Okay, so this has been coming. Obviously, just by my activity alone, it has been obvious that thefaithfulmind has been closed down for some time.
Part of the reason is that a lot of what I do is more personal stuff, like the book I’m writing. For the last couple months or so, I have been questioning the wisdom of posting progress of my novel on the internet. I think it also subtracted from the quality of what I was able to do because it became (in my mind) more of a public obligation than a private desire. When I started posting my progress online, that was the intention; I had hoped that, by making myself publically accountable, I would be able to force myself to work on it. Now, of course, I see that that doesn’t work with writing; it has to be something I want to do.
Anyway, I also post less often on my blog because a lot of what I do write now I put in a journal that I write, so that has become the place where I put all of my thoughts. Although I’m certain that there will be a place for thefaithfulmind in the future, there is no purpose for it now.
So, I’m going to be officially ceasing activity for a little while.
Well, it has been quite awhile since I last posted. My summer has gone quite well so far; my last day of summer school is Wednesday, and then my Financial Planning class will be over.
Anyhow, the song that you are (presumably) listening to is a song that I was exposed to several years ago. I have often sought what the song was called, but I only recently learned that Lux Aeterna was that song that was so popular. Once again, it isn’t exactly classical, but it is still instrumental. Enjoy!
thefaithfulmind
P.S. I hope to be posting more frequently in the coming days and weeks.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker (Performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
I know, it isn’t exactly Classical, and it isn’t anywhere near Christmas yet, but I was just exposed to this rendition of the Nutcracker within the last couple of weeks and thought it was worth posting. Enjoy!
Whew, it HAS been awhile since I wrote anything in my blog. I even forgot to do my Monday Musician yesterday! How irresponsible of me.
Anyway, I guess I should start from where I was last. The spring semester is officially over, and I am home. I did well on my finals and got a good GPA for the semester.
The last couple of weeks have been extremely relaxing to me. However, as of yesterday, I am taking a personal finances summer class out of a local college. I need it anyway for my general education requirements, and based on the first class period, I am expecting it to be an intriguing and involving class.
I have also resumed progress on my novel. I’ll try to keep my blog updated on it throughout the summer.
Suffice it to say, this is a very interesting piece of music with a more modern flavor to it. It is written by the designer of the Music Animation Machine, which I have mentioned several times on my blog, I believe. Anyway, I’m out of school for the summer and trying to get all of my stuff from college settled in to my home. I’ll try to keep you all updated. Later!
Hans Zimmer – “I Don’t Think Now is the Best Time” from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
I know, this isn’t exactly classical music, but this week is finals week for me, and I have lots to do this week. So, I picked something that I know and like. Wish me luck!
G. Rossini, Gallop from the William Tell Overture.
Arranged by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
A couple of months ago we looked at Louis Moreau Gottschalk in my US Music History class, and afterwards I googled him on youtube and found this piano duet arranged by Gottschalk. Of course, it didn’t surprise me that Gottschalk would do something like this; he was one of the first to hold musician perforamances for middle-class audiences in Europe, and he was the first to perform music other than what he personally had written.
What did surpirse me was the technical skill required for this. Maybe it’s just that I’m easily impressed, but I was blown away by this. Enjoy!
Limit Myself to 3 Sodas a Day – I don’t think I’ve drank more than three sodas in a single week for awhile. To be honest, other things have been on my mind, but I believe that I am doing well with these things.
Walk every day – Yep. I’m doing well at this, though I have gained weight lately. Too many oreoes. I’ll have to fix that.
Forgive Those Who Wrong Me – I’m doing alright, though there’s always room for improvement here.
Finish Reading the Bible – Done! I’ve officially read the Bible cover-to-cover. Not that that’s going to get me into heaven or anything like that, but now that I have a view of the Bible’s bigger picture, I can start doing some in-depth study to get some of the specifics (not to say that that’s the only Bible-reading I’ll do from now on; I’ll still devotional readings and that sort of thing).
Memorize the Book of James – Now that I have finished reading through the Bible, memorizing the book of James will be one of my summer projects. I can’t say I’ve done too much to memorize it lately, and since I have finals coming up in a couple of weeks, I think it would be safer to just save this for the summer.
Pray First Thing When I Wake Up and Late Thing Before I Go To Bed – This needs improvement. There will be several days when I will do this successfully, but then it will fall to the wayside for a couple of days and I have to start again.
Limit Myself to One Hour of Playing (Computer) Games a Day - Actually, I’ve been doing well at this goal lately. Since I’ve been focusing more on writing my book, my classwork, etc., I’ve been doing well limiting how much time I spend wasting time in this fashion.
Read More – I have been doing plenty of reading lately, both for classes and for leisure.
Be curious – Perhaps there are some things that I should be exploring the answers to that I have taken for granted for some time…I’ll need to think about this more.
Finish a rough copy of The League of Kenushi Ryu – Slowly but surely, I am working on it.
Journal consistently – Yes, I’ve been doing better here as well.
The journaling is especially on my mind because I visited a man last week who had just lost his father. The man had gone to the hospital for a brain aneurysm, but he was fine and was going home the next day. He specifically said that his father had kept a journal and that he was looking forward to going home and reading it. When he said that, I thought of my own journal and how cool it would be for my family to have that opportunity to read my journals when I leave the Earth. Anyway, that’s how I’ve done on my 2009 resolutions lately.
Okay, so today begins the second-to-last week of classwork, after which there will be a week of finals. Here’s what my next three weeks look like.
_____________________________
Monday, April 27 (today)
-Writing About Literature – discuss Research Paper ideas
Tuesday, April 28
-Music Theory – Assignment
-Human Language – Assignment
Wednesday, April 29
(nothing)
Thursday, April 30
-Music Theory – Assignment
Friday, May 1
(nothing)
_____________________________
Monday, May 4
-Music History – Paper
-English – Peer Review Research Essay
Tuesday, May 5
(nothing)
Wednesday, May 6
-Music History – Hour-Exam
-English – Peer Review Research Essay
Thursday, May 7
-Music Theory – Project
Friday, May 8
(Reading Day – no classes)
_____________________________
Monday, May 11
-Human Language Final Exam
Tuesday, May 12
-Writing About Literature Research Paper Due
Wednesday, May 13
-Music Theory Final Exam
-French Horn Jury
Thursday, May 14
-History Final Exam
-History Paper
Friday, May 15
-Music History Final Exam
-Music History Short Response Essay
After that, I will probably spend the rest of Friday afternoon cleaning out my room, packing, and going home.
I also don’t yet know when my French Horn performance will be. I will update my schedule here when I find out. Suffice it to say, I have a whole lot to do. I have started making a list of things I want to do over the summer and next fall, while the school year is still fresh on my mind and not bogged down by concerns over finals.
I have also done some more work on my book lately. I have been drawing sketches of the capitol city on the island of Kenushi Ryu, and a friend will help come up with some concept art. However, some of that will probably be suspended until after finals.
Since I’m already here, I’m going to go back through the new year’s resolutions that I made for 2009, and give an update on my progress in reaching them.
Probably one of Beethoven’s most well-known pieces of music. I remember when I was in elementary school, my family bought a musical keyboard that had songs that you could have the keyboard play for you (which was amazing to me at the time), and I would just listen to this song for hours on end. Anyhow, I hope that you enjoy it!
What, haven’t you heard yet? I suppose that I don’t have room to talk, since I just heard today, but apparently, there’s some hidden talent in Britain!
In case you haven’t heard, a 47-year-old woman named Susan Boyle tried out for Britain’s Got Talent a week and a half ago, and the world hasn’t been the same since. This ordinary-looking woman from Scotland has set off a firestorm of acclaim in a relatively short time. Since I’m certain that I can’t really describe what happened, here’s a youtube video displaying her musical performance.
Thank you first of all for reminding me that beauty is only skin-deep. I am ashamed to say that my initial reaction to you was not that dissimilar from that of your audience that witnessed your first performance. You should also know that my reaction was very similar to that of your audience when you began to sing: as your judge Amanda Holden said, it truly was a privilege to hear your performance. You not only shamed the audience that was against you; you have shamed our entire culture for thinking that success in life is determined by appearance.
Thank you second of all for giving me and the rest of of our society something to cheer for, to hope for. I have even briefly googled news articles, and I found one that made the audacious claim that your performance alone might tip the scale of the global economy, might even save it (see here for the article). I would show you more of how your single performance has changed the world, but I can’t even see it all. I have taken several moral lessons away from hearing your performance, and I know that I’m not the only one. Your sudden fame has gone beyond just that of another new idol; you have given people hope, and that is more valuable than the most precious gold that could be found. Not only did you give people hope, but you brought out the best in them, and that is a power that few people possess.
Finally, thank you for reminding me that even the most unachievable dreams are achievable, and that when we let go of our dreams, we die. You stood there on that stage, and your pursuit of your dreams brought you alive in a profound way, and I honestly believe that that made you beautiful in a deeper way than any form of makeover could ever hope to achieve.
Just some thoughts for you: now that you are famous the world over, don’t let it go to your head. Part of the reason your performance was so stunning was because of the great hope and determination wrapped in humility with which you approached it. You went before those judges as simply a human being; in your future performances, let that quality continue to grow, and I have no doubt that you will continue to be successful.
I do have one request: don’t just be a celebrity. As Daniel J. Boorstin once said, “time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities.” I’m asking you to be a hero that people can aspire to be not because of your success, but because of your honorable character and kindness. Hold to your kindness and character as your most valuable possession, even more valuable than your voice, and you will join the ranks of Mother Teresa and the many other people who made a difference in the lives of your peers.
Oh, and don’t listen to your critics. There are some people who will try to find the worst about everything, even the most extraordinary and gifted of people. Just be yourself, and you will shame them and their criticism of you in the same way that you shamed me and my preconceptions of you.
-Writing About Literature – Reading (A Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’neill)
Tuesday
-Writing About Literature – Reading
Wednesday
(nothing)
Thursday
-Music Theory – Assignment
-Human Language – Conversation Assignment
Friday
-Writing About Literature – Research Paper Tentative Proposal/Works Cited due
My research paper will be on Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I don’t know precisely what the topic of discussion in the paper will be, but I will be spending a great deal of time in the next couple of days hiting the research databases and digging up some material for me to use.
Lots to do. I’ll try to make a more substantial post later on. Until then, have a great day!
Be certain to watch the video; I knew that organs had foot pedals, but this particular piece of music puts the entire organ to rigorous use…and the performer. Talk about a full-body work-out! Enjoy!
This week is nice and quiet, actually, which is nice. At the end of this week, I’m going to a retreat with the campus ministry I am associated with, so there will be little time to study or anything of that nature next weekend, and I am feeling the pressure of the semester’s finals approaching. For example, after next weekend, I have a music theory exam on Tuesday and the tentative proposal for a research paper in my English class will be due at the end of the week, so I’m trying to plan ahead and have some of that taken care of before then. After that week, there will be only two weeks of class left, which promises to be fun and exciting. Anyhow, that’s how things are going for me at the time.
For my history class, I just finished the book Carnival of Fury by William Ivy Hair, which is a historical novel about Robert Charles and the race riot of 1900 in New Orleans. I must say, it was a fascinating, though somewhat shocking; I guess it is easy to forget how far we as a civilization have come in terms of civil rights and understanding have come in the last hundred years. It is easy to look at all of the problems of modern civilization with disdain, but it is also valuable to remember that life in the United States has improved by leaps and bounds in the last century, especially for minorities. Therefore, it should be our goal that people living in a hundred years are able to say the same thing about the 21st century.
I have also very nearly finished reading Tony Campolo’s Letters to a Young Evangelist. Overall, I have it found it a very good assessment of the modern-day Evangelist movement, and it has been insightful to read his opinions and understandings of today’s complex issues. He, too, is very vocal about his frustration about the apparent alliegiance of the vast majority of modern-day evangelists with the Republican party, which has led to a great deal of political agendas within the Evangelist movement. He also points out that Fundamentalism (in the modern understanding) has begun to try to adopt the title of Evangelism to sound less politically and socially acceptable, and Campolo’s solution is for non-Fundamentalist Evangelicals to refer to themselves as “Red-letter Christians.” Honestly, I find it far more simple to just say, “I’m a Christian,” and if someone asks for some kind of added specificity, I’ll reply, “I’m an independent Christian.” Anyhow, that is not the only thing Campolo addresses: he also discusses the roots of modern-day Evangelism, the Praise & Worship movement, the importance of witnessing, the roots of “Rapture” theology, and many other issues. If he ever reads this, I must offer a storng congratulations to Mr. Campolo; his book has been enlightening about many things, and he has encouraged me to think for myself on a wide range of issues. Of course, I haven’t totally finished it, but that is where I am now.
In addition, I have very nearly finished reading the Bible from cover to cover. After this, I will probably go back through the New Testament books again; in one of the Bible studies that I participate in, the teacher spent several weeks before Spring Break teaching us how to study the Bible for ourselves so that we can come to our own Bible-based conclusions on all issues that the Bible touches on, including Church doctrines.
Thursday, I finished reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, which was a novel about Blacks living in America in the mid-20th century. However, it doesn’t just address the white-black distinctions and prejudices of the time; it also touches on class differences within each race, the necessity for knowing one’s ancestory, and many different topics. While it was definitely not a book I would normally read on my own, I did enjoy it and the insights that it provided into another range of thoughts.
Anyhow, I am now going to spend some time writing the paper for my music history class. It is on the American musician Charles Ives, who is considered the first modern American musician. WE watched a documentary on him before Spring Break, and so the paper is to be a sort of review of the documentary and on Ives in general.
Although I didn’t post over my Spring Break and I didn’t do everything that I wanted to do, I definitely found a great deal of relaxation over the break, and I do have some things to report.
First of all, I managed to get some more dental examinations done, for better or worse. I got a new retainer to maintain the work my braces did last year, and I also visited the dentist, who got everything cleaned up. Sadly, however, I also learned that I have a pair of molars on my lower jaw that are withering because they have no corresponding teeth on the upper jaw, and the lack of pressure has caused my body to respond by allowing those extra molars to decay. Inevitably, they will fall out, but for now, they are simply changing colors (bleh!). Anyhow, that’s enough of that.
I did also manage to do some writing on Kenushi Ryu, though it wasn’t a whole lot. I managed to finish the fourth chapter of the book, bringing the narration to a critical point in the novel; a lot has already happened, some of which will take the rest of the series to fully unpack for the characters and the reader. The transition to chapter five also includes a change in the point of view for the narration to what will become the second of the the two protagonists of the story.
I also did some valuable thinking on the language that I’m trying to write for Kenushi Ryu. It was suggested to me by a friend who is more knowledgable of languages than I am that I write my my language as a syllabary. Let me clarify: so far, I’ve been trying to write my language from the ground up, writing my own alphabet and going from there. I’ve specifically been trying to build a phonetic alphabet, with a single letter for every consonant and every vowel sound, which is a lot of work, especially since there are many vowel and consonant sounds that are not even found in the English language. So, a in contrast, a syllabary is a language where every symbol has a different meaning. This has given me a great deal more to think about, but I have also in the meantime decided that it might be possible for me to simply write the first novel in the Kenushi Ryu series without any references to the ancient language and then incorporate it as the series progresses, after I have had more time to work on it.
Finally, here’s what I believe to be a comprhensive schedule for my upcoming week:
Monday:
-Writing About Literature – Reading (Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison)
Tuesday:
-Writing About Literature – Reading and online comments of the reading.
Wednesday:
(Nothing)
Thursday:
-Music Theory – Assignment
-Human Language – Assignment
Friday:
-Music History – Movie Response Papers (delayed until next Monday on 3/30)
-Writing About Literature – Reading
I will continue to try to keep my “Kenushi Ryu” page as updated as possible. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
