Yesterday I skipped reading Carl Rogers (On Becoming a Person) and Greek to work on scores for the upcoming symphony rehearsal. I have figured out that if I read thirteen pages a day between my appointments with Dr. Birky my therapist I will finish this book before I see him in a couple of weeks. So this morning I have 26 pages to read because of skipping it yesterday.

In addition to helping me brainstorm about the upcoming improv recital yesterday, Jordan helped me with some rhythms in the symphony music. There is a lot of Latin music in this concert. I think that’s fun and have been concentrating on learning what look like crucial, exposed piano parts. But there were some non crucial looking jazzy bass lines that I had Jordan look over my should on yesterday and help me get them right. More help from him! Cool!

There are a couple of passage of fast octaves in the right hand that I have been working on as well.  I have been experiencing a bit of fatigue in these passages even at a slower tempo. This morning I applied some of my relaxation exercises Dr. Strassburg taught me years ago to these passages. It strikes me that at this age with so many aches and pains I need to discern between aging stuff and stuff I can remedy with relaxation. I hadn’t thought of this until this morning.

Dr. Strassburg taught me in our initial lessons an exercise he called “attack-release.” In this exercise, he told me I was to “attack” a note and “release” the tension in my body. I was not to go on to the next note until I felt relaxed. This exercise came in very handy while warming up to play four hour gigs at bars later. I did a form of this this morning on my octaves. We’ll see if it ends up helping.

An added complication of attempting to cover the piano part for this gig is my dupuytren’s contracture. I am constantly monitoring the changes in my abilities and looking for work arounds. This is much easier to do when I am preparing for church where I can choose most of what I attempt. When working as a hired gun, it’s a bit trickier.

So I’m blogging now to give myself lots of time to practice and work on planning church music today. That’s all that I have on the agenda.

Maryland City May Let Noncitizens Vote, a Proposal With Precedent – The New York Times

Apparently letting noncitizens vote has a history in the USA.