Less TV, more books and piano please

When we renovated what was previously the music studio to become the baby's room, we moved the upstairs TV down into basement storage, simply because we have a fairly small house and couldn't figure out where else to put it on the main floor. (We have a large TV in the finished rec room downstairs, so it's not like we're anti-TV or anything.)

So now, I am still watching TV, but it's very conscious, intentional watching instead of just having it on for white noise/filler like I used to before. Now I watch less than 3 hours of TV per week. I tape Law & Order SVU, The Bionic Woman, and The Women's Murder Club (based on a series of James Patterson mystery novels, which I have read and loved). Those last two shows are new this season and are fabulous. And because I tape them, I can fast forward through the ads and it only takes about 2.25 hours to watch them.

So what this means is that I have more time and brainspace to read and practice the piano!Lately I have had so much practicing to do on the horn that I haven't had much time for piano, but in a few weeks when things die down completely I am going to get the Beethoven back out. I've been working on his Eb sonata, Les Adieux, No. 26. I just love it, even though it's taking me a while to learn (horn player here, not really a pianist except for fun). It's so joyful and effervescent. Around this time of year, I also love practicing the Vince Guaraldi classics from the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Christmas specials; they're just so refreshing, both classic and original at the same time. By the way, have I even mentioned to you lately how much I love our piano? It's been nearly a year since we had it delivered, and I cannot tell you how much I have just adored having it on our home.

I always read before I go to bed, because it helps untangle/unwind my brain and send me off. I finished Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts, which was quite good quality "chick lit". I then tore into the historical fiction category of my reading genre rotation, choosing Kevin Baker's Paradise Alley. It was a very detailed and in depth portrayal of the draft riots in NYC during the Civil War. I didn't expect it to be as riveting and engrossing as it was, but I'm telling you, with all of the incredibly varied characters and social commentary, I was completely sucked in. I also learned a lot about the historical events surrounding that particular place in history. Marvelous.

So after finishing that one, which though good was quite long, I've moved on to my third favorite fiction type: the murder mystery. There's nothing like a good James Patterson novel to get the pages turning, and I'm reading his 5th book in his "Women's Murder Club" series called The Fifth Horseman. It's even more fun reading it now that I'm also watching the ABC show "Women's Murder Club" (see above) that this series inspired!

Please write to let me know what you're reading/watching these days. I always love your recommendations and find them very inspiring! And yes, I know, I'll enjoy all this reading and TV time now while I still can! Because my life as I know it, and all of my free time (all 2.25 hours of TV per week and 20 minutes of reading per night before bed), is going to END when I have a child! (Timpani rolls loudly and plays Funeral March Ostinato of Doom...)