fiona apple

if there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me
be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine.

tolkien

I'm old... I know I don't look it, but I'm beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel... thin. Sort of stretched, like... butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday. A very long holiday. And I don't expect I shall return.

darjeeling limited

"Alright, let's make an agreement. 
A. we'll make an early start tomorrow morning and try to enjoy each other's company in this beautiful place; 
B. we'll stop feeling sorry for ourselves, it's not very attractive; 
C. we'll make our plans for the future." 

extras

I had planned for my next post to be about tiny houses and minimalist living, and don't worry, I'll get to that soon. I am currently in the midst of selling roughly 85% of what I own and trying to fit the rest into my car, and that's going swimmingly. I do have thoughts on it, but this morning I was thinking of other things. As I get closer to leaving Nashville, I get more aware of tiny things that I take for granted, that won't be the same after two weeks from now. For example, my favorite mug that I use every day to drink tea out of. In Maryland and on a ship for the rest of the year, I will still drink tea every day. But it won't be out of a violin mug.

More than mugs, though, there are some nameless regulars in my life that I see pretty frequently and converse with, that I might never see again once I leave. The extras in my life story that pop by for a conversation, that you won't even remember by the end of the movie. I don't know their names, but they are there, and they are important.

I go to Harris Teeter a lot. It's a few blocks away from work, so it's quick and easy to stop by for food on my way to work or in the middle of the day. There is a very friendly red-haired lady who works there, and she is always so cheerful even when she's not having a good day. We actually talk to each other a lot (because she's the type to really tell you exactly how she's doing, instead of just saying "fine" and letting you go) Despite being raised by an outgoing southern mother, I still have frozen northerner tendencies, usually not liking to go beyond two sentences about how fine our day is going, and maybe the weather. My grocery lady always cheers me up and jokes about how the self checkout never works properly, and when she tells me she hopes I have a good day, I know she means it. I'm going to miss seeing her.


Nashville has a street newspaper that the local homeless or recovering homeless sell on the corners. A new issue comes out every two weeks, and it's only a dollar. I always buy one from the same man who sets up on a corner on my way to work. We've talked a lot, because it's at a long stop light, and he is always optimistic and cheerful. He sometimes has a big white beard and always wears a Santa hat at christmastime. We've talked a lot over the last year or so since I've been buying his paper. We've agreed about how money can't buy happiness, but our perspectives are different. I made around thirty times the money that he made in 2012 - how can I complain about being poor? How can I joke with him about money not buying happiness as I sit at the stoplight in my Acura, wearing sunglasses that cost more than he might make on a rainy day? It's good to have people like this, and I'm going to miss seeing him.

I know I'll form new routines wherever I go, and that's all right. There will always be extras, but I just wanted to write about these two. It's interesting that I find myself so melancholy about leaving people whose names I don't even know, but I guess that just happens when there's a big scene change.

Atlanter?! I hardly know her!

I got back from Atlanta today. My next big adventure (catch up with my last post if you don't know the next big adventure) has to be preceded by a lot of mini-adventures. Since I'm moving away from this area for the time being, I get to make the rounds to see people that I won't see again for a while. This past weekend was Atlanta to see my Sarah and Josh! You may remember them from my roadtrip down to Alabama over Christmas break, to help them get married (I was the maid of honor)

I have been to Atlanta plenty of times, but never for very long at a time. My main Atlanta experiences have been eating delicious food, and not much else. Which is not to say that I don't enjoy delicious food very much! (I do), but for how many times I've been to Atlanta, I can't say that I know the city very well. But it does have delicious food.

We went to the dog park on Sunday, because the weather was ridiculously lovely, and that was pretty fun. And I got plenty of fuzz-therapy with the friendliest cat in the universe, Lila.

She's pretty much the best. I've been realizing lately that I am more of a cat person than a dog person, but I'm not anti-dog, of course. Going to the dog park was interesting, because I thought about the possibility of a cat park and how poorly the whole idea would go. 

Anywho. Next mini-adventures are Clarksville and Louisville! And you can expect a post one of these days about minimalist living. 

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by. 

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

The rumors are true.

I'm quitting my life as a land lubber luthier, and running away to sea (like my father did before me - he was a first mate of a ship and had glorious adventures, and even though I'll only be a cabin boy, I aspire to be as cool as him even though he left me at a young age and I never saw him again. Some role model.) (I'm just kidding, I think that was Treasure Island.) (I digress.)

At the beginning of April, I will be signing onto Celebrity Solstice with my string trio! Most of you know that I hold a Bachelor's degree in violin performance, so like most people who went to school for music, my goal in life was to play for a living. I detoured into a more practical career, to my day job fixing violins and bows, but I'm back on track to play the violin full time.

The goal in life is to make a living playing the violin. The huge perk is that I'm getting paid to go places that I would never be able to afford to go to otherwise. I will be starting in Sydney, Australia, only to immediately cross back over the Pacific (by way of French Polynesia) to Hawaii. The summer will be spent going back and forth between Seattle and Alaska (my long time readers will recall I spent the summer of 2010 doing those same Alaska runs - I'm looking forward to going back!) and then back to Hawaii in the fall, before signing off in October.

FAQ:
How much will you be working?
A few sets each evening, which is a couple hours a day.

Oh wow, that's the ship your boyfriend is on! Is that why you're doing this?
No. Yes, I'm very excited that I get to spend so much time with him working together in the same place, but I've been wanting to get a job on a ship since I got off my last ship job in 2010, and I only met Boyfriend in 2012.

Do you get to actually get off the ship when you're in those cool places?
Yes. My job is to entertain guests, and when the ship is in port, the guests are out in port too. There is no point in having live music when the audience is out snorkeling, so most of the time I'll be able to go to the cool places!

Can I fit myself into your luggage and come along? 
Unfortunately, we're not allowed to have pets on board. Also, my luggage space is pretty limited, as I have to pack 6 months worth of stuff into two suitcases, including my sheet music.

How can I follow where you go and what you're up to?
Well, I'll be writing some adventures into this blog, AND/OR you can go like my group on facebook (by clicking HERE) . We will keep that updated with blurbs and pictures in case you don't want to read my pompous ramblings interesting stories on here.