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Day Ninety Eight (Year Three)

Taught today.  Started working on Christmas carols with one of my students.  They have been asked (by my lovely wife) to perform for the annual youth Christmas Play, which happens this year on the 12th of December.  We're going to be learning two songs, I believe, "Jingle Bells," and "Go Tell It On The Mountain."  We're starting with "Jingle Bells."  The notes are all perfectly in her wheelhouse.  It's all things we've covered before.  And yet, there was trouble focusing today.  It happens, I know, but I know she's quick enough to pick this up faster than she seemed to today.  And I still can't get her to use more than a couple of fingers to find notes.

Anyway, enough of that for now.  I got home tonight to find that S. had added a few music books to my shelf of rock & roll awesomeness.  Two books on R.E.M., and Juliana Hatfield's biography now have a spot on that shelf, and I've got to say... I want to read them all right now.  The R.E.M. books I'll get to eventually, but the Hatfiled bio is the one that has me the most curious at present.  Somehow this surprises me.  I'll get there.  I'm reading, or trying to read, too much right now to start new stuff anyway.

Made it all the way through the new Marcy Playground record today.  Really impressed with the whole thing.  It's 19 tracks in total, and even with 3 covers, there's still enough fresh music there to make the whole thing a compelling listen.  Usually anything over 12 and an artist can start to lose focus.

There's that word again, focus.  I think I'm going to go try and dial in my own.  See if I can't get some work done on either the Grohl Challenge or the 30 hour workout. 

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