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What a day...
Jul. 1st, 2004 12:12 amI was rather surprised this morning when I checked my email before lunch and found a message from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
obcordate. Apparently, he had just returned from the Phillipines and was driving with his mom and brother up to Minnesota. They wanted to stop in Iowa City and I was delighted to see them. I showed Oliver around the lab a little, his mom took a lot of pictures, and we went out to dinner. We went to this Japanese place (Tayama? somtheing like that, near Dubuque and on the street running towards the Old Capitol). Oliver, with his superior knowledge of Japanese culture and food, ordered for us. I got to try miso soup and enjoyed various kinds of sushi. The wasabi here is actually hot, for once. But best of all was seeing someone I hadn't seen in weeks and being able to reconnect. I'm so glad Oliver came, it really helped make my day wonderful.
I also played the piano for a while tonight. Having gotten Beethoven's sonatas out of the UI music library, I tried my hand at the Pathetique. My playing of the Pathetique was, unfortunately, pathetic. But it's way too hard of a piece to be able to play without having practiced it. The slow movement (my favorite) I did play decently, but forget about the fast stuff in the first and last movements. I wish I could have done better on the first "Allegro di molto e con brio" where the left hand part has always reminded me of a hard-rock guitar bass line. "La fille aux cheveux de lin" progresses, although that octave passage is still troublesome and I'm still not happy with that "climactic" part. I either overdo it, which sounds silly, or play it lifelessly. I never played Debussy when I was studying piano, so I'm in totally new waters. I think I'll have it down within a week, so long as I practice sufficiently.
To cap off a wonderful day, I had a really nice conversation with a pleasant UI freshman that I've been very fortunate to meet. I hope we'll get to know each other better.
(minor grumble) Why does it take the stupid machine shop 3 days to drill 4 holes in a piece of aluminum? We still haven't heard back; I'm going to go harangue the machinist when I get in tomorrow. Frankly, if they would just let me use their machines (which I doubt they will), I'd just do the job myself. I'll ask Kate if there's a student shop since she knows the department; these days I'm glad I took Physics 63.
obcordate. Apparently, he had just returned from the Phillipines and was driving with his mom and brother up to Minnesota. They wanted to stop in Iowa City and I was delighted to see them. I showed Oliver around the lab a little, his mom took a lot of pictures, and we went out to dinner. We went to this Japanese place (Tayama? somtheing like that, near Dubuque and on the street running towards the Old Capitol). Oliver, with his superior knowledge of Japanese culture and food, ordered for us. I got to try miso soup and enjoyed various kinds of sushi. The wasabi here is actually hot, for once. But best of all was seeing someone I hadn't seen in weeks and being able to reconnect. I'm so glad Oliver came, it really helped make my day wonderful.I also played the piano for a while tonight. Having gotten Beethoven's sonatas out of the UI music library, I tried my hand at the Pathetique. My playing of the Pathetique was, unfortunately, pathetic. But it's way too hard of a piece to be able to play without having practiced it. The slow movement (my favorite) I did play decently, but forget about the fast stuff in the first and last movements. I wish I could have done better on the first "Allegro di molto e con brio" where the left hand part has always reminded me of a hard-rock guitar bass line. "La fille aux cheveux de lin" progresses, although that octave passage is still troublesome and I'm still not happy with that "climactic" part. I either overdo it, which sounds silly, or play it lifelessly. I never played Debussy when I was studying piano, so I'm in totally new waters. I think I'll have it down within a week, so long as I practice sufficiently.
To cap off a wonderful day, I had a really nice conversation with a pleasant UI freshman that I've been very fortunate to meet. I hope we'll get to know each other better.
(minor grumble) Why does it take the stupid machine shop 3 days to drill 4 holes in a piece of aluminum? We still haven't heard back; I'm going to go harangue the machinist when I get in tomorrow. Frankly, if they would just let me use their machines (which I doubt they will), I'd just do the job myself. I'll ask Kate if there's a student shop since she knows the department; these days I'm glad I took Physics 63.
