Book One - Page One / Great Expectations...Great Disappointments

Song:  New Horizons

Group:  Moody Blues

Vocalist:  Justin Hayward

I started on book one...page one...

of the same beginner's book with which I had taught myself the Bass Flute...

only this time...

I will be attempting to teach myself how to sing properly.

OMG...

this is going to be...

by far...

the most difficult musical endeavor I had ever tried.

I am but a musical infant in vocal training.

By looking at precise objective standards using a frequency meter

as I try to sustain a constant and pure tone...

I can see how truly awful my voice is.

But...

just as an infant is clumsy until he eventually masters physical tasks...

I will, with continual practice, eventually train myself to sing well.

Now...

again...

I know I will never be able to sing great...

but...

my goal is to sing well

(to be able to sustain a pure tone without offending the ears of others  :)

I had chosen this particular included song...

not only as it matched the theme of this article...

for I am on the cusp of a new horizon...

a musical journey which is exciting...

but also because the vocalist of this song most closely matches my natural vocal range...

and the softness of his voice most closely matches my natural tone and resonance.

And...

NO...

of course...

I am no where near his vocal quality by any measure.

----------

I have been discovering how truly difficult it is for me to sustain a pure tone.

The most difficult part is my inability to tell the difference audibly...

of how my voice waivers in frequency without my ears noticing the difference...

and so...

how I must teach myself through visual references...

 as to how to precisely control and sustain a simple note.

I am naturally tone deaf

(and further hampered by my partial deafness)...

and so...

I must teach myself to feel the tones as matched to the visual cues of the frequency meter...

and through pure muscle memory...

be able to replicate those tones by feel alone...

as I won't be able to use my hearing to monitor my voice as I sing.

And just as I had taught myself to do with the Bass Flute...

I must keep a certain posture to ensure total relaxation of my body...

which will allow for diaphragmatic expansion...

and in the case of singing...

it will allow my natural tonal range to resonate 

as my vocal cords and throat will also be relaxed.

-----------

Am I disappointed by my lack of natural singing abilities?

No 

(I've always known it).

However...

I am as excited as an infant who first begins his attempt to walk.

Yes...

I am very clumsy and awkward...

way out of tune and very inconsistent in application...

but the excitement I feel at learning something new...

of seeking new horizons to conquer...

of the new musical lands to visit beyond my present horizon...

is what drives me on.

-----------

On another note... :)

last night as I was practicing on my 12 string guitar...

I snapped a string...

and it was only then that I realized what I should have already prepared for...

replacement of the strings.

I couldn't even remove the old snapped string as the bridge pin wouldn't budge.

So...

I went on Amazon and ordered a triple set of top quality replacement strings...

a bridge pin remover...

string cutters...

and fretboard wax 

(the arid climate will eventually cause wood shrinkage and cracking without protection).

An example of one of my practice sessions...

and the great variance of one simple tone...

and the great difficulty I have in achieving...

never mind even sustaining...

one simple note.

I am still on page one of book one of a beginner's flute book.

My voice naturally falls in the first two octaves of the Bass Flute...

so...

at least I have that going for me  :)

My first note to practice is the low G (for the Bass Flute).

As you can see...

I first strayed to the low end of a G sharp.

As I attempted to lower my tone...

I went to the realm of a natural G...

but I was still sharp.

I then went too low and flated a natural G.

I then over corrected to a near perfect G sharp...

instead of a natural G.

I then lowered the tone some...but not enough.

Finally...

a near perfect G...

but it quickly went astray once again.

It is my inability to sustain any given note which presents me my greatest problem...

at least...

for now.

I already know that this musical journey is to be an ultra marathon.

But...

will I become discouraged?

No...

to be able to sing well is one of my bucket list items.

Climbing a new mountain is exciting to me.

It is stagnation in life that I find to be tortuous...

in anything.

To always have new horizons for which to strive is truly living life.

 Achieving new routes of exploration leads to new hopes...

new meanings of great happiness...

of the rewards of conquering new territories...

while always looking forwards to ever new horizons.

This is the meaning of life...

that which we give it.

---------------

Later this evening...

I had looked up a restaurant which (supposedly) specialized in Dim Sum.

The restaurant was highly rated...

and once I had arrived...

their decor was quite spectacular...

and the visible Dim Sum making station was a fascinating touch.

I was so excited...

as I love good Dim Sum.

My Dim Sum arrived.

While the Dim Sum was okay...

it simply wasn't nearly so good as some of the other Dim Sum places to where I have been.

The big disappointment was their Shrimp Lo Mein.  

I had asked specifically about the portion size.

My waitress had said it was large and that it was made for two people to share.

When it arrived...

it was barely an appetizer size for one.

I am a man...

and I eat like one.

To not even have a decent portion to eat...

well...

scratch off another place to which I will never return.

I had high expectations for this to be the place I would take my guests.

But...

besides the lack of portion size...

it simply lacked flavor.

This was not a specialty Dim Sum place...

but more of an Asian Fusion place.

I have never been to an Asian Fusion place I had liked.

All they do is tone down the flavor...

take the worst of East and West...

and then charge high prices.

This was a big disappointment for me

(but then again...

I have eaten at excellent Chinese restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area...

and in New York).

I departed still hungry...

so...

...on my way home...

I stopped in at a late night Mexican restaurant in hopes of salvaging my night...

and filling my belly.

It was not to be.

The food was something no Mexican food should ever be...

BLAND.

My first hint that it wasn't a quality place was the fact that it was empty

when I had first arrived.

I only ate half of the food...

and threw the rest away...

although I was still hungry.

This is something which had never before happened to me...

being disappointed with two successive meals.

But...

on the bright side...

it will cause me to appreciate the good restaurants all the more  :)

---------

Ah well...

an adventure is not always successful.

I still have a great many restaurants to try in the future.

I always love trying new restaurants in hopes of finding somewhere 

I may enjoy for the rest of my life.

And in that...

I have great expectations once again  :)

 

Peanut Butter Bandi / A Soft Sunset

 

Song:  Otterley

Artists:  Cocteau Twins

Today...

I had gotten this strange craving for Peanut Butter.

I had recently ordered this brand from Walmart online...

and they delivered it to my door in a couple of days time.

I love peanut butter...

but I don't want anything in it but peanuts.

Most of the store brands have all kinds of ingredients...

the worst of all are the fully hydrogenated oils...

besides having loads of sugar and sodium.

This brand has nothing in it but peanuts.

There is no salt...

sugar...

hydrogenated oils...

absolutely nothing...

but peanuts.

And it is delicious and very creamy.

I had ordered 10 lbs of it in 1 lb jars.

Anyway...

I was just lying in bed looking at my iPad...

and I just had to have some peanut butter.

I grabbed a large spoon...

and a plate for Bandi from which to lick the peanut butter.

I put dollop after dollop of peanut butter on her plate...

and she just went crazy licking it all up.

Bandi just loves peanut butter.

Between the dollops for Bandi...

I ate large spoonfuls of the peanut butter.

In a short period of time...

Bandi and I had finished off a whole pound of peanut butter...

about half a pound each.

There was just something in peanut butter that my body was craving.

I took Bandi out to her forest bathroom...

and I had seen the sun beginning to set...

so I went up to the loft to capture it.

The mountain in view is Rhyolite Mountain.

It is the next mountain over from my home...

just South and slightly East of me.

As the sun continued to set...

the clouds opposite it began to turn a pastel yellow and pink.

The soft pastel pink of the Southeastern clouds was a nice ending to the sunset.

----------------

This weekend I will be going to the Cripple Creek Ice Festival

(It is small as Ice Festivals go...

but there are going to be food vendors there :)

During the last town event...

they had this great taco truck there.

I am hoping to see it this time as well.

Their tacos were crunchy shelled...

with just the perfect ratio of meat to shredded lettuce and cheese...

and their verde was so good drizzled atop them.

I know I can eat a dozen of them...

they were just that delicious.

Dr. Appt / Wild Horses Cafe / Cripple Creek

 

BGM

YouTube Channel:  Pai Tunes

I had gone to another Doctor appt. today.

I was leaving the hospital in Woodland Park where they had run some tests.

I then departed to Wild Horses Cafe...

which is right on the way home.

Part way on the cut off...

 not too far up...

is the turn off into the mountains...

where Wild Horses Cafe is.

Wild Horses Cafe is in the Dawn Of Hope ranch.

The entrance to the Dawn Of Hope ranch

(It is about halfway to Woodland Park from my home).

Views from the parking lot.

A short walk from the parking lot is the Dawn of Hope ranch facilities.

I sat near the roll up door...

where I could get a nice view of the mountains

(Pikes Peak is to the left of center...

and Sentinel Point is on the right).

I live just Southwest of Sentinel Point.

I got a peppermint hot white chocolate to sip on until my pizza was ready.

Their pizza is excellent

(I love Pizzas...as I don't eat many fatty foods or processed carbs at home...

and so...

I often develop a craving them).

The only reason I don't always go here is because 

of their very limited hours and days of operation.

However...

whenever I get an urge to have some of the best pizza around during their operating hours...

I go here.

After eating...

I drove towards Cripple Creek to the county recorder's office to pay 

a full year's worth of property taxes.

I just pay for a year at a time...

so I don't have to bother with it until the following year.

Part way to my home area.

I had passed my mountain turnoff and continued four miles up the main road...

 to the town of Cripple Creek.

It just took a few moments...

as the county building is rarely serving many people at any one time.

This is just outside of Cripple Creek...

looking West as I drove North to home.

(Sentinel Point in the left background)

I was about one quarter a mile from home here.

--------------

Today was warm for a Winter's day...

even though most of the time...

sunny days reign throughout the year.

As it was 50 F (10 C) in the afternoon...

I drove with all of the windows down as I just breathed in the fresh mountain air.

Being surrounded by natural beauty is to be rewarded on a daily basis.

People are naturally friendly here...

as it is a natural paradise everywhere you go.

With fresh and crisp air...

uncrowded conditions...

beautiful forested mountains all around...

it is hard for anyone to be in a foul mood.