Popping Up For Air

Hey all!  I'm still alive!  And somewhat well.  

I was actually going to blog last night, but I was so flipping tired I couldn't even think.  I went to bed at 6:15, and was asleep by 7:00, and slept all night long.  Until the alarm went off, rather.  I'm getting too old for this getting up at 2:45 business.  So, what was I going to tell you about yesterday but was too knackered to?  

Not much really.  It's all work, work, work these days.  `I found out this morning my supervisor had to leave yesterday to go into quarantine.  My friend and I were talking about it, and neither one of us had even noticed he was gone until a third coworker told us.  I guess that shows how much concern he has for our department that we see him so little we don't notice when he's gone.   

He doesn't have COVID, but his brother does -- for the second time.  The brother's wife had it a couple of weeks ago, and the whole family (who all work out there) had been quarantined -- except the brother.  I guess they figured since he'd had it before, he had natural immunity and wouldn't get it again.  I guess they figured wrong.  Because he's got it again.  Now the whole family has to go back into quarantine, after having just gotten out.  

In a slightly related note, one of the storm chasers I follow on Twitter has it for the third time.  He had the original strain, then he got Delta, now he has Omicron.  He said they should just change the virus' name to Justincron.

By the way, I ordered my four tests from the government.  I told my friend, "I may not need them, but my tax dollars paid for them, and by golly, I want my tests!"  

In other news, I bought a Venus Fly Trap.  I did not name it Audrey. 

I've always wanted one, and when I saw them in the store, I couldn't resist.  The real question is if I can somehow, you know...not kill it.  I googled how to care for them, and it's not looking good.  I'll have to go back and get the right kind of potting soil, plus distilled water, because it said you can't give them tap water.  Hopefully, it's not as delicate as the website made it seem.  If it can survive until Spring, I'm going to put it onto the front porch.  It ought to be able to attract lots of bugs there. 

Speaking of Spring, I bought more bluebonnet seeds, 

because I'm persistent like that.  Some people would say stubborn, but let's not quibble over terminology.  I'm going to start them in peat pots, so maybe the won't get overwhelmed by weeds before they get established.  Once they're a few inches tall, I can completely weed the bed, then plant them where I want them.  Better than random chance, I guess.  And it'll be easier to keep the weeds clear.  

Meanwhile, the one lonely bluebonnet already in the bed is looking pretty good. 

It seems to be tolerating our cold weather pretty well.  Oh, and yesterday morning, the deep south was colder than Fairbanks, Alaska where my sister lives. 

Of course, by noon, that was totally reversed, but hey...we take whatever small victories we can. 

In Piano Talk, I've started doing my videos with Mr. Let's Play Piano Methods again.  I think I messed up this week, because I decided to learn the songs before watching the videos.  After practicing all week, I watched his video and he decided to make a bunch of changes to the pedaling and fingering.  Sigh...

I mean, I guess it's OK to improvise -- I do it quite often.  The version of Joy To The World I played for you at Christmas was heavily improvised, because I just didn't like the way it was arranged.  Maybe one day, I'll do a video and walk you through all the changes I made.  But I doubt it.  I've been saying for a year and a half I was going to record or live stream a practice, but I haven't done it yet. 

Anyway, as I was saying, he made a bunch of changes to the fingering and pedaling, and I am a bit confused.  Maybe one of my piano playing readers could help me out here.  Mr. LPPM doesn't like using the same finger to play the same note, and I'm wondering if that's a standard thing, or if it's just him. 

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. 

See all those Gs in a row?  He'd play each one with a different finger.  Instead of playing them all with finger #1, he'd play them #1, 2, 3, 2.  He's never explained why, other than he just doesn't like playing them with the same finger.  To me, it seems much easier and more efficient to just use finger #1 for all four notes, but what do I know.  

Is playing them all with different fingers a thing?  Or is it just one of his idiosyncrasies?  

Enquiring minds want to know.