Eureka!!!

 I knew it could be done but it took my brilliant Wonder Spouse to figure out how.  I am now able to write this blog from my phone which means I will be able to continue my daily blogs during our up coming trip or at least all those days of the trip which are in the US.  We will be at sea for several days and in the mysterious Orient for part of the time so I can't guarantee anything, but please keep checking in. 

Yo Yo packing....

 I am not literally packing yo-yos but there has been a lot of up and down and in and out going on in my packing process this week.  My wonder spouse and I are leaving on a month long trip beginning this Friday, and that involves a lot of clothes. 

Now I am no novice to packing for trips. I have been doing it almost all my life.  When I graduated from high school my parents gifted me with a set of Samsonite luggage (olive green which will give you an idea of the era we're talking about).  I packed up everything I owned and headed off for college. 

However, packing for this upcoming trip has been presenting some challenges.  We will be cruising to some places where the average daily temperature is above 80 degrees so summer clothes, right?  But we will also be visiting some places where the average daily high is about 55 degrees. So do I take winter weight outer wear or lighter weight multiple layers?  I've decided to go with the multiple layers which means lots of separate pieces to be rolled and fitted into my big suitcase and a fair amount of in and out while I decide what goes with what.  My wonder spouse, whose biggest decision is wearing a short sleeved or long sleeved shirt, has trouble understanding my plight.

Add to that the fact that I decided to pack my suitcase on the first floor so my spouse wouldn't have to carry it downstairs (ever thoughtful, that's me).  Instead I am carrying armloads of clothes down stairs and, inevitably, some back upstairs.  Lucky for me my packing area is the first floor guest bedroom with a nice big closet where I can hang my clothes while I contemplate my choices.  My biggest fear is that after ten or 15 days at sea I'll end up wearing my bathing suit with boots or something else equally rediculous.  

Ah well, at least the food will be delicious.  

cousins

 My granddaughter and I have had quite a text discussion about cousins yesterday and today.  It all started when I accidentally said that my great grandson was her nephew.  I realized that was wrong when I remembered that she and little MJ's father are cousins not siblings. So I corrrected myself by saying that they are second cousins. 

This is where it gets murky. She responded by saying that technically he is her "first cousin once removed."  she went on to explain that being removed comes from a generation gap.  Since MJ is the son of her first cousin he is her first cousin once removed.  His children (little MJ's that is) will be her first cousins twice removed. 

"So where do second cousins come into the picture?" I asked. "Second cousins are the children of your parents first cousins."  So since MJ's father and she are first cousins, any children she has will be MJ's second cousins.

I think I get it now and I realize that cousins I always thought were second cousins were actually first cousins once removed, the children of my 17 first cousins.  At this time I only know of one first cousin twice removed.  She is the great granddaughter of one of my first cousins and a little cutie.  Maybe she and MJ will play together someday.  I will have to ask my granddaughter what kind of cousins the two little ones are.  When do cousins become kissing cousins?  I'll let you figure that one out.  

More about Beethoven....

  With a little more reading after last night's blog I discovered two more interesting facts related to Beethoven's Symphony 9 in D minor.  First, and this is the part most of you already know, Beethoven was deaf when he composed this, his final and most ambitious symphony. He completed it in 1824 but never heard it performed.

Second, I was surprised to learn that "Ode to Joy" incorporated into the finale of this work was actually composed by Friedrich Schiller.  Those of you who are much more knowledgeable about classic music have probably know this all along.  I decided I needed to find out something about Fredrick Schiller.

Here's what I found. Isn't Wikipedia wonderful?

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ], short: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃɪlɐ] 10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered to be one of Germany's most important classical playwrights.

He was born in Marbach to a devoutly Protestant family. Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. His first play, The Robbers, was written at this time and proved very successful. After a brief stint as a regimental doctor, he left Stuttgart and eventually wound up in Weimar. In 1789, he became professor of History and Philosophy at the University of Jena, where he wrote historical works.

During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. Together, they founded the Weimar Theater.

They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.

The above was interesting, but didn't answer my question about who actually wrote "Ode to Joy."  I dug a little deeper and found the straightforward simple answer.  Schiller, a poet, playwright and historian, wrote the poem "Ode to Joy" in 1785.  Beethoven set it to music in his 9th Symphony.  So there you have it.  The music is all Beethoven's.

Joyful, Joyful

 This evening was the final concert of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic for this season and it was a smashing success.  All Beethoven, all beautiful, played to a full house.

The evening began with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73. "Emperor."  It was lyrical, lovely and beautfully performed. The solo pianist, Jon Kimura Parker, was excellent.

After the intermission we heard Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, "Choral" performed by the full orchestra and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus.  The Chorus is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and they did not disappoint.

I will continue this blog tomorrow after I have time to do a little research into Symphony No. 9. Meanwhile "Ode to Joy" will be running through my dreams tonight.  

please pass the chocolate

 I am not a chocoholic.  I mean I am not actually addicted to chocolate.  However, if someone offers me a piece of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, I can't remember ever saying no.  Chocolate is, after all, one of the basic food groups on its own, and it is a vegetable (it's made from a bean).  

When my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Chocolate Chip Day" I cheered, and then I realized that we didn't have a single chocolate chip in the whole house.  I really didn't search the whole house, just the pantry, but I'm pretty sure my presumption was correct.  

Sadly I didn't have time to go to the grocery store, and I'm pretty sure, if I asked my wonder spouse to go to the store, just to buy chocolate chips, he might have jumped to the conclusion that I planned to bake chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't have time to bake cookies either.  And yes, I can bake cookies, even though all my friends and family know that my spouse does most of the cooking.  

So I did what any chocolate loving person would do.  I raided a bag of candy left over from Halloween (yes, I know it's May but it was a big bag of candy) and ate a Tootsie Roll.  It's kind of like a whole bunch of chocolate chips rolled into a log.  Kind of.

Hummm, maybe it's not too late for a bed time snack.

It's not working.

 When is a blog not a blog?  The answer, when technology refuses to cooperate.  For the last hour my wonder spouse and I have been trying to write today's blog on my tablet, to see if I would be able to take the tablet with me and use it to blog on our upcoming trip.  I don't want to take my laptop.  Packing enough clothes for a month is challenge enough.

The tablet worked on our last trip but it's not cooperating today.  I have decided to go low tech instead, so I am taking a different kind of tablet.

In addition to the roses, the necklace, the picture and the lovely note, the mother of the boy I tutored gave me this tablet.  It measures 9"x7.5" and is half an inch thick, all made of paper with lovely lined pages.  I had already decided to take it along to make quick notes when I want to remember something to blog about later.  Now I think that 'later' may com after we get home from our trip.  Actually that will be fine.  I will have plenty of pictures and experiences to share and time to do a good job of writing about them when I get home. 

So, if in a few days you stop seeing my nightly blogs you'll know that we are off adventuring again.

PS If you're thinking "Why doesn't she blog on her phone?"  It's because I haven't tried that yet.  Maybe???