IrishOboe

I am currently busy practicing the new harp that the schola ordered based on a Spanish painting from 1390.  It as a double row of 14 strings and is quite a challenge to learn to play.  I was walking around the house practicing my saltarello when I noticed this view and couldn't resist a picture.  I wish a treal photographer had been there, but it's cool despite my lack of camera skills.  Can anyone explain why through the naked eye I could only see the main shadow, but the picture produced another?  I'm baffled.  Click on the photo for a larger image.

I don't know if Mom will figure the title out from Hippo tapes, but BabbleFish will be happy to help those who can't read it.  (And my husband will be happy to correct my German).

I'm a big girl now! Today I only had to employ my alter ego once as I reserved a mobility car, drove it to Germany for piano lessons, then on the highway to Steph in Pfeffingen (only stalling once) and all the way home again (stalling once again, darn it!) signing out 30 seconds before my time was up.  Somehow I assume driving will be much faster than biking and didn't allow enough wiggle room.  Praise be to our gracious God that no incidents happened so I was able to make it just in time for piano and just in time to turn the car in.  A year ago I would have considered driving in Basel an accomplishment, let alone driving it with a stick.  I've had a total of two stick lessons and two Swiss road lessons, so this solo dual country tour was something to be proud of.

Thanks to my lovely husband for filling me with confidence and encouraging me to give it a go.  It also helps a great deal to know that he'd be patient with me if I had totally messed it up. :-* Happy Valentine's Day, sweetie!

There is no post that will be worthy of breaking my blog silence, so having recently learned that I have devoted friends that still check IrishOboe this little blip into life will have to do.  More momentous events will have to wait.

Yesterday in notation class the teacher showed two solutions on the board before handing back our homework.  For the curious, we are currently studying Codex Rossi, an Italian manuscript from the 14th century.  After stating which solution was right and which was not really possible she asked if it was clear.  It appeared clear to everyone, but being my stubborn self I piped up and said "no."  I explained why I had chosen the 'wrong' solution and was not yet convinced of it's invalidity.  The teacher then pointed out that in my transcription I had chosen the 'right' solution, which gave the class a laugh.

True to form, I cannot leave this story as an interesting anecdote.  The incident reveals more than my own inconsistency and even relates to the opening topic of notation class.  We often start down a certain path of thinking and continue to follow it while forgetting the other options we could have chosen to start with.  Our knowledge blinds us to other possibilities.  My transcription was consequent to one way of thinking.  A week later in class I saw a different logic which went so far as to prevent me from seeing what I had seen in the first place.

Still, the better moral to remember when dealing with Yours Truly is:

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.

 (and when you don't have spell check it takes twice as long to write a post and I bet my mother and husband will still find mistakes)