Relearning the guzheng 8

Yeah, I'm flighty and undedicated and I have no patience. I'm doing more songs.

I'm still practicing the others. But yeah, other pieces are happening.

I surprised myself by wanting to play 梁祝. I never thought the arrangement I had of it was that great. Well, the beginning is pretty good, but the fast part was just okay.

But here is me playing the beginning. Also sans intro. Some mistakes were made.

You know, I was never amazing at keeping a beat. Like, rushing or dragging (mostly rushing) was something I had to concentrate on not doing... but, man, am I at my worst beat keeping-est or what. It's not rushing. It's just inconsistent.

I feel like it's partially my hands' fault. Like, this is definitely the case with the fast part in Peacocks.

Anyway. 梁祝.





Oh yeah, I've been reflecting on the eight-ish years I'd been taking lessons and what I learned and did not learn. I'll probably make a post on that, too. I just need to organize my thoughts some more.

Two completely unrelated topics

Once, when I was in college, I decided to do an exercise and honestly write down everything I didn't like about myself. I'd been having a lot of negative thoughts and I just wanted to lay it all out there. It actually made me feel better because what I thought might have been a never-ending list turned out to not even fill the entire page of my notebook.

It might be a little longer this time, but I should probably try this again.

--

Yesterday, I tried to make the Cantonese dessert 双皮奶 for the first time. I only had powdered milk (at least it was full fat), so it wasn't great. It didn't form a lot of skin. It turned out okay, though. The inside was nice and smooth.

Relearning the guzheng 7

I somewhat finished 孔雀东南飞. As in, I can play all the parts--just not well, yet.

Here's what I sound like now.

Finally, the full beginning of Fragrant Jasmine sans intro (from June 2), and then today's poor rendition of Peacocks. The tempo is pretty bad (inconsistent) on Peacocks. But it's the whole song.

There's a video I took of myself playing Peacocks from 2009. I made some mistakes in it, but it's obviously very much better than what I've got now. Cleaner. I keep going. Actually, I'm a little surprised how quickly I picked it back up.

Oh, and I can tell that my phone microphone isn't really cutting it, hm.

Relearning the guzheng 6

So the pick tape I bought, it's some poor quality pick tape. I mean, I knew from the moment I saw it was it wasn't as good as my old stuff, but damn, it's shittier than I thought. It's fraying and unsticky and it gets in the way. Annoying.

Maybe I'll have to make a trip out to a supply store to look at the types in person. I dunno.

Also, I've started working on 孔雀东南飞 again. It's easier than 茉莉芬芳, and it's also a song I've actually completed before. Man, playing songs in different keys is annoying. In that, during a practice session, I have to retune multiple times.

Passport

About a month ago I sent off my old passport for a renewal, and I was so worried about it the whole time. What if it got lost in the mail??? What if it got lost in the passport processing center?? Well, it came back! A week ago, actually. It was such a relief to have it back in my hands.

That passport is a record of my most prolific travel period. I'm honestly not sure if I'll ever fill a passport like that again (not in the least that fewer and fewer countries are giving out stamps). I have a lot of memories attached to that thing! I used it so much I even memorized its number!