At my parents’ house yesterday, I sat at the baby grand and tried to compose a piano accompaniment to one of Daughter’s songs, but soon found that I can’t hear her song in my head when I’m playing; the piano drowns her out. It’d be easier if I had sheet music for her song to follow, but she doesn’t write things down. I’m not even sure that she knows how. So I put that project aside and picked up some old music written by the boys who really knew how. The classical composer Muzio Clementi flowed the most naturally through me that day, and I fell in love with his Sonatinas again, re-exploring them one by one. I mostly sight-read but would love to really familiarize myself with them again, play them as I used to. As I used to — when was that? I looked closely at old notations and dates. 1986. Good lord, I aced exams, recitals and competitions playing this stuff when I was ten and am now struggling through the trills and turns and hitting the right key without looking down?! =P

I need to get a piano. But first I’d need a bigger house.