a day in the life of piano monkey

i ran into this korean illustrated story on facebook today. obviously, it is in korean, however, i think with this, the story may not need too many words. the old lady is walking, from end of her present life to the start of new one.  the man in the suit is the post-death figure, guiding her to the doorway. http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=500942&no=6&weekday=thu she talks about why it has to be so difficult. losing her husband 12 years ago. taking care of her only daughter, then the grandkid. worked till the fingers were worn out. then came the end.  12 years of endless work and- solitude. however, she did love. loved for real, with her life. from age 19, for happy 50 years. she wonders if she could meet him now- with that same butterflies in her tummy. guide tells her: there's the door to the next life. you go alone from here. to think, to reflect. to conclude, to end, before you start a new one. is he in there? guide tells her: no. he is...

i am house sitting part of the week and it feels quite remarkable. from the lofty small patch of wee concrete branch on 32nd floor, i am now on the ground level, in a long living room, silent.  with a silvery piano that knows how to enjoy the silence. i didnt realize how much of external forces run in my veins.  in chinley, things are different- with barely 2000 people in the village, things are quiet. there are stars and grass. sheeps, lambs, llamas and little brown calves, who may be grown into big, stubborn teenagers now. however, though it can quiet, minnow and i habitually turn on the itty old blue stereo or the sturdy tivolis when we are in the house. the bbc programs run through the house, much like the thinnest capillary vessels that reaches all part of the body and heart. and of course, with another person in the house, the space can be full of conversations, both spoken and unspoken.  at st. mary's, where i am so lucky to practice, it's on an old roman road-...

change of plan! here's a different clip. i think this one bites well. how exciting. im going to work on a personal project and it may be challenging, i am sure... so why not put up something with bit more bite? so here it is, a new clip, first mvt from martinu cello sonata no. 2. written in times of war, it's brutal, haunting and manic. i hope you enjoy. curiously, in its natural viciousness, it still provides plenty of amusement. http://www.helsinki.fi/science/commens/terms/playofmusement.

photo courtesy of photos-public-domain.com  there has been many silly things happening in this monkey's life however... the whole idea about this post is to talk about my friends. yes, friends! see, it's like good can opener. when you are desperate for that can of soup, dying of cold and fever, what you are really desperate for is good can opener.  a dull, weak opener is a sure guarantee for various tragedies- spilled soup, cut fingers, you name it.  but when things are well and the can opens with no resistance, it's hard to appreciate the 'good' can opener. life, like everything else, things go up and down.  and though things may be to crazy to even see oneself straight- all the sudden, you may doubt and question your own identity, your understanding of the world, nothing seems hold any truth any more. and there they are. i dont have many friends, i must admit. but i dont think it's a fault. is it a bad thing to be so selective about friends? well, ...

past three days, i walked over 5 hours, may be even 6 hours on treadmill. it is a quite an unusual thing as the treadmill, true to its cliche identity, can be extremely boring. what kept me there? tennis (gasp!) since i was a (fat) kid (with horrid vision and spacial awareness), i was never into sports. even when i lost the weight, i did keep my sports fairly simple: no balls! see, sports with one vector such as running, cycling, rowing, paddling, i can handle. however, if there are more than one vector (ie. opponent and moving ball), this is where this particular monkey brain splatters in a very small yet a gross vector.  and watching sports- well, it is hard to appreciate some sports when you cant even bother to play them. how would i know what is incredible if i cannot appreciate the difficulty of the situation? and who wants to watch an entire night of football/baseball/basketball when you can do something else (ie. entertaining, cooking, reading, blathering)? tennis...

it's been almost a month since the last post. where did the time go? well, this summer was the wettest summer i have ever seen- along with the rest of the english and scottish peeps. i am sure the welsh did not do much better either. it was the wettest since the record keeping began. apparently edinburgh saw amazing fifteen hours of sunshine in the grand month of june. however, there has been spots of very bright days and minnow and i made utmost careful effort to enjoy all. of. it.  in fact, the blog page looks like a scene from hansel and gretel- sprinkled with loads of interesting bits that needs to be filled out and expanded. i do promise myself to go back and write them out.  there will be little stories that will pop up, like small wee plants that just broke the ground. there are many summer stories, a few of them still continuing on. however, the most significant moment of the transition would be the send off of the silvery minnow in the magical tin can over the...