Mike Ramnarine

Tag: weeknotes

  • Focus on a Complete Practice | WN23-15

    The third video documenting my musical process is up! Pairing down my setup to a single focus and piece of gear has been liberating, allowing me to experiment. I hit some limitations, which is also what I was looking for. Digging in, we find interesting things at the edges. As well as why we work…

  • WN33 Screwdriver is a Story

    Excellent chapter for the RAW book club this week. A Zen koan of long standing goes as follows: The roshi (Zen teacher) holds up a staff and says, “If you call this a staff, you affirm. If you say it is not a staff, you deny. Beyond affirmation or denial, what is it?” The chapter describes three situations in…

  • WN32 Quantum Psychology Pt1

    I’ve been reading Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson as part of a book club. We’ve moved on to part two, Speaking About the Unspeakable. I found myself still wrapping an argument around a point of certainty which, in retrospect, seemed contrived. Sometimes, I feel like I’m going around in circles. So, this is a…

  • WN31 What if the Symptom is the Cause?

    I finished reading Breath, and enjoyed it throughout. The first half of the book tells of the recovery of the capacity of the author. Like many, he suffered from sleep apnea. That part of the book contains advice that is broadly applicable. Then it explores done a little breath work and looked up the Wim Hof Method,…

  • WN29 Learning Ayurveda through Diet

    A passing comment “why don’t we give up chocolate for lent” turned into a deeper look into diet. I’d was reading on Ayurveda at Christmas, and found it interesting. But, the volume terminology and things to consider was overwhelming. It didn’t turn into behavioural change. This time around, I started with the practical, picking up…

  • WN28 Banana Bread

    Sophia made a pistachio cake a couple of weeks, and it was really good. I’d forgot baking was a thing, so I’ve been trying my hand. Looking to make something heartier, I picked up some wholemeal spelt flour. So far I’ve made a mixed-grain soda bread, which was ok, and banana bread with it. The…

  • WN27

    Slowly pushing these later and later. I was blocking out time on Sundays to write the first Weeknotes ahead. I’ve since weaved some other creative projects into my week, and I’ve been spending that time on those projects. So, writing Weeknotes has fallen into the cracks. I’m slowly growing a roster of things that I…

  • WN26 Superskirmish Finish

    That’s it February Album Writing Month over! In the end I published eight tracks, and 18 minutes of demos. Not bad considering how patchy my time commitment was, and that I started a week late. On Sunday, I did a superskirmish for half that track count. In FAWM parlance, a skirmish is a one hour…

  • WN25 Refinding my Fluency

    Less to show for FAWM than I hoped this week, but I do have three ideas in progress that I’m going to revisit. Two of them felt like pulling teeth, but the third idea’s first cut came down cleanly. Seems like I need to have a piano keyboard in front of me to write effectively.…

  • WN24 Don’t Rollback, Update!

    It feels like last chewed me up and spat me out. It’s not been the best past couple of weeks. I’ve spent way more time than expected battling a configuration change that would not die. But, along the way I learned a few things. February Album Writing Month didn’t get much progress until the weekend…