Fodder for growth

Papert had such a bold memory of his fascination with gears. He saw how this experience drove him to explore other areas and relate new challenges to in terms that he could understand. Perhaps more importantly he recognized this "falling in love" as something intangible that spurred future learning and experimentation. Papert recognized that the fact that this event had anything to do with gears was of minor importance, instead he knew that the value was in developing a deep emotional attachment with...anything at all!

I think my earliest memories might go back to when I was 3-4 years old, nothing before that. As I was searching for my version of "gears" I looked at where I am now and what events might have been pivotal to getting me here.

There is a piece of music that has been a part of my life for quite some time. Specifically the opening melody to Mussorgsy's "Pictures at an Exhibition". I have really liked the entire work, listening to the orchestral arrangement by Ravel and watching 10 different interpretations of the piece played by artists performing at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition. I've played movements on the piano myself, and even performed the 1st movement playing MIDI trumpet with a synthesizer ensemble. This piece has been a revolving fixture in my musical life for more than two decades. But I was not in a musical setting when I first heard it....

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/248724398


I first heard the piece when I was playing a computer game, I didn't know what the piece was... I just knew I liked it.

I struggled a little bit with programing this game. I tried looking for other scratch programs that did what I wanted mine to do but I couldn't find any that I could use.
One that came close was this...


I was looking for a way to have the correct melody trigger the final screen... but I couldn't find a way. It turned into a bit of a black hole for time. I would start working after dinner and then the next thing I knew it was edging in on midnight.... oh dear.

I'm sure it will become less tedious and more efficient that more I work with the platform, but it all still seems really thick to move through.