catnap
As his wife and kids explore the plaza, a man dozes on a ledge with his feet in an empty stroller.
chatter
The kids, small and roughly the same age, form a messy row at the restaurant counter. They remind me of teacups, piping, clattering, releasing whirls of steam.
deliberation
The hamburger is a salt lick, but the conversation is good. Half-eaten food and intense discussion.
headlights
Lights dance on the ceiling in dots and rhombuses.
quelling
"Can we go on the rides?" the child asks. "This is a museum," her mother replies. "There are no rides."
summoned
In the park, music from a hoarse violin. A bird makes tentative hops towards the violinist.
transporter
Celebrating the conclusion of a stressful obligation with a personal pizza and episodes of a show set in outer space, many light years from here.
Showing posts with label violins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violins. Show all posts
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Week in Seven Words #434
addressing
It's a sleek open space where the light fixtures look like upside-down salad bowls. Three speakers eventually settle on stools facing the rows of seats. As the sky darkens, they discuss ways to make AI more ethical. From protecting data to detecting biases in programming, there's much to discuss, and there aren't simple answers.
Chasmosaurus
In 15 minutes, I learn more about horned dinosaurs than I ever learned in my life.
heaps
In the lower level of the supermarket, smoke is pouring out of a freezer. A little later, as I wait on line, we're asked to evacuate. Everyone leaves their cart or basket behind, and it makes an eerie picture: piles of abandoned food, much of it perishable, trailing along an empty store.
intermittent
During the storm, it looks as if a lightbulb is flickering between the clouds.
menu
We don't order the oxtail soup. We just marvel at its price.
select
The gift she receives is a doll that says, "I love you," and chuckles like a trapped squirrel. Keeping at a distance, she motions for it to be placed back in its bag and out of sight. Later, we play with the silent pink bear she likes; I help her and the bear down the slide.
virtuosity
On the radio, Vivaldi's Four Seasons comes on played by Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, and Itzhak Perlman. It's a violin extravaganza.
It's a sleek open space where the light fixtures look like upside-down salad bowls. Three speakers eventually settle on stools facing the rows of seats. As the sky darkens, they discuss ways to make AI more ethical. From protecting data to detecting biases in programming, there's much to discuss, and there aren't simple answers.
Chasmosaurus
In 15 minutes, I learn more about horned dinosaurs than I ever learned in my life.
heaps
In the lower level of the supermarket, smoke is pouring out of a freezer. A little later, as I wait on line, we're asked to evacuate. Everyone leaves their cart or basket behind, and it makes an eerie picture: piles of abandoned food, much of it perishable, trailing along an empty store.
intermittent
During the storm, it looks as if a lightbulb is flickering between the clouds.
menu
We don't order the oxtail soup. We just marvel at its price.
select
The gift she receives is a doll that says, "I love you," and chuckles like a trapped squirrel. Keeping at a distance, she motions for it to be placed back in its bag and out of sight. Later, we play with the silent pink bear she likes; I help her and the bear down the slide.
virtuosity
On the radio, Vivaldi's Four Seasons comes on played by Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, and Itzhak Perlman. It's a violin extravaganza.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Week in Seven Words #356
carping
Today, I'm an eyebrow that isn't properly tweezed. Tomorrow, I'll be a forehead pimple. By which blemish will I be assessed the day after?
drift
They express their political stance by posting a meme or buying a product featured in a feel-good commercial from a large corporation.
flatulence
He has made the mistake of giving broccoli to the dog.
pedagogy
They're stuck with an indifferent teacher who asks nothing and accepts almost anything. In response, they ask their teacher almost nothing and ignore almost everything.
poise
When only the orchestra is playing, the violinist stands calmly, surrounded by the storm of music.
punctual
I tell her that I need to talk to her mom for a couple of minutes, then I'll be ready to play. At the two-minute mark, she pops up from behind a cabinet, startling me and reminding me of my promise.
tickle
The wind feels like dozens of gentle pats to the face.
Today, I'm an eyebrow that isn't properly tweezed. Tomorrow, I'll be a forehead pimple. By which blemish will I be assessed the day after?
drift
They express their political stance by posting a meme or buying a product featured in a feel-good commercial from a large corporation.
flatulence
He has made the mistake of giving broccoli to the dog.
pedagogy
They're stuck with an indifferent teacher who asks nothing and accepts almost anything. In response, they ask their teacher almost nothing and ignore almost everything.
poise
When only the orchestra is playing, the violinist stands calmly, surrounded by the storm of music.
punctual
I tell her that I need to talk to her mom for a couple of minutes, then I'll be ready to play. At the two-minute mark, she pops up from behind a cabinet, startling me and reminding me of my promise.
tickle
The wind feels like dozens of gentle pats to the face.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Week in Seven Words #308
besieger
Before he finally gets locked out of his account, he tries one password after another, probing at his unresponsive memory. Each time, he's convinced that he's only off by one character.
binding
Through cracks in the window, the cold seeps in and curls around my hands and ankles.
braceleted
Around my wrists, they've placed interlocking plastic chains - some in pastels, others in night-glowing neon.
pellets
Cloudy bins of candies in toxic colors line the cold, bright aisles.
schnoz
His nose has puffed up like a sponge toy that expands in water.
shades
Dark-haired and silver-haired, they play a violin duet in the dim light.
unassured
"Don't worry, don't worry," he pleads. He doesn't know what else to do. He only wishes she'd relax, even as his frantic voice communicates the uselessness of such a wish.
Before he finally gets locked out of his account, he tries one password after another, probing at his unresponsive memory. Each time, he's convinced that he's only off by one character.
binding
Through cracks in the window, the cold seeps in and curls around my hands and ankles.
braceleted
Around my wrists, they've placed interlocking plastic chains - some in pastels, others in night-glowing neon.
pellets
Cloudy bins of candies in toxic colors line the cold, bright aisles.
schnoz
His nose has puffed up like a sponge toy that expands in water.
shades
Dark-haired and silver-haired, they play a violin duet in the dim light.
unassured
"Don't worry, don't worry," he pleads. He doesn't know what else to do. He only wishes she'd relax, even as his frantic voice communicates the uselessness of such a wish.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Coughing Through Shostakovich
One of my short stories, "Coughing Through Shostakovich," has been published in Subtle Fiction and can be found here.
Several pieces of music crop up in the piece, including this one by Tchaikovsky (here it's performed by Eugene Ugorski on violin and Konstantin Lifschitz on piano; in the short story it's the main character playing it solo on violin):
Several pieces of music crop up in the piece, including this one by Tchaikovsky (here it's performed by Eugene Ugorski on violin and Konstantin Lifschitz on piano; in the short story it's the main character playing it solo on violin):
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Hatikva
Someone sent me this video today:
Violin maker Amnon Weinstein painstakingly collected and restored violins that were used by Holocaust victims, and here they're played at a 2008 concert in Jerusalem; one of the victims was a 12 year old boy who smuggled explosives in his violin case - these explosives were used against German troops in Eastern Europe.
Hatikva ("The Hope") is the Israeli national anthem. The melody is based on a Renaissance era Italian song, La Mantovana - from the Renaissance onwards this melody appeared in a number of different folk songs across Europe from Scotland to Poland; it was also used by the 19th-century composer Smetana in his piece, Vltava or Die Moldau - one of a group of several symphonic poems he wrote in tribute to Bohemia, his homeland (the Vltava is a river that runs through Prague).
Think of the music played on these violins prior to the Holocaust - klezmer and other folk music for instance; their owners might have once played the melody of La Mantovana on them in one form or another (or if they were classical musicians, maybe they performed Vltava in a concert hall). In any case these instruments, which were in pieces (at least one of them found buried in a concentration camp) are whole again, a legacy from the people who owned them and made music on them.
Violin maker Amnon Weinstein painstakingly collected and restored violins that were used by Holocaust victims, and here they're played at a 2008 concert in Jerusalem; one of the victims was a 12 year old boy who smuggled explosives in his violin case - these explosives were used against German troops in Eastern Europe.
Hatikva ("The Hope") is the Israeli national anthem. The melody is based on a Renaissance era Italian song, La Mantovana - from the Renaissance onwards this melody appeared in a number of different folk songs across Europe from Scotland to Poland; it was also used by the 19th-century composer Smetana in his piece, Vltava or Die Moldau - one of a group of several symphonic poems he wrote in tribute to Bohemia, his homeland (the Vltava is a river that runs through Prague).
Think of the music played on these violins prior to the Holocaust - klezmer and other folk music for instance; their owners might have once played the melody of La Mantovana on them in one form or another (or if they were classical musicians, maybe they performed Vltava in a concert hall). In any case these instruments, which were in pieces (at least one of them found buried in a concentration camp) are whole again, a legacy from the people who owned them and made music on them.
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