pages tagged musicYareev's schmonz.comhttps://schmonz.com/tag/music/Yareev's schmonz.comikiwiki2023-11-09T19:37:33ZIntermissionhttps://schmonz.com/2023/11/09/intermission/Amitai Schleier2023-11-09T19:37:33Z2023-11-09T16:18:24Z
<p>It’s been a few weeks since
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTc5eIkWzgo&list=PLkuryjnRFclTzNyap3TRgLtWxgQmbu5Am&index=50">my last Weekly Piano Miniature</a>
and I don’t feel bad about it.
That’s a strong signal.</p>
<p>Why don’t I feel bad?
Because
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkuryjnRFclTzNyap3TRgLtWxgQmbu5Am">Weekly Piano Miniatures</a>
lasted an entire year (and
<a href="https://schmonz.com/2022/08/15/daily-piano-miniatures/">Daily Piano Miniatures</a>
for five months before that — all told, nearly 500 minutes of music).
Because my 100-year-old piano finally sounds rough enough that it’s been hard to want to play.
Because my energy is needed for family, health, and finding work.
Because I’m not worried I’ll stop making music.
Because if the last few pieces will have to keep reverberating for a while, I’m pleased that they’re three consecutive Medtners.</p>
<p>I hadn’t intended to pause the music project, but it’s intentional now.
Recording will resume
<a href="https://schmonz.com/2023/08/05/who-needs-an-amitai/">once I’m employed</a>
and have a more enjoyable instrument.
Let’s all look forward to that.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2023/10/18/now/Amitai Schleier2023-10-18T16:37:08Z2023-10-18T15:19:03Z
<p>The boys are really getting the hang of school.
The little guy walks just down the street.
The big guy rides his scooter nearly a mile.
When he gets home, before whatever comes next, he writes a sentence about the school day in his journal.
One after-school activity that’s started back up is weekly music lessons; he taught himself quite a lot since last time, and is thrilled to be back with his teacher.
Another likely candidate (after trying it yesterday) is a place designed for kids to learn about programming.
He’s done a few warmups to this, like Robot Turtles a few years ago, and it seems like something he could love — especially when he’s ready to move, probably soon, from visual analogues to actual textual code.
And he’s expressed interest in soccer.
That’s going to be plenty.</p>
<p>The chickens have gotten the hang of the German language school on Saturday mornings, too.
Since we’re all there anyway, the availability of classes for adult learners has become compelling.
College Yiddish and years of Duolingo have given me a good head start.
The time has finally come for me to learn German with intention, fellow learners, and a teacher.</p>
<p>My
<a href="https://schmonz.com/2023/08/05/who-needs-an-amitai/">job search</a>
continues.
I did decently well on a four-hour technical interview a couple weeks back, but not well enough to be the one selected for the engineering role.
Too bad: I’m sure I would have performed at a high level, raised the level of those around me, learned a lot, and enjoyed the job.
All that’ll have to happen somewhere else — perhaps as an engineering manager (interview Tuesday), perhaps as a technical coach (interview tomorrow), perhaps something else.
I’m beginning to hope that the picture will resolve soonish.
In the meantime, my strict schedule of strafing social media will continue until someone hires me.
The schedule (US/Eastern):</p>
<ul>
<li>Monday and Friday mornings: A conversation-starter from
<a href="https://agilein3minut.es/">Agile in 3 Minutes</a></li>
<li>Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons:
<a href="https://twitch.tv/schmonzie">Live-coding Open Source software</a></li>
<li>Tuesday lunchtimes: Zoom office hours</li>
<li>Wednesday middays: One of the many podcasts I’ve guested on</li>
</ul>
<p>Music-wise, for the last several weeks in a row I’ve learned-well-enough a string of Medtner pieces.
Hoping to extend the streak this week.
I got to play a neighbor’s new used baby grand, smaller but far surer than my childhood piano.
It was a remarkable little joy to do the same thing I’ve been doing and have entirely different sounds come out.
When the time comes to replace what I’ve got, I hope to find something half as good.
Until then, I’ll continue playing this centenarian Baldwin into the ground.</p>
<p>B needs to go be with her family in Germany for a bit.
I’m thankful my folks are so close by.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2023/01/01/now/Amitai Schleier2023-01-01T14:55:12Z2023-01-01T13:51:30Z
<p>I try to write once a month about what I’m up to, but it’s been five months.
Well, let’s start the new year off right.</p>
<p>One change since August that accounts for much of the above and more: after nearly a year of parental leave, I’ve returned to the workforce.
I’d been looking around without much clarity about what I’d like to do and be able to do when a friend I’d worked with before invited me to join a small new software development team focused on legacy codebases, working remotely and with very flexible hours, in the form of regular employment with benefits, with no interview hoops to jump through.
A few months in, it’s exactly what I’ve been needing as I relearn how to have uninterrupted conversations with grownups and express shared understanding as running code.
My teammates are very strong in areas where I’m either still rusty (including my energy, attention, and focus) or have no previous level of fluency to regain (such as modern JavaScript).
That contributes to our effectiveness as a team, of course — but I’m also eager to be pulling my weight, and each week I’m getting a bit closer.</p>
<p>We’re wrapping up a month in Germany, Galila’s first visit.
Finias was born here under trying circumstances at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and every time we’ve driven past the hospital I’ve felt a mix of how frightening it was for us then and how lovely things are now.
For Taavi it must have felt like this every single place we’ve been.
By having become better able to process his version of those experiences, he has put us more at ease about whether our parenting actions under duress were okay enough.
We’ll never feel sure, but we can take a deep breath.</p>
<p>When work started, my Daily Piano Miniatures turned into Weekly.
I kind of miss the intensity and urgency of needing to get <em>something</em> shipped every day.
Once a week still fits my schedule, though.
One happy outcome from DPM is that if a day occasionally goes by without any pianoing, it’s a weird day.
Not everything about me is well in order, but one thing I did allllll the way right this year was giving myself the gift of nonstop music-making.
I bet, with a little more room, I can do more things right with me.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
Think. Design. Work Smart: Amitai Schleier - Music, Programming, Disciplinehttps://schmonz.com/talk/20221029-think-design-work-smart/Amitai Schleier2022-10-30T14:13:42Z2022-10-30T13:57:10Z
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/alexboly">Alex Bolboacă</a>
had me on his show to talk about
the connections — some of which I’m aware of — between making music and developing software,
an enjoyable professional life in legacy code,
and how I got this way.</p>
<div class="video-container">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vvUwHagmxvY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
Daily piano miniatureshttps://schmonz.com/2022/08/15/daily-piano-miniatures/Amitai Schleier2022-08-15T18:42:02Z2022-08-15T18:12:30Z
<p>Since May, I’ve been posting a new video just about every day.
What’s in the videos?
A short piano piece, played as well as I can quickly learn it.
“Short” means, based on a sample size of 72 videos, two and a half minutes on average.
(You’ll probably agree, coming from the
<a href="https://agilein3minut.es">Agile in 3 Minutes</a>
guy, that tracks.)
Don’t like what you’re hearing?
No problem, the next piece is short too.
Here’s the
<a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkuryjnRFclQJqoIVpk9W9-eIRswejo-R">full YouTube playlist</a>,
totaling over 3 hours of music so far.</p>
<p>Half a lifetime ago, I was already a musician and a technologist.
I’d have believed the future existence of a video-hosting platform such as YouTube.
Everything else, nope, no way that’s future-me.</p>
<p><img src="https://schmonz.com/2022/08/15/daily-piano-miniatures/recital.png" width="400" height="400" alt="1997 CWRU recital program" title="1998 CWRU recital program" class="img" /></p>
<p>I’d given this recital hoping for a tuition grant.
Having heard me play, the university accepted me as a music major.
Problem is, I hadn’t wanted that.
I wanted CS classes more than anything and my advisor from the music department couldn’t get me into those.</p>
<p>I frazzled out at that university, and almost certainly would have regardless of which courses I took.</p>
<p>8 years later I
<a href="https://schmonz.com/2005/09/07/first-week-of-classes/">tried again at another university</a>.
At that point music <em>was</em> what I wanted to study.
I graduated at 30 with a bachelor’s in it.</p>
<p>I also graduated with a changed belief.</p>
<p>My belief at the time of the pictured 1997 recital, and at the
<a href="https://schmonz.com/2007/11/14/medtner-music-and-me/">beginning of the fall 2005 semester</a>:
reading music is an aptitude, I lack it, and I compensate well enough by memorizing quickly.</p>
<p>My belief a few years later:
sight-reading is a skill.
By practicing it, I’ve gotten much better.</p>
<p>Obvious to me now, and surely obvious to you well before now.
But young-musician-me had been resigned to playing only pieces that others could show me and help me with.
I would never have believed a different experience were possible.</p>
<p>Lots of lessons in this:
for me personally, for how I raise (and praise) my kids, for
<a href="https://latentagility.com">how I work in and with teams</a>.
Most of all:
by changing a key belief, I changed how I relate to music.
You can
<a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkuryjnRFclQJqoIVpk9W9-eIRswejo-R">see and hear the fruits of that</a>.</p>
<p>How did I get that belief to change? Well, that’s the magic, isn’t it.
Lots of things had to change a little bit.</p>
<p>What else changed when I gave myself a more direct relationship to music-making? Another thing I never would have guessed:
making more direct relationships with you.
In conclusion, behavior, conditions, beliefs, mindset, behavior, and so on, forever.
But mainly, thanks for listening.
And I don’t mean about the music.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2021/06/23/now/Amitai Schleier2021-06-24T01:17:06Z2021-06-24T01:11:34Z
<p>We arrived in Nyack three weeks ago.
(I know this because we got our first Pfizer doses the very next day, and tomorrow is my second.)
We got out of the car and momentously lowered a barefoot Finias to the ground for his first steps on American soil.
Taavi recognized the place immediately and has been recognizing more aspects of it ever since, including the Montessori school down the street where he had just started four days before everything started closing.
This week he started at summer camp there.
It’s been unquestionably terrific for him, and for us.</p>
<p>Upon arrival, the house was in good enough shape (thanks to two brothers-in-law) that we could safely land the kids’ bedtime.
A few days later we were mostly time-adjusted, Bekki had removed most of the remnants of long-term mouse habitation, and we were starting to get organized and settled.
I had a few client obligations at the end of the week and was able to meet them, if a bit groggily.</p>
<p>Returning to the house meant returning to visual reminders of the mental state we’d been in when we left it: nervous about nearly everything — including the health of the baby-to-be and our chances of being able to fly — and frantically collecting supporting documents and packing for what would surely be one of the last flights out for quite some time.
I’ve heard from more than one person that our story sounded like a movie script.
It might have felt more like one if we’d had any room left over for more feelings.</p>
<p>Driving Taavi around Rockland County for his first nap brought me back, too.
Near my sister’s house, where we would be seeing them outside for Shabbat the following day.
Near the place we got the fetal MRI.
Near the house where Taavi was a baby and where we said goodbye to Haskell.
Past a bunch of favorite places in Nyack.
Later, we walked past a bunch more on our way to the park.</p>
<p>For the first few days, Taavi sometimes said he wanted to fly by himself back to Germany.
As expected, that was quickly over with.
He says hello to strangers on the street, delighted that they speak English.
We went to the donut shop for the first time in 15 months (not counting the dozens of times we went there in Google Street View) and he ordered his donut himself.
It worked out in his favor.</p>
<p>Most of the worries we brought with us to Germany are gone now, replaced by new ones.
Finias joined us and he’s sweet and opinionated and picking up new skills by the day.
And my sister, the doctor at a huge teaching hospital in the Bronx, made it through.
She and her kids dropped by for ice cream this afternoon.
No big deal.
We’re here.
And yesterday our parents drove away from the house we grew up in.
Tomorrow, sometime after I get my second shot, they’ll arrive at their new home across the river from us.
The last time I hugged them was for their 50th anniversary in fall 2019.
The next time — and the first time they hug Finias — is close at hand.</p>
<p>A couple months from now we’ll be back in Germany for another year, this time more premeditated.
Meanwhile, no moments to take for granted, and lots to take care of while we’re here.
High on the list: regular piano workouts.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2021/05/24/now/Amitai Schleier2021-05-24T10:32:53Z2021-05-24T10:29:07Z
<p><a href="https://pubmob.com/offerings/amitaischleier-legacy-open-source-fridays/">Legacy Open Source Fridays</a>, which kicked off in April, has immediately become a pleasant surprise: several regular participants are returning every week, and others are merely saying nice things in public. We began by finding <a href="https://github.com/notqmail/notqmail/pull/213">a small notqmail pull request</a> to review, noticing that we wish the code had been covered by tests first, and jumping through the various hoops required by C in order to write those tests. (A few seats are still open. Tell your friends and coworkers.)</p>
<p>Another pleasant surprise: a well-known software company has me facilitating a private version of the same material. I’m excited that sharing my excitement for <a href="https://notqmail.org/">one of my favorite Open Source projects</a> is causing it to be reflected back to me, and pleased that I’m able to carve out time and attention for it simply by honoring other people’s time and attention. (Still wishing for more, though. So much I want to do.)</p>
<p>Other client work these days includes facilitating ensemble programming sessions several times a week for a pharmaceutical company, introducing ensembling (a.k.a. mobbing) at a food delivery service, doing management consulting at a no-code platform provider, and observing for a few days’ assessment at an online retailer. It’s a satisfying mix, especially considering I’d never be able to travel regularly between Dubai, Frankfurt, Manchester, New York, and Austin. My work plate is healthful and filling.</p>
<p>The big guy’s two weeks shy of 4. We’ll be in New York in time for his birthday. The remodeling effort at <em>that</em> house is done (including Ethernet to my new office, if I’m lucky), and not one but two brothers-in-law have been on-site helping get the house ready for our international arrival. Everyone’s coming home to a new bedroom arrangement, including the kid we added since last time we were there.</p>
<p>The remodeling effort at <em>this</em> house will continue (and get all the way done, if we’re lucky) while we’re gone for the summer. But it’s been done enough for us to live in for the last month, and that’s been a difference-maker. When it’s time to come back, we’ll be comfortable.</p>
<p>The little guy finally got his followup MRI. Surgeon says thumbs up, looks great, follow up again in another year. (We already thought he was doing great, talking and singing and walking and flinging himself, so this was just confirmation.) The big guy got a comparatively minor surgery a month ago and that’s all fine now, though it hasn’t magically made him better at sleeping.</p>
<p>June JC-JUG will be almost sort of local. We’ve all gotten the hang of my workdays in Central Europe time with afternoon kindergarten. We’ll have to find a new equilibrium in US/Eastern with Montessori preschool four days a week.</p>
<p>Stopped our mail forwarding a few weeks ago. Bought short-term US health insurance for the whole family. Defrosted my monthly meat delivery service, first shipment coming a few days after we arrive. Ordered new shoes, clothes, and a new M1 MacBook Air. Scheduled a piano tuneup for our arrival and a dentist appointment for July (by which point we’ll be thoroughly vaccinated). Set up an account for grocery delivery from our favorite place so there’s no further futzing when we need to order. Our car, having sat in the driveway for two springs and a winter, will need towing (thanks in advance, AAA!) and who knows how much service. So the airport rental car won’t be getting returned for at least a couple weeks.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2021/03/17/now/Amitai Schleier2021-03-17T10:57:36Z2021-03-17T10:31:32Z
<p>On Friday, I’m giving a talk.
It’s my first time being paid to speak.
An online retailer that had a great year needs to grow quickly, and is trying to add software developers who can help preserve and improve its culture.
They’re planning to host a series of talks by speakers who can attract such developers.
I’m very happily boggled to be first.</p>
<p>I’m out of practice at giving talks, though.
At conferences and meetups I usually facilitate interactive learning experiences, similar to what I do in my consulting work.
So I’ve been practicing and preparing a little extra, including working out a setup for giving this kind of talk remotely.
I’ve been reflecting on how listeners experience Agile in 3 Minutes and trying to replicate aspects of that.
A small amount of new software and hardware will help.
The talk won’t be called “Agile in 35 Minutes”, but that’s how I’m thinking about it.</p>
<p>Taavi’s been sleeping well and looking forward to kindergarten.
We’re breathing a little easier.
It seems like having our own living space is always a week or two away.
By the time it happens, we’ll have been here a year.</p>
<p>For the piano sonata I’m studying, I’ve got the first section memorized and am into the deliberate-practice phase with it.
When I find myself having trouble, I focus on that spot, and it quickly improves.
After a year with this piece, reaching the fast-feedback stage (and sometimes playing the whole section somewhat convincingly) is thrilling.
There are a bunch more sections.
One at a time.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2021/02/18/now/Amitai Schleier2021-02-18T11:29:12Z2021-02-18T10:53:29Z
<p>I’m getting back in a groove.
I rearranged my desk, assembled the
<a href="https://upriteergo.com/collections/sit-stand-desk-converter/products/sit-stand-desk-converter-single-monitor">adjustable monitor/keyboard stand</a>
purchased in September so I can sometimes not be sitting down,
and am about to install the big whiteboard purchased in October so I can think out loud and visualize my work.
We have a new daily routine wherein I have two solid chunks of workday before and after lunch.
It bears a very strong resemblance to a workday.
By the time it begins, I’ve eaten breakfast, incorporated some coffee, and played with Taavi.
By the time it ends, I’ve gotten a bunch of good stuff done.
My client work has shifted focus from mostly consulting to mostly coaching, which I hadn’t done since the pandemic began.
I’m relieved to see myself able to do it under these conditions.</p>
<p>All of this possible because Taavi’s new kindergarten is, as we’d hoped, a much better fit.
Now we’re working on how to get him better sleep.
In the meantime, for me, having effective workdays (and being able to look forward to more) gives me energy and good cheer to power through.</p>
<p>Piano time remains intermittent, but I still feel a sense of progress.
The other day I overheard someone whistling a melody from the piece.
I choose to interpret this as evidence that I’m beginning to make music with it.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>
What I'm Doing Nowhttps://schmonz.com/2020/12/18/now/Amitai Schleier2020-12-18T19:15:31Z2020-12-18T15:55:53Z
<p>After a period of self-isolation, my brothers-in-law are descending upon their ancestral home for the holidays.
That means my temporary home office is temporarily out of service, which works out well enough:
I’m winding down one client and not yet winding up the others.
And that works out well, too, with Germany’s lockdown: Taavi’s home from kindergarten for at least the next several weeks.
So we’re having much more time together again, which I’d been missing out of the corner of my brain.
I think he’d been missing it too.
He also gets to play with his uncles now, and occasionally still one of his kindergarten friends.
For these weeks, this is all just right.
It’s time for us to be together and recalibrate for the coming year.</p>
<p>My current Medtner sonata project continues.
Reading the notes and moving the hands is still a lot to think about.
Once I’ve got some passages memorized, I expect it’ll start turning the corner toward sounding like music.</p>
<p>I’ve shipped new releases of my two major solo qmail projects, and there’s a third one that’s once again a glimmer in my eye.
It’d be a fair amount of work, at least for someone with my skill level, but it’s what I think notqmail will need, and I’d like to show rather than keep trying to tell.
I’m trying to avoid starting on it until we’ve shipped the next notqmail release.
Making steady progress toward that.</p>
<p>I can tell when I’m spending more attention-slices on qmail that my attention-slices must have been getting sliced thinner, and that I’m once again choosing a coping strategy that lets me continue to earn a feeling of progress under the constraint.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What’s this?</h3>
<p>It’s a
<a href="http://sivers.org/nowff"><code>/now</code> page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://nownownow.com">nownownow.com</a>
is a directory of people with <code>/now</code> pages.
<a href="http://nownownow.com/p/JtD5">I’m listed there</a>.</p>