Bravo, alto flute.

A Post.....

2011-03-08T22:58:00.002-05:00

.....for myself, more than anything else. September, the month of my last post, is now in the distant past. This year has been busier, crazier, and more exciting than ever:

1. My new place doesn't feel new anymore - it feels like home. I love it here, and hope to be here for at least the next year or so. The non-roommate drama has increased to real drama since September, yet is quite minor since I still have complete privacy and still often feel like I'm living alone (which is great).....except for the big pot in the sink that hasn't been washed and put away (hers) for about three weeks now - and I refuse to do it for her. This is not a dorm (and thats all I'll say about the drama).

2. Arneis: We're going to China in May and Italy in June. China is a new music project with students from Stanford University. Italy is the Borciani Quartet Competition - we found out about our invitation to compete last week. We'll be in CA for 12 days at the end of this month for the St Lawrence String Quartet's Emerging Quartets Program.

3. My last year as a full time DMA student is slowly winding down. Spring break is next week, although I don't get a break (everyone I see asks me if I get a break next week - the response is the same - no. No no no no no. I have Cantata Singers, teaching at Brookline, quartet rehearsals, tax appointment, and prep for playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violist Michelle Rahn with an orchestra on Sunday, March 20th at BU's Concert Hall at 8 pm - how's that for a recital plug?).

4. Speaking of recitals, my own is April 24th. Concerti by Mozart and Hindemith.

5. Hannah dearie officially moved to the greater metro-Boston area in January. Its been so wonderful having her here!

6. Braun Michael, Holly and Tony's first, was born February 12th. I have yet to meet my new nephew, but from the pictures being sent, he is definitely a Braun and such a little cutie pie.

And that is what I have to say for now.

Busy busy busy

2010-09-20T21:37:00.009-04:00

Things I love about my new place:

Good water pressure in shower

Gas stove

Decrease in junk mail for the time being

Location (it IS nice to walk everyday to school)

Absent roommate

Free laundry

Closet space

Desk

Dresser

Sconces

Close to Trader Joe's

Things I miss about my old place:

Location (I LIKED having time on the T to do the crossword puzzle in the Metro)

Bamboo and Tasca and Chang's

Huge kitchen

Whole Foods

Garbage disposal

Molly and MK

In general, I think I've adjusted to the new place. It no longer takes me forever to remember where something is and I've stopped bumping into furniture no matter where I walk. Its quiet, peaceful, the roommate is almost never here, and I've fallen back into a good routine.

Things are busy this week. The first big concert for Emmanuel Music is this Friday at 8 pm. And its a big one - the first for Ryan Turner as the new Artistic Director. The first rehearsal went well today - its really exciting to be a part of things there right now.

Also on the docket is Arneis' performance of the Debussy Dances and Ravel Introduction and Allegro at the Boston Harp Festival. The Gala Concert is Sunday night, Sept 26th, at 8 pm at Seully Hall at Boston Conservatory. We will be rehearsing with the respective harpists starting tomorrow and then all week. (I'll be thinking fondly of Mary Keener during these rehearsals.)

ALSO being rehearsed this week is Arneis' first fall concert on September 28th. We're doing Mozart K589, Ravel, and Mendelssohn a minor (op. 13). And then the exact same program on October 3rd.

AND Hannah Ruth dearie is here this week as a nanny (aka Hanny) for Adelaide and Finnis!

update

2010-09-12T00:02:00.003-04:00

I moved into a new place on August 30th. I lived on Ransom Road for four years, the same amount of time that I lived in the Eastman dorm. That scares me - the thought that for 8 years I lived in only two places and they are both now in the past.

I like my new place - there are things I miss about the old one - I loved that apartment - but it was time for a move.

My last year as a full time student started on Sept 2nd.

On Sept 2nd, I played my last orchestra seating audition at BU.

The summer of quartet insanity ended well and we are back to rehearsing for a concert of Mozart, Ravel, and Mendelssohn on September 28th (the repertoire wasn't really our choice - its necessary for other reasons I won't bore people with here). I miss quartet boot camp. A. Lot.

I'm glad that the heat of summer is pretty much gone. I hated returning to a muggy, sweltering hot Boston. With each passing year, I dislike hot summer weather less and less (I will most likely regret putting this on the internet for anyone to see around November 1st).

I want to play the Philip Glass Violin Concerto. I'm hoping to convince Peter that its a fantastic idea.

30 second update

2010-07-16T00:44:00.002-04:00

I wish I was better at keeping this up. No one probably even reads it anymore.

Here is what has happened in the past month:

Played a recital

Went to Grandma's 90th birthday celebration

Played a quartet competition at Carnegie Hall

Finished teaching for the school year

Went to Banff (best place on earth)

Went to St. Lawrence String Quartet seminar at Stanford

Went to Vermont to play in the Manchester Music Festival orchestra concert

Now am currently in Park City, Utah, with Arneis, in our own condo, with our own bedrooms and bathrooms.

Before I know it, the summer will be over and my last year as a full-time student will begin.

DMA Recital Number Two

2010-05-24T23:17:00.002-04:00

DMA Sonata Recital

Bach Solo sonata in g minor, BWV 1001

Debussy Sonata for violin and piano

Franck Sonata for piano and violin

Wednesday, May 26th, 3:30 pm

Concert Hall, College of Fine Arts, Boston University

Reception to follow

(obviously, this means I passed my recital permission)

2010-05-09T11:47:00.002-04:00

Happy Mothers Day to all moms - and if you are a mom in Boston, so much the better. Its a beautiful day here!

Today is my one free-ish day of the week. Arneis returned from the midwest after quite the successful trip. Including concerts and recitals, we gave six educational programs to kids grades 1st through high school, and it seemed that the kids attending really enjoyed the program. This is where all that Music For All experience at Eastman paid off. We returned tired but excited about the summer plans ahead. Next stop - Juilliard Seminar begins next Sunday through Saturday.

My recital permission is this Tuesday, and I have no idea how it will go.

I've also posted my room to sublet for June and July on craigslist. I've never done this before, so we'll see how it goes. Its a little late for something I hope to be taken in just a month, but hopefully there are some people out there with internships that just came up and are needing a place asap. So far, no luck. Its only been a half hour, though.

Time to get busy.

2010-04-30T01:12:00.002-04:00

Its 1:15 am. I'm waiting for my laundry to get done. Tomorrow morning at 9 am Arneis is driving to Michigan and Ohio to play some concerts and do a residency at Dan's, the violist, old high school. It promises to be an amazing time, but after a semester from hell and a quartet concert last night that was a very high stress situation, I'm so ready to sleep for the next week.

Oh well. Onward.

I've been updating mostly via facebook status. I realize that new blog posts have been few and far between lately, but I'm hoping to rectify that situation.

We'll be back in Boston next Thursday evening, but then I have my solo recital to stress over. I've come to slowly realize that things are going to be kinda stressful and annoying until I have moved into my new apartment sometime after September 1st (wherever that is - I don't know yet) and then it'll be school time again. It really doesn't stop for me. While that is exciting, and the possibilities and opportunities this summer for quartet and then a new place are thrilling, I can't wait till Christmas break.

A Sad Evening

2010-04-06T00:14:00.004-04:00

Poor Butler. Poor poor poor Butler. They worked so hard, they played so hard.....darn it all, they were so good! Only two points. (sigh) Hopefully this tournament will only mean good things for them in the future - more power to get even better players, more fans, etc. Molly and I were good Indiana/Hoosier-born girls and watched the game with screaming and excitement. (Molly is a graduate of Butler, where Hannah will be graduating from next month.)

Things are as usual intense and hectic, but oh well. The schedule never lets up, although my personal practicing goals are going ok. Arneis is in rehearsal frenzy. This is our schedule for the summer:

Juilliard Quartet Seminar (NYC) in May for 7 days.

Banff (Canada) in June for 3 weeks.

St. Lawrence SQ Seminar (Stanford, CA) over June/July for 10 days.

Muir Seminar (Deer Valley, Utah) in July for 3 weeks.

Things have moved fast - but its exciting. Hopefully we won't hate each other by August 1st.

Its also official - Molly and I will no longer be roommates starting September 1st. She is moving to NH to live with Kris, her boyfriend, who teaches 7th grade up there. I'm bittersweet about it. I have loved living with her, but its time for us both to move on, and I'm mostly ready to live on my own. As I'm looking for a studio or one-bedroom, it may not be a realistic dream, but I'm going to try my hardest. I have lived for almost 4 years in this apartment. I love it, and mostly, I love my neighborhood. Its safe, there is a grocery store a block away, and my favorite Thai restaurant almost literally across the street But there is something exciting about cleaning out and packing up and starting over and change.

Time for bed.

Day 7

2010-03-22T18:09:00.002-04:00

The weekend went as planned, and I am happy to report that my schedule is still going well, as well as the scheduled practicing involved.

Yesterday and today, for Dean Committee reasons that I cannot disclose, were quite long, and my body is sore and my brain mush. However, I must conquer! Arneis rehearsal tonight. More Beethoven 95. Good times.

There has been some recital drama over the past week but fortunately its pretty much done, thank God. The new plan is Debussy, Franck, and Bach g minor. I've worked the g minor sonata often enough, but never performed it. Still no confirmed date, but hoping to have that figured out by Wednesday. Eek.

Time to go eat. I forgot my packed dinner in the fridge at home, so its Chipotle time for me. Yum.

PS - Go Purdue and Butler! Indiana basketball is the best.

Day 4

2010-03-19T22:57:00.003-04:00

After spending last night at Heidi's, I enjoyed a ride to BU this morning to practice after Heidi dropped off Adelaide at her own school (which is close by). With an arrival of just after 8:30, I was able to practice from 8:45-10:45 smoothly and without any problems. It felt good - was rough at first - I was so tired after not getting into bed till one and waking up before 7 (all you mothers out there I know I am a wimp when it comes to sleep) - but I survived and was somewhat more prepared for the Bach Birthday Celebration rehearsal at Emmanuel this afternoon.

March Madness has hit and I'm watching it right now while typing this and doing laundry. Watching it though has made me realize how much I miss the Olympics, even though towards the end I was getting a little bored. Eh.

Last night Arneis found out we did not make it into the next round for Fischoff. Its a long dramatic story, but the short version is we had a recording session in early February that we felt good about, but the recording engineer lost all the footage (need I remind CCE that for Fischoff it has to be a dvd? So annoying). He had all the audio but none of the visual. So we had to use stuff from November, which, lets face it - things sounded much better in February than they did in November. This is a disappointment, of course, but I am also a tiny bit relieved as it frees up some days that I wasn't counting on in early May. And we already have plenty going on from May - July.

On my way to Emmanuel today I saw a guy walking his squirrel. On a leash. This has to be one of the more bizarre things I've seen. And I will also mention that the squirrel didn't seem to be enjoying it. I'm half wondering if he captured the squirrel five minutes earlier in a nearby park and started dragging it around on the leash.

The spring weather here over the past three days doesn't fool me. I expect another snow storm next week.

Day 3

2010-03-18T12:29:00.002-04:00

This morning was an earlier case morning - up at 7 instead of 7:30. I've been so bad with the blog lately, I'm sure many do not know that I am the graduate student representative for the College of Fine Arts Dean Search Committee here at BU.

I wish I had the willpower and need for less sleep to report that I practiced from 7:30 to 8:30 am this morning, before the meeting, but alas, I know my limits and that did NOT happen.

However, I just practiced for an hour and a half, and will be practicing tonight after teaching as well, so things are still on track.

Tomorrow morning will finally be a much needed 3-hour morning practice session. These are few and far between, but cherished and I can't wait to get some of this recital rep more figured out. I'm playing Debussy, Franck, and Prokofiev 1 sonatas for my recital (which has yet to have a date because of an Arneis schedule that is still in flux).

Speaking of Arneis, my summer is shaping up: we have been accepted to the Juilliard Quartet Seminar in NYC the third week of May, the Banff Quartet Seminar for three weeks in June, and then of course the Muir program in Utah for three weeks in July. Add all of that to the fact that I'll be moving for the first time in four years, the action for me doesn't stop until August 1st. And then a month after that begins my final year as a student attending classes.

(sigh) Life is going fast!

Day 2

2010-03-17T08:18:00.003-04:00

Good morning to all,

While this morning does not have an early practice time, it does have an early start. I am leaving in five minutes to go downtown to have rehearsal with the one and only KM.

KM (initials for privacy) is a harpsichordist (and witch) who has invited me to partake in the Palm Sunday service at her church of employment in Reading, MA. We are playing a baroque sonata together. I mean witch in the sense of wicca.

The practicing for today, alas, has to be moved to a bit inbetween class and orchestra, and then after teaching tonight at 8 pm.

But I was up at 7:30! Day 2 so far so good.

Day 1

2010-03-16T07:55:00.004-04:00

Today is Day 1 of my new regimen for the rest of the spring semester.

It is in three parts:

1. Be awake by 7:30 am every week day from now until April 29th (the last day of the semester).

2. On the days where my day doesn't begin till after 9 am, practice at 9 am until first scheduled event of the day.

3. If I have a less scheduled day, practice for two hours. This means if I can sleep a little more and not start practicing till 10 or 11 am, but two hours in the day must be accomplished.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Mostly because I have no other time to practice during the day and usually no time in the evenings either.

2. The older I get, the less inclined I am to practice at the end of the day, and the better and better I practice at the BEGINNING of the day.

3. I have come to realize that when my sleep schedule is consistent, and more importantly, I get up at the same time every day, I am less tired during the day.

4. If I get up at 7:30 am every day, I will actually want to sleep at 11:30 pm instead of 2 am - and then will be able to get up earlier the next day - its all obviously a cycle.

5. I have a sh**-load (pardon the language but its true) of music to learn, from my recital rep, to my orchestra rep, to my work/gig rep, and I am determined to be well prepared for all of it.

There are a rare few cases where I will need to be at a determined location BEFORE 9 am - those days obviously I will not be practicing at 9 am, which is why the regimen is in three parts.

It would be wonderful if my life was structured as such that I had a regular time all the time in which to practice, but every day is different - and my life has become busier than ever before. I am blessed to have work, but hopefully with a better scheduled practicing/sleeping regimen, I will feel less stressed and more accomplished.

I am persistent. I shall conquer!

2010-03-01T09:52:00.004-05:00

I try so hard to get my life to be less stressful, yet I've spent the last few hours cleaning up a mess because I didn't write down a rehearsal time correctly. Its all my fault. I have no one to blame but myself, and now its creating havoc on other people's Saturday.

When does it ever end?

January Recap

2010-02-13T21:19:00.007-05:00

I really would love to try harder and do better with this blog. Now that January is over, I should be able to do that. Maybe. Hopefully.

January, with all of its insanity, is finally over, and now that the long recording sessions for Arneis (simply to get into competitions and festivals) are also over, mid-February is finally here and I finally have time to breathe.

Here are some events that have happened recently:

Concerto Competition at BU: The string prelim round was February 1st, and I played the Hindemith Violin Concerto (1939). I played well, and made it to the top 5, but only the top 3 are passed into the final round with all departments competing. So my 2nd BU concerto competition attempt was another failure. There has been a little controversy over the decision, and only one of the 3 string players actually won the whole thing (there are 3 winners - they are a pianist, a flutist, and cellist), which isn't normal. I was surprised at how disappointed I was not to have been able to do the finals. I love the Hindemith concerto - I love playing it - and since it is rarely done and not known, it felt more like my own personal piece. Ah, well. Next year is my final chance to try. I was thinking about Britten being my next concerto, however, after doing Hindemith in a prelim where Sibelius, Shostakovich 1 (violin), and Elgar (cello) were chosen, I'm afraid to do something not well known (3/4 of the faculty deciding had never heard the Hindemith before). There is some time to try and decide.

Arneis' First Recital: It was January 26th. I haven't talked about it much if at all on this blog, but I am now the first violinist in the Arneis Quartet, a group that has been together for several years, although not always the same people. They lost a violin and the cellist about two years ago, after a stint at the Juilliard Seminar and Banff Quartet program. Since then, Rose, the other violinist, and Dan, the violist, have been trying to find replacements to get it off the ground again. I have been playing with them since September (the cellist, Agnes, is also new), and in late November, we were invited to do the Muir Quartet's quartet program in Utah this summer, July 2010. We are also applying for other summer stuff and a couple competitions. We did two full mornings of intense recording sessions, and now all thats left is sending them off and seeing what happens from here.

Teaching: As against it as I was when I was an undergrad, and even maybe as a masters student, teaching now takes up on average about 12 hours out of my week. I am teaching twice a week (3.5 hours per day) for Brookline Public Schools, 3 undergrad BU non-music majors, chamber music coaching for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and my two private students. I am loving it. Brookline is the most frustrating at times, since they have group lessons as well every week, and feel no obligation to practice alone, but a few of them take it very seriously and practice hard. I have one however who is consistently so hard on herself - I have never seen her smile, and every time she makes a mistake, she looks almost ready to cry. She is also incredibly prepared for every lesson. I am not sure what is creating her self-imposed disgust with herself, since I am constantly telling her its ok and I know that her class group teacher is a good guy. I hope no one at home is telling her she sounds bad. Beginner violin for parents that don't know better can be hard to listen to.

Birthday Party: The third annual Molly and Heather birthday party was last night. This will probably be our last, as Molly's new boyfriend, Kris, has stolen her heart away (and she his) and they are discussing a possible move for her to live with him in New Hampshire (only a hour away). I will be sad to lose her as a roommate, and I am scared to figure out a new living situation (although Heidi is already working on it!). I've lived here now for three and a half years. But it will be exciting to organize and throw out what I no longer need. Things are getting a little claustrophobic.

The rest of February has little happening, thank goodness. Time to reset and start practicing new rep. And time to sleep!

An added point: Recently, I was trying to schedule something with a person who said we couldn't schedule anything at that moment because this person didn't have their schedule on their person (this person said it like this person NEVER carries it with them). I do not understand people who don't carry their schedule with them on a daily basis. I don't understand them. I don't mean to offend anyone who reads this blog who don't carry some type of schedule with them on a daily basis. But if you are a musician who has a constantly changing schedule, then carry your schedule with you. Always. You never known when someone will call you with a gig. Wouldn't it be nicer to schedule it then and there? (Forgetting your schedule if you are one who always carries it with you is a different story. I completely understand forgetting things.)

Too busy for a real post.

2010-01-19T23:17:00.004-05:00

1. The concerto competition is February 1st. I'm playing the Hindemith Violin Concerto (1939). Its a great piece. All you Hindemith naysayers, don't knock it till you've heard it (and I doubt you've heard it).

2. Arneis Quartet is rolling along. There will be pictures soon.

3. I have the nastiest cold right now. I spent all of Saturday in bed. It was amazing, yet painful too - I wanted to do laundry on Saturday. And go to Marshalls. Neither happened. Very painful. And I had to cancel a 4 hour quartet rehearsal. Disaster.

4. I still haven't gotten paid for a gig I did in early December. Angry emails have been flying.

5. I haven't posted since Christmas because I don't have enough hours in the day. Literally. Not.

6. Martha Coakley didn't win tonight. But I did vote. I didn't get a voting sticker. I was mad about that. Apparently they ran out by the time I ran through the door to vote at 7:55 pm (the polls closed at 8 pm).

7. I'm playing two performances with the Mark Morris Dance Company next weekend.

8. Its time to go to bed.

2009-12-25T13:55:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas to all!

2009-12-21T06:05:00.004-05:00

My flight has been delayed from 6 am to 8:40 am, so I am sitting in the Boston airport right now, with my coffee, trying to kill time. I had brought a movie but accidently forgot to put my headphones in my laptop bag - they are currently in my already checked luggage - oh well.

Have been loving vacation so far. Even though I still worked a lot the past few days - taught, did Emmanuel, had a gig Saturday afternoon - I have enjoyed the past four days already to the fullest extent. I love this time RIGHT before Christmas - I have no school obligations, and the guilt for not practicing doesn't settle in till after Christmas. Till then, just blissfulness......

Oh, except I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning. For the first time in two years. Ouch. Wish me luck.

Two Events

2009-12-04T22:22:00.005-05:00

I've had a 14 hour day every day this entire week, and even though its only 10:30 pm, I'm going to bed in a few minutes. However, I'd like to share two things from my week that I think the blog readership will enjoy.

1. I have been teaching for Brookline Public Schools this semester in their after school, private lesson Extension Program for violin/viola. I have great students who are eager and try hard. One however, although he is cute as a button, is a little more of a challenge for me (doesn't help that his fingernails are very long and quite grimy - especially when I take his instrument from him to tune it), but he is earnest and dedicated. Yesterday afternoon, while he was playing another round of Banana Boat Song, something caught my eye - a small, brown spider was winding his way down, clearly attached at the elbow of this student. Not wanting to freak out the poor boy, I let him finish, went up and swiped subtly underneath his arm in the attempt to detach the spider from said child, then lightly squished the spider on the floor. A spider was apparently living on this kid.

2. I played the first part of Handel's Messiah tonight for a BU Choral Society concert. It was second on the program - the first piece was Britten's Ceremony of Carols, with a harpist, Michael, who is a friend of mine. During intermission, the orchestra went up to get ready to play, and I saw Michael's harp sitting quietly near the wall, clearly out of the way and not bothering anybody, in its blue Lyon and Healy padding. I started warming up, and suddenly (like how the Angel of the Lord came suddenly, although my news is not good tidings of great joy for anybody, least of all Michael), I see four BU Choral Society singers (these are non-music majors) trying to move the harp into the back hallway - and the harp is on the dolly backwards. And they are obviously struggling with this harp - its starting to tip a little. I rush over and tell them they have it on the dolly backwards. The response: "Oh." Sheepishly, they start to turn it around, struggling again. I demand to know where Michael is. They don't know. I advise that they leave it there or find Michael to move it himself. Apparently they were ordered to move it, and to do it quick. I say fine, and proceed to supervise, all the while thinking of Mary Keener and my vast experience in the days when I helped her move her harp.

Life is incredibly busy right now - busier than ever before - and I don't know how I'm going to accomplish everything in the next two weeks, but somehow, it will be done. I look forward to the future days when December, which is suppose to be a month of Christmas joy and holiday spirit, is filled with more of the professional kind of stress (ie just playing concerts and finishing up a semester of teaching) instead of the mad rush of presentations, papers, and juries. After this December 16th, only one more December in school to go, in 2010. I cannot wait.

Haiku to Procrastination

2009-11-19T11:56:00.001-05:00

Practicing is good.
Procrastination is bad.
I need to practice.

A List

2009-11-12T23:10:00.002-05:00

1. In a true, serious effort to make myself less busy this year, I am busier than ever.

2. Molly gave me the most beautiful scarf from London (from her trip to Oxford and Paris) and I love it. MK and I bonded while she was gone - I can't believe its been almost a year since she came to live with us.

3. The weather this fall in Boston has been so weird. We've already had a day of snow (didn't stick, but still), and that was in the middle of October. The past few days were almost seventy, and tomorrow's high is 49.

4. This week I'm playing Haydn's Creation at Emmanuel (for the second time in a month). This piece astounds me every time I have been in a rehearsal for it. Every part is beautiful - even the standard "pastoral" 6/8 F major aria (which often can be taxing and a bit tedious in other works) is stunning, and I'm not usually stunned by them. I think Haydn is making a general comeback in the classical music world, and its about time.

5. Hannah's been in Phoenix with Holly and Tony for her vacation from PA rotations. While having lunch with Heidi last weekend, I was happy to think that while all four of us couldn't have lunch together, at least all of us was having lunch with a sister.

6. I've started teaching private violin/viola lessons twice a week for the Brookline Public Schools. Don't worry - the viola students aren't working on Walton or Bartok - just beginning method books. I promise to refer them to professionals when they overreach my alto clef reading abilities.

7. I can't wait for Christmas break.

8. Happy 2nd Birthday Emily Keener!

9. I'm such a terrible friend when it comes to keeping in touch.

10. With that, I'm going to bed.

Recent Happy Pictures

2009-10-21T10:04:00.002-04:00

At Capitol Hill - with a raised eyebrow.

Molly and I finally rearranged and cleaned the living room - we're especially proud of the bookshelf.

Holly visited us all in Boston - we had such fun!

2009-10-16T14:07:00.001-04:00

Things are so incredibly busy right now, and I know I need to call several people (Mary, David, Kim, Paul, Hannah) that I haven't talked to in so long....argh....I promise soon! Thinking of you all!

2009-10-03T14:13:00.001-04:00

Hello from Yonkers, NY.

I'm here for the final installation of the Manchester tour, which always ends with something in NYC. We played at Trinity Church yesterday, at Wall Street, and afterwards a very nice, wealthy lady had a reception for us around 42nd St. on the EAST side. Boy, it was ritzy. She has THE most spectacular communal backyard garden, and on the other end of this communal garden is Steven Sondheim's house. Yes. Thats right. Yesterday I saw into the backyard of Steven Sondheim, as well as the back of his house.

Send in the clowns. Oh wait, they're here.

2009-09-15T18:13:00.004-04:00

Ok, ok. Its finally time for another blog post.

I'm in lovely Vermont for the Manchester Music Festival's annual fall tour (although its not quite fall yet - this year its really really early, for whatever reason - usually they are in October). This is my seventh, and it is, as always, beautiful, peaceful, and lovely. I seriously want to have a home up here someday, maybe retirement? Eh. Too far away to think about. Anyway, the best part about this year is that I don't have to return to Boston in the middle of it for an orchestra concert. Hooray!

School is now in full swing, and while the first few days were incredibly depressing, I've pretty much gotten over it and am now in a mindset of work work work. I think I won't go to the orchestra and chamber music meetings next year. No point.

Will post again soon. Right now I've blanked on anything else to say.

How about another lovely picture?

Hannah and Finnis at Holly and Tony's wedding reception.

First Day of School

2009-09-02T19:08:00.001-04:00

(sigh)

:-(

A Grieving Post

2009-08-24T19:50:00.006-04:00

I am currently in deep, deep mourning for the fact that summer is over. O-V-E-R. My first day of classes is next Wednesday, my orchestra audition is Thursday, and the first orchestra "meeting" (this will be my fourth at BU) is Friday.

What really amazes me is that this is my fourth year at BU, and by the end of this year, I will have been here just as long as I was at Eastman. However, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem that long yet. Probably because time is going faster with each passing year.

And while I'm on that subject, what the heck happened to summer 2009? I feel like the months of June, July, and August never happened, and I keep waiting to wake up and realize its actually only June 1st.

(sigh)

I spent the past six days in Sidney, ME, coaching violin sectionals and chamber music groups for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra's season starter camp. It was a lot of fun, I met some great people, great kids, and I now have been given the following photocopies to add to my music shelf (all rep listed is first AND second violin parts):

ALL of Don Giovanni - the ENTIRE opera
ALL of Bartok Concerto for Orchestra
ALL of Beethoven 5 (I now own all Beethoven symphonies except 2 and 8)
Swan Lake Suite
ALL of Peter and the Wolf
the fourth mvt of Mahler 5

I reorganized all my orchestra music about two weeks ago, so when I got all this music in the mail I was REALLY excited - I didn't own any of it except parts of the fifth mvt for the Bartok. I don't know if its normal to be so excited about getting a huge envelope of music that I won't be performing any of anytime soon, but to me it was like a gift.

Here's a fun picture I truly enjoy:

Happy Birthday.......

2009-08-12T12:39:00.002-04:00

......to my little sister, Hannah dearie! She is getting through another 12-hour shift in her ER rotation today. Ugh.

Here is a lovely picture of the birthday girl.....

2009-07-31T09:59:00.003-04:00

I had all these great plans to go to BU and do this elaborate, long post about my trip home for the wedding and CCE's grand tour, but its been two weeks since I've been back in Boston and I have yet to accomplish that. Sorry - it will happen, it'll just be old news.

As much as I am loving the lazier days, the relaxing, and the massive amounts of sleeping, I'm starting to go a little bit stir crazy. Fortunately, the next week is going to be a bit more active. My parents are arriving today from home (they drove) to see the Boston Braun/Hill people, and will be here till Wednesday morning, so that is lovely. In addition, I'm going with them down to Washington DC on Wednesday - my dad got a grant to do some research at the Library of Congress, and as fortune would have it, Hannah Ruth is meeting us down there as well! What a lovely last minute surprise. Although the rotation that makes this possible for Hannah is her ER rotation - yuck - she works 12-hour shifts three days a week, and has the entire next Thursday - Tuesday free - I am so happy to see her and my parents again this summer. We will be touring some sights, and I also hope to help my dad with some of his research, since I one day hope to be a Dr. Braun as well.

My other plan this summer is to do a total complete re-haul of my room. I haven't moved the boxes underneath my bed since I moved in, so its time. Its way overdue, in fact.

Ah, summer..............

A Brief Summary

2009-07-17T22:24:00.003-04:00

Although it has been many weeks now since my last post, many many things have happened, which I will be more than happy to share. However, I would like to include pictures and video (!!) in the full layout post, and my sad sad internet here at home is simply not capable of such things. So I will be making a trip to the BU with my laptop in order to give a full version of the past several weeks. A sister's wedding and a trip with dear dear friends deserves a long post with lots of multimedia inserts, in my opinion.

Many of you have probably already seen some of the pictures from the wedding from Hannah's blog.

As a preview, here is one of my favorite pictures from my camera.

2009-06-24T12:19:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry for the lack of posts. I'm in Milwaukee helping Holly and my family with last minute prep for her wedding this Friday to Anthony Schmidt, June 26th.

The next post I put up they will be married and I will have pictures!

Game Night, June 2009

2009-06-16T00:33:00.007-04:00

I am not sure many of you know, but Molly and I host a game night once a month. Or, at least we tried to, and did during the fall 2008 semester, but this past spring semester was so crazy for us it was more like twice a semester. In any case, our dear friends Jesse Barrett and Bob Mollicone have graduated and are leaving Boston for good very soon, so we had a final official game night in their honor tonight. I put my camera on a timer and we took this picture. Now that I see it, I wish we had done this after every game night. However, I am grateful for this one. Even though they are leaving, it won't be our last game night - but we will miss them terribly.

As Emily, a fellow BU masters and now DMA violin student says, "People will come, and leave, and come back again, and leave again, and we'll STILL be here."

We are still here, and can't wait for those dear ones to come back again.

Bridesmaid Dresses: A Post of Gratitude

2009-06-13T17:52:00.006-04:00

I have played for two weddings in the past two days. They were both incredibly extravagant, beautiful, wealthy weddings. However, something that was incredibly disappointing in both of them were the bridesmaid dresses.

I'm not skilled enough with words to describe them accurately - yesterday's were light green and short, with the top to the waist kind of billowing out before falling straight to the knee. Today's were of a very shiny, clingy material that no one looks good in, silver, and had an empire waist. None of the girls (three yesterday, seven today) were the proper body type for these types of dresses. However, the dresses were such that I don't know if anyone would really look good in them. And all girls had the same dress.

I'm not sure if many of you know about the bridesmaid dresses that the six bridesmaids of Holly and Tony's wedding are wearing (maid of honor Angie, Heidi, me, Hannah, Veronica, and Tony's sister Heidi). I will tell you now. They are all apple (dark red) colored, and we each were to choose a style that we wanted. We six bridesmaids are all very different body types. So it was with much gratitude to Holly that we were able to choose dresses that looked appropriate and flattering to each of us. I think we all choose well.

I have been very lucky. By this time in two weeks, I will have acted as a bridesmaid three times. (I know I know, always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I've heard it before, trust me.) They are all beautiful, tasteful dresses I will wear again and again (see the ones for Mary and Holly in upcoming recitals for my DMA - for Heidi's I wore my dress so repeatedly in high school - three different dances and a Prism weekend - that it is now retired).

I would like to take the time to personally thank Heidi, Mary, and Holly for excellent taste, judgement and kindness to their bridesmaids.

Unfortunately, the bridesmaids for the past two weddings I've played for are not so lucky.

Martino

2009-06-11T13:09:00.004-04:00

About his Seven Pious Pieces (choral work written in a serial style) he writes :

"A traditional tonal analysis of any of these songs can be made by anyone who is ingenious in the application of secondary-dominant labels and/or who is a fanatic."

Since I'm not ingenious in the application of secondary-dominant labels, I must be a fanatic.

Good to know.

My Twenty Cents/Happy Anniversary!

2009-06-10T23:45:00.004-04:00

One of things that makes me incredibly sad is that across the street from CFA is a Starbucks. This particular Starbucks no doubt does incredibly well, considering all that happens at the CFA building, and the amount of people that simply walk across the street to get their coffee. Its ALWAYS crowded. The reason I am sad is because if it was a small, privately owned coffee shop, it would do very well, but instead its a Starbucks.

There is a reason for all of this, I assure you.

I have been very good on the not-buying-coffee-but-making-it-at-home front lately. Incredibly good, actually - even last week, for my three days of jury duty where I had to get up around 7 (6 on Tuesday), I always made coffee and brought it with me in the cute, non-spill travel mug Molly gave me for my birthday (which I love). Anyway, today, after step class, I was dragging and had a lesson to teach yet, so I decided to get a coffee at the Starbucks across the street. I don't necessarily love their coffee, but its better than some, so I was looking forward to the little treat.

Now, when I DO get coffee from Starbucks, I usually get the smallest size they sell - called a short. I don't need a whole tall (aka small) coffee, and the short size, which is really like a kids size, is much more what I prefer. It is also 20 cents cheaper than a tall. Twenty measly cents is not a lot to some people, especially to Starbucks as a whole, but its enough to me to take a stand.

So today, I asked for a short coffee. The guy working gave me a short coffee. Then asked for $1.73. I KNOW that a short size costs $1.53. I told him this. He told me that it has never been $1.53. I said that couldn't be possible, that I have certainly paid twenty cents less for a short before. The other guy working said, "Dude, you're wrong. She's right. You messed up." First guy looked at me, and said, "Its only twenty cents." I simply replied, "To me, thats a lot." He gave me a look of disgust, but handed me back the correct change.

Come on. Like Starbucks NEEDS my twenty extra cents. I need twenty extra cents from them. I was so mad. What a jerk. Wonder who else he's ripped off lately.

Its really really just too bad its a Starbucks across the street. It would be nice to promise that I will boycott that particular store, but I know I would break that promise by the time school starts again. Its the nearest coffee shop for about three blocks to the building I walk in every single day during the school year.

Anyway.

Happy 3 year anniversary to Mary and Daniel! I was reminiscing often today. Can't believe its been 3 years......

Little dearies.

2009-06-08T15:23:00.005-04:00

In honor of my darling baby nephew's nine-month birthday today, here is a picture of him and me from about three weeks ago when I was watching him for an afternoon. I haven't posted a picture of him since Christmas, although Hannah did post one from her spring break visit. Isn't he adorable? Such a happy little boy!

And this one is from a couple days later, when I had them both together. Adelaide is a wonderful big sister, and Finnis adores her - no one can make him laugh like she can.

I should be doing millions of other things than posting cute pictures of the wonderful children in my life, but whatever. They're much more interesting and important. Click on them to make them bigger - they seem a little small but I'm not sure how to solve that issue.

A List

2009-06-05T22:57:00.003-04:00

1. School is done.

Yes, thats right, another year is over, and my twenty-first will begin in September 2009. Surviving this year was quite a test, but I did it. Hopefully years twenty-one and twenty-two will be better.

2. Summer has begun.

I have two words for that:

Thank God.

3. I did my civic duty this week.

I was called for Tuesday morning and was put on a jury that afternoon for a lawsuit against the Administrative Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A woman slipped on a courthouse stairway in downtown Boston in January of 2005, and was suing for negligence to clean the steps properly, claiming they were covered with snow and salt. We found them not negligent (if anyone wants to know why give me a call - its too much to put here). It took Wednesday and Thursday to come to a decision, and I must say, I enjoyed it and it was very educational and actually interesting. I will also say that after watching lots of Boston Legal over the past couple years, Boston's actual courthouses are not nearly as beautiful and majestic like they are portrayed on television, Boston lawyers are not nearly as sexy as Brad or Denise, and the Boston judge was not nearly as funny as Clark Brown. In addition, no one was a hoot with a capital H, thats not what they were. However, I still did not mind it and was even a little bit proud to do my civic duty. And also am quite happy that I will not be called upon again to do it for the next three years.

4. Holly and Tony's wedding is in three weeks.

I'll be leaving with Heidi and Finnis on June 19th for Milwaukee. I cannot wait!

5. Hannah's had some bat trouble.

Go to her blog to read about it, posted on June 3rd.

6. My first DMA recital happened.

Only four more to go! It went well, despite the fact that I had an incredibly bad cold and Klaudia had the flu. Thanks to Heidi's advice on drugs to fight coughing fits during performances, I didn't cough even once. The rest of the week was really bad on the sleeping front - for whatever reason I couldn't get more than three hours for a few nights in a row - but fortunately that ended.

7. Summer plans are taking shape.

The CCE Tour 2009 is up and running - got music in the mail from Fimby today - and both she and Gave have been busy making plans and we have concerts planned in Arkansas and Oregon - including the stint where Fim and I sub with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Heidi was a member before she came to Boston for college, and I have vivid memories of the ASO's concerts as a child, so this will be quite a nostalgic trip for me. I haven't been to Little Rock in 17 years.

I'm done with the list for now. I'll start trying to update better.

2009-06-05T11:55:00.004-04:00

Stay tuned - now that the trial in which I was a jury member is over, I have the free time to let the rest of the world and dear friends know that I haven't died or disappeared forever. Post to be written later today. For now, I have so much laundry that I must walk to the corner laundromat and do that. Molly left this morning for Indy to see her sister Aubrey graduate from high school, so its just me, the MK, and fishies Couperin and Quantz for a few days!

2009-05-26T23:32:00.003-04:00

I am a terrible friend. In the process of having a terrible cold and playing my recital on Sunday night, I completely and utterly forgot David Gerstein's birthday on May 24th. Thanks to Mary's blog, I have now been sufficiently reminded.

Happy Birthday, David!

ps - nobody but me remembered your 22nd bday, remember? i hope that saves me this time. I'm so sorry!

2009-05-20T00:33:00.001-04:00

Everyone should go see the new Star Trek movie. Right now.

I promise more posts are coming.....I'm not feeling very inspired lately.

Hannah

2009-05-11T01:13:00.001-04:00

Congrats to Baby H (as David calls her), new owner of a Bachelors Degree!

I'm so proud of you!

2009-05-10T00:12:00.003-04:00

Another year is over.

It was long. It was hard. Many things good, a couple bad, but overall, I'm ok.

I feel stuck, though.

I need a new chapter in life. I've been stuck in the same one since college started.

Its good that there are only a couple more years of school even POSSIBLE for me, or I'd be stuck this way till I was forty. Oh, lord.

I guess the new chapter will be here soon enough. Well, not soon enough, since its not now.

May 1st

2009-05-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Mary Keener!

2009-04-26T23:27:00.003-04:00

Too much to do. Am tired. And stressed. And sad. Just want to sleep for the next few weeks, if thats ok.

Lucia di Lammermoor

2009-04-15T22:44:00.006-04:00

This week is opera week at BU, and I'm actually having a blast. Its always hard for the orchestra, because while there are two casts that switch off every other night, there is only ONE orchestra, and we're playing EVERY night (dress reh last night/tonight and then performances for the next four nights). I am already starting to get some left arm pain, especially today. However, as much as I should be really annoyed (and worried about my arm), I'm just having too much fun. Great music, good friends are playing too, and for the Fri/Sun cast, my very own freshman RA from the dear ol' ESL, Jim Barbato, is the lead tenor (Edgardo). He sounds wonderful! I was hoping Tanya would be coming to see him this weekend, and I would get to see her too, but it sounds like she has big recitals up in Rochester this same time, and won't be able to come down. Too bad.

To see an example of what fun this opera is, go here.

And, as luck would have it, the MET production of Lucia is on PBS right now. Awesome.

(Happy birthday Heidi!)

2009-04-09T21:10:00.011-04:00

(I'm going to start being better at blogging, I really am......)

April is in full swing, and with it comes that time of year when school becomes suddenly thrust into the number one priority. Unfortunately, I do so many things BESIDES school that as much as I try to practice for lessons and keep up with theory homework, a lot of other things get in the way (although I'd much rather do those other things).

Here are things I must do in the next three weeks:

1) I have to finish a whole theory portfolio by May 1st. This includes: five analysis papers, 8 chorale tunes that must be harmonized in four voices and analyzed (all in the style of JS Bach, of course), my presentation work, and the handouts and bibliographies given for all the OTHER presentations. Dr. Cornell's idea is that this portfolio gives each student the adequate study materials for the Theory Exam for DMA's. A great plan, but of course, this means I have to DO it. Oh lord.

2) Taxes. I have started them online, and am building two hours into my schedule for the next few days until they are done. This is the first time I am doing them on my own (although I'm sure a phone call or two to my dad will be happening). Having one job would make taxes for me very easy, but unfortunately, I have 1099s from every gig I did over the past year that paid enough to be taxed. Its great to be a freelance musician in this city, but it takes a lot of organizing once tax time comes, since I file as as self-employed owner of my own business. HB Inc.

3) My DMA Chamber Music Recital is May 24th (in honor of Gavid Derstein's 25th bday, of course). We have started rehearsing as much as we can fit in, since we're playing Beethoven 131 and Bartok 6. Even though the recital date is over a month away yet, we must play a recital permission before May 1st. Yikes. Fortunately, this also counts as a solo jury - thank God.

4) St. John and St. Matthew Passions were the past two weeks. St. John (at Marsh Chapel) went well, and I'm glad to have finally played it, but St. Matthew (at Emmanuel) was absolutely incredible and I've missed rehearsing it this week. It just never gets old or boring. Never. What fantastic music.

Some other activities I am doing lately:

1) A violist friend of mine is putting on a "just for fun" recital, and the piece I am involved in is Caplet's Conte Fantastique for harp and string quartet. Its based off of the Edgar Allen Poe story "The Masque of Red Death." Its a very picturesque piece - very French. Its been fun to play with a harpist again - the harp used today in rehearsal is exactly like Mary's. I haven't had a chance in these rehearsals yet to see if my harp rendition of Long Long Ago is still in shape. Maybe Saturday I'll give it a try.

2) Opera. Lots and lots of opera. Next week, I will be playing BU's production of Lucia di Lammermoor on Monday afternoon, dress rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and performances (two different casts) Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

3) Not getting enough sleep.

4) Eating a random times.

5) Waiting for spring to come. Today was beautiful weather. Tomorrow evening it will rain. Saturday will be 45 degrees. (sigh) I can't wait for summer.

Also, Molly and I (and MK) signed another renewal lease last week, even though the rent went up slightly. Sept 1st starts my fourth year in this apartment. We talked about it for awhile, and decided we are still happy with our location, still enjoy being roommates, and love the fact that heat is still included in rent so we can crank it up as much as we want to in the winter. Its strange to think that a year from now, May 2010, I will have been here exactly as long as I was at Eastman. Huh.

2009-03-31T14:35:00.002-04:00

Here is April tomorrow already, and I am very late for an updated post.

And I don't have time for one right now either. All I can say is that I played St. John's Passion last week, am doing St. Matt's this week, parents are in town this weekend, did a theory presentation (that I started, did, and finished in 12 hours prior to the actual presentation) last week, and am trying to just keep on going. One day at a time.

Warmer weather is coming, and it feels great!

2009-03-07T00:16:00.002-05:00

I am currently cozy in a king size bed in a Comfort Inn in Brunswick, ME.

I'm up here playing for a choir concert (ENTIRE Messiah) and they are putting those who drove up from Boston up in a hotel for the night. I have NEVER had such treatment for a gig. A whole hotel room by myself! I got Thai food and have been watching cable. Soon it will be bed time - but I'm certainly enjoying my night.

Spring break has officially started since today, and I am grateful for the week away from BU, although I still have a lot to do with practicing and theory homework. Cantata Singers starts Monday for the week, but the biggest excitement is that Hannah Ruth is coming to Boston on Monday! We are so excited for her to be here!

Things keep plugging along. This year has been hard, but its astounding to think its already March. My quartet at school tentatively set a date for our recital in late May - Beethoven 131 and Bartok 6. I will start opera for the next orchestra rotation, which is a little scary, since it takes up SO much time - but I am looking forward to it. Its Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor - anything is better than Claudia Legare.....remember that???

A WHOLE SNOW DAY!!!!!!

2009-03-02T13:11:00.002-05:00

Thats right, people - today is the first day EVER to be a complete, full day snow day for me during my higher education years.

I've enjoyed the day so far by baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, catching up on emails and homework, listening to music, and petting a sleeping cat.

Soon I shall practice in the warmth and coziness of my living room while watching the snow outside.

What a wonderful day!

Yucky February

2009-02-27T17:56:00.003-05:00

Hannah is right....I'm slacking on the blog postings lately....

I've had a really long, rough, busy February. February is never an easy month, especially as I now am officially in my mid-twenties. Another birthday, another year older, still in school, blah blah blah. This February though was officially rough.

Here are some things that happened that made Feb 2009 a stressful month:

1. Orchestra. We performed the 2nd Elgar Symphony on Feb 10th. Leading up to it, I thought we would NEVER pull this concert off. I was concertmaster, and it was completely exhausting, yet beautiful music, but after every rehearsal I would be in some pain and would barely be able to concentrate on anything else for the rest of the evening. The concert ended up going well enough, but it was a long road to that and a pretty tiring one, at that.

2. Theory class. This class I am taking, officially called "Theory Pro-Seminar", is tough. The first three weeks entitled writing out and analyzing about ten Bach chorales per assignment. And they weren't short chorales, either. The first one took me 9 hours to do, and it just got harder from there. I spent the first weekend of February working on them every waking minute that I wasn't in rehearsal - on the train, on the bus, during a pops choir concert that Molly played for (I sat in the back where there was some light). Its easier now, but its going to get hard again real soon, and I'm terrified.

3. Freelancing. I played with Firebird (a new music group here in Boston) this month over a rehearsal/concert period of about three weeks. We had a ton of rehearsals, I played a LOT, and there were four concerts total within that time period, one of which was in Amherst, MA, about two hours west of Boston. I really enjoy playing with them, and it was a lot of fun, especially the two concerts we did of rock music at a bbq restuarant, but it took a lot out of me, and my bow, which lost a lot of hair due to the style of music we were playing.

4. Illness. I had some kind of flu for three days, during which time I played a full day of collaborative piano rehearsals, a choir concert, and had Firebird rehearsals. I had a fever and developed a bad cough, which is taking forever to go away. I did cancel some things, like quartet rehearsal, and Molly and I postponed our birthday party, but had to keep going for everything else. It was awful.

5. More illness. Four days after I was feeling better from whatever I had before, I had a chicken salad sandwich and began pucking 6 hours later. I was sick every hour for about twelve hours through the night, finally slept for two hours, and then had to get up and head to Amherst for the Firebird concert. I have never had food poisoning so bad - it was really terrible.

6. Recitals. As of last weekend, I no longer play for student recitals. I had two this month, and they both were stressful and very time consuming. Actually, maybe the second one wasn't so time consuming, because everyone was sick and rehearsals and coachings kept getting cancled, but it was still a lot of work. I asked to get paid, and I was, but even that may not be enough to be worth my time to do them. I don't need the experience anymore - so unless you are such a good friend I consider you a blood relative, I won't play.

Fortunately, this past week has been much nicer. I'm finally getting my energy back enough to go to step aerobics in the morning, I had time to practice, and I got to go to Davids Bridal with Heidi and Finnis yesterday morning so Heidi could buy her bridesmaid dress for Holly and Tony's wedding. Its beautiful on her - she looked stunning. And, of course, it gave me the opportunity to add to my list of Davids Bridal locations I have visited: Syracuse, Rochester, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Boston.

I'm not the only one who has had a hard month, either. So here's to March, warmer weather, and good health!

2009-02-14T23:13:00.001-05:00

I'm going to be a quarter-of-a-century old in less than 45 min.

(sigh)

2009-02-12T15:51:00.000-05:00

I am too busy to blog, and now too sick to do anything for the rest of the day.

Thats it. Back to tea and kleenex I go.

Killer

2009-02-02T19:21:00.003-05:00

MK killed a mouse in our apartment last night. Good girl! I slept through the whole thing, but apparently Molly heard some scuffling and went out and there it was. It probably came under the front door, like they did in C house. Anyway, its nice to know we have a good mouser living with us. Here is a shot of the proud huntress, in a much more calm moment:

A Few Things I Have Found Funny Lately

2009-02-01T20:26:00.002-05:00

1. Today was the youth orchestra chamber concert. The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra has all rehearsals and what not at the CFA building, and today's little concert was in Room 167, a classroom. Behind all the performers, on a blackboard, was a sentence clearly written: "Shostakovich is my lover."

2. All the local Boston news broadcasts lately have been starting their sports section with the announcer saying, "Well, even though the Pats aren't in the super bowl this year...." - implying that they always are. The past few years, sure, it has seemed like they are always in the super bowl. It just makes me laugh to myself and enjoy the calm of a city without a team in the super bowl. Love it. BOOOOOOO Patriots.

3. I finally saw my Dec jury comment sheets and got A's from every prof except one.

Long Johns

2009-01-26T22:33:00.002-05:00

It has been a much colder, snowier winter this year in Boston than either of my previous two here. With that has come my very first purchase of long johns.

I have lived in the north for now 16 winters, and yet this is the first one that includes my purchase of long johns. Heidi wears them religiously, and for some reason, I haven't been smart enough to start sooner. In any case, this might be the coldest winter for me ever, since I spend way more time outdoors waiting for trains and buses and such, instead of just walking down all of a block of Gibbs St. Or getting in a car and driving four blocks to Wisco.

I'd like to publicly thank Heidi for sending me a link to Lands End to make my purchase. And I'd like to thank Lands End for having their long johns on sale from $40 to $20.

This has changed my life.

2009-01-15T18:13:00.002-05:00

I just turned on the tv and saw that a plane crashed into the Hudson River leaving from LaGuardia. Craziness.....everyone is safe, only minor injuries, thank goodness, but good lord, with today being one of the coldest days this winter almost everywhere (Mom had school canceled because of -40 degree weather), what a day to crash into water.

I have Cantata Singers this week - another great concert. The dress rehearsal was today, and now I am home to do lots of odds and ends. The low tonight is 0 degrees. I am staying in for good.

My fourteenth semester of higher education started yesterday. Thats all I have to say about that.

I'm going back to my hot chocolate with Kahlua. Yummmmm

Back in Boston

2009-01-07T15:31:00.004-05:00

After a wonderful, lovely trip to Milwaukee for two weeks of family, games, food, and fun, I am back in Boston. Usually I am more than ready to come back to school after a brief stint at home, but for whatever reason, I really wasn't tired of being home yet when it was time to leave. Yet here I am, in cold, slushy Boston, with a week yet of break before the work returns next week, and I am very happy to be home.

I'm more than a little nervous about this upcoming semester because of the Theory Pro-Seminar class I am taking. Its a required class for doctoral students, and should be taken before the theory exam is attempted, so I'll probably try and study some this summer as well and then hit the test at the end of September. Only a third of the students who take this theory exam on the first attempt actually pass it - its assumed you will take the exam at least twice before passing. Scary. Anyway, its been a long time since the days of Paul Miller and rigorous Eastman theory classes, so this could be a daunting task.

I've been assigned to lead the next BU orchestra concert, and we're doing an entire concert of British music, which I suspect is our conductor's favorite pastime. Holst, Britten, and Elgar. Elgar Symphony No. 2, to be exact. I've listened to some of it and it actually sounds like Strauss to me - big sweeping lines in the strings with lots of volume and pomp. Ha.

I got an excellent blue fleece, non-static hat from Heidi for Christmas this year, so my huge white knit one will take a hiatus while I wear the pretty blue one. My head is so big, its hard to find hats that fit, but Heidi did it! Also received are some fantastic arm warmers that Molly knitted for me. They are absolutely incredible. I will now be putting both lovely presents on as I attempt the slush and gloom outdoors to go practice.

Pretty Eyebrows

2008-12-31T14:14:00.002-05:00

I just got home from having my eyebrows waxed and getting a half hour massage. Needless to say, thank heavens the massage was AFTER the eyebrow extravaganza. I haven't had my eyebrows done since Mary's wedding, and it hurt badly. I always try to keep up with them - a pluck here, a couple plucks there - and I'm fortunate to be fair skinned and fair haired that I don't have to worry about it too much. In any case, they are now perfectly shaped, the skin around them is puffy, pink, and inflamed, and I'm sure I won't have them waxed again for another two and a half years.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T15:34:00.004-05:00

It has been a long time since the last post. Since then, I've done a LOT, including: finished three papers, played a very successful jury, played two successful yet slightly stressful but very very very fun Back Bay Chorale concerts, and somehow flew home despite record snowfalls in Boston AND Milwaukee.

Hannah got here a few days ago, I got here Monday afternoon, and Holly and Tony arrived late last night. The three of us have already played a game a Scrabble and Holly has already won, darn it. Shoot. I am determined to conquer SOMETIME during the next week and a half! Heidi, Whit, and the little dearies Adelaide and Finnis arrive late tomorrow night. There are ten stockings on my parents' fireplace. We are a growing family!

Merry Christmas to all those near and far!

O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.

2008-12-11T23:06:00.002-05:00

Stressed. Tired. Almost done. Cannot wait till next week Tuesday, at 4:30 pm.

2008-12-04T23:39:00.002-05:00

Although the picture isn't great, here is the newest member of our apartment: Molly's new kitty, MK.

MK stands for Mama Kitty - she was a pregnant stray when she arrived at the shelter, and that is what the staff at the shelter named her. Her initials will remain the same, although Molly may change their meaning to something else. She is super friendly - hates being left alone in a room for even a second - and has a chirpy meow, sounding like a bird. She is very sweet, although still obviously very young - she is currently in an ongoing 3 day battle with the front hall rug. Every twenty minutes or so, she attacks it with a burst of fresh energy. Oh, she also enjoys eating the tips off the leaves of plants. Otherwise, she has adjusted to life here quite quickly.

I jumped at the chance to take this shot with my photo booth program, since its the most sedate she's been since moving here this past Sunday. We have had a very nice, relaxing evening together!

2008-11-27T09:15:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who are dear, whether they be near or far!

I am so thankful for all of you!

Thank God for Thanksgiving Break

2008-11-26T20:40:00.003-05:00

And that is quite literally how I feel.

This semester might be the longest and most stressful that I have ever had, but it has also been one of the most successful. In any case, I have never been so happy and thankful for tomorrow and Friday - all that is written in my schedule is "thanksgiving break." Hallelujah.

Right now I am sitting on my couch, the tv is on, I have finished a homemade dinner, I am in pjs, and I plan on staying here for the next few hours. I finished one of my three papers due by the end of the semester this afternoon - I am QUITE ahead of schedule, considering I didn't start any of the five due last year first semester until a few days before the semester was over.

Unfortunately, I really don't have any exciting news other than that. My life is a whirlwind, and while I complain - I'm enjoying it, too.

2008-11-23T07:59:00.003-05:00

Taken last Sunday while babysitting the little dearies. I had him in a Bjorn on me the entire time - such a nice little warm, cozy bundle!

The picture is a little blurry because I couldn't use my flash - didn't want to wake him up! And he has a blue handkerchief thingy on his head is to block the sun from the window in the kitchen.

Pictures

2008-11-17T00:05:00.002-05:00

Click on the album "The Family Meets Finnis" for pictures from a visit by Mom, Dad, and Hannah to Boston to see Heidi and Whit and Adelaide and meet Finnis for the first time!

Unfortunately (and for this I apologize) there are none of Heidi and only one of Whit. Next time, I'll do better.

Time for bed.

2008-11-08T01:05:00.008-05:00

Its late, I'm bored, not really wanting to go to bed yet, but REALLY REALLY should.

Oh well.

Its been another really long, really busy week. I had Cantata Singers this week - its a Britten focused season this time around (last season was Weill, this season is Britten) and in the program tonight was also Faure Requiem. Now, it is usually just a violin solo part, but for many personal, academic, and historical reasons which I will not draw out for you at the moment, the decision was made to play it with 8 violins instead of just 1. Initially, this sounds like a terrific disaster (if you know the violin part to Faure Requiem, you know that its only about 30 bars total and 28 of those bars include notes that never go into the staff and are always in nose bleed territory). Actually, it wasn't all bad, but it was hard to sit there so long without trying to draw attention to yourself. Reminds me of those WLC Christmas concert days, although tonight was about three times as long for sitting still. Ugh.

Hard to believe the 2nd week of November is already upon us. Tomorrow night Molly and I are having a fall potluck party, which was planned quite late so it may end up being under 10 people eating a lot of baked spaghetti, salad, and pumpkin pie, but who cares. Its my first Saturday night at home since before school started. I'm going to love it.

I'm still struggling with tears every time we play or rehearse certain sections of Daphnis. I really really really REALLY don't want to actually weep openly and have people start asking me whats wrong, and then have to say "Oh, I am just living in the past during this section of the piece." That sounds plain silly, so I make myself stay as calm as I can.

We're also doing John Adams' Fearful Symmetries for this concert, and I LOVE IT. It was written shortly after Nixon in China, so a lot of it has the same quality of sound (electric keyboards with certain programs written just for the piece, etc). I loved Nixon in China when we studied it in music history, so just imagine the blast I'm having with it now. Oh lord.

In all honesty this might be my favorite program I've done at BU yet - I get pretty weepy during the last part of Daphnis BUT the first two parts I've never done, so its nice to now have played the whole ballet. What I love though about this program is the instruments: there is an alto flute in Daphnis (bravo, alto flute) and there are FOUR saxophones in the Adams, and we all know how I feel about saxophone in an orchestral setting.*

And now, a happy picture:

*I love it. See post from January 17th, 2007.

2008-11-02T01:14:00.003-04:00

I think because I originally started the previous post on Monday, Oct 27th, but did not actually complete or publish it till Friday, October 31st (and then put in obvious changes for it to apply to Friday instead of Monday) is why the previous date says Monday, Oct 27th. I should have deleted the whole thing and then started over. Oh well. I apologize for the confusion.

Happy Reformation Day/Daphnis and Chloe

2008-10-27T23:26:00.009-04:00

Because I am a Lutheran girl, I wish everyone a Happy Reformation Day this October 31st. :-)

Possibly because of the Lutheran-ness, I've never been a huge fan of Halloween. To me, this is just a means of getting to Thanksgiving and Christmas (much superior holidays). However, I must admit that this holiday is more annoying to me since my move to Boston and a drunk dressed up fireman on the T got a little too friendly my first Halloween here. Public transportation here on Halloween is much more worse than after a rousing game between the Red Sox and the Yankees. Prime example: tonight at the sane hour of 8:30 pm, someone threw eggs at the train I was on. Yuck.

This week has been better. Things are finally getting a little less stressful and busy, although now I'm filling up time with practicing instead of rehearsals and concerts, so everyday is still a pretty full day.

This past Monday's orchestra rehearsal was a little hard. We've started Daphnis and Chloe (the entire ballet) for the Symphony Hall concert on Nov 24th. While I have never played the first part, and have only done the second suite (basically the third part of the entire ballet), once we got to the part where the second suite starts, I almost broke down. It has way too much sentimental value to me to slam through it in a bad sight-reading session of the BU orchestra. Both the infamous "French concert" at Eastman (possibly the best orchestra concert I played in while there) and the "hodge-podge" concert at TMC (definitely NOT the best concert, but still pretty wonderful) featured the second suite from Daphnis. As much as I love living in Boston, have made good friends, finally have a teacher who is giving me a hundred percent all the time, and am even working as a professional, I miss Eastman and my time at TMC daily. Daphnis and Chloe brings those memories back with a full force. Once those stupid bird solos started I almost wept openly.

Anyway.

2008-10-24T18:13:00.010-04:00

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say to Ten Different People Right Now:
1. DON'T change a composer's marking - he knew what he was doing.
2. I got some good practice time in this week - I promise next week's lesson is going to be much better.
3. I'm upset about your choice, because it has affected our repartee as a whole.
4. Why??
5. Lets play SCRABBLE!!!
6. You really do need to wash your hands BEFORE you touch a violin. I can see grime on your fingerboard!
7. I am so grateful for you everyday, for everything you both have done for me here in Boston.
8. Would you like a pistachio.....?
9. I'm so confused.
10. Would Baba like some bunny pasta? (response: he doesn't have a mouth!!)

Nine Things About Myself:
1. I like winter.
2. I only do laundry about once every three weeks. I don't have time or money to do it more than that. This is made possible by Victoria's Secret - because of the free panty coupon I get about once a month, I have enough clean underwear to last about 6 weeks.
3. I am addicted to sleep. Seriously. Addicted.
4. I don't practice enough.
5. I make too much coffee every morning and end up throwing a fourth of it away every day.
6. I prefer to be busy; if I'm not, I sleep too much and watch too much tv and waste the whole day.
7. My dental insurance expired when I turned 23. I haven't had a teeth cleaning since Dec 2006.
8. I could watch episodes of Frasier all day and not get bored.
9. I enjoy sitting in the back of an orchestra section - its more of a challenge.

Eight Ways to Win My Heart:
1. Clean my apartment.
2. Let me borrow a favorite book of yours that I've never read.
3. Give me a shoulder rub and don't ask for one in return. (selfish, I know)
4. Play scrabble or boggle with me.
5. Buy me sushi.
6. Smile and hug me when you're happy to see me.
7. Play chamber music with me.
8. Love me despite my many faults.

Seven Things That Cross My Mind a Lot:
1. We should call the landlord and see if the shower water pressure could be stronger.
2. I'm doing a doctorate and all this work - what if I never get hired at a college or university?
3. I desperately need a haircut.
4. I really need and want to visit Denver.
5. Prayers for health of my family.
6. Guilt for not calling those I miss and love more. I'm terrible at keeping in touch.
7. Guilt for not practicing more.

Six Things I Do Before I Fall Asleep:
1. Change into pjs
2. Prepare the coffee maker and set the timer
3. Set my alarm and check it multiple times.
4. Brush my teeth
5. Wash my face
6. Get music and class binder together and in my violin case for the next days rehearsals, classes, etc.

Five People Who Mean a Lot:
1. Mom and Dad
2. Heidi, Whit, Holly, Tony, Hannah
3. Adelaide and Finnis
4. extended family
5. Molly

Four Things I'm Wearing Right Now:
1. Blue jeans
2. Tank top, then grey sweater, then Tanglewood fleece (its COLD up here in VT)
3. Thick socks and clogs
4. Brown belt

Three Songs I Listen to a Lot:
1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
2. Hung Up (Madonna)
3. Ravel Piano Concerto (second mvt)

Two Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1. Travel around Europe for a whole month.
2. Play a concert I feel 150% prepared for.

One Confession:
1. Since living in my apartment, I always buy more milk than I can consume before it goes bad. I've thrown away more spoiled milk than I am proud of.

2008-10-21T20:21:00.000-04:00

I'm in Manchester.

Its beautiful up here - this is my sixth fall tour in a row.

I'm finally able to relax and breathe - my life has been too much of a whirlwind lately, and I am able to get some much needed rest at the moment.

Thats all I really have to say at the moment. More relaxing with wine, good friends, and tv is calling my name.

2008-10-12T19:08:00.004-04:00

I'm killing time at the library before the big trumpet concerto performances tonight at Tsai. We are accompanying the three finalists for Cornell's Trumpet Concertino (sp?).

My life has been a complete whirlwind of activity, but with the passing of this week (Firebird concert in NYC done and over) and this weekend (a big one for me - my first as concertmaster for the Sunday Bach cantata at Emmanuel) life will get a little easier. Just a little.

Fortunately, some of the immediate family (Mom, Dad, and Hannah) are coming this weekend to meet Finnis and visit with Heidi, Whit, Adelaide, and me. A BIG unfortunately, Holly and Tony can't join us. :-( WE WILL MISS YOU!

Happy Birthday Kimby!

2008-10-06T23:09:00.003-04:00

I know it was yesterday, and I will call...... I hope you had a wonderful day!

I'm swamped right now and getting up at 6:30 in the morning to head to NYC for a Firebird Ensemble concert - so goodbye for now.

Disappointing debate and Dr. Beat

2008-10-02T22:00:00.006-04:00

I'm sitting here watching the VP debate, and it is frustrating me to no end. Everything is "Your guy voted this way" and the response is always "No he didn't! Thats a lie!!"

(sigh) I don't get it. Either he did or he didn't. How can there be so much "yes you did" - "no you didn't" back and forth and back and forth and BACK and FORTH? Its on a record - somebody isn't reading the records right! Either you DID or you DIDN'T! THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND! ITS YES OR NO!

Maybe I'm just not used to presidential debates. This is the first debate I've watched and paid attention to (although obviously I've gotten sick of it, now that I'm writing here) for a presidential campaign, and its not even the presidential candidates but the VPs. In any case - its driving me nuts. However, I will say that they seem to be overly nice to each other. Interesting.

I am seriously considering moving to Canada and staying there for the rest of my life. Good grief.

Onto now a different separate, serious, very tragic note:

Dr. Beat, my trusty, loud, rhythmically intricate metronome with twenty buttons that became a dear friend for now 6.5 years, has died. The circuitry is shot. I have simply dropped it too many times; it has been used for too many years; been carried around too many miles. It was my high school graduation gift from Heidi and Whit, and it was used and loved well all through my undergrad and masters years. All those CCE rehearsals, all those orchestra excerpts practiced for TMC and excerpt class to make sure I'm always steady while playing the Scherzo mvt. in Schumann 2, all those hours with a drone to help me play in tune. It has always stayed in my violin case, which means I carried it as much as my violin around. I am actually pretty devastated about this, and will be asking for a new one for Christmas. As silly as that sounds, a simple metronome after a Dr. Beat would be too hard - I have come to depend on it specifically.

If I had a backyard, I would bury it. Since I don't, and that might be a little insane anyway, I'll keep it for awhile for the fond memories.

Rain rain go away

2008-09-26T17:08:00.002-04:00

I'm watching the news right now, and this announcer talking from Fenway is standing outside (in the absolute POURING rain) with someone ELSE holding an umbrella for him. So its the man giving the report, and a random hand seemingly from nowhere holding an umbrella. Looks creepy. He has clean fingernails though.

It was so frustrating all day today with the rain. Even from my stop WAY out on the Green line there were people standing because all the seats were taken. I had to take the T a lot today because of rehearsals being all over the greater Boston area, and every time it was hot, muggy, wet, and crammed. I am one of the few people I know here that actually enjoy taking the T, but today I most certainly did NOT.

I will leave you all with this:

I love Beethoven 131.

2008-09-25T23:27:00.002-04:00

Tonight was the first BU orchestra concert, which went well - Brahms 2 is always a joy to play.

I'm teaching at Exeter for Heidi while she's on maternity leave this semester, and so far, I am really enjoying it. I had to get a Zipcar, since its a little over an hour north of here (NH) and taking a train would just be too risky, with delays and what not that usually happen with trains. The teaching itself more than makes up for the cost of the zipcar, so that is great, and I love having a car for one day of the week. The drive itself is gorgeous - fall, in all its beautiful, tree-color-changing glory, has already arrived up north.

Peter has put me on a Kreutzer diet for lessons this semester. Its going well - kinda like a purifying ritual. Today was about trills. I am a very bad trill-er, especially my fourth finger. Its a disaster. Kreutzer to the rescue!

Announcing!

2008-09-21T11:26:00.004-04:00

Little dearie Hannah Ruth has a blog!

http://bannahhraun.blogspot.com

In other news:

My life has been chugging along here now for three weeks at BU and Boston in general. I'm enjoying school - great Sheveloff class, and orchestra isn't too bad. We're doing some Debussy piano pieces that were orchestrated by Ravel, a new trumpet concerto by Richard Cornell (Terry Everson sounds GREAT!), and Brahms 2. I'm concertmaster. Again. Fortunately (or, I should say, hopefully) this means I'll be somewhat off the pressure hook for the rest of the semester. Hopefully. Last year I was concertmaster twice in a row in the second semester - I really don't want to deal with that again.

This past Thursday night was the opening concert at Emmanuel. We did all 6 Brandenburg Concerti. It was, to put it plainly, an incredible experience and I enjoyed myself immensely. I played the solo violin part to number 2, which used a solo horn instead of trumpet (apparently thats how Craig Smith did it the last time they did Brandenburg, in 1996). It was beautiful to have a horn instead of a high, screeching piccolo trumpet. Ahem.

I got to hear a lot of the rehearsals for the ones I didn't participate in (3, 4, and obviously 6). My conclusion is that number 6 is my all-time favorite, especially the first two movements. Simply glorious. The grand plan of my lifetime is to have a kid who plays viola and then I'll learn the 2nd viola part somehow badly but since its my kid they'll HAVE to play it with me! Ha! You're all invited to that concert about thirty years from now. :-)

Finnis and the rest of the Braunhills are doing well. Last weekend he had a brief return stint to the hospital to treat jaundice. It was scary, but according to Hannah (Miss PA School Smarty-Pants!) its very common in newborns. He was three weeks early, which could have caused some stuff to not quite work right yet. However, I got to see him and Heidi Wednesday evening at the Bran. dress rehearsal, and his coloring is back to quite normal and he is cute as a button. Thank goodness.

Here is a picture of the incredible flowers my parents sent to me for Brandenburg:

For more Brandenburg pictures, click HERE.

Excerpt from a 1950s Home Economics Textbook

2008-09-14T22:34:00.003-04:00

This was handed out at my history and lit of the keyboard class. My prof, Sheveloff, has been teaching at BU for 45 years, and is a whole entire wealth of information unto his own. He is also one of the funniest people I know, and loves irony. Our entire class is basically female (only one male), so thats why he handed this out. Numbers 4 and 12 especially make me laugh out loud.

How to Be a Good Wife

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead to have a delicious meal ready for him. This is a way of letting him know you have been thinking about him and his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and they need a warm meal as part of their welcome.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up; put a ribbon in your hair. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

3. Be a little gay and interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and it is your duty to provide it.

4. During cooler months, prepare a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

5. Minimize all noise. Turn off the washer, dryer, and vacuum. Tell the children to be quiet.

6. Be happy to see him.

7. Show sincerity in your desire to please him.

8. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

9. Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

10. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie down in the bedroom. Always have a drink ready for him.

11. Arrange his pillow and take off his shoes. Speak in a low, pleasant voice.

12. Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

13. A good wife always knows her place.

Pictures

2008-09-12T22:33:00.003-04:00

For more pictures, including a few of Finnis and a few more of the road trip in August,

click here.

For Hannah

2008-09-11T19:33:00.002-04:00

Poor Hannah, without text/photo messaging on her phone, has yet to see her new nephew. So here is picture for her, and all who read!

He's Here!

2008-09-08T20:28:00.006-04:00

Finnis Whitacre Braunhill was born this morning just after 2 am, and weighing a bit over 7 lbs. He is healthy and whole, and parents Heidi and Whit and big sister Adelaide (who started kindergarten today too!) are all well. Heidi looked great this morning!

I'll put up pictures when I have my camera and him in the same room together - didn't have it this morning when I visited. I forgot it last night in the flurry to get to their house to spend the night with the new big sister who was too excited to sleep, thinking about the next 12 hours of her life - a baby brother and start of all-day kindergarten all at once!

I Regret This Error....

2008-09-06T16:36:00.005-04:00

My sister Holly has a few words to say about what I wrote in a previous post (the one about Scrabble.....) on August 15th, 2008.

".......just reading your blog and noticed you wrote that you beat me in Scrabble once. As I recall - Hannah is the only one that has won against me (ONLY ONE TIME). Just so we understand each other.... ;)"

I apologize profusely to her, my family, and the Scrabble gods. Although I did not beat her, she did not win. The only time she didn't win, too.

As you can see, the Brauns get a little competitive from time to time concerning board games and cards....but we have never been that way with violin or music. I wouldn't have it any other way. :-)

2008-09-05T20:48:00.005-04:00

This week has been too long, too stressful, too frustrating, too emotional, too draining, and too depressing to write anything.

Picture instead.

Holly enjoys in solemnity the war memorials at Gettysburg.

Beginning of School - Year 20

2008-09-01T21:22:00.005-04:00

Yes, thats right people - this week is my 20th start to a new school year.

Today was pure hell. Woke up to the sound of car alarms, moving trucks, and the front door of my building opening and slamming shut many, many times. Its Sept 1st, the most terrifying day in Boston, especially in Allston/Brighton. I was told the other day that about 500,000 people are moving in/out in Boston on this day yearly. Being the college town it is, today it lived up to the chaos standard - it took me almost an hour to get to BU because the trains were so backed up that THREE came at the same time after waiting 20 minutes and OF COURSE the one I got on went express to BU Central WITHOUT saying it was going to so I had to walk back for ten minutes to CFA. Got my theory test results - happily, I passed with flying colors, so I have no review for theory required for this degree. Yay for me. That was it for happy news today.

After I got the results I went to registration. BU has a messed up system with all kinds of rules and exceptions. When I first got here two years ago I was incredibly confused. Today wasn't as confusing, but still pretty bad. I have a plan for the next three years of coursework, and I am relatively happy with it. Emily S. and I went up to the lab to finally register in the computers, but we couldn't without an advising code, which is messed up because technically we're new students even though we aren't. Too complicated to type out here. Anyway, about an hour later, after a trip back to the string advisor and the dean's office (TWICE for me) we finally registered and all was well.

Not really that I was well, though, because by this time I was so fed up, frustrated, and the clock was ticking without any practice time done. I checked email to find out info about all kinds of things filling up my schedule at an alarming rate, and I started to have a slight panic attack, so I left the lab and calmly went and practiced. Of course, as it happens, I cut the fingernail on my third finger too short so the strings were cutting in and making it bleed, and with only an hour done, so I just ignored the blood and kept on playing.

My orchestra audition is on Thursday, and I have to say, I am more well-prepared for this one than for the last two, so that is good.

In other non-school related news, I'll be teaching at Exeter up in NH for Heidi this semester while she's on maternity leave. I start next Tuesday - last week we made a trip up to get me acquainted with the area and building I will be teaching in. I am very VERY excited - the experience will be amazing for me - and looking forward to having, if only a little bit, a real "job." Imagine that!

Molly and I have been rearranging furniture and books in the living room, and its a nice change. The fishies, Couperin and Quantz, are still well, the weather has been nicely mild lately. I prefer it to not be so hot.

And now, time for a happy picture:

Heidi models with Baba bedecked in blue and black ribbon (from Shelly's wedding).

more pictures

2008-08-27T21:57:00.000-04:00

More pictures from summer exploits.....

2008-08-27T09:34:00.003-04:00

This morning I got up too late to practice and too early to really get ready immediately, so why not waste time with blogging?

Heidi, Adelaide and I shall be heading to NH later this morning for a nice little trip up to Exeter. Heidi teaches there with about 5-8 students, and while she is on maternity leave these next few months, I'll be going up once a week to teach in her place, so today is just a day to look around, make sure I'll know where I'm going, etc etc etc. I won't officially start teaching for another two weeks. I'm kinda excited. The Yings are giving a concert at Exeter in October - unfortunately I can't go, because of a gig here in town.

Theory testing is on Friday, and next week starts the beginning of my three-year coursework for a doctorate in musical arts. Also have an orchestra audition next week, for seating - excerpts are Brahms 2, which then we shall play at the first concert. My chamber music situation is already figured out - three other DMA students (Ariana, Klaudia, and Nat), playing Beethoven 131 and Bartok 2, which we will perform in the spring for a DMA chamber music recital for all of us. This first year I may only get one recital out of the way - but after that, I'm looking at two next year, and two the following year. The biggest annoyance is the concerto recital. A whole recital, of just concertos. (sigh) Yuck.

I will write more about this whole DMA process as the week goes on. For now, I must go start coffee and get ready for the day.

Only in Wisconsin.....

2008-08-21T13:50:00.001-04:00

How very reassuring....

Gallery

2008-08-19T23:24:00.002-04:00

Pictures from July 25th - August 12th.

Picture Preview of Summer 2008

2008-08-16T21:52:00.002-04:00

At Shelly's wedding - little dearies....

Recap

2008-08-15T20:20:00.003-04:00

1. Flew to Milwaukee - luggage got lost for the THIRD time this summer, fourth this year.

2. Lutheran conference was very good fun - played Bach, went well.

3. Went on road trip with parents, Holly and Hannah. Five people, five person car. Tons and tons of Scrabble. Holly won mostly, I only beat her once. She has taken the Scrabble Crown. Hannah is still Boggle Queen. Saw Gettysburg and DC. Walked enough miles to start my own personal walk-a-thon.

4. Cousin Shelly got married - a very good party. Pictures will come.

3. Got on early flight Wednesday morning to return to Boston. Did software update on my mac (a mistake, as you shall see). Enjoyed birthday feast for Tatiana's 25th.

4. Rehearsal for wedding yesterday, went well. Got my life back together and started organizing since school only starts in 2 weeks. However, in the organizing and emailing frenzy, my trusty, beloved iMac died. Not died died - it isn't a sad mac (a frown face when you hit the start button), but something is up with the hard drive, most likely from the software update. I've kept putting newer and newer technology on an older and older computer, and it finally couldn't really take it anymore. I spent some time on the phone with my dad trying to get it back to working, but no. He doesn't think the hard drive is completely lost, especially since it is still smiling when I hit start. However, it has been six years, and it has never truly failed me once till now - not once. It has done its duty, and its time to be done. Tomorrow morning, on this tax free weekend in Boston, I shall buy my next Mac. I have been planning to get a new one since I knew I was starting my dma this fall, and its a good time of year to get one anyway since I'll get a free ipod. My ipod is dying too, lately - its five years old.

5. Today was running a lot of errands - Molly and I rented a car and got new furniture, lots of groceries, and general stuff for a new school year (me) and start of real life (Molly).

The next post will be from my new Mac laptop!

Conference Over

2008-08-02T10:27:00.003-04:00

The WELS Lutheran Worship and Arts conference is all done - we returned on Thursday night late, and all was well. These conferences are always funny - I saw a ton of people I hadn't seen in years. Good times.

Now I'm in Milwaukee for the next few days before Holly gets here Monday morning and then Tuesday morning we head out to Pennsylvania to see Gettysburg, then DC, then attend my cousin Shelly's wedding on Saturday. My parents no longer lease suv's; they've had a little Honda Accord for the past almost two years, so this will be one cramp, tight car. Heidi and Whit are also attending the wedding, so on Sunday I'll drive back up to Boston with them.

It has become very clear that while I continually beat Hannah at Scrabble, she is the ULTIMATE QUEEN of Boggle. She completely cleaned me up on the car ride home. Good lord.

Hello from St. Peter, Minnesota....

2008-07-27T01:03:00.004-04:00

Home of Gustavus Adolphus.

I tried to get a link to the school, but they must all be under construction cause there seem to be no link that follows through. So feel free to read the bio on the REAL Gustavus Adolphus above.

For the next five days, I will be back in the WELS bubble, but thankfully, my darling baby sister will be here with me to enjoy it all. We have already played Scrabble three times today, and I won twice, Hannah once. Expect to see reaction photos soon from the winner and then the loser.

Breakfast is at 8 tomorrow. Time for sleep.

Hot and Humid, Sangria, Practicing and Planners

2008-07-19T00:47:00.003-04:00

Another heal wave has hit Boston this week. Although the rain did come and slightly cool things off, its still hot in the apartment tonight - sleeping will not be easy.

Tonight Emily S. and I enjoyed the humid air with some sangria. $5/pitcher peach sangria from Tasca is really amazing.

I practiced today, for almost four hours. The solo Bach I'm playing for the Lutheran conference is coming.

I bought a new planner for my life today, for 2008-2009. I love new planners. They are the start of something fresh and clean.

Obviously, I am virtually alone in Boston at the moment (except for Emily - we are starved for company) with not much to do except practice and buy new planners and drink sangria, so I have nothing interesting or thought-provoking to say. I'll stop before it gets worse.

Origins

2008-07-15T12:21:00.008-04:00

Because I had bought Heidi some ginger body stuff for her birthday in April, I am now on the mailing list for Origins, a beauty store kinda like Clinique but more independent from department stores and such. They also sell a ton of organic products. Happily, I got a postcard a month ago for a free facial and free lip balm. I went in this morning to get it - it felt WONDERFUL. The only problem is that the woman literally used seven different things on my face before even putting make up on. From the first wash till the lotion. Its nuts, the stuff women (and some men) go through to just have clear, healthy skin.

I did get a jar of exfoliation stuff, and it was expensive, even though I got $10 off. I was promised it would last a year, so I sure hope thats true. On my way home, though, I got to thinking.

In order to be as healthy as you can and buy all the right things for your face or body, or even for food, you have to buy organic products, and organic anything is EXPENSIVE. Its almost preordained that the wealthiest people, the ones who can afford to buy the right products that have no chemicals and make you as "pure" as possible, will live the longest, healthiest lives. Anything cheap is full of chemicals that will supposedly kill you early. Obviously, we all die eventually, but while anyone lives, they want to FEEL good, and not be sick, and a lot of the cheap stuff that you have to buy because its the only thing you can afford has so many of those chemicals or what not that will (supposedly) some day give you cancer or make you sick. Today was the first time I really splurged on anything to do with beauty or skincare - I buy Clinique powder, but everything else comes from CVS, and this exfoliation stuff was WAY more expensive than Clinique powder.

Maybe its all a scam; I don't know. I just hope it works.

Mid-July already....

2008-07-13T21:08:00.003-04:00

As usual, the summer is flying by and I don't even really know what happened to it.

I spent the past two days in New Hampshire, playing a pops concert at the NH Music Festival. My sister is there playing for a month, so it was nice to spend the weekend with her and Adelaide. This was my first EVER pops concert, complete with a medly of songs from the James Bond movies and Stars and Stripes Forever. We also did a Gershwin thingy, and the conductor actually had us "tap dance" in one spot and do a "kick line" in another one. Fortunately, Heidi and I were the last stand of 2nd violins, hidden behind the piano; we could not stop giggling, and I ended up laughing so hard and trying to suppress said laughter that the tears were flowing freely. I couldn't help it, especially with the theme from Rocky being played while the conductor walks on stage, in lieu of the national anthem.

My days spent at Tanglewood were nice too, although they ended on a somber note (go to ohmytrill.blogspot.com for more information). I'm not sure what they will do now.....its quite a disaster. I'm expecting a chain reaction of canceling conductors throughout the world as the BSO tries to replace the ones for Levine's concerts.

Fortunately, I'm home for a solid week and a half before heading home for the Lutheran worship and arts conference. Right now I'm baking cookies. They smell good, and the timer just went off. Anyone who wants to try one is welcome to come by!

Back in Boston

2008-07-05T16:09:00.004-04:00

I'm back in Boston. I'm heading to Tanglewood tomorrow to hear Molly's faculty concert with BUTI and David's (plus many, many others I know) orchestra concert with TMC.

I have been a complete and utter lazy person since returning from Seattle.

I will post pictures and write more about it at a later date. I'm really not in the mood for blogging right now - must go practice. In any case, I had a wonderful time, we played well, and I was so happy to have done it.

Seattle!

2008-06-19T17:26:00.003-04:00

I am in Seattle, rehearsing with CCE! Getting here on Monday was the biggest pain and one of the longest days for me ever. Both my flights (from Boston and then DC) were boarded on time but then we sat on the runway for first fifteen minutes longer (to DC) and then about an hour longer (to Seattle). Then, I get to WA and my luggage is still in DC. I didn't get it back till after 4 pm the next day, and although it normally wouldn't be a huge problem, I had left Kitty's violin part in my luggage and we couldn't rehearse without it. (sigh) I will be smarter next time.

It is of course wonderful to be with and see Kim and Kitty again, and Natalie (our substitute cellist) is great! Bartok is hard - but we're plugging through it....

Flight Canceled

2008-06-16T06:29:00.003-04:00

Its incredibly early at the moment. I've been up for an hour already. My United flight was suppose to leave this morning at 9, but I got a call about thirty seconds before I headed out the door telling me my flight is canceled and I've been put on a new one at 2:45 pm.

There are two INCREDIBLY annoying things about this:

1 - obviously, I got up about four hours earlier than needed. And now I'm wide awake.
2 - my old flight had a connection in Denver - this new one is DC. So I'm flying straight south for two whole hours when I really just want to go straight west. Totally out of the way.

As you can see, my next post is actually NOT from Seattle......

Stupid airlines. United, like American, has also started charging for first checked bag, so the only silver lining in all of this is that the bag charge actually doesn't apply to me for this flight OR my one in July because I got them so early. Good grief.

Adelaide Day

2008-06-15T14:34:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Adelaide and I spent a grand total of almost 7 hours together yesterday! It was a busy day for Heidi and Whit, so in the morning she and I walked around Cambridge and the Charles River and in the afternoon/early evening we were here in my apartment, playing a made up card game we invented, watching Schoolhouse Rock, dancing, and eating thai curry. Its great that she is almost five now and I can leave her in the living room by herself without panic - I was able to get some stuff done while preparing for my next two weeks in Washington state.

David was here on his way to TMC this past Wednesday for one night only, but we still had a great time hanging out and catching up. And tomorrow I will see Kimby and Kitty!

Molly left yesterday afternoon for BUTI for the next 8 weeks - I was sad to see her go, but I just spoke to her on the phone and she sounds like all is well! She took our two fish, Quantz and Couperin, with her so they can also enjoy the fresh air and beautiful music of Lenox in the summer. I'll probably be visiting her and David and other assundry Tanglewood people during July 4th weekend.

I will write next from the lovely city of Seattle, Washington!

(please note: the sheet covering the couch is not a usual phenomenon, and I know it looks weird. We put it on during the heat wave last weekend because that couch is the most heat insulated thing I've ever seen. The sheet helps. It was removed this morning. Thank you.)

MAC STORE FUN!

2008-06-10T14:03:00.006-04:00

The parents and I are at the Mac store for awhile before they fly out back to Milwaukee tonight. We've had a really good time for their short visit - I'm only sad I can't go back to WI with them - Holly is flying into Milwaukee right now as we speak for work, so she and Hannah and my parents will all be home together for the next week. And on Saturday the girls are going reception hall shopping for Holly's wedding. I want to go too! Sad day.

Mom and I did the Freedom Trail yesterday in four hours and 92 degree heat. We put on so much sunscreen you'd have no idea we spent so much time in the sun. Dad got a lot done at the Harvard Library - he's a research machine. We've been here for about a half hour asking the Mac guys what would be best for me to get in the fall - its almost time for a new Mac! New degree, new Mac, is my motto.

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Mary and Daniel!

Cleaning Frenzy

2008-06-08T01:05:00.003-04:00

The parents are showing up tomorrow around 3:30 pm, so Molly and I worked our tails off and cleaned this apartment. It was time - we haven't done a really hard cleaning since probably January. This apartment is so sparkling, after over three hours of hard labor, that even Mary Keener would be proud.

They weren't kidding with the heat today - up to 90, and tomorrow is suppose to be worse. My fan has been dusted off and brought to use, so there goes the electric bill - said fan will be on ALL night tonight so that I won't suffer. Monday they are predicting 96. Of course, that is the day my mom wants to do the Freedom Trail. OF COURSE. Ah well.

The wedding I had this afternoon was a doozy. It was at the Taj in downtown Boston, one of the hotels Donald Trump owns, and it is quite ritzy. Musicians can't enter through the front entrance - we must enter through the back kitchen entrance. Anyway, the hotel woman in charge of such events was so worked up about making everything perfect, she even yelled at the BRIDE'S MOTHER. Good lord. Unfortunately, weddings are how I pay the bills in the summer......

(please note: the picture was taken in September when we were doing a big cleaning overall as Molly was moving in. She's wearing slippers - there is NO WAY that slippers would be tolerated today, with the heat.....its just a good picture to represent the cleaning.)