Talking to a group of students, I, for whatever reason, broke into song, specifically “Mister Robato” by Styx. (I imagine there was some tie to the fact that we are in Japan right now…). The girls thought I was adorably ridiculous, of course, as is totally usual for that group and me. A few handfuls of seconds later, my mom walks over and asks what we’re discussing. I mention the song to my mom, and she instantly breaks I to sing herself. Naturally, I join her, and we have a sort of duet going, robot-esque dancing and full background vocals included. Clearly, we’re related. And, of course, the girls totally loved it. 😛
Post-a-day 2017
Tag: music
Eclectically Musical
Tonight, I went with my mother to a friend’s band’s performance. The night was filled with Japanese musicians playing Venezuelan music. Some even sang in Spanish. We listened, we danced, we clapped, we cheered, we played with Handicorn, our fun unicorn who travels with my mom, we listened to my friend whistle impressively, and we had an overall wonderful time. I met four different friends at the venue, and I wasn’t really sure that any of them knew the others were coming (nor was I sure that they even knew one another). I am just so wonderfully eclectic in my taste, I think, I regularly show up places to meet with friends whose only link is I.
Post-a-day 2017
A slice of bread
Sometimes it really is the little things that count the most. Today, I did some wonderfully awesome things. I attended art class and mused over some amazing charcoal and pencil still-lifes coming to life; I taught traditionally silent and impassive kids to play charades, and to enjoy it; I played a bit of charades with some of those kids; I had lunch with a happy group of girls, while sitting barefoot in the wonderful and warm sunlight outdoors; I attended a master class on operatic vocal performance; I was given a private lesson in my first round of drawing with charcoal, and I did a decent job drawing; I had another personal lesson on how properly to put on a yukata and a kimono, and then did the yukata all by myself; I had tea and dinner with friends and acquaintances, and was given free amazing stuff to take home with me.
And yet, with all of that, the part f the day that stands out most to me, possibly as most fulfilling, even, was when I found myself spontaneously sitting on the floor with the two girls who had been teaching me to draw with charcoal, literally breaking bread together. We were sitting and chatting and munching on a shared loaf of bread that we occasionally dipped in a bit of Bonne Mamman, enjoying ourselves completely. We were silly and exhausted, and entirely content in one another’s company. We knew we only had a short time for this little pause in the ever-forward movement of the day and its activities, and it was beautiful and blissful. (And, funnily enough, it all happened, because the one girl had shown me her moldy bread earlier that she was using as a sort of eraser on her charcoal drawing, and I realized that I happened to have a fresh loaf of bread in my bag later on.)
Post-a-day 2017
Eggs and Trilingual Songs
While dying eggs for Easter tonight, my friend and I were listening to and singing along to various songs from various musicals. For the most part, this was all in English. However, when I decided that, judging the songs and musicals we’d had so far, it was time for a bit of Frozen, this all changed.
Frozen, you see, happens to be one musical that this friend doesn’t know too well in English, but really only knows in Japanese. I, naturally, picked up all the words in English due to the extreme cultural love of the songs back in the US. And, to make things more exciting, and to test our true knowledge of the songs, I happen only to have the soundtrack in French. (I know, I’m a special one.)
So, what does that all mean? Well, it means that my friend and I had a grand ole time singing along in Japanese and English to a song in French, both of us laughing regularly as we did our best to focus on the words we knew that we knew, but seemed so incredibly difficult to get out. I’m not sure that I have ever focused so much just to sing along to a song before tonight. It was somewhat intense and absolutely delightful. I’d totally do that again. 😀
Post-a-day 2017
the Power of Music
The thing about music is that it is incredibly powerful.
Siting around, waiting for my dance class to start, I was listening to music just now. A few songs came on from a musical our theatre did several years ago. As I listened to the female lead sing her song of love to the male lead, I was suddenly transported to a different time and place – I was right back in the preparations for the musical, way back when we were putting it on.
I could hear the director talking about casting the female lead, every word as clear as though he were sitting here with me, like all hose yeats ago, and chuckling at the end of it all. I remembered verbatim what he said. I do every time I hear this song, and whether I want to or not.
Just one small part of the power of music, you know?
Post-a-day 2017
career planning like child’s play
As I pondered about today at work, with no actual work to do, but tons of pastimes to pursue at my desk, I somehow came to the idea of thinking like a child. I think I was inspired from the fact that a girl in this one movie was about to become a full-fledged lawyer, and I found myself somewhat envious. It got me thinking about how, as a child, I never really wanted to be anything specific when I grew up. Sure I said singer/actor, but that was kind of a ‘just ’cause’ answer, not an impassioned one – my heart was certainly not in it. It just sounded fun to be famous and super talented, you know?
So, as I was thinking about how kids have these people they want to be when they grow up, and how ridiculous those things sometimes sound, and then how boring of jobs those kids typically eventually end up getting when they are adults, I got into the crazy-ish idea of, “Well, if I were a kid now, what would I want to be when I grow up?” And that’s when the fun started.
It didn’t take very long for me to come to my conclusion. Fully-passioned and excited, I felt a need to share the news with the world. I didn’t think much beyond that – sharing it – other than how fun it sounded, and how silly it would be should I actually somehow become such an individual. Why? Well, I said that I want to be a cello-playing ballerina artist who does astronomy and physics stuff for fun.
So, I posted about it on the beautiful world of Facebook. After seeing a few of the comments that friends made, however, I began actually thinking about such a career path for myself. Part of the whole reason I started thinking about it, was because I thought it crazy how kids, who can do next-to-nothing about it, are so passionate about what they want to do for their jobs, and yet adults, who have all the ability to do something about their current jobs, tend to be so dispassionate about their careers. So, here I am, taking on a child’s passion in terms of career direction/choice (really, choosing freely (as a child chooses) what I would do, if I could do anything I wanted), and I suddenly realized that I am one of those adults who is in a position actually to do something about my career.
Wow. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how easy it could be for me. Yes, it is loads and loads of hard work. I know. But I’m talking about practicality of the situation. I’ve recently re-begun ballet lessons, I’m picking up my own art supplies next week in order to continue in my student-taught art lessons I’ve been receiving, and I’m working at a school with lots of musical connections (likely with links to a student of some age who could start teaching me to play the cello). And this is all just in my small town in Japan. When I move back to my big city in the US this Summer/Fall, I’ll have innumerable resources at my fingertips. And, without even realizing this earlier today, I have made specific progress towards this goal for the Fall: I now recall that I have already spoken to a sort of art expert to help me find some appropriate art classes for me to take this coming Fall.
Life is looking beautiful on the career path front. I in almost no way have a ballerina’s body. And that’s okay. I don’t want to be on the main stage. I know that. But I want to be dancing ballet. 🙂 (I’m so excited about this, I can’t stop smiling and having a little delighted shudder race through me every so often as I think about it all.)
My cousin commented about my career goals being similar to the career of Hedy Lamar. I had to look her up, though I recognized the name. As I was on the phone with my mom, I asked her what she knew about Hedy. Just that she was a black and white actress, very gorgeous 30s look. When I found her Wikipedia page, I read it aloud to my mother, and we both were amazed – she was fabulous, and my cousin was exactly right in comparing my career goals to the career of Hedy Lamar! Check her out. She was awesome. She and the guy from Queen (Brian May) who has a PhD in Astrophysics. They rock.
So, yeah… that’s today’s ponderings that I cared to share here. 🙂 Peace out, yo.
Post-a-day 2017
Across the Universe
A few years ago (and by “a few”, I actually mean ten, because I just looked it up, and it was October of 2007), the film Across the Universe was released. I was originally a bit skeptical, yet also excited. All I knew was that it was a film that used music from the Beatles, in order to tell a story of some sort. While talking about it with my cousin Jared one night, he informed me that the music was not being performed by the Beatles, but by new people. That is, the music was being re-done in order to be used in the film. In a world with loads of terrible song re-makes (think of the stars’ versions of classic songs found during the credits of films [especially Disney films]), I could only expect disappointment. Many a people had already created terrible versions of good songs. What kind of disgrace would come to the names of these fabulous Beatles songs? I was distraught. Why ruin something so good?
But then,… but then… my cousin said to me, “Hannah. They’re actually good.” What? How could that be? I mean, this is the Beatles we’re talking about here. How can someone cover the Beatles and not have it be far worse than the original? Jared had been skeptical at first, as well. But he had the earliest release of the soundtrack now, and he had been listening to it. It was good, he assured me.
So, standing in the living room, we pulled up the music (I think it was on his iPod, actually). I was terrified. And then, when Jim Sturgess lulled out from a silent background, “Close your eyes, and I’ll kiss you. Tomorrow, I’ll miss you…,” goosebumps made an appearance on me like never before.
I listened with intrigue and genuine delight as the songs progressed. T.V. Carpio, a woman, sang of wanting to hold your hand (something I had always dreamed about whenever I sang along to the song, my being a girl and all). Even Rachel Wood’s crystal voice rang through the music, whispering sweet nothings to my heart. The songs. These Beatles songs. Remade. They were just as Jared had said. They were actually good.
They were totally and completely different from the originals, yet their connection and influence from their origins were completely obvious (of course). Perhaps that is why there were so good in the first place. No one had tried to copy the Beatles. They had simply taken the Beatles’ songs and reinterpreted them, while – and this is key – always keeping the original experience of the songs in mind. So these songs were and still are Beatles songs, without occurring as covers. They weren’t like so-and-so’s cover of such-and-such song. They were something uniquely different, while still being beautifully the same. They were forever linked to the Beatles and the Beatles’ music, because they were still Beatles songs, but they were their own entity. They were, put simply, the music from Across the Universe.
Even today, whenever I listen to those songs, to that soundtrack, goosebumps abound, and I am filled with this somewhat unidentifiable sensation. It is as if, perhaps, my belly and chest are filled with… well, with warm happiness. It’s cheesy-sounding, of course, but I believe it to be completely true. The Beatles singing their songs fills me with joy and a desire to dance and sing along. The Across the Universe music fills me with warm happiness, along with the natural desire to sing along and bop around and smile hugely. They are like siblings from the same family, these two sets of Beatles music – they are so much alike and from the same place, and yet they are entirely different from one another. And I love them both.
Post-a-day 2017
A Window of Opportunity…?
“I have a question of morality… Is it morally sound to go out my window, and climb this scaffolding, to figure out where this guitar is coming from?”
A minute later, after a chuckled reassurance from my mother, that it was not an issue in terms of morality, I was off the phone and climbing out my bedroom window. The air was cold and smelled of rain and incense. Things were still wet in places from the day’s rain, but the scaffolding against my building – I think it was put there in order for the windows all to be replaced, but nothing seems to have happened yet, and it’s been up for a couple or few weeks now – was mostly dry. I slipped on my sandals as I stepped onto the scaffolding, and began my search for lights.
You see, I have been hearing this guitar playing these past few-ish weeks, and I haven’t been able to figure out from where it is coming. At first, I wasn’t sure if it actually was someone playing guitar, or just a recording that I was hearing. Actually, the very first time I heard it, I was already falling asleep, and so couldn’t fully register whether it were real or not. That is, of course, until I heard it while I was still awake one night. Then I knew I wasn’t imagining things. Sort of, anyway. I still could only hear this guitar late at night and from my bedroom. Whenever I opened my window to hear better, the noise from cars outside made it almost impossible to discern the source of the sound, let alone hear it. So, I still felt like I might have been just making up the guitar, because I so wanted to have someone nearby be a guitar player.
Until tonight, that is. I was on the phone with my mom, and I could hear it at the edge of my living room. I went into my bedroom, and it was even more audible. I checked the wound outside the window, and there were few enough cars, with space enough between them, that I could hear the guitar playing… and singing with it! So, I ditched the phone, grabbed my shoes, and went out.
Have you ever been in the middle of doing something, and suddenly wondered to yourself how you could have been so stupid as to do whatever it was you were currently doing? I climbed up decently well enough, and I even checked to make sure my legs could reach all the right places to be able to get back down. But the fact that it is 8 degrees (46 F) outside right now, and this metal scaffolding spent its days being rained upon, had me wondering if I weren’t just being incredibly stupid, climbing up it in my sandals and bare hands.
I discovered two windows with lights on, and quickly figured out from which one the sound was coming. I had to climb up two levels of scaffolding to reach the actual window, but I managed it. Of course, once I was pulling myself up to a point where I could just start to see inside the window, I wondered how terribly this could go, should someone inside see me. Screaming, shouting, and possibly objects being flung at me were certainly possibilities. Being kicked out of my apartment for being a stalker/total creep was another. And any chance at explaining myself was unlikely, as I could not have shed almost any light on my situation by using Japanese, and I knew I had a weak argument anyway – it is definitely abnormal to be doing what I was doing. I mean… come on. This is the stuff you find in movies. Stuff the stupid character does, and always gets caught doing.
So, I decided just to peek enough to figure out what kind of room it was. If it were a bedroom with doors shut, perhaps other people were sleeping. If it were a living room, sleeping people would be less likely. And, if it were a layout like my apartment, to where it would be a bedroom, but it had the door open to the living room, then it was quite likely that no one was asleep. And, if no one was asleep, then I could go upstairs and knock and be all, ‘Hey, let’s be buddies and play and sing music together.’
My concern of getting caught left me only figuring out that it was a different layout from my apartment, but that the room seemed to be a small one. What looked (based on windows and walls) to be the potential living room had its lights off. So, I climbed back down and into my bedroom (slipping off my sandals as I slid in the window, of course), and went to start some laundry and take a quick shower, so I could mull things over a bit.
After showering, I could still hear the guitar playing, so I dressed in pj-style clothes and my rain boots, and went upstairs. It turned out that what I had thought to be two apartments above me was actually only one, and I could hear my washing machine as I stood on their landing. (Odd that I can hear that, but almost never hear anything else, and neither do I get noise complaints of any kind.) Unfortunately, because of the sound of the washer, I couldn’t hear the guitar. At least, I think that’s why I couldn’t hear it anymore.
I was too concerned at just knocking on the door, when I wasn’t certain that the guitar was still being played. The lights were off just inside the door, so it was certainly possible that the player had actually gone to bed in the past few minutes. It was already after 11pm, after all. So, I went back downstairs, and checked to see if I could still hear the guitar.
Nothing. At least, I couldn’t quite tell. But, when my washer stopped a few minutes later, I didn’t hear the guitar anymore. (Gosh, this guitar thing is a complicated sort of mystery, I swear.) 😛
Now, after having laid out my clothes to dry, all the while thinking over my situation, I decided to wait another few days. If, by next week (I’m gone all weekend this weekend), I haven’t heard it again, I’ll put a note on their door. If, however, I do hear the guitar, I’ll go up as soon as I hear it, and knock on their door. Hopefully, I will be accepted and admitted, and wonderful jointly made music will ensue. And, hopefully, they (I think two people live upstairs) will be understanding, should they ever happen find out about my scaffolding adventure… or maybe it’s best that they just never find out… yeah…
Update: It is 00:18, and I am about to turn off my light to sleep. The guitar has suddenly returned, and in full force, with male singing. I’m exhausted, so I’m going to sleep. Plus, I’m already out of normal clothes and into my Sulley onesie. Next time. Next time.
Post-a-day 2017
Dance Class #1
Dancing heals the soul. I swear, it does. Music brings up the emotions, the experiences of our lives. And the dancing allows us to express whatever those emotions and experiences bring forth inside us. When we are joyful, we dance it with ease and are free. When we are sad, we might resist the dancing altogether – but that is why the dancing heals.
In order to dance, and to dance properly (read “with the heart”), we have to allow that sadness to be free. So long as we resist the sadness, we cannot truly dance – our heart is not in it. As soon as we let go of being in control of the emotions, that sadness, it is as though literal bindings are removed, letting our legs and arms swing about freely to the beat. Even if we feel that we cannot let go of the sadness, by throwing the heart into the dance, that sadness is expressed and freed.
I could certainly put this into better words, but I really don’t feel like it right now. So, I’ll just leave it at this:
If you can dance, and properly, with all your heart, you can express and free any state of emotion in which you currently find yourself. And I got to do that tonight – it was really hard at first, resisting the dancing because of my emotional state, but then I reached that point of freedom from my fear-laced bindings, and I danced. And it was wonderful. : )
Post-a-day 2017
Soundtrack to life
Tonight, I dedicate my writing to the songs that make a soundtrack to life. Riding home on the train this evening, exhausted, watching the lights blip on and off in the darkness as the world glided cooly by, my forehead and hand pressed against the glass of the door to block out the light inside the train, I noticed how the song in my ears was a perfect fit to the soundtrack for that scene of my life.
I truly don’t know what song it was, – something new from NoiseTrade – but I know that it was perfect. If someone were filming my life at that moment, – what I was watching anyway, and how I was feeling – the song would have been what was playing with the clip. That hopeful, I can make it, even though life is hard and lonesome at times feeling was so clear, I wanted to know what happened next in the movie. Alas, it’ll be weeks before the next five minutes of that film make themselves clear (movies are such cheaters on time), but I’ll hang in there – I’m here for the long haul, anyway. 😛
It wasn’t as good as the time I was saying goodbye to the acrobats in Dallas (another time, and I’ll tell all, song included), at which point my life really was like a scene from a movie, soundtrack and all. But it was still a good one. It reminded me a bit of the power of music, the things it can do to the mind – give us hope when we’re hopeless, lift us when we’re down, energize us when we’re exhausted, sober us when we’re going a bit nuts-o. Music is like love, but more easily acknowledged and with benefits more often reaped.
So, tonight, I say a hearty thank-you to music and to those who create it. Especially to the ones that work so beautifully as soundtracks for life. Thank you. Thank you, all. 🙂
Post-a-day 2017
hannah ananas 