Singin’ in the rain
It has been raining all day. I do not say this lightly. I do not mean British grey and drizzle; I do not mean that every time it stops you think oh finally; I do not mean ‘showers’; I do not even mean unsettled with occasional outbursts of heavy rain. I mean it has been raining all day. Raining. All. Day. Within the parameters of raining all day we have also had occasional outbursts of . . . not merely heavy rain but sledgehammer rain when you gather the hellhounds to you to protect them from being thumped. I’ve been out with the poor hellhounds four times because none of us likes getting soaked,* bruises optional. My so-called waterproof Goretex started letting the rain through on our third . . . swim. According to my Scientific Rain Measuring Device** we’ve had a good inch and a half, and I’d put it nearer two, myself. Okay, wait, I’m being scientific. My garden appears to have had nearly two inches of the falling wet stuff today. I’m not going to generalise. Although I will mention in passing that the bottom of Main Street is flooded again and the houses down there have their sandbags out. I like living at the top of a hill.
But . . . none of this matters.*** Because . . . MY COMPOSING SOFTWARE ARRIVED TODAY.
I didn’t tell you about this before because I was feeling faintly superstitious about it . . . and also because, come on, McKinley, you’re doing what?† You need composing software like you need gold-plated All Stars.†† Yes, but nobody can read my handwriting but me, and I can’t play. And composing software plays it back for you. So I can get on with composing stuff I can only play painstaking chord by painstaking chord, without recourse to poor Oisin every Friday demonstrating what I have written, as opposed to what I think I’ve written, with a little variation on a theme of illegible handwriting.
I think I told you that I’d started brooding about composing software. What did freaking Beethoven do, for pity’s sake?††† Lighten up. Oisin had given me a disc of the little free version of Finale, which is the programme he uses, and it fell at the first fence for me when it refused to let me have two bass clefs, and the introduction to Song II starts with both hands in the bass clef. And I’ve been having a very helpful, inspirational and perhaps a trifle maddening email conversation, with shiny perfectly (aaaaaugh) laid out examples of what composing software will do, with one of you‡ about all the stuff she does with her Sibelius composing software‡‡ . . . which has further fanned the flames of my intense Must Have.‡‡‡ I’ve also been noticing especially sharply with my Battle Gem§ that I need to understand more about overall pacing and development which is a ratbag chord by painstaking chord, not to say flatly (*&^%$£”!!!! impossible.
I decided to go for Oisin’s Finale first because he’s right here and if I get in a mess I can go fling myself at his feet and beg for rescue,§§ and second because in his avatar as a music store he could get me§§§ a deal on it. So the deed was done at last week’s piano lesson and Oisin said that it should be here by Wednesday–that is, two whole days ago–and that if it was he’d give me a ring. Therefore I spent quite a lot of the first part of this week dubbing around with Battle Gem and Money Spider and making plans for getting started with Finale.¤ And then Wednesday came and . . . no phone call. Aggh. Frenzy. So since Wednesday I’ve been having an ill-tempered slash at another of Peter’s poems, appropriately named Perfection, which says it all in just two lines. And when I went to my piano lesson this afternoon I was braced for the appalling news that Finale had been delayed indefinitely, in which event I was going to find a non-piano piece of furniture to break up and set fire to, to relieve my feelings.¤¤
Oisin wasn’t even there. Ha! I thought. He’s afraid to face me. But I let myself in and settled down to listen to how much different (even chord by painstaking chord) my stuff sounds on his piano. I heard him come in–usually he comes in really quietly because my playing goes to pieces as soon as I know he’s listening¤¤¤–and I heard the door to the music room open but then silence, so I looked up: and there before my eyes from round the door danced a cardboard box labelled Finale. As soon as my screams of rapture registered Oisin followed it in.
We had spent most of last week’s lesson with me hanging over his shoulder while he ran his Finale through its paces, which I followed about one quarter of, and this week, bless his pointed little semi-quavers, he’d done me a Getting Started Cheat Sheet. ? And then he sent me away ?? and I went back to the mews and loaded the beggar on the laptop and . . . it loaded. This doesn’t happen with me a lot. Usually I have to wait for Computer Man. And then (thanks to the Cheat Sheet) I actually began writing Perfection in. (Ping! Ping! Ping! –It also plays the notes as you click them in.)
And then I had to stop and take hellhounds out again, and go to bell practise. ??? And now it’s too late to go back to it, but there’s always tomorrow . . . and it’s a good thing too because composing software is the only possible alternative that will assuage my feelings about not having Connie to ride. I rode her a second time this week on Wednesday! –Wednesday is a long time ago! And the show tomorrow is going to be hip deep. And no, I’m not going to go watch her and her Other Rider. I’m going to stay home with Ralph? or Benjamin?? or whoever and write music.
* * *
* If they hung onto some of that hair they shed all over the house they’d stay dry a lot longer. Indeed I suspect my hellhound-hair-felted carpets are proof against almost anything, rain, stampeding buffalo, meteorites, armoured tanks, what have you.
** Which is a remarkably ugly straight-sided pitcher of unknown origin. It was one of those things found in the back of a cupboard or an attic at the old house that I couldn’t quite bring myself to take to Oxfam because it’s so ugly I knew no one else would want it either.^ It did have the look of a thing that could be made useful in a garden. Voila. Sometimes I use it as a cachepot for things I’m mad at. Ha! You behave, or I’ll put you in the jug!^^
^ I believe it was put there in the first place by Peter’s first wife, for exactly the same reason. History does not record where she found it.
^^ Hee hee hee hee hee.
*** Except for the hellhounds. Poor kept-indoors hellhounds. If it weren’t for the getting wet aspect, which makes them cranky^, the half-an-hour-every-two-or-three-hours suits them better than the one long and one short walk a day standard, which suits me better. No attention span, hellhounds.
^ No, it makes them manic which makes me cranky. They intersperse the mania with stretches of dragging sullenly at the ends of their leads, staring at me accusingly. Am I the Hellgoddess or aren’t I? Make it stop.
† Although in truth I am not doing it. Peter is doing it. I asked him if he wouldn’t like to buy me a birthday/Christmas present that I would really, really, really like, and he came along like a lamb.
†† Hmm. Sounds interesting. I wonder what the alloy is and how well they’d wear? The gold lamé [sic] ones wore out much too fast.
††† Oisin says Beethoven could have really used composing software, his handwriting was seriously illegible.
‡ And to think, a year ago, I assumed a writer’s blog was just some kind of unpredictable book marketing tool.
‡‡ I’m not sure if you want to be identified Out Here In Public?
‡‡‡ Never mind the attic floor! Although out there naked and alone with the grocery bill and petrol and the vet bill the price looks pretty steep, in builder terms it would only cover six nails and a riser anyway.
§ Which is the Battle Hymn of the Republic shaken up with Columbia the Gem of the Ocean and a little America the Beautiful and The Star Spangled Banner^ and poured into a cocktail glass with shaved ice and a little paper parasol. After about the third bar it kicks like a mule. Speaking of alcoholic beverages with innocent miens, did I tell you that my neighbour admitted that my Pimms was spiked the other night? I guess if you go to an 18-year-old’s birthday party you had better expect everybody to behave like 18-year-olds.
^ I have never got over having a national anthem called spangled anything. It’s probably the real reason I emigrated.
§§ And after he stopped laughing, he would.
§§§ [Hey, aren't these cute in ital?] Which is to say, Peter
¤ I can feel it that this is something that needs a name. I am kind of a name freak, but this will be the first time I’ve named a piece of software.
¤¤ I’m sure Oisin could spare me an old chair or something.
¤¤¤ I’m so sane and well balanced.
Note. I have already wasted a lot of time re-inputting the symbols that bloody sodding WordPress keeps insisting on reverting to question marks. I am not going to struggle with it any more tonight, but tomorrow I’ll ask Blogmom if she has any suggestions.
? This isn’t really incompatible with his well-known sadism and fiendishness. I’ll be much more fun to watch if I get half started first.
?? Into the rain
??? And take hellhounds out again.
? Vaughan Williams
?? Britten. Probably not Benjamin, though, there’s an important character in ALBION named Ben.
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Well, it looks like the rain is heading here now… Just got an email saying that there are flood and tropical storm wind warnings in effect.
Sigh.
–Julia
HOORAY for the composing software!
How exciting!!!
:)
–Julia
:)
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I’m not much of a squealer, but I can imagine squealing at the arrival of this software. Your post made me happy. How can you possibly go to sleep tonight?
Judith
I have trouble sleeping MOST nights. . . .
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P.S.
Now my Literature and Gender/Fairy Tales and Women [technically, the class is called Twice Upon a Time: Contemporary Women Writers and Fairy Tales, but whatever] professor wants to borrow your books from me.
Thought I should let you know.
You never wrote a story titled ” Snow” , did you?
P.S.
Now my Literature and Gender/Fairy Tales and Women [technically, the class is called Twice Upon a Time: Contemporary Women Writers and Fairy Tales, but whatever] professor wants to borrow your books from me.
Thought I should let you know.
You never wrote a story titled ” Snow” , did you?
–Julia
Good for you AND your professor. :) Although if he/she is running a class named that he/she should already have heard of me.
I don’t remember writing a story called Snow, but I have a lousy memory. . . .
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No, she HAS heard of you. And said that she read a story called “Snow” that she thought was written by you…
” I’ve read “Snow” — that’s Robin McKinley, isn’t it? Basically, I had some reservations about it, but I thought it was clever and interesting. I haven’t read her “Beauty and the “beast” — if you have a copy, may I borrow it some time?” [from an email she sent me]
So I am going to lend her my copies of Rose Daughter, Beauty, Spindle’s End, perhaps Deerskin as well… then more if she wants them.
Maybe I’ll just buy more copies like I have for Blue Sword and Hero and the Crown [three of each, last count], and give some to her.
:)
–Julia
oooo Rain is good! We ended up having our highest August rainfall total in about 7 years this year. Yay! And now the sun is shining *gloriously* and the grass is growing and the lambs are growing and the hyacinths smell divine. :)
PS. Ever thought that it may end up cheaper and easier to just *forget the attic floor* and sell that house and buy another?! LOL
WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP.
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YES MA’AM!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oooh, composing software! Well, it was nice knowing you. ;)
(Can the composing software play your music and let *us* hear it, too? That would be neat.)
Today felt like a stormy day, very still and gloomy outside, but it never rained here. I think I’m a little jealous of your rain. Then again, I don’t have to walk dogs outside. I will trade you my sunless gloom for your rain. How about that?
Or even if the composing software doesn’t play the music, are you going to put it up for us any time soon? (I have a piano and I’m not afraid to use it…)
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The PLAN is to post both an audio file and the sheet music for anyone who wants to have a stab themselves. If you don’t injure yourself laughing, of course. :) But, as I am forced to keep saying, first I have to LEARN TO USE THE ———.
Oh how I love this blog. You exceed my personal capacity for parenthetical insertions, and that takes some doing. I usually don’t admit to my parenthetical meanderings so it’s just delightful to read someone who writes the way I think. It’s fun inside this head. Most days. Or parts of most days.
RAIN! The smell of wet dog is horrid, and I love them :( …and toilet breaks take forever – “we can’t possibly do anything out here, and we’re getting wet! Please get us a nice dry loo, since only mad dogs and englishwomen go out in the midday rain!!”
And happy composing! It sounds as if you have yet another time-consuming monster waiting in the wings, but what fun :)
Oh, well, I don’t actually mind the smell of wet dog . . . um . . . but toilet breaks, absolutely: they stand there all humped up, waiting for the rain to stop so they can concentrate on what they’re doing . . .
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I’ve just posted some foal photos on flickr to cheer myself up, and remember that sun does exist… http://www.flickr.com/photos/26303732@N02/sets/72157607134325675
At one bus stop today I got drowned over my head by a bus that didn’t stop – luckily I didn’t have a dog with me.
AWWWWWW. Such slender little fellows for critters that are going to grow up to be Ds. I met someone out handwalking his D stallion and I almost set the hellhounds on him so I could steal his horse. . . .
Oh but you SHOULD have had a dog with you, one trained to **bite holes in tyres.** I thought of that today when we were head-to-footed by a . . . wait for it . . . SUV. Chaos has a terrific dash and slash–he could probably even do MOVING tyres. Grrrrr. . . .
psssst…. Southdowner…. Get a Sheltie. They don’t *care* about the rain …. and it just slicks off. ;) (Well mine wears a towel when she comes back inside. I have been known to get the hairdryer out….!)
She’ll even *sit out* in the rain. Not that she doesn’t appreciate the higher end of living nowadays in her more “mature years”! LOL
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AND DO THEY EVER ****SHED.**** I’ve house sat for shelties.
AND DO THEY EVER ****SHED.****
Oh pffft. It’s easier to get off the clothes (esp. polar fleece) than short hair dog fur ….. ;) And it clumps together nicely. If I actually groomed her more it would be even better I’m sure. LOL
You come downstairs in the morning and it’s made DRIFTS overnight.
You come downstairs in the morning and it’s made DRIFTS overnight.
LOL But at least it is in easy to collect *drifts* and not heading spike first into the cushions and carpet ….. ;)
It’s true, I don’t get much spiking. But the *felting* . . .
****** psssst…. Southdowner…. Get a Sheltie
I do love shelties – my best friend had a sheltie when we were ten or eleven, and she was so faithful and sweet natured. I currently have a friend with 3 shelties and they too are gorgeous… definitely in my top ten dog breeds to own…
as is a deerhound (shaggy) lurcher, having just read Jackie Drakeford’s The House Lurcher – apparently they are trainable according to her… (notice this is NOT a BT cross) :)
I see your rain and raise it with a Hurricane (Hanna) or two (Ian) or three (Josephine). Possibly four (since an as yet unnamed tropical distubance is lurking across the ocean). Spent all Sunday putting up shutters on my house and on mom and dad’s house and lugging the damned orchids/potted plants into the house. And yes, when you have more than 200, some unmanageably sprawling and some damp and some ant and lizard infested, a little swearing is indicated!
Feel better yet? Probably not.
I know they say misery loves company but I find that rarely to be the case. Sensibly, most people would rather not be miserable in the first place.
TWO HUNDRED orchids to move?!?! Yeeep.
Being well acquainted with misery, my feeling is that misery doesn’t love company because she wants to know the world is still OUT THERE and she may be able to REJOIN it some day.
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forgive me if I sound grumpy. I just took the cross-country redeye back from Vegas. Had a great time hiking at Zion and Bryce Canyon Parks. But no sleep and having to sit still in small airplane seats for hours will invariably affect my normally (har de har) sunny mood!
There, there. Have a nice cup of hot chocolate. :)
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***There, there. Have a nice cup of hot chocolate. :)***
Ooo!!! Chocolate!!!! [Dejected expression brightens minimally]
Speaking of yummy things, I found a stash of jasmine tea for a reasonable price while I was in Vegas. Oooo! I love jasmine tea but it seems to be almost as expensive pound for pound as gold. I should have bought more while I was in China, but it’s pretty expensive there too. But so good!
I think I’ll go have a cup of hot chocolate. And then a cup of jasmine tea. I should be right as rain [snork!] by then! LOL!
I’d have it the other way around myself, but I agree with you about jasmine tea. :)
Don’t put away the umbrellas yet, I have a tropical storm to send you after getting the good out of it. And then another one next week.
At least we in the southern US get the winds out of the hurricanes before we ship them out.
Well that’s extremely thoughtful of you. Oh dear. I have been noticing all the wind storm activity. I’m thinking maybe we should just start a Candle Thread. Anyone needs a candle lit, post there. And as someone said after Gustav was merely a great big storm rather than a catasrophe, the other worry is that people will get bored cranking up for catastrophes, and then *won’t* the time they need to.
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Hurricanes and tropical storms are sentient. They wait for complacency before ramping up the category and thwapping the mainland U.S. good and hard. North Carolina got smacked with Floyd nine years ago and we haven’t let our guards down yet.
Ah, yes, wet dog. I have fond(?) memories of holding *my* umbrella over the dog in the pouring rain so that *he* would do his duty, on the assumption that the faster he could put his mind to business and finish it, the less wet I would be, the sooner. (Um. Too… many… double comparatives…!) Alas, I am dogless now, but soon to be not rainless, as Hanna is already beginning to reach her long, winding arms up the East Coast. Ike is the more worrisome (who in their right mind put the name of a hell-for-leather general and president on the hurricane list?).
Anyway, to business…
@Julia, your question perked my pointy librarianly ears. I can’t find a citation for a short story by Robin of that title. She *did* have a fairy tale short story called “Marsh-Magic” in Silver Birch, Blood Moon, which is part of the fantastic Snow White, Blood Red fairy tale anthology series edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling several years back. But as I detest non-answers, I did a bit more digging, and turned up a couple of stories by that title written by female authors on SurLaLune. (Note: If your professor does NOT yet know that site, it may be time to reconsider his/her tenure.) Take your pick: Tracy Lynn’s novel Snow, or Francesca Lia Block’s “Snow” in her The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold. …aaand now I’m going to stop myself before I go crazy with other modern fairy tale recommendations. …okay, one more. I like Shannon Hale’s Bayern series almost as much as I like Robin’s work. :) Start with Goose Girl. (Librarianship: It’s not just a job, it’s an obsession.)
Finale is very nice. What version do you have? I have Printmusic. You can even (gasp) get into different instruments than the piano. But pace yourself If you start writing a symphony we might never see you again.
Yes, well, see above, at the moment I can’t USE the wretched thing. But I’m afraid I have every intention of fooling around among the other instruments. :)
I don’t know which one I’ve got. The new one. :)
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Unfortunately, the voice setting only makes an “ah” sound. It doesn’t sing the words for you. You’ll have to do that. :) (Yes! Take voice lessons.)
Ooh, composing software! Another obsession! You need a few more. ;)
I’m highly impressed by the sheer number of footnotes for this entry. … Hmm. Have you ever thought about numbering them? (*flees*)
After yesterday’s experience it may come to that. But I like all the little symbols. :) One of the ones that WordPress ate last night was a darling little pair of musical notes. :)
Composing has been *such* a sidewinder. I’m HOPING this might be my LAST obsession. I feel I have a NICE RANGE.
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We got almost ten inches of Gustav rain here. At one point I walked out the door and was looking at a solid wall of water because it was overflowing the drainspouts and pouring directly off the roof. Lola went two days without a bowel movement, despite her slicker which gives her a modicum of tolerance for rain.
Tonight we (Lola and I) went to check out the water level at the wildlife refuge just up the highway, where much of the nature trail is boardwalk through swamp. I’d seen it at all levels from almost dry to a couple of feet below the boardwalk, but today it was exactly even with our feet. This was somewhat nerve-wracking for me, since an eight-foot alligator made an appearance in a residential neighborhood the other night (sadly that did not end well for the alligator). I’m pretty sure Lola would be just an alligator hors d’oeuvre, so we curtailed the boardwalk portion right quick.
Good gods. Well, I salute you: almost two inches was plenty for us yesterday. And–I’ll try to break it to you gently–Lola is NOT a dog. Dogs’ bowels are about three inches long. No way they can go two days without a crap. :)
Yes, alligators *scare* me. Most people don’t realise how fast they can run on those little short legs–and how easily *you* can be an hors d’oeuvre to a big one. (And tourists FEED them!!!!!)
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And–I’ll try to break it to you gently–Lola is NOT a dog.
No, she’s a very rare overgrown Cajun fruitbat who’s only too happy to forget her humble origins. She was a stray before coming to the shelter where I adopted her, so surely she must have had to get her feet wet once or twice. Now she won’t even walk through puddles after it’s stopped raining–she picks her way through the drier spots and walks on the curb.
LOL!!!! I like fruit bats! (Admittedly if it’s a critter I probably do like it)
Robin said: Yes, alligators *scare* me. Most people don’t realise how fast they can run on those little short legs–and how easily *you* can be an hors d’oeuvre to a big one. (And tourists FEED them!!!!!)
*** Yes, but tourists feed bears. Did you hear the news about the woman who wanted a cute picture of a bear licking her kid? She covered the poor child with honey…
Oh, the Idiocy.
(I think the result was a bear that had to be shot and manslaughter charges.)
Actually, belay that comment. I just Googled and apparently it’s one of those urban myths. I have seen people feeding potato crisps to a bear through a window though…
Well, there are plenty that aren’t urban myths. When I was meeting alligators there had been a recent news story about a kid who lost an arm.
****Dogs’ bowels are about three inches long. No way they can go two days without a crap. :)****
Oh yes they can, if they only like THEIR OWN BATHROOM and you have stuck them in a car for a cross-country move and all the bathrooms are FOREIGN. Many years ago my girl Daisy pulled this trick. I called her breeder for advice and she said “Glycerin suppositories.” I have to assume that Daisy heard her, because she produced on her own a couple of hours later. Waiting for a thunderstorm, though, so we could both get wet.
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! I <3 Finale!
And yes, the real version is so much better than the cheap share-ware stuff that you can get from anywhere. I hope it makes your composing easier… I know it did wonders for me when I had the cleff problem (even though the MIDI brass is not so good. =P). Maybe now we can see some comps soon? =)
I didn’t know you had a BLOG. But it makes me adore you even more.
Love, a huge fan
Eeep. :)
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Finale rocks!!! You’re going to have sooo much fun! At the moment, I’m watching Hanna’s rain fall while using it to work out an arrangement of the ?American? folksong My Dearest Dear/The Blackest Crow for mountain dulcimer (me) and mandolin (my husband). And to complete the bliss, I have my own version of a hellhound snoozing at my feet. Actually, I think rotties go a step further into hellishness since so few of them are properly trained. At any rate, I often have to reassure people we meet that she’s not The Monster Dog From Hell, but rather a nicely mannered registered therapy dog (we visit elderly shut-ins….although there are days…).
You may be getting frantic flags from me, then. Right at the moment I’m thinking Beethoven, illegible handwriting and all, had the right idea. ARRRRRRGH. Folk songs on dulcimer and mandolin sound like *bliss*. ONE OF THE THINGS I’m planning to do ONCE I FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE THE THING is heinously indulge myself with other instruments–I was really surprised when Oisin demonstrated how *good* the playback is. Things actually sound like themselves. (Hmm. I haven’t checked for dulcimer or mandolin.)
Hope Hanna doesn’t do any more than rain.
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*MY COMPOSING SOFTWARE ARRIVED TODAY.*
WOOO-HOOOO!!!! Hooray! :-)
*We had spent most of last week’s lesson with me hanging over his shoulder while he ran his Finale through its paces, which I followed about one quarter of, and this week, bless his pointed little semi-quavers, he’d done me a Getting Started Cheat Sheet. ? And then he sent me away ?? and I went back to the mews and loaded the beggar on the laptop and . . . it loaded. This doesn’t happen with me a lot. Usually I have to wait for Computer Man. And then (thanks to the Cheat Sheet) I actually began writing Perfection in. (Ping! Ping! Ping! –It also plays the notes as you click them in.)*
Even BIGGER WOOOOO-HOOOOOO! In bold 18 point letters! Good on Oisin for a cheat sheet! Yay! :-)
*‡‡ I’m not sure if you want to be identified Out Here In Public?*
I do not at all mind being identified as the Fanner of the Flames, as it were! :-)
Now, I’m very eagerly awaiting Battle Gem postings! Hooray technology!
(speaking of technology, I was ordered to GO THOU AND BLOG by my technophile friend…but, he neglected to tell me my username and password [he's also using WordPress for my blog, I can email you and wail about the agony of it all, yes?] and since he’s in Seattle, I can’t call him when I’m up and about, but have to wait until nearly my bedtime…)
Have fun composing, and send along stuff as you go! Eager with anticipation!
Smiles,
Jeanne Marie, Flame Fanner Extraordinare (trying saying THAT five times…)
NOW ALL I HAVE TO DO IS LEARN TO USE THE *&^%$£”!!!!!!!! It doesn’t help that some of the so called HELP is WRONG. To insert a ‘natural’, press cntrl-shift-N: whereupon you get the opening screen. repeatedly. Or why, when I set up a new piece, and fill my name in as composer, leaving ‘arranger’ blank, on the score I am identified as ‘arranger’. And then . . .
And then I’m ringing Oisin early Monday morning. :)
I can email you and wail about the agony of it all, yes?]
******* And I will snicker nastily. :) Blogmom is FOUR THOUSAND MILES from me.
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Harharhar…
So I read that as COMPOSTING software, and thought , “What the heck?” Though who doesn’t have trouble remembering ratios of green stuff to brown…
Composing sound like much more fun, and I second the idea of posting a clip of your software demo-ing one of your songs.
I will if I ever get that far . . . sigh . . .
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Thank you Lusty Librarian! I, too, read it as Composting and had to keep reminding myself of that as I read through the post.
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You people are all SICK. :)
As far as the issues you’ve had with footnotes, have you considered using numbers instead of symbols? Although that might make the nested footnotes difficult. Maybe you can use numbers in the main post and symbols for the footnotes of the footnotes?
(Here’s the obligatory fangirl squeeing: I’ve loved your books since I picked up “The Hero and the Crown” in high school and when I discovered that you also BLOG and sound like a REAL HUMAN BEING instead of a famous writer talking down to her fans, I adore your books [and you!] EVEN MORE. I’ll quit before I start sounding like a stalker and/or wear out my caps lock key.)
-Shiloh C.
http://snarky-writer.blogspot.com
I had to go back and re-read the first part of your post three times because–and I am not making this up–I kept reading that you were getting COMPOSTing software.
Which would be kind of cool, don’t you think?
Also–thank you for always doing weather posts. You are almost 1 week ahead of us here in the Snoqualmie River Valley and more accurate than our local weatherman.
more accurate than our local weatherman.
********** LOL! Although that usually doesn’t take a lot . . .
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I am a long time (since ’96 or so) Finale user, so please feel free to bother me if Oisin isn’t available. And you already have my email, so it works out very well indeed! Finale is difficult, so cut yourself lots of slack on that learning curve. That said, if you can imagine it, Finale can notate it.
I am a long time (since ‘96 or so) Finale user, so please feel free to bother me if Oisin isn’t available.
******** Thank you thank you thank you!!
Finale is difficult, so cut yourself lots of slack on that learning curve
********* THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. One of the worst things is just feeling stupid. Because I KNOW I’m not good at computer things. And I DID think about this, but . . . I wanted composing software. And Finale for reasons given was the obvious choice. I’ll LEARN. I have STUFF TO SAY. Well, noises to make. :)
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I worship Jackie Drakeford but I don’t necessarily consider her . . . *reliable.* :)
Well, I have to forgive her for “trashing” bullies but a lot of what she says does ring true, and she has a much more positive approach to training than many “working dog/lurcher” trainers…
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Yes, who’s the very famous one who starts off by saying that sighthounds are all stupid and the ONLY thing to do is to breed some brains into them with (preferably) collies? Excuuuuuuse me. I know I make jokes about my hellhounds’ untrainability, but it’s JOKES. I feel guilty sometimes watching them playing at being working dogs–they have several of the natural behaviours of dogs that would be good ones–because they’ll never have the chance–granted they have a nice life as my companions, but they’ll never be ‘pot fillers’. And I think it was Drakeford’s ‘House Lurcher’ that made me heave a GREAT sigh of relief after fifteen years of whippets. :) And her riff on the uselessness of training sighthounds with food treats!!!!! YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!! I’d worked a lot of it out for myself but on the assumption that most of it was because I Had Done It Wrong In the First Place. Self confidence? What would that be? :)
****** saying that sighthounds are all stupid and the ONLY thing to do is to breed some brains into them with (preferably) collies?
sighthounds are bred to be very effective at what they do – NOT therefore stupid, and often make far better pets than collies, who are IMHO rather OCD than brainy… just don’t get me started lol
A specialist who confirms your hard won experience is a great boost to self esteem :)