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." 

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.

december happenings

So. I like to go to new places, and I am in a lot of weddings this year.

These patterns will continue over the next couple weeks, but first I'm traveling to one of my favorite places to go back to, good old Maryland. I'm driving up there this Monday for Christmas! Hooray, I love Christmas! What I love about Christmas is that my family has done exactly the same thing every Christmas morning my entire life. I know that will change, possibly drastically, in the next year or two, so I've got to hold on to it while it lasts.

Right after Christmas, though, I'm roadtripping down to the furthest South that I've ever been in the U.S. (Apart from Florida, which is more south, but less southern). My second of four big weddings that I'm a part of this year, this one I will be honored to be the maid of honor! What fun. Fortunately, a super cute bridesmaid dress that I get to wear (that I've already shortened so that I can wear it later!)

Right after the wedding, though, I'm roadtripping straight back up to Maryland. That's right, I'm a yo-yo. Why wouldn't I be going back to Nashville at that point? It seems like it would be on the way from the bottomest part of Alabama to Maryland. Nope. I've got a super  awesome  nerdy string quartet gig with the Triforce Quartet, for MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival) in DC, at the beginning of January.

Right after MAGFest, though, I'm coming back to Nashville. For a bit. I suppose. Stay tuned! I'll take some pictures.

grand life update:

Beloved Readers, (both of you)

I apologize again for leaving you hanging for so long. I bet you've been dying to know what I've been up to.

Let's see.

At the end of April, I gave a recital. It went well! I was very pleased with how I played, I think the most comfortable I've been with any solo recital I've given. Here's a video (even though all of my blog readers were either at the recital, or I've sent this to you already)


Also I looked very pretty: (if I do say so)

The day after the recital (since I apparently like to plan things in rapid succession so that I never have time to sleep or think about anything), I drove 900 miles north to Minneapolis. I had been planning a trip up to visit my old Minnesota buddies for a while anyway, and it was a much-needed week vacation. I saw everyone that I hadn't seen in a year: Favorite ship friends, favorite luthier school friends, favorite not-ship-or-luthier-school friends. It was a good week, filled with  large amount of happiness and good food and good music.

As soon as I got back to Nashville, I started packing up my life to move to a new house. I painted my room (because it was green, the whole thing, even the ceiling, and it was like living in a christmas box, which seems like it would be fun at first, but I'm sure it would get old) Anyway. I painted it a color called "Castle Path," which I will leave to your imagination, as I'm sure it is much more exciting in there than it is in real life.

And so with this, that, and the other, I moved. I love my new place. One roommate, who is also a luthier, and a dog. and a back porch. It's a little bit perfect. And close to work. And did I mention perfect?

Isn't she a darlin?

Oh - the most important part of Minnesota, I fell in love. With a violin. It's beautiful, and sounds so great. Made just a few months ago by a maker in St. Paul. It took me weeks to figure out a way to pay for her, but I did, and its mine, and I love it. Here's a shameless glamour shot I took of it on my bed the other day.

Sexy, right? I like big bouts and I cannot lie. 

Which brings us to my latest musical endeavor. I found the most wonderful pianist, and together we kidnapped a cellist to join us and we've started a piano trio. It's at the very beginning, but stay tuned for the unveiling of a website and some recital dates later this summer in Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

The last bit of exciting news is that next month I am heading out on a grand adventure, my annual pilgrimage up the East Coast. I love it, and I can't wait to see everyone. Flying to Maryland, driving to Boston, driving further to New Hampshire, learning how to make some violin bows, driving back down to Maryland. Driving south to Virginia to see the little munchkin who will be out of the oven by then! I'm pretty excited.

After that we've got some quartet recording endeavors, which I will update you on as soon as I know things.

Oh, and I'm pretty obsessed with this piece. Have a listen:

a day in the life

Outside my window… greywhite sky, gravel parking lot, alleyway, old houses, Music Row.

I am thinking… about what I will be doing the rest of the week.

I am thankful for… this job. It is easy to take something so great for granted, but doing what I love pays the bills, and I'm luckier than most.

From the kitchen… hot soup and hot lemon tea. Perfect for today.

I am wearing… a new purple shirt, jeans, and boots.

I am creating… order in a world of broken, dirty chaos.

I am going… to Dickson tonight to play string quartets with some of my favorite people, and drink prosecco by a large fireplace.

I am reading… The Contributor, a newspaper by homeless people.

I am hearing… Beethoven's 7th. Cold blah days make me want to listen to Beethoven.

Around the house… violins, string instruments, tools, horse hair.

One of my favorite things… my old scuffed up violin mug.

A few plans for the rest of the week… a friend's birthday tomorrow, a chocolate martini party on friday, irish music on saturday!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing…

.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?