Mike Schoonover, 2007
Born: 9/22/65
Birth place: Pueblo, CO
High School: Stratford, TX
Current Home: Folsom, NM
Email: mike@folsomvillage.com
Occupation: Systems Engineer,
Village of Folsom Assistant Clerk
Hobbies:
Writing, Music, Hiking, Running, Tai Chi
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Mike
(a lifestyle, an experience, a band, and a dog blog)
Welcome to The Folsom Project, a dog blog about the life and times of Mike, , and Schoonover. For those of you who don't know, the writing of an author whose main topic is his everyday life is referred to as a "cat blog". I don't currently own a cat, but I have a dog - hence this is a "dog blog".
We live in Folsom, a beautiful village of 77 people in northeastern New Mexico. The boys attend school in Raton which is about 40 miles away. , age 8, attends Columbian elementary while , age 9, attends Kearny elementary.
The three of us do a lot of writing, photography, art, hiking, and game playing. Click here and look at the left column for an index to our galleries.
Our favorite games are Phase 10 and Clue. I've played a couple of hundred games of Phase 10 with the boys, and they are as good at it as anyone I've known. Currently, we are learning to play the piano and guitar. wants to learn the drums.
, age 7, on the left ~ , age 9, on the right
Mike Schoonover, 2006
http://www.folsomvillage.com/Mike_Schoonover_places.shtm
This page has pictures of me from birth to age 40. Feel free
to laugh at them - I do!
http://www.folsomvillage.com/PicturesOfMike/Mike.shtm
My trips to China
A Cartoon for the Weird Ones
Airtap / Laptapping Guitar by Erik Mongrain
Nearly twenty years ago my first wife started music classes
at Texas Tech. I was sacking groceries and she was flipping burgers, but we
scraped together 300 bucks for a second hand violin. And then a couple
hundred more for a second hand Yamaha keyboard - it didn't even have touch
sensitivity.
She taught me to play a few bars from a song featured in the film Amadeus
which she had seen. I tried to watch it this past summer but it bored me.
Maybe some day.
Anyways, I never knew the name of the piece, but knew a little bit about the
circumstances under which it was played in the film - upon Mozart meeting
the king, replaying and improving on the ditty by the royal composer, etc.
An hour with Google and I had my title: Non Piu Andrai from The Marriage of
Figaro.
I had just purchased a new Yamaha keyboard from Wal-Mart for 120 bucks and
it blows that old one away. After reading about pianos, I think they must
have been the most complicated machine in existence during Mozart's time.
There is a point to this!
In the film August Rush, one of the characters contemplates the reason
behind music and pretty much ties it to God, the universe, and everything we
can't understand. In just the past year, I've really thought a lot about
it. Why should I care about music? It has seemed enjoyable yet frivolous
compared to work, money, and all that. Yet in the end, it seems that it
matters just as much as any of those material things.
There is something deep inside the human psyche which creates, appreciates,
and indeed yearns for music. It is another form of communication on a
deeper level than simple speech. I believe that it is the continuous nature
of the sounds and our inner need to connect and synchronize that makes music
so powerful. For some unknown reason, perhaps to drive us towards
community, the human derives pleasure from synchronicity with another
human. Working, singing, or making music in unison all bring a similar
satisfaction.
A good doctor friend of mine proudly proclaims that she just cannot read
music. Ludicrous, I say! Perhaps she may never learn to sight read, but
anyone should be able to pick out the notes. The notation connects us
across the ages, the distances, the tribes.
Someone taught me to play something so long ago, then I used the latest
technology to find it, download it, and play it. My fingers played and my
ears heard the exact same song created by a man named Mozart in another
century.
Music transcends time, distance, tribe, and technology. Does it transcend
life and death? One can only hope.
Mike Schoonover, 2007
I have been searching for a cheap but good music notation
editor. I saw a fancy one for 80 bucks, and then tried the free Canorus.
The Canorus program crashed at the most inopportune times.
Then I found a REALLY good program which has most features for free but only
costs 20 bucks for the full program. I put down the melody I had been
working on using the program in 15 minutes - the program is freaking
awesome. It plays each note as you place it, and then plays the full piece
on your computer - with a lot of different voices available. I'm blown
away.
I think it will play and capture MIDI through my keyboard, but I haven't
tried that yet.
Here's a snapshot of my first composition using Melody Assistant:
Here's the link to get the software: Melody Assistant
A little girl in 's grade gave him some candy and a love note. I don't remember what was written on the "silver pard (part)" of the candy wrapper.
We were walking around Folsom one evening when our neighbors drove by and asked us if were were attending the charity Family Dance. Since it was there in Folsom and the price was right, we decided to make our presence known. We sat for a while, and decided that he wanted to dance. I was a bit surprised at that because I thought he was bored. Pennie Brown taught both boys how to do the two-step and it was off to the races. They danced with adults, high school girls, young girls, and even really young girls. Non-stop. And they were hooked. We've been to two more dances since then, both in Clayton. They met two sisters at one of those dances and formed a friendship with them. We've met up with them on three other occasions to have lunch, attend football games, or for boot scooting.
at his First Dance, 2007
at his First Dance, 2007
Twirling at his First Dance, 2007
& with their Friends
Dinner at Mary's Flowers in Clayton, NM
2007
and at Scout Camp in Angel Fire
June 2007
, , Chiggers
Lake Carl Etling near Boise City, 2007
Sleeping in Tent
Lake Carl Etling near Boise City, 2007
Birds and Their Mud Nests
Lake Carl Etling near Boise City, 2007
The boys saw coconuts at Super Save in Raton and wanted to buy some. I looked on the Internet for the proper method of opening them, and the fun began. Sadly, the milk was not very sweet or tasty. cannot stand shredded coconut, but I thought he might like it whole. I was wrong. He gagged and foamed at the mouth and spit it out like it was a rat turd. Weird. Oh well, lesson learned. I would like to try it again to see if we just got a bad coconut.
(left) and
Opening Coconuts
May 2007
I bought the boys a go-kart for 's birthday. didn't want to drive it at first, but turned out to be the best driver.
and (driving) in the Go-Kart
April 2007
The building with the large white roof in the background is the infamous
Folsom Inn.
and hate to be called twins. They actually look very different, but sometimes they will fool you. When I looked at this picture, I had to look twice to figure out which one it was. The funny thing is that I'll sometimes show a picture like this to the boys and even they will guess the wrong kid!
Sleeping
May 2007
I bought a keyboard in early 2007 and started learning and teaching the boys to play. was very excited to learn "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Mary had a Little Lamb". Both boys even learned a simple two handed version of "Twinkle". When I explained musical notation to them at a restaurant in Pueblo, a light turned on in each of their heads. transcribed "Mary had a Little Lamb" from memory and started writing his own song. While they are not prodigies, they have been making progress over the year. is experimenting with the guitar and wants to play the drums. Both have dreams of starting a band.
October 2007
October 2007
's Transcription of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Spring of 2007
got into trouble for a fight and had to visit the principal. I had to go up and have a chat as well. Of course maintained complete innocence. His story changed every five minutes so I told him to write it down. Apparently it started with a "dissing" contest. The last sentence of the explanation is "AND THEN A FIGHT".
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