Friday, February 29, 2008
Visitor #3000
If you're visitor #3000, please say hello and let us all know something about you! I'm always curious as to who's reading :)
Notes to Self
McGill and U of T do not require any entrance theory/ history exams for their DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) Performance programs (unlike UBC, IU, and probably 90% of all institutions offering DMAs). Also note that UBC requires that you to have reading knowledge of another language... Oh to have been put in French immersion... :(
On a fun note, I think I'm going to have to create a fake application to McGill in order to get access to their program information. I'm sure if I e-mailed them and explained what I was doing [summarizing the DMA programs in North America for the Western admin to create one for themselves], they'd send me the information, but really, where's the fun in that?! Doctor of Music applicant on violin, here I come! :P
Definitely over-tired now... Time for bed! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)
On a fun note, I think I'm going to have to create a fake application to McGill in order to get access to their program information. I'm sure if I e-mailed them and explained what I was doing [summarizing the DMA programs in North America for the Western admin to create one for themselves], they'd send me the information, but really, where's the fun in that?! Doctor of Music applicant on violin, here I come! :P
Definitely over-tired now... Time for bed! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
And I am still not doing homework...
... so I will post funny videos instead:
This one made me laugh out loud:
This one gets funnier near the end... the quality is kind of poor but it is still kind of funny:
Yes the bassoon can actually sound not like a dying duck at times:
A good performance of the most practiced (I hesitate to say most famous...) bassoon solo ever:
One of my favourite composers (Piazzolla... I know, I will never be a "real" musician.. sigh...) arranged for four bassoons:
A significantly better recording of the Libertango, with Yo Yo Ma:
I looked for some videos of the L'Histoire du Soldat piece that I'm doing in a week or so, but they were all *so* bad.
P.S. Don't forget, my recital is on Monday! Monday at 8! E-mail me for more info if you like! :O)
I think I'm going to go start some doctoral proposal work seeing as I said I would have it done for Monday and I haven't started it yet and Sunday is a write-off day for work with a concert in Hamilton, a rehearsal & a dress rehearsal in London. Good thing this proposal thing doesn't require the use of any grammatical skills... Heaven knows this post exemplifies my lack of focus right now... do do do
This one made me laugh out loud:
This one gets funnier near the end... the quality is kind of poor but it is still kind of funny:
Yes the bassoon can actually sound not like a dying duck at times:
A good performance of the most practiced (I hesitate to say most famous...) bassoon solo ever:
One of my favourite composers (Piazzolla... I know, I will never be a "real" musician.. sigh...) arranged for four bassoons:
A significantly better recording of the Libertango, with Yo Yo Ma:
I looked for some videos of the L'Histoire du Soldat piece that I'm doing in a week or so, but they were all *so* bad.
P.S. Don't forget, my recital is on Monday! Monday at 8! E-mail me for more info if you like! :O)
I think I'm going to go start some doctoral proposal work seeing as I said I would have it done for Monday and I haven't started it yet and Sunday is a write-off day for work with a concert in Hamilton, a rehearsal & a dress rehearsal in London. Good thing this proposal thing doesn't require the use of any grammatical skills... Heaven knows this post exemplifies my lack of focus right now... do do do
Do Do Do *shifty eyes*
It is Thursday and I have hardly started the homework that I should be doing over the holidays. I have to say, I am quite enjoying this lesser stress environment. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Musical Adventures
I would rather have stuck my head in a bucket of ice water than do what I have done for the past two hours. Any guesses as to what it was? Practicing? No. Making reeds? No. Talking to someone I didn't want to talk to? Do the dishes? Clean the bathroom? No, no, and no. Apply for jobs? Why, yes! We do have a winner! Ugh. I can't think of many things that are as self-depreciating as applying for jobs that you're over-qualified for and don't even want to be doing anyways. I am thinking of abandoning ship and sinking all of my time into developing a money tree so as to solve my application woes.
Speaking of applications, I have applied to go to Domaine Forget for their summer program June 15-29. I know that most of you think I am planning on working at an internship this summer, and well that would be ideal, given the vast non-response students like myself are getting in the Ontario job market, it is looking less and less likely; not impossible, just less likely. I figure I'll keep as many doors open as possible and we'll see what happens. It costs $1150 to go to Domaine, but thankfully I was able to get everything ready before the scholarship deadline: Prof. McKay wrote me a letter of recommendation after my sketchy-mc-sketch-sketch lesson today & I just happened to run into Mike (our recording engineer) for the sole hour he's at the music faculty this week to get a copy of our studio recital to use for the recording requirement. If this $1150 opportunity becomes free, or closer to it than $1150, I'm going. Here're the coolio people I'd get to study with if I go:
You can buff up your French skills and check the web-site out if you'd like to know more about the program: http://www.domaineforget.com/en/academie/academie.shtml
Ok, so time to recap this weekend's events.
On Sunday, Steven, Sarah, and Elena (another bassoonist at Western... YAY BASSOONS!) left to head out to the Toronto area. Being my first time driving in Toronto, they all faired very well (well maybe not Steven :P) with my slight panickyness at people cutting us off. Kayla lent me her GPS and this helped out the panick-level quite a bit. Unfortunately for me, I recalled the address of the bus station (our first stop) as 510 Bay Street instead of 610. FYI, 510 Bay St. is apparently located within the airport, as we discovered when TomTom (our name for the GPS) led us into the parking complex... After discovering my mistake (good thing I wrote out directions on paper before I left just in case!) we made it to the bus station in good time and in a relatively good mood (getting that "lost" with a GPS is just awesome no matter how you look at it).
After the bus station stop, Elena and I headed back out to Brampton to drop her off. I got to experience grid lock for the first time but thankfully it was for only about 30 minutes. After dropping her off I headed up to Palgrave to stay with my Uncle Paul and his family. I have to say that it really was quite an eye-opening experience to drive through what seemed like millions of identical subdivisions. Living in a little 5-10km bubble for the last four years, with relatively little interruption, really misguides my little thinker about how many people there are in this world. Anyhoo, some of the Toronto "countryside" was really quite nice. I think if I ever work in Toronto, living up in the Palgrave area would be kinda nice. Trees and farm fields = a good idea.
Sunday night I partied with Paul & his four kids courtesy of Guitar Hero. This was my first time playing it and I was a little unimpressed. Meh. It was fun to hang out with little kids again though. Megan and Jesse played my bassoon and thought that was pretty cool too.
Monday morning I headed out to the bassoon repair place with three things already gone terribly wrong. One, my cell phone died shortly after I woke up. It hasn't been lasting more than 24 hours these days and I should have known better and plugged it in overnight. The second bad thing occurred when as I was carrying my bags to the door, I notice that my left hand middle finger was throbbing and looked down to find it gushing blood. Apparently I hit an artery. Funny thing is I don't remember at allll how it happened. Unfortunately the cut is right in the spot where my tone hole hits my finger so every time I've played in the last 24 hours I feel a sweet sense of pain. The third downer prior to 7:30am was the failing of the GPS. It just wouldn't turn on. I was SO frustrated by this point because I'd already left late because my finger was gushing and now I -- the girl who gets lost WITH A GPS --had to rely on paper directions!?
Traffic was a lot better than anticipated heading into Brampton so I arrived only 8 minutes late to what I thought was the repair place. I do know that instrument repair shops don't have signage for a reason, but man I was SO frustrated by this point that I hadn't found the building (FYI it's on the third floor of a warehouse... as if I would ever think to go wandering around a warehouse with my bassoon without anybody warning me that's what I had to do ahead of time...). Thankfully they weren't too upset that I was late (I didn't even bother to look at my watch, but probably no more than 20min late).
After dropping my bassoon off I had to figure out how to get Steven's violin to its respective repair place downtown Toronto sans directions, sans GPS, and sans my cell phone. I decided to drive around Brampton and try to find either a Starbucks to plug my phone in (they have plugs for laptops I think), a Radio Shack / Best Buy to take the GPS into, or a payphone, whatever came first. Surprisingly enough, payphones are practically non-existent nowadays. Also, Starbucks was nowhere to be found. Within about 15min I did locate a Best Buy only to discover that it didn't open until 10. I decided to wander around the mall it was in until it opened. I'm pretty sure I've never been in a mall before any of the stores open. It was an interesting experience to say the least: lots of eager shoppers prepared to interact with considerably less eager sales people. Anyhoo, lo-and-behold, I found a set of payphones in the mall and made a frantic phone call to Kayla, owner of the GPS. She didn't have any idea what was wrong with it (silent "yaaaaaaaays" going on inside now) but was SUPER awesome at calming me down and getting me the phone number for the violin guy so I could get directions to his place. From this phone call on, the day started to look up. :)
I called Quentin, and he gave me directions to his place and expressed his disdain for GPS systems. Misery loves company. :) By this time Best Buy was open and a less than enthused sales person helped to show me how to reset the GPS (he had no idea what was wrong with it either). I was feeling considerably better now as I braved the driving trip to downtown Toronto. The drive was perfectly fine and I had a nice visit with Mr. Violin repair man. He suggested a place for lunch down the street. I went and they even had a plug-in for laptops. GLORIOUS! I plugged in my cell phone and had an excellent crepe. Things were beginning to look up.
Having a fully charged cell phone and a working GPS, I was feeling considerably riskier-- what else could possible go wrong -- so I took a trip to Ikea. I'm always impressed by their little inventions and even more impressed when I can leave that store having spent nothing. After my tour of Ikea it was time to head back up to get the bassoon. When I arrived back in Brampton, they were still working on it. Shane invited me to watch him finish what I presume was oiling the keys & gluing on some new pads. I do not advise ever watching someone work on your instrument. Don't get me wrong, Shane is very good, but I imagine it's like watching someone you know undergo a surgical procedure you don't understand... not a good idea. Anyhow, an hour later, my bassoon played probably better than it ever has. The whole boot and long joint were leaking like a siv before. Now my low notes can be low and in tune, quiet, and having good tone. A truly novel idea. We discussed further modifications I might want to consider in the future, but really I should be able to get away with my instrument as-is forever. There is one $1500 key that I can have put on at some point, but the only people using it now are people in the BSO. Anyhoo, on top of the bassoon repairs I also got oodles of career advice from Shane. Yay for knowing at least one other person who has their hands in both the music and the business pots.
Well that was probably the longest post ever. Must have a lot of school work to be doing... *shifty eyes*....
Speaking of applications, I have applied to go to Domaine Forget for their summer program June 15-29. I know that most of you think I am planning on working at an internship this summer, and well that would be ideal, given the vast non-response students like myself are getting in the Ontario job market, it is looking less and less likely; not impossible, just less likely. I figure I'll keep as many doors open as possible and we'll see what happens. It costs $1150 to go to Domaine, but thankfully I was able to get everything ready before the scholarship deadline: Prof. McKay wrote me a letter of recommendation after my sketchy-mc-sketch-sketch lesson today & I just happened to run into Mike (our recording engineer) for the sole hour he's at the music faculty this week to get a copy of our studio recital to use for the recording requirement. If this $1150 opportunity becomes free, or closer to it than $1150, I'm going. Here're the coolio people I'd get to study with if I go:
 | Whitney Crockett Principal, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra | Masterclasses June 22 to 29 |
 | Richard Gagnon Principal, Quebec Symphony | June 15 to 29 |
 | Gustavo Núñez Principal, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam | Masterclasses June 15 to 22 |
Ok, so time to recap this weekend's events.
On Sunday, Steven, Sarah, and Elena (another bassoonist at Western... YAY BASSOONS!) left to head out to the Toronto area. Being my first time driving in Toronto, they all faired very well (well maybe not Steven :P) with my slight panickyness at people cutting us off. Kayla lent me her GPS and this helped out the panick-level quite a bit. Unfortunately for me, I recalled the address of the bus station (our first stop) as 510 Bay Street instead of 610. FYI, 510 Bay St. is apparently located within the airport, as we discovered when TomTom (our name for the GPS) led us into the parking complex... After discovering my mistake (good thing I wrote out directions on paper before I left just in case!) we made it to the bus station in good time and in a relatively good mood (getting that "lost" with a GPS is just awesome no matter how you look at it).
After the bus station stop, Elena and I headed back out to Brampton to drop her off. I got to experience grid lock for the first time but thankfully it was for only about 30 minutes. After dropping her off I headed up to Palgrave to stay with my Uncle Paul and his family. I have to say that it really was quite an eye-opening experience to drive through what seemed like millions of identical subdivisions. Living in a little 5-10km bubble for the last four years, with relatively little interruption, really misguides my little thinker about how many people there are in this world. Anyhoo, some of the Toronto "countryside" was really quite nice. I think if I ever work in Toronto, living up in the Palgrave area would be kinda nice. Trees and farm fields = a good idea.
Sunday night I partied with Paul & his four kids courtesy of Guitar Hero. This was my first time playing it and I was a little unimpressed. Meh. It was fun to hang out with little kids again though. Megan and Jesse played my bassoon and thought that was pretty cool too.
Monday morning I headed out to the bassoon repair place with three things already gone terribly wrong. One, my cell phone died shortly after I woke up. It hasn't been lasting more than 24 hours these days and I should have known better and plugged it in overnight. The second bad thing occurred when as I was carrying my bags to the door, I notice that my left hand middle finger was throbbing and looked down to find it gushing blood. Apparently I hit an artery. Funny thing is I don't remember at allll how it happened. Unfortunately the cut is right in the spot where my tone hole hits my finger so every time I've played in the last 24 hours I feel a sweet sense of pain. The third downer prior to 7:30am was the failing of the GPS. It just wouldn't turn on. I was SO frustrated by this point because I'd already left late because my finger was gushing and now I -- the girl who gets lost WITH A GPS --had to rely on paper directions!?
Traffic was a lot better than anticipated heading into Brampton so I arrived only 8 minutes late to what I thought was the repair place. I do know that instrument repair shops don't have signage for a reason, but man I was SO frustrated by this point that I hadn't found the building (FYI it's on the third floor of a warehouse... as if I would ever think to go wandering around a warehouse with my bassoon without anybody warning me that's what I had to do ahead of time...). Thankfully they weren't too upset that I was late (I didn't even bother to look at my watch, but probably no more than 20min late).
After dropping my bassoon off I had to figure out how to get Steven's violin to its respective repair place downtown Toronto sans directions, sans GPS, and sans my cell phone. I decided to drive around Brampton and try to find either a Starbucks to plug my phone in (they have plugs for laptops I think), a Radio Shack / Best Buy to take the GPS into, or a payphone, whatever came first. Surprisingly enough, payphones are practically non-existent nowadays. Also, Starbucks was nowhere to be found. Within about 15min I did locate a Best Buy only to discover that it didn't open until 10. I decided to wander around the mall it was in until it opened. I'm pretty sure I've never been in a mall before any of the stores open. It was an interesting experience to say the least: lots of eager shoppers prepared to interact with considerably less eager sales people. Anyhoo, lo-and-behold, I found a set of payphones in the mall and made a frantic phone call to Kayla, owner of the GPS. She didn't have any idea what was wrong with it (silent "yaaaaaaaays" going on inside now) but was SUPER awesome at calming me down and getting me the phone number for the violin guy so I could get directions to his place. From this phone call on, the day started to look up. :)
I called Quentin, and he gave me directions to his place and expressed his disdain for GPS systems. Misery loves company. :) By this time Best Buy was open and a less than enthused sales person helped to show me how to reset the GPS (he had no idea what was wrong with it either). I was feeling considerably better now as I braved the driving trip to downtown Toronto. The drive was perfectly fine and I had a nice visit with Mr. Violin repair man. He suggested a place for lunch down the street. I went and they even had a plug-in for laptops. GLORIOUS! I plugged in my cell phone and had an excellent crepe. Things were beginning to look up.
Having a fully charged cell phone and a working GPS, I was feeling considerably riskier-- what else could possible go wrong -- so I took a trip to Ikea. I'm always impressed by their little inventions and even more impressed when I can leave that store having spent nothing. After my tour of Ikea it was time to head back up to get the bassoon. When I arrived back in Brampton, they were still working on it. Shane invited me to watch him finish what I presume was oiling the keys & gluing on some new pads. I do not advise ever watching someone work on your instrument. Don't get me wrong, Shane is very good, but I imagine it's like watching someone you know undergo a surgical procedure you don't understand... not a good idea. Anyhow, an hour later, my bassoon played probably better than it ever has. The whole boot and long joint were leaking like a siv before. Now my low notes can be low and in tune, quiet, and having good tone. A truly novel idea. We discussed further modifications I might want to consider in the future, but really I should be able to get away with my instrument as-is forever. There is one $1500 key that I can have put on at some point, but the only people using it now are people in the BSO. Anyhoo, on top of the bassoon repairs I also got oodles of career advice from Shane. Yay for knowing at least one other person who has their hands in both the music and the business pots.
Well that was probably the longest post ever. Must have a lot of school work to be doing... *shifty eyes*....
Monday, February 25, 2008
An epic trip
So I am back safe and only slightly stressed out (SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS IN REPAIRS?!?!). The strongest feeling I have right now though is knowing how much I reeeeeeeeeeally love the freedom that comes with having a car. I will post more tomorrow about my trip, but I want to get to bed now so that I can go grocery shopping tomorrow at 8 (before my rehearsal with my accompanist at 10 and the car is due back at 12:00). Exciting teasers of stories to come:
- I only have 3/4 usable fingers right now (typing is quite interesting)
- GPS is not great when you a) enter the wrong ending address b) don't interpret it properly or c) can't turn it on
- A fully charged cell phone is of utmost importance when meeting multiple people in a city you've never driven in
- I am astonished that the B-flat to A-flat trill key even exists considering its cost of about $1500
- I am so blessed for the random people God through into my day to remind me not to "get old too fast" [I'll explain later]
- Along the same line, Kayla is my favourite person of the day. If not the week. Or the month. Maybe even the year.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Grad Photos!
I'm only going to leave this post up for a very short time, so be sure to let me know what you think asap! These are my photo options: http://www.newparamount.com/graduation/indexd.php?proofid=HH4340568 . I'd be curious to know which ones you like!
Trip Time!
Tomorrow I will be heading out to Toronto for fun times with my bassoon avec Marcus Wieler Bassoon Repair. I'm supposed to take it in on a yearly basis for maintenance but for financial reasons, it's closer to once every two years for me (it doesn't take much when "just looking" fees start around $100/hr). I'm *very* excited to get rid of some permanent water I seem to have in my C & D flick keys, get rid of some metal clashing against metal around the pancake key, have my case modified so my wing joint is sliding around so much (somehow the padding has worn out and it has a good 3/4 of an inch of shifting space... not good), and having a replacement hand crutch invention put on (yay for preventing tendinitis!). So that I can get my bassoon back by the end of the day, it has to go in for 8:30am (YUCK). I think the reason why I am leaving tomorrow & staying at my Aunt Helga & Uncle Paul's in Toronto on Sunday evening must seem a little more evident now ;) . I am glad that I get to visit with them too as the last time we saw each other was in March of last year.
To add to the fun adventures I will be taking Steven's violin into downtown Toronto after I drop my bassoon off in Brampton. Given that I have zero experience driving around Toronto, I'm going to take the Go Train bus and subway. I have studied the maps carefully, but knowing my sense of direction, I'm sure I'll have a great story to tell when I get back! ... As a side note, the TTC has one of the worst-designed home pages for a popular company that I have seen in a long time. Check it out for yourself: http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/.
Ok, time for bed. Nothing says bad sense of direction like overtiredness.
To add to the fun adventures I will be taking Steven's violin into downtown Toronto after I drop my bassoon off in Brampton. Given that I have zero experience driving around Toronto, I'm going to take the Go Train bus and subway. I have studied the maps carefully, but knowing my sense of direction, I'm sure I'll have a great story to tell when I get back! ... As a side note, the TTC has one of the worst-designed home pages for a popular company that I have seen in a long time. Check it out for yourself: http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/.
Ok, time for bed. Nothing says bad sense of direction like overtiredness.
Friday, February 22, 2008
I'm Baaaaack!
This week has been a busy busy week, to say the least. With two midterms, a concert in Stratford, and preparing for my recital (March 3!), blogging took a lower-than-normal priority! Here're some notes from the past week:
- My recital prep is coming along fairly well. It is unfortunate that both myself and my accompanist are crazy busy right now, but we will pull it off alright. Yesterday I made it through a run-through for the first time (my embochure had yet to make it through). That was incredibly encouraging.
- Last night Prince Mark, Jordan, Steven, Steven's sister Heather (visiting from Edmonton), Sarah, Brianna, and I went skating in Victoria Park to celebrate the almost-hereness of Reading Week. It as SO much fun! I am so thankful that Brianna had an extra set of skates that were my size :). After relearning how to skate (it's been a few years), we played "What time is it Mr. Wolf" and attempted to waltz on ice whist singing Tchaikovsky. I'm pretty sure the macho hocky players that were also using the ice thought we were just about the coolest thing going :P . After skating, we tried to get hot chocolate at both Williams & Tim Hortons but they both closed at like 10:30pm! Craziness! Anyhoo, we headed down to Cafe Demetris and ate way too many calories worth of cheesecake. It was so good to take a large chunk of time to just laugh and be silly after such a stressful week :).
- One of the exams I had on Wednesday morning was unlike any exam that I have ever written, or likely will ever write again. Having felt not adequately prepared, you can imagine the sheer glee that arose when the professor announced that it was very a "Make your own exam" day. The exam consisted of 10 multiple choice (which I'm fairly confident I did well on) and 10 essay questions, of which you only had to answer three. Three of the essay topics given had nothing to do with any of the required readings (they were based on off-topic discussions we've had in class) so naturally I wrote about those three having been to all of those lectures. Fun times! :D
- I got my marketing midterm back and I did really well! I think doing all of the readings in the week prior to the exam really does help me out. Professors tell you that it is not wise to do so, but with their nit-picky questions from one sentence on page four of the text, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally, is this sound advice?
This coming week I get to help out with auditions for the music faculty (Wed-Sat). This is possibly my favourite job! All those nervous people wanting someone kind to talk to = soooo much fun! :)
Ok, time to get back to work...
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
This Made My Day
While it is kind of awesome, it also goes to show how crappy my day has been seeing as this is the highlight. *hrmph... only two more midterms to go...
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sleepy Sleepy Heather
I slept for 13 hours yesterday. It was pretty fantastic. To add to the fantasticness, I haven't even opened a textbook for the last 48 hours. I can slowly sense that my brain is coming back to normal working order again. :)
Tomorrow is Family Day in Ontariario. I will be spending the vast majority of it at the music building: A L'Histoire du Soldat rehearsal at 9am, followed by a Fawlty Towers gathering at 1 (which is supposed to last a few hours but alas...), and a recording session with the Wind Ensemble from 3:30-8. Sounds like a holiday packed with family time, eh?
The concert in Stratford went fairly well today. I'm still a little shocked when I get handed cheques at these concerts: "Whaaaaaaaat?! Using my music degree to make money?!?!! How bizarre!!!" With my bassoon going in for repairs a week from tomorrow, it is a good thing that a little extra cash is flowing my way (last time the repair bill was something in excess of $600).
I have been working my way through the "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster, as recommended by Steven on my Lenten Thoughts post. I have to say that much of my skepticism has been laid aside with his Quaker quotes and scriptural references. I think the first real thinker moment came on p. 6 which reads as follows:
... God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us. The apostle Paul said, "he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8). A farmer si helpless to grow grain; all he can do is to provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He puts the seed in the ground where the natural forces take over and up comes the grain. That is the way with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing the Spirit. The Disciplines are God's way of getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us.
Hmmmmmm definitely some food for thought, eh?
Bedtime for bonzo.
Tomorrow is Family Day in Ontariario. I will be spending the vast majority of it at the music building: A L'Histoire du Soldat rehearsal at 9am, followed by a Fawlty Towers gathering at 1 (which is supposed to last a few hours but alas...), and a recording session with the Wind Ensemble from 3:30-8. Sounds like a holiday packed with family time, eh?
The concert in Stratford went fairly well today. I'm still a little shocked when I get handed cheques at these concerts: "Whaaaaaaaat?! Using my music degree to make money?!?!! How bizarre!!!" With my bassoon going in for repairs a week from tomorrow, it is a good thing that a little extra cash is flowing my way (last time the repair bill was something in excess of $600).
I have been working my way through the "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster, as recommended by Steven on my Lenten Thoughts post. I have to say that much of my skepticism has been laid aside with his Quaker quotes and scriptural references. I think the first real thinker moment came on p. 6 which reads as follows:
... God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us. The apostle Paul said, "he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8). A farmer si helpless to grow grain; all he can do is to provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He puts the seed in the ground where the natural forces take over and up comes the grain. That is the way with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing the Spirit. The Disciplines are God's way of getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us.
Hmmmmmm definitely some food for thought, eh?
Bedtime for bonzo.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Perspective
Today was the most exhausted I have felt in a while. After rehearsal in Stratford this morning, I napped for the better part of the day. Things should be better tomorrow; I appreciate your prayers.
Congo Andrew (as he is known in my house... there is a link to his blog on the right hand side of the page) is heading out to Mozambique March 19 to work with a family that is part of the Iris Ministries. If you have a minute, I strongly encourage you to check out their "Latest News" section of their website: http://www.irismin.com/latest_news.cfm. As most of you are well aware, I'm quite the news junky and so was quite surprised to hear for the first time of the vast amounts of flooding and *huge* need for aide in Mozambique. The particular family Andrew is staying with is in Lichinga and has not been effected by the flooding directly to the best of my understanding.
The water is estimated to be 200-300 feet deep in some places.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been without any amenities for days.
I may not being feeling my best right now, but I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Please join me in offering up prayers for the people of Mozambique, for the Christians that are there, for the missionaries that are there, and for Andrew as he prepares to go.
Congo Andrew (as he is known in my house... there is a link to his blog on the right hand side of the page) is heading out to Mozambique March 19 to work with a family that is part of the Iris Ministries. If you have a minute, I strongly encourage you to check out their "Latest News" section of their website: http://www.irismin.com/latest_news.cfm. As most of you are well aware, I'm quite the news junky and so was quite surprised to hear for the first time of the vast amounts of flooding and *huge* need for aide in Mozambique. The particular family Andrew is staying with is in Lichinga and has not been effected by the flooding directly to the best of my understanding.
The water is estimated to be 200-300 feet deep in some places.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been without any amenities for days.I may not being feeling my best right now, but I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Please join me in offering up prayers for the people of Mozambique, for the Christians that are there, for the missionaries that are there, and for Andrew as he prepares to go.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
w00t w00t!
Happy Valentine's Day one and all!
My mid-term today went fantastic! Wahoooooooooo! Words cannot describe the satisfication in knowing that getting up at the crack of dawn was worth it.
I've been on quite an excitement high since I finished at 1:30 and haven't done a whole lot worth mentioning since then. Prince Mark & his roomie, J.C. (you have to come up with a better screen name for yourself... anyone else have some suggestions?) and I did go out to Marble Slab this evening to celebrate though. I'm pretty sure I had the most fantastic ice cream I have ever had: white chocolate ice cream with fresh raspberries, Skor, & some raspberry sauce (the guy added this extra for free too :D). It was SO good. Ah! Words can not describe! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. The company was also good fun; thanks for coming guys!
Time for bed... in fact it was time for bed about an hour and 15min ago *shift eyes* looo looo looo
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Midterm Season...
... a great time to get sick.
Continuing in my tradition, I am coming down with some sort of illness at this fine mid-term time. My throat is starting to burn up as midterms cause me to mentally start burning out. GTs. At least today was a relatively successful day in terms of eating well, practising well, & studying well. Tomorrow is going to be quite the day though considering I only have one hour off between 9:30am and 11pm and I have to still somehow cover two (possibly three depending on what I get done tonight) chapters for my marketing mid-term. Anybody up for celebrating on Thursday night?!?!?!?
In other news, if you can, you should try and make it out to this Sunday's SCO concert: it promises to be pretty good aaaaaand you'll get to see my fancy pancy new business suit (I feel SO old owning a proper business suit, you have no idea...). On the program is Mars (Holst), Peter & the Wolf (Prokofiev), Colonel Bogey March (Alford--- I have *no* idea why this made it onto the program), Concerto for Marimba (Rosaro), Piano Concerto #2? (Rachmaninoff), Young Persons' Guide to the Orchestra (Britten). As you can probably imagine, there will be a lot of children at this concert, so be prepared. I've put a link up on the right hand side for ticket info.
OK, well I'm off to "study" or "wash dishes" ... (these words seem so unappealing on their own that by putting them into quotes, they become slightly more manageable).
Continuing in my tradition, I am coming down with some sort of illness at this fine mid-term time. My throat is starting to burn up as midterms cause me to mentally start burning out. GTs. At least today was a relatively successful day in terms of eating well, practising well, & studying well. Tomorrow is going to be quite the day though considering I only have one hour off between 9:30am and 11pm and I have to still somehow cover two (possibly three depending on what I get done tonight) chapters for my marketing mid-term. Anybody up for celebrating on Thursday night?!?!?!?
In other news, if you can, you should try and make it out to this Sunday's SCO concert: it promises to be pretty good aaaaaand you'll get to see my fancy pancy new business suit (I feel SO old owning a proper business suit, you have no idea...). On the program is Mars (Holst), Peter & the Wolf (Prokofiev), Colonel Bogey March (Alford--- I have *no* idea why this made it onto the program), Concerto for Marimba (Rosaro), Piano Concerto #2? (Rachmaninoff), Young Persons' Guide to the Orchestra (Britten). As you can probably imagine, there will be a lot of children at this concert, so be prepared. I've put a link up on the right hand side for ticket info.
OK, well I'm off to "study" or "wash dishes" ... (these words seem so unappealing on their own that by putting them into quotes, they become slightly more manageable).
Monday, February 11, 2008
I suppose it's one way to spend an evening...
... educating myself for two hours on the rape & sexual assault statistics for 20+ of Canada's finest universities. Yippee! :S... I anticipated that this would be something that didn't bother me at all but it is quite depressing to know that 25% of Canadian women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime and at that, approximately 80% are assaulted by men known to them in some capacity. 2 hours of reading, comparing, & memorizing statistics like that would not be my first choice of activities, but alas my marketing group is meeting tomorrow to begin discussions on implementing a new marketing strategy for Western's Foot Patrol service / promoting safety on campus.
In other news, I'm close to the 50% mark for my marketing readings :). I kind of feel like I'm going a little bit insane with all of the cramming of seemingly useless knowledge (will I ever need to dictate what the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act, the Textile Labeling Act, and the Precious Metals Marketing Act govern, in great detail?). I've been trying to take more breaks than usual to assist in my overall mental health but alas all of these breaks are causing me to think too much about life & be more awkward than normal in social situations. At least with the majority of my friends preparing for mid-terms right now & being equally awkward, I am not feeling too alone in that department.
It was cold today. Very cold. In fact, I would hazard to guess that today was the coldest day we've had all winter if you take into account the wind chill: my eyelids were creaking by the time I got to the music building for an 8am rehearsal this morning. Yuck. While it is currently only -16, I wouldn't be surprised if it was over -30 with the wind chill... Today was the first time I considered trying to find someplace warm(er) to go for my reading week.
Ok, back to work.
In other news, I'm close to the 50% mark for my marketing readings :). I kind of feel like I'm going a little bit insane with all of the cramming of seemingly useless knowledge (will I ever need to dictate what the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act, the Textile Labeling Act, and the Precious Metals Marketing Act govern, in great detail?). I've been trying to take more breaks than usual to assist in my overall mental health but alas all of these breaks are causing me to think too much about life & be more awkward than normal in social situations. At least with the majority of my friends preparing for mid-terms right now & being equally awkward, I am not feeling too alone in that department.
It was cold today. Very cold. In fact, I would hazard to guess that today was the coldest day we've had all winter if you take into account the wind chill: my eyelids were creaking by the time I got to the music building for an 8am rehearsal this morning. Yuck. While it is currently only -16, I wouldn't be surprised if it was over -30 with the wind chill... Today was the first time I considered trying to find someplace warm(er) to go for my reading week.
Ok, back to work.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Rehearsal in Stratford is canceled tonight due to the yucky weather :)
Now I have extra time to read and make up for all this procrastination.
Speaking of procrastination, here's a pretty sweet web-site (no pun intended): http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/ . I think my carnivore diet may be on its last legs [no I don't plan on becoming a vegetarian, I'm just planning on increasing the number of fruits and veggies in my diet]
Now I have extra time to read and make up for all this procrastination.
Speaking of procrastination, here's a pretty sweet web-site (no pun intended): http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/ . I think my carnivore diet may be on its last legs [no I don't plan on becoming a vegetarian, I'm just planning on increasing the number of fruits and veggies in my diet]
How sweet are these?
http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/
Soooooo cool! What a neat idea for invitations!!
I've been incredibly bored what with my textbook staring back at me and all. My solution, you ask? Click on all the little google ads that pop up at the top of my gmail. Good times!
I love how my Engwish skillz degrade as I read more and more. :S
Soooooo cool! What a neat idea for invitations!!
I've been incredibly bored what with my textbook staring back at me and all. My solution, you ask? Click on all the little google ads that pop up at the top of my gmail. Good times!
I love how my Engwish skillz degrade as I read more and more. :S
'Tis the Season
of midterms. Yuck. I dislike textbook reading at the best of times, but having to cram stuff in under a restricted time period is just plain awful. There are some days when I recall my childhood dream to become a doctor and think something like "Wow that'd be so awesome, but there's no way I could read all of the material required and stay sane!"
Right now I am preparing for my 3-hour, 25%, marketing midterm, on Thursday. I am currently on page 81 of230, which I suppose is not terrible. The amount of sweet talking I've had to say to myself to get me to this 35% stage of completion is kind of epic though and I can only wonder what the next few days have in store :P
Well in 2 1/2 hours I'll be heading down to Stratford for a rehearsal again so I suppose I better go and get my read on before reed time.
:S. Even I thought that was bad.
Right now I am preparing for my 3-hour, 25%, marketing midterm, on Thursday. I am currently on page 81 of230, which I suppose is not terrible. The amount of sweet talking I've had to say to myself to get me to this 35% stage of completion is kind of epic though and I can only wonder what the next few days have in store :P
Well in 2 1/2 hours I'll be heading down to Stratford for a rehearsal again so I suppose I better go and get my read on before reed time.
:S. Even I thought that was bad.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Random Tidbits
My interview for IBM went really well today. I just might find myself in the big city of Toronto come May 1!
In other news, while searching for an article to write my Arts Admin blog on, I came across Naxos' list of the 2007 Best Sellers (available http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2253911,00.html). I was pretty surprised to see the Glass Symphony as #2 & Canteloube Chants d'Auvergne (I'm doing this in Hamilton at the next concert!), but not as surprised as I was to see JOHN RUTTER!?!?! Seriously?! #7!?!?!?! Before Mozart? :S What is the world coming to? [for the non-art music people in the crowd, John Rutter writes some of the world's most cheesiest music, and is generally despised by at least 90% of all church choir members]. Anyhoo, without further ado, the Bestsellers of 2007 @ Naxos were:
1. Orff Carmina Burana - 32,000
2. Glass Symphony [No 4/The Light] - 23,000
3. Handel Messiah [1751 version] -16,000
4. Adams Complete Piano Music - 14,000 --> Who is this guy?
5. Brahms Symphony No 3/Haydn Variations -13,500
6. Shostakovich Jazz Suites -13,000
7. Canteloube Chants d'Auvergne Vol 2 -12,500
8. Rutter Requiem/Anthems -12,000
9. Mozart Requiem -12,000
10. Pärt Berliner Messe - 11,500
For kicks, I searched out the all-time bestsellers, but there were no real surprises...
Ok, time to get back to real work now.
In other news, while searching for an article to write my Arts Admin blog on, I came across Naxos' list of the 2007 Best Sellers (available http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2253911,00.html). I was pretty surprised to see the Glass Symphony as #2 & Canteloube Chants d'Auvergne (I'm doing this in Hamilton at the next concert!), but not as surprised as I was to see JOHN RUTTER!?!?! Seriously?! #7!?!?!?! Before Mozart? :S What is the world coming to? [for the non-art music people in the crowd, John Rutter writes some of the world's most cheesiest music, and is generally despised by at least 90% of all church choir members]. Anyhoo, without further ado, the Bestsellers of 2007 @ Naxos were:
1. Orff Carmina Burana - 32,000
2. Glass Symphony [No 4/The Light] - 23,000
3. Handel Messiah [1751 version] -16,000
4. Adams Complete Piano Music - 14,000 --> Who is this guy?
5. Brahms Symphony No 3/Haydn Variations -13,500
6. Shostakovich Jazz Suites -13,000
7. Canteloube Chants d'Auvergne Vol 2 -12,500
8. Rutter Requiem/Anthems -12,000
9. Mozart Requiem -12,000
10. Pärt Berliner Messe - 11,500
For kicks, I searched out the all-time bestsellers, but there were no real surprises...
1. Vivaldi Four Seasons - 1,400,000
2. Orff Carmina Burana - 480,000
3. Beethoven Most Famous Sonatas - 450,000
4. Mozart Requiem - 400,000
5. Fauré Requiem - 310,000
6. Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf/Britten Young Person's Guide - 300,000
7. Strauss II Most Famous Waltzes - 280,000
8. Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik/Serenata Notturna - 270,000
9. Handel Water/Fireworks Music - 260,000
10. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2/Paganini Variations - 240,000
Ok, time to get back to real work now.
Dear Karlheinz
I know people that listen to music like this all the time...
Happy music education ! :P
Happy music education ! :P
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A Day of Newfound Tips
Tonight I discovered a fantastic way to make you feel fantastic about yourself: prepare for an interview! Seriously! All this positive talk about myself really has me in high spirits :P Add in the excitement to wear a fantastic new outfit, and I feel all set for tomorrow. Working at IBM would be SO fantastic! I'm SO excited! :)
Today marks one week until my marketing mid-term, worth 25%. I am currently on Chapter 3 of 8, so here's hoping my love for reading comes back into high gear in the next little while.
I have been thinking for quite some time (on and off for years actually) about how vast the potential for human kind to hurt one another is (and hurting in a non-physical sense). I was talking about this with Prince Mark today and he asked if I had ever thought extensively about the extreme good that human kind is capable of. It was one of those moments in life where I was caught by surprise, to a sort of "thinking standstill": "Why have I never thought of this before?!" I suppose I have a little bit, but certainly not to the same degree of the negative aspect. Innnnnnnnnteresting. This certainly gives me something new to think about over the next little while. GTs.
Well I'm off to bed: nothing says feeling prepared like a good night's sleep!
Today marks one week until my marketing mid-term, worth 25%. I am currently on Chapter 3 of 8, so here's hoping my love for reading comes back into high gear in the next little while.
I have been thinking for quite some time (on and off for years actually) about how vast the potential for human kind to hurt one another is (and hurting in a non-physical sense). I was talking about this with Prince Mark today and he asked if I had ever thought extensively about the extreme good that human kind is capable of. It was one of those moments in life where I was caught by surprise, to a sort of "thinking standstill": "Why have I never thought of this before?!" I suppose I have a little bit, but certainly not to the same degree of the negative aspect. Innnnnnnnnteresting. This certainly gives me something new to think about over the next little while. GTs.
Well I'm off to bed: nothing says feeling prepared like a good night's sleep!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Some Lenten Thoughts
One of the nice things about growing up in a fairly non-religious household has been that I get to search out the truth for pretty much every and all aspects of Christianity without the bias that so many develop over the course of their childhood. 'Tis the season for discussing giving something up for Lent, with the 40 days beginning tomorrow.
Where did this practice come from? Why do some Christians do it now? Is this something God wants me to be doing, and if so, how do I go about it?
From my Google searching...
I really don't think that God intended for the Bible to be a list of rules about how to behave righteously: "You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me so that I can give you this eternal life" (John 5:29-40 NLT)..... "Abide in Me... for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 16:4-5).
Thoughts anyone? Do you give up something for Lent? Why (tradition vs actually feeling God's call to do it)?
I really do not mean to come across as judging anyone who is giving up something for Lent; I fully acknowledge that I could be off on the wrong track... I'd really appreciate if you would take the time to share your insights ;)
Where did this practice come from? Why do some Christians do it now? Is this something God wants me to be doing, and if so, how do I go about it?
From my Google searching...
- A brief Catholic-minded history of Lent can be found here: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0527.html
- Summary of present practices: "The present fasting and abstinence laws are very simple: On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the faithful fast (having only one full meal a day and smaller snacks to keep up one’s strength) and abstain from meat; on the other Fridays of Lent, the faithful abstain from meat. People are still encouraged "to give up something" for Lent as a sacrifice."
- Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations
I really don't think that God intended for the Bible to be a list of rules about how to behave righteously: "You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me so that I can give you this eternal life" (John 5:29-40 NLT)..... "Abide in Me... for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 16:4-5).
Thoughts anyone? Do you give up something for Lent? Why (tradition vs actually feeling God's call to do it)?
I really do not mean to come across as judging anyone who is giving up something for Lent; I fully acknowledge that I could be off on the wrong track... I'd really appreciate if you would take the time to share your insights ;)
Monday, February 4, 2008
My Recital
Well it's less than a month away now; yeah crunch time! I'm feeling pretty comfortable though already. On the program is the Prelude de Concert by Pierne, the Fantasiestucke pieces by Schumann (originally for cello, often performed on clarinet), Anerca by Milton Barnes (a Torontonian), and the Hurlestone Sonata for Bassoon. Many of you are probably familiar with the Fantasiestucke, even if you don't know it by name. You can check out the first movement, performed by the lovely Wendy Warner here:
Anyhoo, I'm off to read a gadzillion chapters of marketing. Just thought I'd share this performance with you ;)
Anyhoo, I'm off to read a gadzillion chapters of marketing. Just thought I'd share this performance with you ;)
Sunday, February 3, 2008
1.23pm
It's not often that before being up for even six hours, particularly on a Sunday, that you feel like burying your head in sand. Go team. One has got to wonder why we don't have this whole learn-your-lesson thing under wraps after making a mistake one time. But nooooooooo, sometimes we have to do it a thousand times before something clicks in our brain to stop us from ever doing it again. How strange.
Dear brain,
It is time to learn your lesson now.
Thank you,
Heather
Dear brain,
It is time to learn your lesson now.
Thank you,
Heather
Saturday, February 2, 2008
B-O-R-I-N-G
I am working on my marketing text readings (for my midterm coming up a week from this Thursday) and I have entered one of those mental places where your eyes look over the words but you realize a few paragraphs later that you can't recall anything that you've read. My eyes and my brain have been doing this little dance for over an hour so I've decided to take a break by posting & folding some clean laundry.
This week has been a fairly good week school-wise in that I was felt prepared for most of my lectures, classes, meetings, & recitals. This sense of accomplishment does not occur enough in my scholastic life.
Internship-wise I've had a few exciting developments in that it's looking like I may have three (or more) job offers to choose from in the coming months. This is quite awesome as I have been somewhat worried that I wouldn't get any suitable offers. I suppose my next thing to hope for in all this is that the decision for which option to choose would be a relatively painless one to make (i.e. a location I feel comfortable moving to, the option to do NYO - if that even is an option, etc, etc). Here's for hoping.
In other exciting news, I have built a nice little "campfire" in my room via lighting seven candles on my desk. This innovative heating idea was inspired by Erin but wholeheartedly being enjoyed by my pretty little hands typing away. Thank goodness the ground hogs say there is less than six weeks left of winter! My goodness this year has gone by so fast!
Anyhoo, off to "read" again. Please, feel free to interrupt sometime this evening.
This week has been a fairly good week school-wise in that I was felt prepared for most of my lectures, classes, meetings, & recitals. This sense of accomplishment does not occur enough in my scholastic life.
Internship-wise I've had a few exciting developments in that it's looking like I may have three (or more) job offers to choose from in the coming months. This is quite awesome as I have been somewhat worried that I wouldn't get any suitable offers. I suppose my next thing to hope for in all this is that the decision for which option to choose would be a relatively painless one to make (i.e. a location I feel comfortable moving to, the option to do NYO - if that even is an option, etc, etc). Here's for hoping.
In other exciting news, I have built a nice little "campfire" in my room via lighting seven candles on my desk. This innovative heating idea was inspired by Erin but wholeheartedly being enjoyed by my pretty little hands typing away. Thank goodness the ground hogs say there is less than six weeks left of winter! My goodness this year has gone by so fast!
Anyhoo, off to "read" again. Please, feel free to interrupt sometime this evening.
Friday, February 1, 2008
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