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8-27-2004

I thought I would start a web log just as a journal for my thoughts and feelings of my day to day. That’s one great thing about computers and websites is that you can learn about so many people and different cultures. When I have been overseas, people in other countries think their lives are ordinary, while I think they are extraordinary. For example, I went to Thailand on vacation. What a beautiful place! Maybe my life in America is extraordinary too.

One thing to consider is that driving so fast on the highway can be unusual to people outside of America. Driving, in a way, is extreme. While I typically drive the speed limit and obey all the rules, I am sure things like this, that people take for granted, may be interesting, to people who are less fortunate or from other cultures.

For instance, it is a wonder that I have access to a computer and internet. I was given a computer by the university that I work at, so I am thankful for this resource. There are many interesting websites related to education.

I am sure someone would like to learn about my life.

9-2-2004

I have many interests outside of math. For instance, I am trying to get better at cooking. I have been experimenting with casseroles.

My ingredients recently:
Egg noodles
Tuna
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Frozen Peas
Cheddar Cheese
Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

You basically mix all these things together and bake it. It takes about half an hour or something and it’s good for leftovers. I’ll make this once and be able to eat it for a few days. It goes well with the red wine that I bought from the store.

Sometimes my cat Escher gets excited when I am making tuna casserole. I will generally put a bit of the fish in his bowl before I start cooking the casserole, so he doesn’t try to climb up on the counter to eat it as I’m cooking it. He’s such a sweetheart.

While I cook, I like to listen to music. It really helps speed up time because cooking can be time consuming or boring. It is especially boring during the baking process. I recommend listening to The Beatles! Basically any album will do, I have no favorites. Some of their solo music is good too. However, I hate all the music John made with Yoko Ono. What she makes cannot be considered music at all. I truthfully hate her.

Have fun cooking.
Bon Appétit!

9-8-2004

I was talking to a colleague about Yoko Ono. She actually likes her music and prefers it to The Beatles! I do not immediately understand that perspective. There is not much music-like about what she is making. She is just yelling. On John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Yoko Ono is credited as playing “wind”. I don’t recall any wind instruments on the album. I feel as though she is only trying to be mysterious, or to have an air of artistry to her. She wants to have some importance even though she has contributed nothing to the album.

My colleague allowed me to borrow Yoko Ono’s book Grapefruit. This book is interesting as it is both poetry and also a series of instructions. I have not followed any of these instructions literally, but there is something meaningful about imagining following through with these scores. This one surprisingly stood out to me!

I have plenty of casserole leftover, maybe I’ll try doing this myself.

9-12-2004

It’s the weekend, so I took a walk out to my favorite park. There is an amphitheater where sometimes performances happen. I like to sit in the outdoor seats sometimes and read a book. Instead, today I’ll reflect on the poem and look at the sky. I accidentally looked into the sun. The after image on the inside of my eyelids made it too easy to imagine one thousand of them at once. While the imprint only lasted a few minutes or so, it felt like an hour. Slowly they faded away, melting into the sky. I had packed a tunafish sandwich for me to eat outside. I don’t think that I needed to execute these instructions in chronological order.

This sandwich was not bad in the slightest. However, maybe there were too many carbs involved. I could see the addition of Frank’s hot sauce elevating the flavor.

Bon Appétit!

9-17-2004

During the week, I told my colleague about my experience with Grapefruit. She was tickled that I took it so seriously. I was surprised that she never followed the instructions herself. We then had a fruitful conversation about the Fluxus movement and the group’s larger cultural influence, which I was unaware of.

She told me about Al Hansen’s first happening. For those who are as unaware as I was previously, a happening is a type of performance that can take many different forms. Al’s happening for example was dropping a piano off a building in Germany during World War II. There is a clear act of rebellion with this happening. I can only imagine the sound it would make. Looney Tunes comes to mind because of the antics of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.

My colleague and I joked that Wilie E. Coyote was actually a Fluxus artist and had no intention of hurting the Road Runner at all. She even came up with a poem in the style of Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit that described Wilie E. Coyote’s artistic motivations:

PIANO FALLING PIECE
String a rope through a pulley
Secure the rope to the piano
Lift the piano up above
Wait for the Road Runner.
The piano hovers above you.
Tug again and the piano falls.
A gust of wind.
You are engulfed by the piano.
Repeat.
2004 spring

What a creative poem by my colleague! I never saw her again.

9-24-2004

I have the entire day free, so it's time to get some materials. I need a pulley, some rope, and a piano.

At my local hardware store it looks like they mostly have nylon coated rope. I originally wanted a more naturalistic feel to the rope to emulate the classic cartoons, but I feel as though there may be some benefits to this rope. I imagine the nylon will be more durable and resistant to wear and tear. If I want to prototype this properly, I want to have something I can use and reuse.

I wasn't expecting it, but the store also has a decent variety of pulleys. I was thinking I may have to go to a more specialty store for these. Some of these are made of copper, nickel, and zinc. Some pulleys allow for multiple ropes to be threaded through. Pulleys come in forms where the axis spins, others don't. Some allow for more rope than others. There are different ways to attach a pulley to the ceiling.

A concern I had not yet thought about is how do I account for the weight of the piano? Especially for a grand piano, the pulley must be secured.

When it comes to the piano, do I want to first use a piano, or something of similar size and weight? Do I want to just test the pulley?

Firstly, my father left an anvil in the garage. Grand pianos weigh about half a ton, but I think that using this anvil, which is about 250 lbs, will do as a nice test.

Photos of knots here.

It was difficult to lift the anvil by myself off the ground. The main issue was that the nylon kept slipping off the anvil as my knots were not tight enough. As I tugged the rope to lift it off the ground, the knots would simply come undone. I did not do Boy Scouts as a kid, because I only went up to Webelos and stopped before high school. We did some knot tying, but I mostly forgot everything. Because my knots were not strong enough, my thought was to just use more rope to tie even more knots. Surely a bunch of moderate strength knots will hold the anvil.

It turns out, many knots were the correct solution. However, lifting this 250 lbs anvil was still an issue. I’m sure, maybe as a teenager, I could have hoisted it up.

9-27-2004

I stood outside on the sidewalk waiting for the school bus to drop off the high schoolers at the corner. I offered several of them $20 to $30 to come inside to lift the anvil. Several of them agreed for a total of $60 to lift the anvil. I will leave their names anonymous for this log. The boys stood in a line to lift the anvil. On the count of three they tugged the rope. Much to all of our surprise, the anvil was off the ground. However, just as soon as the anvil jumped a foot off the ground, it came back down, bringing the pulley and part of the ceiling with it.

It seems as though the pulley was not very secure.

10-2-2004

Today I just made some repairs to the roof of my garage. It was raining throughout the week and I had to leave a bucket under the hole that I made. I think it’s good if I learn how to do simple repairs such as these if I want to build my piano pulley system. I sometimes will try to do different repairs around the house because I want to keep a safe environment for my cat Escher. He has been having health issues, so it’s important that the house is in working order. Because I live alone, I have also had to learn how to cook, and I do much of the cleaning. In some ways, this has benefited my life. Before Escher, I would fall into routine and only clean as much as I need to in order to feel comfortable.

10-16-2004

In repairing the roof, I have added some support beams to the inside of the garage in order to hold the weight of the anvil. My main issue was that the weight was not being evenly distributed across a large area of space. There was too much tension in the middle, so the pulley fell. However, because of the support beams, I can no longer fit my car in the garage, which is fine.

10-30-2004

During my last test the nylon got stuck in the pulley. When I released the rope, it flung upwards, getting caught in the groove. I can probably avoid this if the rope is smaller or if the pulley’s groove is bigger. Because the rope was stuck, that also meant the anvil was suspended in air as I was trying to fish the rope out of the pulley. I did not want to cut the rope so as to waste it, so I just used my fingers to pluck the nylon out of the grove. This was difficult because of the length of my nails. I like to keep them long enough to easily open cans of ginger ale. Because of this, I strained my fingers and chipped a nail deeply. I ended up taking a break to trim my nails. When I got back to my pulley, the anvil had fallen. I had not heard any noise while in the bathroom, maybe because my radio was too loud. Anyhow, I wish I hadn't missed seeing the anvil fall, even if it was not from the maximum height I wanted (or even the correct object, a piano).

How much does a piano cost?

After perfecting the pulley system, the big issue now is to find a piano. When it comes to pricey needs, I usually tend to rely on borrowing. In this situation, borrowing is out of the question. Do I buy the piano? The music store downtown sells a piano at about $30K. Baby grand pianos go for much cheaper, but that would feel like a copout. I’d rather go big or go home. I’d go broke if I bought a grand piano! That would be irresponsible to do while taking care of a cat. The only thing I can do is to save up some extra money. It seems like I might have to start tutoring in order to buy the grand piano that I want. Maybe when SAT season starts, I’ll put some ads in the paper.

12-15-2004

The music department at my university ended up dumping a grand piano. It seems like a grant gave them money for a new one, and the old piano was quickly shipped out. I went inside to call a moving company and stood by the piano until evening. They did a good job handling the piano and I tipped them a generous 15% for the rushed job.

I finally have the piano in my garage! Immediately I go to play a note. Stroking the first key I see, no music is made! I jammed my fingers on many different keys, many of which are stiff. This piano is pre-broken! What kind of noise will a pre-broken piano make? I want my piano to make a big musical slam as it hits the ground, not an unceremonious “crash” or even a “floof”.

To my dismay, I think I need to just use this piano. It seems like a sign from heaven that I’m supposed to use this specific piano. Why else would I find it? Random chance? The chance I found it is 100%! I found it!

12-27-2004

I rigged the nylon up to the back of my Honda Civic, tying it through the trunk and around the roof. However, I am immediately finding myself with a new predicament. The roof of my garage is too small. It is only raised a few feet off the ground before it hits the pulley at the height of my 10 foot tall garage.

I laid under the grand piano suspended 3 feet above my face. I realize that I did not consider how to let the rope go if I’m under the piano and the rope tied to the piano is tied to my Honda. Quickly, I become embarrassed laying under the piano as my garage is wide open for my neighbors to see what I’m doing.

It’s the middle of the day and not a single person is around. I take comfort again in the silence of my suburbs and lay under the piano suspended 3 feet above my face. I feel closer than ever before.

3-6-2005

I need to think of another place to hang my piano. I have been scouting around my town looking at a few different locations. One consistent architectural element that seems promising is a small bridge. Many bridges I’ve seen will go over water or roads, but I want one that is not too populated, so I can discreetly install the pulley system.

Luckily, I have found a bridge along a trail that is suspended 40 feet in the air. The problem is, how do I install the pulley? I cannot carry a ladder out this far into the wilderness, and definitely not a 40 foot ladder. Where would I even get such a thing? My only option seems to be to scale the bottom of the bridge.

I understand what Michaelangelo would have felt when he was painting the Sistine Chapel. Most likely, he was safely on some sort of scaffolding. However, I was suspended in the air, holding onto the metal supports of the bridge. I was completely out of my element.

I had stayed on the underside of the bridge for several hours struggling to drill a hole into the bottom of the bridge. The wood was giving in and screws kept falling out of the wood. I think my drill bit was too big. Many of my screws kept falling from 40 feet above littering the walking path below. It was becoming dark, I was hot, and I was getting hungry.

Here’s my new casseroles recipe:

The big difference here is using potato chips instead of bread crumbs. The chips add an extra crunch that the bread crumbs didn’t have. I’ll eat the leftovers as a sandwich later.

6-5-2005

I was considering my university’s amphitheater. While installing this pulley system, if things do not go according to plan, I do not want to get fired from my job.

6-6-2005

9-10-2005

My mom has been feeling ill. I went to visit her at the hospital to see how she is feeling. She had me when she was fairly old already, so none of this is a surprise. The doctors said it would be alright for us to take a walk around the park together, so she could get some exercise for a brief period of time. On our walk I noticed the most beautiful outdoor amphitheater! This theater makes more sense to use for my piano game than the one at my university.

The great aspect of amphitheaters is that the crashing sound could be heard from around the area at maximum volume. It’s going to be a great big smash!

9-11-2005

9-25-2005

During late evenings, it was easy to hang up the pulley system in the amphitheater. There was some scaffolding available behind the stage area that helped me reach the top. I rented a large trailer to tow the piano to the theater. The trailer was open, so I was nervous that the piano would fall out, so I drove 20 miles per hour the whole way there. Once I arrived, I harnessed the piano and lifted it up from the bed of the trailer. This was the moment I had been waiting for!

However, how would anyone know this happened? I needed evidence. I brought an audio recorder that I checked out from the university, but I had forgotten my camcorder! I speedily drove back to my house to grab the camcorder and head back.

Much to my surprise, when I arrived at the theater again, the piano had already fallen! A complete and utter failure… How would I ever get another grand piano, and for free? I may as well give up.

9-26-2005

10-2-2005

10-9-2005

10-17-2005

10-23-2005


10-30-2005

11-7-2005


11-14-2005


11-21-2005


11-30-2005


12-4-2005


12-11-2005


12-19-2005


1-3-2006

Last night I had an extremely strange and vivid dream. In the dream, I stood alone outside at night. I felt a summer breeze blow across my skin, above me hanging suspended from something I can’t see, was the form of a Grand Piano. In the dream I am holding a rope, somehow I know the rope is what is preventing the piano from falling. Fear rushes through me as I feel my grip loosen against my will. I see the piano drop towards me. Before I can react, I awake with a start. My heart pounds as I sit up in my bed, head spinning. As I feel the dream fade, a strange sense of relief washes over me. It’s like all my tension has been washed away in that one moment. My sleep the rest of that night was the deepest, most restful sleep I’d had in weeks.

1-4-2006

1-10-2006

1-17-2006


1-23-2006


1-31-2006


2-7-2006


4-2-2008

A few months ago, my mom died. She was all that I had in this world. On the bright side, I was awarded a small inheritance. Now that I don’t have anything holding me back. I have no financial responsibilities outside of myself. I can complete my project.

5-7-2008

The piano looms above me in the night sky. All of my calculations and previous tests have paid off. Though I have not released the rope, I can already feel the weight of the piano obliterating me. I imagine the cacophonous sound of wood splintering, strings snapping, and my bones becoming brittle. My final primal scream as I am crushed.

I pull the rope, but the piano refuses to fall. Defying all the laws of gravity, it hangs suspended in air like Wile E. Coyote after running off a cliff. Is this all just a big joke?

I give the rope another tug and feel it suddenly jerk away from my hand, releasing the weight of the piano. Just before the moment of impact I feel my consciousness flee my body, I look down on myself from above. I watch as my body completely disappears beneath the massive form of the piano. I am engulfed by its overwhelming sound. It wasn't as musical as I’d hoped, there weren't really any qualities of piano notes. It was only a gust of wind and a kind of cacophonous crash. My consciousness fades as I am overwhelmed by the sensation of being crushed.

At home, Escher purrs beside me, licking my bandages. One thousand suns are melting the cheese on the casserole that’s in my oven. In about 20 minutes, I will open the oven and sprinkle crushed pretzels substituting the usual chips or breadcrumbs.

Bon Appétit!