Phalfro

Flouroboros

I used to call him my brother. In reality he’s a half- brother and after what he put me through I will not acknowledge any relation to him.

I always knew he was insufferable, ill-tempered, a know-it-all. But I finally got to see him in full form after my dad died and he and I had to administer the estate. A short list of things he did to me during that time…

• Broke a promise to split all estate expenses 50/50 until the property was sold, sticking me with mortgage payments and the property tax bill.

• Offered zero help in cleaning the house, choosing instead to show up once a week and loudly criticize the job I was doing, in addition to insulting me every chance he got.

• Took pains to belittle the fact that I took time for myself, played in bands around town, and otherwise looked out for my mental health.

• Once I got an offer on the house, demanded that I play head games with the buyer to get a better offer, including not replying to messages. The buyer backed out and we lost the sale. Threw several temper tantrums about the price of the house the whole time, despite the house being listed for exactly its fair market value.

• Assisted me with a very expensive car repair after I got in a wreck. I made every attempt I could to pay him back over time, and he eventually got impatient and threatened me to pay him in full immediately or he’d take me to court. Proceeded to launch into a tirade over how I was to blame for all his financial problems.

There’s more but I think you get the picture.

Not pictured: the pack of American Spirits in OP’s back pocket.

Well now that depends. If it’s 10 minutes of jokes then sure. But if it’s a 10 minute lead-up to one punchline, yeah sorry, I’m in my 50’s I’m not wasting what precious few minutes I have left on that.

Oh that is some freshly pressed eye candy. 😍

I can’t be certain, but I suspect there may be some subtle sexual innuendo at play here.

I want my ex to get her shit together. For the sake of our kid. Get your drivers license already, get a job, stop sponging off me, and kindly show him that he can have two stable parents instead of one stable parent and one who’s a hot mess.

And I want to get put on salary at work but that’s a pipe dream.

Am I still gonna be able to get parts for my Kia though?

I mean, OP’s title aside, there’s nothing in the meme itself that implies that she’s exacting revenge on the flowers for her allergies. She could just be a little psychopath who enjoys kicking flowers in the face.

I kinda identify with that tbh.

Are you from the future?

How far into the future???

That might what?

That might what, motherfucker!!!?!?

Naught Pockets

And here I was, just sitting here thinking, “What are some words I’ve never seen strung together before…?”

Reddit now has a “feature” where if you’re reading in a browser, a pop up will appear after a few minutes that freezes your browser, prevents you from scrolling, and tells you to download the app.

Fuck Reddit for good. 😤

Rock on brotha. 🤘🏻

Your suggestion that I create a competing music education system is kind of hostile and defensive and weird.

I probably misread what you were saying up there. No hostility intended.

I’m retired out of music now. I work in the industrial sector and do music on the side. And I’ve learned a lot more about music since escaping academia that I’d never have gotten, and encountered people who have similarly broken away from the formalized, conservatory educational attitudes and grown as performers.

Regarding your question about samba and bossa nova, I’m not very experienced with those styles. You’d likely find instructional videos or articles out there that can explain what’s going on harmonically better than I could. I’m mostly a rock guy lol.

but I think the theory should follow the music.

My friend, it does. That’s has always been its purpose. That’s one of the points I’m trying to make. If your teachers never made that clear to you, they owe you an apology. And yes, I’m fully aware that there are musicians who place theory above practice. You don’t have to take them seriously.

I get it - if I’m reading you right you’ve come to the conclusion that ear training isn’t being given the focus it deserves. Which may be your experience but I feel like in the larger musical world aural skills are highly valued. Yeah, I’ve seen many “highly trained” kids who can sight read their ass off but freeze when you take their sheet music away. It’s common. Their teachers failed them. The music education system at large is a very fragmented thing. It’s filled with microcosms created by short-sighted instructors who value X over Y. In the performing world that I lived in, we were all ear people. We had to be. That was the way you survived on our stage. There’s lots of that happening out there. If you think you can devise a system that doesn’t currently exist that hammers that home, I’d be the first person to encourage you to do so.

Hard disagree on your point regarding music theory. Learn as much music theory as possible because that’s the path to understanding what you’re playing and why musical sounds gravitate towards and away from each other the way they do.

If you’ve viewed theory as this abstract, academic set of “rules” designed to force you to play and write only in a certain way, this is just straight up wrong. It is not that and was never intended to be. If you wrote or played something that skirts your current understanding of music theory, and it’s still sounds good, great! Carry on. You may eventually come across a theoretical explanation for it, and if you never do, that’s okay too. It’s probably still out there somewhere.

I spent several decades as a professional musician. I can’t begin to count the number of dunderheads I’ve encountered who’d say, “I don’t want to learn theory. I think it’ll limit me.” Those people are morons. There’s no such thing as knowledge that makes you less knowledgeable. If you’re one of those people, I implore you to stop being one of those people. I’m much more impressed by intellectually honest people who’ll say, “I don’t want to learn theory because I can’t get my head around it, but I still love playing.” Then carry on, brother!

All that being said, music is, at its core, a uniquely human way of expressing the human condition. And we are all allowed to use it in any way we like for whatever reasons we choose, selfish or otherwise. We’re allowed to excel at it. We’re allowed to suck at it. We’re allowed to love that music that everyone else hates. Every musical sound is meaningful. And if a music teacher is failing to make that the core of their instruction, then that music teacher is failing, period.