piano lessons

My last lesson went pretty well, despite the fact that I've had little time to practice recently. I think I need to buy Chuck a ruler to rap my knuckles when I screw up. I seem to make a lot of mistakes for pieces that I've been practicing for a while. I don't know. The bad thing about having no expectations is that, well, you don't know what to expect.

I also asked Chuck to find me a book about music theory that would help me. (He sometimes gets going about theory and I'm at about 47% comprehension). Fittingly, he chose The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory. Complete Idiots, eh? I have no problem owning my ignorance on the subject, but what marketing forces were at work here?

MarketingGuy1: So, what you're pitching here is just like the "for Dummies" series, right?
MarketingGuy2: Right, like that, but we're going after people that are dumber than dummies.
MG1: Dumber than dummies?
MG2: Exactly.
MG1: Who's dumber than a dummie?
MG2: A Complete Idiot.
MG1: Isn't that a little harsh?
MG2: I don't think so. I think we're gladhandling a little. I wanted to call it the, "Fucking Morons" series.
MG1: Complete Idiot is an improvement, but couldn't we call it the,
"Reasonably Intelligent People Who Are Curious About a Subject Unfamilar to Them and Have Found Other Materials Too Advanced" series?
MG2: Too smart. We want Complete Idiots.
MG1: Kinda Idiotic?
MG2: Complete!
MG1: Probably?

I guess we know who won that argument.

Which reminds me, ". . . this idea of marketing being a science - if you look at the evidence, it's all anecdotal."