Coffeeless: Day 2 & 3

It was a brutal. But I survived.

Partly it was because I'm visiting Catherine, who makes sure I won't break down. Secondly, I clarified what constituted a "candy bar" (a slightly enigmatic term), allowing for Valentine's Day candy, and the fudge my mother recently sent. Oh, and posh chocolates are okay. In Catherine's words "if you give it all up, you'll go mad!"

Secondly, a slight increase in tea consumption helps stave the caffeine depression.

As I push from day 3 into day 4, I can feel the need lessening, but the comforting feeling of having a hot coffee in my hands is still very prevalent. This I'll need to replace.

Coffeeless: Day 1

Feeling nervous, find my fingers tapping all the time. I'm reminded of my friend Eric (who may or may not read this page), well known for saying "I should do [fill in the blank] - No I shouldn't! What am I thinking?" and the blank is obviously (in this case) [buy a cup of coffee].

Instead of coffee and candy bars, I replace them with "good" food, like apples and orange juice. This is okay, but I also have the odd feeling I will need to over consume to compensate for the urges....oh, dear.

Happy Pancake Day!

`Nuff Said, I suppose.

For Lent I will be sacrificing: coffee and candy bars. If there are any other suggestions, please let me know.

Good Night and Good Luck - RAISE HELL!!

We've Lost a Good One:

Molly Ivins

My introduction to Ms. Ivins came after my senior year in high school. Finally able to read what I actually wanted, I had a surfeit of non-Fiction at my side (of course, with the occasional Moby Dick or East of Eden), which lasted for the next five or so years (really only broken by Pamuk and Murakami). In this event, though, the book was Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush. I was astounded; Ivins's wit and knowledge far surpassed my expectations (especially for a book I randomly picked up at Borders)

I read her columns throughout college, and found them to be just as insightful. I found her continual reference to "how they do things in Texas" appealing, and helped clear the air of many misgivings I may have felt.

In closing, I provide two links: A collection of her columns on AlterNet, and what I consider to be her greatest column, Some Kind of Manly.

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Model? Me?

Another modeling gig! Saw a posting for art classes at the Public Library, and thought I would make an inquiry. Turns out they had a cancellation for a mid-March class. I've found modeling here to be a lot more difficult (as in finding jobs), primarily because people actually have "Life Model" as a career; therefore, you need to make a break into it. I don't perceive this to be my "in" since I'm not interested in doing this full-time.

Besides that, all life has to offer right now are pre-Valentines preparations, practice, and of course party (it's some one's B-Day today, and they don't know... - which is a real bummer because I have a warm-up class at 8)

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Second City

I wanted to write about this several days ago when I first heard about it (via the Manchester Evening News), but unfortunately couldn't find a sufficient web link. Thanks to Catherine, whose computing skills surpass mine, I am now able to share the wonderful news!

Second City

We tend to forget the small wonders in smaller cities (like John Dalton in Manchester, or Clara Barton in Rochester - even Edmund G. Love in Flushing, MI), so it's nice to see a title where a title is due. Maybe I'm biased, though.

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No LotW

Sorry, evidently I'm in England, and have to practice and such, so I was unable to scour the web for the best in links. I'll work extra hard this week. Promise.

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Pointless Classes

The undergraduates have "technicals" coming up next week. In their 20-minute jury, they'll be tested on Scales, Studies, Sight-reading (the 3 S's) and Excerpts. So for over a month, this has been the aim of studio and warm-up classes. I wouldn't mind so terribly if I didn't feel completely useless and unproductive. It would certainly be to my benefit to be able to stay home and practice (and that's not just my cold speaking. It's a 20 minute walk with a heavy horn in a hard case...not that I'm complaining)

On a brighter note, a less pointless class I had this morning was my composition lesson. I showed Larry some exercises he had assigned last term, as well as the beginnings of the projects that will eventually make up my portfolio. Unlike the first lesson, I was really pleased: we discussed the dichotomy between convention and experimentation, the need to sharpen my craft, and other ideas that will help me develop a "voice" (rather than a "style"). I'm expected to have more work done on my euphonium sonata, and the groundwork for the concerto. Personally I also want to invest some time in past uncompleted projects, including a piano piece and a setting of a poem by Hart Crane.

As I mentioned, the weekend (and continuing far into next week) will be a blast, but can only be written about in retrospect.

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Sick...:-(

A bit of a sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose that I predict will last 1 or 2 more days. Originated (probably) from a late-night snogging this past weekend. Events kept me from practicing today, but yesterday I managed a wonderful session, hitting hard the tape round for Falcone.

The weekend is filled with fun goodness which only can be elaborated on later next week (can we say Farmer's Market?)

We have a break coming up in a couple weeks, but I don't know if I'll notice. Yesterday, not having anything at school. I decided to stay home (a wise choice given my ailment); it was fine except for the severe cabin fever that hit later on (luckily I made it to an Internet cafe, where I can while away an hour in cyberspace - sure beats reality, don't it?)

More comments when I'm less under-the-weather (including a post ON the weather)

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SNAP!

Thank you David, whose website finally convinced me to try out Snap.

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LotW

This week: Burning Man.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the festival, albeit through word of mouth, or maybe some strange article on bunny suits in the middle of nowhere. For me, the introduction was in The Onion, when there was a satirical article proclaiming that everyone was "too busy" to attend, either because of work or parents. I thought, "ha ha. What a funny article on a fake festival!"

Several months later, I was shocked to read an article about a woman being crushed by a giant mechanical bird. It was quite upsetting, and I'm sure extremely traumatic for everyone involved with the festival. This was the true awakening I had to the festival.

Venturing onto their website, I encourage everyone to check out several things:

1. What IS Burning Man? This simply (or not so simply) answers the question; the terms radical, self-expression, and self-reliance crop up. Art and participation is highly common; and of course, there's a history.
2. 2007 Art Theme. This answers why this week. As the material has been about conservation/sustainability, I thought Burning Man's "Green Man" Theme would work well between a transition from Sustainability to Arts. Of course, the convergence of 30,000+ people to the middle of the desert is never truly sustainable (in terms of energy consumption - they do have an amazing track record of "leave no trace"), it's good to seem them try and create an awareness that even the most adherent among us still pollute.
3. Photos! This is where you want to go to find out what Burning Man looks like (you obviously can't get the entire experience, but it's a start). The architecture that develops is really incredible. The cars are both hideous and endearing. And of course, if you ARE looking for bunny suits, than I suppose they're there too.

I have yet to get to Burning Man (shoot, I haven't even been to Aura Man!), but I figure I'll keep it on my to-do list. For now, though, income and transportation aside, it will have to be an ideal, a utopia of art and economy and collective individuality springing up from the desert.

Of course, didn't they say that about Las Vegas?

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Groundhog's Day

They don't celebrate it here :-(

But on the way to school, Sarah pointed out some plants poking out of the ground, saying "Are those plants or trash?" Thereby giving a good indication of the weather here.

In related news, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) revealed a new report saying humans are indeed the cause of climate change (well, technically they give it a 90% probability), and greenhouse gases must be curbed by 2020 and reduced by 2050 to avert apocalyptic results. Furthermore, the BBC hypothesized (with Greenpeace) that the document was rather CONSERVATIVE in its findings, because it had to be approved by 130 countries. Luckily (as the currant quote states), James Kunstler doesn't think this will be a problem, as most of the evidence we're receiving indicate we peaked oil production last year.

In any event, Happy Ground hog's Day. This is probably one of the few times you can wish for six more weeks of winter.

Lack of Posts

I check blogs every day; sometimes I go "harrumph" (it's quite embarrassing in a public setting) when I've encountered people too busy with their real lives to philosophize over cyberspace...sigh. Then I realize I've done exactly that!!! My sincere apologies. Part of the observation comes after reading Pollan's "A Place of My Own" where he builds a house to work in. After being a writer/editor all his life, he feels the need to break away and create something physically "real". Similarly, after spending time online, I find the urge to break into the real world important too.

Anyway, the other reason for the hiatus is, as always, time. More practice, work and composing. On top of that, I see now that, come Saturday, I will have had 5 performances in the period of 9 days (!!). Most were small, with myself contributing less than 20 minutes or so, but of course you have the stress, preparation, et. al. that keeps you busy at times like that.

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