What made me happy today?

Different types of music use different note names for intervals?
Yeah, you're not "allowed" to use the same letter twice in the expression of scale degrees. So in the key of C#, the letter C is already taken, so you have to call the 7th degree B#, though it's the same pitch as C. And in the same key, you would call the 3rd degree E# (not F) because the F is taken for the F#.

C# D# E# F# G# A# B# is "correct."

C# D# F F# G# A# C would get you drawn and quartered back in the day.

If you do it the wrong way, the notes on the staff get cluttered with a bunch of accidentals, instead of referring nice and cleanly to the key signature. That's really more of a classical music thing, like I said, where everything had to be neat and orderly. Jazz is more like, whoa, far out, man! Let's change keys seven times in this one measure!

please post a video of the song.
Don't tell my teacher. I'm supposed to learn the song first.

 
The only news in my music world is my husband started to tune my mountain dulcimer without realizing it is a baritone. Snap went the string. Off I go to order more strings. Except for being a pretty dang decent flat picking guitarist, he's a brass guy, so can be forgiven his trespasses against my poor dulcimer.
 
The only news in my music world is my husband started to tune my mountain dulcimer without realizing it is a baritone. Snap went the string. Off I go to order more strings. Except for being a pretty dang decent flat picking guitarist, he's a brass guy, so can be forgiven his trespasses against my poor dulcimer.
Oooh! Dulcimers are cool. Is it one with the diatonic fretting, tuned to open mixolydian?
 
Oooh! Dulcimers are cool. Is it one with the diatonic fretting, tuned to open mixolydian?

Oh, good lord, I dunno. I'm just a simple girl who is learning to press down on the strings to make sounds. Baritone is tuned to AEA and my husband was following the instructions to tune a regular dulcimer to DAD. Snap.
 
Today, tasked with getting pizza, I saw a gentleman gesticulating with fervor. I almost didn't see him. I was musing about trigonometry as one does in idle moments. A quick change to the nearest classical station found Mussorgsky in demonic flight. That must have been his inspiration. He must have been "air directing" Night on Bald Mountain from a portable radio.

Making my way back from the pizza joint, I saw he had difficulty surmounting a curb, now walking much like the pest control guy in that Men In Black movie after the cosmic cockroaches ate him.

As I was evaluating the wisdom of rendering aid a police car pulled up beside him, lights in full festive flare. I was happy to let professionals take care of him, and I mean that. Our police are friendly. They will treat him with respect, guaranteed, and will get him any help he will accept.

But that isn't what made me happy, nor was confirmation of something I always told my kids. Sobriety ain't half bad when you consider the alternatives.

It's not even today I'm happy for, it's tomorrow. On that day 40 years ago I learned angels are real. One of them let me marry her.

First thing in the morning we're off to a Texas Rangers game. We're still just kids, and that really makes me happy.

Y'all have a great day. Mine appears to be in good shape.
 
In Rome with my wife rn. Having a lot of fun and am getting fatter by the minute!

Rome is amazing, a living museum. My wife researched thoroughly before we went for my 50th and I'm convinced she could have driven a taxi in the city without ever getting lost. So many things to see, too many to list. The Forum, Colliseum, Pantheon, Castel Sant Angelo, Vatican and the Pieta, Caravaggios hanging around unfeted chapels. If we'd had a camera on us while there, it would have looked like it was playing fast forward for three days. Definitely need to return and play it all again at normal speed.
 
Rome is amazing, a living museum. My wife researched thoroughly before we went for my 50th and I'm convinced she could have driven a taxi in the city without ever getting lost. So many things to see, too many to list. The Forum, Colliseum, Pantheon, Castel Sant Angelo, Vatican and the Pieta, Caravaggios hanging around unfeted chapels. If we'd had a camera on us while there, it would have looked like it was playing fast forward for three days. Definitely need to return and play it all again at normal speed.

The Pope is delivering mass at the Vatican tomorrow. We'll be there!! :)
 
Best Pope joke I've heard in a while:

Colin was bragging to his boss one day, "You know, I know everyone there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them."

Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, "OK, Colin, how about Tom Cruise?"

Colin replied "Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it."

So Colin and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door and Tom Cruise shouts, "Colin! What's happening? Great to see you! Come on in for a beer!”

Although impressed, Colin's boss is still skeptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he tells Colin that he thinks that knowing Cruise was just lucky.

"No, no, just name anyone else," Colin says.

"OK. President Clinton," his boss retorts.

"Yup," Colin says, "Old buddies, let's fly out to Washington."

At the White House, Clinton spots Colin on the tour, motions him and his boss over, saying, "Colin, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a cup of coffee first and catch up."

The boss is shaken, but still not totally convinced. Colin implores him to name anyone else.

"The Pope," his boss replies.

"Sure!" says Colin. "My folks are from Poland, and I've known the Pope a long time."

So off they fly to Rome.

Colin and his boss are assembled with the masses in St Peter's Square when Colin says,

"This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope."

And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican. Sure enough, half an hour later Colin emerges with the Pope on the balcony.

But by the time Colin returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is lying on the ground surrounded by paramedics. Working his way to his boss' side, Colin asks, "What happened?"

His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said: Who the hell's that on the balcony with Colin?
 
In my early twenties I had a tour guiding summer job and Rome was one of the stops, didn't go to Italy ever since. I had to learn the night before what to say to the group the next day in the bus, overall a fun experience.
 
In Rome with my wife rn. Having a lot of fun and am getting fatter by the minute!

I was in Italy for the first time two years ago. Beautiful place. I spent two weeks in Rome, a week in Florence, a weekend in Venice and back to Rome for a week. (I've read Roman history for years, but wasn't totally aware of Italy's story after the Roman Empire "fell". So, naturally, I wanted to see as much as I could in Rome).

When in Rome, don't miss the Villa Borghese (i.e. the gardens belonging to the old Borghese family, before they gifted them to the nation). They are full of wonderful things to see, especially the world-famous Galleria Borghese, but just walking around the gardens is a wonderful break - especially if it's hot. The gardens are cool in summer, and feature wildlife (ducks and turtles sunning themselves!), sculptures, a film museum and much more. You won't be bored. :)

So many things to see, too many to list. The Forum, Colliseum, Pantheon, Castel Sant Angelo, Vatican and the Pieta, Caravaggios hanging around unfeted chapels.

I saw all these in Rome, and much more in Florence (the Duomo, or Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was right outside my hotel room). If you go to Florence, don't miss the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Gallery (home to Michelangelo's David)! :) Also, Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria are amazing.

Venice was a wash-out (sorry) but I still got to see a few things. The Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square), the old palace of the Doge, the Trastevere, and just chillin' on the Adriatic and having ice-cream in the sun. :)
 
I'm happy that we've finally rolled over to the 2025-26 Financial Year. Now I can relax. ☺️

(In other words: "How to tell you that I work in accounting without telling you that I work in accounting") =P
 
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A couple things have pleased me very much today. One of them was regarding the expensive prescription cat food that some jackass stole from me last week. The store sent me a replacement box free of charge. The same bad courier was used, but this time they actually buzzed me and put the box in our building's secure delivery lockers. I'm grateful for that, but I have to wonder; why didn't they just do that last time? 🫠
 
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