All Caught Up!

Whew! That took a bit of work! I'd been keeping the blog up on Microsoft Word while the Internet was down, but it still took a bit to put it all one here. The blogs are still in the same order that they would have been if I'd posted them every day, and they're dated at the top.
Well, I don't have much left to say- the piano tuner came today. He told us that the piano wasn't worth anything (I think he's used to working with the snobby pianos tho- this one's really not that bad). In any case, it sounds a million times better. All of you music gurus will understand the concept of sympathetic vibration. As a violinist, I understand it best with strings, but I assume that it works in other cases at well. If there is a vibration, a pitch will be produced. If that pitch matches the potential pitch of another potential vibrator, then it will cause that "vibrator" to vibrate with it. So if I sing a perfect A into my violin, then my A string will start to vibrate along with my voice. Cool, huh. In addition to that, there are all sorts of overtones and harmonics that are contained within one note (that's deep music theory mixed with deep physics that will have to be saved for another day). For now, all that means is that matching notes, octaves, and other related notes vibrate together and create a gorgeous ringing, slightly amplified sound if a piano- or any instrument- is perfectly tuned. In contrast, if a piano- or again any other instrument- isn't in tune, the sound waves and vibrations in the air clash against each other and create a muted, buzzing sound in a very disagreeable way, that almost anyone can detect, regardless of his or her affinity for music.
We spent the afternoon walking around Toulouse- took the metro and everything.