Skip to content

Stephen Tian-You Ai

pianist, theorist, deplorable accordionist

  • About
  • Listen
  • Read
  • Notes
  • Contact

Author: Stephen Ai

Academic Clickbait

June 25, 2019January 15, 2020 Stephen AiLeave a comment

My master's thesis is close to being submitted! Woohoo. Here's my short 200-word abstract, since I really cannot be bothered to write anything more about it. The title is "Learning Well-tempered Behavior: The Performance of Bach's Keyboard Works on the Ill-tempered Piano." It is OK if you do not want to read it; I don't… Continue reading Academic Clickbait →

Maes Hughes Deserved Better

March 15, 2019March 27, 2019 Stephen AiLeave a comment

No, I won’t post a pie on Pi Day. I have renounced The Mathematics. I also wrote this at like 3AM, so it doesn't really make sense. Have a good day. - Stephen Ai, former Math Man™ -- Despite rapidly-approaching end-of-term essay deadlines, I finally sat down to rewatch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, for the first… Continue reading Maes Hughes Deserved Better →

Eating for Love

February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 Stephen AiLeave a comment

Musicology grad school update: I’m writing about weird shit again. For my Early Modern Listening seminar, I’m dipping my hands into the incredibly niche field of gastromusicology, a field that combines food studies with musicology. I’m trying to investigate links between food, nutrition treatises, and early modern opera, specifically in the musical treatment of fruits… Continue reading Eating for Love →

Dinner P(art)ies

January 26, 2019January 27, 2019 Stephen AiLeave a comment

One of my biggest non-professional life goals is to become The Dip Mom. Let me explain. The Dip Mom (henceforth, TDM) is usually an older, white woman living in New England who is happily married (at least, outwardly) with two to three children who recently graduated from Ivy Leagues and have since successfully launched their… Continue reading Dinner P(art)ies →

New Year’s Calibrations

January 11, 2019January 26, 2019 Stephen AiLeave a comment

It's me! I'm back with proper capitalization! I went to bed for a nap after I published my delirious kombucha post and just woke up, a full month later. Sorry 'bout it! It's good to see you again. Let's recap. Back in October, I made it through the second ring, nostalgia, after braving my way through the first… Continue reading New Year’s Calibrations →

i am so tired

December 2, 2018January 26, 2019 Stephen AiLeave a comment

school is kind of really hard. i never thought i would have so much trouble at school, especially in music. i spent all of williams complaining about math. i should have taken my undergrad musicological studies more seriously. i have final submissions for the first term soon. i want to be a serious bach scholar… Continue reading i am so tired →

Mirai no Stephen

November 24, 2018December 2, 2018 Stephen AiLeave a comment

Hello all, Today is November 22nd, 2018, which means a couple things to me. First, it's Thanksgiving! I'm celebrating the United States' radical derecolonization by going to music skills seminar in the motherland at the University of Cambridge. Speaking of colonialism, this day also marks the 55th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Don't… Continue reading Mirai no Stephen →

Yellow Lies

November 15, 2018November 16, 2018 Stephen Ai4 Comments

Congee is a porridge or gruel made primarily from rice with other grains and legumes. It was known to me as 稀饭 (xīfàn, literally "watery rice"). It isn't a particularly exciting meal. In fact, I sort of hate it. Don't worry; I am not lazy enough to make congee this post's recipe. Just in case,… Continue reading Yellow Lies →

Uncooking Eggs

November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 Stephen AiLeave a comment

In 8th grade, I learned in Ms. Boman's science class that cooking an egg is an example of an irreversible reaction. This means that a cooked egg can never be turned back into a raw egg. I began to write a post relating cooking eggs to irreversible change in my life, but it quickly became an… Continue reading Uncooking Eggs →

Hello / Broth as a Cure

Featured Stephen AiLeave a comment

A short note before I begin. I'm starting this notebook because I think I should be doing more writing in general, but not the kind of academic writing I've been inundated with recently. As with my recipe book, this is an informal collection of recipes from friends and family as a means of preserving my… Continue reading Hello / Broth as a Cure →

Follow Stephen Tian-You Ai on WordPress.com
A WordPress.com Website.
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×