Friday, June 19, 2009

music (listening to it, playing it) and Fathers' Day

What the Caterpillar Saw

Tomorrow afternoon is my first lesson with Malika.

It took two weeks, but I've finally gotten the hang of the various pieces again: Wohlfahrt's étude #14, Boccherini's Gavotte (Suzuki Violin School volume 2--I even added a few measures to what I already had), and Schubert's The Miller's Flowers (Royal Conservatory of Music, which is the thing to focus on if you want to become a musician in Canada--exams, grade level, etc.). I'm going to take some other books with me as well.

And I'm starting to develop some calluses on the fingers of my left hand (middle and ring fingers--the ring finger callus is the biggest, which surprised me, because the last time I took lessons the index finger had the biggest one). Another thing that surprised me is that I don't need to be told to practise: five years ago (my last lesson was five years ago as of April) I needed to be told to practise--sometimes several times. It might be because I'm older (I'll be 21 on July 18)......

The drama surrounding the PBSO has finally died down (two days ago). Thank God!

Mom and I are going to see Joan Baez in Portland, ME on July thirty-first!!!! I've already started to decide on what I'm going to wear. Mom ordered the tix on the fifteenth and they came a couple of days later. Yesterday, Mom decided on a hotel--one that's entirely smoke-free and "supports green practices". Sounds good to me!

We're also going to several other places: LLBean (to get me a pack for school--preferably one that'll hold my laptop--and a Bean bag a.k.a. Boat and Tote to hold groceries, etc.), an art gallery or two... From what I gather, we'll be eating mostly at O'Naturals, which is a healthy fast-food place owned by the folks who own Stoneyfield Farm. If you've never been to one of their restaurants and are in/going to be in Falmouth, ME, Portland, ME, or Wichita, KS, be sure to eat at least one meal there. They even have their menu online--get ready to drool! I think this time I'll make a point of trying their stir-fry noodles (three different kinds that are all vegetarian--unless you add chicken or salmon--and sound insanely good--get me to Portland now!) or soups--something other than their sandwiches which, although they're really good, are pretty much all I've had there.

O'Naturals also puts a lot of emphasis on which dishes are vegetarian and which are vegan, which is wonderful (I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian--I eat eggs and dairy products).

So that brings the total number of concerts that I'm going to up to two (the PBSO is the other one and that's in August). The Nor'easter String Quartet is also performing next month (the fourteenth), but although I'd love to see them in concert sometime, I think two concerts (and Harry Potter) is enough for one summer.

Sunday is Fathers' Day so I plan on spending the day with Tom, doing whatever. Hallmark holiday? What Hallmark holiday?

Here's a really good, thought-provoking entry from one of my favourite blogs: Fathers are important.

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