Lying in bed, he thought to himself, that if he would write down what he was to do that day. He would do it. He would be held accountable by his own written words. Even though they were not physical, not real, or even written, but typed. He knew he could go back and edit it, so he did it anyway.
It all started with the hum of a car, outside an apartment building on the street. And every few minutes, an impatient, lazy car horn. When Saul heard it for the third time, he repeated to himself in the rhythme of the horn "Saul... Arthur..." He told himself that that was his alarm, even if he had no particular good reason to wake up. But Saul stood up anyway, hearing the cat outside the door talking to him. The cat was hungry. He wanted some fish. Saul responded to him and slowly cranked open a can of chicken from the sea. He started a pot of coffee, and proceeded to crack three eggs into a pan, water plants in another room, return to flip the eggs, stripped naked in the bathroom, weigh himself, then return to eat his eggs.
Facing the stereo speakers, an instrumental song played. It's scottish, like the steel-cut oats in the kitchen pantry. But the music wasn't the Scottish music you're probably thinking of. It's the sound of colours, late 70's early 80's keyboard sounds, weird tv noises, nintendo game bleeps. But I don't feel like music can be described with words. I feel like music is a shared experience between the listeners. The makers of music are listeners too. Thats how they make it. The become really quiet, even if they are talking really loud, or dancing, even if they are talking really loud and dancing, and if they hear a bleep, or any sound at all emerge from the cacaphony, they listen to it. But its the recreation, thats where things go wrong, or, thats where things go right. Try listening to what Saul heard. Close your eyes. Turn off your other senses. Stop your mind. Don't even let it calculate the timing of the song. Don't tap your foot. Don't open your eyes. Listen from start to finish. Listen to "Orange Romeda" just like Arthur did.
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Later that day, he heard another song.
We've been through some things together
With trunks of memories still to come
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run.
Well, it was back in Blind River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shifton the long decline
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run.
Maybe The Beach Boys have got you now
With those waves singing "Caroline No"
Rollin' down that empty ocean road
Gettin' to the surf on time.
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run
A man on the Television pleaded with him."Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, I'm telling you, amazing things will happen."
Television was one of his religions.
Music was one of his religions.
He read about Sig Figs. The number of digits that carry meaning, contributing precision. Or something to that effect.
Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)
Methods
His own composing method was craftsman-like and perfectionistic. Igor Stravinsky once referred to Ravel as "the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers", a reference to the intricacy and precision of Ravel's works.[106] Ravel might work on a piece over several years to develop it to the best possible result, “My objective, therefore, is technical perfection. I can strive unceasingly to this end, since I am certain of never being able to attain it. The important thing is to get nearer to it all the time.”[107]
More specifically he stated:
”In my own compositions I judge a long period of conscious gestation necessary. During this interval I come progressively, and with growing precision, to see the form and the evolution that the final work will take in its tonality. Thus I can be occupied for several years without writing a single note of the work, after which composition goes relatively quickly. But one must spend much time in eliminating all that could be regarded as superfluous in order to realize as completely as possible the definitive clarity so much desired. The moment arrives when new conceptions must be formulated for the final composition, but they cannot be artificially forced for they come only of their own accord, often deriving their original from some far-off perception and only manifesting themselves after long years.” [106]
The search for aliens should start on Earth not outer space, says scientist
The search for alien life forms should be conducted here on Earth rather than in outer space, scientists have claimed.
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How many Eyes does this woman have?
Four, he told himself.
What just happened? What was that decade?
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight- The Postal Service
Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine
Never Ending Math Equation - Sun Kil Moon
Missed The Boat - Modest Mouse
The Room Behind Your Smile
Where Everything Looks Possible
The Skys will bend
where are you are going
You Feel So Alive
The very things people complain about, Ms. Malcolm wrote, were the qualities that made Mr. Salinger great. That the Glasses (and, by implication, their creator) were not at home in the world was the whole point, she said, which said as much about the world as about the kind of people who failed to get along there.