Real Weather

Today I woke up to the sound of light rain! Jennifer and I took an early walk this morning instead of playing tennis. It wasn't raining then, but it was a little damp, and we saw a spectacular rainbow. It's been so dry and hot here lately that this change of weather has been quite refreshing.

Clearing Out

Today is a good day for clearing out stuff. I finally took the pile that had accumulated in my mud room to the Goodwill. I even went shopping at the Goodwill, but came out with nothing, so no new stuff to add to the house!

Also, and this is even better, the landlord next door has been removing the dead, overgrown vegetation that has entwined itself in our shared chain-link fence. We both want it covered up, but he's going to plant something on his side to do it. He's already removed a lot of ivy as well as that pesky asparagus fern.

AND, it's finally starting to cool down towards fall weather a bit. Yesterday it was around 90 and today around 80, and tomorrow should be cooler still, although I don't think I'll have to turn on the furnace before Nov. 1!

All the News That's Fit to Print

In Chicago, Hal and I became quite fond of the Chicago Tribune. It actually took us about an hour on Sundays just to read all the articles we wanted to. I also loved the Friday movie reviews which were not buried between huge ads. Anyway, I decided that I wanted to read a good paper on Sundays when we came home, so we ordered the Sunday NY Times to be delivered.

It's been great. The Sunday paper takes a good, long time to read, and I especially enjoy the Book Review, the Arts and the Magazine.

I was just about to cancel the home delivery and buy it on the stand when the Times called to offer us 7-day delivery for the price of Sunday for 8 weeks. I said, sure. After all, I can cancel after 8 weeks.

This is our second week of every day paper, here is the dangerous ground. I really like reading this paper every day. I actually read articles in the front section, and I love the arts section, too. We'll see what happens in 6 1/2 weeks. Maybe the sticker shock will get me to cancel....(or at least buy it at Starbucks on occasion.)

Tuesday music

This morning my friend, Lynn, came by with her cello and we played duets. She very kindly played my River to the Sea that I had arranged for violin and cello, and we also played Celtic fiddle music. We plan to do this on a regular basis. It's FUN!

My music on the web

I finally put a piece of music I wrote up on the web. I have a page HERE at the Sibelius website. The piece I have up is called River to the Sea, and I wrote it for violin and Bb clarinet last year. You can see the music and listen to it, but you have to download the software Scorch first. The web page tells you how to do that. The sound is not great - just a MIDI file, but it gives you an idea of how it goes. I plan to put up other works at this site in the future.

A Concert Weekend

I'm back in the swing of orchestra, and this is our first of four concert weekends of the year. The exciting part is that I am now in the viola section. Last night we performed the Faure Requiem and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Both pieces have beautiful music for the viola section, and during the applause our section had special recognition. I've never had that as a second violin before!


Today is a very full day. Hal and I are going to usher in church, then we meet with the guy who will be landscaping our backyard, then I play a repeat performance of the concert, and then we have book club. Somewhere in there we have to get food to take to book club.... Maybe life will slow down a bit on Monday!

Roman Shades

New window treatments installed this morning:
dining room and our bedroom

Collapses

Last night I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I heard about this book from several friends who highly recommended it. The praise was so high that I actually purchased the hardcover at Costco. The writing IS beautiful. Don't let the phrase "Hamlet with dogs" put you off - the story is engaging, even if you figure out the ending ahead of time.

I finished this book while sitting at Harvey Mudd last night waiting to hear Jared Diamond speak. Hal knew that it would be an overflowing room, so we went a half hour early with our books.

Hal has read several of Diamond's books - Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, so he made sure we got to this talk. Diamond spoke about various socities that have collapsed and the five reasons they do, including enemies, climate changes, but most importantly, the mismanagement of natural resources.

Tree Work

Our neighbor next door had a huge live oak tree removed yesterday. Although I love those big, old trees, this one would drop all kinds of mess on our driveway and sometimes drip sap on our car, so I wasn't totally sad to see it go.

Coincidentally, I had just had our tree man give me a bid on some trees in our yard. For removing a dead walnut tree (behind the garage), trimming and thinning out our Chinese elm, he bid over $1800. My neighbor (actually, the landlord and manager of the apartments) said I should get his guy to give me a bid, too. Not only was the bid less than half ($625), but he also thinned out and cleaned up our orange tree. The crew started yesterday and finished up just now, and it feels as though we've had a major haircut - all fresh and ready to go!

Chinese elm before and after

Learning more about Blogger

I just found out how to add some items in my sidebar - Blogs I Follow and a slideshow. Currently in the slideshow are the pictures from our trip to Utah a few weeks ago.

Skin and Bones

I taught one of my favorite songs for 2nd graders today - Skin and Bones. It's very quiet. I sing a line, and the kids respond with a descending oo-oo-oo-oo. On the last line I sing, "She opened the door and . . . BOO!" They LOVE being scared and we must all practice it together, saying the boo all at one time and then being perfectly quiet.

Composing Update

A composing project I assigned myself this fall was an Advent Cantata for church choir. That's pretty ambitious, so I started with one anthem. It can stand alone, but I might incorporate it into a larger Advent work. Right now it is for choir and organ, but if it goes any farther, I can also orchestrate it. I wrote the music first and then the lyrics, which is a little backward, I think. But it seemed to work okay. The lyrics are not earth-shattering.

Today I took a copy of that, as well as the hymn I arranged last year, to church and dropped it in the choir director's box. I put a CD with them. It's always a little scary to put yourself out there and see what other people think. I would be thrilled if the choir performed either one, and maybe I could get Earl to "commission" a piece or two from me. A composer's most difficult task is to find people to play her music.

Tennis

This fall I am making up for not playing tennis during sabbatical. I have a standing date with Jennifer on Friday mornings. I walk to her house and watch the children come to school, and then we walk to the park across the street and hit the ball around for an hour or so. Hal and I have played about three times on recent weekends, including this morning. I am actually getting better. That is not to be mistaken for being good. It's just that I am better than I used to be.

Piano Puzzler

A while ago I subscribed to the podcast for the Piano Puzzler on NPR. Then, for some reason, the podcasts stopped. Last week I found them again here at American Public Media. Hooray! Now, once again, I can listen to Bruce Adolphe play his compositions where he arranges a song (popular, folk, children's, etc.) in the style of some great composer. The contestant has to guess the composer and the song. It's a real music geeky pleasure!

Kids say the darndest things

Teaching beginning strings is fun and challenging, not to mention exhausting. But sometimes some kid says something that just makes you smile. We spend the first 5 classes practicing holding the instrument, plucking the strings, holding the bow (without the instrument), and the kids are just DYING to use the bow on the strings and to use that block of rosin. Well, this week we finally put bows to the strings, and when one student found out we were actually going to do it, she said, "This is a sacred day!!!"

Wait until we start using fingers on the strings and then bowing.......So much to put together.

Book

I just finished The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. Not only is our book club discussing it this weekend, but the whole city of Claremont is reading it. The father in the story is an American ex-pat living in Shanghai just before WWII, and he has a rocky relationship with his wife and daughter who end up moving back to Pasadena. It is a story of love and reconciliation between a father and daughter, and a good read.
Three and a half stars out of five.

Sigh

Well, I've lost interest in the World Series unless the Red Sox can do something tomorrow.

And so, here's a video on youtube for general enjoyment. A beagle escapes from a pen by climbing the fence.

Fall Weather

My family knows I have a self-imposed rule in the house. No furnace until November 1. Well, Hal and I woke up to a house that was 60 degrees on Saturday morning. Best solution for now is to go someplace else that's warm. Or use a space heater. Or blankets.

The Santa Ana winds have started blowing and the days are warm, but the nights chilly. The house warms up during the day, so we are good for now. I'm trying to figure out why a 65 degree house here feels warmer than a 65 degree house in Evanston, though.

Another Movie

Netflix sent us The Visitor, and Hal and I got to watch it last night (after the Dodger win). I really enjoyed it. Like Babette's Feast theme of redemption through food, this one was redemption through music (drumming). Well, maybe not redemption, but healing, or coming alive.

Check out Claire's new pictures - her London haircut, a trip to Portobello Market and TP (Trent Park - her campus)!

Movies

Hal and I enjoyed Burn After Reading last night at the Laemmle. It was full of laughs, and was pretty light compared to other Coen Bros. movies.

Here's a fun "movie" of the announcement at church this morning by our resident "Bad Girls."
I can't seem to take a level movie....

Living Room pics

Hey

C'mon, Dodgers!

Brave New Ocean

Last night Hal and I attended a talk at HMC about the state of the world's oceans. I knew it would be depressing, and it was. However, Jeremy Jackson is an interesting speaker, so I didn't fall asleep. You can read about Jackson's research here (or google him yourself).

After the lecture, we watched the final episode of the tv series The Wire. What a powerful show. Some day I may go back and rewatch some of the seasons, especially 1 and 4.

On a lighter note, I skyped Claire yesterday. She is enjoying London, although it seems as though her classes could get in the way of her total enjoyment of the country! She's thinking about meeting a high school friend in Paris in two weeks. Such is her life!

Living Room arranging

Today the loveseat from Target arrived at our house. I was giving a violin lesson at the time, and when we came out of the music room, Hal was already assembling it. Now it's nestled into our tv corner, and I will take a picture of it tomorrow and post it in its surroundings. So far we like it!

Daily life, post-sabbatical

Daily life is settling into a groove. Get up and work out at the gym. Compose music, check e-mail, check facebook, check blogs, lesson plan, practice viola, and other business in the morning. Teach music from 12-5 (most days). Come home and check e-mail, facebook and blogs.

One of my favorite blogs belongs to my cousins in Texas. Marla is home with their three adorable children while her husband, Damian, is studying to become a chiropractor. I love the little videos, the photos and the cuteness of it all. Check it out here!

Change of Plan

Back to rooting for the Dodgers.

Siyahamba

I made my drumming debut in church this morning. The bell choir played Siyahamba, a South African song, along with the choir. A small band of percussionists (mostly drummers) added timbre and texture to the song as the choir recessed.

Keith Terry Workshop

This morning under overcast skies, I drove to Hermosa Beach to attend an Orff workshop given by Keith Terry - master of body music. It was an amazing day. This little video shows a short smattering of something we can use with kids, but lots of the workshop involved complicated rhythms (put one in your feet, one in your hands, and then sing another). You can see much more at Terry's myspace page and at crosspulse. There were some things I will probably do with my students, but I think I will be able to use much more in my compositions. Five hours of intense concentration has made me tired!

You're Not Old!

So, today I had the first graders at Vista. We were crouching on the floor while chanting Hickory, Dickory Dock, going up and down as the mouse does. One kid complained that it made him tired, and I said, "I'm an old lady, and if I can do it, a young boy can." They all looked at me and said, "You aren't old. You don't look old." Well! That made me feel great. Then they said, "You're 56!"

The first graders giveth, and the first graders taketh away.

October!

Okay, baseball fans - it's the post-season! This year some of my favorite teams are playing, but I am rooting for the Cubs. One hundred years is a long time to wait. I never thought that I would cheer against the Dodgers, but I just want the Cubs more this year. I also like the White Sox, the Red Sox, and Hal likes the Angels, so there's plenty to keep us interested. And for once, none of my "love to hate teams" are playing (Yankees, Braves, and Giants).

Oh, yeah. Still tired, but enjoying the students!