Thursday, January 17, 2008

Happiness!

I do believe I have a new love...and that love is the Yamaha CP33 stage piano.

I finally made the plunge and purchased my new love yesterday afternoon, after waiting several agonizing days for my local Yamaha retailer to replenish its CP33 stock. And tonight, well, tonight I set the bad boy up and played it for the first time.

I can't wipe the grin off my face. Uncontrollable smiles are my favorite kind.

My new love has graded hammer action (it feels like a real grand piano), a sweet sustain pedal, and (most importantly of all) the most realisitc piano voices I have ever heard on a digital piano.

My new love is probably the best roommate I've ever had (please, note to humans I've lived with: if you heard this baby, you would not take offense to that statement whatsoever). I hope we have a long and fruitful relationship together.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Gift

I am happily in the middle of reading several books right now. In one book in particular, I am making extremely slow progress. This is because I come across a thought every few pages that gets me contemplating my approach to my own creative pursuits. The book I am referring to is the 25th anniversary edition of The Gift by Lewis Hyde.

I knew nothing about this book or its cult following when I bought it. I was simply shopping for a gift certificate Christmas present in my local independent bookstore in December when, as usual, I found myself drawn to the table of new paperbacks. It is very difficult for me to resist the urge to buy a book in a good bookstore. For this reason, Strand bookstore in New York is a dangerously tempting place for me to enter.

I think it's too early in my reading of The Gift to give a thorough review of it, so for now I will say that I am intermittently enjoying it greatly and will provide a link to some other folks' thoughts on the book:
Re-Gifting by Dwight Garner in the New York Times Online

Why did I pick up this book and buy it, with no prior knowledge of its existence? I couldn't resist the praise on its cover, including Margaret Atwood's assessment that The Gift is "The best book I know of for talented but unacknowledged creators. A masterpiece."

(p.s.: My apologies for the lack of proper italics in this post - I am having difficulties with my Safari browser.)

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

I messed up...

...I really, really did. *Somehow* I got it into my head that to be able to vote in an election in New York State, one had to register (or update one's registration) at least 25 days (only 25 days!) before the election. Why oh why did I think that the New York bureaucracy could adjust its records in such a short amount of time?

I've been a registered voter since 1996, when I used my vote in Maryland to help elect Bill Clinton into his second term. At the time I was a registered Democrat. A few years later, after I had been a New York resident for a couple years and had grown skeptical of all established political parties, I switched my party affiliation to None. I was Independent and proud of it.

Proud, yes, but also stupid. New York is such an overwhelmingly Democratic-with-a-capital-D state and city that almost all elections are basically determined at the primary level, when the Democratic candidate is chosen. Since one must be affiliated with a party to vote in New York primary elections, I was essentially giving up a big part of my ability to determine our elected leaders.
For this reason, I've considered changing my party affiliation back to Democratic many times over the past several years, but it took this current Presidential election for me to finally say, "it's time." This Democratic race is intense!

I thought I'd take the opportunity to adjust my party affiliation at the same time I registered my new address change (I moved this past Fall). So...I just recently got my updated registration into the Board of Elections this week, thinking I had made it in time...only to learn that October 12, 2007 was the deadline for changing party affiliation for our February 5, 2008 primary election. HOW did I miss this piece of information???
Why oh why can I not live in South Dakota or even West Virginia, where primary elections are being held on June 3, 2008 and May 13, 2008, respectively? Then I might still have time to make the necessary changes...but then I'd also live in South Dakota or West Virginia, so...

I am just supremely disappointed in myself right now. I'm also jealous of the Iowa caucusers, who are able to register and/or change party affiliation right up to the day of the caucus. Argh.

At least I can still vote in the general election this November.