Get Life On

I’m tired of sitting in the shadows

I’m sick of retreating from battles.

It’s time to take a bite out of life

And push right through all the strife.

Sing out a song that’s new

Dance a dance that’s never been through

Pull out all the stops

Beginning with little hops

Until soon I’m leaping forward

Gospel in hand, light above, for my Lord.

- Anonymous

Chapter 2

The Father saw the boy dancing. It was beautiful and it pleased the Father, but it was not complete.

The Father said to Himself, "It is good for him to dance, but he could dance so much better with another."

With this, the Father came down to the world and stood upon its surface. He blew upon the ground. The breath from his nostrils pushed the earth of the ground up into the air causing it to fill out a shape. Gradually, a human was formed. Small and beautiful, it was a girl.

When the girl became alive, she was standing on the ground of a barren world, staring into the eyes of the Father. The Father smiled at her and said,

"Now, let us teach you how to dance."

He reached out His hand toward her and lifted her to her feet. He led her with His hand and taught her how to move in the wind--spreading her limbs, tasting the air, feeling the ground. She danced beautifully, and the Father was pleased.

Soon, the Father took the girl to meet the boy. They had never seen each other before and each wondered at such a creature before his and her eyes. The Father spoke to both of them together,

"Dance for me."

They both started to dance, but each in his and her own way. Soon, they faltered and stopped, confused by each other, not knowing why this other human was dancing such a strange dance. They started to get upset at each other and turned away from each other.

The Father took them both and turned them toward Himself.

"No. You must work together."

He placed the girl's hand in the hand of the boy.

"Now, dance for me. Together."

The boy and girl looked suspiciously at each other and then innocently at the Father. He turned them back toward each other. Soon, they started to move. Cautiously. Nervously. But, with time, they observed how each other's different movements complemented the movements of the partner. He lifted his arm. She turned hers. He lifted both arms. She leapt. They were dancing together in perfect harmony.

The Father watched the boy and the girl dance, and He smiled.

Immediately, the world bore fruit, the sun burst into the sky, and the air started to swell with the singing of birds and the smells of creatures, plants, and earth. The world bloomed and gave birth to the Earth.

A Story (Chapter 1)

Once there was a dark and desolate world. A young boy sat on the ground, on the face of this world. And, the Father looked over the world and saw this boy. He loved the boy, and sought to be loved by him, to be in relationship with him.

The Father came down to the boy and spoke to him, "Son!"

The boy looked up to the Father.

"Dance for me", He said to the boy.

The boy's eyes widened. He looked at his arms and then at his feet, and then he asked,

"How?"

The Father smiled at the boy. He reached out to the boy and picked him up by the hand.

"Like this."

And the Father showed the boy how to dance. The words of the Father that were left on the boy's ears when he found himself alone echoed in his mind:

Now, dance for me.

The boy felt a little nervous excitement run through his body. Then, he started to dance. The motion of his limbs caused warmth to flow through his body. The earthy texture and the whining wind in the air titillated his senses. He grew confident and started to smile. He laughed. Joy was filling his heart and then started to spread across his face.

The Father saw the boy dance, and He smiled.

Crazy Particles and Magical Microwaves

Every other week or so, I run across another instance of the magical powers of microwaves or lasers or some such thing. Yesterday, was no exception.

Depending on the scientific literacy of the reader, the reactions that could be generated upon reading the first few paragraphs of this blog post are diverse. "Chameleon particles", "ghost particles", and "shining light through walls" will give the typical lay reader the idea that modern science is a joyride through Sci-Fi la-la land.

I am not equal to judge the scientific merit of the topic discussed from this blog, but I won't deny the writing could be improved a little. It definitely makes reading the reading of a technical article a much more enjoyable process.

Sometime I need to start collecting common myths on some scientific topic, say microwaves, and post them here, debunking each one. That would also be highly entertaining.

- JALGT

The Bittersweet (Original Composition)

Give me a day of joy,

I’ll give you a night of tears.

Give me a newborn child

I’ll take him before his years.

Send me a lover and I’ll call

Him away to die in a war.

Give me a saint and I’ll make

Him struggle to his very core.

This is the bittersweet.

Where two cities meet.

Where wheat among tares are grown.

Surely you will now agree

Though you can’t have known,

The pain it really took

To make you free, to make you free.

The very God of this world

Came in flesh and blood to earth.

Mocked by His creation,

A servant He was from birth.

Can you understand why

The righteousness you now wear

Came through death’s bitterness

To receive sweet heaven’s care?

This is the bittersweet.

Where two cities meet.

Where wheat among tares are grown.

Surely you will now agree

Though you can’t have known,

The pain it really took

To make you free, to make you free.

Heaven bears its own.

But, not without the pierce of thorn.

Life’s never been so beautiful

When joys are ever plentiful,

Death comes to reap what was sown.

Glory be to Thee,

Our God, who is completely good,

To teach Your children humility

To avoid life’s aching futility

By resting in Your unfailing Word.

Five Features of Tonality

"Conjunct melodic motion"*
Describes the characteristic short movements typically taken by tonal melodies. Up and down by 2nd, 3rd, and maybe 4th and 5th intervals. Typically not much more.

"Acoustic consonance"
Describes the degree to which sounds that are harmonizing tend to 'work' well together... have consonance. Like the a major third interval. An example of a harmony lacking consonance would be an augmented fourth.

"Harmonic consistency"
While this may sound like a similar feature to the previous one, it has more to do with structure than actual musical consonance. It describes whether the harmonies used in a particular piece of music tend to exhibit similar structure. Say, three note arpeggios on the second inversion... that would be a rather strict harmonic consistency.

"Limited macroharmony"
Take a section of a particular musical piece. The sum total of notes you hear in that section should be limited to a relatively restricted set of notes, typically 5 - 8 for tonal melodies.

"Centricity"
Prominence of a particular note throughout a piece or centeredness around such a note, ending there or serving as some sort of musical goal. This is usually the tonic for much of Western, tonal music.

Now, the beauty of this array of tools is their incredible flexibility as well as breadth of application. Many examples of tonal music do not exhibit one or more of these features, while conjunct melodic motion, limited macro harmony, and centricity can be found in virtually any piece of music.

We can also pick up any particular piece of music an examine it under the eye of a particular tonal feature.

* As termed by Dmitri Tymoczko in A Geometry of Music

Discussion, Truth, and Action

There is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation. Complete liberty of contradicting and disproving our opinion is the very condition which justifies us in assuming its truth for purposes of action; and on no other terms can a being with human faculties have any rational assurance of being right.

--John Stuart Mill, "Liberty in Discussion"

Conversation... Montaigne

I feel much prouder of the victory I gain over myself when, in the very heat of the combat, I make myself give way to the force of my adversary's argument, than I feel gratified by the victory I gain over him through his own weakness.

-- Michel de Montaigne, "Of the Art of Conversing"

Ideas and Truth

Whoever wishes to have ideas must first prepare himself to desire truth and to accept the rules of the game imposed by it. It is no use speaking of ideas when there is no acceptance of a higher authority to regulate them, a series of standards to which it is possible to appeal in a discussion. These standards are the principles on which culture rests.

-- José Ortega y Gasset, "Putting Truth in Checkmate"

Education is Wasted on the Young

Consider the brightest boy or girl at the best imaginable college--much better than any which now exists--with the most competent faculty and with a perfect course of study. Imagine this brightest student in the best of all possible colleges, spending four years industriously, faithfully, and efficiently applying his or her mind to study. I say to you that, at the end of four years, this student, awarded a degree with the highest honors, is not an educated man or woman. And cannot be, for the simple reason that the obstacle to becoming educated in school is an inherent and insurmountable one, namely, youth.

-- Mortimer J. Adler, "Adult Education"