Elgar Was Self-Taught You Know

They sent Scooter off to jail today. Well, not really. They convicted him, though, and I'm sure everyone in America is relieved to know they got the mastermind behind the whole Valerie Plame affair.

What's that? You think this thing doesn't stop at Scooter? You think there might have been higher-ups involved? Tsk, tsk. What a skeptical public we've become.

Oh well, it was Scooter that got thrown to the lions, and that's the game they play up there in Washington, I guess.

Anyways, you're probably wondering how my piano practice is going. Pretty good, actually, except that I've completely lost the use of my right hand. Well, not completely, but it's awful hard to make a closed fist or hang on to a can of soda (damn things keep slipping out of my hand). What's even worse is that picking up a guitar again after 20 years of not playing has had the opposite effect on my other hand. Fingering the strings seems to have put my left hand into a perpetual state of close-fistedness.

So there you have it. In medical school I think this is a situation they call "the mind is willing but the body says 'Dude, what are you doing?'" If you don't know what I'm talking about then you just wait. You'll start piling on the years and you'll see what's it's like to need a magnifying glass to read food labels or a few extra seconds to work your way out of the easy chair. You just wait, 'cause it'll happen to you.

So if I have any words of advice for all you elder statesmen out there who might decide to start playing the piano at an age beyond what common sense would otherwise dictate, it would be this: Go slow- very, very slow. For starters, I'd say a half hour of practice three times a week would be plenty. Then, after a month, maybe a half hour every other day, or something like that.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT make the mistake of thinking that your fingers don't know that you're not a ten year old kid anymore. I've been there and done that, and now it's all I can do to get enough grip in my hand to keep from dropping my fork at the dinner table.

Still, that keyboard is lots of fun. If you don't have any worthwhile hobbies or pursuits and you're looking for something to do with your time, then I'd highly recommend getting one. Just to play around with, if nothing else. I probably shouldn't mention this but that software I'm using taught me how to play the "Ode To Joy" the baby way, but, and I don't want to brag here, I figured out how to play it the right way - using two hands no less. Ha, is that talent or what?

Anyways, sore fingers means less piano practice which means more blogging time, so look for more to come here at the Dead Cat and over at Fiddle News. I know how excited you must be to hear that. And of course, I've still got that opera to write. I hope I can learn the piano real quick 'cause I want to get started on that. Right now, though it's time for me to go soak my fingers.

It's such a pain getting old.