Two Weekends Apart

As January of a new year draws to a close, there are two eventful weekends that occurred two weekends apart this month that I have been meaning to write about: my annual Manresa Jesuit retreat that was January 6-8 and Uncle Don’s funeral in North Carolina January 20-22. I had intended to write about them separately but as the month comes to an end, I will combine them. They are after all thematically similar. Both weekends had in common rituals we follow to seek out personal peace and harmony in a world that is full of change and disharmony.

The Brothers Kelly

    This is just a little change of pace, something too long for a tweet, but something I found so intriguing that I felt it deserved a short post.  Did any of you film buffs out there know that Gene Kelly had a brother, a brother who was almost as famous as he?  You say how can this be when we’ve never heard of him?  Indeed, before Monday night, I had never heard of him either.

No Pianist Left Behind

Yesterday was my first piano lesson for 2012.  Four years and four months after starting piano again after a 12 year absence (12 years by some measures, since 12 years old by other measures), I had my 168th lesson and estimate I’ve clocked close to 1,000 hours of practice.  The very first lesson after the New Year is a very important one, which I have been anxiously awaiting for months.  It is at this first lesson that we find out at what level we will be allowed to compete for the national auditions of the Piano Guild in May.  Since I got admitted to 7th grade last May, thus finally graduating from Elementary and officially becoming an Intermediate student, I was dearly hoping for the greenlight to pursue the 8th grade audition this year.  But alas, the answer is no.  I am being left behind to spend another year in the 7th grade.