What is the sound of one hand clapping?
My older brother knew. He could do it...so ipso facto meenie mo, I wanted to too! After all, it was *cool.*
Thus began my quest. Over a course of a few weeks, I watched him when he did it. Envy pushed my 10-year-old observation skills to their limits! This rare--nay, impossible!--gem would be mine. His posture, facial expressions, and even verbal mannerisms were scrutinized for vital details.
While I was observing what mattered to a wee 10-year-old, my brain got busy. Subtle muscle relaxations, inertia manipulation, and even rhythm were absorbed. Eventually I had to try--and so I did. To my satisfaction--and, I think, his dismay--I produced a satisfactory thwack-thwack-thwack as my relaxed fingers pelted my palm. Mind you, his sounded better, but mine was quite satisfactory to my
knee-high-to-a-grasshopper ego. As the months wound into years, attentive tuning of my arm and fingers' motion did improve the sound immensely--
--to almost as good.
