Current Connection: Feb 25

     When you go to big cities, there are always homeless people lined up on the streets jingling their cups for spare change to make it through the week. On the CNN website, in Dana Ford's article, Donations pour in for homeless man who returned diamond ring she explains a story of true character that we do not often see in the world. 
     As we all know, homeless people do not have much money. When the opportunity of "quick cash" arises, they usually take that opportunity. However, Billy Ray Harris did not. Ford explains, "Well-wishers from around the world are opening their wallets to a homeless man who returned a diamond engagement ring to its rightful owner, after she accidentally dropped it in his donation cup." If I had lost my engagement ring, I would be, literally, freaking out. Even without my class ring I feel naked.

     Now, I'm thinking how on Earth did this woman lose her ENGAGEMENT RING? She had better have a pretty good reason, and she did. Ford states, "She almost never takes it off, but it was giving her a bit of a rash so she did, zipping it in her coin purse for safe keeping....Later, she absentmindedly emptied the contents of that purse into the collection cup of Billy Ray Harris, who is homeless and often stays under a bridge in Darling's hometown. It wasn't until the next day that she realized her ring was gone." People would probably think that Harris would run off with the ring, cash it in, and be set to live comfortably for a while. Despite his title and everyone's assumptions, Harris did not run away with the ring but instead he gave the ring back when Sarah Darling came inquiring for her lost treasure the next day. 

     To show them their thanks, Darling and her fiance helped Harris out a little. In her article, Ford says, "To show their appreciation, Darling and her husband set up an online fundraiser for Harris. The donations and praise have poured in....So far, in about a week, more than 3,400 donations have been made, totaling nearly $95,000. The money will be given to Harris at the end of a 90-day campaign." That is one lucky man!!! Looks like having good character pays off in the end!

     If I were homeless, I would have ran away with that thing as fast as possible. However, I am glad that there are still people like Billy Ray Harris in the world. 

     There is a saying that says "what goes around comes around" so I guess Billy deserved what came around for what he did. Hopefully, there are a lot more people like him.

    

The Piano

In certain movies, there is a piano. Someone usually plays that piano in the movie and when they do, the piano sings and the player's fingers glide across the keys. I have been playing the piano for about four years now and sometimes learning the art is a challenge. Although, practicing music calms me in a way that nothing else can. The music that comes from the instrument seems to have a life of its own. I enjoy being the one who makes it live.

I am not going to lie; playing the piano is a ton of work. I practice for 30 minutes a day, and I have most definitely not acquired the skills that I want to have. In the beginning playing was easy, but as I progressed, the music became a new language. The notes were either dangerously low or high above the staff, the treble and bass clefs. Becoming the pianist I want to be will not be an easy task. I have so much further to go in my lessons and I am sure playing will only become even more trying.

I have played many pieces of music in my four years (going on five). I started out with different books containing very simplified versions of real pieces, scales, and chords. Now I am a lot more advanced than I used to be. Practice makes perfect! Although I am far from perfect, the pieces I play now are at least 4 to 5 pages long. The works I am currently practicing are Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Mozart's Turkish March. The first is 5 pages and the second is 6 pages long. Moonlight Sonata is a very slow song, and the Turkish March is super duper fast. I'm having a lot of fun with both.

If you have seen a piano before, you know that there are white keys and black keys. The white keys are the "natural" keys, whereas the black keys are either "sharps" or "flats." I know this probably sounds confusing, but the specifics become second nature once you get the main stuff down. The notes have a specific name. The white keys are named a, b, c, d, e, f, g and then the naming system starts all over again. As you go up the keyboard, the black keys are A sharp or #, B#, C#, D#, E#, F#, and G#. As you move down the piano, the black keys become "flat," and the names of them are A flat, B flat, C flat, D flat, F flat, and G flat. Learning the notes becomes simpler over time. 

Music is like a river; it speeds up, but then at a moments notice, slows down. Pieces can have very soft music (pp), just soft enough to be quieter (p), having a normal loudness (mf), or being louder than usual (f). Music also has crescendo's, which means the music builds volume over a series of notes. There are staccato's that makes the note abrupt and short. The symbol of a staccato is usually a dot over a note. There are lots of other things I cannot think off the top of my head, but in short, piano music is usually very complicated. 

A word of advice: DO NOT start piano lessons if the heart is not fully into the music. Playing, as I said before, is very hard work and takes a lot of patience. Contradictory to what I just said, the piano is also so much fun and when you learn how to play a song, the feeling is indescribable. The piano is an overall enjoyable instrument, and I recommend that if you want to learn, go for it!  

     

     http://karl683.deviantart.com/art/Piano-Music-286326877

CC#3: Feb. 11

     Imagine being on a cruise and getting away from all the struggles of life and just relaxing.Suddenly, the captain's voice comes over the speakers, "Folks, the engine just caught fire and we are going to be stuck for a while. Sorry for the inconvenience." CNN staff reports this story in the recent article Carnival cruise ship to be towed after fire strands it in Gulf of Mexico and explain the situation that the cruise ship was in.
     The passengers were obviously in a pickle, and did not expect their vacation to become a "trip gone bad." The news reporters state in the article, "The Carnival Triumph was about 150 miles off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Texas, when the fire broke out in an engine room Sunday morning, according to Carnival Cruise Lines. The ship's automatic fire extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the blaze, and no injuries were reported, Carnival said Monday." Thankfully, nobody was hurt down in the engine room and the crew got to the fire and controlled the accident before anyone was seriously injured. The ship was still in deep water and only going about two miles an hour, so the ship was out of trouble.
     Brent Nutt spoke with his wife who was on the ship and says, "She said they had no power, no running water, and she said she hadn't been able to eat anything yet." That problem was soon solved and "guests have been supplied with food and refreshments throughout yesterday and this morning and the ship has supplies on board to last until the vessel returns to port," states Carnival. The electricity was soon turned back on with emergency generators, and people were actually able to use the toilets again! Man, that would be awful to be without a toilet.
     All of this trouble kind of has benefits. The cruise line said, "After being towed to Progreso, those aboard the Carnival Triumph will be flown back to the United States at no cost to them, the cruise line said. They will also get a full refund, credit that can be used toward a future trip and reimbursement for all expenses, except casino and gift shop purchases." Even though, the trip was not all that great, maybe the discounted one will go a lot smoother! If the passengers would have had to pay, I am sure there would have been many unhappy people.
     I do not know why, but this incident kind of reminds me of the Titanic. None of the Carnival passengers died, but them being stranded out in the ocean makes me remember the tragedy of the Titanic. I have never been on a cruise, but I do not intend to get on one after all these stories!
     In conclusion,  many passengers on this cruise had their vacation ruined, but everything worked out in the end.