Perfect Imperfection

Imperfection

You stood blankly facing your own self in the mirror. There was not a single strand of thread on your skin. And your mind was filled with dissatisfaction, exasperation and jealousy. You closed your eyes trying so hard to drive away the images of perfection you create. You have lost your count on how much you've told your friends to be thankful for who they are, yet will you still catch myself mourning on your own self.

You assume that it might be easy for other girls to live a pleasant life with their perfection. Earning good grades at school, being the most beautiful girl in a community, simply living a prima donna life. You might walk on the way home, or sitting at the back seat of a cab or a bus, fighting back your tears. Sometimes you even wonder what brings you to tears. All you know, is that he has chosen her over you, people who aren't trying achieve higher goals, your best friend casts you away. You don't know which part of your doing is so wrong. You don't have the courage to proclaim the beautiful dreams you have to the outside world. And so you hold them back to yourself, keeping them safe in your weary chest, securely locking it. Because those dreams will nakedly reveal your incapabilities and imperfection.

Bach's Hidden Meaning

Chaconne - Partita No. 2 in D Minor

This is probably one of my favorite Baroque pieces. Bach was just returned from out of town when he found that his wife, Maria Barbara had died and was already been buried. Bach then composed Chaconne right after this tragic event. Not just composing as an epitaph for his wife's death, he also composed Chaconne for the memorial of his tragic life. His mother died when he was 9, followed by his dad's death a year later. He then continued a tough life under his brother's care. Bach's life was a life of tragedy, discovery, joy, redemption and also triumph. These components can be clearly seen throughout the Chaconne. For me, Chaconne is an extremely direct music and carries clear word paintings. Meaning, its musical elements bring deep emotions and direct messages that laymen can understand. More like music of the Romantic Era to be exact.
The theme and harmony of the Chaconne was also found to be an exact copy of a famous death chorale, which once again supports the motive of this composition.
In this piece, Maria's name was also encrypted in the musical notations. This method of assigning numerical values to letters of the alphabet is called Gematria. And the method of carving words in musical notations is known as Sogetto Cavato which literally means Words Carving. Many musicians in the past and present have been using Sogetto Cavato (through Gematria) to honor important people with musical pieces (can be for other musicians, spouse or even students). An example would be Schumann's "Nordisches Lied", No. 41. He used the G,A,D,E to present this piece for Niels Gade.

Bach's Chaconne based on Joshua Bell

How Ironic!

Irony is probably the most misunderstood concept in English Language.

Many people say:

"He was walking down an even road when he fell down. How ironic!" 

                                                    OR 

"All I needed was a spoon. Ironically, I was provided with 10 forks."

Both examples above are not ironic situations. How do we actually use the idea of irony?

Here are some good examples:

• He went to the hospital for his medical check up and got hit by an ambulance on the way there.
• I found a dollar on the street, not thinking of how valuable it was. A minute later, I got in a bus and I was a dollar short for the fare.
• Manufacturing fire extinguishers for half of your life and died for not having a fire extinguisher.