I have a pastor who mocks people. There is a talented musician in our congregation, who is a bit "different": she is awkward, in conversations, not knowing when or how to end one, and a  little bit scattered in her thinking.

But she plays the piano very nicely, if a little less fluidly than some. And the pastor won't have anything to do with her participating in the music, and when asked Why don't we have Mrs. B play, when Mrs. M can't be here? he rolled his eyes and did a clownish parody of Mrs. B.

He thinks he's funny, but he makes me angry and sad. I'm pretty much sick of people on the whole right now, anyway, and that little...stunt  from a man of God, purported shepherd of EVEN Mrs. B, supposed to love her as he loves himself, to do unto her as he would have others do unto him...was enough to throw me off humanity for quite some time.

My Rachmaninov Tune

Found out, in Sunday's paper: there is a concert series in Park City, with some classical, some chamber, some pops, music played on a weekend-ly basis. One of the classic evenings is going to feature Rachmaninov's Piano Conerto No. 2...the piece whose theme I recognized from somewhere in my subconscious. Now I want to go hear it played live.

BUT

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be there on one of the "pops" nights... *sigh* such difficult decisions.

A DREAM

The outdoor seating is arranged quite nicely, several rows of white folding chairs under a decorated white awning: Abbie's Wedding! Everything is set up on the corner, so the congregation can get a good view of the bride and her ...ehem... Parade...marching down the street.

Yes, the plan is, the bride will arrive at the altar to join her groom, as part of a parade, with marching band, flags, floats, and all. What do they call the dude who leads the parade, with his baton and tall hat, and his high stepping march? The Marshall? The Head Marcher? LOL His uniform will be overall white, with light blue and gold accents. Similar uniforms for the marching band, and the floats are to be done in mostly white, as well.

I look over the seating arrangements, and then look up the street. They should appear at any moment! But, no sign of them appears on the horizon. So, I walk up the street a little ways...nope. No one marching along. When I look back, I can see the parade coming out onto the main street from a side street BEHIND where the seating is, and the parade...conductor?...looking all around, trying to find us. I holler and get their attention, and the parade makes its way towards where it's supposed to be: coming towards the congregation.

then I woke up.

I have an ear worm, and the good thing about  it is, my ear worm is a piano Sonatina by Clementi: when it gets unbearable, I can sit down and play it, until it goes away. But, so far, it hasn't gone away. The other good thing about it is, it really isn't that obnoxious a tune, for an ear worm. It's whistle-able and hummable and light.

In fact, this morning, I had an ear worm--- "America" from West Side Story. It isn't SO bad, but it was getting obnoxious, so I played the Clementi...and changed my ear worm!

deedle-de-dee-dee-dee-dee; deedle-DE-dee-dee-dee-dee; deedle-DEEE-dee-dee-dee-dee~~dee dee dee dee dum dee deedle dee

Because I'm immersing myself in piano right now, and because I have to sleep in the mornings and my bedroom window is one back yard away from a very busy road, I bought myself a CD called The Most Relaxing Piano Album in the World, Ever! Took the CD player to my bedroom, and fell asleep listening.

A tune awoke me, about an hour later, I guess. This is about the right amount of morning sleep I need. That way, I'm sleepy enough by about 8:30 to go to sleep easily, which makes 3:15 am an easier hour to cope with, when the alarm goes off.

Well, the tune was familiar, and I said to myself "that's Rachmaninov" and hummed it a little bit. The theme, you see. Then I said "IS that Racmaninov?" and reached over for the CD case...sure enough, there it was, the name Rachmaninov, the Piano Concerto No. 2. I laughed, kind of surprised at myself.  I've always enjoyed symphonic/classical music well enough, preferring it in fact to just about any other kind of music, but I don't listen to it all the time (it's nearly impossible to get classical on the radio) and I most certainly am not any kind of an expert in it. I took a "Music Appreciation Course" in college, which was quite enjoyable. I've been to see The Nutcracker Ballet many times. (The third rated ballet company in the United States is Ballet West, from the University of Utah) Also, Swan Lake. Also, The Firebird. Tchaikovski is my favorite composer of all time, so I would recognize his music pretty much. "Hmmm, that is pretty Tchaikowski'esque, innit?" and sometimes Beethoven. The old stand-bys; everyone's faves, who everyone has heard of because they're so popular.

But RACHMANINOV? How on EARTH did I know that was from him? I recognized the theme, and identified the composer of it. wow. The music playing right now I'm enjoying, and checking the CD case tells me it's Tchai... but I wouldn't necessarily identify the man from the theme of this piece. Heck, I can't even do that with 70's rock and roll.

Something similar happened on Father's Day, with minerals, of all things. Hil and Curt took the girls camping in a rock hunting haven, and found many interesting and beautiful rocks: jasper, geodes with glints of purple, Apache Tears in the rough, obsidian, and some fossils. Hilary was showing me the many different rocks and minerals they'd found, one of which was a big purplish rock, deep purple in the center, going paler towards the edges, and a little bit crumbly. I said "That looks like fluorite"

"yeah. Fluorite," she said. And again, I laughed at myself. Where did THAT come from? I have friends who love stones and gems; I have oohed and aaahed over cool looking rocks; my kids and I have collected pebbles from the trails we've hiked, and have had some of them identified by genuine rock hounds. But as far as I know, the only place I've seen fluorite was either as beads at a bead show, held up for admiration by an enthusiast, or on display at a museum. It isn't like I'd NEVER seen the stuff before, but it also isn't like I actually can identify minerals or anything. A tree? probably. and I also know many bird species by sight. But a mineral? wow.

Fool's Gold and turquoise are stones I know.  Stones that anyone would know if they saw them...but fluorite? sheesh.

LOL I thought all the stuff I consciously have packed in my brain...the factoids, the little bits of information, the minutiae that enable me to always win at Trivial Pursuit...was about it. Now I'm finding stuff in there that I'd forgotten or was unaware that I ever knew it. heh.