Christmas Musical Memories

Every year when Christmas time rolls around, I make several playlists of holiday music, ranging from pop favorites to folky tunes to classical masterpieces. One recording I cannot live without at Christmas is the one I remember most distinctly from my childhood. The Philadelphia Orchestra's "A Christmas Festival" - I have it on now.

I Can't Do Anything Without Getting Hurt....

Not even a simple bike ride is safe for me. I managed to rip open a chunk of skin on my knuckle this morning on an early ride. I started young when I crawled out of my crib and broke a collarbone. Sigh....

A Great Loss

I am a relative newcomer to opera. I have loved classical music since college, but was never able to enjoy opera until sometime over the last ten years. Part of the process for me understanding this beautiful form of music was listening to Met Opera broadcasts on Saturdays, specifically to hear Margaret Juntwait's insightful commentary. I made sure I caught up on missed broadcasts by subscribing to XM Radio and listening to past broadcasts. When Margaret gave her last broadcast back in December, of Lehar's The Merry Widow, I was not able to listen in. In fact, I was unaware it was her last broadcast. She passed away June 3rd after a long battle with ovarian cancer, the disease that also took my mother ten years ago.

The Met Opera mourns the death of our beloved radio host Margaret Juntwait, who passed away this morning. http://t.co/LhhoX1l1iO

— Metropolitan Opera (@MetOpera) June 3, 2015

Sleep Tracking

One of my favorite features of the Fitbit is its ability to track my movement while I sleep. Admittedly, it was difficult to not be aware of my Fitbit on my wrist and try and control my movement when I first got it, but now I don't even think about it. What I have discovered is that my sleep pattern is often in this pattern: restless, sleep a few hours, get up and pee, sleep a few hours, restless right before my alarm, awake. For the most part, I am well rested after spending around 7 hours with this pattern.

I have discovered that when I am stressed my sleep pattern is much more restless, leading to a bad night's sleep. This really isn't surprising. What is surprising is just how restless I am. This has led me to try and be a bit more conscious of my nighttime pre-sleep rituals when I'm under stress. It hasn't completely eliminated all the restlessness, but it has made a difference.

My next task is to get my body in bed sooner and work towards a full 8 hours. Yeah right, it's baseball season!

Funny, I don’t remember getting up in the middle of the night 😴 pic.twitter.com/B2VwjUMPZm
— Nancy Stanley (@nukediver) April 25, 2015

Thank God!

#SpringTraining games begin in exactly ONE WEEK. #BaseballBegins pic.twitter.com/g9MoyXUEU3
— MLB (@MLB) February 22, 2015

Kings College Choir, Cambridge

I would love to spend Advent and Christmas attending these services, even though I rarely set foot in a church anymore. This is the only thing I miss, particularly at this tim eof year.

Happy World Vegan Day!

From Mediterranean Tomato Tart to Raw Caramel Peanut Pie - recipes for World Vegan Day http://t.co/ru3JALdb4z pic.twitter.com/ykRpcKXBhi

— The Independent (@Independent) November 1, 2014

Seven of us are eating vegan for 14 days. It hasn't been nearly as awful as I thought it would. Seven more days.

Fall Baking

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It's fall. That means apples. And I have vanilla ice cream. Mmmm.

Maker Faire NY!

Where I'll be tomorrow. Why didn't this exist when I was a kid/budding scientist?

World Maker Faire this weekend! http://t.co/ux20MsNxfA Check it out =) @makerfaire #makers #makerfaire #crafts #DIY pic.twitter.com/jwB74dZO05

— Guidecentral (@guidecentral) September 19, 2014

Here's looking at you!

Let’s play an #EarthView game we like to call “Lake or Dragon Eye?” http://t.co/up2WkogXfP pic.twitter.com/56j6ESYYGu

— Google Maps (@googlemaps) August 31, 2014

Happy Birthday Igor

Happy birthday to Igor Stravinsky, born on this day in 1882!  pic.twitter.com/bLwseDU5Li

— Lincoln Center (@LincolnCenter) June 17, 2014

New Bored Game

Monopoly for Morrissey: Mozopoly: a Bored-Game for up to One Player: pic.twitter.com/pFXvueZx10 @troubledmozza

— WFMU (@WFMU) April 25, 2014

Snow snow snow!

I cannot remember the last time I had so many days of for bad weather. In 2014 alone it's been a total of two whole days and two half days - unheard of for state government here in NJ. But I'm not complaining!

Choral Music

Although I no longer attend church, I do miss the singing. I'm not talking about hymns, I'm talking about full on choral singing. I was fortunate to be able to spend so much time in choirs with excellent directors who had us singing some wonderful music. I am reminded of this each Sunday morning when I listen to The Choral Mix on WQXR every Sunday morning. This week's program put me squarely in the midst of the Christmas Spirit. Give it a listen.

Opera!

Excited to (probably) be getting a ticket to see Falstaff as part of the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series.

I'm Writing NonFiction In November!

Ever since I graduated from seminary in 2008, I have wanted to put pen to paper and write about the experience. So much happened during the eight years I was in school that I want to not only commit it to memory, but I want to begin to unpack the many things I encountered along the way. My intent isn't necessarily to write for others as much as it is about writing for myself. If, at the end of the process, there is something publishable, then I will go forward from there. For now though I am content to let the words flow each day and see where things end up!

10 years

10 years, originally uploaded by Brett Jordan.

Pretty amazing how quickly things change in the world of technology. I still have the iMac on the left, and will be getting the iPhone 5S on the right very soon.

Ten Favorite Albums

I love music, and can't imagine a world without it. I listen constantly to a variety of genres , musicians, composers, and singers, but there are some that are my absolute favorites. I can't imagine a playlist without at least some of these on it.

Ok, I'm dating myself by even using the word "albums", but hey, you get the idea. Here are my top 10, in no particular order.






1. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
3. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, The E Street Shuffle
4. Frank Sinatra - Nothing But the Best
5. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
6. Pearl Jam - Ten
7. Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers - Conscious Party
8. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
9. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (box set)
10. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls

What are yours?

Music Streaming

I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk at work. It's also very quiet in my office. If it weren't for the music streaming capabilities of my iPhone, I would certainly go mad on those days I am stuck in the office. I often stream local public radio stations, but I have recently discovered Minnesota Public Radio's wonderful app. Contained within this little bit of digital goodness are seven separate streams - MPR News, Classical MPR, The Current, Local Current, Radio Heartland, Wonderground Radio, and Classical MPR Choral Stream.

All of the above streams are available on the internet, but if you work somewhere that doesn't allow streaming (like my office), and you have an Apple or Android device, I can't recommend this app enough. The content is varied enough to satisfy a wide variety of musical tastes. I've also found that even with a crappy phone signal (I'm looking at you AT&T) the stream runs smoothly. So what are you waiting for? Go get this FREE app now!

Downton Abbey, Nintendo Style

This is just sheer awesomeness - especially the Nintendo-ish soundtrack!