please find me at tumblr.

is this sound okay?

lots of good people in this one.  and lots of good fashion, too.

things that have started to attract my attention

the crying habits of the neighbors' new baby

eyebrows

pick up trucks

joanna newsom

cookbooks

handwriting

thrift stores and the people who inhabit them




things that no longer attract my attention

headlines

women in this town who go to walmart in their pajamas, i mean loungewear

green bay accents

hallway screaming in the middle schools

meat

differences in shampoo quality

strange dreams

eleven things i love

1. north avenue beach. 

we used to walk there in the summertime.  i won't forget will and drew dragging the cooler full of beer, stopping frequently to drink some to lighten the load.

2. hanging laundry, and the beautiful color of this house.

3.  this birds-on-a-wire wall decal

4. this look.  (funky sweater, skirt with tights, and the camera looks beautiful too!)

5.  dearest neil.  an eternal favorite.

6. this minty blue nail polish

8. the beautiful sound of the sitar

9. these paintings by rosiemusic

10. riding in cabs at night

11. delicate dresses with dark tights

unsourced photos from weheartit

we are so wisconsin

here's our big block of frozen deer meat - obtained and donated by andy from will's work. 

as will's sister put it "the real free range meat."

and to the left is will's wedding ring, which he takes off when he helps me cook.

boiling potatoes while we cooked the venison with the onions and butter, carrots, corn and peas.

delicious?

pre-oven, assembled shepherd's pie

into the oven for a half an hour on 400.

i have no photos of the finished result.  picture the above with more of a golden brown look.  i think we were so eager to eat we forgot about the camera.  and i won't embarass my husband or myself by telling you how much we devoured in one sitting.  but it was really delicious and moist and only slightly deer-ish.

we'll add this to our list of nice dinners we've made using wild game from friends.  pheasant alfredo, venison stir fry, and now shepherd's pie with venison.  yum.  

look what i can do

i've decided to go back to school to get my general music certification.  i taught the subject in chicago for two years, but never had the official licensure (i'm a licensed instrumental music educator in wisconsin and in illinois).

this will open some doors and give me some new opportunities.  it gives me more utility, and it's going to make it easier for me to teach full time.

today:

• i tried cruise control for the first time while driving to work.  not bad.  i can see why people do it.
• i switched all of my students positions in the orchestra and was reminded once again how much whinier my 8th graders are than my 7th graders.
• i called uw-oshkosh, which brought me one step closer to a general music certification.
• i have a staff meeting, before which i plan to grab a soy cappuccino from starbucks with found dollars (source: dryer).
• i'll teach one, half-hour lesson before freedom.

have a wonderful, sunny, nearly tee-shirt weather day.

well at least

if there's not a reason to celebrate
you should look for one.

you can be calm for now.

(somebody else is driving)

you may discover

over tea and toast

that i'm not who you think i am.

today is a saturday that feels like a sunday, which is like saying i saw a sparrow that looked like a crow.  the thing is, it's been a long week of successes and mistakes.  incidentally, i've decided it's better to have just one category.  successes or mistakes.  what's hard is the combination.  you feel bad celebrating when you've spoiled it with something else that went wrong.  so you just sit in one place while your mind bounces between i can't believe i phrases and  well at least i ones.

well at least i'm healthy.

well at least i have will.

well at least i have a job.

tonight we go to the levines' for dinner and the company of the alexanders.  we'll bring our records back to their massive record library and come home with a lovely new batch.  i had a dream that i accidentally ruined all of the records we're borrowing right now.  that's the way i've been dreaming lately.

well at least i have my violin to play.

well at least i have all of my limbs.

there's always something to worry about.  the only thing i do about that is to stop feeling worried.

well at least it's sunny today.

[thankyouforreading]

happy enchilada

that's the way the world goes round

one day you're up, the next you're down

it's a half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown

that's the way the world goes round

jp

happy it's friday.
long day yesterday, with the middle school orchestra concert and everything.
it all went well, but unexpected inconveniences followed.
tonight - japanese drumming at the PAC.  looking forward to it. 
and it's the weekend. :)

warm weather wishlist

wellies, for the messy earth in springtime.

this jersey maxi dress looks very comfy.

 

these vintage studded jean shorts & apron tee 

-for my imaginary beach.

this breezy cotton dress.

this handmade locket and cloud-blue rose necklace

another trip to jamaica. :)

hands

while enjoying the end of weeds season five disc one, i asked will to give me a hand massage.  best thing ever.  i guess i work my hands pretty rigorously during the day.  i should get these puppies insured.  it's especially intense on tuesdays when i teach all day at school (conducting, playing various string instruments) followed by three straight hours of private violin lessons. 

hand pain aside, there is one student - and i feel horrible for saying this, because he's very sweet and he's just getting started - who plays his violin about as loud as it goes.  in the tiniest of practice rooms.  i don't think he even realizes it, because he's so concerned with the rhythm and the fingerings that he must not have the capacity to even imagine there's anything else.  like volume.  i told him in my most patient voice to lighten up with his right hand, please.  please.  lighten up that lead hand, young man. 

-float the bow. 
-okay, pretend there was a little man sitting on your right hand before and now he got up and left. 
-barely touch the bow to the string. 
-imagine it's a pillow.  or feathers.  air.  now try again. 
-oh wow. okay, let's try something else. 

it was one of those moment where the volume was so high that i could actually feel the headache happen from nothing.  it was so clear to me, like i could touch the headache.  or see it.  and then i was distracted because i was trying to remember if i still had ibuprofen in my bag.  should i take it while he's in the room, or is he going to tell his mom i'm a pill popper?  maybe i'll wait until he leaves. 

the next girl played as quiet as a mouse, scroll pointed directly at the floor.  and she stared at me while she played instead of the music.  was there something on my face?  the notes of the song, perhaps?  it was getting too late in the day for me to focus.  maybe she was on the same page as i was.

these stories could go on and on.  as you could probably imagine.  but will's going to bed.  i'll go sit in there with the tv on a notch above mute until my head stops swimming and i begin to feel tired.  i just need to get the variations of twinkle twinkle out of my brain.

fotos de weheartit

instrumental music

i originally enrolled at the university of wisconsin for music performance.  i had a violin scholarship and felt confident that i'd done the right thing.  by mid-freshman year i had changed my mind about one thing.  i didn't want to perform for a living, but i also didn't want to leave music behind.  not ever.  i switched to music ed. and haven't turned back since.

there's something really special to me about people making music together.  i haven't found that same feeling anywhere else.  i've played sports (really poorly), i've taught non-performing music classes, and nothing comes close.  i can't say that my students at the middle school are achieving the feeling that adult musicians who have been playing forever feel, but they have to try at least.  this thursday they have a concert.  they'll have to try.

so many bands don't need to do it anymore.  god bless les paul and all of his fabulous inventions, but with multi-track recording came the tendency to separate a group's musicians in order to achieve perfection.  i have a lot of admiration for bands who still try to play all together in the studio. 

one of my favorite ways to find this feeling (other than playing live with other musicians myself) is through "live in the studio" clips that i find.  you get the live effect without the screaming girls.  i don't know why people scream at concerts.  all i ever want to do is stand and absorb everything like a sponge.  but i suppose the screamers paid the same kind of money that i did.  i suppose they have a right.

anyway, here are a few studio clips i enjoy.



death cab in the studio performing brothers on the a hotel bed






margot & the nuclear so and sos live on pctv performing jolene, we almost never met

eleven things i love

1. chuck taylors - the dirtier the better.

2. interesting bed spots

3. moleskine journals

4. fingerless gloves

5. this photo (making music, drinking tea)

6. this look

7. the smell of sunscreen

8. red lipstick (and audrey, of course)

9. big sweaters + floral print

10. ornate thrift store dessert dishes

11. bird tattoos

sick

i'm feeling really under the weather.  my body is trying to get rid of something.  i haven't had a stomach flu like this in a while, but the feeling is all too familiar. 

the wedding was wonderful.  the only thing i've been able to consume so far is mcdonald's french fries, because i can always eat those, and a can of diet coke.  i'll try to post later tonight when i'm feeling better.  until then, i'll be curled up on the couch with my pillow and some good tv.

emily and ryan

we're off to door county tomorrow for a wedding.  one of my college roommates, emily, is marrying ryan, who she met while we were living together (with tina and sarah) on orchard street in madison.  i still remember the first time he came over.  he's a great guy, and emily has been one of my favorite roommates. 

i'm so happy to be able to spend my saturday watching two people getting married.  door county is gorgeous.  and i have a new dress that i paid way too much money for that i'm looking forward to wearing.  i'm sure i'll cry, as i've cried at every wedding i've gone to since my own.  and i can't wait to see some of my friends.

my younger sister emma, little spencer, and emma's fiance tyler

watching will and me dance our first dance.