Piano day



So today I woke up at 8:00, called in sick (there goes one of the sick days I was saving up for another mini-vacation), and woke up at noon. I felt terrible, I haven't overslept in a long time and I've forgotten what an awful feeling it is. Also lying to my boss about it being that time of the month (in tiny, pained voice: "I've got cramps...") makes me feel so damn guilty even though it works every time, sorry guys.



I ordered in from my favorite deli - a fish fillet sandwich for lunch and a mushroom burger for dinner. I got out the two books I got from Borders yesterday. (I've been buying too damn much from Borders lately. I go there everyday and I'm spending at least 30 dollars every time. This has got to stop.) So anyway, I bought two piano books - the Les Miserables score and a compilation of classics yesterday. My sister just got a new piano and I've been dying to try it out. It's one of those digital pianos that I've been suspicious of, but it turns out that it sounds and feels just like a real piano. Unlike the old keyboards which you can't accomplish dynamics on, these new ones are such perfect little creations. You can adjust how the keys feel, i.e., hard, medium, soft, and how the sound comes out - hall 1, hall 2, room, etc. It's a total marvel.



I like how I can lose myself when I play the piano. I let my mind wander. It's something that I've been able to do ever since I learned how to take naps while having my piano lessons with Ms. Hilado. My fingers would continue to move but I'd be nodding off. She'd only notice when she'd turn to me to say something about the piece, and I'd have my eyes closed. I'd wake up then because she'd poke my wrists. Those were fun times.



The classics compilation book had Fur Elise and Liebestraum and Moonlight Sonata and The Minute Waltz and Clair de Lune. Different pieces evoke memories of different people. Fur Elise was probably the first piece that I memorized. It was what everyone asked you to play and I've never enjoyed it as much as I did today. It's funny how years after my fingers can still remember the notes. They don't move as easily across the keys now. My Minute Waltz (this crazy waltz that Chopin wrote that's supposed to be played in a little more than a minute) is almost comical; it was the last piece Ms. Hilado taught me before I quit and I've never been able to nail it. Clair de Lune is my dad's favorite song and he'd always bug me to play it. Moonlight Sonata reminds me of week-end afternoons at the make-shift rec room at my old high school.



Afterwards I took out Dan Coates' arrangement of Desperado, which for some unknown bizarre reason is my LSS song.