Week of Insanity

Last night's Verdi went smoothly, although it was not without its hiccups.

The first Emmanuel rehearsal for B minor Mass was yesterday, and it was quite enjoyable to sit next to my sister. We are standpartners - I love it, but it is quite funny at the same time, too.

Tomorrow night and Thursday night are the Semele performances for the Baroque orchestra. Its great music, and the singers sound wonderful, the orchestra, not so much. My baroque violin is in such bad shape - I desperately need a new D string, a rehair, and some peg dope.

My modern violin is also in a bit of a bad state. I need new strings, need a rehair, need new rosin (I finally dropped it - I knew it was coming - my rosin is now in 25 zillion pieces), and need an adjustment.

And I really really REALLY need a nap. No time though! Must press on!

Organic Cake and Scooping Singers

I am currently listening to Mozart C minor Mass (playing it in a week and half for a Harvard group) and waiting for Emily Stewart's birthday cake to bake for tonight. Its all organic - even the icing, which I made from scratch. I love Whole Foods. I got up early this morning and went the the store for this week's groceries, since I have no time for lunch or dinner at home this week, and will be making food for the day every night before so I don't spend $500 in one week just eating out. (Thats an exaggerated amount, but hey - its expensive around here.)

I have officially, completely decided that I don't appreciate singers who scoop up to every other third note. We finally had the soloists yesterday for the Verdi Requiem (Symphony Hall concert on Monday) and the tenor soloist is starting to grate on my nerves with all this unnecessary scooping. I thought the other three soloists weren't so bad with the scooping, until the soprano has an octave leap marked "pppp" (literally - I have the cue in my part - it is pianississississimo) and gave the biggest one from her middle staff B-flat to her upper octave B-flat. I almost had a heart attack on the spot. Yes, she's a student, so I shouldn't be so harsh. Yes, she has a beautiful voice, and I think will be very successful someday. Yes, I KNOW its Verdi, and the scooping makes it "romantic" and "expressive". In my opinion, however, the tenor and soprano soloists would say a lot more about their vocal control in their performance if they scooped less.

I am currently at the library, printing out various important items before heading back to CFA. My day has already started with a flourish - little dearie (aka Adelaide) came by this morning and I hung out with her while Heidi had an appointment. Whit has been on brass quintet tour for almost a week now, with almost two weeks to go, so I am happy to help when I can. She even let me French braid her hair - it looked very pretty!

I'm afraid to check email now. Everytime I do, there is some new crises or rehearsal or conflict or one more thing to do before April 26th (my recital date).

If it would just get a little bit warmer, I would be more optimistic about the next month.

things

The sun is shining today!

Amy left yesterday - we had such a great time!

Every time I look at my schedule, I absolutely freak out and have small panic attacks. My recital is in three and a half weeks.

I enjoy playing Baroque violin a lot. Hope to make it more of a regular thing continuing into next year. Speaking of which, BU still hasn't sent out any acceptance forms or anything of the kind. I really need to know NOW if they can afford to keep me here next year.

I've been reading through those blogs Mary posted a lot over the past couple days. The first one is comforting on a huge scale that prayer works. The second one is indeed completely different - completely tragic, in so many ways. One, I haven't been able to figure out HOW their baby died, and two, she should have listened to the Bev Braun-ism: "Your most important decision is who you marry, because it effects everything in your life after its done."

I am currently in the process of changing my blog - its a very SLOW work in progress.

Lately, every time I open a new blog post, I stare at the screen for five minutes not knowing what to say. What can I even say - my life right now is a constant barreling of school and friends. Nothing in either of those categories has changed much within even the past month.

Thats it. I really have nothing left to say. Except saying that I have nothing left to say.

Amy and I are currently at the Tsai computer while waiting to get in for the Collaborative Piano/Composition Project Recital. I know I called David with this fabulous news, but I will be watching the one and only John Malkovich tonight in performance. The piece Molly's playing for has a narrator part, and the composer who wrote the piece (Jacob) knows JM from a posh store he works at in Cambridge. I'm very excited about this. I already saw him at CFA last week after he came for a rehearsal. Ha! This'll be hilarious.

Amy leaves tomorrow. :-( After that starts the absolute craziness till May 18th, which is Graduation Day - I have a performance of significance EVERY weekend from now till May 15th. Joy.

If it doesn't become spring here soon, I may die.

Amy Kant!

Amy has been here for the past couple days, and so far, we are having a great time! This afternoon we are heading downtown to meet Mr. Carlisle, who was an English teacher at our high school and who ran all the dramas and musicals that we were a part of while attending Wisco. I haven't seen him since he left before my senior year......it'll be so good to see him!

My recital is exactly four weeks from today, and I'm confident I'll be ready if I have enough time to practice. Only problem - I really don't have enough time. Poor Molly is absolutely swamped right now with recitals she's playing for, so we haven't even started the Copland sonata. I'm not overly concerned, I just am overwhelmed with everything that is going on. Quintet hasn't been going well - we haven't had a rehearsal where ALL people are present for over a week now. Hopefully that will change soon - and the last mvt is so incredibly difficult, I have trouble seeing straight when I think about it.

I can't worry about that now - tomorrow Amy and I shall babysit little dearie Adelaide, hear Heidi play at Emmanuel, and go to the Aquarium!

Another Snow Picture

In the absence of anything useful to say, here is another Milwaukee snowstorm picture. Our car got completely stuck after we pulled out of the driveway. Hannah and Dad immediately got out of the car. Inside the car, at the moment of this picture, Mom and I are debating whether to get out and help. Eventually I did and we shoveled the car out of the street. Of course, 10 min. later, the snowplow guys came. Typical.

PS - I realize these pictures aren't nearly as adorable or fun to look at as the ones of Emily Ruth on Mary's blog. Don't worry.

I don't know HOW the snow is staying like that, but all four corners of my parents' house looked like this on Friday after the snowstorm, picture courtesy of Hannah Braun. This is over the windows of what USED to be my bedroom, but my parents moved into it the day I left for BUTI in 2002. Anyway. I'm back in Boston now, sad that my long weekend at home is over, but happy to be back into the swing of school and such. Amy Kant comes to visit in three days!

Good Friday Canceled

Milwaukee received about 12 inches of snow in an all-day blizzard yesterday, and as a result, all Good Friday services at church was canceled. This has never happened in my lifetime before. Watching the news, it didn't look like ANYONE had Good Friday services in Milwaukee. I partially blame the fact that Easter is so early this year - apparently we cannot have it on March 23rd again until 2160. The last time was in the 1800s. This is all based on what Mrs. L told me yesterday at the L and C Koz's Good Friday bash, though, so who knows. Anyway - for it being Easter weekend, it sure feels like Christmas outside. Good thing I got here Thursday morning!

Is it really appropriate to have a party on Good Friday night? Especially to NOT call it off when even church was called off???? Who knows. I guess not, since all THREE St. John's pastors were at this event. Hannah and I walked the mile home around 9:45, her shoveling a path for me in my clogs with her knee-high boots. It was good times!

I've been having a good time at home. I thought I was going to be the only daughter home this weekend, but Hannah surprised me by showing up late Thursday night!  We've been mostly eating, talking, shopping, and watching college basketball. I'm doing pretty good so far on my bracket - I've only missed 7 on the whole first round. Beating Hannah, at least.......

I hope you all have a lovely Easter, and that the Easter bunny brings you something special!

The weather here right now is so crappy I could cry. Where the hell is spring??

Molly and I dyed Easter eggs last night - decorated eggs include our fishies and one egg for each of these categories: French, German, Russian, and American composers. We are dorks.

I finally found a sub for that gig - Anaar. Thank goodness.

I'm heading home to Milwaukee for Easter weekend tomorrow - looking forward to it. Just hope I actually get things done - I have a tendency to do NOTHING while at my parents' house.

Things I have learned tonight:

1. Hannah cannot make toffee. She can however make an excellent brown sugary thing that has chocolate and pecans in it, and it will taste spectacular in your oatmeal! Just ask Bill Braun!

2. It only takes five minutes to make your lunch the night before and it saves about $6 tomorrow.

3. If you throw out the baby AND the bathwater, all you get is a wet and critically injured baby (from For Your Consideration).

4. Spring break is over and I didn't get anything really done. I realized that tonight when the clock struck 12....

5. There is drama in the basement of my Milwaukee home....oh, the drama.....at least they're being smart about it NOW.

6. Tomorrow the sun will shine! One day closer to spring.....

I did finally manage to go to the grocery store. Whole Foods is the best place on earth.

I just got home from seeing The Other Boleyn Girl. I had read the book by Philippa Gregory about a year ago, and while I had enjoyed it, it really is historical fiction, the key word being FICTION. I also have read a lot of biographies on the Tudors, especially Elizabeth I, but also including one about Anne Boleyn I read last summer that was written recently. While the historical fiction novel by Gregory focuses on Anne Boleyn being an evil, incestuous, deceiving woman, the bio that I read shed light on some important information that is not seen very commonly, namely, that most of what we know today about the whole break with the Catholic Church and Anne's trial was written by her enemies. According to this bio, she was a fierce Protestant, knew Martin Luther's writings extensively, and saw an opportunity to change the religion of England.

Ok, obviously, I'm Lutheran, so I was quite attentive at that part of the bio. But the fact that most of what we know today about Anne's convictions and trial were written by her enemies is quite enlightening, and was on my mind as I watched this movie. I think so much of what is assumed today about Anne (ex: she did NOT have 6 fingers on one hand) is exaggerated to such an extent that makes her truly evil. I wish Philippa Gregory had decided to focus on a different side of Anne Boleyn's history instead of the one that has been told for the past four hundred years.

The movie stays true to the novel, of course, being of the same title and having the author help with the screenplay. I enjoyed Natalie Portman's portrayal as Anne very much, but am kinda confused as to why somebody didn't dye Eric Bana's hair red, since Henry VIII had quite reddish hair, as did Elizabeth I.

Spring break is over. This is such a sad day. Tomorrow is the last concert for Cantata Singers, which I am very much looking forward to. The one last night went really well.

Oh, and our rent went up $12.50 a month for me and Molly. This isn't too bad......but I knew it was coming.

I am severly procrastinating from walking outside. It snowed a little this morning, and now its just cold and gross. I HAVE TO GO TO THE GROCERY STORE. THIS IS VITAL. But I just can't seem to move myself from this chair. I am all showered, dressed, etc etc and ready to go, but I just can't do it. I have no food in this place. Its 3:15, and I haven't eaten yet today, and had to make earl grey tea this morning instead of coffee because I ran out of coffee yesterday. But I can't make myself just go. AGHGHGGHGHGHGHGHGH!

This is pathetic.

Maybe I should make a grocery list first. Maybe that will get the motivation spirit moving.

Weird

This story was on the front page of my Metro yesterday, I talked about it with Heidi at lunch, and I come home to this link she emailed:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/woman-stuck-in-bathroom-for-how-long/20080313080209990001

There are SO many questions I have about it, but we may never know!

Last night, for the first time in MANY years, I went to a play. And this play was in downtown Boston, at the Charles Playhouse. Emily R's actor friend is in the show Shear Madness, which is actually the longest running nonmusical ever - since around 1987. Its a whodunit comedy murder mystery, and was really well done. I recommend anyone to see it. Afterwards, I got to meet some of the actors and we hung out for awhile. It really is amazing to me how much a freelance musician and a freelance actor use the same words and have the same lifestyle. All in the name of art and culture.

Speaking of freelance musician: tonight is the first concert for Cantata Singers.

I am having the most terrible time trying to find a replacement for a gig at the end of March. I said yes to it before I knew Amy would be coming to visit that same weekend, and it seems like EVERY violinist I know has a conflict. I've even asked Nat, who really is a violist but plays violin at Emmanuel. I have about two more people on my mind that would be able to do it. Then, I'm out. This is serious. And I've been working on it for over an hour.

Today is rainy, gross and cold. As Adelaide said: "Its a lion day!" This OF COURSE was going to be the afternoon I got my grocery shopping done. Now, with the weather, that is very unlikely. Thank goodness I did my laundry yesterday. That was also becoming a desperate situation.

Who knew spring break could be filled with so many desperate situations?

I haven't been sleeping well lately, but last night really was the worst. I have no idea when I finally slept, but I did wake up at 5, then 6ish, then 7 before just giving up and reading until around 9, when Molly and I headed to the corner cafe for breakfast. I really hope this doesn't become a trend.........my head hurts.

Soon I will head downtown to meet Heidi and Peter for lunch, which should be lovely.

Still really nothing new to report. Its spring break. I have rehearsal tonight for Cantata Singers. Today I've paid bills, kept trying to find a replacement for this gig at the end of March when Amy Kant comes to visit, and am stalling to actually GO to BU to practice my parts for tonight.

In the absence of anything remotely intersting to say, how about a picture instead?


This one is worth a thousand words. To me.

Problems with rain and words

I really don't have anything of much interest to say. I'm sorry if I bore you all.

After a few days of sun and almost (ALMOST) spring weather, yesterday was downright crappy. Yuck. I am still wearing my clogs with the hole in the right big toe area, and when I left yesterday it didn't seem like it would be too much of a problem, but I was wrong. Not only did I accidentally step in every puddle downtown, I even slipped and fell while crossing the street and my entire shoe filled with water. I had gotten a new pair for Christmas, but since Dansko clogs are all handmade, the pair my mom got was just too small, and now they are on backorder, blah blah blah. So the ones with the hole it is, for now. Its looking like my left one might be getting a hole shortly too.

Today, though, the sun is out, although it is very windy. Heidi is bringing Adelaide over soon for some babysitting and fun. I wish you could all see her now - she is four and a half, VERY articulate, tall, and smart as a whip. And still the funniest person I know. A few weeks ago, when I was at their house, Heidi mentioned how tired she (Heidi) was, and how she needed to go to bed. Adelaide hadn't really heard the whole thing - she was doing something else - but her ears picked up on "tired" and "bed" and IMMEDIATELY she shrieked "I'm not tired! I don't need to go to bed!"

I have Cantata Singers this week, and we're doing (among other things) Brahms' German Requiem. Last week with some friends I mentioned it, but somehow my brain decided to combine "German" and "Brahms", so instead of "Brahms Requiem" or "German Requiem" I said "Germs Requiem." Tatiana is STILL reminding me about it and laughing her head off. I think I'm dyslexic sometimes.

Blah blah BLAH. My life is boring at the moment. Sorry.

Highlights From Today:

Quintet rehearsal:
Alyssa blowing her nose with her left hand while holding a long open A with her right during the slow mvt of Schubert Quintet.
Alyssa getting up to turn the fan on.
Alyssa getting up to turn the fan off.
Alyssa getting up to turn the fan back on.
Said fan then falls to the floor with a TERRIFIC crash.

Quintet coaching canceled.

No orchestra!

Singing happy birthday to Peter.

Mango cheesecake and wine with friends.

It is spring break! Yay!

The concert is done and over. It went as well as it probably could have - a couple spots here and there that were weird, but altogether not bad at all. So relieved. And so happy its over! And EXTREMELY happy that I have NO orchestra tomorrow! Yay!

In other news, Ari is one of the concerto competition winners!

Tomorrow is the last day before spring break. All I have is quintet rehearsal in the morning and then a coaching in the afternoon. Tatiana and I may go hear the BSO tomorrow night - Julian Kuerti is conducting his debut. He and I were TMC fellows together in 2005, so I want to go and root for him.....he is very talented, and conducted at Emmanuel when I played there the terrible weekend in January that I had the flu.

Time is flying by.......

It is a beautiful day in Boston today - I think it rained a lot overnight, but now it is sunny and in the fifties. Spring is finally coming!

I'm finally catching up to all the stuff I put off and put off until the competition was over. Speaking of which - the finals were last night, and this morning I saw Peter, who informed me that NO ONE knows who won yet. Not one person has announced anything. I checked the school of music office, as well as the scheduling, and it seems like its a very well kept secret at the moment. Peter charged me with letting him know as soon as I know.

In my opinion, the whole thing last night was handled weirdly. Ari played first, and I went to hear him, and the judges didn't seem like they were really paying attention (two of them were the former Boston Globe critic, Richard Dyer, and Tamara Smirnova, the assistant concermaster of the BSO - I don't know who the third guy was). They were whispering and then stopped Ari to tell him to start at rehearsal number 105 - and he looks at the piano score of the pianist playing and tells the judges that he just played rehearsal 105. Dyer then says "Just start somewhere near the end." What the heck is that?

OH! I just heard gossip - they are going to announce them in about an hour.

Good grief.

I played for my first Baroque opera orchestra rehearsal last night. We're doing Semele by Eccles. Beautiful music. I was SO uncomfortable for the first half hour (no shoulder rest+no chin rest+my long neck = a very slippery and tippy baroque violin). After awhile I was getting the hang of it more, no longer had to do this elaborate thing when I put it up to make sure it wouldn't fall, and started to enjoy myself.

This afternoon is the final three hour dress rehearsal for chamber orchestra. By tomorrow night around 9ish, this whole Haydn symphony leading extravaganza will be over. Thank goodness.

Brett Favre is finally retiring.

Hannah has called already this morning near tears. So glad I'm not in Milwaukee at the moment. It would drive me crazy.

I'm sure though, when I AM home in two weeks, that it will still be the number one subject.

Today, not only did I lead the entire orchestra for Haydn, I led the actual rehearsal for about 20 minutes as well, while David sat in the hall.

I'm laughing out loud right now, it sounds so ridiculous.

Ok. While it kinda is annoying, I am having a little bit more fun now, but leading an ENTIRE orchestra is exhausting. I have to give a lot of cues, which means moving around, which I know some people (who I will not mention) think that makes me look like I'll fall out of my chair. I haven't fallen out yet, but I did almost drop my bow today. That was fun!

Trivia night tonight. I'm determined that we shall conquer!

I like how young we all look in this picture, especially David (you can click on it to make it bigger).

I like Kimby's sultry look.

I like Kitty's exuberant smile! :-)

I like how I am wearing the exact same thing - even the same jewelry - right at this moment. Just noticed that.

I like how happy we look.

Today, fortunately, the weather gods decided to let it be sunny. February apparently was the wettest February on record in Boston this year, so I'm glad its over. I'm sure there is more snow and cold on the horizon, since I've never known a March in the north to be exactly pleasant, but spring is on its way. Thank goodness. I love winter, but this one has been very long, snowy, rainy, and cold. My down jacket is starting to get uncomfortable in its bulkiness. And I miss wearing summer skirts and dresses.

Speaking of summer, my summer plans are finally shaping up. I'll be in Washington with the CCE girls in June, then Minnesota for the Wels worship and arts conference at the end of July, Milwaukee for a bit after that, then Pennsylvania for my cousin Shelley's wedding in early August. Paul - I will probably have to leave from Philly to get back to Boston - maybe we can meet up??!?!?

Last night I heard Boston Baroque do Purcell's King Arthur. It was very enjoyable, and now that I'm taking Baroque violin this semester, am getting more into it. Tatiana and I also had the BEST - ABSOLUTE BEST - mango cheesecake. Anyone coming to Boston will join me and we will go have some. Because it was that good.

Leap Year

Happy birthday to all those born today. I don't even know anybody who has a birthday today, but they are out there!

If my birthday was on Feb. 29th, on non-Leap Years I would celebrate on March 1st. Just a thought.

My past couple days have been so wonderful, relaxed, and pleasant. Last night Molly and I went to Tosca because she got a $15 birthday coupon and had to use it in February, so we enjoyed tapas and even got a pitcher of Sangria. Because of coupon - entire meal was $11. Then we went home and watched Finding Neverland, which I haven't seen since David and Mary and I saw it at Little Theater and Mary and I were sobbing on the way home and then the woman with no gas asked for a dollar for gas and Mary gave her one and she drove off. That was a hilarious night. Anyway, it was good to see it again.

Tonight are Geraldine and Jesse's recitals, one after the other. My weekend will consist of some practicing, possibly going to a concert tomorrow night, and Amanda's recital on Sunday.

Did I mention how much less stressed out I am? Maybe all this extra acne I got last week from stress will finally go away.......

Heidi Braun-Hill

Ms. Heidi Braun-Hill will be performing the Bach b minor Sonata in its entirety today, February 28th, at noon, at Emmanuel Church in Boston.

See this for more information (at bottom of webpage):

http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/concerts/evening.htm

I just initiated Molly into the world of this:

http://doublebassblog.org/2006/12/from-bad-to-worse-in-handels-messiah.html

For you C-house lovers out there.......its the Messiah organ clip we listened to in Mary's room probably a hundred times.

Molly is STILL laughing out loud - I can hear her in her room!

The competition was last night. My time was at 10:40, but I actually didn't play till after 11 pm. The first and second mvts went very well, but by the time I got to the third, I was getting tired, and had a few problems here and there. I played for 25 min total.

I didn't make it to the finals, but I am not too disappointed. I did way too much last minute cramming, so it was a good lesson for me to learn. Also, I have more chances - since I'm doing my DMA here next year, I have actually THREE more chances. And I was happy in general with how it went last night, and so is Peter. He called to tell me he is proud. That is all I really needed - myself to feel good and to not embarress myself or my teacher.

(for those of you who are interested - Ari did make it to the finals, playing Berg concerto. He sounded great in studio Monday night.)

Life can finally return to normal! I can finally do that Centrum application, as well as clean this disaster area of a room......

I Passed My Lesson

Peter is letting me compete. The 12+ hours I spent practicing this past weekend paid off.

Molly and I are playing tomorow night around 10:30 pm.

That is all.

Kimby's Blog

Go to this website:

http://kimberlyfitch.blogspot.com/2008/02/amy-winehouse_7846.html

For whatever reason, I love this. Its weird. I've been listening to it every morning while getting ready.

Maybe its my brain's way of trying to purge all Brahms from my thoughts.

Tired

I'm taking a break now from practicing. I've been very good the past couple days - yesterday I got in about 6 hours, and today I've already run the whole concerto with Molly as well as done two hours of my own work. My body is starting to give out for today, however. My left hand and right wrist ache, and I can feel the space between my shoulders getting tighter and tighter. I haven't really practiced as much as I have this past week for a long time. Hopefully it will all pay off tomorrow when Peter hears the whole thing and declares me ready for Tuesday or decides to pull me out. I just want to play well.

A new friend of Molly's that we had brunch with this morning asked if I was completely sick of Brahms concerto now. As crazy as it may seem, and as frustrated as I've been the past week, the answer is of course NO. How could anyone get sick of it. It is glorious music, and playing it has been a dream of mine since I was 6 years old and saw Itzhak Perlman do it with the Arkansas Symphony. And today I played the whole thing. I am lucky.

I'm also going to be missing trivia night tomorrow at Sunset in order to prep for Tuesday. Molly and I have been going for a couple weeks now. Last week, one of the questions was "Which famous football coach is quoted as saying, 'Tieing a game is like kissing your sister.'" I said Vince Lombardi (I'm a Wisconsin girl, I had to). Dennis thought it was Mike Dittka, an old Bears coach. I should have stuck to my guns - I got the question right, but had backed down and Dennis put the wrong answer down. Shoot!

Spring break is in two weeks. It cannot come fast enough.

Oh, and PS - David isn't conducting the Haydn for the orchestra concert. Which basically means I am. Agh.

Still plugging away at Brahms.

Magic Flute last night was really good - getting home from Magic Flute was NOT so good. The blizzard we had yesterday created problems getting home, but eventually we made it, at midnight. Yesterday was such a long day.......

Back to practicing I go.

It is a snowy, blustery day in Boston. So far we've had about 2 inches fall, with it expected to get much worse by tonight. Whoo-hoo! I really really really hope that means orchestra will be canceled within the next hour. That would be excellent.

I just played the Royal March from Soldiers Tale 14 times for the conducting auditions. It was fun, but now I'll have it stuck in my head until orchestra starts. Anyway - it was a very nice stress relief from all the pressure I'm feeling for Brahms, and it wasn't hard. Nice to see somebody ELSE under pressure for a change. Thats cruel, but after Peter yelling about my intonation for a total of three hours yesterday.......(sigh).

Tonight I'm going to BU's Magic Flute production. Should be fun!

IT WORKS!!!!!!

I am typing this from HOME!

HURRAH!

(it better stay this way or Verizon will be getting a nasty phone call VERY soon)

Internet still broken. They're sending a guy out today to go to the local dispatch office to fix it. If that doesn't work, they have to come to my apartment, and no one will be home. So we'll have to reschedule. I expect to not have internet at home for about the next week. (sigh)

Yesterday at orchestra we did the entire Haydn symphony with no conductor. Needless to say, that gave me a lot more pressure and work for cues, tempos, taking time, etc etc etc. I was so exhausted at the end of orchestra I almost cried. Hopefully today he'll pick up a baton and help out. I understand the reasoning for it - especially since the strings in the Berlioz concert were such a disaster - but it did NOT help my tired or stress level AT ALL.

Back to Brahms I go. He and I have a love/hate relationship these days.

Internet Woes

My internet at home as been a real problem the last 24 hours. I have already spent a ton of time on the phone with the Verizon guys, and am so pissed that its stopped working AGAIN that I'm about ready to throw the modem and wires out the window.

Speaking of throwing things out windows, if the third mvt. of Brahms doesn't improve soon, expect to see my violin following the modem out the window, hopefully with a terrific crash.

In other, less stressful news, Molly and I have two new fish! They are named Couperin (the orange one) and Quantz (the purple one). They were a birthday present for us from Amanda. So far, they're still alive. Hope it stays that way - they've been looking kinda grumpy.

I finished my first whole Metro crossword puzzle yesterday (I spent all weekend on it traveling to and from weddings) all by myself with no help from friends or internet. Hooray!

Officially 24

Its Sunday afternoon, meaning everything associated to birthday fun is officially OVER.

I had a very good birthday - everyone I saw at school was very nice in their birthday wishes and also expressed how excited they were about the party. The Steinhardt masterclass went ok - at the beginning of the recap, I somehow didn't remember how short my bow is, because I swung for a retake and somehow caught my bow tip underneath my strings. Whoops. My e string was completely out. I had to stop and retune and then start again and it was embarressing. However, Mr. Steinhardt was very nice, very complimentary, and seemed to like our rendition of Schubert - even said he liked our tempo.

After the masterclass, Molly and I went to Shaw's for last minute party items and then came home with 5.5 hours to spare before party time. I also came home to a nice little UPS box - opened it, and there were some very beautifully decorated boxes and inside was candy, cookies, and everything else looking quite delicious. Found the card - it was from Mary! Thank you so much!

Molly and I worked nonstop - she made taco dip and spanikopita while I cleaned the bathroom, living room, and did my laundry - and by 10 pm, we had quite a full house! Around 30 people were here around 11 pm. It was so much fun, we both had a great time, most of the food was gone, as well as the raspberry vodka. We still have some rum and coke left. Any takers?

Yesterday I looked after Adelaide while Heidi had a lesson with Peter before heading out with Tom and Nat to Lenox for a wedding. The wedding was at the Wheatleigh Inn (David - the same road that took us to your sponsors house! Its on Hawthorne near the back entrance to the main grounds). Everything in Lenox was covered in snow and absolutely beautiful, quiet, and so clean and peaceful. It was weird to only be there a day! We had left Boston at 2:30, and Tom dropped me off at my apartment last night at exactly 11 pm. (sigh) Such a long day.

Today I decided to really sleep in. So I did. Woke up at 1 pm. Soon I will head to BU for practice time (competition is in 9 days!) and then have another wedding tonight at the Taj, which is downtown, so thankfully I can get there and home by myself and it will only take at most 40 min.

Thank you to EVERYONE who called, wrote, or facebooked me a happy birthday. I had a wonderful day on Friday, and felt very blessed and loved.

Collaborative Auditions

Today I rehearsed and played with four different pianists for their Masters Collaborative auditions (half hour rehearsal, half hour audition). I am WORN OUT. Plain tired. And I haven't even TOUCHED Brahms concerto today. (sigh) I have to go do that now too, before Molly and I head to the liquor store for tomorrow nights birthday gathering.

Tomorrow my quintet (we're doing Schubert cello quintet) is playing for the Arnold Steinhardt masterclass, which should be good. Fortunately, with the orchestra concert done, we had no orchestra the rest of this week, thank GOD. Next week starts a new rotation, and yesterday I was very surprised to find out that I'm concertmaster for it. We're doing Faure and Haydn Clock. Oooooh la la.

Oh, and I'm trying to enjoy as much as possible my last 6.5 hours of being 23.

Whew

"Also, you played beautifully at your "audition" Saturday. The stupid schedule made us a little grouchy, but your playing cheered us up. Yuri carped about the somewhat headlong character, and i agree: some triplets on page 2 can be more spacious. Still - terrific playing. Bayla suggests the vib exercises in "Basics", back of the book." ~email from Peter today.

I have been freaking out about this audition, with the "Bach incident." After this and speaking in person to Peter today, it no longer seems like a doomsday situation.

My vibrato will never be right. Never never never. "Basics" may help, but only if I'm as relaxed as possible, which, lets face it - when it REALLY counts, I'm not relaxed, I'm nervous as hell. I can't make my left arm move correctly to save my life - its hopeless.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All those within 4,000 miles of Boston are required to attend tonight's performance:

Boston University Symphony Orchestra
Sur, Lacrimosa
Bartok, The Miraculous Mandarin
Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique
Tsai Performance Center, 8 pm

Happy Birthday Molly!

From Dad's iPhone

My parents' house, which he took last Tuesday when they got between 12-15 inches of snow, enough to cancel school even at WLC. There has been more snow in Milwaukee this winter since we moved there in 1992.



Also from Dad's iPhone. Most of the family (not Boston people, obviously) were in Indianapolis this weekend. Hannah goes to school at Butler, and Holly is there for two weeks for a new branch of her bank (M&I) opening there. Her job requires her be at every new branch opening. So my parents drove down to Indy to see them both and celebrate Holly's 32nd birthday! How much I wish I could have been there......

I want an iPhone!

A lot has happened in the past 24 hours.
I had rehearsal with Molly last night at 6, to go through some Brahms and Beethoven quickly for my audition this morning, and about halfway through Brahms, my shoulder rest fell off. Completely and utterly. Gone. After fiddling with it for awhile, I seemed to have found a way to make it stay. Tried beginning of Brahms again - and as I'm sure you all know, you NEED a good shoulder rest for the first few lines of Brahms concerto. Shifting all over the place. And - the shoulder rest fell off again, this time about midway through the first line.
Panicking profusely, we stopped rehearsing and I went up to have my lesson, scheduled for 6:30. When I get up there, Chaerin, a harpist here, is standing outside Peter's studio looking VERY expectant. I knock, go in, tell him my shoulder rest woes, and before I know it, she's wheeling her harp in. The BSO harp auditions are this week, and she arranged with Peter to go through the Tzigane cadenza in preparation. I figure it'll just take 15 min, so I settle in and listen too. She sounded very good, and I hope she plays well on Monday morning! It was also fun to hear it again - I have fond memories of harp studio class at Eastman with that excerpt! :-)
So. 7 pm rolls around, and there is a knock on the door. A girl with a violin enters, and Peter tells me he has to teach a lesson now and good luck for tomorrow, he'll see me later at the Bach concert, blah blah blah. I just kinda stood there looking so confused for a moment. He completely forgot we had scheduled a lesson for 6:30. Its fine that he forgot, since it would have been my THIRD this week. And I didn't have a shoulder rest anyway.
From there I went to the Bach concert, where Katherine very nicely offered to give me her shoulder rest to borrow for this morning. This was good, because it meant that Heidi did not have to drive hers over to me this morning early, and she has been pretty sick lately. I tried Katherine's for awhile, and I actually really like it. I went down to the Symphony Hall area this afternoon and bought one, as well as the same Wolf one I had before. I have now learned to always have an extra shoulder rest handy.
Ok. This morning, I get up, warmup, run through with Molly, and head to the Marshall Room for my audition. First, they were running 15 min late, so I stood there forever, listening to others, before I got to go in, which I HATE. It just makes me more nervous. I finally go in and play Brahms. Went very smoothly, thanks to Katherine's help! Then Yuri, another teacher here, asks if I have any Bach.
(sigh)
Peter had told me not to worry about anything except Brahms concerto and Beethoven sonata. So no, Yuri, I don't have any Bach. After a moment of bad awkwardness, I play Beethoven and leave. I'm praying Peter helps me out on this one - if he had told me to prepare Bach for today, I would have!
I have also been to the post office today to mail some things, including Holly's bday present. And bought a new shoulder rest. And Brahms clarinet trio for Molly. I tried to deposit a check, but they were out of deposit envelopes - shoot.

It has finally FINALLY snowed enough in Boston to make a difference. It took long enough with all the stupid rain we've had this week. My parents both had school canceled because of 19 in of snow on Tuesday - crazy. Wish we'd get something like that here, with some school canceled. Boo.

As I walked out my door this morning to get to school, I ran into the FedEx guy looking at the mailboxes in a very confused fashion. I took one look at the package he was holding, and it was for ME! Its my birthday box from my parents. So I took it back upstairs before leaving. I'll open it later tonight, and if there is anything wrapped, I'll wait till next week to unwrap it. Only 7 more days left of being 23. Not sure how I'm feeling about this.

Reality Check

Just got this in an email:

With close to 100 days until graduation, obtaining your graduate degree is something you should be proud of.

100 days? What??

I'm turning 24 next week, and I'll have a masters in 100 days.

(sigh)

LOVE this:

http://www.rbk.com/us/perfectville/

I'm taking a break from heavy practicing.

Not really much to say. Its been a long day. Had dinner with Molly a bit ago, and had a roast beef sub - thats right Mary Keener - tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, meaning no meat for the next 6 weeks. Its weird, because Lent is so early this year. However, I'm going home for Easter this year for the first time in 6 years, so my next meat will be at home with my parents, which I am very much looking forward to.

And of course, can I mention how HAPPY I am that the Patriots lost??? Molly and I enjoyed the last few minutes of the game. I loved all the headlines yesterday for Boston newspapers - they all had pictures of poor Tom Brady looking quite dejected. Ha. Take THAT.

Also, one of my best friends from high school, Amy Kant, is going to be coming to visit me for a few days in March! I'm so excited.

Look at that. I guess I did have some things to say.

Back to Brahms I go......he is my true love these days.

Another weekend has flown by.

I got a lot of good practicing in, as well as bought Holly's bday present. They are really cute shoes from Ann Taylor, and if she doesn't want them, I'll tell her to send them to me since we wear the same size and I'll send her something else. I also bought Valentine's Day cards. I haven't done that in YEARS, but this year, I've decided to be festive. Especially since Molly and I are having a big joint birthday party on the 15th.

Today has been a bit of a lazy day - I still think I'm recovering from what I had last weekend - food still makes me feel really weird. However, the cupcakes Molly are making right now smell wonderful!

Tonight I'm playing for a flute recital at NEC and then heading home to hopefully catch some last good commercials and a few minutes of the super bowl. I really want to be OFF the MBTA by the time the game is over (see last paragraph for a good reason why - besides, Bostonians get drunk and stupid when their sports teams play). All I can say about the game is that I am actually praying for the Giants to win. Booooo, Patriots. Booooo!

(I witnessed an actual physical assult on the train today. It was so fast, it was over before it happened, but a poor woman now does not have her college textbook anymore. Some guy started talking to her, she ignored him, he hit her, grabbed the textbook she was reading, threw it across the train, then grabbed it from where it fell and ran out the door. I guess next time I'll think twice before ignoring the weirdo talking to me on the train.)

Tonight was Craig Smith's memorial. He was the founder and director of Emmanuel Music, and the memorial service was held at Emmanuel, to a completely packed, full church. And this is not a small church. The rehearsal was in the afternoon, from 2 to about 4:30. The service lasted almost three hours. The music included mostly Bach, as well as Cantata 127, which was his favorite, and a recording of him playing a Choral Fantasie by Brahms. A lot of speeches, memories, and some hilarious stories. Everyone seems to have a Craig story, and as I was listening tonight to some of the ones told, I remembered suddenly my first meeting with him. He was at TMC my first summer there, doing some Bach with the BUTI chorus and TMC instrumentalists. I told my sister that he was there, and she told me to go introduce myself. So, a day later, at the back stage of Ozawa, I went up and did just that, of course including that my sister was Heidi Braun-Hill. "Oh, Heidi!" he practically shouted. "We know Heidi. We LOVE Heidi." I only played one cantata last year when he was conducting, but I remember it well because I had my first bad cold on being in Boston and I spent the entire rehearsal trying desperately not to cough so I would make a good impression.

Tonight was very moving, very sad, but very sweet. It was also the first time Heid and I got to be standpartners, which is memorable - we have John Harbison to thank for that, which was very nice of him. And I got to see some of David's favorite people, including HW and Mark Morris.

I didn't spend one minute today at BU, for which I am grateful. Tomorrow - I'll be there all day.

Because of illness, on Monday I rescheduled my lesson with Peter (usually a Tuesday event) to this morning, at 9 am. It was the only time available, so I took it. Got up this morning at 7:45, out the door, and to BU by 8:45 (the train even went express from Wash. to Harvard Ave!). Get to Peter's studio, and he's not there yet. So I open the door and start warming up.

9 am.

9:05 am.

9:10 am.

9:15 am.

Around 9:17 am, my phone rings. "Hi Heather. I'm so sorry, but I JUST woke up. Can we reschedule?"

(sigh) I know I rescheduled first, but I did so over 24 hours in advance. I woke up so early and was so good, and he didn't come!

So I practiced the rest of the morning. I know that I'm glad it worked out that way, but still.

Oh, and my new lesson this week is on Friday at 12:30. During his auditions lunch break.

76

Shoot.

Day One of Back to Life consisted of:

Sleeping, coughing, going to orchestra, coughing, practicing, coughing, getting thai, coughing, emailing various people about various things, coughing, drinking tea, and oh yes....

Coughing.

I'm too scared to take cough syrup. See back two posts for reasons why.

Recuperating

Things seem to be improving, although it is very very very VERY slow. I'm finally eating a little bit more normally and no longer feel feverish all the time. I have no idea what the heck attacked my body over the past three days, but it was pretty awful. Definitely some type of flu. Unfortunately, now Molly seems to have something as well, and Tatiana called yesterday to report a fever. Everybody's sick.

I played somewhat successfully at Emmanuel this morning, considering how crappy I feel. Julian Kuerti was the conductor for this weekend (http://bso.org/bso/mods/bios_detail.jsp?id=24300114). He and I were both TMC fellows in 2005. It was good to see him again, and work with him - he seems to be doing very well for himself (hence the weblink previously) and is even conducting the BSO in March for a full weekend of concerts.

This morning it snowed about 3-4 in - enough to cover everything quite nicely.

I'm going to finish lunch and then keep on my recuperating schedule. Which means a nap soon, followed by lots of vitamins.

After spending all day yesterday in bed feeling miserable, and throwing up all the cough syrup I took around 1 am last night, I finally managed to get myself up this morning to go to Emmanuel for rehearsal. It wasn't too terrible, and I'm slowly starting to get my appetite back, although when I eat, everything has that "you're still pretty sick" taste. Ugh. I really want to feel better RIGHT. NOW.

I canceled the wedding consultation for today, as well as backed out of going to a concert with Molly this afternoon. After this pity-party blog entry, I will commence to put pjs back on and climb back into bed. I feel so gross.

So I am sick. Sick as a dog. I have a fever and chills, my body aches terribly, and I am coughing almost nonstop. When I try to eat, I feel like I'll throwup, so I haven't had much more than a few crackers. I really want to take some vitamins to help me fight this thing, but I'm afraid they'll just make me sicker on an empty stomach.

I don't mind the occasional cold, but this is really awful.

Last night a few people dropped by to eat cake in celebration of Jesse's 23rd birthday. It was a very good time, the cake I picked out to make (called Yummy Chocolate Cake, and was from the St. Johns cookbook) was excellent, and enjoyed by all.

I'm playing in a masterclass today for Katie Wolfe, a violin prof at the Univ. of Iowa. She gave a good recital the other night, so I'm interested in what she'll have to say to me today. Should be a lovely time.

Also - I'm sick. I could feel it start last night around 11:30, and sure enough, I wake up today and my nose is going ballistic and I'm coughing. Adelaide had just started a cold when I saw her on Tuesday, so its either that or any other number of things. Kinda would love to stay and home and do nothing today. Oh well.

So sad about Heath Ledger. I saw A Knight's Tale with my friend Amy in high school, and after it was done we walked to the next theater it was showing at and watched it again. It was a good time. He was only 28.

Baroque violin class started this morning - should be a very good time, as long as I remember to keep my violin more in front of my body than with modern violin.

Molly and I had sushi for dinner and it was AMAZING.

I totally crashed and burned on my face playing the 2nd mvt of Brahms today in my lesson. Hope that doesn't happen again.

Played hide and seek on the 4th floor at BU with Adelaide today while Heidi had a lesson with Peter.

Now I must research about what kind of cake to make for tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I'm thinking chocolate.

Bathroom Woes

I had plans of sleeping late, making coffee, enjoying my morning off in my peaceful, happy apartment, etc etc etc.

Instead, at 8:45 am, two men pounded on my door loudly - REALLY loudly - and then, since they had keys, they open the door, and of course by this time I am just coming out of my room half asleep and confused, and have to go release the door chain, otherwise they can't get in, and then here comes Molly too, also half asleep and confused. Neither of us have anything of importance today other than practicing at some point. So this was not a welcome event.

Since then, we have heard a lot of pounding and the sounds of tiles breaking. As Molly said - "poor tiles...."

Grrr. I bet we'll have to clean up after everything, too.

I am currently at NEC, very very early because I didn't want to go all the way home inbetween Emmanuel this morning and Cantata Singers this afternoon. I had Wendy's for lunch, too! yum.

It is COLD in Boston today, but the sun is still shining!

Heidi sounded beautiful last night! Afterwards, she and Tat and Nat and Rose and I went to the Parish Bar for drinks. It was a very pleasant evening.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, meaning no school. However, I was informed yesterday that my bathtub walls are being retiled. That should be fun.

Saturday

Today is Saturday, aka the least busy day for me thus far this week. I am playing at Emmanuel! That is happy happy news. Tonight also is Heidi's concert, which Tatiana is also coming to. I am sending Heidi good mind-vibes all day. She'll sound great, as always.

Now that I've calmed down about the insanity of Packer fans, on to other news. After all the hype, Ari is not my standpartner. It was a mistake on the orchestra scheduler's fault - Ari does not have the time to be in orchestra (meaning he must pay for DMA classes - BU is weird) because of the schedule of his string quartet, Jack. Kinda wish sometimes I had that excuse......in any case, there goes those opportunities for pizz lessons.

In all seriousness and sympathy, however, Ari has had a rough month. His grandparents both died in car crash - from what little I could gather yesterday, I think his grandfather had a stroke while driving, and they ran into a concrete sidewall. So sad.

Time to go to BU for practicing. Ugh.

From Today's Metro Newspaper:

"Legally, a parent can restrain a child." ~D.A. Jane Kohlway, explaining why felony charges weren't pressed against Mathew Kowald of Portage, Wis. Kowald was arrested for restraining his 7-year old son and taping a Green Bay Packers jersey to him after the boy refused to wear the jersey during the game Saturday.

Ok. While I was not BORN in Wisconsin, I've lived there longer than anywhere else in my life, ages 8-18. My parents live there. I consider myself a Wisconsin native. Two of my sisters are huge Packers fans. Holly even gave Hannah a Packers jersey for this past Christmas. But this is just ridiculous. While I will be watching the game on Sunday evening with friends, after the second Cantata Singers concert, I will not hang myself if they lose. Its been over ten years since they've gotten this far, and yes, its exciting, and LORD PLEASE DON'T LET THE PATRIOTS BEAT THE CHARGERS, I WANT THE PATRIOTS TO LOSE, but good grief. I hope that man in WI gets punished in some way, because as much as this might annoy people (like Hannah, among others) its JUST A GAME. They will still get millions of dollars even if they lose, while I will play amazing, incredible pieces of music that speak about history and humanity like tonight at Cantata Singers, and the hall will be only a bit over half sold.

I sound bitter. I think I am, actually.

Speaking of the Patriots/Chargers game - this was ALSO in the Boston Metro paper today:
"I hate that song." ~Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, on the "San Diego Super Chargers" fight song.

In other news - if you are within 3,000 miles of Boston, you are required to attend tomorrow night's performance of Heidi Braun-Hill with the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, playing the Vivaldi Concerto in G Major (and no I don't know which number it is and yes I realize there are over 400 Vivaldi violin concertos and at least more than one is probably in G Major).

I'm so tired. And its not even a full week yet until Monday.

Some happy links:

http://chamberbos.squarespace.com/braun-hill-interview/
(This is an interview of my sister for the concert she is doing this weekend.)

http://www.theoryofpaul.net/denver_08.phtml
(Pictures of Paul's recent travels - my favorite is the one of Mary and Daniel and Paul with Paul holding the blue towel! Also very nice to see Paul handling Emily Ruth so gently.)

Other happy news - Mary, this is for you:
We're doing Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique for this orchestra rotation, and we are using FOUR HARPS! KB would be so proud....

Molly is watching the third Pirates of the Carribean movie in the living room. I'm torn from watching with her or just going to bed. My first quintet rehearsal is tomorrow morning at 10, and have I even looked at the music since December? Of course not! After getting up this morning at 7 to practice before what I thought would be class at 10, I should just go to bed now and get up early again to practice before rehearsal.

Thats what I SHOULD do. Here is what I WANT to do:
Go see the National Treasure sequel. Right now.

Thursday's Idiocy

I am a bit of an idiot.

I somehow managed to misread my course schedule for this semester every single time that I checked it in the past week (which is about 5 or 6). Baroque violin class is on TUESDAYS, not Thursdays. So this morning, at 10, I'm wandering around the 2nd floor of CFA like a madwoman before finally going to the scheduling office to ask about it. This is throwing my mind in a loop. Grr.

I also figured out that someone found my blog by searching for Cantata Singers. So - I would like to say that yes, while the music is incredibly depressing, it will be a very good concert, very interesting, and very moving. So you should go.

After all the hype about Ari being my standpartner, he was not at orchestra yesterday!! I was all alone. Which I don't mind, it just then seems like I'm playing so loud ALL the time because I can really only hear myself. I wonder whats going on with that - maybe he just wasn't back yet from break.

This just in.

I'm sure that you all will be VERY happy to know that my standpartner for the current BU orchestra rotation is:

Ari Striesfeld.

AKA: my very first standpartner for my first orchestra concert at Eastman.
AKA: part of CCE at Soundfest, 2004.
AKA: for those who didn't know, he is doing his DMA at BU now with my teacher (meaning, since I will be doing my DMA next year, he and I shall be in the same studio for quite some time now.)

The gods seem to continue to throw us together. Maybe this would be a good opportunity for him to finally give me those pizzacato lessons.

Done!

Hurrah! Another application completed.

I'm so sick of doing school applications. I've spent almost all day working on this stupid thing. This will be my last one for school. EVER. (sigh) It has been a very long, stressful and depressing day already, and its only 4:15. I'm a wreck.

Some items to sigh upon.

1. As predicted, the huge amounts of snow came this morning. I trekked to Cambridge and back for the salvation of my bow hair. I get there, and D. Hawthorne informs me the entire bow might be warped. (sigh)

2. School starts on Wednesday. My last semester as a master's student. Soon it will be on to DMA. (sigh)

3. Because my printer broke a year ago and I haven't replaced it, I have to go to the library tomorrow to print off DMA appl. materials. I wish my printer still worked. (sigh)

4. I have exactly 4 weeks to memorize the 2nd and 3rd mvts of Brahms concerto and get the whole thing to first DMA audition level and then, two weeks after that, competition level. I also must relearn and revamp the Bach g minor Adagio and Fugue for my audition. (sigh)

5. I'm playing Cantata Singers this week. The money is very yay! The music, however, consists of this: 1st half, a new piece about documents stating that the US knew what was happening to the Jews in Europe in WWII but did nothing. Incredibly depressing. 2nd half, a Kurt Weill piece about the Old Testament - we're doing an excerpt, mostly from the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah - aka pre-Babylonian captivity for the Jews. (sigh)

6. (Insert other reasons here, whatever they may be, or whatever I'm forgetting. I feel empty.)

Messiah Gig (and other assundry items since returning to Boston).

I had a Messiah gig this morning at a unitarian church. This is what I found in the bulliten, after a brief bio of Handel and history of the piece:

"In many parts of the world it is an accepted pratcice for the audience to stand for the "Hallelujah" chorus. Tradition has it that King George II rose to his feet as the first notes of the triumphant "Hallelujah" chorus rang out. Royal protocol has always demanded that whenver the monarch stands, so does everyone in the monarch's presence. Thus the entire audience stood as well, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries. It is lost to history the exact reason why the King stood at that point, but the most popular explanations include:

-He was so moved by the performance that he rose to his feet.
-He arrived lat to the performance, and the crowd rose when he finally made an appearance.
-His gout acted up at that precise moment and he rose to ease his pain.
-After an hour of musical performance, he needed to stretch his legs.

I like the third speculation the most.

I've been back in Boston for almost a week now, after a nice stay in Houston with David. We finally saw Rothko Chapel, which at first, I didn't get, but after sitting there quietly for a few moments, it starts to give a sense of peace and contentment, and the paintings begin to have different qualities that are not noticed at first. I liked it. We also figured out his Mac issues, which, surprisingly, were not entirely helped by the Mac Genius guys. They are suppose to know everything, and the three visits to the Mac store clearly showed that they do NOT. However, as David and I discussed, they are quite cute, and therefore, its not so bad to have to keep going back.

As much as I loved the warm weather in Houston, I was quite annoyed by the almost 70-degree weather when I got back to Boston. Its returned to almost normal now, and tomorrow predicts a snowstorm, which I would love. School starts on Wednesday, and my schedule consists of thus:

MWF - Orchestra
Thurs - Baroque violin class

Other than those regularly scheduled items, I have lessons and chamber music (which is Schubert Cello Quintet this semester). I am quite in love with my schedule at the moment.

This is a long post! Oh my goodness.

Babies, Family, and Food

Braun Christmas Vacation 2007 included:



Pictures of: Emily Keener (Mary and Daniel's), Madeline Knepper (my cousin Ben's) and Elijah Knepper (my cousin Matt's)


Christmas Eve picture, after the Lessons and Carols service


Hannah poses to demonstrate the ENORMITY of food consumed (including Fritos) for the past two weeks.


More to come LATER!

Another Semester Over

I finished my fifth and final paper today at noon. It was due at 12:30. The Procrastination of Heather once again worked a miracle! And I don't think its half bad either. I got A's on the first two I handed in last Friday. Hurray!

NOW, I can finally enjoy Christmas. NOW I can actually go shopping (have not bought ONE gift - except my dad's iphone with my sisters, but that was August and I didn't shop for it), walk around, enjoy friends and family. However, all of that mentioned will have to be enjoyed in Milwaukee, including Milwaukee friends and Milwaukee family, in the few days before the 25th hits, like normal. I leave tomorrow at 7:20 am for home. I hate having the end of the semester in December. It just seems wrong.

On to the one thing I can enjoy before leaving Boston - Emily (violist) is having a chamber music reading party tonight. I will go to that, come home late, pack, get a couple hours of sleep (last night was around 5) and head out the door at 4:50 AM! Whoo-hoo!

Snow Day!

This morning could have been really painful. I got home from a party last night around 2, and needed to wake up at 7 for a gig at 9 forty minutes away. I did get up at 7, looked outside, and almost fainted - I couldn't see across the street, it was snowing so hard. And I had to take the B line to Chestnut Hill, walk to the D line (about four blocks), take the D line inbound to Brookline Village, and wait for my ride. But I was good - I took a shower, put on tights, two pairs of socks, pants, two sweaters, and was about to start looking for a second scarf when my phone rang and my gig was CANCELED! It has been rescheduled for Jan 12, so I will get the money someday.

Now I'm drinking hot chocolate, enjoying my free morning. I'm done with paper 3, so only two more to go! I will head to library when it calms down outside a bit and finish paper 4, so that paper 5 will be all thats left!

Papers

Done with 2 out of 5! Moving right along.....

The blizzard yesterday left us with over 6 in of snow, covering Boston beautifully. It was a PAIN yesterday to walk back and forth from jury to CFA to library, all while snowing quite heavily, but I somehow made it. I love snow.......we're expected to get another Nor'easterner (sp??? check Boston weather channels for correct spelling) Sunday morning, which was the final decision for Molly to change her plane ticket to Indy from Sunday EARLY morning to tomorrow. I'll be home next Thursday for Braun family fun! Which includes a LOT of euchre....yay!

Molly and I had Chinese last night.

This was my fortune cookie:

"Vacation can wait. Start your projects now."

Even the Chinese fortune cookie gods are telling me to get my papers done.

I'm seriously procrastinating again.

Molly is about to yell at me (she's a good girl - next to me writing her paper).

AGHGHGHGGHGHGHGGHH!

Procrastination

I am sadly procrastinating at the moment. I turned pages for Molly this morning for a recital permission, and now, with 4 hours before my lesson, I should be practicing like mad, but I really. Am not. In the mood.

Things have been ok. Thanksgiving was very pleasant at Heidi's as always. This was my 6th one there - every year since I started college. Whit made a fabulous dinner, and then we all made strips of construction paper listing twenty things we're thankful for. Then we linked all the strips together to make a paper chain, and it is all different colors and really beautiful. It was a nice thing to do.

I'm auditioning for the Britten-Pears orchestra next Wednesday at NEC. This was a VERY last minute, quick application decision, but if I get in and it worked out, I would be going to England to perform! I need to do something this summer, and CCE looks like it might have a mini-reunion as well, in California. It always amazes me how much time and energy throughout the year musicians spend on music festivals. We have to apply usually by December, do auditions in the winter, make a choice in the spring, attend them in the summer, and by October (only a little of a month after summer) the cycle of "what will I do next summer?" returns again. As much as I enjoyed and appreciated last summer off, the musical-festival-itch has returned.

Last week had a sentimental and emotional moment. I decided to order Papa Johns pizza for the first time since Eastman. I logged into my account, and had to update all my info - address, phone number, etc. Everything was still listed as the Eastman dorm, including my dorm phone number. All those nights of sausage with half mushroom pizzas, sitting on Mary's floor eating, came flying back.

Also, Kimby looked FANTASTIC last week on Stacey London's Fashionably Late! Whoo-hoo Kimby! You're a star!

Ok. Brahms is calling my name. I can hear him. Good lord.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for all of you!!!!!

Craig Smith

The last entry was about birth. This one is about death. The cycle of life continues.

Craig Smith, the founder of Emmanuel Music in Boston (the only church in North America to play a Bach cantata EVERY Sunday) died last night at the age of 60. He had diabetes, and had been in declining health for awhile. I had to do emergency babysitting tonight for Adelaide since my sister needed to go to a gathering of his friends and colleagues tonight, and Whit had BPO. She's been a part of Emmanuel for 10 years now, and knew Craig very well. David Hoose and him were very close friends, and he almost cried in orchestra today (as well as was the person to first tell me).

I only worked with Craig twice last year, while playing at Emmanuel on Sundays. I am so happy to have had that opportunity. The Boston music community and the music world has had a great loss.

Emily Ruth Keener

She's here! And absolutely beautiful!

Congrats, Mary and Daniel!

My parents just left. Always sad to see them go - we had such a good time!

Now back to real life and actually having to spend MY money on food instead of them taking me out. Bummer.

Mary, I am thinking of you and praying hard! Good luck tonight at 10 pm to you and Daniel. I can't wait to hear about how beautiful Emily is!

My parents are coming tomorrow.

I am sick. Sick sick sick. I just chugged some dayquil, and let me tell you - it was gross.

All those within 3,000 miles are required to attend tomorrow night's performance of:

Grieg String Quartet, Op. 27
Performed by:
Heather Braun, violin
Tatiana Daubek, violin
Alyssa Hardie, viola
Nick Hardie, cello

In the flyers we are called the "Student String Quartet", because everyone else performing is faculty. We are all blond in this group. How fitting for four blondes to play a Scandanavian composer!

It has been quite some time again since I've written here, but there is nothing of news or anything even remotely interesting going on in my life right now.

I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed.

Reunion in Houston

I'm going to Houston Jan. 3rd - 7th.

David and I expect others to join us if possible.

Thank you.

Vermont Withdrawal, Mac issues, Fortune Cookie?

I am back in Boston from Vermont since Sunday night, and am having serious withdrawal problems.

This was one of the most fun tours I've had in awhile. We spent the whole week in Vermont, had bbq, made dinners together, drank wine, talked, laughed, played great music, etc etc etc. I miss it dreadfully, especially since today was one of those stupid BU Monday's since yesterday we had no school so today was a Monday schedule. Meaning orchestra. Meaning orchestra AGAIN tomorrow. YUCK YUCK YUCK. Vermont was so beautiful - the trees were simply incredible, there is nothing else like it. The air is so clean and fresh, and everything seems so much more peaceful. I love the city, but someday I'm buying a house in Vermont. (HA! Yeah right. If I ever leave school first.)

If I could ever take the time to figure out my camera with my computer, I would put pictures up on facebook. I'm just so scared though that once I hook up my camera, my computer will explode. Just give up and die in a show of sparks and smoke. It has been acting slower and slower lately - my trusty iMac, though it still NEVER freezes (ok, except that one time in Eastman dorm with some burned CD and I was having a literal heart attack right there and then and almost passed out on the floor, with David and Mary feeling no sympathy and only laughing at me) is quite the old apple these days. Five years. Thats a long time. I don't want to get rid of it yet, not to mention I have NO money for a new computer right now. Maybe I'll ask the family to contribute funds toward it for birthday and Christmas instead of presents. Hmm....must ponder that one.

Molly and I went to Chinese for lunch today and my forture cookie said that something big was awaiting me today. Specifically today. Its now 10 pm, and nothing has really happened.

Did I mention that I really miss Vermont?

1. I am in Manchester Vermont. It is like a vacation. It is a beautiful fall here with the green mountains changing from being green to being orange, red, yellow, and everything in between.

2. I have heard enough discussions about oral sex while here to last me for the rest of my life. Good lord.

3. Its too hot here, too. Today was 80. Its VERMONT in OCTOBER!

4. I played a volleyball game today for the first time since freshman (high school) team tryouts.

5. I don't want to go back to school on Sunday. Can I just stay here, please?

This will be fast, I have class with Sheveloff in 7 minutes.

School has officially settled in and become crazy once again. My chamber music group is doing Grieg Quartet for the Grieg festival here at BU on Nov. 8th - its a big honor that we were asked, and I'm VERY excited.

I leave for Manchester Tour (my FIFTH!!!!) on Sunday afternoon. I have to race back to Boston on Tuesday afternoon for the orchestra concert that night, then leave at 6 am on Wednesday morning to get BACK to Vermont early enough for 10 am rehearsal. Thankfully, Tatiana, who is the other violinist in my quartet now and who was at Manchester with me in 2004, is also doing the tour and has to come back for the BU concert. And she has a car. Thank heavens, otherwise I'd have to rent one and THAT would be expensive.

It is TOO hot here.

My craziness on the first weekend of December (see previous post) has subsided, not exactly the way I wanted to, but alas, I cannot do everything. I had to get out of a big quartet gig because of Molly's recital and the dress rehearsal for the orchestra concert in Symphony Hall, but its good that I did, because two days later I got asked to sit concertmaster for that concert. I will be poorer, but I guess I AM a student. Sometimes it still really stinks to be a student.

However, I do love being a student with Peter! I've had two lessons EVERY week and am progressing well. Brahms is coming along. I love it.

I must go now and listen to Schubert lieder.

Today was another one of those blow up days, where it seems like nothing else could go wrong, and then does. I hate these kind of days.

December 1st-2nd is looking to be like the weekend from hell. Somehow, EVERYTHING has been scheduled that weekend. AND ITS ONLY SEPTEMBER! How did this happen???? I now have to figure out a way to make everyone happy, which is impossible. Good grief.

Its cold suddenly, in Boston. It was even cold in southern Indiana this past weekend. The wedding went so well - all my grandmother's four children and their spouses, plus 10 out of 12 grandkids, plus 2 out of 3 great-grandbabies were there - she was supremely happy, strutting like a mother hen with us all following her to a pew in church Sunday morning. I hadn't been to that part of Indiana since I was 16 - crazy how fast the past 7 years have gone. Of course, the best part was seeing my parents and Holly and Hannah. Christmas cannot come fast enough.

Interesting Day

First, I got up at 7 (a rarity) and successfully made it out the door around 8:15. As Molly and I walked to the train stop, we heard one coming, so started to run. About halfway there, I tripped, and fell BADLY on my left knee. Everything went in slow motion as I was falling, and a bit of my life did flash before my eyes, PLUS my violin was strapped to my back and this is my NEWLY ADJUSTED violin which I'm sure is now all messed up again.

I digress. My palms were a little sore, but not bad. My knee however, is a bloody mess, AND the knee in my jeans now has a hole. (sigh) Now both of my jeans has holes. I need new jeans. My ego was badly bruised, as there were a ton of people around. It was incredibly embarrasing. Incredibly. I got to school and cleaned myself up. I was very woe-is-me all morning It hurts when I bend it.

Then, I practiced, which went well. Brahms concerto is coming along. Had a nice lesson at 11, with Peter, who has now scheduled THREE lessons for next week. Good lord. I was information overload as it is today with just an hour with him. Its going to be three next week? I should actually be happy, and stop complaining - at Eastman I never got enough lessons (second semester senior year I think I had 9, and they were never really a full hour) - now I'm getting more than what is the maximum.

Then, the stupid scheduling office people were once again NOT in the schedule office. Ah, for the good ol' days of reserving rooms online. Give me that any day. This having to go to school and talk to someone about it business is crap. I waited for a half hour for them to return, meanwhile scheduling stuff with my new quartet. We are going to do Grieg quartet for a Grieg festival in Nov here at BU (its a Grieg year - who knew??). Fun fun fun.

The schedule guy came back, and I reserved a room for studio on Monday night.

Then, I needed to go to Cambridge to pick up music for my Cantata Singers gig next weekend. When I did B minor mass with them last spring, Hoose brought me the music. No such luck this time. I got on a 66 bus, and began the trip. About halfway there, we stopped in traffic for a good 5 min when the firetrucks and ambulances came. Started moving again after another 10 min, and sure enough, on the right, are paramedics doing cpr on a guy covered in blood. I could see the whole thing. It looks like he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, stopped suddenly and flew into his windshield, because there were no other cars in the accident and the windshield was broken on the driver's side.

Suddenly, my knee didn't seem so bad, and I felt like a jerk because I'd complained about it already to about three different people. Its just a scraped knee.

Soon enough, I got to Cambridge, picked up the music, and came home.

Since then, I have been doing laundry (the f*%&^ing dryers aren't working again - everything is wet and cold), packing, and moving my newly painted dresser into my room! It looks really amazing - hopefully i'll figure out my camera with my computer soon so all can see. I love it! And it is the PERFECT size for where my bookshelf used to be. The curtains for my room went up last night, and they are also very nice.

Can you tell I don't have italics? I have to resort to capital letters.

Tomorrow night I'm going to Indiana for my cousin Josh's wedding. I haven't been to the area where my dad's family lives since before junior year of high school. I have to run directly from orchestra to the airport, land in Indianapolis at 11ish, my parents will pick me up, we'll go get Hannah at Butler, go BACK to the airport to pick up Holly coming in from Phoenix at 12:30 am, and then drive the 3-4 hours to the southern part of the state. Its going to be fun, but exhausting. Oh, and then we have rehearsal for the wedding at 8 am.

This is a very long, and I realize, very boring post. I will close for now.

First Day Back to Orchestra

Ugh. Dvorak 6. Double ugh

However, this weekend was very successful. Molly and I now have curtains hung in the living room, her room, a rug, and I finished putting primer on my dresser. I was frustrated at the hardward store yesterday, however - I picked out the color to paint my dresser, called Asperations, a bluish green color, and was told the paint guy was sick and to come back tomorrow. Forget it. Not going back to Cambridge for paint. Too many other things to do. So I will go to the one near Harvard and Comm Ave and get it there. Good grief. I did pick out curtains for my room, too, after a whole year without. They will go up this week.

Yesterday we also went to the Greek fest in Sommerville, which was so fun! There was a TON of amazing food, music, and dancing! I loved it.

My chamber music situation is driving me nuts - Peter still hasn't figured out who to put me with. Grrrr. I want to get it all figured out and settled ASAP. CCE members are welcome to come help me out! :-)

Things and Stuff

While talking on the phone last night with Kimberly (for almost two hours!), she asked me if I have a new roommate. I suddenly realized that many of you may not know that I have a new person living with me. Her name is Molly Wood, and she is a 2nd year Masters collaborative piano degree. She moved in Sunday with a flurry of activity, and we started to scrub this place down like you've never seen before. Hopefully we'll be done by the end of this weekend, and at the end every room with be cleaned and reorganized, including my room. I have a new dresser (found it at the back door trash dump - its old, and needs paint, but its good wood - cedar - and the drawers are dovetailed - I am quite excited) that will go in the place of my bookshelf, which is now in the living room. Fun fun fun!

At my lesson yesterday, while I was playing along, there was a knock on the door and who should it be but Ari Striesfeld (http://www.jackquartet.com/index.html)!!! I had forgotten that he is now in my studio. He graduated from Northwestern for his masters, and he and his girlfriend (who is going to Longy) have moved to Boston for DMAs. It was SO good to see him, and recall past CCE days at Soundfest. Happy times.

My first official class is today at 1 pm with Joel Sheveloff. Its a History of Song class. Obviously, its not very specific to my type of instrument, however Sheveloff is suppose to be this great prof that everybody is constantly talking about and I needed the credit so low and behold, i'm taking it. I figure violinists are always trying to sound like a voice anyway - maybe this will be more helpful to me than I originally thought.

Next on my call list - Paul and Mary!

First lesson in four months tomorrow.

First day of school (for me) - Wednesday.

(sigh)

Here we go again.

AHGHGHGGHGH!

School starts for me in SIX DAYS!!

AGHGHGGHGHGHGGH!

What happened to my summer?

What happened???????????????????????????????????

(I am NOT ready OR happy for this, if you can't tell.)

DUBAI (Reuters) - A one-legged Emirati father of 78 is lining up his next two wives in a bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015, Emirates Today reported on Monday.

Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already had 15 brides although he has to divorce them as he goes along to remain within the legal limit of four wives at a time.

"In 2015 I will be 68 years old and will have 100 children," the local tabloid quoted Abdul Rahman as saying.

"After that I will stop marrying. I have to have at least three more marriages to hit the century."

The United Arab Emirates newspaper splashed its front page with a picture of Abdul Rahman surrounded by his children, the eldest of whom is 36 years old and the youngest of whom is 20 days old. Two of his current three wives are also pregnant.

Abdul Rahman said his large family lived in 15 houses. He supports them with his military pension and the help of the government of Ajman, one of seven emirates that comprise the UAE, which includes the Gulf trade and tourism hub of Dubai.

Islam allows men to marry up to four women at a time, though most marry only one. The UAE is a Muslim country but is home to migrants from around the world.

Not Much To Say

Except:

Yesterday, I ran into John Williams. I was backstage at Ozawa, and literally almost mowed him down. Then I realized who it was, and did this awkward giggle thing. Good lord.

Tonight the BSO are doing Bluebeard's Castle (remember that from 20th cent. history?) and Brahms 1. I heart Brahms 1.

We (David and I) are having dinner tonight with the Messingers (I asked to bring him, told them he was from Eastman, and of course they were estatic), my lovely sponsors for the past two summers who bought the building with Javas in it so the Eastman Community Music School could have a building and actual Eastman students wouldn't have to fight them for the Annex 7th floor rooms on Saturday morning. Very nice gift.

I love Beethoven 9.

And I love all of you!

Gavid Derstein

I am in the computer lab.

The amazing and talented David Gerstein is also here.

And would like me to post a blog entry about himself.

So here it is.

I am at Tanglewood, and David picked me up yesterday.

Today we had rehearsal, and David took me to it.

Just now, David and I drove to Target.

David broke ANOThER pair of sunglasses yesterday while fleeing from a bee at high speed.

I think David is waiting for me to finish theis computer thing so we can go do something else instead.

Ok. Goodbye.

(PS - Things are well here. I have my own room, which is wonderful, and the weather has been perfect. And we're doing Beethoven 9.)

A more full update.

Thankfully, today was MUCH cooler in Boston than it has been for the past couple days. It has been terrible here - I miss Vermont and its clean, sweetsmelling air and lovely breezes and gorgeous mountains very much. The Vivaldi on Thursday went very very well, and I wore my senior recital outfit - but - and don't be disappointed - wore a black tank top UNDERNEATH the scandalous top. I figure I was lucky enough for nothing to pop out the first time - will never wear it to perform without something underneath ever again. It still looked quite nice, if I do say so myself. That is still my favorite outfit of all time.

I can't believe its August already. Where did the summer go? It seems like only yesterday I was all excited about all the free time I'd have, all the time off to REALLY practice well, the trip to Phoenix and Milwaukee, and the studio class Heidi and I were going to have with some other BU people here for the summer to make sure we really practiced. I probably don't have to tell you that the grand proportion practicing and studio class never happened. I did practice, and have basically figured out the Brahms concerto, but not nearly the way I wanted to, nor did I have one lesson with Peter in June. He's been gone since then, so I'll probably see him a week before school starts, the first time since mid-May.

This past weekend has been depressing. Friday I got home from Vermont and basically just felt pretty down about a lot of things, prompted by the fact that my first boyfriend ever, Tim, got married on Friday. He had asked me LAST July to play for it, and I never called him officially to tell him no OR responded to the invitation (which honestly I feel bad about, but it would have just been weird to be there - boyfriend #2 of mine was the best man). I just looked through some photos on facebook, and it looked like a very nice wedding. I'm not quite sure why I'm depressed about it - we broke up before my junior year of high school, so long ago, and we would have never worked, although we did become very good friends while I was still in high school and at Eastman - I saw him every time I went home, and always had a good time. I am, though, very happy for him - his wife, Staci, is beautiful and sweet (met her at Mayfair - can't ever enter that mall without seeing ONE person from Wisco).

However, the MORE depressing thing about this weekend was the gig I played for yesterday. It was TWO HOURS AWAY - we were a half hour away from TMC - and outdoors. The sun was in my eyes the whole time we played, and twice my music blew over even though I had about 5 clips on it - thats how hard the wind was blowing. Then we played the cocktail hour in a tent that must have been set up right over a large mosquito birthing area, because I now have (and I counted) 9 bites below my ankles (one on my left pinky-toe), 2 on my right arm, 1 on my left, and 1 on my neck that when I scratch looks like a hicky. Lovely. The cellist was awful and kept getting lost through Haydn flute trios. (sigh) Sometimes I feel like a music whore - will do ANYTHING for a check. That is NOT a good thing.

Third depressing thing this weekend - getting hit on at the cafe at the train stop corner yesterday morning. The first time this particular person tried was in May - his son-in-law is a rapper and this guy wants me to teach him music theory and play for some of his songs. I am too happy to announce to the world that I am a violinist - I am so proud of it, but then this kind of thing happens. BOOOOO.

However, my weekend is looking up - I just stopped at Blockbuster on my way home, picked up a movie, and took it to the counter. The worker there informs me that its not on their inventory for some reason, so I get it for free, and have to bring it back on Thursday. Hooray! The movie gods are in my favor. Also, Heidi came by this morning and dropped off a huge fan for the next Boston heat wave, as well as a VERY nice coffee maker. Whoo-hoo!

Time for dinner.

This is an update a long time in coming. It won't even be a full update, since I have rehearsal in a half hour.

I'm currently in Vermont, the second time in two weeks, to play Vivaldi 4 Violin Concerto at the Manchester Music Festival. The concert is tomorrow night, and I am soloist #4. I got here Monday, and have been treated wonderfully and graciously ever since. I love it up here - the people are wonderful, its nice to get away from the city, and it takes me away from my slightly more boring summer life. Last week I was here too to play for their orchestra concert. Next week though I will be back in Boston for good.

I can't believe August is already here. This month has two big changes - my niece Adelaide is turning 4 on the 6th, and my baby sister Hannah is turning the big 2-0 on the 12th. No more teenagers for the Braun family. Sad day.

There shall be more update soon. That is a promise.

A List

1. Am home from Phoenix since Tuesday evening. Was suppose to return Monday evening, but my flight was canceled, so enjoyed one more night with Holly drinking wine, watching tv, and in general enjoying the 116 degree heat.

2. Am now at my sister's embarking on the night before another weekend of cat-sitting. Went to the beach today with Heidi and Adelaide. Saw many jellyfish, although apparently they are not the stinging type. Got hot but a little bit more tan after my scorching sun burn from the Grand Canyon last Saturday. It looks better than it did.

3. Am guilty of not returning phone calls to Kim and Mary. Apologies.

4. Am playing in a quartet-reading party next Tuesday. Was invited by Raphael Hillyer, the 93-year old original violist of the Juilliard String Quartet. Am slightly freaking out. Have to prepare the Mozart "10 Celebrated" 1st violin parts by Tuesday.

5. Am visiting TMC on Monday night, to see their orchestra concert and liven up the place, since, according to David, it is dull this year. Maybe some (now $5) champagne is in the works? Remains to be seen.

6. Am still jet-lagged from flying cross-country. Cannot believe it really is only 10:15 in the west right now. My body clock is all messed up, not to mention my brain from all this 3-hour subtracting I've been doing lately.

7. Am deciding that I while I am glad I took the summer off, I shall not again next year unless I will be sure of being busy and playing violin lots. Not enough going on for me. I prefer to be busy. I am happier that way.

8. There is no 8.

Hope everyone had good July 4ths!

I'm still in Arizona - we are currently preparing for a trip to Sedona, where we will see Romeo and Juliet by the Shakespeare festival there (Kim, I'll let you know how it is! We can compare productions!) and spend the night. Then tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon. We were there two years ago, and I loved it then. I particularly love the signs that say "hiking the canyon may cause fatigue, dehydration, heart problems, or death." Thats pretty much saying it all. Anyway - it will be VERY fun. I'm excited. We'll be back in Phoenix tomorrow night. Hannah leaves Sunday evening. :-(

Hope all are happy and well in Lenox, Milwaukee, Oregon, Rochester, Denver, San Diego, and Philly (or is Paul in Europe right now?.

Hello and Happy 4th from Phoenix, Arizona, the hottest place on the planet (or so it feels)!

I got here yesterday. So far, we've been doing a lot of eating, drinking, swimming, and playing Trivial Pursuit (Millenium Edition). I won the first time, Holly the second. Now Bridget Jones' Diary watching. Perfect for three single women. :-)

Hannah wants the computer. I shall go and write more later.