It's not about making sense

Drawing with any black medium on white paper utterly triggers my perfectionism to a paralyzing degree.

Sepia ink on brown paper? Fun!

(Can't take a gazillion markers with me when I travel so working to come up with something more portable but still satisfying. Four sepia markers seems to fit the bill.)

At Saturday's rally, the kid and I got quite close to the speaker's pavillion. I saw a small entourage arrive and head to it, led by a white guy in a very fine trench coat and a tall black man in an athletic jacket.

I couldn't figure out who the white guy was... and then realized that the black man was our lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado. (The white guy was a staff member.)

I finally had my long-awaited conversation with the other expert on Thomas Commuck, and honestly it couldn't have gone much better. He's difficult on a social level but completely accepting and encouraging towards me as a fellow scholar. He generally admired my work, appreciated a couple of key points I made, and gave me some suggestions for improvement. ]

Now my timeline is coming into focus. On April 2 I share my draft with the Brothertown Book Club, and hope to get more helpful comments there. On May 4 I'll present the entire program publicly at my church (so publicity needs to start right after Easter). My materials to distribute ahead of the Hymn Society conference are due June 1. Presentation in Detroit is on July 13!

Bad news: furnace quit.

Worse news: part won't come in until tomorrow.

Good news: 38F and sunny kept the house comfy all day.

Better news: neighbors have inundated us with space heaters and heated throws.

Best news: I'm invited to attend the Brothertown Book Club on Zoom this week, and have started a conversation about making a full presentation to them soon!

I have a somewhat reluctant piano student. She is 8 or maybe 9; she enjoys music, and likes working with me, but she is even more than usually resistant to doing any actual practice or study. She's well past the level where I expect students to be able to identify all the notes on the staff, so I've been having her do flashcards with me every week, with an incentive for motivation-- she would get my special pink pen for completing the set of 24 cards in 2 1/2 minutes.

Recently I realized that doing the whole set of cards was dragging her down, so I brought in 3 dice; she could roll all three, and the total was how many cards she had to do that day. The first time she didn't roll, but set the dice by hand to a total of 10; I laughed and told her I could live with that. Yesterday she rolled, and got 14, and went through them more quickly than usual. Turns out she's playing recorder at school, and that has finally pushed her to master the treble clef. I praised her, and said that in coming weeks we'd focus on bass clef so she could finally get the pen.

To my surprise, she asked if she could try for the pen! So I shuffled, and set a timer, and she plugged away with much better attention-- and came up just 2 cards short, so I gave her the pen. That lit her up so much that we had a fabulous lesson, and spent some time discussing her progress towards the next level of books (more empowerment as she gets some choices).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZeys54njM

In the Bleak Midwinter. Intro, verse 1 and Outro by Karen Alley; verse 2 is my own.

At most of the previous churches I served, lining up "special music"* was always challenging and stressful. Folk express willingness and even eagerness to sing or play a solo, but selecting a date and a piece of music goes about as smoothly as the typical labor negotiation. (I even had one diva who would go through the process and then cancel last minute, almost every time. I started "forgetting" to put her information in the bulletin to make it a happy surprise when she actually sang, rather than a disappointment when she didn't.)

My current church? For Christmas Eve, in addition to choir and handbells, we'll have two vocal solos and two duets (different soloists and pairings)-- and they all volunteered and provided music with no prompting at all! And they are all good at what they do, and fun to work with!

* In a church, the general understanding of "special music" is anything except the usual choir or organ. So my music is never "special." (But it is valued, at my current church.)

Sometime last December I searched for "Oneida" on Hymnary.com, looking for hymns of the Oneida community, and instead got the tune ONEIDA by Thomas Commuck. I clicked through and was immediately fascinated-- first Native American composer published in the United States! By January 1 I was outlining research plans. In June I presented a program on Commuck's life and music at my church.

At some point I mentioned this to a writer of hymn texts with whom I've had some contact. He suggested that it sounded like a great topic for a sectional at the Hymn Society conference, and attached a link to the application for sectionals. In October I submitted the application.

I got the email yesterday-- I'M IN!! I will be presenting on Commuck at the annual conference of The Hymn Society In the United States and Canada (international!) in Detroit in July!

My sister called earlier to let me know that the older of my two brothers, Jay is in hospital and the outlook is not good. However that's all we know; there is a rift between Jay's second wife and his son by his first wife. 2nd wife is not communicating with us, and son is 1) not next of kin and 2) not reliable for information. So I'm just in limbo.

After the call I went to message the son, my nephew, on FB; and the top post on my page was the news that my co-organist from my Lutheran days has died. He was in his 80s so not unexpected but still a sadness.

My mom did not love cooking, especially cooking for a family of six. She made it easier for herself by generally following a weekly menu with very little variation. It wasn't great cooking but we were always fed on time, so we could get to all our evening activities.

Today I started reading a book by someone who has worked for the Food Network, and she begins by talking about the food of her childhood. It's a similar story to mine-- and it's the SAME menu, except that my mom uses some cheaper versions. Tuna casserole on Monday; fish sticks on Tuesday; steak and potatoes/meatloaf and potatoes Wednesday; roast chicken on Thursday (mom used economical "city chicken" which was actually pork); spaghetti on Friday, TV dinners Saturday. Sunday was a wild card-- out to eat, or leftovers, or make your own sandwich. I wonder where they both got that schedule? It has to have been published.