No wedding crazy over here…
Mother says I should at least have a white dress if I’m going to insist on not needing an expensive ring that probably cost somebody his life and which I will likely end up taking off and losing inside a piano somewhere. So, here’s what I’ve come up with: the J. Crew Sophia dress plus a tangerine sash from David’s Bridal. Cheap, easy, and of course, very me.
Two more completed sites + one updated one!
Daily blogging doesn’t seem to happen when I have imminent project wrap-ups. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
All WordPress, all the time. More information over at my web portfolio. Which really, really needs a facelift. Poor baby.
Reasons why I hate white businessmen on planes
Actual quotes from a flight from PHL to ORF. I wrote them down in my Sudoku book and everything.
On their pending vacation/bachelor’s weekend/whatever in VB:
I’m gonna eat lobster. I eat whatever the fuck I want.
On some sort of business venture:
It’s gonna take off. I’m sitting on the fucking launchpad, man. Like a strong drink – I’m gonna stir it up.
On patriotism, from a man who probably calls the Chinese a bunch of dirty commies:
It’s AMERICA, you gotta share the gold!
On the aerial view of the dirty and polluted Elizabeth River:
Look at that beautiful sea!
Racial profiling or just that horrible Rochester accent?
Heading into security here at Rochester International Airport (international by virtue of flights to Canada, I’m sure), I was asked what my final destination was. Apparently not hearing me well, instead of asking me to repeat myself, he asked, “North Korea?” I repeated myself, this time adding “Virginia”, and he said, “OHHHH Norfolk” (pronounced Nor-Folk). Should I be irritated that:
a) He didn’t realize that you can’t just fly into North Korea.
b) He assumed I was going to an Asian country. Without my passport.
c) They pronounce Norfolk so damn weird up here.
FYI, other non-Virginians: it’s NOR-fək. That weird character is called a schwa – it’s that indeterminate vowel that’s kind of like “uh” but non-accented.
Bread-in-five-minutes-a-day diet?
I wish. So unfortunate that this recipe/method from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is pure magic, because it’s almost certainly not going to help me lose weight and get in shape. It’s amazing that with a minimal amount of hands-on work, I can have a freshly baked, artisanal loaf of bread that has complex flavors and a thin crust that snaps. Seriously. It’s worth making it RIGHT NOW.
An optimistic view of art music in this recession
Yes, it’s totally sad that professional orchestras are folding or striking because of the recession (see: Honolulu Symphony or The Cleveland Orchestra), but…
Maybe this whole recession thing will finally quell the influx of half-baked musicians into music schools everywhere. I am SO TIRED of this whole “American Idol” phenomenon – you are NOT entitled to waste your parents’ money going to school for music just because being American means you can do anything you can dream. I wish that we could go back to being complete musicians instead of being forced to specialize (i.e. orchestral vs. teaching vs. academic) because there are so many music degree holders out there.
Times are tough, that is for sure. It’s not easy to watch people or groups get cut back or cut out. But just as some great smaller-scale musical works came out of war-time (you know, lack of money, fewer people), maybe something good will come of having less money to burn. Besides better financial behavior all-around, of course.
Happy 2010, two weeks later
Obviously, I’ve become a terrible blogger. I’m not one to declare New Year’s Resolutions, but one of my goals in this new year/decade is to get back into the groove of writing regularly, hopefully on my own blog as well as some others that are equally or more neglected. It seems counter-intuitive to be writing when I have so much else to be doing, but I hope that clearing my mind of small tidbits will help me to focus better on the big picture(s)… or that the very act of blogging will remind me of the work I should be doing instead.
Also on the books for this year:
- losing 20 pounds (see below)
- getting married
- going to China with Adrian
- the quarter century mark
- teaching, teaching, and more teaching
- going back to being full-time at Eastman
- more high-level performances as a collaborative pianist
- a new piano (the Yamaha AvantGrand N3)
- a pile of freelance web gigs
It goes on, you know, like everybody’s list of “things to do this year” goes on. Anyway, this post is long enough – my plan is for more frequent, more concise posts. For now, it’s back to work I go!