2011 in retrospect

This is the third year in a row that I’ve filled out this survey. I think it’s a nice end of the year debriefing, so here you are! This whole year I've been thinking it's been the worst year ever - but picking out the good parts to remember makes me feel unfair about saying it was a bad year. It could have been much worse, and it certainly ended well. So.

2011, thank God it’s over.

Here’s to 2012 being better!

What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
I started a real-person full time job. I went on a cruise as a passenger instead of a crew member, let’s see. I traveled around New England in June without a car… and then in October with a car. Went to Boston in the Fall. Lots of new things! What an interesting year this has been.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My goal for 2011 was putting together a show – I guess I should have specified performing the show, because I did put one together, but I never got it off the ground. I just started round two, so here’s to 2012 actually making some money off it.

I try to avoid making the typical “lose weight, be friendlier” types of resolutions, because resolutions like those are too vague to actually make significant progress with. I prefer now to make specific goals, with specific time frames, that I can check off.

What countries did you visit?
Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Cayman Islands.

What states did you visit?

Oh boy. A whole bunch of them. Drove from Minnesota down to Nashville in march and in may. Spent time in New Hampshire and Boston in June. And in October, we roadtripped thoroughly up the coast, and then to upstate NY. Thanksgiving I spent in Atlanta and then Maryland. and... flew through Florida to get on the cruise!

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Money. And. umm. Emotional Stability.

What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory?
March 17. June 26. Nov 12. Dec 12.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
There really wasn’t any one particular achievement of the year, but a lot of medium-sized ones: Moving to Nashville and getting started there again. Getting by with a little help from my friends. I’d say being able to vacation on a cruise AND buying all my Christmas presents, without blowing every extra cent I have. (Thanks to Matt and Ashley)

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I got stung by a bee or something in July, and it swelled my foot up like a balloon. You can still see the mark. Other than that – the usual colds, but nothing bad.

What was the best thing you bought?
The sparkly shoes. Hahah.

Where did most of your money go?
Traveling around, and eating food.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Spending time in Boston, both times. The roadtrip in October up the east coast.. putting on the duet recital in November, and the vacation on the equinox, seeing cruise people again, going to the Caribbean.

What song will always remind you of 2011?
Knee Deep in the Water Somewhere - Zac Brown Band

Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Happier!
thinner or fatter? Fatter!
richer or poorer? Richer!

(funny how those three all go together :)

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Playing my violin.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spending money.

How did you spend Christmas?
In Maryland, with my family, like always.

Did you fall in love in 2011?
I did, briefly, and fortunately back out again.

What was your favorite TV program?
Doctor Who, hands down. I started it on New Years day. 30 Rock a close second, I've watched the whole thing about 3-4 times this year. SO good.

What was the best book you read?

Bossypants, the Tina Fey autobiography. I re-read the Harry Potter series. Also enjoyed The Parasites, by Daphne du Maurier. And the Phantom Tollbooth – I got way more out of that than I did in 5th grade last time I read it!

What was your greatest musical discovery?
IN the spring I listened to a lot of Adele and Mumford & Sons. The summer was a large mix of everything, mostly getting back into country. The fall has been a lot of old things – beach boys and Frank Sinatra, and Tchaikovsky. haha, and… Full Tilt.

What did you do on your birthday?
Hmm. March - we had just gotten back from spring break, so there wasn’t much to do. I went to the city and ate food with Lauren, and then came back and had cake-made-from-scratch with the boys, and played Settlers of Catan. Yep.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Winning the lottery :)

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
“smart casual”

What kept you sane?
Planning things.

Who was the best new person you met?
Danielle – can’t believe it was only march that we met! Sarah, in the fall. And on the cruise, Jason and Ken. And everyone else.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Love all, trust few. Do wrong to none. - Shakespeare

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I wanna see you again
But I'm stuck in colder weather
Maybe tomorrow will be better
Can I call you then?
Cause I'm a ramblin' man
I ain't ever gonna change
I got a gypsy soul to blame
And I was born for leaving
- Colder Weather, Zac Brown Band

Observations of Driving Styles and Stereotypes across America.

The open road.

I love it. One of my favorite things ever is roadtripping – the highways, the wind in my hair, the good music playing, the vending machines and rest stops, the gas station food. The excitement of either going to a new place, or visiting home. The journey, not the destination.

My family drove around a lot when we were younger – one trip in particular, a 5-week roadtrip/camping trip around the country: Maryland to California and back. I was about fourteen years old, and ever since then, I’ve wanted to do another long trip just like it. I haven’t managed to get farther west than Nebraska, yet. Eliz and CWK actually did, around and around they went, and to so many places. I’ve driven mostly around east of the Mississippi. Last year a good friend and I drove from Minneapolis, MN to Rochester, NY in one day, and back again four days later! (crazy, but worth it) And I love driving around New England – everything is so close together! I’ve made the trek from Baltimore to Nashville so many times, through Virginia, one time breaking down and making friends with all the mechanics (in the town of Buena Vista, pronounced like Byoona Vista) (Larry Moore certainly was kind to tow me all the way back to Harrisonburg, and told me all the names of each mountain in his hometown, and how much he’d love to learn to play the banjo – but I’m getting away from the point, that’s a story for another time)

Here are my experiences, observations, and rants, for your enjoyment:

Maryland, my home state: If you need to get somewhere quickly, you cut around other cars in as right a lane as possible. The people that live in Maryland know that the left lane, despite its universal reputation for being the fast lane, is actually the ”just-as-slow-as-the-middle-lane” lane. The quickest way around all the bottlenecking is to go around on the right lane. Oh, also, when in a right lane, especially merging onto any road, stay in the right lane UNTIL IT ENDS. This is vital for fitting in as a Maryland driver.

Tennessee, my other home state: Everyone drives slowly, and no one uses their turn signals. I’m sorry if you detect a hint of bitterness in my description; it honestly drives me crazy. I wish people would just drive like impatient jerks, at least I would know what to expect and I’d be fine with working around it. There are too many two lane roads, even in the city, and if the person in front of you isn’t going even as fast as the speed limit, (which is more common than you'd think) there is no way around them. Fortunately, my commute isn’t that far, and isn’t that bad. I could complain of the stop lights every 50 feet, but that’s what I get for living in a city. I suppose I can be ok with it.

Virginia, my might-as-well-be-one-of-my-home-states: I have mixed feelings about Virginia. Highway 81 goes on forever, but it’s an awfully pretty drive next to the mountains. The people are slower paced, but they are generally good about getting over to the right lane if someone comes up behind them in the left lane. However, pretty much everyone I know has gotten a speeding ticket in the southern tip of Virginia. So be careful, especially if you are singing Toby Keith on the phone at your sister and not realizing at all that there is a cop behind you.

Let’s head north, shall we?

New York: In upstate New York, I... really just slept through most of the roads there, so I don't have much to say about the rest of the state. Now, I've never actually driven in NYC, but having driven right by the city and gotten stuck in traffic, taking two hours to go the last 20 miles before crossing into New Jersey – I’ve had a taste of it. (I’d be lost if “Don’t Stop Believin” hadn’t come on the radio right as I started getting frustrated) I personally believe that particular stretch of road is a conspiracy, led by New Jersey, as a last resort to get people to be glad and relieved to finally see the turnpike. And to all stop for gas as soon as they get across the state line.

New Jersey: Besides not being able to get off the turnpike once you’re on (heaven forbid you have to stop to use the restroom ) (the song is true: “you can’t get there from here in Jersey, you’re always on the wrong side of the road. You gotta head ten miles east just to get back south. “) (though, if you do get gas, they pump it for you! Such an accommodating state, if you can handle it) Jersey isn’t that bad.

Connecticut: Drivers in Connecticut have two options: Everyone goes too fast and all very close together, or stopped DEAD in traffic. Cruise control is vastly underused. I haven’t driven much in Connecticut, except to get other places. Or stopped in traffic while trying to get to other places.

New Hampshire: Seriously, the nicest driving people of any state I’ve met, especially when it comes to pedestrians. As a pedestrian, if you even get the smallest gleam in your eye, a hint that you might be thinking about crossing the street, whether it be near a crosswalk or not, every single driver around you will stop and wave you across.

Minnesota: Besides the classic “going very slow on cruise control in the passing lane,” a distinguishing trait of Minnesota drivers I noticed was what I call “squirrelling.” Example: A common situation - you’re cruising down the road, and someone is waiting, perpendicular to you, intending to drive across your two lanes, across the median to turn left and go in the other direction. There is no one behind you. They wait until you approach dangerously close, then they dart out in front of you, across the road just ahead of you – like a squirrel, hence the name – to arrive safely on the other side, completely ignoring the fact that they caused you to slam your brakes and have a minor heart attack.

Iowa and Nebraska: Everyone just drives fast. No one likes these states and there’s nothing to see anyway, except for windmills, so everyone just gets out of there as quickly as they can.

Same with Ohio: except that you have to stop periodically and give Ohio (and Indiana and Illinois) little bits of your money, a few dollars at a time, until you have none left and you just hope they’ll let you go when you finally reach the state line.

Kentucky: I ran into an interesting driving habit this past summer in Kentucky. Here’s what happened: I was driving up 65N and saw a sign that said “right lane closed, 4 miles ahead.” Everyone moved into the left lane immediately, and they slowly approached the lane closure in a single file line. Four miles early. I spent those few miles confused, wondering if I had missed something, wondering why no one was in the right lane at all. Mystery.

Georgia: In Georgia, it’s perfectly cool to just set your cruise control at exactly the speed limit and sit in the left lane. I hate driving in Georgia.


So there you have it. Opinions.

Anyone have anything to add? Agree or disagree?

post-christmas words

So, sorry for dropping the ball on the december photoblog. Internet on a ship is sketchy enough, and I didn't really upload any cruise photos til I got back on land anyway.

Stay tuned for some upcoming word posts, I have a few in the making, including but not limited to:

1. a new and improved rant on the drivers in america

2. a recent theory on dog vs. cat people

3. a recap of 2011

In the meantime, here's a cool picture I took from a tender boat in the Cayman Islands:

.25

god bless us, everyone!

.24

christmas eve will find me

where the lovelight gleams

i'll be home for christmas!

.23

Santa honey, I wanna yacht and really that's not a lot

I've been an angel all year

Santa baby,

hurry down the chimney tonight

.12

let's get away from sleigh bells

let's get away from snow

let's make a break some Christmas, dear

i know the place to go

.11

good tidings we bring, to you and your kin

good tidings for christmas, and a happy new year!

.10

a very merry Christmas

and a happy New Year

let's hope it's a good one

without any fear

.9

may all your troubles soon be gone,

those christmas lights keep shining on

.8

sleigh bells in the air;

beauty every where;

yuletide by the fireside

and joyful memories there.

.

.

.

[sorry for all the string pictures. i'm usually at work when i'm making these posts. caribbean pictures so so soon!]

.7

it's the most wonderful time of the year.

with the kids jingle belling,

and everyone telling you,

"be of good cheer!"

.6

it's that time of year when the world falls in love

every song you hear seems to say:

Merry Christmas,

may your new year dreams come true

.5

o can you hear the bells, they're ringing

i've been humming carols since thanksgiving

.

.

[from Robert Kelly's "I'm Coming Home" found here]

[my famous Hannigan cheeseball recipe found here]

.4

o christmas tree, o christmas tree!

you stand in verdant beauty

.3

silver and gold

mean so much more

when I see silver and gold decorations

on ev'ry Christmas tree.

.2

we can hardly stand the wait

please christmas, don't be late!

.1

but the prettiest sight to see

is the holly that will be
on your own front door.

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..

...

....

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[2nd annual] photo-a-day countdown towards Christmas.

.mondaysisterblog

Today's post can be found here.

.duet recital

On November 12th, my good friend Danielle and I gave a duet recital. It was for fun, then it was stressful, and then it was fun, and we're going to plan another one for the spring!

What we played:

Concerto in A minor for Two Violins - Vivaldi

Romance in G - Beethoven (Danielle)

Concerto No. 2 - Wieniawski (Me)

Concerto in D minor for Two Violins - Bach

Soon there will be videos posted on YouTube, but until then, here are some pictures!

morning of. some pre-recital hot chocolate!

Getting hairs did!

motherly support!

playing.

afterwards! glad to be done. (with accompanist)

Thanksgiving

What an odd holiday this is, so overshadowed by the Christmas season. Barely standing on it's own feet - but at the same time so like Christmas in that the real meaning is very lost, and people just use it as an excuse to take off work to eat lots of food. And then people complain that the true meaning is lost. But who cares? Who cares about the pilgrims. Yes, it's good what they did, it's good to know the history of your country. The point has shifted from a history lesson, and the fall harvest, to just a time where people who love each other have an excuse to get together and show it. Yay! I didn't mean for that whole thing to sound grumpy, if it did.

I am following in my usual Thanksgiving tradition of sleeping until halfway through the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (shuffling in around the Snoopy balloon) drinking coffee, starting food prep.

"All right everyone, its 2:30, that means dinnertime, because for some reason on Thanksgiving dinner is at 2:30" -Lois Griffin

Five Things I'm Particularly Thankful for This Year:

1. Sarah and Josh for letting me come over and be family for their Thanksgiving.

2. My family, for letting me swoop in and spend most of my Maryland time playing music with my friends and liking me for whatever (however little) time I can spend at home.

3. Nicole and Jenny White. They are the greatest people, and I have known them forever, they have put up with me for over five years, through all my moving around and away and back.

4. The fact that this year, I am finally, finally finished with school, and finally getting paid to do what I've been doing for years anyway.

5. The discovery that no matter what state I'm in, I can find people to play string quartet music with. Thanks especially to Three Hits and a Miss (Red Wing, MN) and the Chroma String Quartet (Washington D.C.) (How'd you like that shameless plugging?)

There are more things I'm thankful for, but I've gotta get cooking. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful day, full of love and food and napping!

(apologies- I have both recital and french party posts pending, I'm just waiting on some pictures)

.more soon

.neigh!

FAQ #63: As a violin bow luthier, what do you do for fun to entertain yourself on long days?

Answer: I drink tea, listen to music, surf the internets... I definitely don't play with the bundles of horse hair. Ever.

.today

.

.

morning

the favorite rituals.

.

.

afternoon

the little moments of beauty

.

.

evening

the lamp burning in the window

.the goose is getting fat

Christmas is coming,

the goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

if you haven't got a penny,

a half-penny would do,

if you haven't got a half-penny,

God Bless You!

I know it's early, but this is the week that I have begun to get especially obnoxiously excited about the Christmas season. Small things like Paula Deen's tweet about the beginning of pie season, booking my flight home, seeing egg nog in the grocery stores, and finally a chill in the air (anytime now, Nashville?) just start the flutter of excitement in my stomach, and I feel five years old again. When I was five, I knew it was my parents and not Santa Claus, but that didn't make Christmas any less magical. Now, I'm not one to go ahead and set up a tree until after Thanksgiving (let's do this thing properly), but I do love when the year starts it's downhill slide into the holidays. As a violin teacher, I have been in the throes of planning a Christmas recital with the other teachers at the shop, so I've been teaching Christmas carols for a month already- but this is the week that it has started to hit me.

I think this December, I'll do what I did last December: a picture-a-day photoblog counting down the days until christmas. This year it will be more exciting though! Right before Christmas, I will be on the Celebrity Equinox visiting two of my dearest friends from my cruise contract last year - I haven't seen them since October 2010, and I am very excited about it! So instead of last year, posting the heavy snow and my lonely Christmas tree in Minnesota, I will be posting pictures of beaches, Cayman Islands, Belize, Mexico, Costa Rica.

But what I'm most excited about is my flight to Maryland on the 23rd, opening the presents from the aunts and uncles as soon as I get there, Christmas Eve going to all the services, playing the violin in the church I grew up in, waking up on Christmas morning (not too early, but still early enough) and doing the same things we've done every year: hiding the stockings, eating cinnamon buns and listening to whatever music anyone got as a present, lunching with Poppop, dining with the same families, ever growing.

The traditions are what I love, knowing that no matter how far I go, I can come back on Christmas, and even though we've lived in the same house for over 20 years, they still find new places to hide our stockings!

What's your favorite bit about the holiday?

.redirect

For today's post, go to Monday Shenannigans, where you can read about my cute car troubles, listen to a neat song, and see what my sister has to say today too!

.music of the night

If I could just share some thoughts about my favorite musical for a moment-- forgive me. This is not a typical blog post for me, but I have words to say.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's version of Phantom of the Opera was never my particular favorite until I played in the pit for a [very mediocre] high school production of it this past spring. I, like most musicians, I think, have a love/hate relationship with playing in orchestra pits. On one hand, you play the same show a million times - if you like it, that's great. If you don't, that's miserable. There is a bell curve of learning the music, getting to know all the tiny cues, then level of playing and level of enjoyment is at its peak around the third production, and then everything after that is boring and automatic. Oh, I remember being bored to tears when Rolf was finally getting around to kissing Leisel for the 5th time, knowing I still had more than an hour left to sit through. (I also was sixteen going on seventeen that year, so perhaps I've gained a bit more musical maturity and/or boredom tolerance since then)

I really enjoyed playing in the pit for Phantom much more than I expected. Mostly because my previous pit experience was with musicals that contained a lot more dialogue - where with ALW the music is almost constant, so my brain was occupied enough through the whole thing that the end almost just snuck up on me each time. (also there were only 3 productions of it, so I didn't have time to get tired of it)

This past weekend, as I mentioned a few posts ago, I attended the Nashville Symphony Halloween event, the silent film from 1925: Phantom of the Opera, accompanied by a very talented and entertaining organist. This movie was much closer to the plot of the actual book... The first time I read the real novel, I was young, and it only took me two days, I stayed up until the wee small hours of the morning because I couldn't put it down!

The 1925 film tried its very hardest to be scary:

Following the depiction from the novel, the Phantom actually looks like a skeleton behind the mask, instead of Gerard Butler (who couldn't be unattractive if he tried, let's be honest).

In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber made a few revisions to the story, and of course they made the movie of it in 2004, featuring the shrill but beautifully dainty Emmy Rossum, and the intentionally rock-not-opera vocal style of Gerard Butler.

The story became musical; he added a little bit of humor and a lot a bit of melancholy - the Phantom's story now tearing at the heartstrings of the audience, instead of large, blatant attempts to repulse them. There is still no doubt about who Christine would end up with, but still, one is tempted, and torn a bit, and wonders what would happen if Raoul actually did let her go with the Phantom.

What was the Phantom's plan, anyway? I'm not sure he really thought it through other than "win over Christine and live happily ever after." Would they live forever in the underground mazes and deserted torture chambers beneath the opera house? I suppose he'd let her continue to sing, but at least he'd stop terrorizing the opera house proprietors and patrons. What if she had a child? Or seven children? What was his practical plan of continuing that endeavor? Perhaps a musically genius reclusive family that writes and performs their own music? What if one of the children was tone deaf?

Or was his actual plan a grim Romeo & Juliet idea of being together forever in death? Because he couldn't stand the thought of his Juliet being happy with Raoul after his own death? How could they realistically be happy, without a major life change from one or the other of them?

In 1925, the phantom kidnapped Christine using the very coach that Raoul planned to whisk her away in, to escape to England after the show. (Christine, like any good 1920s heroine, fainted gracefully and was out for most of the scene) Unfortunately, in his hurry, the coach overturns, Christine spills out onto the cobblestones, and the hoards of angry villagers are too close in pursuit for him to realistically continue on with her. He abandons her in the middle of the street, and runs for his life, but is eventually overtaken, his head chopped off and thrown in the river.

In 2004, the phantom slips silently into the night, "learns to be lonely," and presumably dies of heartbreak shortly after the end credits. In both the book and the ALW musical, though, he loves her so much that he knows she would be happier with Raoul, and he finally accepts that he has to let her go. How understanding of him, for all his mental illness and irrational jealousy up to that point.

Anyway, I like it. The music is good, the story is beautiful, operas are neat, and Gerard Butler is hot.

What do you think?

.please hold

I am in the process of constructing a "Take Your Blog Readers to Work Day" which will be posted on Monday. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here is a cute song for you to listen to:

I like everything about it! I like pink martinis, and tangos, and neat art, and music that speaks the truth.

III. Food

In my transition from student to realperson, some of my tastes have transitioned, and some have not. When I was living in Minnesota, I had a lot of free time, no homework, and a kitchen to myself, so I cooked and baked a lot. I made breads, dinners, appetizers, desserts. I was very fancy. Now, I'm working full time and I eat most of my meals at work or out, so when I actually do have the time and energy to cook or bake (like on Sundays), I don't even have a well stocked pantry (since these moments are few and far between) so I end up with the old standby, my good friend Ramen. Or occasionally I step up the game with some Pasta-roni. Or Spaghetti. I have reverted back to my college days, but -- as long as I stick with white wine with white sauce and red wine with red sauce, it doesnt matter that I paid $1.50 for my entire meal, right?

II. The Squirrel Dilemma

My lovably odd boss has taken it upon himself to rid our area of Music Row of squirrels. Our shop has a problem: squirrels get into a hole in our roof, run around between the floors of the house, frolic in the sawdust among the band saws and sanders in the basement, jump all over violins that are being varnished, occasionally wreaking havoc among the employees - you get the point, it's occasionally a problem. The best solution would be to get a new roof. Since that is expensive, the second best solution is, in the opinion of some, to catch the squirrels before they even get into the house (luring them onto our back porch with peanuts and a squirrel trap) and then relocating them to a park about 2 miles away. According to a study by some smart people, squirrels travel no further than 200 yards in their lifetime, so if we catch them and move them away, they won't come back, right? (in a recent poll, 9 out of 10 people think this is ridiculous) Anyway, it's right outside my window, so I get to watch the endeavor from the front row.

I. Halloween

Happy Halloween! That magical time of year when people throw all caution and decency to the wind, and they dress up like what they wish they were all the time and then eat loads of candy and drink apple cider with rum. Tonight I'm celebrating by going to the Nashville Symphony, where we are told to "put on your Halloween costume, and get ready for serious chills and thrills when organist Tom Trenney provides live accompaniment for the 1925 silent movie classic Phantom of the Opera. An incredible musician and improviser, Trenney will unleash the full power of the Schermerhorn’s Martin Foundation Concert Organ — the perfect way to experience one of the scariest movies ever made!"

Also, I will be avoiding garlic and wooden stakes, because I will be a vampire.

blogger's block, explanation, and upcoming mini series

Hey kids,

You may have noticed that I like to start blogs and then not continue them.

This is for several reasons. I'd like to say not much is going on, but I'm actually very busy and I do lots of interesting stuff. Interesting to me, anyhow. I think if I blogged too much about violins and things, (as I tend to do), I'd lose some people along the way.

But the main reason is, I think, that I hold my blogs to a very high entertainment standard, so if I don't have a good, funny, well put-together blog, I feel like my posts are inferior to the ones that I enjoy, and then eventually it goes long enough that I just forget. So here goes posting more often, even if it's not mind-blowingly-awesome.

Things-That-Are-Going-On-Lately-That-Are-Mildly-Entertaining Mini Series:

Halloween.

The Squirrel Dilemma.

Food as a College Graduate.

Take your Blog Readers to Work Day.

.every day i'm ramblin

Tomorrow I will post pictures and stories from my roadtrip!

Today I am much too tired.

.monday

It's......... monday!

Tomorrow begins an epic voyage, a journey and a quest involving dragons and rings and fire and hobbits, and ogres, and fair maidens. Stay tuned!

good song.

ch ch ch ch changes tomorrow. stay tuned for news!

music is ear food

This is not a groundbreaking analogy. But I came upon this comparison the other day when I found myself defending Debussy to a friend who was not fond of this particular composer. I was trying to explain that he was good, and why. In describing his music I found myself using words like “complex,” “chewy,” “layers,” and “nose.” (kidding about that last one) but, halfway through my monologue, I realized I could easily be describing a wine. And Debussy does indeed compare to a fine wine, in my opinion. There are many different sensations you get from beginning to end when listening to his music.

But more than that, music is so much like dining; the more I thought, the more easily I compared. Rossini is a lovely piece of cake: easy to eat, but too much is too much. Tchaikovsky is a beautiful, delicious steak, cooked perfectly medium rare, with a side of asparagus so well matched - by the end of it you are completely satisfied. Bartok is an interesting foreign meal that you don’t quite like, but you get through it and pretend you did anyway. And some people quite enjoy it. Brahms is a good stew. Mozart is pizza – all around good, you can never have too much, very good any day, any time of day music. (fancier Mozart is fancier pizza – but pizza is still pizza, and Mozart is Mozart.) And Bach is vegetables, so very good for you, even if one might get tired of it occasionally.

As Shakespeare said, “If music be the food of love, play on.” I would change that, perhaps, to: if music be delicious food in general, continue playing and eating all the wonderful things. All day.

Your glass of music for the day (red, not white) :

(if you’re in a particular hurry, start at the 3:30 minute mark and listen until at least 5:15)

P.S. please encourage this baby blog, follow me or comment or both!

new blog

Hello all.

Some of you may be switching over from my previous blog, the Floating Violin.

I have taken a large break from blogging, but I am back now, as I think I have things to say. However, I believe that I've changed a bit since I last blogged. New town, new job, less floating, less baking, less snow, more violins and more music. It just felt right to have a clean, fresh start on a lovely, empty, blank blog. So I apologize for those of you who have to follow me wherever I go. I have trouble putting roots down lately, in my life and apparently also online. But, follow me for this phase, this time. If you want.

Expect a picture, a song, an occasional rant, mild opinions, and more violin-related things than you probably care about. That's my life right now!