I've been having a pretty good summer so far. Working at a running shoe store, teaching/counseling at a jazz camp at school, and teaching private lessons.
About three weeks ago, during the middle of the second of two weeks of camp, I got a phone call from my trombone teacher. He had just heard about a symphony audition for first and second trombone in the San Antonio Symphony. He told me it would be good experience to send in an audition. That was the end of July; the audition was to be sent in by email before August 14th. So I had three weeks to dust off three and learn two more excerpts, record them, write a resume, and send them all in.
After camp was over, I started working on the music more diligently, and this past week, with a TON of help from my great boyfriend, Brian (and his friend's basement), was able to record all five excerpts within the span of two nights. I wrote a resume based off my teaching resume, with more recent playing experiences, and sent the audition in this morning. I didn't know that I was going to be able to do that. Brian did.
I got an email back saying they had received my audition and now I just sit and wait. Honestly, I think it was a good experience. I would be so torn to have to move to San Antonio this year! At least it is only a year. And it would be great to be able to play in a pro symphony.
Anyway, I'm also running a 185 mile relay this weekend and then moving into my own place on Monday... not too big of a weekend.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Pets!
At the beginning of this summer, Brian had one pet, a betta fish named Posieden (after my friend Sarah's betta of the same name). He is a really cool red fish with a blue tank and blue pebbles at the bottom, a green fake plant, and a castle for him to sleep in.
Shortly after the beginning of summer, Brian was asked if he wanted to adopt a kitty, Marley, from some of his friends who were moving apartments. He agreed and has had Marley now for about a month. Marley is a really great cat who greets you with meows when you come home and loves being pet (maybe a little spoiled!).
Then Brian found a 3-inch long mantis at his work-site and decided to bring it home. Egbertita. She's fun and right now has the worst living situation of the three, in a clear plastic container he got at the dollar store (soon to be remedied!).
Due to Brian's job, he goes to a cell tower site, maybe a few hours away, and stays there overnight, sometimes from Monday to Friday. SOO, I've had the pleasure of taking care of all his pets. It's pretty easy to take care of Posieden- food morning and night, light on and off. The kitty requires litter scooping plus feeding, not to mention all the petting he "needs." But with Egbertita, she doesn't need much- just food. That's not so bad, except that she's predatory and only eats living insects. So this morning, I spent about 45 minutes hunting, which I guess is kind of a strange activity for a vegetarian. I caught exactly two moths and fed them to the newest member of the pet family, who hadn't eaten for maybe 3 or 4 days. I'm thinking about getting a stick for her to put into her container so she has something to climb on besides the walls.
I've found that I really like taking care of these little guys and doing it well. I couldn't bear to see poor Egbertita go without eating for so many days and I don't like going over too late to give Marley his evening meal. These living things depend on me for their existence, and I want to make it a happy one.
Shortly after the beginning of summer, Brian was asked if he wanted to adopt a kitty, Marley, from some of his friends who were moving apartments. He agreed and has had Marley now for about a month. Marley is a really great cat who greets you with meows when you come home and loves being pet (maybe a little spoiled!).
Then Brian found a 3-inch long mantis at his work-site and decided to bring it home. Egbertita. She's fun and right now has the worst living situation of the three, in a clear plastic container he got at the dollar store (soon to be remedied!).
Due to Brian's job, he goes to a cell tower site, maybe a few hours away, and stays there overnight, sometimes from Monday to Friday. SOO, I've had the pleasure of taking care of all his pets. It's pretty easy to take care of Posieden- food morning and night, light on and off. The kitty requires litter scooping plus feeding, not to mention all the petting he "needs." But with Egbertita, she doesn't need much- just food. That's not so bad, except that she's predatory and only eats living insects. So this morning, I spent about 45 minutes hunting, which I guess is kind of a strange activity for a vegetarian. I caught exactly two moths and fed them to the newest member of the pet family, who hadn't eaten for maybe 3 or 4 days. I'm thinking about getting a stick for her to put into her container so she has something to climb on besides the walls.
I've found that I really like taking care of these little guys and doing it well. I couldn't bear to see poor Egbertita go without eating for so many days and I don't like going over too late to give Marley his evening meal. These living things depend on me for their existence, and I want to make it a happy one.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I Am a Trail Runner (for now.)
This morning as I was out on the bluff, logging miles in the hot sun; I was just running along, enjoying the flowers and the trees and the grass and the wildlife when it suddenly hit me. Almost my entire life I've been running, and it's been mostly on roads. Up until maybe a week ago, I would have definitely considered myself a road runner. That's not what hit me, but I'll return to that in a bit.
Running for me began as cross country then track practice in elementary school, in which there was one day a week where we ran down the trails about a quarter mile from school. During high school, summer training introduced me to some more of those same trails along with others around town- now we could actually drive places and find new routes to run! But for the most part during the school year, we would have most of our practices and workouts either on the road or the track.
Then came college. We did a good mixture of trail and road running during the cross country season, but my summer training had to be mostly relegated to roads- after all, if you don't have someone to run with and you're a little girl all alone, you should be cautious of running trails alone. But they always had a draw for me anyway- I just mostly stayed away from them, for the sake mostly of the people who love me. Half-way through my junior year, I decided not to join the track team after cross country season and began running on my own, through the woods, getting lost intentionally in order to find new trails and new places to run. It was great fun, and my love for the trails was growing.
My first marathon year happened during senior year of college. I was convinced to join the cross country team by the new coach who promised me he would train me for my first marathon if only I would also run for the team. Did it. Qualified for Boston. Ran Boston. Most of these training miles were logged on roads- my rationale was that concrete and asphalt are way flatter and easier to run on; the terrain is very predictable. Trails have more bumps and it was harder to get into a rhythm for 18- or 20-mile training runs.
After this, I continued to run, mostly on roads, mostly to train for my next Boston Marathon the next year. But that next year, I got a hip flexor injury in March that caused me to miss my second chance at Boston. I actually didn't run at all for about 4 months, then started slowly again. I moved back to the west coast and started grad school. That was last August. Throughout all of last year, I ran some and played music more and was wondering where my running journey was going to take me next.
So that kind of leads up to today; running on the trails of the bluff where trail running was first introduced to me in the 4th grade, it hit me: I am a trail runner. I'm tired of roads: running along busy streets or even through neighborhoods has just gotten so monotonous. And it doesn't smell as good as nature. And I feel like I'm being watched and judged by everyone. Trails are so much quieter, more peaceful. It's much easier to run on trails- they're softer and they don't demand anything of me speed-wise or distance-wise.
So I guess the revelation I had was that I've come to a new chapter in my book of running- trail-full, timing-device-free, joyful running!
Running for me began as cross country then track practice in elementary school, in which there was one day a week where we ran down the trails about a quarter mile from school. During high school, summer training introduced me to some more of those same trails along with others around town- now we could actually drive places and find new routes to run! But for the most part during the school year, we would have most of our practices and workouts either on the road or the track.
Then came college. We did a good mixture of trail and road running during the cross country season, but my summer training had to be mostly relegated to roads- after all, if you don't have someone to run with and you're a little girl all alone, you should be cautious of running trails alone. But they always had a draw for me anyway- I just mostly stayed away from them, for the sake mostly of the people who love me. Half-way through my junior year, I decided not to join the track team after cross country season and began running on my own, through the woods, getting lost intentionally in order to find new trails and new places to run. It was great fun, and my love for the trails was growing.
My first marathon year happened during senior year of college. I was convinced to join the cross country team by the new coach who promised me he would train me for my first marathon if only I would also run for the team. Did it. Qualified for Boston. Ran Boston. Most of these training miles were logged on roads- my rationale was that concrete and asphalt are way flatter and easier to run on; the terrain is very predictable. Trails have more bumps and it was harder to get into a rhythm for 18- or 20-mile training runs.
After this, I continued to run, mostly on roads, mostly to train for my next Boston Marathon the next year. But that next year, I got a hip flexor injury in March that caused me to miss my second chance at Boston. I actually didn't run at all for about 4 months, then started slowly again. I moved back to the west coast and started grad school. That was last August. Throughout all of last year, I ran some and played music more and was wondering where my running journey was going to take me next.
So that kind of leads up to today; running on the trails of the bluff where trail running was first introduced to me in the 4th grade, it hit me: I am a trail runner. I'm tired of roads: running along busy streets or even through neighborhoods has just gotten so monotonous. And it doesn't smell as good as nature. And I feel like I'm being watched and judged by everyone. Trails are so much quieter, more peaceful. It's much easier to run on trails- they're softer and they don't demand anything of me speed-wise or distance-wise.
So I guess the revelation I had was that I've come to a new chapter in my book of running- trail-full, timing-device-free, joyful running!
Monday, July 13, 2009
New Plant, Clean Room
So I've been wanting to get another plant for my bedroom for a while. I have a peace lily that used to be there and now it's an office plant that I really don't want to move. Two weeks ago when I was in MA, I talked to my friend and massage therapist, Irit, and she suggested a bamboo plant. She told me they are easy to take care of, grow inside very well, and don't even require soil!
So when I got back here, I searched bamboo out (which wasn't hard- it was at the local grocery store!) and bought two stalks (which also wasn't hard- $5 per stalk!). After I brought it home yesterday, I looked the plant up on google to figure out more about how to not kill it and ran across this website: http://www.chiff.com/a/lucky-bamboo.htm. I guess what I got was actually "Lucky Bamboo," which is technically not bamboo at all, but in the same family as lilies...
Anyway, this beautiful plant sitting in my messy room just did not match its surroundings, so I took the evening to "Tidy OOP!" as Ulla says in The Producers (more on this later. I'm playing trombone in the show at Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater). It was a good relaxing evening. Here are the results:
And here is my room, technically the guest bedroom at my parents' house, with a few of my own additions, of course:
So when I got back here, I searched bamboo out (which wasn't hard- it was at the local grocery store!) and bought two stalks (which also wasn't hard- $5 per stalk!). After I brought it home yesterday, I looked the plant up on google to figure out more about how to not kill it and ran across this website: http://www.chiff.com/a/lucky-bamboo.htm. I guess what I got was actually "Lucky Bamboo," which is technically not bamboo at all, but in the same family as lilies...
Anyway, this beautiful plant sitting in my messy room just did not match its surroundings, so I took the evening to "Tidy OOP!" as Ulla says in The Producers (more on this later. I'm playing trombone in the show at Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater). It was a good relaxing evening. Here are the results:
And here is my room, technically the guest bedroom at my parents' house, with a few of my own additions, of course:
Monday, July 6, 2009
Trombone Lessons
I taught six trombone lessons today, from 11am to 4pm, and it was a lot of fun! It seems like all of my students are happy to be at their lessons and are practicing, even though it is summertime. Maybe not as much as I'd like, but we haven't really set down practice goals for the students. Maybe if I give them a practice sheet and have some type of board where I keep track of all their practicing, they will be more motivated?
That may be the next thing I add to my teaching goals. I already have all of my students doing 1) warm-ups that all include buzzing specific pitches and expanding range and flexibility, 2) exercises that improve the quality of sound production, and 3) rhythm exercises that improve their sense of time. Then there are different things that my advanced students are doing, such as learning scales and chords, and my younger students are learning to play by ear at the same time as learning to read notes.
I was especially happy to witness the progress made by my youngest student, who just finished the second grade (he's so small he can't reach past 5th position!!). His sound quality is very good for such a young player, and he has a great ability to hear the right notes! He is working on playing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." He learned the first phrase last lesson, and was playing it almost perfectly this week. So we moved on to the second phrase and are working on rhythm exercises that are in 3/4, since that is the time signature of the song.
Days like these, I'm happy to be a private lesson teacher.
That may be the next thing I add to my teaching goals. I already have all of my students doing 1) warm-ups that all include buzzing specific pitches and expanding range and flexibility, 2) exercises that improve the quality of sound production, and 3) rhythm exercises that improve their sense of time. Then there are different things that my advanced students are doing, such as learning scales and chords, and my younger students are learning to play by ear at the same time as learning to read notes.
I was especially happy to witness the progress made by my youngest student, who just finished the second grade (he's so small he can't reach past 5th position!!). His sound quality is very good for such a young player, and he has a great ability to hear the right notes! He is working on playing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." He learned the first phrase last lesson, and was playing it almost perfectly this week. So we moved on to the second phrase and are working on rhythm exercises that are in 3/4, since that is the time signature of the song.
Days like these, I'm happy to be a private lesson teacher.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Reunion
So a few days ago, I went out with four of my friends from high school wind ensemble to a local burrito place/bar for some drinks and to catch up. It was so nice to see them all in one place and to think about how all of our paths have been so different! Three of us are pursuing music as a career. Jared is going to Boston University to get his master's degree in trumpet, Meghan just graduated from Westminster Choir College in voice/education, and I'm at EWU studying trombone. The other two: Meara is a world traveller and Asa is a graduate student in Corvallis, OR, studying Math.
So we all got together and caught up on what everyone else was doing, and had a great time! I feel kinda good about being the one who arranged this little meeting. Last week, I was with Meghan and Meara and suggested that we go down to this bar on Wednesday. Next, I realized Jared was in town and invited him along. To top it off, Asa called me Wednesday afternoon to say he was in town for only a few days and did I want to play some duets with him. So naturally, I invited him along, too.
It's an especially nice part of life that we can all go our separate ways and then sometimes run back into old friends.
So we all got together and caught up on what everyone else was doing, and had a great time! I feel kinda good about being the one who arranged this little meeting. Last week, I was with Meghan and Meara and suggested that we go down to this bar on Wednesday. Next, I realized Jared was in town and invited him along. To top it off, Asa called me Wednesday afternoon to say he was in town for only a few days and did I want to play some duets with him. So naturally, I invited him along, too.
It's an especially nice part of life that we can all go our separate ways and then sometimes run back into old friends.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Up
Last night, I went to see the new movie, Up, with my friends, Kyle and Jessie. What a touching movie about a lifelong dream and an optimistic boy who needs a friend. The grouchy old man and the "boy scout" who turns out to have never even gone camping, turn into co-adventurers, and they have such great encounters throughout the whole movie.
I think my favorite character was the dog, Dug. He was so loyal; once he had identified Carl, the old man, as his master, he didn't leave his side, even if Carl didn't want him. He also always seemed to know the right thing to do, even if he wasn't always as aware as everyone else.
I'd recommend this to really anybody who wants a good laugh and a good, wholesome, encouraging story.
I think my favorite character was the dog, Dug. He was so loyal; once he had identified Carl, the old man, as his master, he didn't leave his side, even if Carl didn't want him. He also always seemed to know the right thing to do, even if he wasn't always as aware as everyone else.
I'd recommend this to really anybody who wants a good laugh and a good, wholesome, encouraging story.
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