Laurel Black Music

The last weeks have been incredibly busy, as evidenced by my absence. I had this grand plan to release a new essay every week, but life decided I needed to be more realistic. Luckily, my reasons for not having as much time to write are good ones, from finishing a kitchen renovation (yeah, I'm an ADULT now), to have family come to visit, to having enough accompaniment work to keep me busy, to writing my first published article (!!!), and finally to the publishing business doing well. In this time I've also been brainstorming about a non-profit organization that I would really, really like to start. I don't feel like I can share too much about it yet, but I have already bought the domain name and am going to purchase web-building software today or tomorrow. (Those that know me can attest to how serious I must be about this project.) :) I'm incredibly grateful for finding accompaniment work. Everyone said I wouldn't have a problem, but it's nice to see that com...

When we think of and talk about the back, we're talking about a huge  percentage of the body.  It forms the entire posterior region of the torso, and is responsible for the monolithic task of helping us align upright.  For that reason, I'm going to talk about it in two posts, one on the spine, and the other on the muscles around it. Here We Go The spine, one of nature's many miracles, is made of 33 vertebrae: 24 are stacked and separated by discs, and the last nine (at the base of the spine essentially "inside" the pelvis) are fused together to form the sacrum and coccyx.  The 24 movable vertebrae are divided into regions, each of which slightly different characteristics and obligations. source It is particularly important to notice the shape and location of the natural curve of the spine. The thoracic region is responsible for a great deal of the flexibility, mobility, and rotation we can accomplish; this region's  accentuated curve is well-suite...