Me & My Quite Contrary Life

NUDGED: "Listen to the Hamilton soundtrack" BACKSTORY: Word of mouth, Facebook posts, and a short singing clip in a credit card commercial all peaked my interest for the music of "Hamilton". The play is very popular and I heard the music was fantastic, but had no first-hand knowledge of it. Time to actually listen to it instead of hearing about it! QUOTE: "Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can't." - Johnny Depp HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Per online research , I learned that the book, music and lyrics for "Hamilton" were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The music includes hip hop, R&B, pop, soul and traditional-style show tunes, and tells the story of "America then, as told by America now". It opened on Broadway on August 6, 2015, and has won many, many awards since then. I found the entire soundtrack online and listened to it all week. It was 2 hours 22 minutes long, so I listened to it whenever I had the time ...

NUDGED: "Play my flute for me" BACKSTORY: I knew this nudge would be challenging for me but was something that I have been meaning to try once again. I started playing the flute when I was in 5th grade and didn't put the instrument down until my early 30s. I stayed in band throughout high school and college, including playing in marching band and concert bands. I also played my flute in church or nursing homes as a soloist or accompanying another musical group. I was in a flute choir for many years and took private lessons. My dad is a talented, life-long musician so it was in my blood and was something I excelled at with many hours of practice (and my perfectionism!). Music was a big part of my life and shaped who I am today. A serious picture from my high school band days - with the same flute I have today. The music stopped one day about 5 years ago. It was a combination of factors that produced my "retirement" from playing the flute/piccolo. My flu...

NUDGED: "Figure out new Bluetooth headset" BACKSTORY: I struggle to embrace new technology, even when it would make my life easier. My brother got me a nice Bluetooth headset (Zealot H1 Wireless Stereo Headset) for a gift awhile ago. Truthfully, the only times it has been used and out of the box are the two times he has showed me how to work it. Figuring it out on my own and actually using it has been a LONG TIME item on my to-do list (over a year), and this was the "nudge" I needed to try.    HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: I had a head-start this week as recently I had my brother showing me how to get this to work again. With some kind of younger person technology magic, he got my phone to finally recognize it and it worked! I was getting tired of dealing with the cords of my earphones at the gym when lifting weights and wanted a wireless solution. This valuable piece of equipment was sitting at my house collecting dust and could be the solution to my problem of enta...