the who you know factor in any sort of career hunt. (again I'm 'Merican so YMMV)

I'm not tone deaf, but I am tone hard-of-hearing. Still, I was able to learn to read music passably well. I can't find the key myself, but if someone else is on-key, I can follow (singing - I have no facility with instruments)

Cliff Face - IIRC, a surprising number of musicians don't read sheet music, some of them rather popular. Still, as others have said, if it's a career handicap, it doesn't look impossible. I was even starting to learn it... back before I lost my place to practice the pennywhistle. And if I can learn, anyone can. (Trust me - you don't wanna hear me "sing.")

Well, it's Wednesday, technically Day 1 of my HR-was-gonna-yell-at-me-for-overaccrual "vacation." So far, I've been to the exotic locale of The Roof, where I trimmed back the *#%@ kiwi vine before it could tip-root on the shingles again. (Why did Mom plant that thing? Ornamental, my tail. It's a friggin' weed, is what it is...) Looks like moss has effectively clogged our gutter toppers, too. I'm not very happy with those things... it would almost be easier to just clean the blasted things the old fashioned way. (At least where we live, that claim that the needles and junk just shed and blow off in the next dry day... bull crud. There were no dry days through most of the winter for things to blow off, so we have this caked-on layer of debris and moss turning the eaves into waterfalls. And I'm not entirely sure there isn't moss growing inside the blasted gutters, too. The only bonus is I no longer have to stand outside on the porch in rainstorms to clear the lower gutter when it clogs - it dumps water all around the house, not just on the downhill side.) So I'll probably have to go back up later today or maybe tomorrow when we have moss killer stuff mixed up, and possibly lay down on the edge and hand-scrub the green gunk away. Which isn't going to happen on the one corner of the house that's two stories above concrete and near the power junction, because I hate that corner with a passion and Will Not Go Near That Edge.

Anyway, still fighting sinus Issues (already popped an Excedrin), and am planning to do not much useful today save sitework and writing... if I ever fully wake up. (Slept cruddy again - see also: sinus Issues and need for Excedrin.) Need to take an Allegra, too, while I'm thinking of it.

tiddlywinks said:

So, does this also explain my difficulties with sit-ups and push-ups? Please say yes.

*flops over and starts snoring with eyes open due to exhaustion*

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I think that's a reasonable reading of the idea. I give it my stamp of approval and will include a subsection in my epic YouTube video.

Cliff Face said:

Unfortunately I can't read sheet music, so being a musical gun-for-hire is... difficult. Being a session musician just isn't plausible for me. If the band wanted a pianist to just improvise for 5 or 10 minutes, I'd be their guy, for sure. But playing a part perfectly as it's written down? Not gonna happen... *sigh*

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Please feel free to ignore if it's prying too much, but have you just never learned or are you unable to? (I have a friend who can't learn to read music because she has a slight vision problem that makes it hard to tell what lines the notes are on). If you just haven't had the time, I really recommend it, even just as a personal thing. It's weirdly empowering to be able to read tabs and sheet music. They can pop up in the oddest of not-really-musical places.

DragonCon Art Show Jury Acceptance in! Now I just have to wait another three weeks to see if my score was high enough to get the space I want. I asked for a bazaar table (which are scarce) and a silent auction panel. I sometimes don't get the table, so we'll see...

It's been a busy day today, Cantina. I managed to reach my Camp Nano word goal before I had to go out this morning. Then I helped my mom put fencing around her little gardens in the backyard so puppy, a.k.a. "The Tooth Monster" wouldn't keep trying to eat her plants, all of which are not toxic, but she didn't plant them in order to let them be eaten. Then I got a convo from a returning customer to my Etsy shop who was asking about getting a second necklace the same as the one they bought from me before. I decided to do it, laid out my custom order rules and pricing, and am now waiting for their reply confirming whether or not they want to make the purchase. The necklace they bought before was one of my pricier ones, so it's exciting that I might be selling another one!

greendragon said:

Cliff - maybe that's your next project. Learn to read sheet music. It might widen your available options, AND it's related to an area for which you have passion.

Click to expand...

Justobuddies said:

I'm led to believe that it's easier to learn to read music if you already have command of the instrument first, so a worthy goal to further the career. Also, if you don't hang out with a few other musicians it's time to burst that personal space bubble and go make a few friends. There's always the who you know factor in any sort of career hunt. (again I'm 'Merican so YMMV)

Click to expand...

greendragon said:

I'm not tone deaf, but I am tone hard-of-hearing. Still, I was able to learn to read music passably well. I can't find the key myself, but if someone else is on-key, I can follow (singing - I have no facility with instruments)

Click to expand...

Brightdreamer said:

Cliff Face - IIRC, a surprising number of musicians don't read sheet music, some of them rather popular. Still, as others have said, if it's a career handicap, it doesn't look impossible. I was even starting to learn it... back before I lost my place to practice the pennywhistle. And if I can learn, anyone can. (Trust me - you don't wanna hear me "sing.")

Click to expand...

Lissibith said:

Please feel free to ignore if it's prying too much, but have you just never learned or are you unable to? (I have a friend who can't learn to read music because she has a slight vision problem that makes it hard to tell what lines the notes are on). If you just haven't had the time, I really recommend it, even just as a personal thing. It's weirdly empowering to be able to read tabs and sheet music. They can pop up in the oddest of not-really-musical places.

Click to expand...

So, a few things:

1. I've never learned to read sheet music primarily because I don't want to. (Essentially.) The idea of practicing scales and chord progressions and playing the same thing over and over again really doesn't do it for me. But still - this is a personal bugaboo, rather than an inability. I don't know... My enjoyment of playing instruments has always been related to just doing it my own way, y'know? Rather than learning in the "normal" way... But it's An Option, if needed.

2. I really have no desire to be a gigging musician, and so feel at least moderately justified in not knowing other musicians. Even if I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy it, I still have anxiety around such things...

3. Brightdreamer, yes, that's been A Thing for me, the idea of being a successful musician without knowing music theory or how to read sheet music. Honestly, I don't know... Maybe it'd be better to bite the bullet and learn the way everyone else learns... Rather than being a special snowflake, sort of thing.

4. I'm also not convinced I could make a living from being a studio musician (ie. a gun-for-hire). That said, it seems most successful piano channels on YouTube do tutorials and cover songs... Learning a cover song would be new to me, and doing tutorials would require a different type of understanding to what I already have. So it's still An Option, even if I'm not sold on it.

Meh. Later the same Wednesday, and gearing down on Stuff while I prepare for my show tonight and a day trip tomorrow. The latter involves scrounging up my danged camera battery charger, which specializes in disappearing whenever I need it. Probably should clear the card in my big camera, too. (There's a local botanical garden/preserve place we're going to visit. Fingers crossed it's worth the trip...)

The sinuses never quite let go all day, but I don't want to take more Excedrin in case I need it tonight to sleep.

Stupid sinuses...

Off I wander. Got a map to print out and all that. (Yes, I'm still one of those throwbacks who doesn't use my phone for navigation.)

*cough* I believe we missed Maggie's birthday *cough cough*

Cliff Face said:

So, a few things:

1. I've never learned to read sheet music primarily because I don't want to. (Essentially.) The idea of practicing scales and chord progressions and playing the same thing over and over again really doesn't do it for me. But still - this is a personal bugaboo, rather than an inability. I don't know... My enjoyment of playing instruments has always been related to just doing it my own way, y'know? Rather than learning in the "normal" way... But it's An Option, if needed.

Click to expand...

Uh... Scales and chord progressions have very little to do with learning to read music. Scales and chords are more of a theory and technique thing. (Making the different keys second nature so I don't have to keep reminding myself that B-flat has two flats, and E-flat has three. Learning the muscle movements so I know when I need to use which fingers in order to complete a long phrase without interruption. And general familiarity with the keys.) They're also a good warm up so you have less chance of injuring your hands by just jumping into a complex or physically challenging piece.

But I never learned to play scales or basic chords out of a book. Reading music was for... music. (Even though I used to have other exercises I did that were originally learned out of a book because they were complex patterns to help build strength and more detailed technique.)

True, yes, I could *read* music without knowing much about chords and scales. Absolutely. But I doubt I'd get very far as a session musician without being able to go, "Oh? An E-minor? Here you go." Like, yes, that knowledge is technically irrelevant. But it's also something I'd (presumably) be expected to know, I think.

Nevertheless, I probably *should* learn music theory and how to read music and stuff. I just have a big hang-up on such things for no apparent reason... Seriously. I sit here thinking, "Hey, that'd be useful!" Then I head over to YouTube, watch 30 seconds of a relevant video, and go, "Naaaaah!" I don't know why, exactly.

If it's not interesting to you then it's not interesting to you. Nothing wrong with that.

I mean, I love it because my primary mode of music when I do it is singing, and being able to go "let's download some tabs for my guitar or the sheet music for the keyboard so I can accompany myself" rather than sitting there fumbling around is far preferable. I mean, I *can* figure it out by ear. I can also transpose it and redesign it for a cappella if I'm feeling frisky. But if all I want to do is sing the closing theme to Steven Universe, I'd way rather grab the music and spend the time playing around with the vocals. I've also sung with and arranged for a cappella groups before, and having a shared written language in order to codify ideas was vital. So for me and how I enjoy music, it was definitely a huge help. But if it's not for you, then it's not.

Also I like that it sometimes makes me look smart when video games try to pull a music puzzle

And Maggie, did we miss your birthday? If so please accept my belated BIRTHDAY BALLOONS!

HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE!

Morning, Cantina. I'm sort of awake. *stumbles toward tea*

Puppy has her second vet appointment to get more of her vaccinations today. Hopefully she'll have good manners again. We'll try to take her fora walk at the park again afterwards. My mom doesn't want to try to bring da beagle along too until puppy learnsto not be so wiggly in the car, so it'll be interesting to see how she does at the park without him.

I must also do wordage and take craft pics today. But first, breakfast.