Adding to the wish list

Oh dear. Can't get enough of Stephen Hough's The Piano Album (1998) and New Piano Album (1999).  Both contain delightful gems of piano music, a refreshing change from the standard piano repertoire.  Now, why haven't I come across these before?  Oh, yeah. Lack of stores selling real classical music CDs here in the country.  Nevertheless, I think this is the start of another craze... Hmmm... which one of his recordings shall I get next?  His Spanish Album? Or perhaps Stephen Hough in Recital?

Browsing piano duets

Spent the mid-afternoon trying out several piano duets I downloaded from the Internet in search of a few that Joel and I can learn to play aside from the three I already sent him last December.  Since those were Christmas songs, I was hoping to find something less "seasonal" and a bit more upbeat but still manageable for Joel.  Am currently eying a simple arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D and Faure's Pavane.  Or maybe that delightful arrangement of Youman's Tea for Two and Tchaikovky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  I sure hope Joel won't lose interest and eventually back off practicing his piano...

End of an era

Just read on the Internet after getting back from my 7:00am lecture that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. Wow! Brings me back to the day when I also returned from my class and found out that Michael Jackson had died.

I've long wanted to own an Apple product ever since I saw my Singapore housemate's iBook and iPod. Finally bought my first MacBook Pro in August last year. Now I'm eying whatever will be the latest iPod touch--or perhaps even an iPhone if I'll ever be able to afford one. A big thank you to Steve Jobs for his genius and vision.

Graded exams, grapes, and a late evening chat

• Being done with grading all 171 exam papers in my lecture class and recording the scores in my record book. Glad to strike that off my to-do list for now!
• Eating sweet seedless red globe grapes to sample the two huge bunches being sold by the ambulant fruit vendor. I ended up buying a kilo for Php250. Should be worth it!
• Holding a late evening chat via SMS with Joel. He had just arrived home from work after a long day at the hospital. He thanks me for the "chit-chat" saying that "It's really a comforting treat."