Musings on the Human Condition

The kitchen in my house has a closeted area for laundry, where the washer and dryer take up the floor space. But there's 50 square feet (5' wide x 4' high x 2.5' deep) of space above the washer and dryer that was going unused. So, I started researching shelving systems. I began online at Home Depot , Lowe's , etc. But this isn't something you can do online unless you've worked with that exact system previously and know exactly what to order. After speaking with someone at the local Home Depot, I ended up going with a ClosetMaid  ShelfTrack system that has several parts that all need to be coordinated carefully to get a working system. That is the system I will describe in detail in this post. But I'll also allude to other options. First, note that this is a system especially suited for situations like mine where you're working exclusively within the top half of the space between the ceiling and the floor. Here is the component list for the ClosetMa...

I've recently developed a deeper interest in appreciating and understanding Indian classical music , of which there are two major forms -- South Indian (Carnatic) and North Indian (Hindustani). A brief exploration is sufficient to realize that this is a very complex discipline indeed, which explains why ustads (maestros) aren't made overnight but are the result of a lifelong pursuit of classical music as a passion and career. By the way, the masters whom I admire most are the ones who leverage their classical foundation to deliver successful popular music. There a many examples, but the ones I am most familiar with include Jagjit Singh, Daler Mehndi, Sonu Nigam, and Shankar Mahadevan (of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy). In this blog post I merely hope to document the major concepts and bookmark the links to which I hope to return when the next wave of inspiration strikes me to develop my amateurish understanding to the next level. I would ask serious students to consider the Shank...