Humans of New York are amazing. They are photos of people from the streets of New York. I am in love with the stories embedded in those photos. The photographer, Brandon Stanton, is now an NYT best-selling photographer. Once in a while, doppelgängers meet each other through the enigmatic photos. Some personas keep returning. In particular, this type of story strikes my insides: “When I was 20, I made…read more
We do not want money. No one wants more money. You might be thinking, “Is this a joke, Grace?” Isn’t money important? From starting in music, to moving into design, then coming back, I’ve learned valuable things. I design graphics that help people earn more, not because money is my entire world. It’s simple. You have to be smart about it, but you can use…read more
We all jump around. Few people can do one thing for their entire lives. I don’t know anyone like that. We grow, we learn, then we move on. It turns out, the world’s top performers, of every industry, have a music background. They’re some of the best at what they do. They got the benefits of music and moved onto other things. Does that mean you…read more
Doing events is an art. I’ve done more events in the past 8 months than ever before. One of them is a TEDx event. And a design event. And I’m planning an online event for Artiden. Doing a series of anything is good, because you find hidden trends. Like, you’d be surprised at what I’ve learned from writing posts that go viral. You can see how…read more
When I started highschool, I had a talented, severe piano teacher. You know the cliché musicians who moan and bang on the piano in frustration? She was in that crowd. She held an event every 2 months, mostly masterclasses and performances. Sometimes a performer came in, sometimes the students played for each other. In the masterclasses, everyone played something. A girl played a Czerny finger exercise…read more
Wanderlust. That’s almost what I have, because I want to keep moving. I’m not addicted to wandering though. I just get tired and I have to keep moving. Stuck in a rut, burned out, sick and tired, creative blocky. It’s all the same place– kind of where I am. Luckily (or unluckily), I’ve been there many times. So I’ve built a loose list for getting…read more
Today, I landed in another hip hop circle, by accident. The deafening music and dancing was doing a good job of distracting me from waves of food poisoning pain, so I watched the circle. There are rows and rows of chairs, but sparsely occupied. Three groups of guys, most of them wearing dark backpacks, walk to the centre of the stage. They cue some too-loud…read more
They call it a Cabaret, where people sit at tables in front of the stage and are encouraged to eat and chat, between all the singing. On each table, there is a fat white candle in a glass holder and little coloured rocks scattered around it, with a small plate of sweet snacks. I walk over to a table where some of my old friends…read more
Soft and loud. Fast, flowing, energetic. We’re always wondering what we should play next. I haven’t worked on a new piece for a long time. So, when I found out that my friend Sonya loved grand, passionate pieces too– and she’d rather play on a Petrof than Steinway, like me– I asked her to spit her favourite pieces at me. She sent me piano solos with grand,…read more
How do you practice piano? That is the golden question. How do you get to a certain level, play a certain piece? I talk about playing productively and practicing less to get more done— some people hate practicing and maybe it seems like I’m one of those. I am and I’m not. I’ve been through the tears and struggles of practicing wrong. Forcing myself to practice.…read more