troubadoureccentric - Network

We had our family Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I decided to serve spatchcock turkey instead of the usual smoked bird. I roasted and served...

We had our family Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I decided to serve spatchcock turkey instead of the usual smoked bird. I roasted and served it on a bed of chopped onions, peppers, parsnips, potatoes, and mushrooms. I also had intended to use squash and zucchini, but we ran out of room in the pan. It cooked faster (therefore stayed moist), tasted great, and was far easier than smoking. I’m pleased. My family, having heaped scorn on me for “Dad’s weird turkey experiment,” were pleased too.

Having been on Mastodon for several days, I’m becoming comfortable with my role as Resident Old Fart at nerdculture.de. Although I have...

Having been on Mastodon for several days, I’m becoming comfortable with my role as Resident Old Fart at nerdculture.de. Although I have found this community pleasant, engaging, and enlightening, I have yet to cross paths with anyone I actually know. So I am impelled to ask: “You guys are real, aren’t you? I mean this is not some Trumanesque scenario constructed for your entertainment, right?”

In a former life, when I needed to write or arrange music I used Finale. Now, though, I have settled on the free program #Musescore. With...

In a former life, when I needed to write or arrange music I used Finale. Now, though, I have settled on the free program #Musescore. With few exceptions, it does everything I need easily and quickly. The people for whom I write - many of whom are Luddites - don't have much patience for listening to the scores I save online using musescore.com. However, they seem to feel quite comfortable listening to the mp3 practice tracks Muscore creates.

We’re all familiar with the nature’s changes over the seasons. We’re less aware of the changes over years and decades. Hillsides...

We’re all familiar with the nature’s changes over the seasons. We’re less aware of the changes over years and decades. Hillsides smooth, holes fill in, trees provide more welcome (and sometimes unwelcome) shade, panoramic views become obscured. It’s easy to miss it unless you stay put for awhile. And see.

The Woman I Love and I play and sing in four separate musical groups. All four take Christmas very seriously. So for us Christmas began in...

The Woman I Love and I play and sing in four separate musical groups. All four take Christmas very seriously. So for us Christmas began in October and is coming to a head now.

I love Christmas music; I really do. But there are times when the 13th slightly different version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen gets a little confusing.

I play the #HammeredDulcimer (HD), not particularly well but with great joy. Lately I've had fun reflecting on the logic of its layout...

I play the #HammeredDulcimer (HD), not particularly well but with great joy. Lately I've had fun reflecting on the logic of its layout of strings (mine has more than 100).

I have five keys (E, A, D, G, and C) that I call "natural HD keys." What I mean by that is that, thanks to the simple logic of my layout, I can play nearly every chord I've ever wanted to use in those keys using exactly the same striking pattern.

I can play in other keys, but I have to stop and scratch my head.