For the rest of 2010 and next year, I’ll be spending much of my leisure time outside of work, studying the works of Tolstoy and F. Chopin. 2010 marks the centennial anniversary of Tolstoy’s death and the bicentennial anniversary of Chopin’s birth. One of my regrets in college was not signing up for either of the quarter-long classes on War & Peace and Anna Karenina. I think reading works of literary realism and its central themes of one’s struggles (social, personal, spiritual), morality, etc, would do me some good at this stage of my life & career. Because I have self-diagnosed myself as having ADHD, I’ll start with his short stories and essays before tackling his larger works.

Still working on the Chopin Etudes Op. 25. I’m hoping I have fewer distractions this time around. It’s good that at my new residence, I’ll have an actual piano to practice on, which should help things along. My hope is that I can reach a level where I’ll be able to think about the music from the composer’s point-of-view/intent, but also be able to play the piece differently on a sunny day versus on a rainy day. Maybe I’ll make a recording of each etude after I’ve learned it.

drawing again

I paid the art supplies store a visit recently and will start drawing again after a 4 year hiatus. I kinda miss it, and with a lot of stuff on my plate lately, I need a good relaxant, and this is ideal (provided that it doesn’t take too much of my time…). My new drawing will be kinda ambitious…It’ll require that I learn how to draw human figures/facial features (which I’ve never done before).