An epiphany

Wow. After not having practiced on my poor dear harp since mid-July (only a month, is that all it's been?), I finally dragged it out of its case and tortured it for a while. And I actually HAD FUN!

Amazingly enough, it had gone sharp over most of its register. Up till now, it's been pretty consistent most of the time about going flat. But these harps are quite sensitive to the weather, and we've had some pretty odd weather lately.

Did my finger exercises, then I rebelled. My harp teacher, the first couple lessons, had assigned me two easy pieces, a Breton dance and "Brian Boru's March." The Breton dance, I have no recording of; Brian Boru I have several, so I can listen to it and hear roughly how it should sound. But neither of them has grabbed my interest. I have a habit of jumping in over my head in anything I do, and trying things that are way too advanced for me. So I've been very good, with my harp, about not trying to walk until I could run.

Until now, that is. I finally took out the sheet music for "Carolan's Farewell to Music." The legend is that it is the last piece Turlough O'Carolan composed before he died, and one legend even has it that he played it *on his deathbed*. Well, I'll believe that when someone shows me the evidence.

Another thing I've read is that Carolan's pieces are among the most sympathetic for the harp, written so that they can be played without head-scratching, swearing, kicking the cat in frustration, etc. That, I can agree with. Although it was tentative, not without problems, and nowhere near as attractive a sound as it could be, I did manage to get about the last half of the melody produced in a manner that could be recognized as "Farewell to Music." And what a great feeling!

Even better, I'm excited about practicing again. I want to go see how much my fingers remember... In the other two pieces I've been working on, my teacher and I have been noting down fingerings, and this one I left completely blank. We'll see what happens when I pick up the harp in a few minutes.

In other news, I put the first chapter of my NaNoNonsense up for review at Critiquecircle.com. Ulp! Posting it at Fictionpress.com is one thing, reviews are rarely anything but fluffy over there. But at CC, this is a community dedicated to writing. What have I done? It won't come up for review until 14th September, so I've got a long wait ahead of me. And I've already started planning *this* year's NaNoNonsense, in spite of at least 3 meetings that month, plus moving back to France.

Currently reading: "The Torment of Others," Val McDermid. Can't find anything else in the house to read, so I'm hitting this one again even though I've read it once and it's a memorable book.
Currently hearing: Carolan's Concerto, played by the late Derek Bell. Wow.
Current cat activity: I'm not telling this time. Take a wild guess...
Current NaNo word count: still stuck at 27161 typed. Haven't picked up my pen in an age.