It's been too long to recap, so I'll just move forward from here. Like you do.

About a year ago, my eldest graduated high school and I got some time back. She had a medically difficult high school experience which wound up being time-consuming for everyone, especially her. I didn't realize this until she was done and off to college. She's now ( Read more... )

Long ago, I had this thought that my journal should sync up with my teaching life, so I stopped writing here and started writing on my bassoon website. I don't know what I was thinking. The net result seems to have been that I stopped blogging altogether ( Read more... )

Need: At least 1 musical performance monthly.
Why: Sanity, relevance, and growth.
How: Will begin with duos, asking colleagues for interest.
Where: Doesn’t matter much. The goal is to play.

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It is of no great significance that I do most of my thinking in the shower. At about 10-15 minutes, they are fairly quick showers by most standards though perhaps not by the drought-ridden standards of the American Southwest. Still, my head clears in there. My thoughts and dreams and wishes and ambitions (sometimes) make themselves known. Today's ( Read more... )

I've started reading the blog, Hyperbole and a Half. it's fantastic! But it also means that about halfway through my own blog posts, I get bored. This will likely be one of those entries.

I just submitted application materials to a summer music festival that I am hugely excited about. It means 6 weeks of study under a phenomenal bassoonist in a ( Read more... )

 
My playing calendar is just about full to bursting! I just wish there was good money coming from it. Huge concerts for me, and I'll either be shelling money out (masters recital) or making a very small amount. I've worked up a schedule on my iPod for every day that I think I'm going to be practicing, breaking it all down by piece and sometimes ( Read more... )

Thank god last week is over! Though I didn't advance in the competition, I played well and my professor reports to have been very surprised that I wasn't bumped along to finals. The paper I was avoiding with LJ posting? I wrote it in 69 minutes!! Got it submitted with 6 minutes to spare AND, I got an A on it! Whoever said MUDding couldn't teach ya ( Read more... )

Posted via LiveJournal.app.
My bassoon didn't eat my karma. My iTouch did. I typed out a very eloquent post and it ate it. Bad ljapp, BAD!

So I've noticed that I tend to mock my own education a bit. Whenever I am asked about the masters program I am embarked upon, I generally write it off as "..a 2nd useless degree to go with the 1st useless degree." The problem is that this is absolutely false. My degree got me my job. My dream job, as it turns out. I LOVE my job. I get to play with ( Read more... )

I've hit full on avoidance. I could call it nesting but that would be false. Nesting for a bassoonist would involve a flurry of reed-making and much practicing. Me? I'm tired of practicing. I've had it. I want to be done so I can put my bassoon to bed. I peaked too soon on the ol' recital prep and now I feel like I'm treading water. The worst part ( Read more... )