Nervewracking.

I think piano should be an extreme sport.

With that said, here's why:

Well, I play competitive piano. Competition is always good--it lets you see where you stand in the crowd. Last year, I played in this same competition, and won the Piano Category with the first movement from a lovely concerto called Grieg Piano Concerto in a minor.

You can listen to a different interpretation by one of the greats, Arthur Rubenstein, of the same piece here:

Thanks to cellomoi for the video.

Anyway, I played in the same competition again this year. In fact, I just finished playing, and I'm even more nervous than before I played! I played the third movement from the same concerto. The results aren't up yet, and won't be until the afternoon, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

While I'm waiting, I guess I'll just post a video of the piece I played today!

You won't be able to hear the entire piece, but here's my favorite interpretation of this movement so far by Sviatoslav Richter:

Thanks to samsonno for the video.

Wish me luck.

Appreciation.

Nothing really seems to brighten up your day more than knowing that you are appreciated.

But appreciating someone or something else can sometimes be a hard thing, and is many times, not on our mind. We think that our lives are too short and too precious to waste trying to appreciate someone or something that doesn't even like us, or benefit us in any way.

But today, I met someone who would always pester me because of what he would say, and someone I would continually avoid.
And I was forced to talk to that person.

But because I was reminding myself that this person was someone's precious child, someone's best friend, someone's cherished sibling, etc, etc, I found it easier to be kind and more accepting.
Not that it was easy, at all. Quite the contrary.
Just a little bit easier, and overall a pleasant experience.

And I suppose that appreciation is something to continually remind myself about.

A little 'thank you' can go a really go a long way.

Sand.

I remember the times when I used to go to the beach during the summer, and used to just sit there looking at the waves. I didn't want to go in, but I couldn't look away. I hated getting wet sand on me. But when I did, I would stay in the waves for hours, and come back exhausted.

Sometimes I would build sandcastles, but those were always failed attempts. Sandcastles never look as nice as when you imagine yourself building one...

On a completely different topic, sand is never on my mind during winter.

But this video made me think twice.

Ferenc Cakó is a genius.

Vivaldi, Four Seasons - Winter film Ferenc Cakó / Sand Animation


Thanks to franzhun for the video.

Stop Motion Art

I absolute LOVE stop motion videos.
It's like photography--only better, in my opinion. It's almost like rifling through an old photo album or scrapbook.

But this video absolutely blows my mind:

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie



Thanks to QuarterPastWonderful for the video.

Midterms and Finals

Whoever thought of giving midterms and final exams after Winter Break was not the sharpest tool in the toolbox.

But on a bright note, the new semester's almost started, and we're only two quarters away from vacation! Which sounds pretty great, since it's about as cold as it gets down South here. I wish it would snow.