To start

Well, it's late at night, and I'm still working. Pretty typical as of late.
My objective today though, is to start this new blog, and give it a direction of sorts. I may very well come back to this post to make corrections after rereading tomorrow.

Essentially, I want to use this blog for a few purposes:
1) A log of things that I've learned, and what I think about them
2) A spot to write down creative ideas
3) A place for introspection
4) A venue for improving my writing
5) A holder for an occasional "diary" post

(I was running out of synonyms anyway)

I think that's a pretty good start. Here we go.

Learned:
What exactly are mushrooms? I started thinking about it because someone asked me how my relatives in Hiroshima grow shiitake on logs.
It was explained to me that they just take the cut log, inject it with the "spores" and then let it sit. The next time the right season comes around (apparently spring), the mushrooms just grow right out of the log. One log yields for about 5 years until it's spent.

wikipedia says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basidiomycota

Notes for recent themes -
Classical music - focusing on each note while listening to the music (rather than just having it on in the background) seems to have sharpened my perception of pitch, as well as my ability to remember music. Pretty amazing for only 3 weeks of trying. On top of that, all music has become much more enjoyable. I'm really liking this trend.