Happiness

I think we misunderstood where true happiness/enjoyment occurs. True happiness leaves a bit of longing with it. When we eat one cookie, we want more and then stuff our faces full until our stomach hurts, then regret the decision. The real enjoyment comes from that first cookie, that first bite, while we still long for more.

Great happiness, by necessity, requires great longing. If we immediately fulfill every desire we ever have, there's no joy in it. It's the taste of it, in the moment while we still want more that we are most joyous. There's a certain restlessness that comes with the happiest of times.

Great joy is achieved through restraint. It's when we have that one cookie (buy that one thing, take that one trip) , thoroughly enjoy it, and are able to not eat another. It's hard. There's a pull that wants to take us past enjoyment and into overindulgence, and eventually regret. I'm not saying you can never have a cookie again, or never buy another thing, or never take another vacation. But I think that often we try to maximize our pleasure by overloading on that pleasure to the point that it's ruined.


And immediately after I wrote this I went and ate an entire box of cheesy bread from Little Ceasar's. It's a slow process. Peace.

Hi

So it's been a while and it's a new year so I thought I'd give a go at a little more writing. I was looking back through my old posts and was slightly appalled at some of the things I said so I did some house cleaning. Not that I'm proud of the ones that remain (well, my post on words and my post single-handedly proving that a tree does not make a sound in the forest if no one is there to hear it are quite fantastic) but I'm not ashamed of them. Yet.

I haven't really done any posting here since I've got a whole website (www.cuptocupcoffee.com) and blog related to that website (cuptocup.wordpress.com) that have been keeping me busy.

Business is growing slowly but surely. I just added a new account that will really help out with the bills, so that's exciting.

I am teaching piano to twin 5 year old boys. It's a hoot.

Zooey is well.

I baked a loaf of bread today.

That's about all that I've got right now. But hey, it's more than I've done in 6 months so be happy with it. Peace.

Book Club Revisited

So maybe you remember me talking about the book club in previous posts. For those of you wishing to join along, I've just started reading Plato's dialogues. I read one (Crito I think) and have started Minos, but I'll start wherever anyone wants and I don't mind reading any of them again. Having been teaching myself logic I'm finding the reading very interesting. Eventually once I get a little smarter I'd like to do a Socratic discussion with someone (or myself). Thoughts? Suggestions? Rambling observations? Peace.

More Blogs

Attention faithful few:
I have added a blog for my fantastic coffee business, Cup to Cup Coffee Roasters Being faithful followers of my blog and being interested in everything that has to do with me, you are now obligated to start reading the blog for my shop as well. You can find it at http://cuptocup.wordpress.com

I expect visits and comments. Peace.

Well it Finally Happened

I'm actually open! I can hardly believe it. It's quite . . .surreal (does that word fit?) I was recently told that starting your own business is equivalent to having a baby. I just about believe it, except that it took a whole year to deliver this baby. I'm at a loss for words. Thank you Jesus.

What I Love About Music

Now here I write a fantastic blog about chromatic fixed do solfege and I get no responses for a month. Finally I get a response and it says that my blog takes all the fun out of music. Well, if you must know, for me this IS the fun in music.

You see, I've been thinking for a while what exactly it is I love so much about music. I mean, listening is fun, but I rarely listen to my ipod and for the longest time I didn't even listen to music while I was driving. Performing is okay, but I have little to no discipline to practice to a point where I can perform (other than the current choir I'm a member of). I enjoy a wide variety of music, but am not inclined to study the performance practices of artists. I DO like solfege and Curwen hand signs and knowing how to build a half diminished 7.

What I finally realized is it's MUSIC that I love. Music itself. Not songs, not beautiful voices or instruments. It's music itself. It's kind of hard to describe. I mean songs are music right? But in my head songs are something you can do with music. Music is music. The IDEA of counterpoint is more exciting to me than listening to or performing or analyzing a Bach two part invention. Knowing the relative minor of C is a is more exciting than recognizing it in a piece. Explaining what these things mean are more exciting than performing or writing or studying a song that utilizes them.

I feel like I'm not explaining this very well. I just don't know how to say it. To quote the Pope, there's always something lost when a thought or idea makes its way from the mind to the spoken or written word. I'm not even quite sure how to think it.

I'm not exactly quite sure what to do with this love of mine, how to share it. I guess teaching is the best answer, but how do you teach what you can't explain? Blogs I guess. Peace.

A Deer, A Female Deer

So I'm thinking about teaching myself chromatic fixed-do solfege. You may have noticed in my previous blog I mentioned something about all mankind needing to learn solfege. "What is solfege?" you ask? To put it simply, "When you read you begin with ABC when you sing you begin wth Do Re Mi." At least, that's one way to do it. The thing is, there's more than one kind of solfege.

The solfege I know and love is moveable-do solfege. In moveable-do solfege, do is always the tonic of a song. So in the key of C, C is do, and in the key of E flat, E flat is do. This is very helpful in learning relative pitch, that is, finding where you are in a key in relation to the tonic (do). A problem that can occur in moveable-do is if you have to modulate (change) keys in the middle of a piece. You then have to change where do is, because the tonal center (tonic) (do) has moved.

Another kind of solfege is fixed-do. In fixed-do solfege, the note C is always do. F is always fa, A is always la. Even when accidentals (notes outside of the key) are involved the notes are the same. For example A is la, but A flat and A sharp are also la. I'm not a huge fan of this, because it somewhat tends to defeat the purpose of fixed do, that being that with the notes always the some, it gives keys a uniqueness, or color. So I'm going for Chromatic fixed-do, where every note has a specific name. So F sharp isn't Fa, it's Fi, and it's always Fi.

The moveable-do I learned uses the chromatic notation, but I want to learn fixed as well, because I think it gives keys personalities. At least, I hope that's what happens. We'll see as I learn it.

Just to give you an example of each, here you go. We'll use the key of D playing the major scale in each of the systems.

Moveable-do
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

Fixed-do
Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re

Chromatic Fixed-do
Re Mi Fi Sol La Ti Di Re

I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes, in most countries outside the US, Si is used instead of Ti. However, since I'm learning chromatically, Si is used as Sol sharp so it can't be at the seventh scale degree as well. I hope that clears things up. Peace.

Happy New Year

This being the first blog of the new year, I feel a necessity to regale my myriad of readers with a fanciful tale worthy of the beginning of an annual cycle. But I ain't got nuthin'. I'd like to tell you about my business, but it gets detailed and I get riled up when I get into it, so I'll say I'm not open yet but soon I hope.

Due to the alarmingly low level of willingness to start the book club (other than my brother, who will only do if it it's on the book he's currently reading and halfway through) I'm postponing a group reading and will just tell you about what I'm reading. Currently I'm reading Prelude in G Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It starts out "G (octaves,) d d d, bflat (octaves) d (octaves,) d, Bb (octaves), d, g (octaves).
BbBbBb Bb Bb
g g g g g
d d d d d

You can imagine where the story develops from there.


I've decided that all children should learn Latin and solfege as a part of their schooling. They should be of no lesser status than math and science.

I'm considering winning the Pulitzer Prize, but first I have to write something for it.

I got a haircut.

I miss new places.

Book Club Anyone?

I've never been in a book club, but I always thought it would be fun. So I thought maybe I could book club on my blog. I realize it's not ideal, but we could get together anyone who's interested, and then I'll blog about it and everyone else can respond for their input. Anyone interested? Any book ideas? I think a classic would be fun but I'm open to suggestions.

Business has been delayed to the point I won't be opening until the beginning of next year. It's been pretty frustrating having to wait and getting set back so much, but I'm sure things will work out eventually. Once things get moving, I'll update you on it. Till then, book club. Peace.

Hmmm

I'm way past updating but I don't know what to say. I could tell you about Thanksgiving. Or I could tell you about my business. Or I could tell you about my cat Barnaby.

Instead, I'll tell you why if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, then it in fact does not make a sound.

First I have to clarify to all you smarty pants out there. We will be assuming that in addition to no one being there to hear the tree fall, there is also no thing there to hear the tree fall. No squirrels or bugs or anything like that. But we'll clear that up in the conclusion statement.

Okay, now we have to establish what a sound is. The information I am about to share is taken from the book The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults by James C. McKinney.

There are four thing needed in order for there to be a sound:
1. A vibration.
2. Something that creates the vibration.
3. A medium through which the vibration can travel (air, water, jello).
4. Something to receive that vibration and interpret it as sound (an ear).

So let's go through the steps. First, a vibration. Yes, there is a vibration caused by the crashing tree. Second, something that creates the vibration. It kind of follows that if you've got number one then number two was already there. In this case it's the tree causing the vibration as it falls to the ground. Third, a medium through which the vibration can travel. Unless this is a space forest, we'll go ahead and say air is the medium of travel. But then we get to number four. Remembering that we've cleared this forest of all creatures capable of hearing and that God has created a no listening zone in the area imposing it even on Himself, we can't fulfill the fourth thing needed to make sound. You see, unless there is something to interpret a vibration as a sound, it remains a vibration.

In conclusion, if a tree falls in a forest and there is no one or thing there capable of receiving a vibration and interpreting it as sound to hear it, then it does not make a sound. Peace.

Something New, Something Blue

Okay, so nothing blue, but all of my fans (you know who you are) have been begging me for a new post.

Updates. The roaster is here! Finally finally I thought the day would never come and the rest of my life would be one big holding pattern. But the roaster is here and this past week I got it all vented up through the roof. Next I have to get a gas line installed, put in a few sinks and a ceiling, paint a little here, seal a little there, and put in some floor boards and I'll be ready to go. Ideally I could be finishing up in one to two week and be up and going just before Thanksgiving.

In the middle of all this, Mom is moving over here to Savannah She figured since two of her baby boys are here and she misses us oh so much she'd just come on over and join the party. I'm really excited she's coming over and looking forward to some family fun as the wedding comes up.

Wedding you say? Yes, my brother Josh is officially engaged to his girlfriend (now fiance) Stephanie. I've been nominated best man and am being moral support and all the other things that position involves.

Friends! I'm making new friends here and I'm really glad.

Zooey is doing well. She says tweet to all the readers out there.

That's all for now, I don't always do that many life updates, so for those of you wanting to know what's going on with me, you're welcome. Peace.

Midnight Crazies

Welcome to this weeks edition of the Midnight Crazies, where I can't get to sleep because of all the things going through my mind making me want to go crazy.

Tonight's specific crazy is the classic replay mode, where I get stuck on specific events that have happened to me and play them over and over again. Now, the way my spastic mind works is that I play the event, then offer commentary. Usually the commentary is me having an imaginary conversation with someone either related to the event, or who knows all involved. I tell said person (who it is varies on the event) all that happened, whether it was a specific event or a series of related events, then offer my hindsight on the event as to what I should or shouldn't have done or said. Then repeat. Sometimes on to a new event, sometimes the same one. Sometimes I think I actually do fall asleep, then dream about my midnight crazies.

So when I get the midnight crazies, I have to get out of bed and do something to snap my brain out of the cycle.

I'm' singing Mozart's requiem this Sunday. That should be fun.

My burps taste like French onion soup.

My coffee roaster is supposed to come in this week (just like last week and the week before that . . . and the month before that).

I'm teaching myself Socratic logic as well as the blues.

I'm trying to learn more about redemption.

I made a pizza the other day.

That's all for now. Peace.

Cafe

Chapter 1

“Why is it that you insist on doing this every day?” She asked as she held the warm cup in her hands. “It’s a waste of time and I don’t even like tea.”
“It’s because we’re so busy we do this,” he replied “because we have so much going on in our lives. We need a time to slow down and collect our thoughts for the day. Morning doesn’t work because you would rather sleep as long as you possibly can before rushing to work instead of coming over here to wake up in deliberate, dignified manner and enjoy a quiet moment with your friend before the day begins. “ He poured a splash of cream into his amber filled cup making it a murky brown. “And it’s not that you don’t like tea, you just don’t appreciate it. Yet.”
Alex was a musician. He wasn’t a very good musician, but he thought he was so he spent his days at his one room shack of a third floor apartment writing his masterpieces, none of which were completely finished. No one was quite sure how he paid for anything, but rent came on time and there was always money for tea, which he called his “Existential bliss”. No one was quite sure what that meant.
Samantha was also a musician. She actually was very good, but didn’t think she was so she held a regular job and lived in a regular apartment.
“Is Brennan working tonight?” Asked Samantha, nose wrinkling from another sip of tea while simultaneously reaching for the sugar. “He’s worked every night this week.”
“I hope not,” Replied Alex, who then took a sip from his cup and gave a sigh of either bliss or existentialism, one could not tell. “Lord knows he needs some time off.”
Brennan was the third musician of the trio. Brennan was an excellent musician, and knew it too. But Brennan never performed in public or wrote music that anyone knew about. He did teach private lessons, but never touched the instrument or sang a note while he taught. He was an excellent teacher.
As well as teaching,, Brennan worked most nights at the local café where Alex purchased his tea. On his night off, he hung out with Alex and Samantha. Most of the time they ended up hanging out at the café. Brennan didn’t mind this because he and the café were one. Much like Alex and his tea.
It was late Fall, one of those Falls that make you sigh when you think about it. The weather was getting cooler but not cold, the rustle of leaves was the only indication of a slight breeze. A perfect time to pick up jogging but not have to be in it for the long haul because you knew it would be too cold for it in a month. Not too cold for iced tea (is it ever?), not too hot for a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Or existentialism.
Alex and Samantha rode to the café on a scooter. The scooter belonged to Samantha. Alex didn’t believe in the unnecessary use of fossil fuels so hitched rides to places further than a bike ride a way. He sat carefully and somewhat rigidly (Samantha wasn’t the best of drivers) on the back of the scooter while balancing the last of his tea in a small Styrofoam cup (the tea was in the cup, not Alex).
Down the not so busy street they zoomed. Zigging and zagging, not to avoid traffic, but because this Fall was one of those Falls and Samantha felt alive. The wind on her face made her want to sing, but she didn’t because she thought her voice sounded anemic. Instead she zigged and zagged.
Before they could even enter the café they heard Dan. Dan was always in the café. Not literally always, but enough that one could say he was always there. Dan was always at the café because Dan loved coffee, and Dan loved people. Most of all Dan loved to laugh. It was the same kind of laugh that belongs to a maniacal pirate, but Dan was so friendly and his face was so kind that when he laughed it didn’t seem maniacal at all. He did frighten small children though.
Dan spotted Alex and Samantha as they walked in. “Come in, and know me better man!” he cried.
They came and sat at Dan’s table. “What is that from?” asked Alex, who, thought that anything interesting anybody said (besides himself) was stolen from another person.
“The Muppets.” Said Dan with a twinkle in his eye. Then he burst out laughing again.
Café Lift was a coffee shop where musicians, poets, businessmen, rich, poor, young, old, all felt welcome. It was where the cool people and the people who wanted to be cool hung out. Set on the corner of Straight Street, it was far enough away from Main Street to avoid the frantic busy feeling people on that street experienced, but close enough that there was always a decent amount of people inside.
“What can I get for you?” Said the waitress walking up to them.
“Just a small coffee for me.” Said Samantha.
“Can you heat this up for me?” Asked Alex, swirling what was left of his cup of tea.
“Bad form!” Came a voice from behind. Samantha and Alex turn around to see Brennan walking up with a half scowl half amused expression on his face. ”Bringing in an outside beverage and asking to have it heated up is frowned upon in the coffee business.”
“First of all, this is tea, not coffee,” retorted Alex, “and this is tea that I purchased from this establishment, making it a drink from here, making it okay for me to ask for it to be heated up. Why should I pay twice for the same product?”
“When you buy tea to take home to make, it’s meant to be made and consumed at home.” Said Brennan, in an overly dramatic way. “When you come here to for tea, you pay for the service of us making it as well as enjoying the environment this establishment offers.”
During this whole conversation, the waitress went between reaching for the cup that Alex still had raised in the air, to pulling her hand away, depending on who seemed to have the advantage in the argument. Finally she just stood there, frozen with a look of helplessness.
Brennan waited a few seconds because her expression amused him, then said, “Go ahead an heat it up for him. But this is the last time!” He warned.
“I’m sure.” Muttered Samantha.
As it turned out, Brennan did have the night off and joined the table.
“So what exciting adventures do the three of you have planned tonight?” inquired Dan.
“I dunno,” replied Alex “ probably the same thing we always do. Sit around and talk about stuff till the shop closes, then walk around town and talk about stuff till someone gets tired and we go home.”
“ Actually,” intervened Brennan “I have a little surprise for our trio this evening. With your permission, I’d like for us to go to an undisclosed location for an undisclosed event.”
“Oooooo.“ Samantha cooed “ Sounds mysterious.”
“I’ll bite,” said Alex “ but I highly doubt it’s going to be as exciting as you’re making it sound.”
“That’s fine, set your expectations low, that way you’ll be even more blown away when we get there.” Brennan said with a gleam in his eye. “This adventure could very well change our lives.”
“A real life adventure!” Dan said with a big smile on his face. “That’s something everyone needs to have at least once in their life. I’ve had my share, it’s good to see you three are beginning one. Be careful, but not too careful, for that’s part of what the adventure is all about isn’t it?”

I've Decided I Don't Have Insomnia

My sleep schedule is just whack. I can't help it. It's a vicious cycle. Hopefully (I hope everyone knows hopefully isn't a word, I'm merely falling prey to the colloquialism as so many have before me) once I get business started I'll have a regular work schedule, which will aid in the sleep schedule.
That being said, I can't sleep. And sometimes when I can't sleep, I resort to blogging. However, I'm tired of always coming up with random things to talk about. Now I think it's you're turn. So, post a reply on this blog about what you would like for me to blog about. All entries need not be serious, but all will be taken seriously. I'll then write blogs based on ideas I like. No guarantee that your request will be blogged about, but there won't be a specific winner or anything. I'll just go to the next one I like.
Remember kids, you have to actually reply in order for me to blog about something. So don't be shy, step on up. You'll do just fine. Peace.

Political Thoughts

After much consideration, I've decided that I do not want to run for the President of the United States. In fact, other than Poet Laureate, National Bard (should that ever become instated as a position), or the Ambassador to the Bahamas, I can't think of any political office I would like to hold.
In light of these epiphanies, I officially request my name not be used as a write in for the upcoming election. However, should the future President require my assistance as advisor or personal barista, I would feel obligated to take that position. Since I am a bipartisan barista, reaching across party lines to make sure everyone gets a good cup of coffee, I feel qualified to serve coffee to either candidate should they become President. No promises about the advice. Peace.

Prayer Request

So things are moving right along with the shop. I have a space, I'm getting paperwork and such things accomplished. But the roaster is still sitting in Mexico. It would be really wonderful if the masses that read this blog would pray that the people with the company down there will get themselves in gear. I start paying rent in two weeks so I'd love to have it in before then. Mike, my coffee mentor helping me from Guatemala, is calling tomorrow to try to get things moving. Pray he has a good conversation and gets things accomplished. Thanks for the prayers everyone. Peace.

Longing in Music (WARNING, MUSIC NERD ALERT)

There are some songs that do that thing to you, I don't know how else to describe it but to call it longing. It's the kind of ache that's good. The kind of feeling you feel on a beautiful Fall day. Now, I imagine this experience is found in different music for different people. There are certainly voices that can accomplish this at least in part. Voices such as Alison Krauss, Norah Jones, and Karen Kasey (an Irish singer) have voices that, at least for me, can cause that longing in a good song.
However, I would argue that specific songs themselves are capable of this longing. Among the songs that do that for me are Winter by Bayside (for those of you who have listened to anything else from this band, it is something completely different from their norm, which is, not the most feel good music), Autumn, by Andrew Peterson, Comes a Time by Mutual Admiration Society, and a majority of the choral works (at least that I've heard of) of Morten Lauridsen.

Who is Morten Lauridsen, you ask (admittedly, you probably asked that about some of the other people I mentioned)? Well my friend, let me tell you. Morten lauridsen is one of the most performed contemporary choral composers today. Why? Because his music moves, nay, stirs you. I first came across him while I was in college. My choir performed his arrangement of Sure on This Shining Night.
Singing in a choir is a wonderful experience, and can be much richer than just listening. But singing this piece was something altogether different for me. I'd never had a piece so vividly evoke images and emotions in me, it's truly amazing. I found a recording of the piece on youtube. It's not the best quality, but I hope it gets the idea across. As a side note, that is Mr. Lauridsen playing the piano.



I still get chills every time I listen to it.

So anyway, I set out to find what this longing was in a musical sense. I looked for a connection between the songs, and I found that a key element was the interval of a perfect fourth. Either in chordal progression or melodic movement. I thought, that was neat. That's really what all that was about. And, listen to Morten Lauridsen. Peace.

More of Zooey

Because you can't have enough Zooey. Peace.

Website's Up! (kinda)

So it turns out I haven't been a complete bum in getting my business started and actually have my website almost put together. You can check it out at www.cuptocupcoffee.com. It's not completely done yet (for example, there's no coffee available, hehe) but it's well on it's way.
On a similar note, I'm looking at a space that has lots of potential. Please pray everything goes smoothly if this is the right spot.
And I'm disappointed in the lack of comments on how beautiful my god daughter is. Peace.

Dream

Okay, new dream. I'm going with my friend to get a snow cone. We're listening to the radio and somebody is playing a song that is clearly a rip off of one of my songs. Same words slightly different music. I get all worked up about it. Sylvester Stallone has stolen my song and used it as his own! We go to order a snow cone and as I make my order I see all the snow cones are already made. It's okay because my friend had the flavor I wanted (watermelon and grape striped) and gives it to me. The only thing is, it's not a snow cone, it's colored flavored water and ice. Then I start looking for the lost and found while I complain to Sylvester (who has shown up) how he stole my song. We just can't find the lost and found. The end. Peace.