Because Organists are awesome

You may not know this, but I was, for a while, an organ scholar. I guess I was okay at playing the usual stuff and I did (for many years) play organ for Church services. It, along with Starbucks barista duty, was the way I supplemented my student loan (and parental contributions)*. Anyway, a fine tradition among…

U.S. Healthcare Isn’t the NHS. But Neither System is Perfect.

Watching my friends make their own trip from Bristol, UK to just a few hundred miles further north on our side of the U.S., I’ve been reminded how quickly we humans adjust to things. We’ve only been in Portland since the end of August, just three and a bit months ahead of our friends, but…

Safe Travels Dear Friends. We’ll See You On This Side

So today — or rather yesterday if you’re reading this from the UK — my dear friend Pyoor and her wife Kathryn started the second (or perhaps it’s third) stage of moving home. They’re following in our footsteps. With visas acquired for Pyoor (her wife happens to be American too) and their house sold, they have spend the…

Darth Trump. It Is Beautiful. It Is Amazing. And We Should Share It Around The World

Because comedy is always the best way to make really scary people look like complete and utter fools. That’s what Trump is. A complete and utter fool, who has enough money to be heard. And that makes him a really scary, xenophobic fascist who needs to be shown for what he really is. After all,…

Now Upgraded With Shiny, Small Things!

Dear people of the Internet, You’ll have noticed in the past few weeks that the www.aminorjourney.com domain has been somewhat missing from the Internet. This is because this site is hosted on an old MacMini G4, complete with a thoroughly ancient spinning hard drive which has, it seems, completed its useful life in this world.…

Resurrequiem – Part of the Four Year Harvest

So, in the past few weeks, I’ve found myself talking about my previous life — as a classically-trained oboist — with several different people. And one of the pieces that I’ve never got around to sharing is Resurrequiem by Julia Usher — a piece commissioned for my final graduating recital at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.…

There’s This Book, And You Should Read It.

<Geekmode squee=”true”> The Martian by Andy Weir is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. I’ve read it more than once. In fact, I’m half-way through my third audio reading of it. And you need to read it because of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CumZP6_9sHU No, see, I’m serious. It’s going to be…