Things are much better today. I got out of the house, which was a godsend, really. I was in a Debussy mood, so I went to the music store and bought the sheet music for Clair de Lune.

If you aren't a piano person, you probably wouldn't know that Clair de Lune is a bit of a pianist's cliche. Every 16-20 year old girl who plays piano halfway decently tries to master this piece. The person who edited my sheet music calls it "at once a delicate and luminescent picture of half-light and half-shadow," whatever that means. It can be translated to "girls and homos dig it." File under "Tori Amos" and "Mixed Drinks that Come with Umbrellas."

I have resisted buying Clair de Lune for about five years now, mostly because I didn't want to fall into that trap. I love Debussy's piano music because it is gorgeous, expressive, and strays from the rigidity of tonality. (Music from the Classical period: how dreadful!) However, I also like Debussy because much of his piano music is surprisingly obscure. People know Clair and they know Prelude de Apres-midi d'un Faun (I'm sure I butchered that), but beyond that you won't hear too much of it performed. Therefore, I always considered Debussy to be "my" composer, and the people who only play the aforementioned songs don't know the first thing about impressionist music.

However, I finally caved in and bought the damn music because I have been in the mood to play something "delicate and luminscent" recently, and I woke up this morning thinking of the the movie Fantasia 2000, which features Clair de Lune. The book I'm currently reading talks a lot about Debussy, so I figured I should follow fate's finger and purchase the stupid piece.

And I love it. Of course. It is "shimmering and at times flashy" (my own words), and "warmly lyrical" (the editor's words). And really fun to play. So I guess I've joined the ranks of the Legion of Intermediate Pianists. What next: Moonlight Sonata??

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I also bought a book of scales and arpeggios by Hanon. I figured that after eighteen years of piano playing, I should finally figure out how to work those scale thingies. I was mortified a few years ago when I failed the entrance exam into introductory piano because I couldn't play arpeggios from memory. Sight reading was no problem. I played fucking Rachmaninoff as my audition selection. But I couldn't play E Minor without thinking, and for that they failed me.

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The guy working at the music store hit on me. I tried to remember the last time that happened. Definitely not since I left Madison a few months ago.

It's funny how isolation can make you think that you're really ugly. Maybe I need a boyfriend to stroke my ego more than anything else. Hmm. I'll have to think about this.

The guy was okay, but a little too trended-out for me. Thick-rimmed black glasses, slightly shaggy, greasy hair. You know the type. Someone who has a "scene."