WTF-Beta

I read Dan Brown's "Secrets of Secrets" recently. This story reminded me of some of the tech used...

Mason & Hamlin?

I sing in a couple of choirs. I've noticed more singers and musicians using tablets instead of printed music, so I decided to give it a try. Keeping all of the music from both choirs plus some books and all the the other benefits seemed like a good deal.

It was a bit of a learning curve - I used "mobile sheets" on an android tablet for one of the most affordable ways to "go digital". Got through one concert last month. I still miss seeing two pages open in front of me. Yes, I could look in landscape mode, but then everything is soooo tiny!

To get to the point, my other choir has an upcoming concert. (https://hinsdalechorale.org/) After warm-ups last night, I opened the tablet to get a message that the SD card was corrupted and all of my music was lost! Luckily, the choir manager had an emergency folder, but all of my markings on the music are gone.

Ugh. I had gotten pop-ups to back up the library, but I wasn't sure how to do that.. now I do! Downloaded the PDFs again and only use an SD for the backup now. Luckily I know the music well and can get along without much of the markings on the music. So much of my early markings are notations of where to find my next pitch during a rest - I don't need those anymore. I do highlight my line - that's one of the benefits along with the backlight in darker places to help me see the music.

Lesson learned. Back up digital information!

Wait, is that Epstein he's healing??

In this endless push to create more cost-effective efficiency, (replace human workers) I wonder in the future vision for society HOW people are expected to survive and be parts of society? I know in the science-fiction world, it was often written that people wouldn't NEED to work anymore yet still had an active part and the means to follow their dreams. I'm not seeing much of that being discussed for our future..

Had a family member that had one of those bathtubs with a door installed. Sounded like a good idea except she complained that she sat naked waiting for it to fill and also to drain all the way before the door could be used. Maybe with a heater in the room it might be more comfortable?

Another chapter in the book of life - blessings to you both!

Out to eat and it was on the screen

$4.35 for regular at our local Costco, but I see $4.09 at the suburban ones.

We live pretty close to the area in downtown Chicago where many of the rallys take place. We didn't go this year. Traffic was slow getting out of the neighborhood to attend a family birthday gathering. Thinking about the event I was reminded about something I read by John Pavlovitz recently on how they are most important for those protesting, not so much about making any change to the minds on the other side.

"We’ve already had two massively successful No Kings Day events, and as cathartic and encouraging as they were, things here are far worse than they were then.

The Constitutional crises are piling up.
We’re immersed in unnecessary and unwinnable wars halfway across the world.
This Administration’s disregard for legality and morality is escalating.
The complete Epstein files are still concealed, the monsters within them still evading their reckoning.
ICE is still ravaging our communities with impunity and with taxpayer funding.
And our traitorous, cognitively-decimated, sociopathic Predator-In-Chief has become more unstable, more violent, and more unhinged than before.
We’re a hair’s breadth from full-on fascism.

The last No Kings Day protests didn’t stave off the chaos that is now here, and it won’t prevent what this regime has planned, unless we all do more than show up on Saturday.

Rallies and protests are powerful, important things.

They are a necessary visual reminder that we’re not alone.
They help provide a sense of agency in dark days, to help our minds right-size the threats that seem so towering and so beyond our reach.
They give us a chance to stand with a chosen community and be a tangible response to the things that burden us.
They connect us with people we live, work, and study alongside and give us the chance to forge partnerships and build coalitions."

snip

"We need to remember that transformative activism is found in sustained movements, not in soothing moments, and we need to find our place in the messy and local battles throughout this nation until we actually strike fear into the oppressors and oligarchs, and upend the new order they are constructing where we are truly powerless."

https://johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/no-kings-day-is-coming-but-does-it

Thanks for keeping things working!

The Active brand. Pretty sure we had the Dirty labs one before but never paused the washer to give the enzymes longer to work. I do use the Dirty labs dishwasher powder and that's been working well.

The "no applause until the end" was both in the program and announced before the beginning. I thought there was going to be at least some, but none at all!

The show, as well as our improvement over the 9 weeks, exceeded my expectations for a community choir. I really thought when looking at the pieces that our group wouldn't be able to pull it off. Even MrsTuner noticed and said it was her favorite choir performance over the years that I've been singing with different groups. I gave him high marks on the review sheet sent to us. One more interview/concert to go this year...

I've performed (both as a singer and bassoonist) with a very small number of directors that show the ability to get more out of a group than was previously possible - it's an exciting thing to experience! It's not only clarity of intent through movement, but verbal cues/hints during the rehearsal process. The challenge is often participants not retaining instructions between rehearsals, making the director repeat or come up with new cues based on the same errors or lack of attention.

I miss both the CD players and the AUX plug - mostly to play audiobooks and "play away" books from the library! (2000 Kia Niro) I did purchase a little gizmo that works as an AUX input that broadcasts to the radio, but that's not a great solution. Mostly I just opt for the radio or streaming xmradio from my phone.

At least until we are done singing the last number.

I sing with a large university-based community choir. Last year the long-time director retired, so this year we have three different directors rehearsing and directing us over the course of the year. A choice will be made over the summer.

Our current one is a doctoral student at Northwestern U and a professional singer himself. He picked a challenging program with the theme of "credo", or "I believe". A whole bunch of pieces in 3 sections.
https://depaulcommunitychorus.org/

Yesterday was our dress rehearsal where we ran the entire program for the first time. The surprise was that he wants to present the program as a thematic experience for the audience without any applause until the very end. I didn't think about it much until we were part way through the rehearsal when I realized I'm really used to having a bit of time between pieces - applause, maybe some announcements and time for a sip of water and shifting around to reset mind and body.

Wow, that was tough to maintain focus through the entire hour and I was vocally more tired than expected! The show is this afternoon...

So I wear the hat overnight - bonus, I can pull it over my eyes for darkness but it is cooler than the eye mask I had been using. (I also have that phenomenon that I didn't know was "a thing"- when I close my eyes, I don't see black - more a reddish static) Sometimes I also wear it at the computer or in the car between appointments.

Hey, I'm all for using the placebo effect if it continues working - or maybe there is something to this?

I've had sporadic headaches since high school, but they increased in frequency in the early 2000s. I started with a triptan only in the last 7 years or so to take when I sense one coming which has given me days back - almost always stops it with just one dose, though there is a limit to how many to use/month and I was going over some months. (I used to lose days going back to bed or just suffering through) Started Qulipta about a year ago, but that hasn't changed frequency significantly - also some of the meds are hard on heart, liver or kidneys so trying to keep those numbers in range. Moved on to Botox treatments - had to go through all the other options first. I just had one treatment which they said may not do much. Second treatment is scheduled for the end of the month and that seems to be when most patients notice a reduction in frequency. Migraines? Clusters? I get the sense no one really knows for sure and they just guess and see if something helps.

Well...? dang. Placebo?

I went ahead and bought one of the hats. (Migraine folks will understand the willingness to try just about anything) So far this month my need for medication to stop a headache has dropped significantly. Sleeping heavier into the morning too.

Huh.

Bought some enzymes to add to the laundry. ("Enzyme laundry booster" on Amazon) Found out our washer will pause for as long as desired so tried letting it soak for an hour after agitating a little. MrsTuner said the sheets smelled great! (She has quite the nose for "boy smell") I may try an overnight soak on my stuff in the future.

But there are less Google searches for "Epstein files" so ... Mission Accomplished!