Busy

I no longer enjoy being busy, although I was happy being busy when I was a working person.  Multi-tasking, rushing around, talking to a lot of people was all fun.  I was proud of all I could accomplish.  I'm not sure I ever relaxed, because when I came home there was cooking, cleaning, and shopping to do.  Early on there was child-care as well.  It's all a blur.  It was an important time, a time for productivity.  I'm glad it's over.  

The War of the Roses

I have not seen that new "Roses" movie, but I intend to. However, this isn't about that.

Coincidentally, I have been reading a book called The Wars of the Roses: The fall of the Plantagenets and the rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones.  It is a history, not a novel.  I have a sincere interest in history, especially concerning Europe. Why? I dunno. Maybe that should be a separate post.

Jones writes compellingly for nosy civilians like me. The book is action-packed, revealing the nature, intention, and driving force behind actions of flawed yet formidable rulers. Men, and a few women, who knew few (if any) limits to their egos and lust for power. The world benefited from the best of them. Not just in Europe, but across the world we survived the worst of them, but not without historical regression and decreased virtue.

Sounds modern, doesn't it?  Why don't we evolve into wise and just people? The human race could get by making mistakes in the past.  Now, I'm not so sure. 

"Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens" after the original 1910 fresco painting by Henry Albert Payne (British, 1868-1940) based upon a scene in Shakespeare's Henry VI, the original in the Palace of Westminster and a later similar painting by Payne in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, this print marked "copyright 1912 in London & Washington by "The Fine Art Publishing Co., Ltd. London"

An old favorite (sandwich)

My husband introduced me to things like mayonnaise and butter after we married. My family had more plebeian tastes. We used Miracle Whip and margarine. 

I ate tomato sandwiches when I was a child, consisting of white bread, tomato, and Miracle Whip. I loved them. I've tried eating these as an adult on our robust multi-grain bread with mayo, but it's just not the same.  

My grandson prefers white bread, so I had some in the freezer. This morning I decided to make myself a tomato sandwich with that white bread. What a disappointment! Maybe mayonnaise isn't sweet enough? It just wasn't what I remembered. It also wasn't the least bit filling. 

Sometimes childhood favorites don't hold up well. Our tastes evolve. Don't even get me started on Velveeta grilled "cheese" sandwiches. 

Who invented the piano?

I was trying to nap yesterday, and of course when a mind is quiet thoughts sneak in. Our grandson is taking drum lessons, and he is also learning the xylophone in the school band. Percussion. My husband (Tom) recently told me piano is also a percussion instrument. I found myself wondering "Who invented the piano?" I gave up on my nap and went outside to sit next to Tom. I was sure he'd know.  

He didn't know "who" but he launched into an interesting effusion of musical facts related to the piano, and modern western music, tuning, keys, chords and even Bach.  I never learned an instrument, so I don't have a firm grasp of musical nomenclature.  The terms don't resonate with me, but I think I understood the gist of it all.  Maybe.

I still wanted to know who invented the piano, so I googled it.  AI, currently still an obedient servant, told me this:

"The piano was invented around the year 1700 by Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori, who developed the pianoforte, an instrument capable of producing both soft and loud dynamics by using hammers to strike the strings instead of plucking them. The term "pianoforte" was eventually shortened to "piano" and is the basis for the modern instrument we know today."

Now I'm wondering what "Cristofori" means in Italian?