2017 Goals

It has become an annual tradition for me and a couple close friends to write and share each other’s goals for the year. For Greg and Maureen’s awesome posts, please go here and here respectively.

Without further adieu, here are my goals for 2017.

Get Married

I recently got engaged to my girlfriend Em. We have been dating for 2 ½ years and we are looking forward to starting a life together. In the legal sense, this is a trivial goal that does not require more than a couple hours of planning. But I put it here for two reasons:

(1) I’d like to remind myself constantly to take the engagement process seriously. The vows we are going to make are important, and I plan to take the time to reflect and prepare. Since we will be getting married in the Catholic church, we will be taking marriage prep class, which I genuinely hope is worth the time. Also, there is a tendency in modern day to have the discerning process end at engagement, when really that should be the beginning.

(2) I have seen enough weddings to know that this is a rare time in life in which the bride and groom will have the most interaction with all their family and friends. I’d like to take full advantage of that and enjoy those moments.

Move Out

If you asked me at the beginning of 2016 if I would be living with my parents by the end of the year, I most likely would have said no. But I made that decision this fall, and have been very happy since. With that said, it was always meant to be a temporary arrangement and every person needs to leave their parents house at some point. I’m not sure if we will buy or rent, but either would be a big enough process to be included here.

Graduate

3 ½ years ago, I decided to take on a sort of crazy adventure by pursuing a graduate degree in applied and computational mathematics. It has been stressful, rewarding, disappointing, not what I expected, exactly what I expected, and much more. This spring, I have one more course to take. If I pass it, I graduate.

Take Piano Lessons

Each year, I put some version of “learn to play the piano” on my goals, and each year I fail miserably. What I seem to lack most is the discipline to set aside the time and practice regularly. So this year, I’m going to call in the cavalry and get some lessons. Note that the goal implies more than one lesson, and so that’s what I will use to measure myself.

Improve Coding Skills

My eventual goal for coding is to be able to freelance on the side, but I have a long way to go. I already have knowledge of Python, Bash, R and SQL. This year, I’d like to learn more about operating systems and hardware in general, as well as learn some front end development with CSS, HTML, Javascript, Ruby on Rails, etc.

Write

This is my second post on the blog this year, so I am off to a good start. I always have a lot of drafts hanging around that are never perfect, so I’m going to force myself to publish a little more this year. I figure it’s better to publish and learn from feedback than to be a hoarder of half-finished essays.

Eat Out Less

I waste too much money on eating out, especially at work. My new simple goal / rule is to only buy a meal at work once each week. This gets really challenging when life is busy, but I’m going to do my best.

A Novice's Guide to Classical Music

This is a short post intended for those that think classical music is outdated and irrelevant, or that struggle to find the appeal. I do not claim to be any expert on the subject. On the contrary, I am writing this post because I never envisioned myself listening to classical music or attending concerts, but I have spent a lot of time doing both these past few years.

Despite my new interest, I still find many “great” composers to be inaccessible and challenging. Maybe other listeners have more patience, but I have fallen into my own journey through short, beautiful pieces - the type of music that would draw the attention of anyone. As a guide for those interested in exploring, I wanted to list the most immediately compelling pieces I have encountered. Unlike catchy hits on the radio, these will stick with you for years.

There is a good deal of confusion surrounding what is considered “good music”, especially when it involves something that isn’t contemporary. There are those that would try to make you feel guilty for the things you like and belittle you for not recognizing something they see as a superior work of art. (I must admit that I have been on the wrong side of this before.) I will simply say this: continue to listen to things that interest you, be sure to leave your comfort zone occasionally, and as in all things, the greatest pleasure comes only after great work. What you tend to like first will almost certainly not be the thing you like most, but it’s important to start somewhere.

Before proceeding to the list, here are some quick guides I have found helpful for finding new pieces: If you want to try orchestral music, start with Beethoven. His brilliant use of altered repetition makes his 9 symphonies and 5 piano concertos instantly likeable. For solo piano works, try Chopin’s Nocturnes, Ballades and Impromptus. When in doubt, pull up Bach’s shorter pieces for solo violin and keyboard. If you like a particular performer, search that person in youtube to explore other composers. Do likewise for your favorite composers as a way to find new performers.

Bach - Prelude in C Major (~2 min)

A simple expression of harmony, which is the first movement in a much larger work called the “Well-Tempered Clavier”. It is undeniably one of the most famous and influential pieces of music ever, and its recording is currently being broadcasted in interstellar space as part of the voyager record. If you are a beginner piano player, you should learn to play this. I spent 2 days working through it when I was in my early twenties and it was one of the most thrilling experiences I have ever had.

Chopin - Ballade No 1 (~10 min)

Dizzying and dreamlike. Vladamir Horowitz’s interpretation is one of a kind, but it’s difficult to find a high quality recording of it, so if you’re looking for something a little cleaner, try Krystian Zimerman’s recordings which are flawless.

Chopin - Nocturne Op 9 No 2 (~4 min)

Instantly recognizable, and hopefully not just because of it’s use in commercials.

Bach Partita No 1 (~11 min)

Bach wrote 6 partitas for the harpsichord (the modern piano did not exist in Bach’s time). They are all relatively short, unstructured works that have multiple movements. Numbers 1, 2 and 6 (listed below) are my favorites, and I almost always listen to Glenn Gould’s recordings.

Bach Partita No 6 Toccata (~6 min)

This is a great introduction to “counterpoint”, the discipline of having multiple harmonies exist simultaneously as distinct melodies and as contributing parts of a whole.

Debussy - Clair de Lune (~5 min)

Most will recognize this from Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 13. It’s a beautiful piece for the solo piano written by the French composer Debussy. It is the most modern piece (late 1800’s) on this list.

Schubert - Impromptu No 3 (~7 min)

A haunting piece for the solo piano.

Beethoven - Violin Concerto in D Major (~45 min)

This violin concerto will convince you of the importance of repetition in music. Beethoven brings the same themes back again and again with small variations that produce tiny thrills each time. It is the longest piece on this list, and I am not a proponent of classical music being something you listen to in the background because it sounds “nice”, so I would recommend starting with the 1st movement (~25 min).

Mozart - Symphony No. 25 in G Minor (~20 min)

This is a great introduction to symphony. Mozart has many of these worth exploring.  

Beethoven Violin Romance in F Major (~8 min)

Mostly light in cheerful, but with some minor key parts that will give you goosebumps, this is a short piece written for a solo violin performer accompanied by string orchestra. The recording in the link is by German-Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich, accompanied by the German Radio Philharmonic.

Bach Piano Concerto No. 7, 2nd Movement (~6 min)

Written for the harpsichord, all three movements are relatively short for a concerto. It is worth listening to in its entirety, but I’d like to highlight the slower “Andante” movement which starts at 3:56 in the link.