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Which is why I always answer proudly that no, I did not marry a musician.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
…in the Christmas edition of the New York Times, writer Daniel J. Watkin looks at the “high notes and low points” of classical music this year. Messiest Musical Divorce: To Hélène Grimaud, the pianist, and Claudio Abbado, the conductor, whose musical partnership fell apart after a dispute over which cadenza Ms. Grimaud would play for a [...]
I used to be all wiggle and no whump.
Friday, December 2, 2011
This week my percussion warm-ups deal with taking a steady rhythm (whump-whump-whump), doubling the speed (wiggle-wiggle-wiggle), and then returning to the initial speed (whump). That is life, isn’t it? So rarely are we afforded graceful transitions in between the busy and the slow sections, and it’s so difficult to hold things steady as we move [...]
And to think, there were years of my life without this.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Gmail has started a little alert at the top of my inbox, alerting me that I am nearing my inbox capacity. I have never been one to clean out or sort emails — I feel accomplished by answering them in a timely manner and then watching them file down the page. I started clicking through [...]
What is this so-called life?
Monday, November 28, 2011
My most recent boss and I were talking about the topic that seems to be as touchy as asking someone’s weight — what’s on your curriculum vitae. She encouraged me to include some non-career information; as a college teacher and vocalist, she was hired with a CV that included that she designed and built an [...]
It’s a little funny that I thought it was called the “five-hour workweek.”
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
This morning I started my practice by listening to two right-handed drumstick-hits in a row. I listened to their volume. I listened to how they were spaced within two given beats of the metronome. I listened to how they sounded when they had to artfully dodge my left hand interjecting. Such detailed listening is exciting [...]
It can breed dissatisfaction with ways that are intellectually shopworn.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
….Boredom can also encourage innovation….It can drive the thoughtful to question the accepted and to seek out beneficial change…Boredom should not be abused, exploited, ignored, sneered at, rejected or talked down to as a product of laziness or of an idle, uninventive and boring mind. It’s there to help, and its advice should be welcomed [...]
It’s oh so quiet.
Friday, August 5, 2011
I’m done with teaching, so now my days are spent looking for work in Boston, and then packing things into boxes. We gave away the piano today, and now the corner of the house is missing its warm friend. I stacked our empty boxes there and they keep catching my eye; they don’t belong. It’s [...]
He asked me if we had white carpets.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
I parked next to the semi truck unloading at the liquor store, and made trips to the dumpster to collect empty boxes. My hair was dripping with sweat from the run I had just taken. I picked up boxes of “lite” margarita mix and honey-laced bourbon. It was hot, and the air smelled sweet. A [...]