Preloved Books and the Black and White Keys

I went to the city on Friday and was killing some time at a second hand bookshop. I never actually thought I'd see anything nice. See, I always thought 2nd hand bookshops were with old crummy books that people read before. But to my surprise, there are a whole lot of books there that are still in good conditions. And a whole bunch of hardbacks. Also, I found a whole lot of old books. In the end, pressed for time I just bought 1 book, a hardcover copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I shall go back when I free and bring a large bag. Books, lovely books.

And also, just watched a documentary on Alex Stobbs. He suffers from cystic fibrosis and still has great will and determination to achieve his goals in studying music at Cambridge and is doing so now. I guess if he can do it, and I can with my writing. Just need to be more focused and persistent.

Then with the music, it actually inspired for the first time in probably 3 years, to lift the covers off my piano and play. I found I've forgotten most of the songs I've learnt before. But there came an old familiarity. The music sounded beautiful again. I remember I stopped because I felt I did not have enough time to practice and be perfect. Everything I played sounded harsh and rude, like I was butchering the pieces. But now, It sounds right. So I've started playing again. Recovering the forgotten bits of Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and I'm more than halfway through recovering my memory on that. It sounds pretty alright now. And also learning another piece by Mily Balakirev. I've just learned a line and a half. I'm a slow learner. But I love playing now. It brings peace to me, and the voices in my head quiet down. I have not had that in ages.