Human Jukebox

I started piano lessons when I was in Grade 4, and continued until the end of Grade 12, at which point I was spending more time doing homework (or avoiding it) and hanging out with boyfriend (now fiancé) than practicing. I finished my exams, completing both my Grade 8 Practical (playing) and writing my Grade 2 Rudiments (theory), which gave standing in Grade 8 Practical. Big deal, right?

I'm proud of those achievements, but when I'm at a party with a piano and people find out I play, they don't want to hear chromatic scales. They don't want to hear Sonatinas in X Major or Beethoven's nth Symphony. And really, I don't want them to show me that they know how to play Heart and Soul, for the zillionth time in my life.

They want to hear November Rain, or some other inane hit. I don't know it. I can pull out the first 30 seconds of the Peanuts theme, which is usually enjoyable. I only know it because I had a copy of the music, an easy version in C. It's actually in A-flat, so I was able to transpose a little. People want to hear something they recognize and possibly love. For example, my sister's friend can play many of the major themes from Mario and Zelda and other games, and he was a giant hit at that party we had last summer.

I just noticed that Wiki lists well-known music in A-flat, and probably all the other keys too. This is incredible to me, because I don't have a great ear for figuring out chords (like the rest of the world, judging by the popularity of tablature webpages). By fiddling around the keyboard I can usually figure out the melody, but I get a little muddled around chords. I also have terrible rhythm, a notorious problem with amature players, but that's a story for another day.

To conclude, in part due to my willingness to impress at parties, in part due to my attempt to tone down my miserly nature, and in part because I figured out the melody to the Final Countdown but I still want the chording, I was at Long & McQuade last night and I went for it. This book has Word Up by Cameo. CAMEO.

Now I'm a little miffed after some research at finding out I could have saved $15 by buying it online at Amazon. I don't even want to buy books at stores anymore. Anyway, I plan to get a lot of enjoyment out of the book. Much more so than the Hilary Duff songbook we pulled out of L&M's dumpster last summer, along with a pile of guitar magazines and the Trouble at the Henhouse musicbook.

Ms Spent Money

I read one more financial book and vaguely scanned another, so I thought I'd document that experience.

The Ms. Spent Money Guide - I am not joking about the title. This book had some really good, general advice, like Gail's book that I mentioned before, but in less detail.

The guide emphasized the difference between "conscious" and "unconscious" spending - basically, "conscious" spending means minimizing the money you spend on things you enjoy less, to free up money for what you enjoy more.

I found the visualizing exercises at the beginning of each section a little hokey. Some people might benefit from creating an image of what their money flow looks like, "using the analogy of a waterfall", but I skimmed over those parts. The sections of the book, divided into the areas where you spend money, are based partially on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - you spend more money on food, shelter, etc. at the bottom of the pyramid than vacations and toys and extras at the top.

The most useful item I got out of the book was the advice that splurging on something expensive, but well-made, would be more satisfying and a better buy in the end, over scrimping on multiple items that are less useful and that you don't like as much.


Surprise! You're Wealthy - Every Woman's Guide to Financial Independence - I started reading this book but found the info either didn't apply to me, or I had already read it elsewhere. The entire second chapter is about running your own business, the third about high-powered, managerial jobs, and the fifth about insurance settlements, inheritances, and lottery winnings.

I only vaguely aspire to start my own business on the sole basis of claiming home office supplies on my tax returns, management is really far removed from my current career plan at the moment, and I don't anticipate inheritances or lottery winnings to stumble onto my front porch any time soon. The appendices of the book did have some useful info and worksheets, such as how to calculate your net worth and how to select a financial advisor.

The Bitch in the House

Of the books that I've read over the past few years, this one has probably had the most profound effect on my life thus far:

I read it first after I bought it last summer, discounted at McNally Robinson like most books I buy. When I read it again last month, it made even more sense, after having lived that much more of my life since then.

The title is a take-off on The Angel in the House, as defined by Virginia Woolf and quoted at the beginning of Bitch:

I will describe her as shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others.

Interestingly, hidden among my other childhood classics is the novel briefly mentioned in the angel wiki article (What Katy Did).

Despite the lives of the authors of these essays being vastly different, from each other and from my own, I recognize the domestic rage that comes with trying balancing it all - husband, career, kids - and not wanting to, though having to, sacrifice any for the other. I recognize it looming in myself even though my wedding won't take place for a few months, my career is in its beginnings, and kids, well, I'm still learning to take care of myself.

I see a lot of myself in essays such as "Attila the Honey I'm Home" (Kristin van Ogtrop), though I don't have kids or their hectic careers yet. I can be perfectly pleasant and witty at work and out with friends, but coming home to the combination of a stack of dishes, and a certain someone playing nintendo oblivious to the fact, quickly turns me into the witch in the apartment.

And though I grew up with a stay-at-home mom, or perhaps because of it, I grew up thinking that when I moved out and into the family/career combo, things would be significantly different, though I was never sure how. This was really naive thinking on my part, because really, how different could it be? Even though I strive for my partner and I to equally split the mundane household chores required for upkeep, splitting still means I have to do my half. Refusing to do so, and allowing my partner to cook all our meals* as I have doesn't make me a feminist, it makes me lazy.

*I say allow, but really, I'd probably kill us and/or we'd live off scrambled eggs if I took over, even in part.