My mom has to be the unhelpfullest piano teacher ever.

"How do I know where I want my hands to be?"
"Once you read music, you know."
"How do I read music?"
"You just get to know it."
"How?"
*makes vague gestures with her hands* "You just... do."

Thanks. I really, really am frustrated, though. It's like, how am I supposed to know what note that corresponds to? And even if I did, it's not that much use, as I really don't know what note each key corresponds to.

And here's a meme from Phoe from Elsewhere: "3 things"


THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. My real name, which I'm not telling you, stalker!
2. Monkeypox (don't ask)
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd (my dad, who came up with this gem, is very strange)

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. Phoemeister
2. SpankingGnome
3. DontBrash

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. freakishly good at memorizing useless facts
2. quite good Darth Vader impression
3. my loveable wackiness

THREE THINGS YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. Colitis
2. absentmindedness
3. the fact that I'm unable to control the volume of my voice

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. German
2. German
3. Other random white people, quite possibly more germans.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. serial killers
2. killer bees
3. serial killer bees

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. hoodie
2. sugar (various forms)
3. headphones

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. hoodie
2. flannel
3. jeans

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR ARTISTS AT THE MOMENT:
1. Ben Folds
2. Idlewild
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
1. Time of the Season -- Zombies
2. Can't Take My Eyes Off You -- Frankie Valli
3. You Really Got Me -- The Kinks

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
1. learn to play the piano!
2. learn the avid
3. poooossibly write a screenplay. I dunno.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (love is a given):
1. umm.... an actual relationship.
2.
3.

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
1. Monkeys are cool
2. I am naked right now
3. The goalie for the 1976, 77, 78, and 79 Stanley Cup winning hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, was a guy named Ken Dryden.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Physical things? I'm bad at that. I usually more take a guy's looks in as kind of a gestalt, unless they have one horrible thing that stands out. Face, I guess. I go for pretty boys more than iron men.
2.
3.

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1. tap dance
2. break dance
3. do anything that requires coordination

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. blogging
2. listening to music
3. over analyzing movies

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. not be cold
2. have a real job already
3. move to ohio and steal cadillacs for a living

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1. TV photographer
2. Corporate video (though usually you get into that THROUGH #1)
3. ROCK STAR once I master the piano.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. France
2. Japan
3. England again

THREE KID'S NAMES
1. Runkisse (means wanking gnome)
2. Shoehorn (it would be unique and memorable!)
3. Carl

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. find that special someone
2. learn piano!
3. be on Jeopardy! (possibly seduce Alex Trebek and take care of #1 in the process)

And.... another meme, cause I'm bored: 2004

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Learn to play the piano!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make any. Does anyone really make any? That they intend to keep? No. So why pretend like it?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Why yes. My nephew was born this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
more friends, a real job, and a helper monkey

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why (optional)
I'm bad with dates. But I guess either when my nephew was born, which was awesome, or when I got my gallbladder out, which was as traumatic of an event as I've ever had happen to me.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating, landing an internship

9. What was your biggest failure?
A failure to communicate?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Every day.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I don't buy much but books and CD's. And I always forget what year I bought what. So... yeah.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
No one.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one was extraordinarily depressing this year.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Books and CD's.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
New star trek movies. But I guess there will never be one. And the first star wars prequel before I realized it was awful. And the second matrix, before I realized it wasn't that great. And CD's by people I love.

16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Hey Ya. Only actually that song's from 2003, probably. So I don't know.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder. Maybe. I don't know. I'm very moody. And going through a sad spell right now.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner, bay-bee
iii. richer or poorer? richer, if you count grad gifts

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
anything

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
sat around doing nothing and filling out stuff like this

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With the fam.

21. Did you fall in love in 2004?
No

22. How many one-night stands?
Negative forty three.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
I'm having trouble decided between Scrubs and Joan of Arcadia. They're both so well written, everything ties in...

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Probably. But not enough that I can really recall anyone off the top of my head.

25. What was the best book you read?
The assasin's trilogy by Robin Hobb was pretty good. And I think I read it this year.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I dunno. Kind of blurry. I really liked about two Modest Mouse songs, but the rest of the album is crap. Same for nearly every album I've bought lately.

27. What did you want and get?
To graduate and never ever have to write a paper again

28. What did you want and not get?
a real job, love

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Napoleon Dynamite

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you (optional)?
Had dinner....somewhere. Not really remembering. 23. I think. Isn't it sad that I forget my age sometimes? 2004 - 1982 = 22. Okay. I'm goooing to be 23 in february.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
No colitis

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
the same as ever: "yay, cheap and comfortable and doesn't make the ol' ass look too gigantic"

33. What kept you sane?
Not being predisposed to insaness.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Bob Costas! Ow ow!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
....I hate to be a monkey parroting everyone else (ha, I mixed metaphors) but Iraq

36. Who did you miss?
everyone

37. Who was the best new person you met?
well, he or she wasn't that great, because I can't remember anyone off the top of my head

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
Old Navy doesn't like people photographing their shop.