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Virtuosopiano
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Name: Richie
Birthday: 7/24/1987
Gender: Male
Interests: Classical piano, tennis, ballroom dance, good books, conversations with friends, polyhedra, origami, knowledge in general, and God.
Expertise: Playing and composing classical piano music, the completion of repetitive and tedious tasks that I find enjoyable at the time in an obsessive manner, procrastinating in such a way that has no negative affects on the successful completion of the task whatsoever, and sleeping on the couch.
Industry: Music
Message: message me
Member Since:
2/9/2006
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| So, it has been a really long time since I've posted. I'm not sure what to say...so I guess I'll make a list of firsts or notable events that have happened in my life since my last post.
I played piano for Linda's and James' wedding, and then another wedding that was my first for a non-family member
I attended the LCMS National Youth Gathering in Orlando, Florida. And our service project while we were there was scrubbing mold off of gravestones.
I started teaching piano lessons
I started tutoring
I played in my first and second Masterclasses
I started attending Intervarsity, and now play keyboard for worship every so often this semester
I was in a Madrigal Dinner
I built a Mbira
I played in my first payed piano recital where people were there specifically to watch a piano performance
I was hired to play piano for a church service
I played piano for a service at my church (Holy Cross) by accompanying two violinists for three pieces as the prelude and offertory music
Exciting things have been happening in my life lately. In some ways it has made things clearer, but in other ways it has made me start rethinking some of my plans. A lot is going to happen in the next two years, and, while I'm looking forward to all of the new changes it will bring, I'm going to try and hold on to what I've found right now for as long as I can and keep it with me as I move on.
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So, yeah, this post is to inform all of you that I will be gone for two weeks and won't be posting.
But on the plus side, I'll get to reread The Chronicles of Narnia (yes, the whole set) in the car during the drive. I have read them way more times than I can remember but you can never read them enough.
Chronicles of Narnia = My, undoubtedly, favorite books
Gotta love Lucy, and the Dufflepuds, and Puzzle, and all of the talking animals, and Puddleglum, and Aslan...and pretty much everything in the books.
--Richie
P.S. It is planned that David will do the driving tomorrow, so, yeah, it could be interesting.
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| I month or two ago, something I read made me think of the verse in my header (1 Tim. 4:12). I don't really remember what it was clearly--I actually think it was more than one thing in very short succession--but it has stuck in my mind since. If I could go back and pick my confirmation verse (verses were assigned to confirmands when I was confirmed), I would pick this one for sure.
**For those unfamiliar with confirmation: My family has always attended a Lutheran Church which does infant baptism. Because of this, my siblings and I were all baptized as infants. Confirmation is a public ceremony in which the confirmand publicly says that he/she is taking personal responsibility for the declaration of belief and commitment to God their parents made for them when they were baptized as an infant. Most churches have children do this at the end of their 8th grade year (many Lutheran churches (such as ours) have a K-8 school attached to them also, so the timing makes sense completely in that regard). Confirmation is part of students' 8th grade curriculum in the school attached to our church, and homeschooled or public schooled students must attend two years of a once a week confirmation class/bible study before confirmation. No confirmand is forced to confirm their faith, but rather makes the decision to do so after the extensive bible study.**
I have been aggravated many times in my life by people looking down on me because I was younger than them and, as such, not qualified to do what I was doing. But what has aggravated me even more over the last few years has been people telling me that I am "an overachiever." I have many friends how could easily be called, and have undoubtedly been called, overachievers, but this bothers me. We can't possibly overachieve. God has given us our talents and gifts so we can do his work. We can't possibly ever live up to His standard because we are imperfect beings, so how can we possibly overachieve! There is so much evil in the world that we have what can be compared with an endless, exponentially increasing to-do list of work God wants us to do. I won't even make a dent in the whole of what I could do if I followed God perfectly, so it bothers me when people say I "overachieve."
To me, the word "overachiever" has come to mean a person that works harder than they need to. It has become a form of criticism. People often say "overachiever" as if it were an unnecessary burden on a person's life. It is almost like people sometimes look down on "overachievers" because they don't know how to "take it easy" or "relax." Many, many young people are called overachievers, and it is something I find dangerous. When young people think they are exceeding expectations they could become complacent and not live up to God's plan for their earthly potential. Calling a young person an overachiever is like saying "you are already better than we thought you could ever be, so take it easy and be content with yourself." We should never be content with ourselves because we are not perfect; we can't possibly stand for any length of time against God's perfection! Instead of being happy with ourselves because the world says we should be, we should work all the more to stand out and try to make a difference for God. We should work to be called "Children of God" instead of simply settling for "overachievers." God deserves nothing less than our everything, and who are we to decide we have given enough.
I think the reason this verse has stuck with me so strongly for the last few months is I have been reminded that I have done a poor job of giving God my all. I have given Him some of me, but I have an earthly lazy streak in me that I have not been fighting enough. I like to be comfortable, but God has been showing me that it often takes confrontation and being uncomfortable to stand for Him like He wants us to. I have done a great deal in my life that has been noteworthy by earthly standards, but God has better things in store for me if I can just stand up and face them with the strength He gives me. But I have to let God lead and do things through me instead of taking over control of my life to stay comfortable. I am still young, and am in a place God can use me if I let Him.
--Richie | | |
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Hello all. I am still alive. The semester did not manage to kill me.
It is the weirdest thing. All I could think about in the last two weeks of school was how I couldn't wait for school to be over; but now that it is over, I am let down that I no longer have to practice like crazy for juries and sightsinging. After last semester, I was so unmotivated to practice that I basically didn't touch a piano and have a focused practice session for over two weeks. I have already done that after this semester, and I am starting to make a wish-list of music that I want to learn but would take an immense amount of work to learn. One of these pieces is a Sonata by Franz Schubert in A-major (the "Big" one) that has 4 movements that add up to 50 minutes long. A faculty member at IPFW did it for her Master's recital, and I want to learn it. I probably won't for awhile though. There is another A-major sonata (the "Little" one) that is almost as good (some people like it better but I like the "Big" one better) and about half as long. Unfortunately, I probably won't be learning either of these for awhile because they are so big. I was given a Schubert Impromptu to work on already, plus the two ending movements from the Beethoven sonata I started this semester, and a Chopin polonaise or nocturne that I have to pick out of a couple of options. That should be plenty of music to work on over the summer, especially if I work to write another song or two. It is amazing how motivating performing a good jury is.
It is yet again tennis season. I avoided playing tennis for the two-weeks before juries to avoid jamming fingers or wrists, spraining ankles or wrists, or breaking my arm in another freak incident (ok, I am paranoid; but I did break my arm playing dodgeball after all). But since Friday, I have played a lot of tennis. My tennis game is almost completely back from when I broke my arm. The only things I still don't have back are my ace-type first serves (which I barely had to begin with) and overheads with a bit of power in positions that are at all awkward (which again I barely had). David and I are going to have some vicious singles matches this summer. He has the slight edge in raw power with his longer arms and extra torque, but I have the slight edge in tactics, so we are really evenly matched.
I don't know why, but the commercials David posted on his Xanga just popped into my head and made me laugh. The Pretty Panda one has been a family favorite for a long time, but I have to say the Singing Rabbit one is pure advertising gold. I mean, who doesn't want a singing rabbit? But is having one worth parting with skittles? **Cue dramatic music** duh, duh, DUH. Anyway, if anyone knows the title to the song the rabbit is singing, let me know because it is driving me crazy. I know it is a classical theme, but I don't know if it is from an opera or if it is from something else like a Strauss Waltz. Whatever it is, you got to love the Rabbit and his incessant YUH.......yuh, yuh, yuh...yuh, yuh, yuh yuh yuh YUH..............
And the part where the guy is running down the street with the rabbit while the rabbit sings some high part all agitato is just genius. And the message comes across clearly: trading your skittles for a singing rabbit will come back to bite you, and leave you skittlesless and singing rabbitless.
And now, a story about the panda commercial. It was a long time ago, back when hockey was actually still a major TV sport. We had already declared the panda commercial our new favorite commercial and had seen it about every other commercial break during some NHL game. Anyway, we decided to tape it the next time it was sure to be aired in the next five minutes or so. Anyway, we get the tape ready and sit there waiting for it during commercial breaks, but they don't air it again for like six commercial breaks. We end up losing focus and missing it the next time it airs and have to wait another 20 minutes before we finally catch it. I don't know what happened to that tape, but the commercial is awesome.
Well, I have to get ready for church.
--Richie
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| Hey! I really should be in bed already, but I am not and I figured now is as good a time as any to update my Xanga. I feel like I don't have any time anymore as it is, and now I have more to think about than ever. Basically, to make a long story short, I was told at my voice lesson that I should seriously consider majoring in vocal performance instead of only using voice as my secondary instrument. Adding a vocal performance major to my plan wouldn't require that many extra classes (about 20ish credits worth), but it would mean I would be working toward three Bachelor's degrees at the same time: General Studies, Piano Performance, and Vocal Performance. I am seriously considering doing it though, even though it would probably mean an extra year of classes at IPFW before moving on to my graduate studies, because it would open up some options for me. I just have to decide if the extra work is worth it, and if the new options it would open up to me are options I will end up pursuing. I also have to consider if I would be able to keep my piano moving along how I want if I start to devote more attention to voice than I already am this semester. I am a pianist first, then a vocalist, so I have to take that into consideration. I have some more research and information gathering to do, but this is not going to be the easiest of decisions.
Ok, on to the main reason I am actually posting. As I have mentioned before in past posts, I am in the Creative Writing--Poetry class at IPFW this semester. If you are thinking that you never saw me as a poetry person, you would actually be correct. I am only taking the class because it satisfies more than one requirement at the same time. Anyway, I have one poem I wrote for the class that I wanted to get all your feedback on. It had to be written in a form that requires lines to be repeated in specific places, so that is why the lines repeat the way they do. I am also not allowed to write poems that rhyme, so even though the form it is written in is supposed to have a rhyme pattern, I was specifically told to write it without rhyming the lines. Let me know what you think and feel free to give me any suggestions you have. I never really wrote poetry ever before the class, so this is quite literally one of the first ten poems I have written and feedback is appreciated.
The Weight of Sin
The carpenter's work should bear the weight,
So why should you take note when it does?
The carpenter's work is often underappreciated
Until the chair collapses and you're thrown
Down off your throne into the trampled-over grime.
The carpenter's work should bear your weight,
But when the ladder you're climbing alone fails,
Who will be there to catch you when you fall?
The carpenter's work is often underappreciated
Until the bridge collapses and you fall
Into the abyss you never acknowledged.
The carpenter's work should bear the weight
Of the slate-shingled roof crashing down on your head;
the collapse of your self-built place in this world.
The carpenter's work is often underappreciated
Until all the termites of the world attack,
And you realize the leg you walk on is peg.
A carpenter's work has borne the weight;
The carpenter's work is often underappreciated.
Well, I really get to get some sleep now. Good night.
--Richie
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