Movies I enjoyed the most in 2009
Silence of the Lambs - I think it deserved all the awards it received.
The Empire Strikes Back - I don't think I understood how cool this movie is when I was a kid. Re-watching it was a blast!
Ip Man - Sort of obscure, but worth the search. Very good action and cinematography.
Up - I like Kevin the bird a lot.
Zombieland - Entertaining, ridiculous and--most importantly--doesn't take itself seriously.
Musicians I discovered (or re-discovered) in 2009 that I really like
Robert Glasper (Canvas and In My Element)
Bill Evans (Sunday at the Village Vanguard)
Hiromi Uehara (Beyond Standard)
m-flo ("Summer Time Love," "Miss You," "Come Again" and "Love Bug.")
Auto-Tune the News (My rankings from best to worse: 5, 6, 2, 3, 9, 8, 1, 7, 4)
SNSD ("Gee")
Lessons I learned this past year
Play the game - I learned this from a class about combinatorial game theory. When in doubt, just follow through and things may work out.
Expected Value - I learned this from a probability class. Any given situation or condition has an expected value (if you assign values to all possible outcomes haha).
Discipline - is a boredom killer.
You are who you hate - Which is why it is not good to hate.
The burdens of certainty - If you claim something is fact, be prepared to defend your claims.
Flexibility - is, in many respects, more important than intelligence.
Cooking in bulk - What becomes monotonous happens to cost-effective.
Speed - is the result of slow drills
Convincing people of your beliefs - is a matter of asking questions and clearing up misunderstandings. This may also change your own beliefs as well.
Notable Events in 2009
A Funeral - The memorial service for my great grandmother's passing was a celebration of a life filled with hard work and penniless prosperity. Her death also prompted me to consider my current and future priorities. I am pleased to have had such a wonderful ancestor who still had/has a few posthumous lessons for me to learn.
Picking up Piano - I stopped playing piano in high school. I'm pleased to say I'm trying to play it again.
Beer - 5am after my first pleasant experience with beer, my apartment evacuated because of a fire in the garage. The loud noises and grumpy demeanor of the stranded inhabitants of the building shook me up.
Bernstein's Mass - A fascinating piece and a wonderful epilogue to my days in youth symphony.
First Legal Shots - I took my first legal shots almost two months after I turned 21. They were generally consequence-less, though I did turn as red as a bull.
ECYS Reunion - A very recent, very successful get together.
Fishing - I'm the fishing ace!
A Birth - My grandma was really scared because my new cousin was in gestation under superstitiously poor circumstances. Everyone was pleased to find that he had a complication free birth! He just enjoyed his first Christmas.
Things I did a lot this past year
Practice - I really like Conrad Prebys: A man who loves both music and polar bears.
Music lessons - These were pretty brutal.
Listen to music - Especially after being reprimanded by my teacher for not "feeling the dance of music."
Smash - The year began with brawl, but I mostly play melee now. I had a wonderful sample of brawl minus a few days ago and that was phenomenal.
Go to Punjabi Tandoor, Dave's Cafe, Carl's Jr and Souplantation - Darrell and I started calling Punjabi Tandoor "Puntan" (POOHN-tan).
Not go to class - I always felt guilty after piano lessons, so I ended up practicing for the next couple hours.
Sleep in class - And it was REALLY bad sleep most of the time. I miss the high school days where I could just put my head on the table and have sweet dreams.
Things that blew my mind this year
Alexander Technique - Every lesson is incredible because of what I learn as well as the competence of the specialist. Look it up!
Finding out what jazz is about... sort of - This happened after I couldn't seem to satisfy a fussy substitute teacher with my bass playing.
Music - Though this generally happens multiple times every year. Particularly notable was Anthony Davis's jazz composition class and its students and learning 7/8 time via Robert Glasper.
New Years Resolutions
Instant email response - I should respond to emails automatically because it is considerate. However, I should not expect this from others because I would be disappointed.
Exercise - Hah! How stereotypical. I really should start though.
Cook more - for myself, and other people.
Practice more efficiently - I need to set goals and deadlines.
Read a book - I have a few that I have been meaning to read.
Curtail internet use - There are a lot of things that should take priority.
Be a better person - As always.
Happy New Year,
-Matthew
