rain?

Is it rain??? Sometimes it sounds like sleet. Who knows. Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of February. March can't possibly arrive soon enough for me!

After lighting the pilot light again last night, our furnace seems to be behaving. Maybe I just have the magic touch...who knows...

This evening, I was highly entertained by a cute romantic comedy, which is playing now in theaters. I thoroughly enjoyed it :-)

Tomorrow, the week begins and I expect to be swamped with work...so...

ciao!

It is soooo cold in this house!

As it turns out, I am not crazy. Last night I was feeling slightly cold, and then, in the middle of the night, I woke up very cold, but managed to get back to sleep. However, when I woke up this morning about half an hour ago, it was freezing in my room. *sigh* It was at this point that I decided to take a look at the thermostat. Sure enough. It's roughly 50 degrees fahrenheit in this house! No wonder. At least now I know I'm not crazy.

Here's what I did:
- I looked at the thermostat, and it looked back in its decided unevenness (we have a dial on ours)
- I told Shanti. (who, as it turns out, was wondering about the sudden evil temperature drop as well.)
- Then, my bedroom slippers and I flopped down to the basement. No pilot light in sight (mostly because you have to take the furnace apart to find the pilot light)
- Upon returning to my bedroom, I picked up the phone - found that I actually did have the landlord's number saved in my phonebook, and then I decided to use it. :-)
- So, I called the landlord, who will be coming over (hopefully very very soon!) to see if it's the pilot light and then fix it.
- Meanwhile, I decided to change out of my red flannel paris pajama bottoms and my penguin fleece nightgown - both of which were keeping me warm. I'm now wearing "real" clothes...which aren't nearly as nice (except for my socks :-D )
- Currently, my fingers are turning into purple ice as the move mechanically across the keyboard tapping out these words.

Now. To protect my fingers from imminent frostbite, I shall be ending this entry. More later...

bah!

I hate snow, I hate february and I hate the Philadelphia airport...in no particular order. Laura's flight to RDU was delayed and subsequently cancelled this evening, much to our chagrin. Needless to say, it was unfortunately an unhappy willowlaughter who drove herself back to GSO tonight. Hopefully this setback won't prevent Laura and me from seeing each other at least some time in the next couple of months...but who knows.

Bah!!! Grrrr....

Anyway, I'm now back at home, and I'm sitting here in front of the computer in my warm pajamas, which are not keeping me warm. We turned the thermostat down to 65 degrees F the other day, and then the weather promptly turned cold again. Argh!

That being said, I'm seriously considering buying this W.E.Hill & Sons viola bow that has been my constant companion this week...it caught my ear here...

...I'm off to read more of The Onion Girl...

a visitor?

L'Opéra

This was an amazing place! The Opéra played host to many performing arts productions while I was in Rennes, including a performance by the Orchestra of the Université de Rennes II. When we performed in the hall there, I felt as though I had been transported back two hundred years ago to the height of classical music. The Opéra is draped with red velvet and has a very gilded look about it. It has a dome ceiling which is beautifully painted. The whole experience of the European architecture was enchanting. All the buildings are so old in comparison to the USA...

I'm reminded of Rennes, as I just received a phone call this evening from Armi, who is going to be visiting from Sweden this summer for a couple of months!! It will be her first time to the USA and when she arrives, it will have been almost a year since Shanti and I last saw her!! I can't believe she's coming :-D

Chopin...

I'm convinced that Chopin was a genius. Of course, that's not a new thought for me. I've believed sincerely for years that he was one of the greatest composers classical music has ever known. I'm reminded of my love for his music this evening as I listen to Leigh rehearse for her audition next week. One of her audition pieces is the Nocturne in D-flat Major by Chopin, and as the phrases flow through her fingers to the keys and finally to my ears, the beauty of the music fills my soul.

*sigh* ...and I could listen for hours...

until we meet again...

This was one of the last pictures taken of the three of us all together before I left France. I was talking with Shanti this evening, and I was also thinking of Armi as I received an email from her today. She's coming to visit for a couple of months this summer!!!! I'm so excited - I have really missed seeing her.

So, last night I finally got around to seeing the House of the Flying Daggers last night...(on a side note, I ran into a friend from FLT who I hadn't seen for a couple of years...what are the odds?) The movie itself was beautifully filmed and was a pleasure for the senses. Zhang Yimou has impressed me on many occasions with his films - the most recent being Hero. In fact, seeing the film last night made me want to see Hero again. My interest in Zhang Yimou's films really began a few years ago when I took a film class here at UNCG. One of the "masterpieces of cinema" that we studied was Raise the Red Lantern, which is an amazingly controversial yet quite artfully crafted film. In any case, I highly recommend these if even only for the artistic beauty of the filming.

Tomorrow I get my viola back!! I'm popping over to the research triangle to pick it up and try out some more bows...

day planner!!!

2:40 in the afternoon and all is well...

I just got off the phone with a dear friend whose mother was having surgery this afternoon. Fortunately the surgery went through with the best possible outcome. :-) So I can let out my breath and give thanks for this day and for the healing that is taking place.

Anyhow...I received in the mail today a day planner/calendar from my mother, which I hope will help me in my never-ending quest for organization in my life. I've already started writing things down in it...such as sunday's dress rehearsal, which I had forgotten about completely!

grrr...speaking of which...I need to head up to Aycock now for orchestra...else I'll be late!!!

ganache?

Today was our first rehearsal with the guest conductor for this monday's orchestra concert. I really appreciated the way he ran the rehearsal today; it felt effective. Anyway, he's the conductor of the Sinfonietta de Paris. Hopefully the concert will come together on monday, but who knows...

On my way out the door to rehearsal this afternoon, I noticed a medium-sized box on our porch. Upon approaching it, I noticed it was upside-down, so I turned it over and discovered it was for me! Jonathan had sent me two lovely ganache cakes from dancing deer bakery in Boston, MA. I had a nice late-afternoon treat of part of one of the cakes :-) yum!

I have so many things to do!

I firmly resolve to (eventually):

- order music for string ped.
- vacuum my room
- finalize recital guest list
- work on my résumé
- clean my room
- finish all the books I'm in the middle of so that I can focus on one book at a time...
- clean my desk...(I can barely see the surface...and it's not a small desk...)
- write program notes
- schedule recital jury
- rehearse with pianist
- and many other various and sundry things...

(including thinking about music for J & L's wedding...)

until later...if I haven't driven myself completely nuts by re-reading this post!

three friends

rose...

I wanted to post a photo from yesterday's v-day festivities, but it was not to be.

Yesterday was both the celebration of the Rite of Election, but also our v-day dinner (Leigh, Ash, and moi) :-) It was a long day, but we enjoyed ourselves. Leigh went all out to prepare a lovely meal for us - Ashley and I were banished to the living room so that we couldn't help her. The dinner consisted of a lovely first course of spinach salad and nine-grain bread, followed by chicken with an apple cream sauce, a mixture of winter vegetables cooked in honey and riesling, and brown basmati rice with green onion. It was all delicious, and it was followed by chocolate hazelnut bread pudding with hot fudge sauce, à la mode. Yum!

Once again, Leigh outdid herself. It was a lovely day to just be together, listen to music, visit and simply breathe.

music of the day: the Garden State Soundtrack, Sister Hazel - "Chasing Daylight", and the Viola Concerto by William Walton, performed by Paul Neubauer.

st. malo - part 2

oh...the tide...

June of 2004 at the fortified city of St. Malo, France.

yes, we barely made it back from the island - note the Maggs is the only dry one since she was wearing a skirt over her jeans ;-)

st. malo - part 1

wet legs?

more memories...

I've reverted to memories of last year at this time... This picture was taken near Place de La Republique in the center of Rennes, France. I remember Shanti and I were wandering around exploring Rennes during our first week there. This was just one of many interesting shops in town. Two of my personal favorites were the movie poster/postcard store just down from Tandoori(excellent Indian restaurant!) and the Japanese store tucked back on the little street near place champ-jaquet(i think...).

more Ella Fitzgerald tonight... "...these foolish things remind me of you..."

for alexandra

agnes scott college

My first year of college was spent here in Decatur, GA - the campus of ASC is beautiful, small, and peaceful...well, most of the time...

You might wonder why I've posted this picture in the midst of some France pictures. Well, I was surprised this evening upon returning from some serious practicing (I've memorized the bourées from the third Bach suite!!!!) to see a post from an friend of mine (who has since graduated from ASC). A nice surprise :-)

sweet dreams.

an encore

the steps of st-melaine

more memories of France...

parc du thabor

l'église de st-melaine aux jardins du thabor

Today thoughts of Rennes seem to be filling my mind. This view was from one of the paths in the gardens of Thabor looking back towards the church. These gardens were on of my places of refuge in Rennes during my time there. On a hill overlooking the city, the old monastery grounds are a maze of different gardens perfect for wandering. So many hours were spent in leisurely contentment in this place, even in the first winter months I was there. These memories float back to me ever so softly accompanied by the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald as my mind meanders...

a little bit of nostalgia

sunset over the clouds

a little over a year ago, this was my view from the air on my way to France.

*sigh*

music...sweet harmonies

Today I have found myself completely immersed in music, and it gives me hope that the joy that I find in music is returning to me. Balance is coming back to me after last fall's crazy semester.

I spent quite a bit of quality time with my viola today and am hoping to increase that time even more as the days go by. Just this week I finalized my recital program, and I decided to add another small piece by Rebecca Clarke called Morpheus, which is a sweetly mysterious piece for viola and piano - hauntingly beautiful.

This evening I'm listening to some Indigo Girls and remembering why I like them so much, even though I don't know much of their music. I was listening to a song called Love Will Come to You which is full of very rich harmony, and decided that it was time to update this blog. Of course that has nothing to do with anything, but I guess I was just reminded that I hadn't really rambled on that much about music lately.

Ok, that was a scary-looking sentence grammar-wise, but I'm leaving it there.

I took a break from serious reading for 24 hours and squeezed in an Agatha Christie novel, Peril at End House. However, I have to say that I figured out who did it before Poirot...

Subsequently, I went back to my most current read - Reading Lolita in Tehran, which is a very interesting novel by Azar Nafisi... hard to describe, but a very compelling read.

Oh, on a side note - the Indigo Girls live version of Galileo is EXCELLENT :-)