Casey Umhoefer 🌊

‘Rhythm’ has two h’s and no vowels.

Just remember:

Rhythm
Helps
Your
Two
Hips
Move

Rhythm is also a dancer and a soul’s companion.

That is a heavy look for someone with no bills or responsibilities

Knight requires no explanation

Debris? How about just “failures”

Good Knight 🌙

Quatuor pour la fin du temps - Quartet for the End of Time 5: Louange à l'éternité de Jesus by Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Here's another example of music as a form of spiritual resistance so moving it stops me in my tracks. The French composer Olivier Messiaen was thirty-one and a prisoner of war when he wrote this. When France fell in 1940 he had been rounded up and deported to a German camp located some seventy miles east of Dresden. Among his fellow prisoners in Stalag VIII-A were a clarinettist, Henri Akoka; a violinist, Jean le Boulaire; and a cellist, Étienne Pasquier. Messiaen managed to procure some paper and a small pencil from a sympathetic German guard named Karl-Erich Brüll and in circumstances it's impossible to comprehend, put together the work that many consider to be his masterpiece. It is an unusual combination - clarinet, violin, piano, cello - and not without its challenges when it comes to both textural blend and sound balance. But those were the instruments at Messiaen's disposal in the camp. Playing battered, makeshift and out-of-tune instruments, the musicians premiered the work on the evening of 15 January 1941, outdoors. There was rain falling and snow on the ground. Reports vary on how many fellow prisoners of war were in the audience in Hut 27 that evening but it seems somewhere between 150 and 400: French, German, Polish and Czech men from all strata of society, huddled together in their threadbare uniforms, on which was stitched 'K. G.' or 'Kriegsgefangene', meaning prisoner of war. One audience member later recalled: 'We were all brothers.' Messiaen was a composer whose religious faith never left him, and the work is laced with the language and spirit of redemption. I've chosen this cello and piano movement, 'Praise to the eternity of Jesus', as a place to start.

i have seen people saying "how can you think of music [art, travel, meals, etc.] when our government is evil?"

because that is literally why we fight. even in the darkest hours, people crave connection and beauty. this government is trying to kill that in you. do not let them.

THEM: you look tired

ME: I am tired

THEM: oh right because of the…

ME: the horrors yeah

THEM: right right, that’s right

Jack 7/10 events going to state, Donnie 7/8 events going to state! They had a very successful day.

Bass guitar, keyed trombone, bassoon, euphonium, eight costumes, binders of music, all loaded into the back of the car? Must be solo ensemble!

I would love a mobile version of Untitled Goose Game!

I will never, ever forget how quickly kids I’d known all my life turned against me. When they KNEW it was all a part of an experiment. When they knew that after 5 days in school, there was nothing different about me or the others in the group. I will never forget how quickly the mob mentality forms.

By day 3, it had started to get out of control. Kids started yelling at us, taunting us. Throwing trash on our lunch table. Going so far as to spit on us. They stopped the “experiment” early, as we had started to be physically and emotionally threatened and abused. 5/?

The first day, people were curious and just mainly watched what was happening.
The 2nd day, kids started sneering at us, telling the teachers that we were breaking the “rules” and making us get in “trouble” or joining in on ignoring us in the hallways or class. 4/?

We sat at a secluded lunch table and were required to walk together silently, single file, between classes. Teachers treated us as “less than” as part of it. 3/?

We wore patches on our shirts and were required to have them displayed at all times. We were forced to sit at the back of classes. We were forced to ask permission to get up for anything - sharpen pencil, turn in assignments, etc. We were not allowed to speak until specifically asked. 2/?

When I was in 8th grade, we did a unit on the Holocaust. As part of it, we did a social experiment where a handful of us were designated as “Jewish” for a week. (Note: yes I know this would never ever fly today but it was the 90s) The whole school was aware of the experiment. 🧵👇

Happy Birthday to this lady, who I’m grateful to call one of my dearest friends! @amydoefer.bsky.social

Not a sprint, not a marathon. A relay. Find your team.

If you’re looking for entertainment
I learned that TouchTunes app allows you to buy jukebox songs remotely from anywhere.
It’s worth a couple $$ to give the patrons of a chosen bar a really weird night. Crash Test Dummies is a favorite, as well as What’s New Pussycat and songs from Veggie Tales.

Home from mini-bday-vacay and back to previously scheduled cat content.

Thank you!!! 🥹🥹

Aww thank you!

“Jazz in the Background” has been my Spotify of choice

e.e. cummings

for whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

High school physics class we had to make catapults as a project. Mine ended up EXTREMELY overpowered and a test shot ricocheted off the wall directly into my eye and I had to go to urgent care. I’m fine but that was fun to explain.

Oh my gosh she is identical to my girl!!!

I CHOSE to end up in the hellscape for a few days this week from the sensible people of Wisconsin (sarcasmmmmm)

You’ve been real, San Diego. Till next time. ❤️🌊