Books And TV

Well, well, well, just look at what I woke up to this morning.  

Alas, if we actually got any snow, I didn't see it.  Mainly because I was at work.  But also because I don't think it snowed.  I walked over and looked out the window a few times, but never saw any snowflakes.  Even so, it stayed dreary and chilly all day, so much so my central heat was on when I walked into the house this evening, and I keep it on 65°, so that's saying something.  

I didn't even hesitate to build a fire, and now the house is toasty warm.  

When I was posting yesterday, I forgot to mention that I have started reading a new book.  I'm still reading Once Upon A Wardrobe on my lunch break at work, but I've started reading Thrall by K.A. Riley on my Kindle at home.  

I've read some of her other books, and really enjoyed them --except for that Cure series which was two books too long.  I mean, the first three were good, but the last two were just rehashing the first three. 

I'm enjoying Thrall, too so far, but it's definitely got a darker feel than her other books.  She even mentions in the introduction that this book is for an older audience that those for whom she typically writes, and cautions parents to preview it before giving it to younger kids. 

The other thing I keep forgetting to tell you is that I finally finished watching both seasons of The Santa Clauses on Disney +.  It was pretty good, but I don't see it becoming a Christmas classic the way the first movie is.  The best part is...it's not really a spoiler, because it comes out in the first episode.  In the show, Santa Claus decides to retire, and so he's interviewing potential replacements to become the new Santa.  One of them is...well, just watch it.  It's hilarious. 

Now that Christmas is over and all, I'm back to working on my piano lesson book.  I've decided to leave the piano against this wall for now, because it makes my tiny living room feel so much bigger. 

I always take the month of December off, from lessons, I mean, and just play Christmas music or whatever I want.  That little bit of a break refreshes and re-motivates me to begin anew in January.  The bad news is, I began a new lesson yesterday. 

I've been watching a channel on YouTube called Let's Play Piano Methods, where the guy goes through various piano course books and basically teaches each lesson.   The way you're supposed to do it is to watch the "Things To Remember" section of the video, then learn the piece.  Once you have it, then you watch the "Play With Me" section to make sure you're playing the piece correctly. 

I don't do it this way.   I watch the whole video, then start learning the song.  So, this new song I'm supposed to be learning, I just don't like it. I listened to the man playing it, and didn't like it then, and I don't like it now that I'm trying to learn it myself.  

What do you do when that happens?  

It reminds me of when I was taking piano lessons in 5th grade, and my teacher made me learn this song called Our School Band.  I hated hated hated that song, so I tried to learn it very quickly so I could stop playing it.   Only I learned it too well, and my teacher decided it would be my recital piece. 

I told her I didn't want to play it, but she said, "There's nothing wrong with that song.  You're going to play it."  And that, friends, is why I refused to even to go my one and only piano recital during the one and only year I took piano lessons.  By the next year, my mother had made me quit, so no more lessons for me. 

I always regretted that I wasn't able to convince my her to let me continue, but she was adamant that I stop taking lessons. 

I'm still getting used to being back at work, so I'm pretty tuckered.  I think I'm going to get myself something to eat, then go to bed early. 

Laters.