I have changed my address. New blog up and running. Change your linx now, plz.

Recommended listening:

Shostakovich; Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102
Rachmoninov; Piano Concertos, No. 2 and 3
Debussy; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Mahler; Symphonies 2 and 5

Great music.

Reconciliation is a truly wonderful thing.

"I would rather write 10,000 notes than one word of the alphabet." --Ludwig van Beethoven

From The US Copyright Office:
"Is it legal to download works from peer-to-peer networks and if not, what is the penalty for doing so?
Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner's exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150, 000 for each work infringed. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney's fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights.
Whether or not a particular work is being made available under the authority of the copyright owner is a question of fact. But since any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (including a computer file) is protected by federal copyright law upon creation, in the absence of clear information to the contrary, most works may be assumed to be protected by federal copyright law.
Since the files distributed over peer-to-peer networks are primarily copyrighted works, there is a risk of liability for downloading material from these networks. To avoid these risks, there are currently many "authorized" services on the Internet that allow consumers to purchase copyrighted works online, whether music, ebooks, or motion pictures. By purchasing works through authorized services, consumers can avoid the risks of infringement liability and can limit their exposure to other potential risks, e.g., viruses, unexpected material, or spyware." [emphasis added]

A lot of people say 'It doesn't hurt the artist, you know. That is just dumb.'. Well, it doesn't matter whether it does or it doesn't, or whether you think it is dumb or not. The point is, downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal, criminal and therefore, wrong.

*goes to destroy burned CDs in shame*

This morning, my mother and I went into Tacoma to the Dep. of Licensing HQ to attempt to obtain my drivers license. After the usual wait, I was able to take my written test. I scored 100%, 20 out of 20, for that. So when I went back to schedule a drive, the guy said, "Look, we don't get many perfect scores. So we can hook you up right now." (paraphrased, of course) They scheduled me for my drive right then, which they bent the rules to do, as I understand. I went for it and got 94%. My first mistake was parking too far away from the curb in parallel parking. I had started too far away from the markers, but it wasn't a big deal. My second mistake was not slowing enough and looking through the first two un-controlled intersections. However, I did slow and look better for the last ones, so he didn't ding my as much as he could have.
So, my drivers license is in the mail. Or will be. Anyway. It was good.

Thank God.

Norman Rockwell was a genius.

Do a search on Google Images-- this guy was a true American genius ranking with Ted Geisel, Abbott and Costello, and Charlie MacCarthy.

Oh, I've also come to the conclusion that Bill Whelan, the composer for Riverdance the Show, is also a musical genius. At the very least, he writes astounding music.