The Art of

Heh… roller skates.

As a young'n middle of the last century, I tried on the skates that clamped on my PF Flyers. Once. Didn't go far. I think they didn't stay on well. And I'm fond of modes of transport that include brakes.

Fast forward to early this century, and I and the three kids all got in-line boots. I was surprised to find I mastered them immediately. Some experience water- and snow-skiing probably helped.

We enjoyed going to the park (in town, not on our country driveway) and skating around and around… until that day…

…there was a steep hill with a turn right at the bottom. I saw one kid zip down and, to my great surprise, zip around the turn like a pro.

Then a second kid zipped down, made the turn, and I heard a scream.

Dad, being an idiot, immediately headed down the hill, and about half-way down I realized I was unlikely to make that turn and was going too fast.

I threw myself off the path, trying to land on my butt with feet out front, but instead flipped over head-first and cracked my head on a rock. Only time I was ever glad I was wearing a helmet! I actually blanked out for a moment.

Third kid was at the top of the hill, certain he had just seen most of his family wiped out.

Fortunately, I was the only one injured. I walked down and found one kid delighted to have successfully made the turn, and the other, who had screamed, had merely fallen safely after turning.

I never went skating again.

The Piano

Just before Thanksgiving, we finally got Mom's piano out of storage and into the new house. It's a beautiful baby grand Knabe that was, IIRC, a wedding [corrected] gift to Mom from Dad's mother. Mom always took great care of it. Only slightly out of tune after two years in storage. Dominates the main hall, but really classes up the joint.

I was discouraged from playing it in my youth (siblings!). After college, I became self-taught on a cheap honkey-tonkey upright, more fitting to my kinda-goofy talents than this fine instrument; but I sure enjoy playing the baby grand. Late in life, Mom even seemed to like my playing. I wasn't going to take it, but MiladyJo encouraged me to, so here it is. Neither of my sisters plays.

My fingers aren't as limber as they were just a couple of years ago, less of a span, and I'm terribly out of practice. But I play for myself, and Milady doesn't complain. Neither does the dog.

Songs on this vid (Webworkshop #9) are me recording at Mom's several years ago.

Posted on A♠ by: mindful webworker - stiffening hands at December 16, 2023 08:39 PM
Slightly revised, Nov 23, 2024.

The Webworkshops

Back in college, I started writing lyrics. They may not be great songs, but they were mine.

I had accompanying tunes in my head, but didn't know (still don't) sheet music. Out of college, I bought an old upright piano; fun, tinny, honkey-tonk sound. I taught myself to play and mark down chord notations. Chord notations won't tell you the tune, of course, so I recorded all my songs on tape, for posterity's sake, as if anyone would ever care. Wonder where those tapes are now.

Several years ago, I set out to record my songs on video. "Mindful Webworkshop" was fun to do, anyway. (The 16 workshops are all up on my website.) My keyboard skills were sometimes all right. My vocals were, well, untrained and often creaky. The mic was crap. But I got the songs down, for posterity's sake, as if anyone would ever care.

There were still more songs I wanted to record, but the workshops were terminated for technical reasons. Subsequently, my nice, newer upright piano got ruined. My hands have started to get arthritic-stiff. My voice has only become creakier. Glad I got most of the songs recorded when I did. For posterior's sake.

Posted on A♠ by: mindful webworker - I never knew I could write anything so beautiful! -Doc Brown at August 12, 2023 09:32 PM
Slightly edited, Nov 23, 2024.